Coming Down From the NaNoWriMo High

Finished my untitled NaNoWriMo project last night. Fell short of my 60,000 word goal and ended up with a first draft of 56,103 words. Hopefully, I'll make the word count in subsequent drafts.

Time to let this manuscript rest and work on another project. I like having more than one novel and/or screenplay to write or revise. If I get stuck on one, I can put it aside and go to another.

If this is your first NaNoWriMo, congratulations. I hope you made the 50,000-word goal. If not, no worries. What's important is that you wrote your story. Maybe you're still working on it. Many people go beyond the requisite 50,000 words. I used to think I could never write novels in the 70,000-word range. Ironically, novelists would tell me they couldn't write short. I still write short stories, as well as novellas. Sometimes, I adapt the stories into screenplays. It's all about making my stories do double-duty, if possible.

My goal for 2018 is to have at least two new books available. Con season is right around the corner, and I want to be ready.

It's NaNoWriMo Time

It's that time of year again. Not Halloween or Thanksgiving, but NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. For 30 days in November, writers - published and unpublished - will accept the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel.

My plot's already outlined in Scrivener. It was outlined in 2016, but for some reason, I never got around to writing that particular story. Instead, I wrote another one. For some reason, back then I wanted to write a paranormal romance involving a dragon and a wyvern. To be honest, I still haven't figured out what to do with it.

This year, I'm writing a story using creatures from Nordic and German folklore. Something different from my usual fare of angels and demons. I think I might even compile a playlist. I usually don't listen to music while I write, but I can think of some bands that would be perfect for this novel.

To those doing NaNo this year, good luck and keep writing!

April Writing Challenge

Many authors are familiar with National Novel Writing Month, that 30 days in November when writers set a goal of writing a 50,000-word book. I've participated in it for several years, and two novellas, Death Sword and The Ripper's Daughter, went on to become published.

The objective of such a writing challenge isn't necessarily publication, but for a writer to keep writing, to lock away the inner editor, and get words on paper. Because, as the saying goes, you can't edit a blank page.

April and October are also two months where I participate in a writing challenge based on the Write a Book in a Month series. Unlike NaNoWriMo, there is no word length minimum and one doesn't have to write a new book. I've used those months to revise a book, but usually I try to write a new one. This year, a writer friend and I have challenged ourselves to write 2-4 new books. Since I take writing challenges seriously, I'm adamant about reaching my goal, even on days I don't want to write.

It's not always easy to get started each day. I look at my daily word count, which resets to "0" after midnight, and sometimes think, "I don't know what to write." But I start typing. Soon I have 100 words, then 200, then 500. "Keep going," I tell myself. Soon I've reached a 1,000 words. I take a break, eat, check email, then go back to the writing. The graph shows 50% of the daily goal completed, along with the overall goal. Then 60%, 75%, 100%. If events continue to unfold, I keep writing, not wanting to lose the momentum.

If I don't make my daily goal, I don't worry about it. Nor do I worry if a scene doesn't quite work, because this is a first draft. As my friend and I joke, I'll fix it in post.

Before NaNoWriMo, I was the author who never finished writing a book. Then one day, I decided I was going to write a 40,000-50,000 word novella. My goal: write without going back and editing what I'd written. I could read the previous page to refresh my memory, but no critiquing.

And I did it. True, the story needs a lot of work, and I doubt I'll ever dust it off, but I did it. When I told another author friend, she referred me to NaNoWriMo, thinking I would enjoy the challenge.

Writing a book isn't easy, but there's nothing as satisfying as watching the word count go up, until you reach the magical moment when you can type "The End." Even better? When you crawl out of your writing cave, and your SO still remembers you.

50,000 Words and Beyond

Every November, for the past several years, I join thousands of writers around the world for that 30-day frenzy known as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words during that time. Not a novel, per se, but a pretty darn good start.

A couple of my short novels were even published: Death Sword and The Ripper's Daughter. (I have the rights back to the latter, which I will be putting up on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo, hopefully before the end of the year. But that's another story.)

Anyway, last year, I wrote a 65,000-word political  thriller in 21 days. This year, I wrote 68,000 words in the same length of time. And I'm still writing. Today, I should reach 72,000 with my paranormal suspense, the overall goal being 75,000-80,000 words. And I plan to finish this new novel by November 30.

