Saturday, October 31, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015?

You probably know the drill by now. Am I participating in NaNoWriMo 2015? Yes. Yes I am. Shocker? Not really.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It is a month long event where writers attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. This will be my third year participating.

If you'd like more info on the event you can visit the official site HERE. Or you can read my blog post from last year where I talk about my past experiences with NaNoWriMo HERE. Or if you are interested in if I completed my novel for 2014 you can click HERE to read that blog post.

Like other years, I don't have confidence in finishing this novel. HOWEVER, I think this might be the easiest one I'll attempt. Besides being absolutely in love with my main characters, I feel drawn to this story in my head and feel an obligation to write it in my new, unique way.

What is that unique way? Each chapter will be a day in my characters' lives from the day they met until they day they go separate ways. What makes it unique (I think) is that each chapter (day) will be based around a different word.

I am a huge advocate for oneword.com. It is a website that gives you a new word every day and you have 60 seconds to write whatever comes to mind using that word. So for the whole month of November I plan on making my chapters revolve around whatever word is listed on One Word that particular day. I feel like it gives an air of mystery to my story. To be honest, I only have a few key point plotted out in my novel and the rest is a complete mystery. I'm putting my novel in the hands of a random word generating website.

Two of the main key points I have created are my two main characters Kate and Rodney. For the whole month of October I knew I should start thinking about what novel I wanted to write and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to use the word generator and that the main characters were a boy and a girl. As time went on, in my head I started calling them K and R. I have absolutely no idea when or how that started. Also somewhere along the way I started calling them Kate and Rodney. It wasn't until the other day when I stopped myself mid-thought and realized I had subconsciously named my characters, so the names stuck.

Kate and Rodney are both in their early 20's, in their last year of university. They are stuck in that odd stage of the unknown future and fear of growing up and real life responsibilities. It's the stage that every university student goes trough at one point in their life. It's all about finding yourself, who you are and what you believe in.

I am beyond excited to start writing this novel. It is a topic I am passionate about and a writing style I am more than familiar with. Who knows, one day maybe you'll see IMMINENT on the shelves of a bookstore. Only hopefully by then it will have a better cover than this one I created spur of the moment this morning!


Wish me luck in this crazy writing adventure! I have no idea whether or not I'll have any new blog posts out in November since I'll be focused on school and writing IMMINENT. But keep an eye out in case I do! Maybe I'll make an update or two on how writing is going? NaNoWriMo tips? We'll see what happens! 

If you're also attempting NaNoWriMo why not add me and we can cheer each other on!
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/imagineworkshop

Nothing special, but still meaningful.

     Much Love,
              Elly

Monday, October 19, 2015

Elly's Sick Day Mushroom Onion Soup

Being sick is awful - or according to my new video, being sick SUCKS!! (Get that promo! CLICK HERE to watch it ;D) I've been sick the past week and it was just awful. In my sick state I never wanted to eat food, let alone make it. Even if I did want food I could NEVER taste it!

HOWEVER! One of the first days I was sick I really just wanted chicken noodle soup. That being said, I'm vegetarian so I needed to create a new option with the minimal ingredients in my kitchen. I trudged to the kitchen and had a look around and as a result I created an INCREDIBLE soup recipe. It is so simple, yet so delicious. And here's the kicker, you can actually taste the food!

So here is my recipe for Elly's Sick Day Mushroom Onion Soup!


Ingredients:
Tab of butter
One small onion
3/4 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 cup of your choice noodles (I use campanelle)
2 1/2 cups water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes (or 1 can of broth)
Dash of rosemary
Sprinkle of parmesan


Directions:
1. Boil 2 1/2 cups water and add noodles.
2. Chop onion and mushrooms finely. Add butter , mushrooms, onions, and a dash of rosemary to a small skillet on medium heat. (You can also add salt, pepper and garlic for extra flavor!)
3. When the noodles are nearly cooked add your bouillon cubes to the water.
4. After your water turns to broth add your cooked mushrooms and onions to the mixture.
5. Let cook on medium heat for two minutes.
6. Serve soup and add a sprinkle of parmesan for additional flavor.

AND THAT'S IT!

It is insanely simple and tastes delicious. It's exactly what you want when you don't feel at your best. I loved this recipe so much that I literally made it every night for the whole week I was sick. It has most definitely become my go to pick-me-up meal!

Let me know if you make the recipe and how much you enjoyed it! Enjoy cooking!

Nothing special, but still meaningful.

     Much Love,
              Elly