NaNoWriMo: And So It Begins

Yesterday was the official start of NaNoWriMo and so let the race to 50k begin!

And so I have. Yesterday I got just under 2k words typed into my WIP, Whispering Winds. Most of that was even for the beginning of the story. I'm going to try and avoid skipping around through scenes, but I know it'll happen anyway.

This year my story is completely new. The idea began last year when I was working a second job in a gas station. The place was haunted, I swear, and gave me the eerie feeling that made me wonder about how a ghost romance would work. I tucked it away and jotted down notes here and there while I focused on my other works. When I missed the Camps I knew I was going to take the big dive into November and this story poked it's head up from the haze. I spent October doing research and loose plotting.

I use images a lot to help inspire my muse. Finding images for a ghost story romance is harder than I thought, but I did manage to find a few things that speak to the story. The one below I'm using as the temporary cover for Whispering Winds. I played with it a little, but it has been the closest image I can find that brings to mind two of my main characters.

  

Every author uses different things to inspire them. Some do all the research, character building and plotting before they write the first word. Others go by the seat of their pants and just start writing, more than willing to work out the details as they go. I'm somewhere in between. I do a lot of research and get to know my characters before writing most of the time, but it's during the writing that I learn their quirks. That can lead to a bit of a fight as I'm writing, but it's a nice surprise too.

That's it for now.

Peace and Love!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 2015 Prep Work

I wasn't able to go to camp back in April and the foreseeable future says November will be a bust. So I'm off to Camp NaNoWriMo in just a week or so. Of course, the week (and sometimes month) leading up to this write-o-thon can be hectic. I've got a lot to catch up on and even though I'm only setting a goal of 30k words, I still need to move some projects to the side for the month.

Sweeter Dreams, a story I've been working on part time while putting stuff together for the release of Fire Hunt, is almost ready to put to the side. I have an outline and a strong first five chapters. With one or two late nights I should push another few chapters to the first draft.

Why am I starting a new story just for this Camp? Well, I'm past 10k words on Sweeter Dreams and don't want to go into July with too much prep work done. That and I've got an interesting idea for an interactive novella that I'd really like to give a chance.

I'm calling this interactive story Lost Relic and it's not really a paranormal, sci-fi or fantasy story at all. It falls into the historical / contemporary grouping I think. It's set in the early 1900's so I'm still working on where it would be in genre. I've got a rough outline for the story and a few character write ups done, but no real story written yet. I think the challenge of writing at least 1000 words a day can really help push this story out without being drug out over the next year or so.

Of course, I will be keeping up with the release of Fire Hunt. Look for a few goodies on release day, July 1st here and at the Facebook page, Hunter or Hunted.

Also, lots of love for this pup pictured above. She's my late night and early morning coffee buddy. She'll listen to hours of rambling until I get a story worked through and thought out.

Peace and Love!