I did not win NaNoWriMo this year. I've never won NaNoWriMo come to think of it.

I'd like to find the people who decided National Novel Writing Month should be in November and kindly ask them to move it July or August. November just doesn't work for me. Firstly, I'm a teacher. Parent teacher conferences are in November,  report cards are also usually out at this time (We are doing them later this year for whatever reason). My husband's birthday and our wedding anniversary fall within a week of each other during this month so typically that is two days of totally justified family time. Finally, not that it is an issue this year, but in NaNoWriMo's of the past I was busy preparing for my regional qualifier for Irish dance. Important dance classes, competitions each weekend, extra practicing, all leading up to the big weekend before Thanksgiving were dancers of all ages in New England would compete for a chance to qualify for nationals or worlds. Add Thanksgiving prep, the day itself, in years past I would go shopping on Black Friday, and you can see why I was lucky to crack 15,000 words in previous years, if I attempted it at all.

This year I was lucky to have some time off in the beginning of November as my maternity leave was coming to a close. I also had lots of ideas where some years I've had nothing planned. Honestly, I was working on something totally different for NaNoWriMo like days before November first (almost 9,000 words on that project so that makes me feel better. This year was also different in the sense that I was attempting NaNoWriMo with an infant. I knew going in that it was going to be tough, but wondered if I would have better luck because of different responsibilities. No dance but a lot of typing with one hand while I held the baby in the other, but I really don't see this year as a failure.

My final total (There is still about an hour and a half left but I'm not feeling it anymore today) was 37,243. Some days were better than others. One day I got over 8,000 words another day I got only 500. That's almost 40,000 words that I would not have gotten if I hadn't tried at all. I also knew going in that this story was going to be more than 50,000 words and was using NaNoWriMo as more of an accountability challenge, and with the exception of this week where I stopped pushing because I was getting stressed out, I wrote everyday (With a few exceptions like hubby's birthday)  Add the word count from my previous project and I was almost at my goal. Not too shabby for having a baby 11 weeks ago.

I'm going to keep working on this WIP as I believe it has a home somewhere out there. It won't be ready to pitch on Thursday for PitMad, but I'm hoping by March as this is technically a new draft of an older story. I will definitely be attempting NaNoWriMo20 and trying to write everyday has truly proved to me that I'm in the wrong profession so I consider that a win in it's own way.

Did you accomplish your NaNoWriMo goals? Did you learn anything whether you finished or not?

Yours in Writing,

Kay Bennson

I feel like most people see the word Multiverse and they think of this:

Sadly, I'm not here to talk about all those guys (Though I would totally do that challenge where you watch all their movies for money, just saying).

I'm not sure if multiverse is the right word.  I'm thinking more about various stories in the same universe and even the same story from a different point of view. Personally, I love them! I feel like you get to know the world the characters live in better, and maybe there is one you love and didn't get enough of in a previous book and you get more time with them because they get their own story!

In addition to writing, I am a content editor for The Parliament House, and the author I am currently working with has several books set to be published in 2020 and beyond. Though they are retellings of different fairy tales, they all exist in the same kingdom or "universe". Book one featured one particular character and the book I am currently working on has the main character from book one's younger sister as the protagonist. It's more of a spin off than a sequel but I feel like I've fallen in love with the lead in book two because she's gotten her own platform to let her personality really glow.  I'm purposely keeping this as a vague as possible because I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm hoping there will be more books like this from this author!

Though so much of it is not considered canon anymore, I also think of the Star Wars Expanded universe as I write this post as well. There were new generations of characters. New worlds to be explored and it seemed like the content was limitless. Even now that Disney has rendered most of that useless, there are still books coming out all the time to fill in details and flesh out characters. I personally grew up reading the books about Pre-Phantom Menace Obi Wan and Qui Gon Jinn and I ate that junk up.  Stars wars has many authors writing for them, but they are all still part of that giant world.

To shift the topic slightly, I also like alternate points of view of the same tale. There's just something special about seeing the story through another character's eyes. It's intimate and you get to really delve into the knitty gritty of their personality. Veronica Roth did this with her Divergent Series by releasing Four after she finished her previous books. Can't forget how Stephenie Meyer had started a version of Twilight from Edward's point of view. I totally read that draft back in the day...I still wonder if we'll get the full version one day or if Life and Death is the closest we're going to get (roles reversed, not a different point of view, but I digress...).

