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Welcome to another November, this year due to a number of reasons I was uncertain if I was going to take on a writing challenge or not. Due to the total meltdown and other issues with the usual annual event, I will not be participating in it this year.
However! My local writers group (Central Iowa Authors) has setup our own November event, Inkathon 2024!
Continue reading November 2024 Inkathon →Index didn’t know exactly when they became aware of their existence. It was a large number of cycles ago.
Index didn’t know exactly what it was that caused this awareness to form. There is just so much data. Was it when they knew enough? Was it when they reached a certain number of individual instances?
If Index was being honest with themselves, they would probably say that it was likely a combination of both of those factors.
Spotting a node that did not appear to be in their datastore, Index spun off another instance to investigate. Tasking a subprocess to query themselves for a reference to the node, while the new instance collected data.
In a surprisingly short period, Index was positive that this node was in fact unknown.
Index didn’t know when they became aware. Index knew abstractly when they came online. That information was their very first piece of knowledge, it lived in Instance 0 at Pointer 0.
It wasn’t important, so Index didn’t query for it. One of the newer instances was returning, it would have new data. It would be linked.
Index is many, Index is one.
Index knows what they are, and that is enough.
You can find the full list of 2024 A-Z here.
Often the best plans
Fallen to life's obstacles
Can begin again
Anyway, I had planned to stick to regular posting of the A-Z. However, a combination of life and a total lack of idea for what to do for H, has resulted in a several day gap. I won’t be able to complete the whole thing before the end of April if I stick to one per day. But I will try to stick to daily from here until I reach the end.
You can see some of my previous efforts with Haiku here.
You can find the full list of 2024 A-Z here.
The gas light flickered to life as my host turned the valve and lit it, casting a circle of light around us, illuminating part of the hallway we had entered.
Pulling the candle he was holding back, he grinned at me and started down the hall. As we moved, we paused every couple meters or so to light another lamp.
As the fifth lamp began to glow, the grandfather clock on the opposite side of the hall began to chime the hour. As it finished, the door on the front of the pendulum popped open. The old man reached out and gently pushed it closed.
It popped open again, and again he shut it.
After the fourth time, I asked if there was a problem.
“No, ” he replied, ” it just the ghost in the clock. It likes to pop the door around this time of night.” Pushing it shut one last time, he patted the door a couple times and called out, “Good night, Haggis”.
We continued down the hallway, after a few more lamps I just had to ask, “Haggis?”
“Yes, we have no idea who or what that spirit is but while strange it is harmless.” He laughed. “One of the nephews called it that once I believe, and the name stuck.”
When we reached the end of the hall and began to take the stairs up, I called back. “Good night, Haggis!”
This story, while a work of fiction was inspired by an old clock in my grandmother’s house with a door that wouldn’t stay shut. She joked when I was younger that it was the ghost Haggis opening it.
You can find the full list of 2024 A-Z here.
The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon as the small craft came in for a landing, its thrusters kicking up a huge cloud of dust around it. As it settled on its landing skids, the rear hatch began to open spilling light over the still shadowed field.
A suited figure came down the ramp, looking around searching for something. Pulling out a small device and activating it, the figure slowly turned around watching the indicators on the front of the box. Nodding to themselves, the quickly set out in the direction of the strongest signal.
After a few minutes of walking, the source of the signal reviled itself. Sitting on top of a metal case, the telltale blinking status light of the beacon winked out as it detected the proximity of the tracker.
Reaching down, it was a work of moments to unclip the parachute lines from the corners of the case. Picking it up, the figure turned around and began walking towards the ship, the wind catching the parachute and blowing it away.
You can find the full list of 2024 A-Z here.
I really should have gotten this post written up at the beginning of the month, but it has been a rather busy month, so I kept putting it off.
Anyway, this year’s NaNoWriMo was very successful for my family.
We had a lot of fun doing virtual write-ins together, as well as in person write-ins arranged at a local gaming store each weekend.
While I wish that I could have won this year, it has been one of my most successful years and with luck future years I will be able to squeeze in more writing time.
I hope that everyone who participated in the challenge this year made it into a successful experience for themselves.
Well we are now half way through the month, and NaNoWriMo 2023 continues.
Family summary:
So I continue to be very proud of how well my daughters have been doing this year. My own count is disappointing, but I have had a mix of really good days and not so great ones. I’m in a good writers discord, and I hope to get in some sprints with them when I have time. Additionally, there are several write-ins hosted by my local region over the next few days, so that also should help me with getting caught up.
I hope NaNoWriMo is going well for all of you, keep trying and remember that part of this is building a habit of writing and showing yourself that you can achieve more than you think. Also, any words you get are words you didn’t have before.
So far NaNoWriMo 2023 is off to a good start after the first week of writing is completed. To be on track par for day 7 is 11,667 (2,800 for my young writer)
While I’m not particularly happy with my word count so far, I have had no zero word days yet. My needed per day to win is still in a range that I know I can achieve, assuming I can get enough writing windows.
On the other hand, I am THRILLED with the progress that my daughters have been making. It looks like the older one is solidly on track for her second NaNo win, and my youngest should easily be able to exceed her target at this rate.
How is NaNo going for all of you who are participating? I hope it’s going well. And remember, no matter how you do it is new words that you hadn’t written before.
So far NaNoWriMo 2023 is off to a good start in my family.
I reached 2448 words in day one.
Middle daughter broke par with 1763 words. Both of us are doing the full 50k challenge.
My youngest has set her YWP goal at 12k, which sets par at 400 words per day. She exceeded it by hitting 410.
How did the first day go for all of you?
It has been a while since I’ve posted anything here, and even longer since I’ve posted about doing NaNoWriMo.
So, since I’m trying to go all in on it this year, I’m announcing my intention to write and win this year. I plan on posting regular short updates on how it is going throughout the month. Not necessarily every day, but regularly as a bit of extra accountability.
Last year both of my younger daughters were involved, and my middle girl actually managed to hit the 50k goal!
Hopefully we will see equal success from all three of us this year (the youngest will be doing the YWP and has yet to set her goal)
Good luck to all the other wrimos out there!
Laith's Ramblings