Camp NaNo July ~ Week #3

Well, peeps. Another week has gone by. This was the week writers block officially hit. This was when I fell behind in my writing goal. *sniffs* But never fear! I caught back up. :) 

My Camp NaNo word count now stands at 21,076 – only 5,802 of which were this week. O.o The good news? The total word count of War Tears is now over 46,000. *bounces around* THAT'S NOVEL LENGTH, PEOPLES. (As someone so kindly pointed out to me. ;)) Also, I only have 8,000-and-something more words to write this month... XD *faints* 

Day Fifteen // Friday // 2 

Yes, you read that correctly. No, it was not a typo. Yes, I only wrote TWO words this day. No, I'm not happy about it. 

*cough* 

What can I say? I had no inspiration... =/ I worked that morning,... 

And decorated the for-sale rack for the wildflower event ^_^ 

...went to town, and went to an event that night. I'm really not sure what else I did other than eat ice cream and finished reading this delightful book. 

Review coming tomorrow! 

Day Sixteen // Saturday // 682 

Saturday... What did I do again? Oh yes. That was the day I slept in, went swimming until it thundered, wrote some, and went to bed at a decent time. (Hooray for sleep!) 

Oh, and went for a walk after the rain. :) 

Day Seventeen // Sunday // 453

Sunday... Such. Chaos. Church, lunch, visiting, more church, more food, long ride home, and writing a pitiful amount of words. Pretty much. Also, I spent more time on Pinterest between church. :P You know, all that free time I had when I should have been writing... 

Sunday ended on a sad note. You know, with me over here wailing. I WAS DOING SOOO GOOD BUT NOW I'M BEHIIIIIINNNNNDDDDD!!! *sobs* 

Day Eighteen // Monday // 1,273

Monday...felt like Saturday for some really weird, unknown reason. Part of it could have been because Dad was around all day catching up on mowing, etc. and that's usually a Saturday thing. I don't even know. 

So, I was glancing over something I had already written, editing it a little and tweaking here and there. And I came across something that me stop and go "WUT?" I thought I had 'David you're scarring me'. And I was like, "scarring? That doesn't even make sense!" But...it didn't say scarring. Scaring, Faith, scaring. One R. Put your glasses on or go to bed. XP

I drank iced coffee...oh-la-la, is this stuff good. 

It also rained Monday. You can't tell much by this picture, but it's literally pouring. You know, raining cats and dogs. Puppies and kittens. Hammers and nails. *shrug* Whatever suits your fancy and floats your goat. 

*rereads what she just typed* 

That was weird. 

And Monday ended happily with a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L sunset and me getting almost caught up on my word count. :) 

Day Nineteen // Tuesday // 1,257

I worked Tuesday morning. (Hah. Haha. That sounded pathetic. XD) I really don't know what else I did though...I wrote words...? 

Remember the jar I showed y'all? Well, here it is in its glorious green completion. <3 

Day Twenty // Wednesday // 1,061

Wednesday... I worked again. And came home. And took a shower. And left to do a thing or two in town before church time. I really don't know what else I did... 

Isn't it darling?? :D 

Day Twenty-One // Thursday // 1,074

Thursday was a bit crazy. I wrote more than I had been getting in less time, blogged, and sifted through some emails. Someone suggested to me that a change a major part of War Tears (like NOOOO. That. Cannot. Happen. What were you thinking?!) and spent awhile trying to avoid being strangled. Obviously it worked as I am here now. *waves*

This was also the night (err, morning. It was technically Friday.) I discovered what three cups of coffee do to me. Coffee usually doesn't affect me, but apparently I just wasn't drinking enough. I couldn't go to sleep last night! That's extremely uncommon for me -- especially considering my lack of sleep recently. So now I'm running on about 6 hours of sleep...maybe I need more coffee. -_- 

Alrighty. So last week Someone asked if/when a excerpt from War Tears would be shown here on the blog. And I thought...why not? So Blessing and everyone else, here ya go. Go ahead and read it, critique it (I'm serious. I want honest feedback.) and tell me how. horrible it is. 

^*^*^*^*^ 

Sunday, December 7th, 1941

  “Sweetheart,” David stuck his head into the kitchen, “Luke and I are going out to the hangar. Call us if we’re not back by the time you're ready for us.” 

  “Alright,” Bethany smiled. “We should be ready in about an hour.” 

  The back door clicked shut and Bethany turned to her sister-in-law. “The hangar?” 

