NaNoWriMo and Working on Book Six!
I know, right? Can't believe it myself!
Every November, off and on for the last TWENTY years, I’ve been attempting to put my butt in the chair and spit out as many words as I possibly can, partaking in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in which writers make an attempt to write an entire novel in a month, or at least 50K words of one (for reference, an average novel is usually 90-100K words). I donate to NaNoWriMo every year too…it’s a wonderful program that helps support and encourage international writers of all ages.
Wow, look at that profile badge. I really did join twenty years ago! For some reason, the site only tracks my projects back to 2011, when they overhauled the site and added the community functionality. But in 2003, I was working on an idea for a fantasy time-travel novel that sends some treasure seekers back in time after…wait, it’s still a good idea! I still want to write it! So you don’t get to know about that book after all. Maybe someday.
I finished 50K on that book, although it’s a trilogy, so I really didn’t get terribly far in the idea of that story. But it set me on the path of making a good go of it year after year.
By 2011, I was starting to work on FEAST OF SORROW, although my NaNo project is called THE FIRST GASTRONOME, which is an arguably bad title. My writing partner, Anjali Mitter Duva, was kind enough to give me a better title for the book! I didn’t “finish” the book then, but it helped push that book further along.
In 2014, I was on to working on THE CHEF’S SECRET. It was not titled then, and I merely called it L’OPERA in homage to Bartolomeo Scappi’s cookbook, L’OPERA DI BARTOLOMEO SCAPPI. In 2015, 2016, and 2017, I used NaNo and Camp NaNoWriMo to work on the book, which I had titled THE SECRET CHEF because Scappi’s title when working for the Pope was LO CHEF SEGRETO, which is also the title of the Italian translation.
In 2019, I began working on a book about Renaissance meat carver Vincenzo Cervio, titled IL TRINCIANTE, or “THE CARVER.” I finished that book in 2021 with the help of NaNoWriMo. I’m still looking for a home for that book, so keep your fingers crossed!
Now, it may seem like I took forever to write some of these books, but keep in mind I was often working on them in tandem. Plus, a day job. But over the course of my author life, I have nailed my process down, and I can spin them out much faster and feel confident about writing a book a year.
This leads me to book 4. During the pandemic, like many authors, I wrote a book. This one was about Antonio Latini, the steward to the Viceroy in Naples. This book is so dear to my heart. I translated his autobiography to write his rags-to-riches story. I didn’t use NaNo to work on it because I wrote it so quickly, in about 7 or 8 months. I have a first draft of this one complete, but I shelved it because I was so smitten with book 5…
IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS (Coming Sept 2024). I finished the book in less than a year (although there was pandemic latency on the rewrites, so it stretched out a bit). It also missed the NaNo treatment.
One thing you’ll notice is that in none of these instances have I sat down and just wrote a brand new book from start to finish, which is actually what you are supposed to be doing in the real spirit of NaNoWriMo. Instead, I’ve always done what many of my fellow author friends have done…used it to further something I’m already working on or to revise something that needs work. My friend, Cathy Elcik, describes this as NaNoRevisoMo (also, you really should subscribe to her Substack, which is excellent).
But now, here I am, starting NaNoWriMo, which began on Monday. I’m working on overhauling 70K words of a partially drafted novel and then the goal of finishing it. This novel is a contemporary fantasy that involves some more obscure, ancient Greek gods wreaking havoc in the world. This is the first of my books that doesn’t have much food, but it’s still a draft…you never know where it will go!
So, wish me luck this month. Can I do it? Yes, if I can get my butt in the chair every day for 2+ hours. This is somewhat ambitious, but I will give it the good ol’ college try!
What’s Bringing Me Joy This Week
Reading Octavia Butler’s notes to herself makes me feel less dorky about my own similar letters to myself.
This one is less joyful and more fascinating. As a cancer survivor, I have been navigating the “joys” of immunotherapy drug side effects and spending a lot of time looking up drug details. And wondering about all the wacky names! Turns out they aren’t like fantasy authors spinning them up. There is a whole system for why drugs are named the way they are.
And finally, for those of you in the U.S. I give you this…
If you love food and love Italy, and haven’t read THE CHEF’S SECRET or FEAST OF SORROW, click the links to learn where to buy your copy! 🍒🍗🍷
You can also follow me in these places too:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Mastodon | Threads
Aw, thanks, lady! And you are a fucking machine. Also, I need So be it! See to it! on a mug or a t shirt or a postcard for my bulletin board!