WRITING/PODCASTING A NOVEL IN 30 DAYS Nov 28

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

28 Nov 2021 daily count 1748 cumulative count 40186

Everyone walked into the house and migrated towards the kitchen. Carmine was there looking worried, and Carl put down the lunch groceries with Cheryl and Myra. He approached her and embraced her like a sister.

“How’s the old guy doing,” asked Carl?

“He won’t slow down even though the doctors told him too, so that means he is happy. I’m not. When is this thing going to be over. I don’t think it’s going to end well,” asked Carmine?

“It will be over soon. Cheryl and I will get married and we will adopt Myra and things should quiet down and become boring,” said Carl trying to reassure Carmine and himself.

Cheryl was the next to embrace Carmine and they held each other tightly. Carl and the kids started putting things away that needed to be refrigerated and Seth and Rachel took Myra outside to play. Carl headed towards Nate’s office on the main floor.

“Carl, he is upstairs in the master bedroom. Nate has been waiting to hear from you,” said Carmine. She and Cheryl grabbed a cup of tea that Carmine had made earlier when she got Nate settled in bed.

Carl had never gone to their master bedroom but knew enough about the layout of the house to know where to go. He almost dreaded to see what he would find. He had never seen his brother sick since they were kids and even when they were kids, his brother always seemed to never show how sick he was. When Carl approached the door, he listened outside for a moment to hear if Nate was sleeping. He heard the familiar voice of his brother talking to someone, he must be on the phone. He waited uncomfortably outside as if he was waiting to be scolded by his father for doing something wrong. It had been about five minutes but seemed like so many more before he knocked on the door.

“Is that you Carmine,” asked Nate through the door? His voice was booming and sounded strong.

“Nope, just your friendly neighborhood little brother,” replied Carl. He felt better about the situation and was encouraged that his brother sounded strong.

“Well get in here, I promised Carmine I would stay in bed for a few hours,” said Nate.

Carl opened the door slowly and stepped into the room he had never seen before. He didn’t know what to expect, but for some reason he wasn’t surprised when he saw a desk and chair on one side of the bedroom and on the other side was a king-sized bed with his brother in it above the covers on his phone. He heard the printer on the desk spitting out a piece of paper and that was the only sound besides his brother talking to someone on the phone.

“Looks like you are back to normal almost,” said Carl sheepishly.

“Welcome to where the magic happens. Grab a seat at the desk and let's talk,” said Nate. Nate turned his attention to the phone call he was on, “Okay so tomorrow we will get back to work on the project Vince. Your docs found nothing wrong just like mine and just like Angela. Yeah, Carl is here, and nothing happened to him. Right, I have alerted B team to finish up the work we started, and I should get some information from them later today. You got it I will give you a call when they report in. Take it easy today and yeah, the document just came over to my printer. Alright take care, keep in contact with me. Bye,” Nate finished the call. “Carmine said stay in bed and that is what I am doing, there was no mention of handling business while in bed. I thrive on loopholes.”

“Knowing her she knew to leave a loophole in there for you because you are so damn stubborn. Are you really up to working from bed though, she said the doctors told you to take it easy,” asked Carl?

“If I remember right, you were told the same thing. How’s that working out for you,” asked Nate sarcastically? “You are the one who is terminal not me. “How is Cheryl and Myra holding up with all of this?”

“Well, I think Cheryl has found her newest best friend for life in Carmine because the two of them have to deal with our dumbasses. She is holding up pretty good. Myra dreamed about this happening last night, or something like it. Do we have any pictures of John Dee we can show her,” asked Carl?

“Take a look at the printer. Vince just sent me a dossier on the guy, and I am pretty sure he has pictures. Are you thinking that we may have more than one person who can’t die on our hands,” asked Nate?

“Maybe not a person, but a spirit. That’s the only way I can explain it. I think she may have seen him in her dream and that may be something we can use to make sure what happened last night doesn’t happen again,” replied Carl.

“Take a look, I am sure there is a picture of the guy. Since they didn’t have digital cameras back then it will probably be a painting, or a woodblock print of him so it may not be perfect but close enough for our work. By the way thanks for checking up on the kids last night, I know it’s been a long day for you already since I am pretty sure you haven’t slept yet,” said Nate.

“Nope, I got a few hours of sleep last this morning with Cheryl. Felt good to have someone next to me and I was surprised that I slept so well,” said Carl.

“I hear wedding bells little brother. I am sure she and Carmine are downstairs right now planning the wedding of her dreams which means we need to get all the paperwork done for you and rewrite that estate plan. How do you think your ex will take it, is she going to fight us on anything,” asked Nate?

“I don’t really think so, her parents send me cards for my birthday and for the holidays. We parted on good terms; you know how it was when you did the divorce. She was happy with what she got and didn’t contest anything,” said Carl.

“Right, but when you get remarried suddenly and adopt a kid, people change. This is going to affect the agreement you have with her, and she might have some unresolved feelings about the new situation that you have found yourself in. You probably should have a conversation with her and let Cheryl know that there could be some legalistic hoops we need to jump through. These things are never as easy as they seem,” said Nate.

“Well, I am more focused on how you are doing right now and getting this curse resolved,” said Carl.

“As you can see, I am back to work handling things like I always do. This was a minor and annoying setback. We will make up for lost time. Tell you what, I will make both you and Carmine happy by slowing down today and having lunch with everyone and then I will go back to work on things tomorrow and we won’t discuss what our next move is until tomorrow. I take it you took the day off which is good, how about we knock out all that paperwork this week and then we can approach your ex-wife next week with the proposal of a change in the agreement,” asked Nate?

“I think we can work something out for all of that to happen if you are feeling up to it. You would be proud of me; I grabbed a ton of vegan food for lunch. Are you feeling up for a bite to eat,” asked Carl?

“I think by the time all of this is done you will have come to the dark side and be a full-fledged vegan. Remember we have cookies,” joked Nate.

“Oh, that cookie recipe you gave to Myra tasted delicious. We polished those cookies off all-in-one sitting. Thank you for helping her feel special,” said Carl.

“It’s all part of being a father. You will catch on and be a great dad, I feel it in my bones. Alright if you don’t mind I am going to kick you out so I can get dressed and I’ll be down for lunch in about ten minutes,” said Nate.

“You don’t need to ask me twice. Thank you for seeing this through and helping. I can’t apologize enough for what happened last night,” said Carl.

“What happened last night only made me more energized to see this through. Now don’t get sentimental on me. This wasn’t your fault and I think we will be changing how we go about getting information to help us. I may need to block you guys out of what we find until we are ready to move on something or need something from you and Myra that we can’t get,” said Nate.

“I’ll see you downstairs, take your time,” said Carl. He left his brothers bedroom and slowly walked down the stairs. He wasn’t ready to face Carmine or Cheryl, but there was nothing else to do so he took his time. When he got there, Carmine and Cheryl were deep in conversation, so he went to the fridge and grabbed the ginger ale and a glass. He poured himself a drink and replaced the ginger ale and sat at the island in the kitchen. Things were lining up to make his decision to read the diary more difficult. He just wanted to be able to sit back and enjoy having a family, even if it was brought together in unusual circumstances. The thought crossed his mind to just toss the diary or burn it. Maybe that would break the curse and he wouldn’t have to die sooner than expected. The tumor would get him eventually, that he couldn’t do anything about, but maybe taking the diary out of the equation could at least resolve this issue and no one else would get hurt. He began planning on how he would rid himself of the diary that very night. That is when he lost consciousness and fell out of his chair, hitting his head against the marble island counter and then hitting his head against the tiled floor.

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.