  Erin snickered as she rolled out dough for a buttermilk pie. “I guess it's officially considered a hangar now that the plane actually runs.” 

  Erin and Bethany cooked and chatted, enjoying the sisterly companionship, while Lenore entertained herself at the dining room table. Every few minutes she bounded into the room to show her auntie Beth a picture she had drew. 

  Bethany was getting dishes from the cupboard when a movement in the field caught her eye. “Surely they're not up in that plane again,” she mumbled, quickly reaching up to draw aside the curtains. 

  She sighed with relief when she spotted the plane sitting idly in the ‘hangar’, only the stilled propeller visible. The motion that had caught her eye turned out to be a truck. Bethany didn't recognize the man that hopped from the truck and ducked into the building, his shoulders hunched forward against the fierce winds. 

  Bethany returned to fixing the midday meal, but a few minutes later she caught a glimpse of the truck as it left the field and rumbled on down West street. Hmm, that's strange. 

  It wasn't long before double footsteps could be heard clomping across the porch. The stranger with the rattling truck gone from her mind, Bethany smiled at the sound. “They're back, Erin!” she called over her shoulder as she wiped her hands on her apron and stepped into the next room. 

  The front door swung open and David and Luke entered. Instead of removing their coats and hats, or coming to the kitchen with the womenfolk, they both went straight to the radio. 

  David leaned his shoulder against the wall, his head down and face hidden. Luke knelt in front of the radio and began fumbling with the dial. Bethany took a step into the room. Something was wrong. They were both acting so strange, distraught even. 

  A station came in, and Luke sat back on his heels. 

  The crackling voice came over the air. “Japanese naval and air forces have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As of eight o’clock this morning, Pacific Time, Pearl Harbor Hawaii faultered under Japanese attacks from sea and air. Reports coming in tell of mass destruction. The following is part of a phone call the New York station received.” A switching sound was heard and the aforementioned phone call began to replay. ** “We have witnessed this morning the distant view a brief full battle of Pearl Harbor and the severe bombing of Pearl Harbor by enemy planes, undoubtedly Japanese. The city of Honolulu has also been attacked and considerable damage done. This battle has been going on for nearly three hours. One of the bombs dropped within fifty feet of KTU tower. It is no joke. It is a real war. The public of Honolulu has been advised to keep in their homes and away from the Army and Navy. There has been serious fighting going on in the air and in the sea. The heavy shooting seems to be . . . a little interruption. We cannot estimate just how much damage has been done, but it has been a very severe attack. The Navy and Army appear now to have the air and the sea under control.” ** 

  Bethany gasped and took a staggering step backwards, reaching out to the wall for support. The words reverberated through her mind. Attacked…destruction…bombing…war… 

  Davids gaze jerked up to hers. He stumbled across the room towards her and she welcomed his arms to lean on. 

  “What does that mean?” Her voice came out squeaky and muffled as she clung to David's cold coat. 

  “We've been bombed,” he whispered. His voice sounded flat and emotionless. Bethany pulled back and sought out his face. His voice may have carried no evidence of feeling to her ears, but his face showed it all. His squared jaw was clenched and his eyes showed the depth of his anguish. Anger and despair were also visible in his defined features. 

  “Attacked. By Japan. God, help us.”

  Without another word, David led her towards the couch and pulled her down next to him. Bethany glanced up and noted Erin and Luke across the room. Erin sat in the rocker, Lenore on her lap. Luke remained knelt in the floor by the radio, but he had turned to his family. Holding them in his arms. 

  David’s arms came back around her and Bethany nestled closer against him. She understood what he was feeling. With the onset of such news, she too needed to be reassured that he was indeed safe and there with her. 

  “How did you know?” she whispered, her voice breaking. 

  “Mr. Cummings from the lumber yard stopped by. He was going to the house of anyone he knew to spread the news.” 

  Which explained why Bethany didn’t recognize the truck or the man. Mr. Cummings wasn't known for going to church, and he frequented parts of Cana that Bethany stayed away from. 

  David tucked her face into his shoulder, his cheek against hers, and reached for her other hand which rested on his arm. “Let’s pray for our country.” 

^*^*^*^*^ 

** indicates an excerpt of the actual call received by the New York station on the morning of the Pearl Harbor bombings. 

Alrighty. I'm out the door to work. Hope you all had a good week and happy weekend! :) Any plans? I'm hoping to get ahead on my word count AND finish a book...we'll see. ;) 

~Faith