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
4 Nov 2022 words today 1711 words total 7022
Wolfgang had driven to his uncle’s house and met him in the driveway. Bruce marshaled him to the spare garage that was already opened, and Wolfgang drove his car inside careful not to hit any of the equipment laying around. Both men got into a large nondescript SUV with Bruce in the driver’s seat and left the house on their way to meet up with Cody in the followers of Zeno clubhouse on the outskirts of Alewell. Wolfgang started to open his mouth when Bruce interrupted.
“Save it for Cody. Right now, there is a target on your back and on my back and the guy who can take us out doesn’t miss. When we get there, you answer his questions and talk when spoken to only. You have put the organization in a very tenuous position and a lot of people are working on things right now because of what you did. You pushed our hand when it didn’t need to be pushed and I am not sure we will survive the fallout if things go sideways. Keep in mind, they will abandon us and hang us out to dry if they feel that the organization will be negatively impacted. What that means is they will set you up as a lone wolf and this state does have the death penalty. They will also go underground further and abandon me so I won’t be able to protect or help you out when it goes to trial. So, whatever was in your mind last night that you told Cody, it better be worth all the energy we are expending,” said Bruce as he navigated through traffic and got them quickly to the clubhouse. Wolfgang just faced forward mentally noting the direction they were heading. Bruce didn’t turn on the GPS to direct him to the clubhouse so as not to be tracked. They both sat there in silence during the trip, with no radio to break up the monotony and it took about 35 minutes before the clubhouse appeared in view in one of the fields outside of town.
When they got to the clubhouse, Wolfgang didn’t see any other car parked or a mailbox. The structure looked like an abandoned one-story farmhouse about half a mile off the road with no driveway. Bruce carefully maneuvered his SUV through the field separating the house from the gravel road that ran up next to the property. He knew there were certain areas where the group had laid detonators for landmines and there were other areas that only the followers knew about that they needed to drive over to show that they were not followed, and they were supposed to be there. If anyone had just gotten off the road and headed straight for the farmhouse, anyone inside would have been alerted and the trespasser would have been neutralized. Wolfgang was not a party to this knowledge, so he looked quizzically at his uncle when he seemingly randomly veered this way and that way. The lights on the SUV that had been off during the drive out there, flashed five times and then Bruce put the SUV in park and shut the engine off.
Both men exited the vehicle and approached the clubhouse’s front door. Bruce looked up at the ceiling of the porch and Wolfgang saw a red beam appear from a hole and rest on Bruce’s eyes. It took about three seconds, the sound of unlocking the door occurred as if someone was on the other side and Bruce opened the door and walked inside with Wolfgang following close behind. They walked to the back of the clubhouse which was unfurnished and opened the door to what Wolfgang thought was the backyard but instead was to an office. There was a bank of monitors behind the desk in the back of the office and behind the desk was a chair turned towards the screens. Bruce and Wolfgang could hear Cody’s heavy breathing.
“Take a seat gentleman,” said Cody. The typical sound of keyboard clicking could be heard and a few of the monitors went blank. He swiveled his leatherback chair to face the men. Both men sat in the two chairs facing but not close to one another. Each chair was placed in from of one corner of the desk which was about three feet wide. The top of the desk was pristine with no marks on it and no papers or folders, not even a keyboard or laptop. “So, I called this in-person meeting because you decided to go rogue and make a name for yourself Wolfgang. Now I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you in person yet, and your uncle is one of our special members of the organization, so we give him a great deal of leeway when it comes to activities. But this, whew let me tell you, really forces our hand when our hand may not be ready for it,” said Cody.
“I wasn’t privy to the discussion you two had last night, we haven’t talked about it yet so this whole incident although surprising, naturally rests on my shoulders,” said Bruce.
“Responsibility is not the question Bruce, that has already been determined but I do thank you for taking it on. No, the question remains what do we do next and how do we take this lemon and make it lemonade? Since we have an expert operator here that has no need of a mission or parameters for the said mission, I was hoping he could enlighten me on the objective he was seeking,” asked Cody?
Wolfgang looked dumbfounded when Cody spoke and stared directly into his eyes. No one had intimidated Wolfgang like this in his life and it took his uncle to clear his throat to break the silence and for Wolfgang to speak.
“So, uhm, as we discussed last evening, I thought the organization could do more actual physical work versus the cloak and dagger stuff we do now. I mean it’s been almost 2 years since we protested at high school and there doesn’t seem to be any activity going on so I took it upon myself to act in an effort to get our message out there. Since the elections are coming up in the next year and the degenerates want to ban our weapons and means of protecting our lives and families, I thought we should go ahead and use an incident similar to the high school shooting and make an impact that would help us not get distracted with lobbying for our already given rights,” said Wolfgang nervously.
“Like we discussed last night, there are many moving parts that you are not privy to, what looks like no activity doesn’t mean there isn’t activity. Movement can be measured in millimeters, micrometers and in smaller units, but it is still considered movement. What you have set into motion distracts our resources that we had planned for something else. If we are not careful it could expose us when we are not ready to be seen just yet. Now, you mention the high school shooting and you point to what we did there as something you think we should do more of. Interestingly, I was against the protest. I know the shooting didn’t happen, I knew it was staged, but the damage we took to our reputation has taken about two years to recover from. The whole organization learned some good lessons from that mistake. Chiefly we need to work more in the shadows until the time is ripe. The time was not ripe for that, and we had to carefully purge information from local media and the internet about our members. We had a few that had to go deep underground and are only now able to come back and participate in our projects. Your actions have made them reconsider coming back up because no one wants to go through that upheaval again,” said Cody.
“I know you have tapped my eyes and ears at the location, and they are under you right now. What is our next step that you would like to see happen,” asked Bruce?
“Well, I want to hear what Wolfgang thinks our next step should be, I still haven’t heard what his objectives were and if he has succeeded in them,” replied Cody.
“Well, the first objective was to rouse us from what I perceived to be slumber. I wasn’t aware of other projects going on,” replied Wolfgang.
“Let me stop you right there, whom do you think should know about all the projects going on, is it you, your uncle, me? Who would you recommend,” Cody asked sarcastically?
“Naturally you need to know what is going on, I am just a cog in this machine for right now,” timidly replied Wolfgang.
“Don’t get me wrong, from the reports we are working on right now, we are in a good place in that you were not detected either at the location or at work. We are putting together a social media blitz for the likes you have never seen before and will promote this as another hoax that is somehow connected to the opposition candidate. Those wheels are already in motion,” said Cody.
“I guess my next step would be to flood the media with content that discredits their sources, attack the integrity of the family members and have a team harass them continually,” replied Wolfgang.
“Go on, there must be a higher objective you have for the organization besides being the big dog on the block and gaining respect from others,” said Cody.
“I don’t want our group to be categorized as a bunch of middle-aged white guys sitting around in tin foil hats concocting conspiracies, gaining in self-confidence.
“And who might that be saying we are a bunch of tin foil hat-wearing nut jobs,” asked Cody.
“My boss at work. I was going to target his kid, but when I got to the school and opened the front door there was a girl there, and I panicked and shot her and left after clearing the casings. My original plan was to target my boss’s kid and then watch him as he would eventually get the news. That was my primary objective,” confessed Wolfgang.
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.
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