Friday Five: Things I’m Thinking about in November
Halloween is done, although there’s still plenty of my son’s candy lurking on the counter and calling to me….November for me is the start of a mix of fun, family, and crazy juggling of holidays, school vacations, and–oh, yeah, some work! Here are just a few things on my mind for the upcoming month:
1. HOW big a turkey do I need to feed 11-13 people? And will that turkey fit in our smoker?
2. Is there any way to turn our refrigerator into one of those magical objects that’s a whole lot bigger on the inside that it is on the outside? Think Narnian wardrobe.
3. I should probably do some Christmas shopping this month. Oh, wait, there are a whole bunch of November birthdays to deal with first!
4. I will somehow squeeze in time to disappear as far as possible into two novels I’ve been waiting a long time for: S. J. Rozan’s On the Line and Naomi Novik’s Tongues of Serpents.
5. And the writing task–pick through every corner of my imagination and turn my MC’s mother into a serious, active antagonist who fills her daughter’s life with increasingly worse obstacles and problems. Oh, yeah, and keep moving the overall plot forward. And get my research done. And…okay, WAY more than five now.
I think I’ll watch some leaves fall, too, and enjoy the air getting more crisp and all the usual things about this month that makes Fall, even out here in California, my absolutely favorite season.
And you? What’s on your plate for November?
beckylevine.com 
13 Comments
I just outlined the rest of the year
In a post entitled, simply, “They’re here . . .”
http://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/theyre-here/
I plan to stay out of malls and stores
And focus on things that mean much more
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I avoid malls like the plague. At this time of year, I wouldn’t mind adding the grocery store to that mantra. 🙂
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And LOL at a refrigerator like the wardrobe in Narnia!
What I do before parties is stick as much stuff in the drawers as possible, keeping the shelves open for casseroles and appetizers and other prepared “good eats.”
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1. I’m happy to be going to my aunt’s house this year so I don’t have to cook 🙂
2. When you find one, please let me know. I’d buy it too!
3. Don’t hate me, but I started shopping back in August because we have three November birthdays also. (Not me, I’m July!)
4. Enjoy reading.
5. Let the writing stew for a bit. I know you’ll work it out 🙂
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We’re doing Xmas away, so I’m kind of happy to be staying here for T’giving. Plus, I won’t have to do much of the cooking. 🙂
I’ve got some shopping done, too, but have to remind myself I’m not done yet.
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Add another holiday – it’s Guy Fawkes Day today, for example. If you keep adding holidays, eventually no one will really expect you to keep up and whatever you do will be wonderful!
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Oh, we should have had a bonfire!
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Get to “The End” in my novel and stock up on some new kinds of tea are the top two on my list. I have the fridge prob, too!
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Oh, the tea is important! I just ordered some loose-leaf decaf to try out. Thank goodness it doesn’t have to go in the fridge. And good luck on that “The End!”
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I’m planning to make a list of what I plan to do. 😉 That sounds funny, but I’m serious!
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It doesn’t sound funny to me. I’m the one who found an application that lets me put virtual sticky-note lists all over my desktop!
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Finishing NaNoWriMo is tops on my list right now — all other projects are currently sulking at my lack of attention. December should get interesting…
Happy reading and writing!
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Good luck with Nano! I’m always amazed at how much people blast through in November, with everything else that’s going on. Maybe it’s that extra compressed sense of time that helps it happen.
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