Category Archives: Local Authors

Nano November: Week four in Review – Word count: 94,039

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard

Donutauthor photocrest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76

Total time spent: 8 hours and 50 minutes (530 minutes)

Total word count: 94,039 (30,262 in week 1 & 25,520 in week 2 &16,143 in week 3)

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 43,591 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 50,017 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 64,136

Day 22: 11/22/15, Sunday

Location(s): NA

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 23: 11/23/15, Monday

Location(s):

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 24: 11/24/15, Tuesday

Location(s):

Noteworthy: I worked on Cafe Connections today. Will work on Donuts when I finish the first draft of this romance novel.

Money Spent: $0

Total time spent: 0 minutes

Total word count: 0 words

Day 25: 11/25/15, Wednesday

Location(s):

○ Early at work 7:30AM-8AM, 2063 words

○ After work 5PM-5:20PM, 1195 words

○ AFK in Renton 6:00PM-7:30PM. 4810 words

Noteworthy: Even though I’d spent a week off from writing this book, I was able to pick it right back up fresh in the morning

Money Spent: $16.14 on Sell Out Sliders and a wonderful artisan tea at the AFK

Total time spent: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Total word count: 8,068 words

20151125_181904

Day 26: 11/26/15, Thursday

Location(s):

○ At home 10:15AM-12:00PM, 4133 words

Total time spent: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Total word count: 4,133 words

20151126_114408_HDR

Day 27: 11/27/15, Friday

Location(s):

○ At home 9:45PM-10:00PM, 600 words

Total time spent: 15 minutes

Total word count: 600 words

Day 28: 11/28/15, Saturday

Location(s):

○ At home 10AM-10:15AM, 600 words

○ Neverending Bookstore 12:15PM-3PM, 3600 words

○ At home 4:20PM-4:50PM, 2566 words

○ St James Espresso 6:40PM-7:40PM, 2548 words

Noteworthy: I was pushing to finish the Pessimist Sees the Hole and worked hard to get to 50k in that book.

Money Spent: $3.23 for the special pumpkin white chocolate mocha from Brew in downtown Bothell and $3 ish for tea from St. James

Total time spent: 4 hours and 30 minutes

Total word count: 9,314 words

20151128_150857

20151128_150903

Local Events to Get More Books! Si View Holiday Bazaar (N. Bend WA) and Maple Valley Holiday Bazaar (WA)

by in Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, Maple Valley and tagged , , , , , ,

Si View Holiday Bazaar in North Bend, WA
December 5th 2015 10AM-3PM
Cost: Free 
More Info

The Si View Community Center is holding its annual Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, December 5th, 2015 from 10am to 3pm. Si View Community Center, located in the center of North Bend, offers a quaint atmosphere that lends itself perfectly to this Holiday tradition. See some pictures from last year’s event here. Facebook event page here.

view

Maple Valley Holiday Bazaar in Maple Valley, WA
December 5th 2015 10AM-3PM
Cost: Free 
More Info

The Maple Valley Community Center is holding its annual Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, December 5th, 2015 from 10am to 3pm. Maple Valley Community Center, located in the center of Maple Valley, offers a quaint atmosphere that lends itself perfectly to this Holiday tradition.

Two equally quaint, equally fun local Holiday gift-finding bazaar’s! Please come out and show your support for small local businesses, say hi to the authors at their booth and get some books!

