After the announcement that Coyote Vengeance, my second book with Texas Ranger Scott Durham, was available for Kindle, I got a question, “Is there going to be a third?” That sounds like a simple question, and the simple answer is yes. However, the book is in my head.

Over the past few months this third book has been forming in my head. The characters talk to me sometimes when I’m sleeping and at other times, like when I’m cooking – not good if there is fire or a sharp knife being used at the time. The characters are very demanding of my time. They have outlined a story for me but haven’t given me the complete storyline. One of the characters had the audacity to tell me to get to work before I forget all the good stuff they have been whispering.

The getting to work will start next week. This is the story that I will write during the NaNoWriMo.

I have participated in four other NaNoWriMo challenges, and have been a winner each time. Winners write at least 50,000 words in thirty days, the month of November. This crazy time fits my writing style, which is take a semblance of a story idea and run with it. For thirty days, I let the characters talk all they want, typing as quickly as I can to keep up with the story. When there are pauses, I push the characters to do something mundane to see what happens. The story writes itself – not ready for publication – but the story is done.

This free-flow of ideas to form a story is not always the best way to write. You can end up with some very awkward situations, i.e. a fight scene where your hero punches himself, or two or more descriptions of a character. But like I said, the story completed for NaNoWriMo is not ready for publication. All those silly inconsistencies are part of the editing and rewrite that takes a raw story and makes it ready for the public.

To become an author, you first must a have a story. NaNoWriMo is a good vehicle to help encourage you to write the story. So, my challenge to you is sign up for NaNoWriMo, lay in the snacks and caffeinated drinks, and write. Write 50,000 words and you are Winner, even if you never look at the story again.

Got to go buy a large quantity of tea (sorry I don’t drink coffee) and an even larger supply of chocolate. Good luck to all of you who will be joining me for the NaNoWriMo Challenge.