I admit to a certain trepidation for NaNoWriMo this year. I've had success in the past, but adopting a puppy midway through last year meant utter failure (I caveat that though by saying that I did add another 36,000 words to a book I'm working on). So I rolled in with good intentions and found that with a strong start, I managed to maintain it with a couple of hours a day until I finished on 26 November, four days early! I've been basking in the glow of accomplishment since, and doing very little I might add, as I regenerate do that I can finally finish the third book in my Gliesiun Chronicles - Titan Rising. I had really hoped to finish it with this 50,000 word push but no such luck. Honestly I just want it done because I have a contemporary fantasy almost ready to pill out. However, there is work left though I predict, not much more than two or three chapters so I know what my holiday plans are. Until then, I look forward to some badly needed hiking, something which I've done without these last four weeks. Hestia, the cause of my failure last year, and a bit of a writing distraction this year, will be much happier for it.

I tried it last year - to complete on old novel that's been gathering dust for a few years now. It's the final book in my military scifi trilogy and I've simply been sitting on it too long. NaNoWriMo 2016 seemed like a great opportunity to punch out 50,000 more words and perhaps finish it. After a great initial few days I made one of the silliest mistakes a writer can make when trying to finish this challenge...I got a puppy.

Her name was Hestia and she was a ten week old shepard/husky cross that demanded constant attention (housebreaking was a massive challenge) and she ultimately sank my aspirations to finish. I wasn't too hard on myself, mind, as I did add another 36,000 words to the book - no small feat in the end, but I never finished it. I didn't touch it again since I was focusing on a hard edit of my third Scarlet Bastards book, The Bone Witch (my 2014 NaNoWriMo success story).

So here I am into day four of NaNoWriMo 2017 with the same plan in place - finish Titan Rising. I'm a day behind already though I'm hoping to play catch up this weekend, but I feel if I can finish this book, and in the end, this series, I'll be pretty happy and ready to move on to some new projects. 

​Wish me luck!