A Very Late Update

Hello all!

Well, things in NaNoWriMo are now officially good. In my earlier days this month, I wasn't doing too well. I had a low word count and was actually behind on my word count at the end of the first week. That wasn't encouraging. Then I went to Write or Die on drwicked.com and boom! At the end of Week Three I have 45,313 words at the time I'm writing this. To get to the site, click: http://writeordie.drwicked.com -- I advise using Kamikaze mode, Strict timing, and with a word goal of 200 words for every 5 minutes. That'll make sense when you click the link.

What next... oh of course! My friend Sophie and I are putting together a book of poetry called Poetry Against Cancer, in aid of St John's Ward in Crumlin, Dublin. It's Ireland's only children's cancer ward, so it's a very worthy cause. We're looking for public submissions by December 15th. More info @ http://poetryagainstcancer.wordpress.com -- Please submit and spread the word!

Is there more? I can't remember... Well, I plan on writing a book that will go straight to a blog, but I want to know what the audience will be like first. I suppose I'll have to start writing it for that. But first, I need to edit Meet Sam. I'm hoping that between the end of The Wedding Singer and the end of my second semester at college I can edit it and get it sent off to a publisher.

Rebecca Woodhead and I were only talking about this on Twitter recently. We now refuse to use the word "if" when talking about us being published. It's now "when" we're both published. We've promised to do an event together, and sign our respective books for each other. I look forward to that day, whenever it might be.

Also related to Rebecca, because she's one of the coolest people ever (!), I'm going to be sending her a copy of the Poetry Against Cancer book when it's published. ^_^

Christmas is in less than five weeks - I have to get everything ready for it! And next Friday is Andrew's birthday party thingy, so I have to get wrapping paper for his present. And a card for him. I can't wait! ^_^

That's it, for now. Check out those two sites I told you about... OR ELSE!! (I love that term when it's in caps lock...)

Beatha agus sláine,
Paul

The Day Before The Music Began

Tomorrow is NaNoWriMo. Or at least, Day 1 of NaNoWriMo. Alarm set for 8 am, I'm ready to tackle a month of extreme novelling; The Wedding Singer will follow up Meet Sam, with less of a main-character-hearing-the-narrator feel to it. However, I liked the narrator last year, how I wrote with her voice in my head, so I'm going to write like that this year too.

I have my first sentence, which will be posted here tomorrow night. I'll tell you this though - Sophie Byrne will wake up at the same time as me. She'll live in the house across the street, sing her heart, break it a few times, fall in love, love a dog (but in a different way) and follow the ChartJackers. Yes, the ChartJackers.

Now, onto business. Darren Shan (AKA my HERO!!!) agreed so many months ago that I could Interview him. We tried to offer it to the public... they essentially said no. Soooo we're letting the public ask questions instead! I've announced it on Twitter, on Bebo and on the forum (better mention it on Facebook too!) - follow the hashtag #q4shan on Twitter to see the fans' questions! I'm super excited about this one, and will even try get to Limerick to see him for the Interview.

Please ask questions! ^_^

Inspiration strikes!

Well, it's been a week of college, and I'm loving it. In fact, I've been blogging about it on a seperate site, http://paulcarroll.wordpress.com/, where you can find out all about the highs and lows of week 1 of my new existence.

Speaking of new existences, I've officially begun my night life. Last night I went out for Niamh's birthday to find myself later at a nightclub. Or...beachclub? Bomdai (I think is how it's spelt). It was fun. And it was inspiring!

Let me explain; come November I will participating once again in NaNoWriMo, so I'm looking for my novel before I write it (sounding slightly crazy now...) I need scenes to move the story along, and because this protagonist is much livlier than Sam from Meet Sam, she will be going out during the story.

As I've only been to one nightclub, it will set there for a scene. As I sat drinking my non-alcoholic beverage, because I can't stress enough that I don't drink, my mind began to work out what to do with the nightclub. There was alcohol, and lots of it. There was a dancefloor. There were dozens of people, large security men, immature teens (late teens, of course) and, of course, girls in skirts that were too short. Then there's the music, thump-thump-thumping in your ear the entire night so you have to shout to be heard and strain your ears to listen.

Then when a song ends, maybe, just maybe, there is a moment of comparative silence. And that's the real climax of the night.

Since that happened, I know exactly what I have to do in the scene, and in various other scenes. It's been working itself out in my head for the entire day. She will live where I live, take the same buses and the same walking routes as I do, attend, even, the same college that I do. She will sing, occassionally drink, think about the world. She will live, yes live, and she will be happy. She will suffer, she will grow, she will find love and lose it and find it once again, and she will become known to anyone who might ever read the book as... The Wedding Singer.

I already have a few little things to throw into the fray that will stick in her life. Need to talk to a neighbour about one of them soon, make sure he's okay with something. I leave that sounding as suspicious as you want it to be!