November has come and gone and, with it, so has NaNoWriMo. I started the month with a lot of hope and some pretty lofty goals but, alas, I am forced to now report that I have… failed.

It turns out working, blogging and drafting a novel just wasn’t possible if I valued things like time with my girlfriend and basic hygiene (and it turns out I do).

But Don’t Despair!

As I see it, I’ve still managed to write the first five chapters of a book that, until now, has been floating in that perilous space between brain cells. NaNoWriMo forced me to get concrete about my characters and my plot, and because of that I think I’ve gotten a pretty well-distilled version of things ready to go – it’ll just go more at my pace.

At the same time I’ll return to editing my first book, Alberija, with an eye to having it ready for submissions early in the new year. Another lofty goal? Maybe, but if you try to jump up the stairs and fall short, at least you’ll still land closer to the top.