Why push myself? I don't know. Guess I take it as a challenge. I wanted to get the 50,000 words written as early as possible, and 5,000 words a day seemed reasonable. After that, I dropped the writing down to 2,000 words daily. All that, while revising another book and working on another project (not writing related).

Although NaNoWriMo is almost over, you can check out the site year round. So if you've always wanted to write a novel, and needed a boost, NaNoWriMo might very well be worth checking into.

Happy Writing!

Conquering NaNoWriMo a Word at a Time

I just hit the 50k mark on my NaNoWriMo novel, The Memitim. No, I'm not kidding: 5,000 words in 10 days. My hands hurt, I'm exhausted, and I will probably take tomorrow, maybe even Thursday, off.

But I'm not done. The projected length is estimated between 75,000 and 80,000 words. And I plan to write all that this month. Last year, I wrote 65,000 words in 21 days, so I know it can be done.

Writing novels that long is in itself a milestone for me. Only a couple of years ago, I would've balked at writing something that length. Let's just say I had to retrain my brain.

How did I do it? Plotting. Not only did I use Dramatic Pro to help develop the story, I used a program called WriteWay Pro. It's like Scrivener, in that you can break your story down into scenes and write in a non-linear fashion, then import the document into Word. I used WWP with my novel, The Judas Dilemma, currently sitting on a publisher's desk. (Fingers are crossed.)

What I like about WriteWay Pro is I can make notes about character, setting, dialogue, conflict, even notes on revisions for that particular scene. I think using it has helped me write faster. Not saying my first draft doesn't suck. I mean, we have to be realistic here. *grin*

But really, writing a book, whether during NaNoWriMo, or any other time of the year, is simply putting one word after the other.

Happy Writing!

National Novel Writing Month

I enjoy reading murder mysteries, whether cozy or police procedural. I've taken classes on homicide detectives, forensic science, crime scene investigation -- all geared toward writers. I follow a former LEO's blog, and am a member of a Yahoo site related to writing crime.

But I'd never thought I'd write a crime story, until recently. Well, scratch that. I had written one, a paranormal historical whydunit called The Ripper's Daughter. But that doesn't count, because while there are murders, the reader knows who the killer is, and the question becomes can the hero stop that person?

Okay, confession time. I wrote a screenplay with a homicide detective and his retrocognitive partner investigating a series of murders. In fact, I'm considering submitting it to contests.

Maybe I should have started with I'm trying my hand at writing a possible police procedural series, particularly an occult police procedural. In fact, I'm working on two of them, writing one now and plotting the other for NaNoWriMo next month.

The first one, currently called the Tzadkiel Project is one of the few stories I'm writing off the top of my head. The other, called the Memitim, is being plotted in WriteWay Pro and Dramatica Pro. I'm also using the Tarot for my characters' hero/ine journeys.

Usually, I end up writing NaNo by the seat of my pants. October 1 rolls around, and I think, "I have a whole month to plot, write my characters' goals, motivations, and conflicts, etc." October 15. "Oh, I still have two weeks. It's all good." October 31, 11:59 AM. "Damn! All I have is  name!"

Yeah, even I'm surprised I'm more ready for NaNo than usual. Now if I had Walter B. Gibson's drive to write thirty pages a day. Then again, he didn't have Facebook or YouTube to distract him. *grin*

So yes, I'll be participating in NaNo again this year. If anyone wants to look me up, I go by Sapphyre. To all those who'll be aiming for 50k in November, good luck and happy writing!

For more info about NaNo, click here. And remember, if you've ever wanted to write a novel, but were too afraid to ask, NaNo is a great way to dip your toe in the writing waters.

What Was I Thinking?!

Courtesy: Morguefile.com

Most authors recognize these feelings when beginning a new work in progress: excitement, determination, even a bit of trepidation...

Which can lead to that moment when, fingers frozen to the keyboard (figuratively, depending on where you live), the mind literally shifts gears from "Yes!" to "Huh?" to "What the hell was I thinking?" That so-called perfect idea has finally reared its ugly head. Why couldn't we see it coming?

Now what? I mean, by this time, we've invested ourselves in our story, and the thought of quitting seems so defeatist. We believe we can fix it, once we know what the problem is.

This happened to me recently. I'd started out to write a short story about an angel homicide detective. Put an excerpt up on my Facebook page, and people actually liked it. Someone asked if this were a novel, and I said not at first, but the way things were going, it seemed to be that way.