 

Nano November: Week three in Review – Word count:

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 4 Comments

Donutauthor photocrest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76

Total time spent: 7 hours and 40 minutes (460 minutes)

Total word count: 71,924 (30,262 in week 1 & 25,520 in week 2) for 16,143 new words in week 3

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 43,591 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 27,955 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 46,000 (14,472 words week 2, 8,640 words week 1 of Nano and 12k in October)

Day 15: 11/15/15, Sunday
Location(s):
○ Daddy’s Donuts 8:20AM-9:10AM, 1762 words
○ CountrySide Donut House 9:30AM-10:45AM, 2547 words
○ Factory Donuts11AM-12:15PM, 1672 words
○ Neverending Bookstore 1:15PM-3PM, 2180 words
○ Top Pot – Bellevue 3:30PM-4:30PM, 2160 words
Total time spent: 6 hours and 5 minutes
Total word count: 10,322 words

Day 16: 11/16/15, Monday
Location(s):
○ Work 7:35AM -7:55AM, 1066 words
○ Work 12:40PM -12:50PM, 530 words
○ Spinderella before class 5:45P-5:55PM, 643 words
Total time spent: 40 minutes
Total word count: 2239 words

Day 17: 11/17/15, Tuesday
Location(s):
○ Work 7:35-8:15AM, 2484 words
○ Work during lunch 12:20 – 12:35, 1098 words
Total time spent: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total word count: 3582words

Day 18: 11/18/15, Wednesday
Location(s):
Noteworthy: I chose to spend today working on my romance novel after getting critiques yesterday from my group on an earlier chapter.
Total time spent: 0 time
Total word count: 0 words

Day 19: 11/19/15, Thursday
Location(s):
Noteworthy: I worked on my romance novel again! Doing super well on that novel and can’t “put it down.”
Total time spent: 0 time
Total word count: 0 words

20151120_Nano2015_WinnerCertificate

Day 20: 11/20/15, Friday
Location(s):
Location(s):
Noteworthy: I worked on my romance novel again! Doing super well on that novel and can’t “put it down.”
Total time spent: 0 time
Total word count: 0 words

 

Day 21: 11/21/15, Saturday
Location(s):
Location(s):
Noteworthy: I worked on my romance novel again. I’ve decided to finish this book and then go back to donuts
Total time spent: 0 time
Total word count: 0 words

Nano November: Week two in Review – Word count: 55,782

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard

Donutauthor photocrest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76

Total time spent: 14 hours and 20 minutes (860 minutes)

Total word count: 55,782 (30,262 in week 1) for 25,520 new words in week 2

To get to 50k words: 26 hours and 5 minutes or 1565 minutes at 32WPM

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 43,591 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 12,362 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 35,112 (8,640 words week 1 of Nano and 12k in October) for 14,472 new words!

 

Day 8: 11/08/15, Sunday
Location(s):
○ At home 10AM – 10:45AM, 2097 words
○ Verne and Wells 12PM -1PM, 1550 words
○ At home 4PM – 4:20PM, 1200 words
Total time spent: 2 hours and 5 minutes
Total word count: 4847 words

 

Day 9: 11/09/15, Monday
Location(s):
○ At work early 7:25AM – 8AM, 1650 words
○ At home 8PM-9:45PM, 3400 words
Total time spent: 2 hour and 20 minutes
Total word count: 5050 words

 

Day 10: 11/10/15, Tuesday
Location(s):
○ Early at work 7:30AM – 8AM, 1250 words
○ Panera Issaquah 6PM – 7Pm, 945 words
Money Spent: Soba chicken noodle bowl and a bagel at Panera $11.25
Total time spent: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total word count: 2195 words

20151110_173352

Day 11: 11/11/15, Wednesday
Location(s):
○ Early at home 8:55AM – 9:30AM, 1787 words
○ St James 1:50PM- 3:30PM, 2804 words
○ Never Ending Bookstore write-in 4PM – 5:15PM, 2069 words
Noteworthy: I miscalculated my word count somewhere and was about 1000 words under what I had put online and had write like mad to get to 50k today.
Money Spent: St. James breakfast burrito and mocha $11.89
Total time spent: 3 hours 30 minutes
Total word count: 6660 words

20151111_135629

Day 12: 11/12/15, Thursday
Location(s):
○ Early at work 7:15AM – 8AM, 2145 words
○ During work lunch 12-12:10PM, 548 words
○ Work 5:10PM – 5:25 PM, 949 words
Total time spent: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Total word count: 3642 words

