The contents of NaNoWriMo Joe have been merged with the Average Joe American home page at www.AverageJoeAmerican.US. This page will no longer be updated. Update your bookmarks and feed subscriptions today.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Merging and Consolidating

Welcome to 2009, and the streamlined online presence of Average Joe American. In my attempt to reduce the amount of time I spend online, allowing me to spend more time with my family and working on endeavors such as my writing (yes, I expect to publish my first novel this year), all content from NaNoWriMo Joe has been merged with the Average Joe American home page.

There is now one online home for all of your favorite content from Average Joe. Podcasts, writing, reviews, and opinion are now all conveniently located at www.AverageJoeAmerican.US .

Update your bookmarks and your feed subscription today.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Editing the Draft Begins

Now that I have completed my first novel, 24 Hours With Spencer Field (just a working title, for now), I have pulled it from the web and have begun rereading and editing the first (very rough) draft into something that will hopefully be much more readable. I have also passed copies of the manuscript on to two trusted individuals to screen the work for me, and hope to be receiving their input soon.

I already have a plot forming for the sequel, as well as another totally unrelated (and of a different genre) book. The creative muse that was fostered through National Novel Writing Month hasn't stopped flowing, and I want to take advantage of the momentum while it lasts.

I will soon be preparing 24 Hours for publication and reviewing self-publishing options, and am open to any suggestions or input.

Stay tuned to NaNoWriMo Joe for updates.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

#NaNoWriMo: Mission Accomplished!

NaNoWriMoWith six days left in the month of November, I have completed the rough draft of my first novel, 24 Hours With Spencer Field, and have been officially declared a WINNER of this year's National Novel Writing Month challenge.

My novel came to me surprisingly smoothly. I thought I had an idea for the book, but scrapped that on October 31st and flew by the seat of my pants. My characters took over and the novel wrote itself.

I will be taking a couple of weeks away from the novel to clear my head and enjoy the holidays with family. Then, after Christmas, I'll dig back into the rough draft and do some rewrite work on it, hopefully soliciting some proof-readers and reviewers, and look into self-publishing and print-on-demand options.

Writing has been something I have enjoyed all of my life. I have written several short stories and many, many poems, and have always wanted to write a novel. It's something that I have always thought I was just too busy to be able to sit down and commit the time to. NaNoWriMo proved me wrong, and I now have my first novel (and a serious start on the plot for the sequel to it) to prove it.


Monday, November 24, 2008

The Joe Show 90 - #NaNoWriMo Mix 4

Average Joe Radio
presents



The Joe Show
featuring
Average Joe American


Episode Ninety: NaNoWriMo Mix 4

Free MP3 Download

Word count verification for National Novel Writing Month 2008 begins tomorrow. Are you ready yet? My NaNoWriMo project this year is ready, at just over 50,000 words. The novel is done, and I'm quite happy with it. Of course, after taking the month of Decmeber to clear my mind, I'll begin editing my rough draft into something a bit more presentable, then possibly looking at self-publishing and print-on-demand options.

You can check the novel out now by requesting access permission, then pointing your browser to NaNoWriMo Joe.

In the meantime, if you aren't done with your novel yet, here is the fourth and final installment of some great instrumental music that is perfect to write by.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Joe Show 89 - #NaNoWriMo Mix 3

Average Joe Radio
presents



The Joe Show
featuring
Average Joe American


Episode Eighty-Nine: NaNoWriMo Mix 3

Free MP3 Download


Wow! November is half over, and NaNoWriMo participants should be halfway through their novels by now. That's 25,000 words. My goal this evening is to break the 30,000 word mark, which will be an easy task, thanks to two productive writing sprints earlier today.

The novel, 24 Hours With Spencer Field, is coming along quite well. In fact, I have already thought of the sequel to the book, including the title (which I won't reveal yet here). You can follow my WriMo progress, as well as read the novel as it unfolds, by requesting access, then pointing your browser to NaNoWriMo Joe and subscribing.

Today's WriMo mix includes the following:

rob costlow | reflections | magnatune

ehren starks | the tale of room 620 | magnatune

swivel neck jones | arlos auto parts and salvation | magnatune

jeff wahl | going to the circus | magnatune

solar cycle | ray of life | magnatune

mountain mirrors | your dirge | magnatune

robert rich | parallel horizons | magnatune

matt stevens | burning bandstands | podsafe music network

jade leary
| we were eternal | magnatune

tripsitter | outro | podsafe music network



Phone: (317) 644-6129
Email Feedback: joe@averagejoeamerican.us



Your comments?


Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Joe Show 88 - #NaNoWriMo Mix 2

Average Joe Radio
presents



The Joe Show
featuring
Average Joe American


Episode Eighty-Eight:

Free MP3 Download

It's National Novel Writing Month, and here is my second installment of music to write by. Last night I passed my total for the entire month of last year with 12,659 words. My novel is coming along very well with a story that I believe shows promise. You can follow my WriMo progress, as well as read the novel as it unfolds, by requesting access, then pointing your browser to NaNoWriMo Joe and subscribing.

Today's WriMo mix includes the following:

liveloop | interaction | podsafe music network

brad senne | into the moon | magnatune

rob costlow | meant to be | magnatune

ehren starks | sunset in pensacola | magnatune

jeff wahl | tristan and isolde | magnatune

john williams | old man rocking chair | magnatune

robert rich | points between | magnatune

mountain mirrors | praying mantis | magnatune

mike rayburn | iron ring | ioda promonet

jeff wahl | linus and lucy | magnatune


Phone: (317) 644-6129
Email Feedback: joe@averagejoeamerican.us



Your comments?


Saturday, October 25, 2008

My NaNoWriMo '08 Method -- and More

This year, for my NaNoWriMo effort, I'm considering taking a slightly different approach. Rather than sitting down and trying to complete a 50,000 work novel from beginning to end, I'm considering writing just one scene at a time.

I am now working on notes for several scenes in the story. My thinking is that by focusing on each scene as an individual story I might be able to crack through the possibility of writer's block. I can then later (possibly after November) lace the scenes together with additional narrative, hopefully resulting in a plot that tells the whole story.

Also, I'll be doing something special each week, beginning next week, for NaNoWriMo with The Joe Show. I'm going to create each week a podcast of independent music that I believe will help me (and possibly others) to tune out background noise and focus more intently on the story I am writing. Each episode will be approximately an hour long, with no talk between a brief introduction and closing.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Day That No One Died -- Final Thoughts

NaNoJoeSo there you have it, the nearly 12,000 words that I wrote during my first attempt at National Novel Writing Month in 2007. I never got the story finished, and it now sits atop a pile of unfinished works in progress (though the progress is questionable).

This year I hope to make much more progress in the process. Over the remaining two weeks before the kick off of NaNoWriMo, I'll be putting my thoughts together and hopefully formulating some plans for this years novel attempt.

Stay tuned....

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Day That No One Died (10)

Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.
* * *

Thirty seconds later, Daryl was dialing the phone.

"Well?" Charlie asked as he picked up the phone.

"Could a pwease speaka wifa misser Challs Coaton?" Daryl asked in his best [terrible] Charlie Chan type impersonation.

"Like it that much, did you?"

"You really should answer your phone with a more traditional 'Hello,' you know."

"Hello. Well?"

"You rock, man."

"I try."

"The piece is great. Just what I was looking for, really. A little folk, a little rock, and a lot of Joe."

"I aim to please."

"What do I owe you?"

"Your undying gratitude."

"Always."

"And a coffee."

"The usual place?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"How about thirty?"

"Twenty," Charlie said. "You'll be glad you didn't wait." Click.

* * *

"Wow. I thought I'd be the one waiting on you," Charlie said as he slid into the seat across from Daryl.

"You didn't really give me much choice, did you? And besides, you made it sound pretty urgent."

"We're a little beyond urgent," Charlie said, sliding a file folder across the table to Daryl.

"Did you ever feel like you're some Mike Hammer wannabe in a dime-store mystery novel?"

"Now that you mention it. No," Charlie said. "Open it and take a look."

Daryl flipped slowly through the three pages inside the folder. "I thought we already looked at these," Daryl said, recognizing the lab notes he absconded with from the hospital records room.

"We did."

"Okay, Mike Hammer. Spill the beans."

"You still don't see it there, do you?"

"Looks like a bunch of hieroglyphs to me," Daryl said. "Same as before."

"Of course."

"Did you call me out here just to tell me that you still have no idea what's going on."

"No, sir."

"Then spill it already."

"I knew you'd catch on."

"I'm not following you here, Charlie."

"Spill it," Charlie teased. "You said 'spill it'."

"It's nice to know you can hear me, at least."

"Alright, listen," Charlie began, lowering his voice and leaning into the table toward his podcaster friend.

Daryl set down his coffee and mirrored Charlie's position.

Charlie plunked down a small mp3 player on the tabletop and pressed PLAY. Music started.

FROM UNDERNEATH THE TREES WE WATCH THE SKY CONFUSING STARS FOR SATELLITES.
I NEVER DREAMED THAT YOU'D BE MINE BUT HERE WE ARE. WE'RE HERE TONIGHT.