So what's the problem? I've never written a police procedural before. I've read them, even taken classes on homicide detectives and crime scene investigations. And while I've always thought I'd write one, part of me flinched at the idea. What if I got something wrong?

The irony? I'd written a screenplay with a homicide detective. In fact, I'm thinking of dusting it off, revising it, and submitting it to contests.

So why does a novel seem so daunting? Screenplays are easier to write: action, scene description, and dialogue. No inner thoughts or long, languid descriptions.

But with both novel and screenplay, I need to make sure I get each one right. And that means research. In this case, not only about homicide detectives but also angels.

It also meant I needed to know where my plot was going. See, I started this book on October 1. Every April and October, I join a group of fellow authors for BIAM-Writathon, a Book in a Month type of event. Sort of like an unofficial NaNoWriMo. Which reminds me, I need to start plotting November's book.

Anyway, I basically started this book by the seat of my pants, and I'm a plotter. So this means that I'm going to have to start plotting this book in order to map the scenes out. Then, go back and revise areas that need it, such as the crime scene investigation at the beginning. To help me, I'm trying Scrivener.

My goal is for my angel homicide detective to become a series character. Need to finish this book first. Wish me luck!

Nine Years in the Making

This coming January, I'm slated to have shoulder surgery. As you might guess, this will curtail my writing, at least for a few weeks. So I've compiled a list of writing goals I want to accomplish before January 1. So far, I've written a short radio play based on a short novel, completed a 65,000-word thriller for NaNoWriMo, and, as of today, finished a short novel I began about nine years ago.

Yes, nine years. Cathedral Girl was my second NaNoWriMo attempt, following a "win" in 2004 with a historical vampire story. This project was my foray into studying angels and demons, which would culminate in the following publications, Death Sword and Exterminating Angel, and the unpublished drafts, Serpent Fire, The Judas Dilemma, and Hell on Earth. Hey, if you've got this knowledge available, why not use it? :-)

But why take so long? Part of it was while I knew how the story would end, I wasn't sure how to get to that point. I jotted notes from what I had and used a program called Writer's Blocks to flesh out the rest of the story. The result is a rough first draft, but that doesn't matter. What matters is I have something to work with.

I have a couple of partials to finish. While I'm hoping to finish one before my surgery, I'm not sure if I will or not. But if I can make a dent in it, that's better than nothing.

October Obsession

Con season is winding down and now it's time to move on to some serious writing. Tomorrow October Obsession starts, a writing challenge in which fellow participants, including yours truly, get busy and turn out wordage. Short story, novel, screenplay - doesn't matter. Heck, one doesn't even need to write something new. Revisions are fine, also.

I'll be finishing a short dark fiction collection that I hope to self-publish and have ready by Halloween. Then I'll move on to a psychological suspense novel.

I plan to write another psychological suspense novel for NaNoWriMo. Since my publisher's submission requirements have changed, I'm able to write the stories that I have enjoyed reading since childhood.

Sadly, however, I've also had to make a difficult decision. Today is my last day as a member of the RWA. I've made the rounds, said good-bye to my chapter mates, and friended many on Facebook. This doesn't mean that I will stop writing romance, but I am at heart a suspense writer, and I have decided I will focus on contemporary and paranormal suspense, although I plan to write other genres. After all, it's all about the story.

A Crazy World

I've been remiss about posting. Suffice it to say, I'm in the middle of content edits and that madness known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Oh, and reading entries for a contest.

Not to mention, Tuesday nights are my time to watch "Air Disasters" on Smithsonian Channel, except tonight they had a special on the Gettysburg Address. So I read my required page count for the contest and typed 2000 words for my NaNo project, an urban fantasy, The Judas Dilemma. For some reason, 2000 words seems to be the perfect number for me.

NaNoWriMo always starts the same way. Come October 1, and I'm like, "I got this!" A whole month to plot my story and develop my characters. October 15 rolls around, and I'm still confident. I mean, what's two weeks, right? October 31, 11:59 PM. I am so screwed! All I have is a name.

I hadn't even planned to write another angel urban fantasy. I wanted to write a story about an NTSB investigator. But the mind has a funny way of doing what it wants, and before long, I found myself writing about Judas and Emily, and the silver coin that binds them. Heck, I even managed to weave in a subplot/

Today, I posted 36,000 words. Only 14,000 to go. I'm surprised how well it's going, considering I only plotted the first four chapters in detail. I'm ashamed to admit my outlines were longer than my chapters. But somehow, it's coming together. Not perfect. First drafts never are. But yeah, there's something there.