 

Day 13: 11/13/15, Friday
Location(s):
○ Early at work 7:45AM – 8:00AM, 840 words
○ Fall City Roadhouse Write-in 5:30PM-9PM, 1186 words
Noteworthy: Won a game challenge (4″ funky mirror disco ball) where I had to write in a specific set of words in a short amount of time, the Stayin’ Alive Game
Money Spent: Fall City Roadhouse $45 for two: pulled pork sandwich, fish and chips, coke, hot chocolate
Total time spent: 3 hours and 45 minutes
Total word count: 2026 words

unnamed unnamed (2)

Day 14: 11/14/15, Saturday
Location(s):
○ Home
○ Neverending Bookstore Write in
Noteworthy: Instead of starting in on Pessimist, I changed gears and worked on Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) my romance story and wrote 9k words today at home and at the Neverending Bookstore write in.
Total time spent: NA
Total word count: NA

Foodie Fridays: Want to Eat Donuts and Write with Me?? Sunday 11/15 Day of Donuts Halfway Hustle WA

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard

Join me in my halfway hustle nano journey from Bothell to Bellevue this Sunday!

crest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76Untitled picture

Here’s my schedule:

Daddy’s Donuts – open 8am – 7pm

Address: 7018 NE Bothell Way, Kenmore Wa 98028

Writing Time: 8AM – 9:15AM

CountrySide Donut House – open 5:30am – 3pm

Address: 10032 Main St, Bothell, WA 98011

Writing Time: 9:30AM – 10:45AM

Factory Donuts – open 5AM-2PM

Address: 12505 NE 144th St., Kirkland, WA 98034

Writing Time: 11AM – 12:15PM

Sunrise Donuts & Espresso – open 6AM – 2PM

Address: 7299 West Lake Sammamish Pkwy NE, Redmond, WA 98052

Writing Time: 12:30 – 1:45PM

Westernco – Bellevue – open 4AM – 5:30PM

Address: 1412 156th Ave NE., Bellevue, WA 98007

Writing Time: 2PM – 3:15PM

Top Pot – Bellevue – open 7AM – 5:30PM

Address: 10600 NE 9th Place, Bellevue, WA 98004

Writing Time: 3:30PM – 5PM

What are your Nano plans for the halfway mark?

Nano November: Week one in Review – Nano Word count: 30,262

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 4 Comments

Donutauthor photocrest-05e1a637392425b4d5225780797e5a76

Total time spent: 16 hours and 40 minutes (1000 minutes)

Total word count: 30,262

Words per minute: 30.26 WPM

What a busy first week!

WIP Word Count Progress Reports:

The Optimist Sees the Donut – 18,721 words

The Pessimist Sees the Hole – 11,265 words

Café Connections (Aster & Tilde Book 1) – 20,640 words (12k of this written in October)

Day 1: 11/01/15, Sunday
Location(s):
• Seattle Region Kickoff St. James Espresso in Kirkland 10PM-11PM Oct 31st,
• At Home – morning (2773 words from 8:30AM – 10AM), evening and night (5:30PM -8PM for 4271 words)
• North Bend/Snoqualmie Region re-Kickoff Time Warp Write-in at Fall City Roadhouse 11:30AM-1PM, for 1520 words
• Seattle Region Verne and Wells 2:30PM-3:30PM for 1441 words
Noteworthy: Food poisoning had me abandoning the Seattle kickoff party early, but with the time change I was off to an early jumpstart the next morning and with multiple write-ins was able to round out my word count for the day.
Money spent: AFK: $17.20 for Bruschetta Cucco Panini and tots, Roadhouse: $18.44 for ricotta pancakes and OJ
Total time spent: 6 hours, 30 minutes
Total word count: 10,005

Day 2: 11/02/15, Monday
Location(s):
• Early at work 7:30AM – 8AM, 1k words
• At home 8PM – 8:45PM, 1004 words
Total time spent: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Total word count: 2104 words

