Weds ROW80, WIPpet and NaNo Updates: What could go wrong?

Morning. Cold. About 16 degrees out there, but, thankfully, no snow. Just clear and very cold.  Bright sunshine already. It just might be a good day for writing.

NaNoWriMo update. Incredibly, so far, so good. No one in the family knows I'm attempting to write 1,650 words a day . . . hehehe. The words seem to come along in several sessions a day, and if the writing slows, I read some research and jump to another section. One resource that keeps me get those words on paper early is 750words.com  This online journal that tracks the numbers of words you write. Since it's essentially free-writing, I don't get distracted by editing.

Row80 update.
--Keep writing 1,650 words a day on Rivers of Stone: Done!
--Blog x3 on writing, travel, ROW80 blogs: 2 posts done!
--Keeping current w/reading for ROW80 and Weds WIPpet: Done!
--Continue research for Rivers of Stone: A lot of ground this week, from studying maps of rapids on the Columbia River that are now underwater to Victorian hairstyles, to how the voyageurs cooked and ate while out on the river.  

--Decluttered e-mail (keeping it under 100) and critiqued one writer for NOVELS-L (part of the very helpful online Internet Writing Workshop).

Still to do: Need to send that query to Australian Times. I'm probably sitting on this because of editing BUT that's not going to happen this month.

WIPpet Wednesday:  For November 12, here are 12 paragraphs, fresh from NaNo drafts. Logline: Catriona, disguised as a boy and working as artist Paul Kane's assistant, finally arrives at Fort Vancouver, hoping to reunite with her husband. It's November 1846, and Cat finds Dougal working at a nearby trading post.  This may not mean the story is over, for Dougal is a changed man, and Cat has also changed.

Dougal was a bit formal, moving awkwardly as he started a fire to take the cold out of the room, put bread on the table, and prepared tea.

Cat sat on a willow bark chair and watched him. "So you're working here now?"

"Aye. 'Tis a good job. It kept me close to the fort while I waited for you." He didn't look at Cat.

"Enough," said Cat. "Come sit. We need to talk."

Dougal stumped over to the table and sat next to her. Finally, he raised his head and stared, his eyes narrowed and fierce. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Tell me about your leg."

"There's nothing to tell. My feet froze up bad, that's all. They had to take some toes off an' a bit more. I was lucky to live through it. Losing my toes wasn't the worst of the trip from York Factory." His huge hands moved his tea cup. "Want some tea?"

Cat nodded.

"I couldn't find you there at York Factory. The only thing I could think to do was to come west again and hope you'd make it somehow to Fort Vancouver. I guess I thought I'd never see you again. Nothing helped. Not rum. Not the music. So I came west again." He shrugged and looked at his feet. "You know that part of the trail where you're walking through the snow, and you can't see, you can't feel anything, and you haven't eaten in a long while, and you know there's nothing at the end of the day?"

"Yes, we hit bad snow just past Jasper House. I remember it well."

"This screaming blizzard came in, and we had to hunker down in snow huts to keep warm. Three days we spent, with nothing to eat but our moccasins." Dougal shuddered. "And then the sun came out, and we went on. Met up with the main group, and that's all. I came here. Got the job at the store." He raised his head slowly. "It's hard for me to believe now you're sitting there, right there."

Paul Kane, "Beacon Rock, Columbia River"
from Lewis and Clark Today

OK time to get back to work on NaNoWriMo! A heartfelt thanks to ROW80 organizer Kait Nolan and sponsors. See what other ROW80 writers have done this week HERE. 

With more thanks to Kate Schwengel at WIPpet Weds. Check out those Weds snippets from works in progress HERE.