Posts Tagged With: NaNoWriMo

What’s your opinion on ambiguous endings?

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

I, personally, get annoyed by ambiguous endings. I like my stories very clear cut — if I invest multiple hours of my time getting to know and care about characters, I want to know definitively what happens to them.

This has put me at odds with several of my friends, especially when we go see movies. For both Inception and Life of Pi, my friends walked out of the theater going “Wow! Amazing movie! I can’t believe that ending! What do you think really happened? Was it real? Was it a dream? Wow!” Apparently they really like to say “wow”. Anyway, then they turned to me and asked me how I liked it, and I had to truthfully respond “Meh”, because of my aforementioned fondness for clear cut endings. They then proceeded to sacrifice me to Enigmaticus, the god of ambiguous endings, but I may or may not have actually died because the ending to this story is left deliberately vague and you’ll never know if it was real or made up!

See how annoying it is? GAH.

Anyhoo, all that being said, I’ve recently been plotting out my NaNoWriMo book, and when I got to the end, I realized that there were two ways the story could end. Two extremely different ways. Both are totally viable options, and both would leave some really cool ideas and questions in the reader’s mind. But I’m having trouble deciding which one to go with. So I thought “Screw the rules, maybe I should just cut the story off right before he makes the choice and let the reader decide what happens!”

Of course, I immediately felt very guilty about this thought, because, again, ambiguous endings = evil incarnate (at least in my mind). But the more I think about it, the more I like it. And the more I hate it.

So I guess I’ll pose it to you lovely people — ambiguous endings: good or bad?

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/iXC2N

Categories: Writing | Tags: ambiguous, author, books, Inception, Life of Pi, NaNoWriMo, opinion, writing | 70 Comments

Goodreads Giveaways … hit or miss?

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

I have decided to take a few minutes this evening to reflect on Goodreads Giveaways.

Brace yourselves.

My first giveaway for Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It from waaaaay back in April was a pretty rousing success. I gave away two books to two lovely ladies, and I got stellar reviews back in response. Huzzah!

My second giveaway in July was … not quite as successful. I only gave away one book that time, and perhaps the Stingy Gods have decided to punish me, because the lady who won my book has yet to post a review. Of course, it’s only been three months, so I remain hopeful, but the second giveaway definitely wasn’t on par with the first.

Going on the concept of bigger is better, I’ve decided to launch another giveaway! The giveaway starts tomorrow, and ends on my birthday (December 19). I’m giving away four books this time, and since my success percentages thus far on receiving reviews from the winners have been 100% and 0%, I’m aiming to reach a nice, even 50% with this new giveaway. Wish me luck!

I’ll write up another post tomorrow with the link so you can actually enter the giveaway — if you want! I figure that even if you don’t necessarily want a copy, you could hypothetically gift the book to a friend or your favorite niece as a Christmas present. Win win win!

Anyway, fingers crossed that this giveaway works out a bit better than the last one. Happy NaNo-ing to everyone, and see you again tomorrow for that link I promised!

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/buFCbJR

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: birthday, book, free books, Goodreads, Goodreads Giveaway, NaNoWriMo, waldo | 18 Comments

Who needs a muse when you have dreams?

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

I had the coolest experience this morning, and I really wanted to share it with you!

So like many creative types, I have really vivid dreams. Most of the time they’re erratic and fun, but not much use otherwise. You know, I’ll be running through a laser tag arena inside a closed shopping mall, trying to chase down a squad of Death Eaters and their pet panthers so I can stop them from reaching the grand library and aligning the twelve planets to attain ultimate cosmic power.

That sort of thing.

This morning, I had a dream about a boarding school in northern Ontario where a select group of students were learning magic instead of whatever subject they were supposed to be learning. It was pretty cool, as I’m a big fan of the whole “magic school” plot. Then I woke up, lay in bed grinning at the awesome dream for a few minutes, and then suddenly had a brainwave about a novel I’ve been struggling with. Eureka!

Apart from containing a school which technically teaches magic, but not really, because they’re mostly preparing themselves to fight giant elemental monsters, the dream had very little to do with my novel. But something about the dream triggered a spark in my brain, and led me to the solution I’ve been otherwise unable to come up with on my own.

Three big cheers for dreams and imagination! Hip hip, hurray!

NaNoWriMo update:

Yeah … it’s going pretty miserably, not going to lie. I’m at something like 4.5k words. It’s bad. On the plus side, I have made some strides in figuring out how the story will progress, so even if I only break 10k by the end of the month, at least I’ll have a solid foundation to work from in the future!

How’s everyone else’s NaNo dreams going?

Unrelated media of the day:

This comic (by illustrator “Strangely Katie”) is fairly long, but it’s a really cute story, so I suggest you read it all the way through! Click here to view the artist’s website.

