Allison Marshall

It is now the eleventh hour on November 30th, and with just 20,004 words, I have officially failed NaNoWriMo 2020. The main reason for my lack of progress was an eleven-day hospital stay in which I was unable to write. I was stuck before then, but eleven days without access to writing material was the nail in the coffin. I'm disappointed in myself. I had an ambitious goal and I failed. But I decided to fail as well as I could, and this morning I did a 2,000 word sprint to 20,000 words over a Panera breakfast. I meant to share this news before my hospital stay, but never got around to it. Since it fits with this blog post's theme of failing well, I'll share it now. For those of you who have not heard of Pitch Wars, it's a massive writing competition where writers submit queries and first chapters to potential mentors (who are published authors/editors). These mentors then help the selected mentees polish their manuscripts and queries. Pitch Wars ends with an agent showca...

 Right outta the gate, I felt like I was doing well. This week did not go all that well. 😂 I managed an average of just 1,000 words a day for three days. On Thursday, I only managed 356 words. I have all the excuses. Work's been extremely draining. I start super early and I grind for nine hours. After that, it's so hard to find the motivation to write. But I promised myself that Friday, my day off, would be catch-up day and guess what? I managed 3,637 words today! WHOOOO HOOOO! And I *officially* have the 10k words badge.  During the worst part of the lockdown, I wasn't able to go to coffee shops and do my regular coffee-shop writing sessions. I wrote the majority of HANG ON at Starbucks locations. It's good to see stuff opening back up and with things opening up, I have the ability to go out and write again! For me, being away from home in a new location is super motivating. Yesterday started out as a pretty tough day. Two tough calls before noon. One guy, understanda...

I came to awareness in a dark, warm place. Floating on the edge of an expanse. Vibrations thrummed through me, and though I was confused, I felt safe. I was wrapped up tight in a smooth, red blanket. I heard snippets of voices, and I felt like I could recognize some of them. Dad. Mom. I wanted to call out to them, but I was tired. I drifted. I wandered through dreams that were just shapes and color. My red blanket tightened and I felt immense weight pressing on me from all sides. My sense of safety was replaced by cold fear. My heart pounded and I felt it shaking every part of me. Everything contracted around me and I wanted to cry out, but I couldn't feel my tongue. Red walls squeezed in closer, and closer. A long dark tunnel stretched out before me. Then, at the end, a bright light. Too much light. It seared as it passed over me. Suddenly, all the weight lifted away and I felt my limbs writhing in the light. Voices. Blurry faces. I heard a baby crying and crying.   Oh my st...