National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month is only 8 days away and I still have not outlined my plot or compiled my list of scenes. All I know right now is that someone has to die in a bowl of won ton soup.

Every November writers around the world attempt to get 50,000 words on paper in 30 days. This amounts to about a 150-page novella - at the very least a good start on a novel. For the last five years I have caved in week three to things like writer's block, brain freeze, sleep deprivation, etc. This year, I am taking more time to plan my strategy.

Even though I work full-time and am also a full-time student and pet parent, I'm determined to get down those 50,000 words.

I have decided that I will get up an hour earlier each day, watch less TV and construct my scenes beforehand rather than just coming to the page unprepared with just my imagination. It may surprise you that the imagination cannot be rushed and can be quite stubborn when it wants to be.

Here's hoping that there are enough scenes to write about a murder that takes place in a Buckhead Chinese restaurant. For more information about how to join the madness visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Dali at the High Museum

The High Museum is having a Salvidor Dali exhibit through January 2011 and it reminded me of this fabulous photo I took on my trip to England in 2008. This is a Salvidor Dali bronze which is in residence at Chatsworth, a very famous historical house that was featured in the movie The Duchess. Mary Queen of Scots was under house arrest here for many years.

I was just thinking how surprised I was to find a Dali bronze at a country estate in England. I saw a billboard for the Dali exhibit on Piedmont Road and wanted to post this photo. It is quite a disturbing sculpture, but still as surreal as his paintings. I took this picture at an angle because it seemed to fit with the oddness of the moment.