Monday, December 1, 2008

Nano WINNER!


I WON! I finished The Northanger Affect the beginning of last week--but because my life was so hectic with company, Turkey Day, and the Yuletide Ball, I'm finally just now able to breathe enough to post this! My novel ended up being almost 59K, but Nano's word counter didn't recognize all of those words! LOL! I'm sure once I get back to editing it'll end up around 62K which my agent will pare down to 50K again! LOL!

I really can't believe I was able to write 50K in 3 weeks. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but it was so much fun! Congratulations to all of the other Nanowrimo winners out there! That was the most exhilarating ride of my life... I'm not sure I'll do it again, but it was sooo fun! We'll have to see how crazy my life is next November!

So, I have to brag! This book: The Northanger Affect, my Northanger Abbey rewrite, is sooo hilarious! I'm not kidding! I LOVE It! I shouldn't love anything this much I know, especially since I have 3 other book babies that I've already written--and everyone knows a mother shouldn't love one over the other--hehehe!--but, this one is SO my favorite right now! LOL! Here is the blurb that's on my website:

Seattle Washington and the Russo family are no match for Claire Hart and her savvy knowledge of all things vampire related. Thanks to her obsession with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series--if there is anyone who would know a vampire when she saw one, it's Claire. And she's positive totally hot Tony Russo is a vampire, she just has to prove it! Follow Claire's hilarious journey on her first summer adventure away from home, where she learns everything isn't what it seems, and in some instances, reality is way better than anything she'd ever find in a book!

And here's an unedited excerpt:

The Northanger Affect
Jenni James Copyright©2008

Excerpts from chapters 5 & 6

I could just see Doug’s wheels turning, imagining Cassidy showing up to church all Goth. He nodded once and then got out of the kitchen fast.
“The poor guy, I think you’ve scared him!” Cass accused as soon as he was out of earshot. “Now he thinks I’m some vampire lover.”
I grinned up at her as I put my bowl in the sink. “You’re sure you don’t want to be? I could ask Tony if he’s got a cousin.”
“Funny,” she murmured as she filled her bowl with cereal. “So do you still plan on proving to me that Tony’s a vampire?”
“Yep.” I crossed my arms and leaned up against the counter. “How much do you wanna bet I’m right?”
“I don’t make stupid bets,” she smugly answered as she poured the milk. “Besides, I don’t need to bet, I know I’m right.”
“Fine,” I countered. “How about if I find out Tony’s a vampire--”
“He’s not.”
“If I find out he is, then you’ve gotta tell mom and dad you’re going with Ethan.”
“What?” she nearly spilled her cereal as she walked over to the kitchen stool.
“Ooh! Are you worried?” I grinned.
“No.” She set the bowl down. “Whatever. Then when you find out I’m right—”
“Which you’re not.”
“When you find out I’m right, you’re gonna have to kiss him.”
What in the--? I was glad my bowl was already in the sink, or it would’ve shattered on the floor. “Are you serious?” I gasped.
“Worried?” Cass smiled around her spoon.
“Bring it on!” I grinned back.



