That’s how far behind I am in NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – is kicking my butt this year. No, that’s not true. I’m kicking my own butt this year.

I was doing great, hitting my word targets until day 13, but then, on day 14 I didn’t. I haven’t gotten back up to the target number since, falling further and further behind.

What I haven’t done, though, is give up. Every single day I’ve written SOMETHING, and every single day I’ve updated my word count. It may be going up a little more slowly than I’d like, but I’m happy with the knowledge that: 1. it’s still going up, and 2. it’s going up at a rate that is far faster than if I weren’t doing NaNoWriMo.

I have a long weekend coming up. I’m hopeful that somehow I’ll be able to crank out several thousand words, and maybe, if I’m lucky, catch up.

Whether I do or not, I’m still pleased with what I’ve accomplished so far. I’m nearly 30,000 words into a new Young Adult murder mystery set in both the present and old time New Orleans. It’s a far different story than I set out to write, but it’s the story that must be written.

Now, off to my day job, then onward toward victory!