Camp NaNo is coming

Seems that I need support when I write ... it also seems that I annoy my friends to death getting their ideas and opinions, multiple reads, requests for suggestions, etc.

Going cold turkey and going all on my own for me hasn't been that great either.  Sure there are a couple of local groups, but they are very into memoir.  Not much in my life would be worthy of a memoir, unless you count trips to the dog park when Peabody was alive and he hit on women, and then I'd never be able to sell it to anyone.

My point?

This year more than the other years I've done NaNoWriMo in November (the 50k in a month challenge), it was like a Nike commercial.  

I just did it.

It wasn't inspiring.

It wasn't necessarily grammatically correct.

It did get finished.

In April, it is Camp NaNo.  No word count.  Just a commitment to writing every day.

So, I am going to do it again.  

In April.

With an outline.

Name?  Jesse's Girl.

Genre? Romance-ish

Lead Characters?  Zero and the 'gorilla' his dreams, Jesse's girl, Sugar.

Base idea?  Zero's heart has been broken by the untimely death of his wife.  A promise not to be alone for too long.  Years pass and he never really heals until he comes across a dog who needs a home.  It is love at first sight for man and dog, unfortunately she belongs to his elderly landlord.

Theme Song?  Ricardo Arjona - Fuiste tú feat. Gaby Moreno (Video Oficial) 

So, I'm gonna take the bull ...

 Introduce myself, and hopefully find his horns ...

And be the last one standing at the end.

Ideas?

Suggestions?

I finally found the Plot Bunny ... really

Writing requires plots, even non-fiction writing needs a plot (or outline) of some kind.

Plots come from the Plot Bunny and he works hard the whole year around.  Actually the Plot Bunny usually takes of March and April to give the Easter Bunny a hand with the chocolate eggs.

Elmer's Home

My search for the PB (Plot Bunny, not peanut butter) has at times been fruitless.  I have friends who are visited by the PB at night and they share their visions with me and I share mine with them.

Yesterday on a small plot of desert, I finally found him and had a way to capture him.  It was kind of like becoming Elmer Fudd with a camera, "Hush.  Be very, very quiet.  We are hunting Plot Bunnies."

I found him and he didn't twitch so much as an ear.  In fact, he disappeared into the gravel for a moment.

Then I nabbed him, photgraphically speaking.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my personal Plot Bunny.  I think I'll call him Elmer.

the celtic cross layout to plot

I fell in love today.  Again.  My husband, Santa or Fuzzy if you will, has told me time and again that it happens far and away too frequently.  I can fall in love three or more times on a good day (the weather, food, someone kind on the street or on the phone, a great note from a friend).

Anyway, I am officially in love today with three things:

1. The Writer’s Tarot for giving me the inspiration to use a tool that has been in my toolbox for several years and I never really thought about. (Ok, the truth.  I give away as many decks as I have owned which means right now I am down to no decks, but I still have the books floating around here somewhere.) 
2.  Fortune cookies courtesy of a recent Chinese dinner.  The lucky numbers gave me the information I needed to do a virtual reading.  Hey, if you don’t have the cards, it makes it kind of tough so the numbers from fortune cookies replaced shuffling and dealing real cards. 
3. The Celtic Cross layout.  It is one of the most common/popular layouts for readers.  It encompasses everything from long ago and far away to a final outcome.  Isn’t that what romance is really all about when you think about it? 

I really loved my numbers.  Officially the major arcana are numbered.  The other cards are numbered within their suit.  I decided to go down the line; 22 is the Ace of Cups all the way to the King of Wands.  It may not be the most logical system, but it works for me and it goosed the muse, so I’m proceeding from here.

1. Present -  Wheel of Fortune:  Destiny and Fate will not be denied.  If you know where to look, you can see the effects of destiny before it strikes, but not always. 
2. Immediate Challenge – Temperance:  Rebuilding and Improving on what is left over after a major change (or loss).  It can also bring two people together to act as one. 
3. Distant Past – The Sun:  Steadfast reliability.  The sun always rises and there is nothing more powerful than the Sun. 
4. Recent Past – Eight of Cups:  It is time to move on and away from difficult circumstances or situations.  It is a powerful wakeup call – one that cannot be ignored. 
5. Best Outcome – Knight of Cups:  He moves forward slowly with peace and calm.  He is also a romantic and a born flirt. 
6. Immediate Future – King of Wands:  Someone with fire and energy enough to change the world to fit his vision of it.  He doesn’t always look for or ask for help when it is needed. 
7. Factors Affecting Situation – Three of Swords:  Pain and Suffering.  Things that can easily impact the human heart and psyche (a deaf ear, words, gestures, rejection, heartbreak, betrayal) 
8. External Influences – Justice:  Cause and Effect.  Punishment and Reward.  Also known as the law of Karma – you don’t necessarily get what you want, you get what you deserve 
9. Hopes and Fears – Death:  The most powerful of the cards in Tarot as it is the card of transformation.  It is not necessarily a card representing physical death.  Change happens whether or not we want it to, let go of that which no longer serves you. 
10. Final Outcome – 4 of Cups:  Having a variety of options.  Believing in limitless possibilities.