Recently in Movember Category

Well, it's the last day of Movember, and as you can see the mo is in full effect and looking pretty full. We're heading to the Mo Gala tonight and tomorrow I will very happilly shave it off and return to my Mo-less existence.

Thanks to Katie, Mum, Ben, Mike, Chris, Adrian, Matt, Nat, Keri and Craig for donating- together you contributed $488 for men's health. Big claps to you!

Speaking of victories:

I win! I have now completed the first draft of my third novel. Please read it! Just a disclaimer for those that do/have read it: I know it's a bit odd. It was really more of an experiment for me than anything else. I just found that in my previous nano entires I was extremely plot-heavy, and didn't take much time to really describe environments, or people or thoughts. My favourite literary discovery of last year was Ian McEwan, who I've been very inspired by, and I wanted to, well, not mimic him exactly, but certainly be more like him where I could. So I thought it might be an interesting experiment to write a book that wasn't about people doing things, but rather about trying to evoke the feeling of being somewhere, or try capture small moments completely.

Unlike The Trusted Professions, which I always intended to be the first and last draft and never be changed, warts and all, I will take some time with this one to edit and improve it. I think it really went off the rails in Chapter 18, I originally wanted Cammie to actually fall for Anthony, but when it came to it I just found I didn't have it in my to convincingly write that- and I found, as I wroet it, that there was something pleasingly cyclical about the idea that, wheras he seemed to want to change her life by dying, she might sacrifice her life to save his. That's a sort of love, I suppose. I also originally wanted to be vague about when exactly Alison visited Cammie- before or after the spider incident. I thought it might be fun to play with the idea that Cammie was testing his honesty with the spiders, but that you could read it both ways, if you wanted to. However again, when it came to it, I couldn't make that idea work right away so went with the easy option. As it is, the timeline seems screwy. So there's a lot to work on and improve, so any suggestions would be welcome- don't worry, I won't be offended! I am my greatest critic.

Thanks to all.

Not much new Mo news to report. All is proceeding according to plan. Some people have asked if I am going to keep the Mo past Movember 30th. My answer is this Venn diagram:






Tomorrow is election day here in Australia. I can't vote, but there's definitely something in the air. Everyone is excited, like they're all going to personally change the world tomorrow. Feels good. I'm going to a party where they are going to have a John Howard piñata. Should be fun.

I had to zoom in on this photo because my eyes were all wonky, but you can see that it is now, a mere twenty days in, I have a full on, badass mo! Call on the Police! I have also raised $488 in donations so far, so thanks to everyone who has donated. Please buy my book when it comes out.

Speaking of which, I have now passed the halfway mark for nanowrimo! Which sounds very impressive, but I'm actually running way behind, I mean think about it, we're 2/3rds of the way through the month, but I'm only halfway through my novel. But don't worry, I have a plan! There's ten days left in the month, and ten chapters left to write! As long as I keep up writing one chapter per day, it's in the bag.

Speaking of which, if you just aren't getting enough nanowrimo from me (and really, who isn't?), you can always stop by my brother's blog, where he is also attempting to do nanowrimo. It's pretty interesting so far.

Fellow MoBlogger 'Sassmo' has done what I failed to do and taken a picture of his mo growing on a day-by-day basis. I really meant to do this. Check it out.

And finally, in honour of Movember, and the fact that I saw Muse live in concert last Thursday (key word: FUN), here's an awesome, `tache-filled music video that I can't get enough of:

One final question: The tickler. Stay or go? Your vote decides! Like Pop Idol, only more consequential.

My mo in the shadow of a far superior mo, a mo that can only be described (by its owner) as 'luscious': Mr. Nick.

This is me in wifebeater mode, says Aiden.

The Mo has finally arrived! The grass bit thin but it's getting there. Still haven't decided on a style but you will notice that I have left a little soul patch (my little tribute to Soul Patch Tony), but this is optional. I like that it gives my mo a triangular sort of feel (I have a thing for triangles), but if you think it should go...vote it off in the comments! The chops look ridiculous at the moment but in another week might blend with my actual hair a little better. I should have started them in Choptober.

Chapter 2 is up and it is one the hardest thing I've had to write across all three nanowrimos. It was supposed to be a bit longer (those asterixes aren't paragraph breaks, they're signals for me to come back and put more information in!) but it was really holding me up in getting on with the story so I rushed the ending a little, I will try and come back to that.

