Inspiration

Inkygirl is doing a Nano cartoon every day.

You be the judge

Please pop over to Writtenwyrdd's blog to judge the twenty-one entries for the Halloween competition.

It's up to you who gets the cuddly Cthulu!

You don't have to be mad. Well, actually, you do.

There is something magical about meeting other people who are not only as mad as you are but are mad in the same way. The London Nano Weekend Kick-Off party was full of people who are mad about books, writing, science fiction,and computers and who are crazy enough to try to write a novel in a month.

We were at The Mad Hatter pub, so there was a hat competition. Silly Boy doesn't usually have Cthulu sitting on his head. Honestly. One of the Nanoers was wearing an entire bird on her head that she had knitted herself. I was impressed.

That photo is shamelessly stolen from captainmcdan's Flickr photos. You can see the rest of my photos here. Thank you Lily for organising it.

Halloween

We had five or six groups of treaters and one trick: a banana left lying on the doorstep.

A bit later, some kids came and asked for their banana back. All in all, a good night.

Time is running out

Time is running out for you to enter Writtenwyrdd's Halloween Competition and win a cuddly Cthulu. Entries must be in by midnight on 31st October (although whose midnight writtenwyrdd doesn't say*).

What are you waiting for?


*Edited to add note from writtenwyrdd:

EST, and thanks for asking! You get five more hours of grace this way, anyhow. UPDATE: But by the time I get up the next morning will do. I prefer it 'postmarked' nlt 10/31 though.

Are your aliens weird enough?

they feel no pain [...]their lips are behind their front teeth, they breathe mostly through their skin, and acid doesn't really burn them

from Popsci

These aren't aliens. They are naked mole rats.

If a terrestrial mammal is so very weird, how much stranger do our aliens need to be?

Review

Not a book. Today I'm reviewing Boo! Halloween Chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. They came today, so thank you Nicola both for the prize and for getting it to me so quickly.

The chocolates are individually wrapped so you can hand them out to trick or treaters if you like. I won't. Let them eat Haribo, these are mine.

I usually eat very dark chocolate with a strong bittersweet taste. But this milk chocolate is unusually full of flavour. It's smooth, velvety and delicious. You put it in your mouth and it melts into... Oops. Now you know how I came to write my flash story. I'm not really a chocoholic. Really, I'm not.

The chocolates come in several shapes: my favourite is the cat. What could be better, cats and chocolate. They only needed to add a book and I'd be all set. Maybe they'll do that next year.

Spam Quality

My spam count has gone up from around 15 a day to around 70 a day overnight. This is not good news.

The worst of it is that the spam just isn't such good quality any more. I was using the spam to pick up interesting names that I might use in stories. Names like Krysta Mariala, Josue U. Kerr, and Betsy Boudreaux. Now all I'm getting is Approval Department, Member Services, and Term Life Insurance Quote. I can't somehow see these as character names.

Although, why not? Thinking about it I could write a really fun story with some of those characters. Maybe I should work on it now.

I won!

Oh my God! I was one of the ten winners in Nicola Morgan's chocolate competition! I'm in shock!

My story:

Lucy eased off the purple wrapper, savouring the moment. The silver foil was harsh against her fingers as she pulled it back to reveal the dark chocolate within. Snap! She broke off a single square and placed it in her mouth. Bitter flavours melted into sweet. She held it on her tongue, allowing the heavenly liquid to seep backwards and slip down her throat. Her eyes closed.

"Ahem!"

Her eyes flew open. Her heart raced as she saw the shopkeeper pointing to the sign: "Shoplifters will be prosecuted."

"Forty pence, please, and next time pay for it first."

Editing mode

Only one week now till Nanowrimo, and I'm in editing mode. I went in for Nicola Morgan's Chocolate Competition (now ended), and I've sent in an entry for Writtenwyrdd's Halloween Competition (there's still time to enter that one) and I'm editing a story I hope to submit to 365 tomorrows. I reckon I'd better get a move on because I need to be out of editing mode by next Sunday.

Oh, and all you UK people, we put the clocks back tonight. Thanks to Lee Wind for pointing me towards this timely reminder:



I think I need a bath now but not a hot one. Or maybe I'll just eat some chocolate.