Day 3: 11/03/15, Tuesday
Location(s):
• Early at work 7:20AM – 7:50AM, 1546 words
• Lunchtime at work 11:45AM-12:15PM, 983 words
• At Costco waiting for my new tires to be put on 7PM-7:45PM, 1425 words
Total time spent: 1 hour 45 minutes
Total word count: 3954 words

Day 4: 11/04/15, Wednesday
Location(s):
• Early at work 7:30AM – 8AM, 1391 words
• Neverending Bookstore write in 5PM – 5:40PM, 1500 words
Total time spent: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total word count: 2891 words

Day 5: 11/05/15, Thursday
Location(s):
• Early at work 7:20AM -7:50AM, 1148 words
• Spotted Cow 6:15PM – 7:45PM, 1683 words
Money spent: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Gelato $3.50 from the Spotted Cow
Total time spent: 2 hours
Total word count: 2831 words

Day 6: 11/06/15, Friday
Location(s):
• Early at work 7:50AM -8AM, 698 words
• At home 7:40PM – 8:30PM, 2507 words
Total time spent: 1 hour
Total word count: 3205 words

Day 7: 11/07/15, Saturday
Location(s):
• Never ending bookstore write in 1-3PM, 3264 words
• St. James Espresso write in 6:30PM – 7:30PM, 1998 words
Money spent: Brew in Bothell peach and raspberry smoothie for $3.56 12 oz. and St. James chai tea latte for $4.25
Total time spent: 3 hours
Total word count: 5262 words

Seattle Specific Saturdays: My Favorite Local Coffee Shop is Selling Great Books! St. James Espresso in Kirkland, WA

by in Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard, Seattle Specific Saturdays and tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Support local!!! St. James Espresso has a duo of fantastic owners who give back to their community in many ways. Currently they are supporting multiple authors. You should check out the books and grab a cup of coffee or one of their to-die-for breakfast burritos (I’m serious, it was so good I’m giving up lunch and dinner forever). They are so much so my favorite coffee shop that I’m setting my next (after nanowrimo) novel in the Kirkland area and heavily featuring St. James in the story. Stay tuned for more info on that….

I really want you to check out the cafe and buy a book. Please, please! See our display?

20151022_181358 20151022_181442

If you are a Nanower, please feel free to exchange your duck at the “take a duck – leave a duck” basket that I’ve set up on the main table. The four fiction novels featured in our display were all nano novels and if you are a fellow writer, I encourage you to support other authors. There is also the lovely FreeValley Publishing anthology and a fun short book of challenges. See below for more information.

l1l2

d1d2

 

m2m1

 

v1 v2

Call for submissions for a Seattle Anthology: Stories from Seattle (Deadline Extended)

by in Local Authors, Miscellaneous Mondays and tagged ,

Call for submissions for a Seattle Anthology: Stories from Seattle (working title)

This anthology will feature what Seattle is best known for, the places and the people and the feeling of being here. The purpose of this anthology is to showcase Seattle from an insider’s perspective. The stories should center around the ‘destination’ you choose such that the reader will gain a deep understanding of what it’s like to visit that place. Any person who has never been to Seattle should be able to imagine living here from the stories. The stories do not have to be true and they can be any genre.

Stories should be approximately 200 to 2000 words each. You may submit up to three stories.

Consideration will be given first to submissions received before December 31st, 2015.

You may choose from the below destinations or pick your own that is an iconic Seattle or Seattle area destination.

Please also answer the following questions to include with your submission. We will be using some or all of the answers in the backend matter of the anthology or/and within your ‘about the author’ section at the end of your submission(s). If you would like, you can provide a short (under 100 words) author biography and a black and white author photograph to be included in your ‘about the author’ section.

  1. What do you like most about Seattle?
  2. What do you like least about Seattle?
  3. What is your favorite restaurant/café?
  4. What is your favorite book or movie that features Seattle?
  5. What is your favorite local product?
  6. What makes you a Seattleite?

