Hurricane Sandy + NaNoWriMo

L-R: Morning till early afternoon of October 29

Due to the major catastrophe that was Hurricane Sandy, I've been at home all week and unable to get into the City, as the subways are still not running and the power is out at my office. (Last I heard, they will be opening up with limited service tomorrow at 6AM. You can check this document for more information about the routes that will be available.) 

I'm certainly grateful that my apartment-mates and I escaped the brunt of the damage, as well as the power outages. My heart does go out, however, to everyone that was affected - be it by power outages, excessive flooding, or trees/electrical posts/debris falling. There's certainly a lot of physical and financial damage to be addressed, but it warms my heart to see how the government and denizens of New York and other affected states are addressing the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The cabin fever is getting to me though, so I'm certainly going to try and take the opportunity to get out of my house and see how I can help out in the City today. While you're reading this post, I'll (hopefully) be volunteering at one of the shelters.

In other news, today is the first day of the monthlong event known as National Novel Writing Month. While I do recall participating halfheartedly in my own version of the event, this year, I've decided to make it official and have signed up on the site. Though the thought of writing 50,000 words by the end of the month intimidates me, it also feels like the right time to take it on. I'm determined to be able to pound out a rough first draft of the novel that Lena and I have been chatting about, at least the part from the perspective of the character that I've chosen.

I'm writing this post the day before the event starts, and I have nothing but a beginning and an ending to work with. I was planning to outline, and maybe I will before the night ends, but at the moment, it looks like I'll be working spontaneously on this piece. I've never done that before, but hey, there's a first time for everything, right? 

Wish me luck! Also, if you've decided to participate as well, please feel free to add me on the site as a writing buddy (user: alexalovesbooks) and we'll support each other in our attempts to hit that glorious 50K.