NiaD X

[tanyareed]

Hey! I'm not seeing my chapter in the finished stories. I sent it out about an hour before the deadline. Did it not arrive? I didn't get any bounced notifications or anything. I'm kind of bummed since I worked on it for hours today. I even had a power outage and was afraid I wouldn't be able to send it, but I was excited when the power came back on just in time.

I know there's nothing that can be done about it now, but I'm sad it didn't make it in.

OH NO!

I've done a thorough search -- I can't find any submissions from you tanyareed. I've got your email from this morning but the last thing I received from you prior to that was your April Apocolypse Edition chapter (including in my junk mail as I check that every 30mins during the day). I"m really sorry about that! I wonder what happened?!

tanyareed - if you email me a copy of your completed chapter I will compile a version for you later in the week and email it across. In the meantime, I can confirm that you would have been Chapter 17 so you can check out those in the published books to see how others did with the same brief. No tweaking and editing before you send it, though!!!

That is so bizarre! I sent two emails to you. One verifying that I got your email on the mistake in my original brief and one with my chapter in it. It sounds like some crazy glitch or something from either my computer or my ISP.

I will definitely send along my chapter! Thanks for going to the trouble to do that for me. I've been having the week from hell, so I'm not surprised that something like this happened.

[tanyareed]

Okay, Rog. All sent! Let me know if you don't receive it this time.

[xiamenese]

My take on that is that:

• on the one hand it would be great, particularly if restricted to family recipes rather than recipes culled from existing cookbooks or the internet—though I don't know how you could ensure that;
• on the other, I would hope that many of us, like me, have a repository of recipes in a Scrivener project so, for me, it might simply be a matter of compiling one and sending you that, not really akin to NiaD!

What do others think?



Mark

Great idea... provided I can grab the slot for Banana Cake, which is the only thing I can safely make. 'tis yummy!
Also, to really upset Pigfender's apple cart, could we include photos?

Oh yeah, I have a vision. You’d need to actually cook it and send photos alongside the recipe and a story about the recipe.

I’d definitely be up for that.



Mark

[homeport]

Maybe we will find ourselves in a mini lock down and do the other half

[Kingstonmike]

Maybe we will find ourselves in a mini lock down and do the other half

God, the last thing I need is to lockdown again...Just got started up again after 5 months....

[JacquelineM]

Well, I’ve finished mine. Yay!

I don’t know if it’s any good, but at least it’s done.
I shall send it after one last edit.

I always panic when I receive the brief and think I can’t do it, and then somehow make sense of it and a story emerges.

<snip> …

Thanks to @pigfender for making this such a great event. I’m looking forward to reading your chapter too! And, of course, everyone else’s.

Just what I feel. Trying to make sense of my chapter was the biggest challenge this time, rather than feeling completely out of my depth with genre like the last two times I took part.



Mark

Hi Mark! It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one who felt like this!

First of all, the email arrived without the attachment containing the brief so I had to request it from Mr Pigfender, after checking that it definitely was missing. It was! Then, when I received it I couldn’t sleep for wondering what the Fourth Amendment was, and pondering how to write about an intern researching a hit and run accident without mentioning or disclosing any details!

I didn’t get into the ‘writing zone’ until lunchtime, but necessity being the mother of invention, somehow the story seemed to write itself.
I kind of turned it into chick-lit and made the intern into a wannabe pop star.

It’s amazing how effective a deadline can be!

[JacquelineM]

I wonder would it be too great a technical challenge to do a Graphic Novel In A Day some year.

Insanity! Crazy wonderful insanity!
That said, I can't quite see how it would work - besides giving Pigfender the heebie-jeebies.

Giving me the heebie-jeebies is good enough reason for people to want to do something, I've found.

I did abandon an idea for a NiaD a year or so go because I thought it would work better as a graphic novel than a normal novel, but I can't use that now because I already posted the working title (which gives a fair bit about the idea away) in this very thread. <shrugs>

I like the idea, though. I suspect Graphic Novel in a Week might be more achieveable, but I have a day job so I can't see that happening anytime soon!

The idea I *could* see us doing soon is Cookbook in a Day...

How about a story set in a restaurant, with each chapter being about a character and their favourite recipe?

Re a Graphic Novel, a children’s picture book might be doable instead.

[pigfender]

First of all, the email arrived without the attachment containing the brief so I had to request it from Mr Pigfender, after checking that it definitely was missing. It was! Then, when I received it I couldn’t sleep for wondering what the Fourth Amendment was, and pondering how to write about an intern researching a hit and run accident without mentioning or disclosing any details!

I didn’t get into the ‘writing zone’ until lunchtime, but necessity being the mother of invention, somehow the story seemed to write itself.
I kind of turned it into chick-lit and made the intern into a wannabe pop star.

It’s amazing how effective a deadline can be!

