NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon Of The Day - Day 17: Main Characters Take Charge!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 18: Dressing Up All Fancy: Organize a Ball!

Your characters get a fancy engraved invitation to attend a glorious ball! A chance to dress up prettily and party the night away. A romantic subplot is lurking around the corner as they ask if there's still space on the dance card? Or perhaps it's a time of intrigue and mystery as all the major players are in attendance and secret identities come crashing down?

Day 18: Dressing Up All Fancy: Organize a Ball!

Whether it be a night of magical bliss or horrifying dread - a fancy ball is a chance both for bringing story lines together as characters meet and for branching out as there's so much more happening beneath the surface! Watch out for story ninjas, get your fanciest jewelry ready and have a blast!

The Timeless story Two Roads by @oldshrewsburyian is filled with a kind of burgeoning hope. How do you live your life while waiting for a future you once so tantalisingly glimpsed but barely dared hope for? It's the story of Denise, who has seen her future, but hasn't arrived at it yet. Denise is such a strong and hopeful character. She's fiercely loyal and faithful and the glimpses we see on the show of her and her family are always so filled with warmth.

This short ficlet honors her character and that last line harkens back her comment after the time travel team returned: "it gave me hope".

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 08: Hell Week

The first week of NaNo flew by in a rush and now we are already in week two. Traditionally, the second week of NaNo is considered especially hard as self doubt comes out to play for many of us, tiredness sets in and starts to demand more attention, and yet: we are still here!

Day 08: Put Up Your Umbrellas to Guard Against Hell Week

So: let us put up our umbrellas against the possible storms ahead and brace ourselves against this challenge: we can DO this together.

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 22: Which Stories Inspire You?

I fulfilled a childhood dream and have a mini-library in my attic filled with my favourite books. I love browsing through my shelves and findings favourites to read. Writing well starts with reading often. What do you enjoy? What works for you (or doesn't)? How do stories work? For this NaNo challenge: what stories inspire you and what elements are you paying homage to?

Day 22: Which Stories Inspire You?

Bring an element of fairy tales into your science fiction story, add dragons to your historical fiction and incorporate a romance trope into your gritty realistic thriller. Steal your concepts liberally and write generously and keep telling your story!

Marianne' Cartoons: Day 2: Are You Having Fun?

Day two of NaNoWriMo is upon us! The early beginnings of a project can feel giddy and exhilarating and fun. We get to meet our characters and write our hearts out. It's like being a kid at a playground and having a blast. Perhaps you have build up a nice cushion of words and face the NaNo challenge with confidence. Give yourself a pat on the back and keep writing. Perhaps yesterday was a struggle and self doubt is creeping in early. Give yourself a nice warm hug and keep writing. Your story is your playground. It is wild, and limitless in its possibilities and you get to play! Sometimes it's scary; mostly it's fun. Sometimes we fall, but we always get back up and keep going! What brought you joy today? What inspired your characters? You got this. Let's write!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - Day 29: Join Your Fellow Wrimos at a Write-In

It's the penultimate day of NaNo 22 and it's time for that final push to get to your finish line! Find your fellow wrimos and let's encourage each other. A (virtual) write-in is a time and place where we all come together to write our stories. We can do this! If you have already completed your work: cheer your fellow wrimos on. If you haven't: let's buckle up and Get.This.Done. It's two days & one night left and every word you write in your story is one you did not have before.

Day 29: Join Your Fellow Wrimos at a Write-In

Who do your characters go to for support and encouragement? Who is cheering them on? Consider what you and what your characters need to conclude their story. Find companionship and comfort in the fact that people around the world are writing together with you in this challenge. Let's put pen to paper & write!

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.

NaNoWriMo is an altogether serious and whimsical challenge: let’s write and write and write and let creativity fly! Don’t take yourself too seriously and get words on paper and have some hilarious fun in the process (even when the going gets hard: it’s still supposed to feel good to have done!).

(For the uninitiated: NaNoWriMo challenges you to write 50000 words in the month of November. I choose to embrace the NaNo Rebel spirit and focus on general creativity without the pressure.)

So, to encourage, help combat perfectionist stress, and embrace the silliness of it all: I hereby solemnly vow to post my daily NaNo cartoon-of-the-day in all its sketching-imperfect glory. I hope you brings a smile to your faces and can help you stay motivated when you find yourself struggling. We can DO this together!

In eons past, I always loved reading the daily NaNo toons and cartoons published. (Both the official ones and the ones in my region by HannahK). I am excited to embrace the challenge and follow in the footsteps of those giants that went before.

I would love to hear from you if you enjoy the daily drawing, they bring a smile to your face or encourage you somehow! So, do drop me a note and let’s face this NaNo challenge head-on!

NaNoWriMo - My Cartoon of the Day - December 2nd: Thank Goodness It's Over Party

It's tradition to go out with a bang! We achieved something extraordinary: we wrote our stories. Now, it might be in first draft & still need a lot of work. It might not be finished yet or polished, but it *exists* and that is enough for now. Today: we celebrate all we DID do. We have cheered each other on, perhaps we read extracts from each other, perhaps we did sprints together or shared wordcounts and hurdles. We might have gone at this alone or with the entire community at our backs: we are here & we wrote! It's the giddyness of creation. Of creating something out of words and making it near tangible.

Dec 2nd: Thank Goodness It's Over Party

So: let's dance! Let's pop that champagne! Blow up those balloons & strings. Print out your novel and make it real for yourself: you did this. You wrote all these words - however many you wrote. Today is for partying. For the relief of being done with NaNo 2022. November is over. December is for resting, for recouping and for celebrating and our myriad of holidays that are coming up. Traditionally, from January, the Now What? Months of revision and editing begin and then Camp NaNo is not far around the corner. I wish everyone a blast in taking their stories to the next level (if desired) and encourage you to keep creating in the broadest sense of the word.

I myself have enjoyed the experience of creating these cartoons and these accompanying texts for you all. I have loved reading each and every response. For me, it's now time to take my leave and dedicate my NaNo energies to my other two Rebel projects that are clamouring for attention. It has been my pleasure and my joy.

If you have enjoyed these cartoons, if they helped you in any way or brought you a smile: I would love love love to hear from you. (For any future readers: this will still apply. I come from an older age of the internet where it doesn't matter when something was posted: responses are still welcomed. We interact with literature written literally millennia ago. I'll still be happy to read a response even if you are reading this much much later than I am currently writing. :-) ).

Thank you all & good night! Let's celebrate.