Chapter 6


He wasn’t at church. Tony totally didn’t come. His mom said it was because he was sick—which Cassidy was quick to point out—but I was positive they were just saying that to make his ploy look good.
So I was bummed. More than I should’ve been. I didn’t realize how excited I was at seeing him again, or how much my day would be effected when Tony wasn’t there. May be it’s love? Hmm. I don’t know though. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to feel once you’re in love. But my heart did beat like crazy every time someone mentioned his name—which wasn’t enough in my opinion. Why didn’t his family talk about their son more? See? It’s like they’re hiding something! *Sigh*
So I spent most of the service craning my neck to look behind me. I admit it. It drove Cassidy nuts too. My mom would’ve probably given me the evil eye—but nobody else seemed to mind. Part of me hoped he would decide once he was all alone at the house that he was bored and tired of pretending like he was sick and come to church anyway. Besides if he was a true vampire, he’d have been able to run here so fast no one would’ve been able to see him.
Oh my gosh! Maybe that’s it! Maybe he’s already here watching me! Like when Edward was watching Bella in the woods! I spun around and sat up straighter, my eyes alert.
“What are you doing?” hissed Cass. “Will you pay attention to the sermon, please?”
You know now that I think about it, I do feel someone watching me! “Hey, look around, do you see Tony somewhere?” I remembered to whisper just in time.
“What?” I thought Cassidy was gonna have a cow. “Why would I see Tony?”
I picked up the hymnal and covered my mouth with it. “Because, I feel like someone’s watching me.”
“Well, duh! You’re acting like such a dork--fidgeting around like that--you’ve probably got the whole congregation watching you!”
Yeah right! I rolled my eyes and banged the hymnal shut. Everyone turned around and looked right at me. Dang!
“Oh my gosh! I’m gonna die of embarrassment right now!” muttered Cass as she lowered further down on the bench. “Could you be a bigger spaz?”
I lowered myself next to her and raised the hymnal again. “You know what? I don’t care what you think,” I whispered.
“Claire! Tony Russo is sick, okay? He did not fly with his super bat powers--”
“Run.”
“Whatever! He’s not here! Okay? And he’s definitely not watching you!”
“How do you know?”
Sometimes Cassidy can make the weirdest gestures like she’s having a seizure or something. Really, I’m not kidding. Down right scary, especially at church with everyone watching. “I. Can’t. Believe. I’m. Having. This. Conversation.”
“Why?”
She whipped her head around and stared straight at me. “Are you okay? How close did you get to Tony yesterday, anyway?”
Huh?
She put her hand up to my head. “Hmm. You don’t feel feverish.” I swatted her hand anyway. “Stop it. Of course I’m not sick!” Sheez! “Don’t you have any imagination at all?”
“Imagina--!”
“Ahem!” Doug interrupted.
We both looked up. Everyone was standing getting ready to sing. Ack! I fumbled with the hymnal and we both scrambled to our feet as quickly as possible. Under the beginning notes of the organ I explained, “It’s obvious he’s trying to fake being sick, so that way I won’t know he’s a vampire.”
“Save me please!” Cass raised her eyes to the vaulted ceiling as everyone began to sing the first verse. “Somebody save me!”
“Very funny,” I uttered as I found my place and joined the singing.
“Only you would think so, Claire.”
I decided to ignore her the rest of the meeting. After all why bother with someone who’s just trying to set me up to fail, anyway? It’s obvious she doesn’t want to lose!

8 comments:

  1. Like I just emailed ya...I want some of whatever you're drinking! If you could bottle up some JJ and sell it to writers, you'd be a millionaire! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. WAY TO GO JENNI!!! It feels great...doesn't it?

    I dearly love the festive blog layout!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woo hoo! Congrats on winning NaNo! I don't know how people do it with everything going on in the month of November, and it sounds like you had plenty!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angie--LOL! A millionaire? I wish! It's awfully boring tho--what I drink. Just water. That's it and sometimes lemonade--boring I know, right? LOL! I think my secret is my kids..? That and the fact my characters won't let me sleep unless I write what they say! LOL!

    Ang--Thanks! And my blog design is free. You can pick from a whole slew of designs if you want one too. Just click on the top left hand corner and yours will be transformed! LOL! That's what I did to a friend of mine.

    Melissa--I was positive a man decided nano should be in nov. because only a man would think he'd have time to write that much.. LOL! I was right! Chris Baty founded nano like 9 or 10 years ago. Go figure

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats!! Just a beginning to all that is to come... You are such a talented writer! Can't wait to read the whole thing! And I'm still waiting for pics. of your ball...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jenni James...you amaze me! How do you get all this done??? I swear, I can't get half of anything in my life finished and you go around writing novels all over the place!!! I still haven't read Emmalee, and now you have this one done!!! Crazy girl! :) Sounds like its good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is great!!! I loved it. The concept sounds hilarious--and such a clever modernization of Northanger Abbey. Way to go!

    Also, way to go for finishing NaNo! I dropped out after 13k. *hangs head in shame*

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations!!! Winning NaNo is a great accomplishment! Your book sounds hilarious.

    ReplyDelete