If I manage to mold this story into something submittable, I have a couple of publishers in mind. Why yes, hope springs eternal. :-)

Riding the Submission Merry-Go-Round

Carousel

The insidious thing about sending a story off to a publisher is the tendency to want to check the email inbox multiple times a day, knowing it takes time for an editor to read the story and decide if they like it.

I submitted three chapters of The Ripper's Daughter yesterday, my vampire paranormal suspense novella I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2011.

To say I'm trying to focus on other projects right now would be a bald-faced lie. Short of leaving the house without my laptop or cellphone, and only an old-fashioned paper notebook would be the only way I'd stop obsessing.

Dumb, right? I know how the submission process works. I have patience, and the fact I got this far on a pitch and query letter says my skills in that area are improving. Is it possible the log line and I will become friends? Yeah, right.

I think it's apprehension, fear of failure. I'd rather have the bad news early than wait. Like the saying goes, "Let's just rip off that band-aid." I need to get to work on my other stories, but I've decided to take today and read and watch some movies. There's nothing I can do about the submission, and if it gets rejected, I've a couple other publishers I plan to submit to.

Meantime, I'm sure I'll be jumping aboard that merry-go-round for another ride in the near future.

Reaching a Milestone

Yesterday, I validated my NaNoWriMo story, Serpent Fire, at 50,080 words. The novel isn't finished, but all NaNo requires is 50,000 words, and I've met that goal. I suspect many writers are in a similar position, and NaNo is the perfect catalyst to getting words on paper.

This isn't my first NaNo. Death Sword, my short novel, published by Lyrical Press, was a 2008 NaNoWriMo project. Last year, I wrote The Ripper's Daughter, a story about a former Scotland Yard DI turned vampire who's determined to stop the killer of Louisville prostitutes. Another vampire novel, initially titled Marguerite, was the first time I did NaNo (2004).

I'll admit not all of my NaNo attempts were successful. But I never threw the stories away, and plan to finish them. I've also found sometimes it's a good idea to let a story wait.

What do I plan to do with Serpent Fire? I don't know. I'm having fun writing it. At this point, it's a paranormal political thriller urban fantasy. I think it'll be somewhere between 60,000-75,000 words upon completion.

To be honest, I almost gave up on NaNo this year. In the beginning, I was so far behind, the stats predicted I'd finish December 3. I started writing 2,000 words a day, writing scenes out of sequence, just to meet and then exceed my goal. Sorry, folks, guess I'm too stubborn to give up that easily. The last day, I wrote 4,061 words to meet the 50,000 word goal. My process was write 1,000 words, take a short break, then go back and write another 1,000 words, take a break, etc. If I didn't know how a scene would work, I'd write another one, telling myself that I could "fix it in post."

I'll have to let you know how that goes...

NaNoWriMo Progress

Courtesy: MorgueFile.com

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the ubiquitous NaNoWriMo update. According to my calculations, based on the suggested word count of 1,667 words a day, I should be at 21,671 words. If all goes well, my word count will instead be 20,037, if I manage to get in 2,000 words, my current daily writing goal. (So that leaves me about a day behind...)

Not even halfway through, and I'm in a bit of a bind. It really won't take much to finish this story. I've already written my inciting incident, two plot points, and black moment. What about the end, you ask? Well, no, I haven't written it, but I do know the story resolution. Even so, I'm thinking 40,000 words and not 50,000, unless I can think of a few more conflicts to throw in.

One of the reasons I write short is because I tend to want to say what I need to, then move on. That may be why it's easier for me to write screenplays.

Layering emotion is also a challenge. It's not that my characters don't care about one another or their situation. It's that they tend to be more pragmatic in their outlook. Which probably explains why I'm better at writing suspense than romance. Sorry, but that's the way it is. Luckily, my romance-writing friends understand and still accept me.

Anyway, as for NaNo, I'll work on one of the scenes that still needs writing. Main thing is to get the story written before I start slicing and dicing. Writer's Digest has some free tips, so I might take a look and see if anything will light the pilot light in my imagination.

For those of you doing NaNo, good luck and keep at it!   

Detours Along the NaNoWriMo Freeway

Every November for the past several years, I embrace the novel-writing marathon known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The goal? Write 50,000 words in 30 days.

