National Novel Writing and Podcast Posting Month 2021
Welcome friend to Create Art Podcast where I help you tame your inner critic and create more than we 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 to 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 along the same vein as National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The difference? Well, instead of writing a 50,000-word novel, you podcast 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
2 Nov 2021 daily count 1694 cumulative count 3374
Myra was the first to finish getting dressed, she wore the new clothes that Nate had brought over. A simple t-shirt and blue jeans with a few barrettes holding back her sandy brown hair. Carl was just putting the last dishes in the drying rack when he turned around noticing Myra.
“That looks really good, how do the clothes fit,” asked Carl?
“They are a little loose but that’s fine, I’ll grow into them, I am sure. Do you need any help with the dishes, I should have asked before I got ready,” replied Myra?
“Just putting the last few in the drying rack. We can talk later about chores around the house later. Are you nervous about visiting my brother and his family,” asked Carl?
“A little, everyone is so new to me and I’m not sure if I should say this,” replied Myra?
“No go ahead, you have had a hard couple of days getting used to things and you are doing great. What did you want to say,” asked Carl?
“Well, I thought I would miss my dad, but yesterday, for some reason, I stopped thinking about him and this felt like home to me. So, when we were talking about visiting your brother, I felt like I had done that already, but that’s impossible right,” asked Myra.
“What do you remember from yesterday exactly,” asked Carl?
“Well, I remember the cheese omelets, those were great, and I remember going to the store with Cheryl and picking up groceries and stuff. Did we eat pizza yesterday,” asked Myra?
“Yeah, we had pizza and you had an episode, or what I call an episode. You went to the bathroom, and I had the manager help get you out of there. Is that when you started not missing your dad and feeling at home,” asked Carl?
“I think so, or maybe it was later in the day. I really like you and Cheryl, and I feel guilty about that because I really like my dad too,” Myra replied with tears forming in her eyes.
Carl instinctively reached out and hugged Myra. They were both beginning to cry a little bit as Carl began telling her softly it’s alright, it’s alright. Cheryl came out of the bedroom at that moment and without questioning or asking embraced both Carl and Myra. All three of them stayed like that for a few minutes.
“Okay I am sad too that Nate’s family is vegan, and we won’t have any meat for a few hours, but are tears really necessary,” joked Cheryl?
The embraces broke and everyone started chuckling through their tears. Carl and Myra were smiling broadly, and Cheryl went to grab more coffee.
“Alright, I am going to get ready. You both are looking very good,” said Carl as he headed for his bedroom.
“Oh, Carl, I moved some things around last night and this morning. Your clothes are on the right in the closet. I also made some room in your dresser for my stuff since I am staying here and eventually moving in,” said Cheryl. She made her way back to the kitchen table with Myra and they both started talking low and giggling.
Carl hadn’t shared a bedroom since the divorce and now his barista was basically moving in. It felt good to be sharing his life with someone again and Cheryl was the type of person he had always felt he could at least partially open himself to. Now he had Myra to boot, and she said she was feeling like this was her home. This warm feeling of love was also mixed with a heavy dose of reality. He began thinking of how Cheryl and Myra would fare when his tumor finally took his life. It was because of the tumor that his life with his ex-wife ended, and he wound up alone. Now he was embarking on a new journey with a child and a woman he didn’t really know all that well. He was so easily able to invest himself when for so many years he had resigned himself to his fate, alone. His thoughts about the future and what would happen swirled with the thoughts about the diary and the curse and all the strange happenings that occurred in the past few days.
The sound of a door shutting brought him out of his thoughts. He was standing in his bedroom with his shirt off looking into the mirror. He didn’t know if he just woke up from an episode or not. He wasn’t on the floor and there wasn’t anyone else in the room, so he continued to change into the clothes he was going to wear at Nate’s. Cheryl had done a good job in not disturbing too much of his closet, he didn’t have much in there anyways since he mainly just went to work and to the coffee shop and few other places since the divorce. He momentarily thought of wearing a t-shirt that made fun of vegans but thought better of it since Nate was footing all of the bill with Vince and Angela and obviously, he had taken time away from work to accommodate what was happening.