"I don't get--"

"Just listen," Charlie insisted.

SINGIN' AMEN I, I'M ALIVE. SINGIN' AMEN I, I'M ALIVE.
IF EVERYONE CARED AND NOBODY CRIED. IF EVERYONE LOVED AND NOBODY LIED.


"Charlie--"

"Listen!"

IF EVERYONE SHARED AND SWALLOWED THEIR PRIDE, THEN WE'D SEE THE DAY WHEN NOBODY DIED.

Charlie stopped the song.

"What was that all about?" Daryl asked.

"Of all things, I would think you would understand music the best, Joe."

"Nickelback. If Everyone Cared. Awesome song. But what does it have to do--"

"Did you listen to the words, or were you too busy interrupting to hear them?"

"Of course I listened, but--"

"Sing it."

"Yeah, you're the singer, remember? I just play the tunes."

"Just tell me what you heard, Joe."

"From underneath the trees--"

"The last verse I played."

"If everyone shared and swallowed their pride, then we'd see the day when nobody died."

"Bingo!"

* * *

"Earlier this year, a bright high school kid -- very bright senior, getting ready to go off to college -- posted a question in the college forums online," Charlie explained. "Other students took interest and the discussion blossomed."

"What was the question?"

"What would happen if just for one day, nobody died."

Daryl thought for a moment, remembering the line from the song Charlie had played. "It would be a miracle," he said.

"A miracle," Charlie repeated. "Maybe."

"How could it be anything but?" Daryl asked. "To put an end to death, even for just one day. No suffering, no sadness."

"One day, Daryl. Do you really think that would put an end to suffering and sadness?"

"For a day, at least."

"Really? And at what cost?"

Again, Daryl considered the question. "Well, I guess it would cost the funeral homes a little money, and the companies that make coffins. But if we're only talking one day, they'd make it up pretty quick."

"Sure. Maybe."

"What would be so bad about it?" Daryl asked, genuinely confused.

"Think about it for a moment," Charlie explained. If eight of every thousand people die every day in America, but for just one day no one died, what impact do you suppose that would have on the population?"

"I'm not even sure what the population of the country is," Daryl said.

"Doesn't matter. That's almost one percent. To make the math simple, let's say the population is one million. What's one percent of a million?"

"Ten thousand?" Daryl asked, after considering for a moment.

"And if the birth rate is one point four percent, then that mean fourteen thousand people would be born on a normal day."

"But still--"

"But in reality, there are over two hundred million people living in the United States. Which means in one day that nobody dies, you now add over five million to the population."

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow. Five million more mouths to feed on the same food supply. And since we're working with percentages here, that number is compounded daily. Every day the population growth is bigger."

"More homeless people. More unemployed."

"And who's to say that this is just limited to people. What if for just one day, nothing died?"

"More," Daryl paused and thought of the implications. "More crickets."

"More birds, more everything."

"But this kid was just a high school kid. I mean, can he really--"

"A very bright high school kid. Actually, a college student now. With several other very bright college students interested in his theory."

"So you think he--"

"I don't know, Daryl. Maybe he did something, maybe he didn't. If he did, I don't know what it is. This is just a theory. But something definitely happened, and it doesn't look good for the home team."

* * *

Daryl had a very difficult time digesting what he'd been told. He simply could not imagine that some punk high school kid could initiate such a major event in the history of man. I mean, this is big, he told himself. This is bigger than penicillin. To wipe out all forms of death for even one day. He just couldn't fathom it.

But the implications were much further reaching. The impact of such an event was astounding. To think that such a wonderful thing as defeating death could usher in such tragedy and mayhem.

Daryl had spent the remainder of the day in his apartment, at his computer, researching. Not that there was anything to be found. It seemed that the media and scientific communities, if they were even aware, were keeping a very tight lid on the situation. Daryl had come across a forum post that he assumed was the one Charlie had told him about. It revealed nothing but the evidence that some high school had pondered the impact of a one day moratorium on death.

Daryl pushed closed the lid to his notebook computer. Weary-eyed and mush-minded, he had finally given up on uncovering anything new.

Sitting back and closing his eyes, he took it all in. The birth lists and death lists. The crickets. The birds. The thought of some high school kid changing the world. The sounds of traffic on the streets below drifted through the windows and startled him from his thoughts.

It's one thirty in the morning, Daryl thought. "What's going on out there?"
Daryl moved to the window and peered down at the bumper to bumper traffic on the street below. Unmoving. Engines racing. Horns blaring.

* * *

After a long night of tossing, turning, and wishing there was something he could about the traffic noise coming in from the street below, Daryl gave up and pulled his tired self from under the covers.