I’m still recovering from Thanksgiving. I ate moderately but well, associated with people I like, witnessed no ugly scenes and went and returned safely. It’s too much for one person to bear.

My brain wants to go write words on my NaNo project, so I can’t think of anything to post today.

What? I could post about the project? Oh, no, really…. I couldn’t…. Well, since you insist.

PICKLE IN A PEAR TREE takes place during the Christmas season. A brother who cared for parents until one and then the other passed away and a sister who is widowed by a civilian office-worker attached to the military sell their houses and buy one together in the Storybook Style neighborhood of Spadena Street. Horace, the brother, is given a hand-carved chess piece by an acquaintance in the park. Hours later, the man is murdered. The next day, Horace and Daphne’s house is burgled and nothing is taken except some of their Christmas tree ornaments–including the chess piece, which Horace had put there as a memento.

NaNoWriMo means writing down whatever strikes your fancy and worrying about editing later. This holds the danger of writing yourself into a corner you can’t get out of, but it also contains the possibility of throwing stuff in you wouldn’t have come up with if you’d tried to think about it. Example: My husband asked about dogs in mysteries, and Horace and Daphne acquired a dog in that day’s writing. She’s minuscule, quiet, devoted, fierce when necessary and has long golden curls. Daphne named her Shirley Temple. I would never have come with that on my own, but now Shirley Temple is as real to me as the flower-wallower we really actually have.

So that’s my post for the day after Thanksgiving. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, they call the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because it’s the biggest shopping day of the year, the day when many merchants finally turn a profit for the year–the day when their accounts go from debit (once written in red ink) to profit (once written in black ink).

WRITING PROMPT: When does your main character begin shopping for presents for people? Nearly a year in advance? The day of the celebration?

MA