2009 Float Trip

The Noticer

The Noticer by Andy Andrews

People in a small town in Alabama face life’s challenges. When, seemingly, life is at its worst, a friend appears and helps them through their problems. Jones challenges people to see things for what they are, not what they sometimes appear to be.

Based on a true story, The Noticer, features compelling stories providing entertainment and stimulates critical thinking. It is very easy and quick to read, but the residual effect and feeling remains ingrained in your thoughts.

I would definitely recommend reading The Noticer. It is said that either you are in the valley of life, just climbed out of it, or will be facing tough times soon. Often when we face difficult times, we get “tunnel vision” it is nice to know there is another resource to help change our perspective.

I give The Noticer five out of five stars.  The writing is fantastic, the stories capture you and encourage you to keep reading and it helps you to slow down and see the world and people you care about around you in a different light.

This is a non paid review for Thomas Nelson Book Book Review Blogger program http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

Niangua River Trip

Here are some pictures of our last float trip, they aren’t great, but you get the idea. If you click on the picture, it enlarges the image.

Blog Tutor

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

NaNoWriMo Completed!

It is official. I ended up last night with 51,113 words! The book is not finished, but now I have something to work on. What a great feeling.

Congratulations to everyone that won, or will win NaNoWriMo! (Good luck to those of you that are close.)

If you didn’t participate this year, I would highly recommend it for next year. Actually, why wait? You can do it any month. It is a blast to get lost in a story for awhile, and see what you come up with.

Chad

Halfway (House)

I was going to post this last night, seeing as that was the actual halfway point for NaNoWriMo. However, I was entirely to much like the guy in the above picture!

That was good news though. At the beginning of the week, I was down about 6,000 words. With two very productive nights this week, I finished up last night at 23,699 words, only -1301!

Hopefully, I can get through the rest of the month, without having to go to a halfway house!

For those of you participating, I hope you are having a blast, and all is going well. Good luck.

[Thanks to B for the clip!]

NaNoWriMo Update

Well, we are almost half way through NaNoWriMo. My brain is starting to feel as scrambled as the above image. As you can see by the word count meter in the right side bar, I am 32% done. Which isn’t bad, however, we are almost 50% done with the month!

I am about 4,000 words down. Remaining optimistic, I am fairly confident I can make that up. In the scheme of things it really only amounts to an extra 235 words per day. This remains under 2000 words per day, to achieve the 50,000.

Thanks for checking on me! Feel free to leave me some encouragement in the comments, not that I am begging…at least not yet!

Man Versus Hotel

I am sure you have heard the news story about Man Versus Wild being a bogus television show. If not, you can read it here. Basically, it involves man vs. nature, inserted in the middle of nowhere, he has to make his way home, without assistance. I guess staying in a hotel is okay though, as long as you don’t order room service.

I can see the commercial now, actually, I am surprised it is not already airing.

Grylls narrowly escapes death in harrowing circumstances. He completes his journey. Coming out of the wild, man approaches him, “That was amazing! You must have incredible knowledge of the wild and wicked survival skills.”

Grylls replies, “No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!”

NaNoWriMo Update

Wow caffeine definitely helps! There is a widget on the side bar with my word count for National Novel Writing Month numbers, if you are following along! Any words of encouragement are welcome!

You can also check out my NaNoWriMo stats, read an excerpt and all kinds of other info at nanowrimo.org.

I hope you are all participating as well, if you haven’t started yet, it is not to late.

Chad

NaNoWriMo

Always wanted to write a novel? Why don’t you start now?

November is National Novel Writing Month. This will be my first time participating, I encourage you to as well. It should be a blast. NaNoWriMo is a free, inspiring way to get you started on an incredible adventure.

I will try to keep you up-to-date on how I am doing and share excerpts of what I am writing with you.

If you decide to join in the fun, feel free to leave me a comment or drop me an email if there is anything I can do to help.

Chad