Source: http://strangelykatie.tumblr.com/post/17138793324/full-version-of-my-comic-counting-stars-which-i

Categories: Writing | Tags: book, counting stars, Dream, inspiration, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Word count, Writer, writing | 25 Comments

Quick NaNo update …

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Avast, me hearties!

Sad news — my NaNo attempts have, once again, failed epicly. I was doing really well the first couple of days … and then it was Monday and there was work to be done, and … long story short, my NaNo dreams are rapidly dissolving. I’ll still tap out some words whenever I get the chance, but 50k seems tragically out of reach at the moment. Noooooooes!

That’s all for now. Back to work. Write on!

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/PGT0r

Categories: Writing | Tags: author, books, burgers, movies, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Word count, writing | 47 Comments

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo!

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats, because I’m about to drop a bombshell that specializes in blowing hats off people’s heads. And that bombshell, my friends, is that …

NaNoWriMo starts in two weeks!

Everyone still hatted? Excellent.

I don’t remember much about last year’s NaNo, a fact which leads me to assume that I failed spectacularly at creating the necessary 50k words to achieve ULTIMATE VICTORY!

This year, however, will be different. I came up with a kicka** idea yesterday in the shower, and I’m getting pretty psyched about writing it. It’s going to involve college, superheroes, and (potentially) evil twins. I’m thinking it’s going to end up being some sort of sci-fi thriller mystery combo, which will be fun, as I’ve never attempted such a genre before. It’s also going to be quite dark, which I’ve dabbled with in the past and had quite a lot of fun with, despite it not being my usual cheery style.

The tentative title I’m going with is “The Nemesis Contract”, which I think sounds suitably menacing. There’s a mini-series of comics that share that name, but as far as I know, titles can’t be copyrighted. Is that correct?

So I will officially be participating in NaNo this year. I can’t promise I’ll succeed, or even get past the first few days, but I’ll definitely give it a shot. I’ve gotten woefully behind on my writing these days, and I figure NaNo’s a good way to get back on the literary horse (whom I have named “Diction-neigh-ry”).

All aboard the NaNo train!!! Who’s with me?

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/4LlH8JR

Categories: Writing | Tags: Arts, author, books, mystery, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, sci-fi, thriller, writing | 23 Comments

Camp NaNo + assorted updates

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

In a somewhat suspicious turn of events, my Camp NaNoWriMo attempts are going extremely well this year. As of thirty seconds ago, I am officially at 8,666 words — 43% of my goal for the month. And it’s only the 6th! Huzzah! I suppose it helps that I actually have a plan for what I’m writing — not an outline, of course, but more of a general “This happens, then this, then this.” I’m really excited, guys. Chasing Nonconformity is going to be epic. Well, as soon as I finish writing the darn thing, that is.

And I have new pictures for you! But first, let’s do a brief iUniverse update …

iUniverse update

Remember the pricing issue I was talking about? According to iUniverse, it is impossible to solve it. iUniverse sent out their recommended sales price, and now apparently the online retailers (Amazon, Kobo, etc.) have complete freedom over how much they want to sell the books for. Grrrr. So I said, “Dear iUniverse, if you can’t control the eBook price, can you at least make the physical books less expensive?” To which iUniverse responded that they used a base print-on-demand algorithm to determine the price, blah blah blah, and that the softcover price is fixed at $21.95, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Like heck they can’t.

Chapters update

On the other hand, my book is now in Chapters! Check it out:

HOW COOL IS THAT???

The Chapters people have been absolutely awesome, as you can see from the above image! The only thing they were obligated to do as part of my publishing package was put the book on the shelf, so the fact that they stuck it at the front of the store, on the top shelf, is beyond fantastic. Huge shout-out to the staff up at Chapters North, London!

I’ve also contacted their general manager about doing a book signing — no word back yet, but I have high hopes!

Other update

The lovely and talented Ms. Tania L Ramos is currently rocking Las Vegas on a writer’s getaway. She brought along Imminent Danger, and took this adorable, alien-themed photo:

Okay, enough bragging for one day. Off to work! But before I go, I shall leave you with your favourite part of my posts, the …

Unrelated media of the day

Categories: iUniverse, Random, Writing | Tags: amazon, books, Camp Nano, chapters, clown, ebooks, imminent danger, iuniverse, kobo, NaNoWriMo, ninja, Word count, writing | 44 Comments

Awesome news! Imminent Danger is officially available for purchase!

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Today is probably the best day of my life, because I can officially announce that my debut novel, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, is now for sale everywhere books are sold!

Woooooooo!

Right, calming down now. I suppose links might be helpful at this point, so let’s see what I can dig up …

Click here to buy a softcover from Amazon.com.

Click here to buy a softcover from Amazon.ca.

Click here to buy an ebook from Kindle (US).