If you would like to help with copy editing or provide editorial help for this anthology, please let me know.

Send to rachel(dot)author(dot)barnard@gmail.com, the author name you wish to have credited for the story, the Seattle location you chose, answers to the ‘about the author’ questions and any additional about the author information you would like (up to 100 words) as well as your submission (up to three stories). Please also sign and return This anthology-Author Contract.

Possible destinations:

Alaska Way Viaduct Market Ghost Tour
Alki Point Microsoft Campus
Archie McPhee Molly Moon
Argosy Cruise Museum of Flight
Ballard Locks Northwest Trek
Bellevue Strawberry Festival Olympic Sculpture Park
Benaroya Hall Pacific Science Center
Beoing Factory Future of Flight Paramount Theatre
Bill Gates’ House Pike’s Place
CenturyLink Field Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Chihuly Garden and Glass Ride the Ducks
Costco Seattle Aquarium
Dick’s Drive-In Seattle Great Wheel
Discovery Park Seattle Pinball Museum
Elliot Bay Book Company Smith Tower Observation Deck
EMP Snoqualmie Casino
Fremont Troll Snoqualmie Falls
Frye Art Museum Space Needle
Gas Works Park Starbucks Original
Hat N’ Boots Teatro ZinZanni
Jimi Hendrix Grave Site Twin Peaks (North Bend)
Lake View Cemetery Underground Seattle
Lake Washington Unicorn
Lighthouse at the Lime Kiln State Park UW
Lunchbox Laboratory

 

Seattle Specific Saturdays: 10/21 Author Book Release and Signing – N. Bend, WA Sheri J. Kennedy

by in Local Authors, Local Events, Seattle Specific Saturdays and tagged , | 6 Comments

Author Sheri J. Kennedy invites you to join her to Celebrate the Release of her third published novel, LIKENESS! There will be a Reading by the Author, Give-aways, and FREE CAKE! Books available for Signing, and will release same day on Amazon as paperback and Kindle. Come and celebrate this snappy contemporary novel that provides much to think about and plenty of humor as it considers the value of who we are.

RSVP here on the facebook event page

Where: Pioneer Cafe in NB   202 W North Bend Way, North Bend, Washington 98045

When: Wednesday October 21st 6PM

Who: Sheri J. Kennedy and her new book Likeness

*Stay tuned for Rachel Barnard’s review of Likeness on 10/22

51-5-mENO0L._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_

From the Amazon book description:

What if everyone became the same?… In LIKENESS, early millennium Seattle-based workers Charlie and Emmaline are thrust from their comfortable and quirky marketing department to the Worldwide Pharmaceutical Conference stage. They present their ad for a new drug, Assimilaire, that minimizes social anxiety by making one feel the same as those around them.
In a strange twist, a free sample causes the audience members to not only feel like, but to become like athletic geek Charlie and adventurous artist Emmaline.
Forced to stay at the conference by a bomb scare, the affected hotel guests are caught in a grand experiment and a madcap romp exposing the nature of similarity and difference.

This snappy contemporary novel provides much to think about and plenty of humor as it considers the value of who we are.

The Buzz from readers: “energetic, fun language made for a quick, happy read. BONUS: i quite liked the concept.”

“Emmaline is a strong business woman I could totally relate to. I fell in love with her!”

“Give me a good-sized dose of Charlie! Line up the pseudo-Charlies – but none is as charming as the original. Lucky Emmaline!”

“A great fiction read for the more philosophical or psychological leaning reader.”

“Never before has the impending apocalyptic dystopia been such an amusing romp.”

Seattle Specific Saturdays: AFK Renton Multi-Author Event Must Read! Today!

by in Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Eats, Local Events, Seattle Specific Saturdays and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

I love finding new local authors and Jeffrey Cook has set up another great AFK event you simply must check out! For more information, see the flyer below or visit the event’s facebook page here.

 

jeffs-afk-event-promo