The last time I updated you all on my NaNoWriMo progress, Stan was dead in the bar, Moe had fled to sunny Mexico, and Angel Bell was beside herself with grief, eating Bon Bons in the dark in her trailer.

That meant I had less than half my 50,000 words, and no main character left to write about!  I had no idea what would happen next.

Well, it took 2 days out of my precious 30 for NaNoWriMo, but I finally came up with a solution to the problem: Angel Bell would have to become my main character.  There was simply no other way.  She would also have to get out of the trailer park and move to New York City.

You might be thinking that NYC = cliche, and you might be right about that, so I won’t dispute it.  However, New York is the only big city locale I have knowledge of… so off to “The Big Apple” it was!

I think posting an excerpt at this point would be boring – you can all feel free to correct me if I am wrong – so I’m just going to list out for you what’s gone down so far:

• Angel Bell has decided that her name can no longer be Angel Bell.  It can’t even be Darlene anymore, if she’s serious about leaving her past behind her.  So now she goes by Maddie, which is short for her middle name, Madeleine.
• Maddie has landed an awesome apartment by rooming with Jenna, a fellow twenty-something in need of a roommate after being demoted due to the financial crisis, who she found on craigslist.
• Jenna is a bit… loose.  She keeps trying to get Maddie to join her in her escapades, but Maddie is anti-relations of any kind with men.  She feels they always end badly – and quite often with fire.
• Maddie is about to take a job as a makeup consultant at a salon.

I’m not sure what else is in store for Maddie’s new life.  It’s possible that Ernie is going to show up in an Elvis suit and profess his undying love for her – he was pretty torn up when she moved away, you see.  Or, she might become famous after Oprah gets wind of her sad backstory.  She also might just be a regular girl from now on… who knows?!  My word count is 31,617 – that means I’ve got 18,383 words left to make it interesting!

© 2009, The Table Has Shoes (and Other Ambiguities). All rights reserved.

I know I don’t usually do this, but I had to share these pictures. I took them about 2 days before a ton of rain eliminated all the colorful trees we had left and ushered in the depressing landscape of November.

© 2009, The Table Has Shoes (and Other Ambiguities). All rights reserved.

I usually don’t like the month of November.  It gets cold, it gets dark early, and the trees lose their leaves, which all adds up to depressing in my book.

That all seems rather negative!  So I decided to make myself a list (I love lists, so this should not shock the people who know me well) of things that make November GOOD.

Here it is:

1. NaNoWriMo.  If you follow this blog, you probably have a good idea of what NaNoWriMo is and why I would put it on a list designed to convince myself that November is awesome.  But for those of you who are new… NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month.  This means budding writers around the world come together and attempt to write a novel – in one month.  To “win,” you have to write a novel that is at least 50,000 words long.  I’ve participated for 3 years now, and I’ve got to say that NaNoWriMo is definitely something I look forward to each November.
2. Starbucks releases its holiday drinks! This is something I just learned today via @Starbucks on Twitter – the Gingerbread Latte, Eggnog Latte, and Peppermint Mocha all launch tomorrow.  I cannot wait!  The Gingerbread Latte is my absolute favorite coffee drink – it is the exact right amount of sweetness and espresso and holiday cheer rolled into a 12-ounce cup.  I have been foiled in recent years when it comes to Gingerbread Lattes, but I have hope that this year I will be able to have them once more.
3. Bon Jovi release their new CD: The Circle. I will give you all a moment to calm yourselves; I know I had to!  My love of Bon Jovi goes back to college, when Whitney brought me to my first-ever Bon Jovi concert.  I can assure you, I will be purchasing this CD on November 10th!  If you’d like to purchase it, too, here is a link to Amazon for the pre-order:
4. THANKSGIVING. By far my favorite holiday, and it is always in November, right?  You get all the delicious holiday foods with none of the stress over buying holiday gifts!  My mouth waters just thinking about green bean casserole, home-made stuffing, and pumpkin pie.
5. Holiday decorations can go up once Thanksgiving has passed without fear of jumping the gun on your holiday cheer.  Now, I might dread holiday shopping, but I love holiday decorating!  Nothing is better than Christmas trees, wreaths, twinkling lights, and stockings.  I look forward to outdoor Christmas decor as well, because that means endless entertainment from the inevitable Christmas throw-up that comes with decorating certain houses for the holidays.  ** If you don’t know what Christmas throw-up is, don’t worry!  As soon as I start to see some, I will take pictures and dedicate an entire post to its honor.**

There it is, my 5 reasons November will be awesome.  I’m sure there are other reasons I left off, or forgot.  If you think of one, feel free to comment, and share your reason!

© 2009, The Table Has Shoes (and Other Ambiguities). All rights reserved.