NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon Of The Day - Day 16: ML Appreciation Day

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 30: Crossing the Finish Line

Today is the final day! The last day to write your words and still have them count for your NaNo 2022 project. I have seen many of us come up from behind the last few days, get that final wind and get within a hair of the finish line now. There is still time to get that purple winner's bar and reach your 50000 words. When you are struggling, know we are here to cheer you on! You can do it!

Day 30: Crossing the Finish Line

Tonight: take a moment and feel it down to your bones. You set yourself this task and you faced it down. You are still here at the end of the month. NaNoWriMo is about setting yourself a challenge. It is about succeeding in the extraordinary by attempting something as foolhardy as writing a novel, and something as mundane as creating a daily habit of writing. It requires bravery, persistence, determination and grit. And by still being here, by still writing away till the clock runs out - you are a winner (regardless of purple bar status).

Let's celebrate together tomorrow! For now: let's cheer on anyone who is still writing, who is still pushing on & help eachother through this final glorious day! We can do it!

The Timeless story The Assassin's Holiday by @secretnerdprincess had me giggling from the moment I first read its premise:

Garcia Flynn and Jiya Mara are highly trained assassins who own the elite MurderVision Inc.. With the help of Rufus Carlin, they take care of messy problems for those with the money to afford their solutions. They've just got one last job to finish up before Christmas. When they accepted the contract for Dr. Lucy Preston, they never expected one simple historian could cause so much trouble. In the end, this Christmas holiday might change all their lives.

There's highly entertaining banter between Garcia Flynn & Jiya. A very capable Dr Lucy Preston who cleverly improvises her way to thwarting Flynn's attempts to murder her and yet is still her usual clumsy self. There's theatre, a multi-day cross country trainride, a movie-esc escape & helicopter rescue. There's a fascinating little twist on the journal & how Lucy's life changed.

Overall, this is a story to read when you're in the mood for some hilarious adventure & laughter.

This story is part of the @garcysecretsanta exchange that has been spoiling me with a whole bunch of new Timeless stories to read. The collection can be found here on AO3. Thanks to all the writers & contributors! It is simply marvelous.

The Temeraire story The Diplomat's Dragon by indecisive_lotus is such a joy to read.

For those unfamiliar with the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik: it's the Napoleonic wars with dragons and it's marvelous. Arthur Hammond is a diplomat who gets unwittingly & initially unwillingly adopted by an Incan dragon named Churki. As he's been strongly encouraged to retire at the end of the series, he's now run out of excuses to introduce Churki to his family.

Throughout this entire story he's essentially fighting a losing battle to Churki & his mother who outmanouver & outsmart the fiercesome diplomat. It's hilarious to behold how Hammond finds himself at a loss and fails to see the traps he falls into, while still wanting to maintain his decorum & social graces.

The language of the story mimics that of the period and the social context of the time is well-represented and thought out.

I enjoy the humor of this story, the increasing desperation of Hammond, the character portrayals. Churki is very in character, and, as a massive dragon, knows when to adopt the customs of the English gentry when it suits her, but also how to completely ignore them when it suits her purposes better.

Mrs Carter is an intriguing dragon's companion. I look forward to reading more of this story & how it develops, for it's been wonderful to spend more time with these characters.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 24: In Need of Medical Help?

Adventure comes with a price and as writers we often do like to make our main characters pay it. When they get injured, is there a doctor available? Medical staff? Decent supplies? Some painkillers? A nice suite in a hospital or a cold and windy little hut in the middle of nowhere?

Day 24: In Need of Medical Help?

As writers we face our own health challenges: are your wrists strained yet from the excessive typing or are your hands cramping up? Perhaps you tackled a really bad cold or had the flu during November. *waves hi!* NaNoWriMo should not come at the expense of your health, so I wish you all well. We still have a stretch of month to go, so get a good night sleep if you can & let's get this done!

Jiya & Rufus take a grieving & self-loathing Flynn under their wing in the most accepting, warm & graceful way in this Timeless story To Find A Home by @misscrazyfangirl321

It's got a lot of sweet moments and cameos for Lucy, Wyatt, Jessica & Denise but the core of the story focuses on Flynn's friendship with Jiya & Rufus.

