On the first of November I made the commitment to myself and online to write 50,000 words of the sequel to my novel Fireweed in 30 days. Fireweed’s 65,000 words took three years to write. Granted at that time I was working full time. Now I am retired and like many retirees my days are full of family, friends, activities, church, and more. Still I wanted to get this second novel started. I told myself 25,000 words would be a beginning.

I also knew that I wasn’t going to stop my other activities and I didn’t. Tom and I continued to enjoy our dancing twice a week. I spent Wednesdays with granddaughter Ellie and Fridays with granddaughter Vanessa. I went to church, talked with friends, went to yoga and the list goes on.

Tonight I am pleased to announce that “I Did It!” Tonight I submitted my 50,672 words to the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) Website. My word count was validated. I’m a winner. The novel is not quite finished. The ending isn’t there. I’m thinking it will take another 15000 words. At this point that will be easy. Of course, this is only a first draft. The working title is “One More Step”. That will probably change. There will be four or five more drafts and then the professional editor will begin his/her work. For tonight, I am thrilled.