I had always had planned on Rosementh, the world from Enshrine being like this. Besides obvious linear sequels, I had Martin staring in a prequel. Plans for each of Sage's sisters to have their own adventure. Even their father Ezekiel, the war hero, having his own chance.  Really there were so many characters that could have a chance to tell their tale.

A friend of my mine recently picked up Enshrine for the first time and has been telling me where she is and how much she enjoys the book (I love when people do this. It makes me feel great!) but it reminded me that I had starting writing Enshrine from Jonty's point of view and I read it last night and...MY WORD. I need to sort out what I'm doing with my titles that are coming up for renewal because I'm thinking of adding it back into my Work in Progress pile and I have WAY too many stories vying for space and not enough time to really even focus on one of them right now. LOL

What are your thoughts on "multiverses", spin offs, and different points of view? Comment below!

Please don't forget that my Shrewdest Faction Giveaway goes live tonight at Midnight and runs until December 2nd. It's going to be fun to see how many entries this thing can get!

Happy Writing,

Kay Bennson

Okay, first of all can we talk about how GOOD this came out? Like, I'm really proud of myself. The only thing I still have to figure out is how to superimpose over different colors, but I'm satisfied for now!

THANKSGIVING! BLACK FRIDAY! SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY! CYBER MONDAY! OTHER RANDOM THINGS I CAN TYPE IN ALL CAPS!

All of these things are happening in the coming week! I don't know about you, but I'm am very thankful this year! Not only for my health and my sweet baby (because he is awesome), but for my readers, fellow writers, and the fact that I am able to do something I love everyday even if it's only for a few minutes. I want to share my thankful vibes by offering a giveaway!

I'm giving away a signed copy of my most recent book Shrewdest Faction: A Squad Treble Novel. I also wanted to throw in some other fun goodies. I wanted them to be in the theme of Cassie and the squad (may have to fine tune this when I run another giveaway next month for Christmas) but I'm keeping it more writer or reader friendly for now. You will also receive a $10 dollar Amazon gift card and a Studio Oh notebook if you win. (Their notebooks are adorable, I'm probably asking for some for Christmas) All together a $35 dollar value!

Here's what to do: Starting Monday, November 25th you can head to Rafflecopter (The link is below) and see how there are various ways to get entries. Some are as simple as answering a question and clicking a button (You can click for an entry everyday!). You can earn more points by following me on social media and mega points if you review one of my books that you've previously purchased AND/OR buying Limited Truth or Enshrine (again, previous purchases count!). Take a picture of your copy or your receipt of purchase. You can email those to me at [email protected]. I would love to share your photos and get the word out!

The giveaway runs until Monday, December 2nd. I'm planning on doing at least one more for Christmas so fear not if you don't get it this time!

Good luck, Happy Thanksgiving, and don't forget to support your local businesses and artists!

Kay Bennson

I'm trying to be more present on my blog, and in the process, I'm trying to be better about promoting myself and my books. I want to pay it forward and promote others too!

If you want to be a guest on my blog, please drop me a line in the contact box section. I can interview you or you can have a guest post.

I'm also up for reviewing books, but I have a few disclaimers:

• I work full time in addition to writing and editing.
• I have an infant.
• I will totally feature you if you write nonfiction, but it's just not my thing to review.

I promise I will get to your book and post about it, it might just be a while.

Looking forward to this!

Long time no see! Going to just get to the point with this one.

The biggest thing I have been up to is that I gave birth to my son Dominik on September 12th.  Now I can write about pregnancy and birth and do it justice! I'm sure this sounds cliche, but I really can't imagine life without him now that he's here. Don't get me wrong, he does not sleep for very long clips and is currently the reason why I can't eat pasta sauce, but so far being his mother has been a joy.

My maternity leave ended last week, and I was able to do quite a bit of writing, but I'll get to that later!