I like the glimpses of the healthy and loving relationship between Jiya & Rufus, as well as the slow acceptance on Flynn's side that he's allowed their comfort & warmth & community. Redemption is both internal & external. It's sweet & lovely.

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 11: Self Care: Get a Good Night Sleep & Write Your Dreams

Sometimes, it's time to burn the midnight oil and sometimes, it's time to sleep! It's hell week, so let's be kind. Get to bed on time, rest your body & mind, and get inspired by your dreams!

Day 11: Self Care: Get a Good Night Sleep & Write Your Dreams

If you don't want to sleep or cannot: then send your main characters on a sleepover adventure! Hang out with friends, make nice food, and chat into the night and let them get to know each other better. Or use the age old trope: there's just one bed! and make them deal with those nice and uncomfortable situations - as you please!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 28: Seeing Yourself Reflected

Storytelling can be like looking in a mirror. Every story, like every author, is unique. There are glimpses of yourself hidden away and buried deep. Perhaps you consciously added details of your own life and own philosophy. Perhaps they creeped in on their own.

Day 28: Seeing Yourself Reflected

It is both a beauty of writing and a terror: the fear of being known to your readers. And yet is it not also marvelous: to leave something of yourself and who you were. We still engage with literature written millenia ago, study its contents, enjoy its humour, tragedy and catharsis. We are all human, storytelling is deeply engrained in us and yet the unique particularities that you bring are like no other.

We are in the final days of this NaNo and there is still time to get your words written and your story out. Take heart in the feeling of community and know we are here to cheer you on. Keep writing and share your thoughts!

The Timeless story No End, No Beginning by MandyCandy is endlessly fascinating. It's a powerful what-if? A reimagining of our history if at certain tipping points things happened differently.

One person's utopia is another's dystopia. This is one of the most far-reaching options I have read on fighting Rittenhouse by dismantling the very structures that made & kept them powerful in the first place.

By whom is history recorded? Lucy is a historian multiple times over in this story and it's powerful & real. Tecumseh is a wonderful character and seeing him in glimpses to see the impact he could have had is powerful. There is so much history & research that went into this story - there's a full bibliography & maps in the final chapter - and it is marvelous. As a European, American & Canadian history is not something that was touched upon a lot and stories like these bring me tipping points that I like to read more about.

Jiya is so resourceful & necessary to the plan in this story & Rufus likewise has a tangible effect on history.

It's a powerful reimagining. The story takes a bit to come into its own (as it was written & revised on the go as we often see with fanfiction) but stick with it. It's well-worth it.

When I read the summary for Scorched Earth (Timeless) by @sallyexactly, I expected something darker, but when I started reading, I was quickly pulled into the emotion & longing of the story.

The language feels poetic to me: filled with imagery & the particular sense of nostalgia where you are trying to avoid living the end before it happens but you know there's no avoiding it and therefore the nostalgia starts while you are still in the moment. The contrast between the scorched & parched earth is evocative and beautiful. Flynn in particular is such a emotional disaster in this story & it is wonderous to behold.

Thank you, Sally.

Sometimes, I come across stories that are particularly clever, original & imaginative. The Timeless WIP story Parallel Lines by AndreaChristoph (@x-voyevoda) is one example.

“I’m in a different timeline entirely from you,” she finally starts, speaking slower as she sorts out what she wants to say in her mind. “A timeline that used to be separate, until people started punching holes in reality. We’re both Jiya Marri, and we’re both alive in our respective timelines.”

It's a multiverse world where Jiya's visions extent & transcend. Where Amy is rescued (or at least: pulled into a world in which Lucy exists). Where Rufus is the only left and connects with Jiya in dreams. Where Jiya is (understandably) angry at the world and given no time to grief or process. Where Stanley Fisher is intriguing & supportive of Jiya. Where Wyatt & Jessica both die early as of yet (though in this multiverse that does not necessarily mean they'll never be back).

There are ethical implications, there is intrigue, philosophy, and no time to process. I'm curious for more of the story: what happens on the Titanic? What does timeline zero Jiya know & what's the threat she warns our Jiya about? What did our Jiya go through in Chinatown? How will Amy cope? How will the relationship between the sisters develop? How did Emma follow Wyatt in that first chapter? How has the journal changed? What does that imply? Can Rufus be reached? What makes a person? Tipping points & memories are different - what makes a person who they are?

I like stories that make me think.