Click here to buy an ebook from Kindle (CA).

Click here to visit my website and see the complete list of online retailer options.

I’m trying to think of witty things to say here, but I’m just too gosh-darned psyched that I can finally call myself a published author. Many thanks in advance to the people who decide to give my creation a shot, and many thanks also to everyone who has supported me through this whole publishing adventure. You guys rock my proverbial socks, and I can give no higher praise than that.

To Imminent Danger! To publishing! To VICTORY!!!!!!

Unrelated media of the day:

Source: http://www.fakeposters.com/?page=2

Source: http://onceuponageek.com/2010/01/20/star-wars-motivational-posters/

Categories: iUniverse, My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: amazon, author, best day of my life, books, debut novel, ebooks, imminent danger, indie, iuniverse, kindle, michelle proulx, monty python, motivational posters, NaNoWriMo, romance, sci-fi, self-publish, softcover, star wars, writing | 88 Comments

Yes, I’m still alive (more or less) + Copy-Edit news!

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

You may have noticed that I’ve been suspiciously absent from WordPress for the last fortnight. You may not have noticed. Either way, I’m back, and I’m psyched to be here. Specifically, I’m psyched not to be sitting in a freezing cold office highlighting endless paperwork. Anyhoo …

I spent the last three hours trying to catch up on all the blog posts I’ve missed over the last two weeks. Do you people have any idea how much you write? Good grief. I had to restrict myself to reading 1 out of every 6 posts, or I would still be scrolling through my Blogs I Follow list tomorrow morning. So if I missed a major update in anyone’s life due to my extreme skippery, I apologize.

My temp job is officially over, and I have about $1600 and no life to show for it. Still, an interesting experience was had, and I extracted several promises from my co-workers that they would buy my book when it comes out. So … call it a win?

Speaking of my book … nah, just messing with you. The Michelle Proulx Official Life Update isn’t over yet. Patience, my young padawans.

This month I also moved apartments, which I think I may have mentioned, and we’re officially settled into our new place. It’s smaller and cheaper than the last place, but the location is way better (right beside the mall), plus the heating is centrally controlled, so my mother can’t turn down the heat whenever she gets too hot. Muahahahahahaha.

Okay, now we’re actually going to speak about my book. The major news is that I got my Copy-Edit back! As I expected, the edits are all minor things — commas moved around, dashes added, etc. The editor seems to have some sort of weird addiction to semicolons, because he’s added about a dozen. Interesting. Right now I’m going through the edited manuscript — basically re-reading the book – to make sure the editor didn’t do anything crazy. He seems fairly sane thus far (Chapter 18, baby!), so I have high hopes.

Once I finish my review, the manuscript goes back to the editorial folks at iUniverse, and the design process begins. Woo! I’m really excited. I sent them cover design ideas a few weeks ago, but I haven’t heard anything back yet, so I have no idea what the design team has done with them. Hopefully something epic.

I really need to get dressed and unpack/review my book, so I think that’s all for now. I have great plans to make another vlog episode, which may or may not succeed depending on how my showering/unpacking/book reviewing goes.

Hope you’ve all had a great two weeks, and I look forward to reading about your lives/accomplishments on a more regular basis.

Oh yeah, and before I forget — I gave up on NaNo. No time + no energy + packing/moving/job/other job/copy-edit review = no NaNo. Le sigh.

Unrelated media of the day:

What if Aladdin always looked like that?

Hehehe. And here’s another ridiculous K-Pop video to brighten your day:

Categories: iUniverse, Random, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: 2ne1, aladdin, author, blog, books, copy-edit, ebooks, editing, imminent danger, iuniverse, kpop, NaNoWriMo, self-publish, semicolon, wordpress, writing | 23 Comments

NaNoWriMo — Day 7 Check In

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

My temp job continues, netting me sweet, sweet cash, and further inhibiting my ability to meet my NaNo word count. When last we chatted, I was 483 words into NaNo. Now, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been a busy little beaver these last few days, and I have officially brought my word count up to … wait for it … drum roll …

5,455 words

Woo!!! Broke the 5k mark! PARTAY!

Okay, to be perfectly honest, that’s actually a pretty pathetic word count. You’re supposed to finish 1667 words a day, so by Day 7 I should be at 11,669 words. I’m a little short. And by a little, I mean I need to double my word count. I might have to cancel my partay …

However, I’m not letting that stop me. I WILL PREVAIL! It won’t be easy, however, because my boss has projected that he’ll need me to keep temping well into next week, and possibly longer, as the job is much bigger than they thought and we’re nowhere near done. So, yay for my bank account, and boo for my story. Oh, and we’re also moving apartments on the 17th, so there goes most of the weekend. But still, I WILL PREVAIL! If I say it enough times, it’ll come true, right? RIGHT?

Unrelated images of the day: