escape yourself and gravity

Yesterday was a good day. I validated my NaNoWriMo novel and I received a debit card in the mail from the state of Indiana, with a blissful amount of money (compared to the $20 I had left, anyway). I can buy cat food and pay bills now.

Today I found out the unethical asshats at my former employer Sysco Foodservices have appealed the decision the state made in my favor. I should not be surprised, but I confess, I thought they would prefer to pay the unemployment rather than face a lawsuit or a formal charge of violating FMLA. Unfortunately they seem to think their moral gray area will win, and in the world of big business and money running things, I suppose it will.

I'm planning to spend the unemployment cash I already have as quickly as possible. If nothing else, I'd rather have the state collections people calling me rather than three credit cards and two medical places. It has to mean fewer annoying phone calls, right?

*sigh*

Anyway. I have a telephone hearing on December 13, and wow, way to prolong this even further, powers that be. I have no idea how to handle that. The instructions from the state are barely helpful, and I'm not even sure what information I need to provide the judge.

I'm so overwhelmed at the moment. I spent nearly four years working for a company that mistreats people as a matter of policy. I spent the last four months of that time suffering from debilitating migraines and crippling depression related to both the migraines and the toxic work situation. Migraines that STOPPED ENTIRELY when I left that job. I have run through my bank account and am probably going to have to cash out my meager 401(k) to continue paying bills. I can't find a job. I can't bear the thought of going back to seasonal retail. And on top of everything, I'm sure my dad won't react well to this news, which will make his work situation worse. I have a heart full of vile things I want to say to Connie, who claimed to be my friend but proved herself not to be.

I am currently modeling my prayers after those of David, persecuted in the wilderness, who said, "O God, do not be far from me; O my God, hasten to my help! Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ashamed and consumed; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me. But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more." (Psalm 71:12-14).

And honestly, right now those prayers aren't doing much for my emotional or mental state. I just want to immerse myself in Warcraft all afternoon and not think about anything.

WOOHOO!!!!!



I broke the halfway point today and had just over 6,000 words! Heading to bed early (haha, yes, 1:30 am is early these days) as a reward, and tomorrow I get to play Dragon Age or Warcraft for a couple of hours. I'm on a roll now, baby!


Also, I have realized that this is going to be a really bloody long novel. I'm pretty sure this one is going to end up right around the 100K mark when all is said and done. But that's okay, right? Epic fantasy is epic. :D

Finally, this novel (or this novelist) is picking up steam!

Woohoo!



:)

Some of my favorite writing links, just in time for NaNoWriMo:

• Outline Your Novel in 30 Minutes - This has a lot of useful questions to get to know your characters. I've used this several times.
  
• Sketch a Novel in an Hour - Very similar to the first, which it's based on.
  
• My index card method of plotting - with examples from one of my earlier NaNoWriMo novels. :)
  
• The Snowflake Method - I haven't used this before, but it looks good for visual people.
  
• Novel in 30 Days worksheets - Lots of worksheets to develop character, scene, plot, and more. Based on Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book in a Month. I haven't used these extensively, but they look useful.
  
• First Draft in 30 Days - From the book by Karen S. Wiesner. I don't follow this method 100%, but I love this book, and I love the worksheets. This year I've worked with it extensively during October to plot my novel, and I feel like I have a better handle on my idea going into November than I ever have. She has a few of the worksheets available online, but I bought a copy of the book and typed the worksheets into Word to make them easier for me to work with. I will say that I've been using this method for the past three years, and this is the first year I've fully embraced it.
  
• How to Prep for NaNoWriMo - Advice from Jennifer Blanchard, who runs one of my favorite blogs Procrastinating Writers.
  
• Procrastinating Writers' 5 NaNoWriMo Posts You Don't Want to Miss - Links to 5 useful articles about NaNo. One of them is the article I linked above.

And a very useful (and fun) tool I acquired several years ago and use every year: NaNoWriMo Report Card - this is the download link for an incredible spreadsheet. Originally Created by Eric Benson - Edited for 2004 by Rebecca Waterhouse. I just keep updating the year, and if I want a word count other than 50000 as my goal, I do a CTRL+H to replace 50000 with whatever word count I want (I'm aiming for 80000 this year).