National Novel Writing and Podcast Posting Month 2022
Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume. I am Timothy Kimo Brien your thankful head instigator with over 20 years in arts and education. How I accomplish this is by providing you with commentary, interviews, discussions, and projects that will inspire you to create art. This month I will be podcasting daily and writing a novel in 30 days. I am participating in NaPodPoMo and NaNoWriMo again this year as I did last year and you can hear those episodes here. You will be able to listen and read along with what I wrote for the day. I like to practice what I preach when it comes to art so I am challenging myself to write and having you come along for the ride. It is my hope this inspires you to accomplish your goals with your art and if you would like to share what you are doing email me at timothy@createartpodcast.com
History of NaNoWriMo and NaPodPoMo
NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists.
NaPodPoMo: NaPodPoMo* is a month-long event similar to National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you post a podcast episode every day for 30 days from November 1st-30th. Use any platform you desire. From full production studio to iPhone app and just about anything in between. The goal is to use the challenge of podcasting daily as a form of podcasting boot camp.
The Writing So Far
12 Nov 2022 words today 1642 words total 18788
Mark and Tinley made it home from the police station in silence. Mark pulled into the garage and as the door shut, he put the car in park and turned the engine off.
“Thank you for turning the car off,” said Tinley after a few minutes of shared silence.
“What do you mean,” asked Mark.
“I mean, is life worth it without Winnona? I am struggling with that right now and I know we have to carry on, but it would just be easier to sit in here with you and join her,” cried Tinley.
Mark undid his seatbelt and undid Tinley’s. He held her as her emotions overtook her and his started to overtake him. They held each other for what seemed forever. Tinley broke the embrace watching her husband crying.
“Let’s get inside before we do something that everyone will regret. We are going to need to start making arrangements and I am going to need you to help me do it,” said Tinley. She opened her door and started for the interior door that led to the house. “You coming?”
“I need a minute,” said Mark from inside the car.
“I will give you five, do not turn on the car, I am not going to lose you today too,” said Tinley as she went inside and closed the door.
The garage door overhead light went out as Mark sat in the darkness alone. He was deep in thought about what happened and saw the body of his daughter whenever he closed his eyes. Her chest ripped open and her closed eyes, the blood splattered on her neck and cheeks. He couldn’t get rid of the sight no matter how many times he tried to remember happier times. His only relief was that Tinley wasn’t there to identify Winnona’s body. If she had been there, they would have ended it in the garage. He flashed to an image of them being found in their car by the police days after suffocating themselves in the car. It didn’t provide the relief he was seeking. His old friend anger started to well up in his chest, he wanted to find the animal responsible and tear them apart with his hands. Mark opened the car door and the overhead light came on. He slammed the door and went to his workbench. Picking up tools one by one, he threw them at the wall, some bounced slightly, and others bounced back and hit him in the chest. When he had finished throwing all the tools he could reach he began yelling curses at everything in the world and universe. Blood started to form from his hands and chest that had been hit by the flying tools. He collapsed on the floor and was quiet. Tinley gave him one moment more and came into the garage. She knelt down next to him and held him, wiping the blood on his hands and chest with a shop rag. She pulled him up gently and led him by the arm that was less injured into the house and into the bathroom. She took off his shirt and ran some water on a towel and nursed his self-inflicted wounds. She cooed at him and hummed a lullaby that she used on Winnona when she was an infant. The couple was quiet and didn’t say a word for some time. Tinley had fully bandaged up Mark’s wounds, led him to the couch, and had him lay down. She went to the kitchen and started to make a pot of coffee and put together a meat and cheese tray. When the coffee started to percolate, she put the tray on the coffee table in front of Mark and then went back to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. She sat next to mark on the couch and laid her head in his lap as she used to do when they first started dating. He stroked her hair lightly and lovingly. That is how they spent the next few hours until the sun went down. The room had darkened, and Mark got up softly as Tinley was sleeping lightly on his lap. He grabbed a pillow and placed it under her head. Pulling out his phone, he called his boss’s personal cell phone without looking at the messages that had accumulated on his phone. He moved quietly to the kitchen and turned on the light above the stove.