I like to joke I start October 1 with the knowledge I have 31 days to plot my story and work on character development. October 15 rolls around and I insist I can plot this puppy in 16 days. Then it's October 31, 11:59p.m. I have probably one character and a vague idea of plot.

Every year. Like clockwork.

This year, I wanted to write a phantasmagorical type of story, about a father and daughter who run a very special exhibit at sci-fi/fantasy cons.Part of it is inspired by my own con experiences and my love of animation.

Then my editor and I were discussing my on-again, off-again, mostly off-again, Angels of Death series. The second book, Serpent Fire, was giving me fits. I struggled with the revisions. The plot seemed contrived and, while there were aspects I liked, it obviously needed an injection of something. What, I didn't know. Ironically, the third book, The Devil Inside, was coming along better.

My editor suggested perhaps writing Serpent Fire as a stand-alone. I thought about it and realized Devil Inside could easily work as the second book. Serpent Fire received a lethal injection to make room for a new story, and one I'm having fun with, when I have time to work on it.

In this new version, Uriel, a demon-hunter, accidentally shoots and kills a demon who had permission to leave Tartarus. As part of his punishment, he's forced to serve under Sargatanas, a demon Brigadier-General, whose tough, by-the-book rules irritates the more independent mercenary angel. Sargatanas considers Uriel to be a proverbial pain and a detriment to the company, despite his exemplary sniper skills.

I'd never written such a story, with opposite characters playing off of each other. I thought it would be fun to make the demons strict and the archangel rebellious.

Unfortunately, I lost the plot sheet I'd devised for the story, which is holding me up. And having had to work on a story galley, plus reading for a contest, has curtailed my writing time for NaNo. I've come to the realization I probably won't "win" this year, but as long as I get words down, that's what matters.

As for my phantasmagorical story, well, I've debated writing it as a serial or perhaps writing it as a series of self-published novellas. I think four stories might work, depending on my research. I also have an idea to release four novellas based around the Memitim. But so far, these are only ideas.

Anyone else doing NaNo?

For more information: http://www.nanowrimo.org

Countdown to NaNoWriMo

According to my NaNo stats, this will be my seventh year participating in the popular writing challenge. Fifty thousand words in thirty days. For fledgling novelists, the stats seem almost impossible to achieve, but if you break it down, 1,667 words a day is manageable. If you're willing to commit, that is.

I'm friends with authors and they don't all write novels. (Or, in NaNo's case, short novels.) Some are poets, others screenplay writers. But some have expressed a desire to write a novel. Indeed, they've started plotting one or have even completed it. Finishing a manuscript is a feat unto itself and anyone who reaches that milestone should be applauded.

But what of those who can't seem to get beyond "taking notes" and yet never advance on their novel? I've tried to convince a friend to sign up for NaNo. If nothing else, it would help give her the push she needs. We've discussed her story, but I think she's come to rely too much on planning and still isn't quite sure how to approach the actual writing.

Is it fear? Hard to say. Many aspiring novelists probably fear that if the first line isn't perfect, the rest of the story will hobble behind and eventually collapse upon itself. Trust me, stories can be revised. I hate the beginning of my current UF. Hate it. But I plowed on ahead and continued with the revisions. The beginning will take care of itself. I just need to spend some time away from it. (Not to mention, I've changed it so much, I couldn't even tell you how the story originally started.)

So what am I writing for this year's NaNo? A phantasmagorical type of story, one inspired by the cons I've attended. Do I have any idea of my plot or characters? Only a vague one. Why worry? I have two weeks to plan this thing. Of course, I say that every year and then before I know it, it's November 1.

But I've got faith. After all, out of six NaNo attempts, I've won four. Not bad odds.

To learn more about NaNoWriMo   

A Tale of Two Vampires

It's official! I finished The Ripper's Daughter, my vampire Victorian paranormal mystery for National Novel Writing Month on November 20 and verified it November 25.

I wanted to write about vampires, but I also wanted my story to be different. So I decided to make the relationship between Nathan and Stephen a symbiotic one. Stephen needed Nathan to drink his blood and Nathan had someone he could feed from without endangering other people's lives. Their relationship goes much farther, however, a sexual one they need to keep hidden from society. Not only that, but also continuing the charade of Stephen, Nathan's master, playing the part of his manservant.

Inspector Lewis

What really inspired me to write this story, though, was Inspector Lewis. The show aired on Masterpiece Mystery while I was plotting my NaNo WIP. Not that the two have anything in common except I knew, after watching Inspector Lewis, I wanted Nathan to be a former Detective Inspector.

