In case you haven't heard...

...NaNo is no more.  

The site is still there but only until the money runs out then that's it.

Another part of my life ripped out of my heart.

I've got 4 domains in its memory but that's all the motivation to keep writing completely gone now.

I'll still keep writing, but I haven't got anything to aim for each year any more now.

If you were a donor to NaNo then you will hopefully be able to export everything in your NaNo account, but those who, like me, weren't a donator seem to be screwed.   If I'm wrong about non-donators being able to keep the stuff in their account, could you let me know how to do it as I haven't got an export link or button anywhere in my account and I just got a standard message saying "we've received your message but won't be reading or replying 'cos we'll be inundated" when I emailed them and all the information I've found talks about using the export link to download everything which I haven't got anywhere!!

A week later and...

...the plan of my gently magical MG NaNo25 novel is finally in the bag.  I had a few days off for some reason, but managed to plan out 20 chapters today, which is pretty good going... I just need to remember so that I don't get in a flap in September lol

I've started...

...planning out my NaNo25 manuscript and I've managed to plan out 5 chapters this afternoon.  If I can get 5 done each day I should hopefully be finished with the planning by around the 20th but I'm not gonna rush it and confuse myself.

It'll be a MG fantasy and I'm already starting to get a feel for my main character's personality after only 5 chapters and 3 hours so that's pretty good, considering that this time last year I was planning out a grown-up misery memoir for NaNo24 so this is so totally different and needs a totally different part of my brain to work.

It's too close to bed-time for a hot choccie, but I'm back into the right headspace again now and will be able to totally focus on that for the rest of February ready for my NaNo24 manuscript to be torn to shreds and hopefully re-written in March.

Book Review: "My Summer In Israel" by Isaac Neuman

Kindle Unlimited     Hardcover     Paperback
⭐ out of 5 stars

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know that they all start off with the full library load of stars and that I'm always hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.

It's been a while since I last read and reviewed a children's book, but that's about to change.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

Oh dear.  I'm only on the first page of the book and the author is already treating it like an adult non-fiction book... a child would get confused about the numbers and explanations of each term used so the first star is coming off already.

The text is very hard to read because it's white text on a dark background and it's already giving me a headache, so after only 6 pages we are already down to 3 stars!

Now we've got what I assume is Hebrew that not even most adults would know even the basics of, let alone a child so the third star is, unfortunately, coming off.

As the book progresses, the explanations are getting harder and harder to understand because they are so blurry, so the final star is coming off and I'm giving up on it.  If a late 40's adult can't even finish the book then a child stands no chance!

Opinions please!

Now that I've got a printer that actually works and I've finished the initial research of my NaNo/JanNo book (which, for the first time in my life, will NOT be a children's book) that I can't do anything else with until I've got the delivery in my hands on Wednesday, I'm pondering on another first - printing out each manuscript and editing it on paper instead of just on the computer, like I have done up to now.

I've got a Neurological disability which severely affects my memory and makes me easily confused (according to an A&E medical bod in my hospital notes back in 2003/2004) and I can't afford to waste paper and ink if it doesn't work for me, but I'm pondering on printing and editing each of my MSs on paper instead of exclusively on screen like I have done up to now.

My new printer apparently does double-sided printing which will save paper, but I've never even seen that on a printer and I don't wanna get so peed off with it that I throw the whole thing through the window in a fit of utter frustration, but I wanna give each MS the best chance to shine in front of future agents that I query.

Soo, what do you reckon I should do please?  Stick to just technology for editing and keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't made any major screw-ups, or do I print out and hope that it helps rather than hinders me?

I'm open to any and all ideas you wanna throw my way!

Book Review: "Four Eids and a Funeral" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar

Kindle     Paperback
⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll know that I start them all off in the same way and that is by saying that every book I read and review starts off with the full heart-load of 5 stars and that I'm always hopeful that they'll all still be firmly stuck in place by the time I close the back cover.  You'll also know that I'm not shy about taking off stars, usually for copyright or trademark infringement but if there's a magic little sentence then that star stays firmly in place.  I also always give my reasons for taking off stars, they don't just disappear for no reason.

Let's get going shall we?

I love reading and learning about other cultures and I'm hoping I'll come out of the other side of this book a better person cos right now I have to admit that I don't know what an Eid is or even how to pronounce it!  I'm guessing that it's a date because of the cover and this is a children's book, but I'm hoping I'll find out for sure as I read this book.

I'm also a romantic at heart, but comedy is a toughie for me... most comedic books, especially rom-coms don't usually even start a smile... will this book be any different?  I really hope so!

Oh dear, a trademark infringement already... I'll give the authors the benefit of the doubt, but one more mention of a trademarked or copyrighted anything and the first star is coming off.

I don't know anything about Ms Barnes but I already care and understand after a single chapter.  Will this book have me in tears rather than laughter?

Oh dear, there's a swear at the start of the second chapter that really isn't appropriate for such a young audience so the first star is coming off already unfortunately.

And now there's a well-known singer so the wobbly star has officially fallen... that's two stars lost in 2 pages - will they be the only ones?

And another even worse swear on the next page that is really only suitable for older teens rather than the younger teens that this book is aimed at... this book started off amazingly well and I could honestly see me enjoying every word, but not any more.  Will I get to 25% without losing another star?

And another swear two paragraphs later... how on earth did this book get published?!

In the space of only three pages, this book has gone from "great going!" to  "I give up already" because there's another trademark mentioned.  It was a fantastic first chapter but I'm quickly losing hope of regaining that sense of being desperate to keep reading unfortunately.

Now children who are still at school are able to legally drive!  Maybe I'm out of touch with America, but over here in the UK that's illegal until you've got at least your provisional driving license!  That's another star gone now!  After only two chapters I'm already down to 2 stars so there's only one possible one left to lose before I stop reading waaay before the end of the book!

I've made it through 6% of the book so far this afternoon and I've already had to take 3 stars off... will I make it to 10% without taking off the last one?

Apparently there's 6 hours and 45 minutes left in the book so it seems like a good opportunity to finish for the night and get stuck in again tomorrow.  Thankfully that chapter was considerably better than the previous ones so maybe the authors were both having bad days when they wrote them?

Chapter 6 was OK to good-ish so hopefully I'm over the not-so-good bits now.  Gonna aim for another chapter before lunch and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll leave me feeling more positive than negative about the book.

Thaaat's more like it!  This book definitely has it's good points so the bad ones can almost be put to one side.  I've got 6 hours and 8 minutes left in the book apparently so I'm gonna aim for one more as I've read two in just under an hour so I'm hoping I'll've read another one in plenty of time.

Just finished reading the third chapter of the morning and I think I get where the comedy bit of this rom-com is supposed to be, but it's  a bit gentle for me and I haven't even started to smile yet.

Just finished Act 1... does that mean that I'm a third of the way through the book or something?  The authors are well into the characters lives now which makes for better reading I reckon.

And there goes the final star for copyright usage.  Only 36% of the way through and I'm giving up unfortunately.

Aaaand...

...we're back.

It's taken the best part of a month but the S4CG site (minus the members area) is finally back online.