In a shock to no one, I won my 6th NaNo on November 7th. This year, unlike some other years, I kept going. As can be seen in my previous post here, I had plans. Grand plans. Ambitious plans.
Naturally, my plans didn’t pan out quite the way I intended. The Greatest Sin #3, still untitled, stands at 21k. We had a minor outlining crisis for which the ironing out had to be put off until December. Still, it was fun to write that much of it, and I miss Chavali whenever I’m not writing her. I don’t think she misses me, because I do really rude things to her. I can report that the book will open with her having a horrible, no good, very bad day.
I did walk away from NaNo with a completed first draft, of that urban fantasy I set up as my backup option. I’m still not sure about the perspective, and it may turn out that my initial plans were right, after all. The teenage girl protagonist didn’t really do it for me. We’ll see. I’m not going back to revise until January. Manuscripts and I generally need a cooling off period before we get back together for critical re-reading.
Next, I’ve got 1/3 of a first draft for a new book in the Ilauris setting. It’s set in the Telsiq region, which is inspired by Ancient Persia. Like Damsel In Distress, it follows a young woman on a journey from dependence to independence, from a place of darkness through survival and blossoming. This one would have been finished, except I found myself unable to decide if it should be one book in three parts or three books. So, I’ve finished the first part/book and need to spend some time taking a hard look at where the second and third parts need to wind through to get where they are supposed to go. The bottom line: I didn’t have enough outline (I had almost none), so I stalled and stopped.
Finally, in queer turn for me, I started writing a clean romance that’s rambling around enough to maybe qualify as literary fiction. I’m not sure how far into this one I am, but it currently stands at 31k. The way it’s going, I’m seeing something in the 75-80k range for final length. There’s no magic, no dragons, no laser swords, no space ships, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world…who gets to meet Mr. Perfect and suffer the slings and arrows of life. The way this is pouring out, it seems to be a kind of catharsis to write, though I have little in common with the story or the characters. Weird stuff. Sometimes, the brain has something to say, and it chooses the dumbest possible way to explain.
My final total of words for all that? 154, 042. I’ll be finishing the romance-ish novel first, then I’m hoping to also finish those other two first drafts by the end of the year. I’ve been asked to take on the responsibilities (fun) of being co-ML for my NaNo region next year, which is a no-brainer. For those who don’t know, that’s a volunteer position which consists primarily of being a chief cheerleader for the NaNos in your area. Also, some planning of events and stuff. I’m looking forward to writing inspirational pep talks for my fellow Olympians.
As an added challenge, this year I also set up promotional events for Harbinger while NaNoing. We’ve already completed one blog tour, and another one started today. A third is coming up before Christmas. I must have written some five thousand words just in answering interview questions for all that.
If you’ve been waiting to pick up The Fallen for any reason at all, the ebook will be on sale for $.99 from December 8-10. Don’t worry, I’ll remind us all.
For many people, NaNo is the only time they write. For me, it’s a party about the thing I love to do the most. The party’s over for this year, but the writing goes on.