Who would I pit Nathan against? Then it came to me. Who is the most infamous murderer in Victorian history? Jack the Ripper. (Okay, there are others, but I'm going with the most well-known.) And what if Jack the Ripper weren't human? What if he were a werewolf, and only Nathan knew this? So the DI risked his life and all he had to become a vampire and stop the Ripper? But what if he failed?

I explore this throughout the story. The guilt Nathan feels at failing to catch the Ripper and the determination to stop him when he finds the Ripper has come to Louisville, Nathan's new home. Nathan now owns a saloon called The Cloak and Dagger. I wanted a place where he could get information but not resort to making him work as a police officer or as a reporter. Besides, both those jobs would require working in daylight, something Nathan can no longer do. He can go out in overcast weather but direct sunlight will cause considerable damage, even death. And if Nathan dies, so does Stephen and vice versa.

Although this is a first draft, I thought I'd share a short excerpt.Remember, this is from a draft and is not intended to be considered final.

Please enjoy!

Excerpt:

I caught Stephen biting his lower lip, a worried expression on his face. Concern? He needn’t worry. After all, he turned me, knowing a vampire’s strengths and weaknesses. He knew I wouldn’t take foolish risks.

No, it was something else. Stephen hadn’t eaten or drunk much the last couple of days and seemed a bit sluggish and redder in the face, as if stricken with high blood pressure.

Something primal stirred in me. A faint coppery smell triggered an ache in my fangs which dropped slightly.

Our eyes met, Stephen’s blue ones darkening. He rose, pulling the brocade curtains shut against the moonlight and any passersby. We couldn’t risk complacency. To do so could put our lives in danger.

He crossed the room and sat on the sofa next to me. The light from the lamp glinted on his hair, throwing shadows across his face, the bridge of his aquiline nose. But my attention was drawn to his carotid artery. I licked  my lips, desire pooling in my body, heightened by his nearness and the smell of blood. As my fangs continued to drop, my need grew and I shifted impatiently, eager to drink.

Stephen leaned his head back. I unbuttoned his shirt collar, pushing it aside to reveal pale flesh at the juncture of neck and shoulder. Leaning in, I breathed in the scent of soap and water, a clean smell.

He made no sound as I licked the skin, readying it. I looked down to see Stephen clench his fists and I wrapped my fingers around his wrist. The gesture served two purposes, to comfort him and to anchor myself against the ecstasy of drinking his blood.

Stephen closed his eyes. My breathing quickened, my heartbeat increased as adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream. In contrast, Stephen’s breathing and heart rate slowed as his heart struggled to pump the excess blood circulating through him.

Again, I marked the spot with a gentle swipe of my tongue, tasting salt. The ache in my fangs intensified and I became heady with passion, both for his blood and his body, which needed to be satisfied in that order.

I bit, incisors pricking his skin. A thin line of blood trickled free and I lapped at it. Within seconds I fed, my mind focused on Stephen and the pleasure this act gave both of us.

For him, it was relief. For me, it became an almost orgiastic experience.

His hand tightened on my leg, fingers pressing into my kneecap as I continued to drink. At first I worried I hurt him. But he assured me the sensation was one of pleasure-pain and far more preferable to the discomfort he felt when his body became gorged with too much blood.

     

A Farewell and a NaNoWriMo Update

I don't consider myself an empath, but something happened recently that's made me wonder.

For those of you who read my last blog post here, I indicated I'd given up writing. That also included my NaNoWriMo WIP. What I neglected to mention was the overwhelming sense of grief and loss I felt Monday and Tuesday, a pain so acute I seriously considered slashing my wrists and ending it all.

Wednesday I was fine. Whatever miasma of despair had lingered over me had lifted. Gone. Like it never existed.

But then came the rumors on Facebook someone I knew had committed suicide that past Monday. Yes, the same Monday. November 14. Sadly, the rumor was confirmed by a newspaper obituary.

While I knew this person, I didn't know him well enough to call him a friend, but he was a friend to many of my other friends. This is not a slight at him. I live in a different area of town than they do, so they hung out together more. But when I did meet him, I found him to be funny, kind, and a nice guy. Cliched but true.

Last night I attended a memorial to celebrate his life. The turnout was remarkable, easily a hundred people had come to pay their respects. The service ended up being moved from the chapel to the sanctuary.

