NaNoWriMo 2013 ~ Day 3

Despite having to feed the kid, do laundry, and help a friend start her car, I was able to write 2,203 words today.  I'm really feeling good about that.  My total word count to date is 5,624. According to NaNoWriMo.org, if I continue at this rate I will reach my 50,000 words by November 28th. Which is great but I think I'm going to aim for November 20th.

Here's an excerpt from today's writing:
 Cars, trucks and SUVs littered the river front parking lot. I had to come up with a way to talk to some people without tapping on windows finding them in various stages of undress. I found a nice empty spot in the middle of the parking lot. A search through my music garnered the perfect party song. ‘Everybody get up….’ I turned the volume up as high as I has I could.  People started getting out of their cars a few at a time trying to see what was going on. ‘If you can’t hear what I’m trying to say…” I got out of the car and went around and opened my trunk.  Young people liked fancy shiny cars so many of them came over to check out the Corvette. ‘Okay now he was close, tried to domesticate you…”  I handed out beers as they walked up. It was strange how some people just took what people gave them without question. Most people liked free stuff. A few girls were dancing and a very tall guy was checking out my car, eyeing me occasionally.

                “Where you get this car from?” He kind of had a LeBron James look about him with the headband and everything.

                “The dealership,” I answered, holding a beer out to him.

                “Not my brand,” he said walking by me to the other side of the car.

                “You want to sell it?”

                “Uh no.  Hey how old are you?”

                “Old enough,” he said walking getting closer to me, invading my personal space.

                “Back off tiger, I’m too good for you,” I said pushing him away. “I was wondering if you knew this guy.” 

He took the picture from me and examined it. “He looks familiar. Yeah, that’s DL. My football team and theirs are rivals.”

                “Have you seen him recently?”

                “Naw, but I saw his girl, with her fine ass.” He kind of mumbled that last part under his breath.

 I held back a smile. I took the picture from him and gave him my card. “Give me a call if you see either one of them. Danny’s folks are looking for him.”

                “His folks?” ‘LeBron’ looked kind of confused. “I heard his mama-nem were dead.”

                “His adoptive family.”

                “Oh yeah, Cruella De Ville.”

A giggle did escape my lips after that statement. That’s who old girl reminded me of. “He hasn’t been home in a few days and the mother, Mrs. Long, has been in the hospital ever since.” I closed the empty cooler and let the trunk down. I heard a few grumbles from the crowd. “I can’t hang out with yall all night. It’s my naptime.”

                “Can I go home with you?” ‘LeBron’ asked.

                “No sir. You’re not worth me going to jail for.”

                “I won’t tell if you won’t,” The crowd fist pumped and cheered.

I smiled and got in my car. “Maybe in a few years.”

“My 18^th birthday next month,” He yelled as I was driving away. “I’ll give you a call, you know, if I see DL.” I waved and sped off. 

NaNoWriMo 2013 ~ Day 2 Update

Oh yes, it's been a long time since I've blogged and a very long time since I've done NaNoWriMo but here I is. LOL

This is day two of the challenge and I am happily sitting at 3,421 words.  Yippee, 87 words ahead.

The story that I am writing is book two in the Sandra "Sassy" Johnson series.  Sassy is a successful private investigator who is in denial about her drinking problem. She specializes in finding missing people although she also ends up solving murders.  Sassy is a divorcee but can't seem to completely get away from her ex husband.  She feels that the fact that she was born on Halloween is the reason for her bad luck in love.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 1.  Let me know what you think.

The clock on the wall read 10:05 am and apparently I had fallen asleep because when I looked at it again it was 3:30 pm. Boy was my neck hurting. I got up to stretch and get the kinks out and noticed I was wet. I wasn’t sure if I had wasted Crown Royal on it or if I had pee peed on myself. Either way I knew it was time to get in the shower and get dressed. I had a bride’s maids dress to get fitted for and I refused to look thrown away.  My hair was braided so I didn’t have to worry about getting it done or messing it up too bad.

On my way to the bathroom my cell phone rang.

            “Hello?”

            “Girl, what’s wrong with you? You sound half dead.”

            “I’m good. What’s up Cole?”

            “Sassy Johnson, do not tell me that you have forgotten our David’s Bridal appointment?”

            “No ma’am, I just remembered.”  We both were quiet for a minute.

            “Sassy?”

            “Yes, I’m getting in the shower now.”

            “Are you okay?”

            “Yep, I’m good. Get off the phone. I can’t talk to you and wash my behind at the same damn time.”

            “Okay, see you later.”

At 4:30 pm, I backed into the space next to Cole Slaw’s car right in front of David’s Bridal.  I let her get out of her car before first before I opened my door.  I had baptized my eyes in visine before leaving the apartment so I hoped she wouldn’t notice the redness once I took my shades off.

            “Nicole Slawyer, engagement is looking better and better on you.” I said, embracing my friend.  I could tell she had lost maybe 20-30 pounds.  Her skin even looked better. 

            “I took a page out of your book and started working out.  I also cut back on the sodas.”

            “Great job, you look good girl.  Keep it up.”

            “I’m trying.”

The happy, smiling employees greeted us at the double doors.  Cole told them her name and one of the women guided us to the back dressing room where our consultant was ready with a tape measure around her neck and straight pins stuck in the bottom of her shirt, ready to work.