The last time I posted, I hadn't mentioned that my newest book SHREWDEST FACTION: A SQUAD TREBLE NOVEL had come out...honestly, that was partially because it a bit of a menagerie. I didn't post about anything at the time, and I'm pretty sure my publisher doesn't police my blog, and even if they do, my new way of life is giving zero you know what's, or at least trying. So here is the concise, as professional as I can be summary of that tale:

• I had the cover you see here made when I got the contract for SHREWDEST FACTION. I used the same cover artist last time and with ENSHRINE with no issues.
• Somewhere along the line my publisher's policy on outside covers changed (I don't mean to be rude, but the covers they do are yikes to say the least which is why ALL of mine were made by The Book Khaleesi.) Long story short they rejected the cover.
• I had an existential crisis and did not answer them, proofread my book, or do writing of any kind because FEELINGS.
• Months later they were like "Um...you alive?" and I had to finally have confrontation (which I loathe) and tell them how unhappy I was.
• I was told (even after explaining that SHREWDEST FACTION was the second book in a series; they have so many authors I'm convinced they can't keep all of us straight and they don't do one contract for multiple titles) to have one of their covers (again yikes) or to pay for the rights back on SF.
• Did I mention that all of this happened while on vacation? Yeah...
• Just when I was getting ready to shell out, I was told they would let me use the cover I paid for BUT NEVER AGAIN! (I exaggerate)

So yes, I got the cover that matches book one, but I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with this situation. I will not, repeat WILL NOT go through this again with book three. I'm not going to have a low quality cover that makes no sense because of ego or not wanting to be considered a vanity press or what have you. The whole situation is making me not want to submit with my publisher ever again and when Enshrine's contract is up in the next few months I'm going to think very hard before renewing. I am not completely innocent in this, I should have spoke up earlier, I could have submitted Limited Truth elsewhere, but I didn't. Squad Treble is supposed to be four books and now I have to wait for their contracts to potentially run out so I can try to submit to an agent who might take previously published works (sounds like they're a rarity) all because I wanted a cover that would help sell my books. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but we are all kidding ourselves if we think that doesn't matter. Maybe I'm asking too much to have input on reflections of myself?

So much for being concise.

On a much more positive note, I've been freelancing a bunch.  Primarily, I have been working as a content editor for another small publisher. I will get royalties for that in spring of 2020. I've also been assisting on a Korean to English comic and it is adorable. I did a few ghostwriting assignments, but they want those erotica romance stories that aren't really my wheelhouse. Some money is better than no money, right?

0Number one thing: being more present here and on social media. Now that I'm home more and not dancing, I'm doing my damndest to promote my books that are already out. Enshrine is going up for some new reviews and Limited Truth is going on a blog tour in January 2020. I'm going to be better about posting on here as well. (No really!)

I'm planning on posting to this blog once a week. I'll be posting about what I'm working on, but other things too. I'll probably do a seperate post about this, but I'd like to promote other writers, authors, and artists. If you want in, let me know in the contact me tab!

I had really terrible writers block for almost the entirety of my pregnancy. I think this was partially due to Cover-gate (why work on something that was going to end up with an unprofessional looking cover?) and having no prospects to go up for query else where, but also just from being tired and uncomfortable. I wrote a few snippets, but was not in love (which apparently is called Imposter Syndrome???)

Now I have the opposite problem. I've got four WIPs and I'm wishing I could still be home writing all day long (getting really good typing one handed with the baby). There is a whole Works in projects page now so I won't elaborate, but the third squad treble book is coming along (but don't expect it anytime soon), I've got something Going for NaNoWriMo (I'll talk about it in the next paragraph). a dystopian I may jump back one I start querying the NaNoWriMo book, and a gymnastics thing I hope to tackle.

So I feel like my NaNoWriMo project is kind of cheating, but if nothing more, the challenge is keeping me accountable. It's an old WIP, like from before I was married and was still in college blast from the past. The rough draft was finished way back when and then I started a second round shortly after. NaNoWriMo has been mostly me typing it up but also changing and adding things because it was overwritten and a little too "my man left me, woe is my sham of a life" for 2019/2020. I'm hoping to polish it after this round and query agents if all goes to plan by early 2020.

So look for me this weekend, though I may post about featuring other creators before that!

Yours in writing,

Kay