A losing bet I was happy to win.
During my NaNoWriMo experience I would enter my word count at the end of each day. This practice kept me accountable to my goal of hitting 50,000 words on time. After recording my daily tally, I would check on my six writing buddies to see how they were holding up. About ten days into the challenge I noticed that one of my writing buddies had been keeping pace with me, staying ahead only by about a hundred or so words. I observed her growing word count through the middle of the month and it became clear that we had been on the exact same pace since day one.
My suspicion was that my buddy had engaged in a de facto competition between the two of us to see who could get to 50,000 first. Now that I knew about it, though, I decided to make it official.
I received a response almost immediately:
If you've read my blog in the past, you'll remember Sarah from the whole Butterbeer fiasco. Thanks to her intervention, the warm feelings I have for one of my favorite books, The Prisoner of Azkaban, were preserved.
Since she was ending each day ahead of me, I figured that I was clever enough to use her industriousness against her and get a little bit of promotion for myself in the process. But she called me on it:
And so the competition went on, and we were producing at about the same rate for several days. Then suddenly...
Taking a big lead was not my intent. Sometimes, however, when I really get into a story and the characters are talking and the plot is working and I can see the finish line, the flow becomes unstoppable.
Winning was all well and good, but there was something else that I wanted. I waited and waited for it, but didn't hear anything from Sarah about the blog post. There was a problem and it wasn't with her. In my charge to the end, my story-addled brain had forgotten the specifics of the bet.
Oops!
Honestly, though, I am glad to have won, because it allowed me to get to know someone that I never would have met had it not been for this foray into the writing life. Being a writer can be a lonely pursuit, and going from the activity and connection of teaching elementary school to the almost hermit-like lifestyle of writing books has been challenging for me on many levels. I'm thankful for things like Twitter and NaNoWriMo that allow writers to engage one another. These tools have connected me to traditionally-published, self-published, and unpublished authors and I've learned a lot about writing and publishing in the past six months. But enough about that, let me tell you about Sarah!
Sarah Viecelli's debut novel is She Who Bears the Mark, the first book of "The Golden Doors" series. She Who Bears the Mark is a YA fantasy title about a fifteen year-old girl named Sha'ara who discovers that she is at the center of an otherworldly prophecy. Interested readers can find early chapters of the book on Wattpad.
Sarah is a chocoholic with a worldly palate, counting dishes from Chinese, Italian and American menus among her favorites. A fan of Josh Groban and Celine Dion, she enjoys reading fantasy (Tolkien, Rowling and Lewis), young adult (John Green), and historical fiction (L.M. Montgomery). She is kept busy chasing after twin boys, who she charms with her uncanny abilities to formulate previously unspoken words, such as Daayumm, the definition of which is obviously "extremely impressive." Sarah calls herself a dork and is proud of her ability to create nearly anything through crochet (including a scale model of Deep Space Nine complete with working teleporter), her talents in the arts and crafts, and her general strangeness.
She Who Bears the Mark will be published in 2014 and I'm going to be the first to buy it, so just back that thing up, people. For more information about Sarah Viecelli, check out her tumblr here.
My suspicion was that my buddy had engaged in a de facto competition between the two of us to see who could get to 50,000 first. Now that I knew about it, though, I decided to make it official.
@ButterflyQuills We're on the same pace so far... First one to 50K wins! #NaNoWriMo
— Scott Ralph (@RalphSensei) November 20, 2013
I received a response almost immediately:
@RalphSensei Deal! So what do I win? HeeHee. #NaNoWriMo
— SarahViecelli (@ButterflyQuills) November 20, 2013
If you've read my blog in the past, you'll remember Sarah from the whole Butterbeer fiasco. Thanks to her intervention, the warm feelings I have for one of my favorite books, The Prisoner of Azkaban, were preserved.
@ButterflyQuills The winner has to blog about how awesome the other person is!
— Scott Ralph (@RalphSensei) November 20, 2013
Since she was ending each day ahead of me, I figured that I was clever enough to use her industriousness against her and get a little bit of promotion for myself in the process. But she called me on it:
@RalphSensei Hahaha! Wait, what? Sneaky author is sneaky.
— SarahViecelli (@ButterflyQuills) November 20, 2013
@RalphSensei Haha! You just want a shiny blog post about your apparent awesomeness.
— SarahViecelli (@ButterflyQuills) November 20, 2013
@ButterflyQuills Maybe....
— Scott Ralph (@RalphSensei) November 20, 2013
And so the competition went on, and we were producing at about the same rate for several days. Then suddenly...
@RalphSensei Oh my god, how are you over 48k this morning when yesterday you only had 44? Daayumm!
— SarahViecelli (@ButterflyQuills) November 26, 2013
Taking a big lead was not my intent. Sometimes, however, when I really get into a story and the characters are talking and the plot is working and I can see the finish line, the flow becomes unstoppable.
Wrapped up my #NaNoWriMo project today. Celebrated with even more writing: http://t.co/V2Qpgb1auS Winning smells good!
— Scott Ralph (@RalphSensei) November 27, 2013
Winning was all well and good, but there was something else that I wanted. I waited and waited for it, but didn't hear anything from Sarah about the blog post. There was a problem and it wasn't with her. In my charge to the end, my story-addled brain had forgotten the specifics of the bet.
@ButterflyQuills I believe there's a challenge result to discuss, my friend :)
— Scott Ralph (@RalphSensei) December 3, 2013
@RalphSensei Why, yes there is. You won, so you get to write about me! Haha
— SarahViecelli (@ButterflyQuills) December 3, 2013
Oops!
Honestly, though, I am glad to have won, because it allowed me to get to know someone that I never would have met had it not been for this foray into the writing life. Being a writer can be a lonely pursuit, and going from the activity and connection of teaching elementary school to the almost hermit-like lifestyle of writing books has been challenging for me on many levels. I'm thankful for things like Twitter and NaNoWriMo that allow writers to engage one another. These tools have connected me to traditionally-published, self-published, and unpublished authors and I've learned a lot about writing and publishing in the past six months. But enough about that, let me tell you about Sarah!
About the Author: Sarah Viecelli
Sarah Viecelli's debut novel is She Who Bears the Mark, the first book of "The Golden Doors" series. She Who Bears the Mark is a YA fantasy title about a fifteen year-old girl named Sha'ara who discovers that she is at the center of an otherworldly prophecy. Interested readers can find early chapters of the book on Wattpad.
Sarah is a chocoholic with a worldly palate, counting dishes from Chinese, Italian and American menus among her favorites. A fan of Josh Groban and Celine Dion, she enjoys reading fantasy (Tolkien, Rowling and Lewis), young adult (John Green), and historical fiction (L.M. Montgomery). She is kept busy chasing after twin boys, who she charms with her uncanny abilities to formulate previously unspoken words, such as Daayumm, the definition of which is obviously "extremely impressive." Sarah calls herself a dork and is proud of her ability to create nearly anything through crochet (including a scale model of Deep Space Nine complete with working teleporter), her talents in the arts and crafts, and her general strangeness.
She Who Bears the Mark will be published in 2014 and I'm going to be the first to buy it, so just back that thing up, people. For more information about Sarah Viecelli, check out her tumblr here.
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