Carl looked at himself in the mirror after he was dressed and noticed that he hadn’t shaved for about four days. The stubble was beginning to show. He was glad to have it because it made him look more relaxed, also he was glad he didn’t go through with the chemo treatments otherwise he’d have no hair to shave anywhere. Carl usually didn’t spend so much time in front of a mirror, but now he was looking at himself in a new light, he saw some things he wanted to improve and tone up and he knew that meant getting back into the gym. The problem was how to do that with a job, a possible marriage and a nine-year-old adopted daughter. He liked these kinds of thoughts and let himself drift there for a while.
Carl came out of the bedroom with a smile on his face and saw Myra and Cheryl lift their eyes as he walked toward them.
“Looking good Carl, you got a hot date tonight,” joked Cheryl?
“Taking out two very nice ladies, sorry for taking so long. I wanted to look as good as you two,” replied Carl.
“Hey, can you give me the directions to Nate’s house, you said it’s out in the country a way,” asked Cheryl?
“Sure, let me get my app up and I can share it with you, you should have signal all the way out there. It usually takes me about an hour to get to his place. Just a word of caution, the last fifteen minutes there is nothing there, no gas stations or stores or anything, so let’s make sure we hit the bathroom before we go,” said Carl.
“Appreciate the concern, but I think us girls can handle ourselves out in the wild,” joked Cheryl.
“Well, I say all that because I have had to pull over a few times, and well, use the fields as my toilet. There’s no tp out there so just a word to the wise,” said Carl. Cheryl and Myra broke out into laughter when they heard Carl say this. “Myra, don’t forget your book. I remember you telling me you get carsick unless you have something to read.”
“Oh right thanks, I’ll grab it right now,” Myra said as she left to go to retrieve the book from her room.
“Are you bringing our book,” whispered Cheryl?
“Yep, I am hoping that we can get more answers and see what we need to do to adopt Myra. Should be a fun packed day for the kids and hopefully an enlightening day for us. Oh, before I forget, Vince,” said Carl.
“Who is Vince,” asked Cheryl?
“Well, Vince is Nate’s investigator. He is also his muscle, so he may have investigated your past. Nate is a bit paranoid when it comes to people entering my life suddenly. He has this notion that all people are out to get something he wants to stay one step ahead of everyone. Vince can also come off as being, well, blunt. He will let you know right away if he likes you, oh and try not to look at his eye patch unless you want him to take it off and pop out his glass eye. He kinda does that to freak people out,” said Carl.
“Should we warn Myra about Vince,” asked Cheryl?
“With kids, he is a teddy bear. He doesn’t have any himself and well, he is kind of our adopted little brother. He is always at family gatherings and plays with the kids. Adding Myra to the mix is just more kids to play tug of war against him, “said Carl.
“Tug of war, what’s that,” asked Myra as she sat down at the table and placed her book in front of her?
“Hey there kiddo, well its where two teams stand on either side of a rope and there is usually a mud pit between them. Each team pulls on the rope and tries to drag the other team into the mud pit. Usually Vince, who you will meet, has all the kids team up and then he stands on the other side of the rope and he pulls the other team into the mud pit. I don’t think he will be able to play that today, but I will make sure you are in the next tug of war battle,” said Carl.
“So, who is Vince,” asked Myra?
“Well, Vince works for my brother. Now when you meet Vince he has an eye patch, but don’t look at it because then he will take it off and pull out his glass eye,” replied Carl. “He’s a big guy, but he likes kids okay, he won’t try to scare you at all. Oh, Cheryl he is a hugger and the reason he is a hugger is that is how he frisks people, so no nuclear missiles underneath your shirt, just leave those at home.”
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 lets start that conversation.
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