I wonder now if my depression those two days had not been a psychic response to his death, something I was unaware of at the time and thus unable to control. I felt a similar grief when my grandmother died, but had no idea until I came home and my husband told me.

Again, I'm not claiming to be an empath. Only questioning a possibility.

Anyway, I'm back to writing. Finished my vampire Victorian paranormal mystery NaNo project this past Sunday. I've been thinking of returning to a neglected short novel and writing a couple of Christmas stories to post free online.

Because, when I think about it, I know he would want me to be the best damn writer I could be.

RIP.

Another Vampire Story For NaNoWriMo

When I participated in my first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge, I wrote a vampire story set partially during the French Revolution. Around that time, the Anita Blake novels and Anne Rice's vampire stories were quite popular, although I'd never read them.

Instead, I was influenced by anime and manga, particularly Vampire Princess Miyu and Hellsing Ultimate. I'd read Bram Stoker's Dracula, had seen numerous films based on it. But vampire lore has existed in other countries and cultures long before Stoker penned his horror masterpiece. I knew that if I wrote another vampire story, I'd want it to be different.

One of my favorite anime is the Mermaid Saga series by Rumiko Takahashi of Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha fame. Yuta is a young-looking sailor who ate mermaid flesh 500 years ago. According to the legend, those who eat mermaid flesh either become immortal, die instantly, or mutate into horrible immortal monsters known as "lost souls."

When I decided to write this current vampire story, I wanted to get away from the blood sucker who stalks his victims. Nathaniel James didn't become a vampire because he wanted to subsist on blood. He wanted to become powerful enough to stop Jack the Ripper, a man who could shapeshift into a werewolf at will. But to become a vampire, Nathan had to find someone willing to turn him. And that was Stephen, descendent of a long line of vampire masters. People like Stephen have a dilemma. They produce too much blood and need someone to drink from them. But the people they turn die instantly from blood poisoning more often than not. If a vampire master can't find an assistant, the only way to get rid of the excess blood is through blood letting, such as cutting. But this practice is frowned upon as being barbaric. 

Stephen is Nathan's vampire master and also his manservant and lover.Not only do the men have to keep their vampirism secret but also their relationship. And that's not easy when a young prostitute, Charlotte, has her eyes on Nathan, a former Detective Inspector and someone she thinks is perfect to help her catch the Ripper. But Nathan has his own reasons for seeing the Ripper killed. 

Here are a few videos that influenced the story.

Mermaid Forest - Lost Souls

(Unfortunately, I can't embed this video, but here's the link:)

http://youtu.be/taW-njNouvk

  

Writing Your Heart Out

Many writers know the meaning of BICHOK: "Butt in chair, hands on keyboard." And many writers have every intention of starting or finishing that novel. Sure, there's National Novel Writing Month, but the prospect of writing 50k words in one month is daunting. Not to mention it's the holidays and your relatives have designated your home as Turkey Central.

So you're not quite sure about NaNo (although I'd encourage you to try it), but you need a push to get your creative juices flowing. You need encouragement. You just need to get that damn story started.

Maybe you need BIAM_Writathon, an online writing challenge that occurs every April and October.  Organized by AnneMarie Novark, BIAM_Writathon is a chance for writers to lock their internal editors in the closet, give their muses free reign, and write their hearts out. The good news? No restrictions. Write a short story or a novel. Edit a work in progress or plan for the NaNo challenge.

I've done BIAM_Writathon a few times now and I don't always succeed in completing my goal(s). Nevertheless, I enjoy the group and look forward to it. This time, I hope to rewrite my werewolf novella and finish a vampire short story. That plus preparing for my NaNo project.

Interested in BIAM_Writathon? The Yahoo group is by invitation only. To learn more, http://annemarienovark.com/?p=151

Ready for NaNoWriMo?

Remember that definition of insanity? The one about doing the same thing over and expecting a different result?

Welcome to my relationship with NaNoWriMo. Every year around this time, I promise myself I will prep in October and write a well-developed first draft in November. After all, planning is everything, right?

Also recall what they say about the plans of mice and men?

Yet I hope each year will be different. This year I'm planning to write my vampire Victorian paranormal. Not that I'm anywhere near finished with my research. This is going to be a manuscript with a lot of notes.

If you're doing NaNo this year, good luck and happy writing! I look forward to meeting you. :-)