Yeah - a small handful had problems with the attachments initially. I suspect it had something to do with first checking via phone, but we were able to resolve quickly which is the main thing.

On the 4th Amendment, though... you saw the research note in your brief that said what the 4th Amendment is, what it says, and how it applies, right?!?!?!

[CeramicFairy]

I was a NiaD newbie and now I can't believe I've missed out for so many years! Such fun!! Thank you for letting me (Jeni Blue) join the party. Researching the early 90s alone was worth it. I can't stop myself from using pop culture references in my writing. In case anyone's interested, I listened to these for inspiration:

Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi , 1990)
U Can't Touch This (MC Hammer, 1990)
Losing My Religion (R.E.M. 1991)
One (U2, 1991)
Two Princes (Spin Doctors, 1991)
Jerry was a Race Car Driver (Primus, 1991)
Walk on the Ocean (Toad the Wet Sprocket, 1991)
The Show Must Go On (Queen, 1991)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana, 1991)
Alive (Pearl Jam, 1991)
Hold On (Wilson Phillips, 1990)
Vision of Love (Mariah Carey, 1990)
Black Velvet (Alannah Myles, 1990)

I also watched clips from The People's Court, Law & Order season 1, and Seinfeld. Oh, and a full episode of L.A. Law,

Fun fact: The Spin Doctors were based in NYC and played frat house gigs at Columbia University (Jean!) in the late 80s. Their first recorded album was released in 1991, a few short months after our story.

Yes! I had a happy hour or so checking out the charts from the first half of 1991, the films that were new out, etc... Only Silence of the Lambs, Bryan Adams and Lenny Kravitz made the final cut sadly. I did write to a soundtrack of 1991 for a couple of hours though.

[JacquelineM]

First of all, the email arrived without the attachment containing the brief so I had to request it from Mr Pigfender, after checking that it definitely was missing. It was! Then, when I received it I couldn’t sleep for wondering what the Fourth Amendment was, and pondering how to write about an intern researching a hit and run accident without mentioning or disclosing any details!

I didn’t get into the ‘writing zone’ until lunchtime, but necessity being the mother of invention, somehow the story seemed to write itself.
I kind of turned it into chick-lit and made the intern into a wannabe pop star.

It’s amazing how effective a deadline can be!

Yeah - a small handful had problems with the attachments initially. I suspect it had something to do with first checking via phone, but we were able to resolve quickly which is the main thing.

On the 4th Amendment, though... you saw the research note in your brief that said what the 4th Amendment is, what it says, and how it applies, right?!?!?!

Hi @pigfender,

Yes, after the initial panic I noticed that you had summarised the meaning of the 4th Amendment in the notes. You were also extremely prompt in sending the missing attachment, and in answering a few questions I emailed you regarding the brief.

I think the hardest part of NiaD is not the writing but the research. It’s a challenge to write something for an unfamiliar genre outside one’s ‘comfort zone’, but the stress and urgency are all part of the fun!

The best part, of course, is reading all the novels after midnight.

Thank you, once again, for organising this wonderful event!

[homeport]

When I checked mail on phone the attachment was not showing really strange but once opened mail on Mac I saw it straight away

[gr]

Maybe we will find ourselves in a mini lock down and do the other half

God, the last thing I need is to lockdown again...Just got started up again after 5 months....

Lockdown is over and nobody told me?!

[gr]

Then, when I received it I couldn’t sleep for wondering . . . and pondering how to write about an intern researching a hit and run accident without mentioning or disclosing any details!

These are the wildest sort of challenges in the NIAD! I once had a case where a woman had called in saying she had crucial info on a case and my scene was supposed to be her being interviewed by the police, but I had no info about the substance of what she had to report! OMG that had me running and jumping through some hoops!

[gr]

The Bespoke Edition of ‘On Your Honor’ (NIAD 2020) is now posted!

http://www.gbrish.net/niadweb/2020

This web-based setting of the novel includes every version of every chapter in a form that makes them easy to browse and select and read, so you can mix and match your own bespoke edition of this extraordinary novel.

Thanks to Pigfender and Rog for another incredible year!

gr

Note: I like to “buy local” including my ISP, so sometimes your initial visit to the site can be slow to load. (What? Does their server have to wake up? Am I their only client? I don’t know. ) Sip some tea.

[thegirlclaudia]

The Bespoke Edition of ‘On Your Honor’ (NIAD 2020) is now posted!

http://www.gbrish.net/niadweb/2020

This web-based setting of the novel includes every version of every chapter in a form that makes them easy to browse and select and read, so you can mix and match your own bespoke edition of this extraordinary novel.

Thanks to Pigfender and Rog for another incredible year!

gr

Note: I like to “buy local” including my ISP, so sometimes your initial visit to the site can be slow to load. (What? Does their server have to wake up? Am I their only client? I don’t know. ) Sip some tea.

Thanks gr!!! Wow, what an awesomely solemn signature you've got now.