Cole had already picked out her dress so she was just there to get it hemmed.  I watched the seamstress work for a while then I began to wonder around the store looking at the other women that were trying on dresses. Some had made very nice choices and some needed to go back to the drawing board because the dresses really didn’t compliment them, in my opinion.  I found the bridesmaids section and noticed a couple of the dresses that matched the royal blue swatch Cole had given me.  Most of them were pretty revealing which really wasn’t my style.  Sexy was different from being slutty. I made a mental note to ask my secretary, Ms. Alma if she knew anyone who could sew me a custom made dress.

We were in David’s Bridal for a little over an hour before they got Cole Slaw dress the way she wanted it.  She made another appointment to pick it up after all the alterations and cleaning was completed. 

As soon as we stepped out into the sun we looked at each other and said, as if on cue, “You hungry?”   

            “Girl, yes” I said. “I was trying to have a little patience but I promise I was drooling once I caught a whiff of the Taco Bell smells.”

            “Let’s go to this authentic Mexican restaurant down the street,” Cole suggested.

            “Hey, that’s even better. How are they’re margaritas?”

            “LOL girl, you don’t need anything else to drink today. I know you don’t think I’m dumb enough not to know that you drank the whole morning away.”

            “Huh?”

            “Huh, my ass. Take off them damn shades.”

I had forgotten all about the shades. Slowly I took the glasses off folding them trying not to make eye contact.  Cole Slaw grabbed my face and looked into my eyes.

            “Girl, look at the bags under your eyes. You better get yourself together before my wedding or you and me are going to have to fight. I do not want no drunk chick in my wedding stumbling down the aisle.”

            “I’ve never stumbled a day in my life,” I said snatching away from her.

            “Sassy, I’m serious. I know you are going through some things but you have to stop drinking so much. You’re like a sister to me so I’m getting on you because I love you.”

            “I know. Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

I was sick of everyone telling me that I needed to stop drinking like I was a wino or something. Shit wasn’t even that serious. 

You Tube is my boo thang

I've been making videos since January of 2010 and have been loving every minute of it. I started off just talking about my natural hair journey but my channel has evolved into something greater. It has basically become my own set of commercials for my crafts. I'm apart of two groups Fresh Off tha Hook (FOTH) and Gifted Hands (GH). They are sister groups but FOTH focuses on nothing but crochet and GH lets us showcase all other handmade items.

Even though I've only been making videos for a year, I've been watching YouTube videos since 2006. The videos I make incorporate some of the things that I've learned from watching other video vloggers.

Sometimes I miss writing but one day I'll figure out a way to incorporate my love of writing into my new love of making videos. Ideas are floating around in my head but I'll keep them to myself until the time is right.

Here are two of my most recent videos if you want to check them out.

Tragedy at Home

 This morning, one of my co-workers was murdered. He, his wife, and his daughter were shot by the daughter's boyfriend. The boyfriend fled with his four year old daughter but turned himself in at a local police station four hours later.

Hearing this news made me both sad and mad. Whenever I hear about domestic violence, it makes me sick to my stomach. Next month, February 7th, marks the 15th anniversary of my mother's death. She was a victim of domestic violence and lost her life as a result.

Throughout my childhood, not a weekend passed where my mother and one of my stepfathers didn't argue or fight. Sometimes, I would wake up to splatters of blood all of the house and since I didn't see anyone laid out on the floor I assumed they were okay.

The week before my mother's death, I remember stopping by the rooming house she lived in every day for two weeks. I even knocked on the neighbors doors and no one had seen her or her boyfriend.

Periodically, I had seen news reports about a woman's body being found by some fisherman in a lake in a small town in Mississippi. Authorities were having trouble identifying the body. The Mississippi and Tennessee police eventually got together and ran her fingerprints. If it hadn't been for the time mom had spent in jail after cutting a previous boyfriend, we probably would have never found out what happened to her.

I had just made it home from a college class when my aunts and uncles showed up at my dad's house. When they told me the news, all I could say was, "I knew it was her, I knew it was her."

Two weeks before my 21st birthday, my mom was gone--forever. Domestic violence, to me, is the worse crime ever. How could you hurt or kill someone that you claim to love? I don't want anyone to love me that much.

Cyber Family Time

When I'm not crocheting my fingers to the bone, with mountains of yarn scraps surrounding my desk chair, the kid and I have been making weekly YouTube videos. Haven't done too many natural hair videos lately because I've been wearing a lot of hats to work. You know, slick advertising and what not (and it's working, YES!).

I used to sneak and do my videos when the kid was asleep, sometimes I even did them in the car. But when I realized that having the kid's participation made for a better, more fun-filled video, I decided to include him. If he wasn't feeling to honery of course (which is hardly ever). He's been addicted to getting his picture taken since he came into the world so making videos was just a natural progression.

Of course, if he ever gets to the point where he doesn't want to be bothered, I completely understand. Hey I can be funny and entertaining all by myself. I don't need no cute little smart alek 4 year old to make my videos fantastic... Well, it wouldn't be as much fun. So I'm going to milk this for all it's worth. LOL

Hey, some people may think that I'm taking advantage of my son and using his cute face and silly antics for my own personal gain. You know what I say to that? Times is hard and the kid is going to have to get a job one day so he might as well figure out how to market his skills now.

{crickets}

It's not like he's really doing a whole lot. He's just being himself, which would be great for ratings if we were on a real tv show. But as it stands, he takes some of the pressure off of me when I'm attempting to make a not so boring show and tell type video for my crochet items.

Cyber family time is the new black.

Not sure what that means. It just sounded good in my head.