Now this is technically a violation of Movember rules, as they state that you have to be clean-shaven apart from your mo. However I wasn't allowed a razor on my flight to/from NZ so I've had to just let it grow. Tomorrow morning it all comes off apart from the mo (and maybe some chops), and the real mo-tivation will begin.

Movember ethics: Someone accidentally donates $110 to you, but you don't know who they are. All the money goes to the same cause, is it stealing if you don't try to give it back?

As you can see, not much difference between days 1 and 2. In fact, I usually only shave every second day as it's such a pain and no-one can much tell the difference. Day 3 is a different story.

I'm offline for a bit so the next photo update will probably be Day 7, when the mo should be well on its way. Before that time I have to decide what kind of moustache I am going to go for. My options, so far as I can tell, are as follows:



A. The Chevron: A thick and wide mustache, usually worn long to cover the top border of the upper lip.







B. The Horseshoe: A full moustache with vertical extensions grown on the corners of the lips and down the sides of the mouth to the jawline, resembling an upside-down horseshoe. The whiskers grown along the sides of the mouth in the horseshoe are sometimes referred to as "pipes." Not to be confused with the "fu manchu" which is grown long from the upper lip only-- the sides remain shaven in the fu manchu.




C. The Hitler: A thick mustache, shaved to be about an inch wide in the center.








D. The Walrus: A large, bushy, droopy mustache that hangs down over the lips, often entirely covering the mouth.


Vote below the fold! Additional suggestions in the comments. Also on my mind: Chops or no chops?

As it is written in the rules of Movember, one must start Movember with a freshly shaven face- how else can we tell how much mo you can grow in one month? So this is me, freshly shaved on a Thursday morning. Not exactly awake yet. It's already grown back some. I'm off to NZ tomorrow so I may not be able to post daily updates, but I'll put them up as and when I can, for full mo progress updates.

Nanowrimo progresses well, the first chapter is written (I'll post it tomorry) and I have 2-4 written in my mind. After that? Who knows.

So, this November I will be participating in not one but TWO month-long challenges. The first of these is Movember.

During Movember I'll be growin a Mo. That's right I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about changing men's health and the fight against male depression and prostate cancer (and, uhm, growing a mo). Why:

* Depression affects 1 in 6 men. Most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
* Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer.

To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate, enter my registration number which is 99383 and whatever amount you'd like to sponsor me (every little helps).

The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative, which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and male depression. For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the detail at: Fundraising Outcomes.

Starting today, I will be posting semi-daily photos of the mo's progress across my face, so everyone can keep track of my promise to remain mo'd, and also judge me on the awesomeness of my mogrowing powers, and request the mo to be grown in different ways. Handlebars? Chops? You decide.

The second challenge, for the third year running, will be to write a 50,000 word novel before the end of the month. As per usual I will post the chapters here as I write them (starting on the 7th as I am out-of-country until then). I will be writing them on googledocs, so if anyone wants to be an editor, let me know and I can add you to the distribution list so you can directly edit my document while it is being written! Clever, huh?

Unlike previous years, I have only the very vaguest ideas about where the story is going to go, or indeed if there will be a story at all, so I need as much help as I can get. Everything will help. Want to know something? Tell me. Want the story to go somewhere? Tell me and I can go there. Don't like a character? I can kill them. I really don't know what is going to happen, I have a starting premise and that's it. So, like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, you can control the story. It may suck. I may not get past chapter three. You can help.

Regarding Penumbra, my uncompleted novel of last year: sorry it's not done yet. I do plan to finish it someday, and I think about it a lot. I really thought the first nine chapters were heading in a good direction, but I rushed the next two and will probably rewrite Kerron's journey as his own nine-chapter saga before they meet in the middle. I really am enthusiastic to finish the novel but unfortunately nanowrimo rules prevent me from continuing the story. I will finish it later, on my own time, I promise. The world is in my head, I just need to find the right time to get it out, and it will be all the better for it.

Regarding The Trusted Professions, my completed nanowrinovel from 05, I know a lot of folks want a hard-bound copy of this, but the cover just has not come together. The moment it does will be the moment the book is available for order- hopefully sometime soon. I'll let you know.

Right, I gotta do some writing...