Nano Guest: Nicole Zoltack

Nicole Zoltack is the author of Woman of Glory and Knight of Honor. We met through CRR since we both write classic (non-erotic) romance. Welcome Nicole!

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NaNo. How I love NaNoWriMo, much to my hubby’s chagrin. He always groans and mutters under his breath every year when November comes along.

My first time doing Nano was in 2004. I was in college, and my one sister had mentioned it to me. I signed up on November 6th and managed to reach 50k before the end of the month. I was thrilled! Walking on air! The creative juices were flowing!

I have yet to finish that novel. I opened the file recently. It’s crap. Complete crap. Full of telling, lots of unnecessary scenes, so many grammatical errors. The basic plot is sound, but it needs so much work that I might as well rewrite the story, if I ever decide it’s worth it. That story was chick lit, my first time trying that genre.

The next year, I wrote a fantasy story. Reached 50k which is about half the story. Fantasy stories are normally around 100k so that fine. But I haven’t touched that story since I hit 50k.

2006, I wrote a story about an assassin. Reached 50k. This story I have since finished and shined it up. I’m ready to query agents with this one. It’s called Hidden in Shadows and it’s an urban fantasy with romantic elements.

2007 I wrote a story about a young girl who wanted to become a knight. I won again this year. I finished this novel and it’s published with Desert Breeze Publishing. It’s called Woman of Honor, and it’s a high fantasy romance.

2008 I didn’t even try to write 50k in November. With a one month old, I figured it wasn’t worth the stress. Sleep was just too important.

2009 I was a Nano rebel. I rewrite a previously finished novel (fantasy YA). Wrote 80k that month. I’ve since revised this story several more times and after this latest revision, I’ll start querying agents.

Now Nano isn’t for everyone. But it works for me. There’s this rush of adrenaline that seizes me. Something about writing so many words in the month, knowing that so many other people are trying to reach that same goal along with me. It pushes me. I push myself harder in November than any other month.

Yes I’ve reached 50k every time I’ve tried. Yes, I haven’t finished all of the novels. Some need a lot of work. But I have discovered, to my happiness, that my latest Nano novels are actually rather clean. I’ve learned so much about being a writer and the writing process that my novels are cleaner and tighter, despite the frantic pace of Nano. And for me, that’s a success. Nano has helped me to grow, to write faster, cleaner.

Now if only I could write at this crazy, frantic pace in months other than November…

Find Nicole’s current and future books on her Website

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Notice the image change above? All of my Guest Bloggers throughout November met the 50K challenge and conquered it! CONGRATS to ALL! Please scroll down and read their adventures, as well.
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