“Hey Gerald, this is Mark,” he whispered.
“So, I saw the press conference and read between the lines. That was your girl Winnona, I am so sorry,” said Gerald.
“Yeah, we got home from the police station a while ago and have just slept since then. I am going to need some time off,” said Mark.
“You don’t even need to ask, just let me know when you are ready to come back. There is no rush,” said Gerald.
“Thanks, I appreciate that, I need to get in contact with HR about our benefits and see what we can use,” asked Mark.
“I’ll have HR give you a call in the morning. I am not an expert, but I know that part of the insurance policy will cover the final costs. If you need anything let me know. I just want you both to know that our family is here for your family,” said Gerald.
“Thank you again, Gerald, uhm how is your boy doing,” asked Mark.
“He is okay, we got a call from him letting us know he was okay when they were in lockdown for an active shooter. He is a little shaken up and we haven’t talked to him about who passed. I don’t think he noticed that Winnona wasn’t there yet. Now that I know, would it be okay to let him know, we will keep him home from school tomorrow and I know my wife would want to speak with Tinley if that is okay tomorrow,” asked Gerald.
“That is fine, thank you for asking about that, I am not sure what time we will be moving around tomorrow, we are going to be taking it minute by minute for a while, but I am sure she would appreciate a call,” said Mark.
“Okay, get some sleep tonight, let me know if we can help. Call me anytime,” said Gerald.
“Good night Gerald, we will talk tomorrow,” said Mark. He hung up the phone and noticed his camera came on. He didn’t think too much about it and tried to wipe it off. When it didn’t go off, he tried to force shut it down, which again didn’t work. He then selected to reset the phone and put it back in his pocket. When the phone came back on he noticed that the camera app was off and he dialed Tinley’s parents. They were in a different state so they would not have known about the press conference. It was only 8 PM local time there so they would still be awake.
Cody messaged Adrian, Dillion, and Mason for a virtual meeting. They responded within 15 minutes since they were at work on their tasks.
“Okay gentlemen, I looked over the script and it is very good. Adrian, go ahead and send a copy over to Mason. He will start the ball rolling with his podcast. I want an episode released tonight and I want it to be our opening shot. Mason, I’ll need to know stats once it is released and how many downloads we get with this initial messaging,” said Cody.
“Well, I usually release every other week. Next week would be when my podcast is regularly scheduled to go out. I really don’t have time to alert our listeners about what we are doing. I would not expect huge numbers, probably we will hit one thousand downloads by morning and pick up more during the day as word gets out. I will jump on the Discord servers and do a pre-launch message and that may bump up the numbers. We will definitely beat the media to the punch on this and will probably get some mentions in the morning by them,” said Mason.
“That’s fine, we will get the ball rolling on the messaging and our allies will pick it up and run with it. I want you to get on other shows during this week and spread it even further, I am sure we can generate a lot of interest. Do you think the mainstream media will want to talk with you,” asked Cody?
“I did paint a sympathetic picture when the police escorted me out of the press conference and took me around the corner out of their sight. No pictures were taken and no one except the officers saw me go into the office building. I saw two of the reporters trying to enter the building and try to question the cops. That was a stroke of genius to have them take me away,” said Mason.
“Make sure you reach out to them and let them know you are okay but concerned about being watched by the police. That should add a little assistance to our messaging. If we can get the local media buying into even a sliver of our messaging that will legitimize it and they can do the heavy lifting of getting our message out to the general public,” said Cody. “Can you have a first draft for me in about an hour before you put it out into the podcast?”
“Absolutely, bearing any updates by you we should have this out before the ten o’clock news,” said Mason.
“Make it so gentlemen, let’s make sure we lure Tinley out in public and bury her at a press conference. You know what you need to do, you have your orders, get going, make me proud,” said Cody.
Reaching Out
To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let’s start that conversation.
- Email: timothy@createartpodcast.com
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- Twitter: @createartpod
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