Fantasy Challenge

Over the summer I sat out to try something new. During CampNaNoWriMo I started a fantasy story. It's a big scary world outside of a comfort zone. While interactive fiction was challenging I've found that fantasy is a world apart from paranormal romance.

The story and some stuff about fantasy.

So, the story is aimed at being a Heroic Fantasy story told in four parts. Each part is pretty short, only around 10k to 15k words or so. I broke it up this way because shorts can be really fun to write and hopefully it might make it easier for me to see the train wrack before it happens. Anyway, Heroic Fantasy, unlike Epic Fantasy, doesn't really focus on saving the world. Instead it really is about the hero. The character may not save the day, but they've accomplished something they set out to do. Hopefully they do it with a great deal of gusto.

The story did start out with a touch of a love interest, but I didn't want to go too far into romance. After all, the challenge is something different. Still, I'm a romance author so it's floated well ahead of me and already I can tell if nothing else I'm going to end up with a romance. The question is will I have a fantasy story with a nice romance side plot or will I end up with romantic fantasy?

It's still on the fence. We'll just see when it's done.

Mistaken Saga as I've taken to calling it is rolling along like most challenges. I've hit bumps (in the middle of a big one now) and I've spent hours typing. It has the same ups and downs, so my writing process is where it normally is. However I've had to slow my roll and do a lot of research outside the norm.

What the heck would a traveling entertainer be called? Is there a title for that? How is magic going to work inside the world? Is there magic? What other races populate the place? What are the names of the oceans?

Thankfully my geekhood helped out. My husband and I play D&D once a month with a few friends and take turns being DM. So, world creation was something I've done before. I didn't want to use too much from D&D or any other fantasy stories. So I sat myself down and tore away the rules and then rebuilt the world.

All in all so far it's been a fun ride and I'm looking forward to where it all leads. Drop a comment if you're interested in fantasy or if you too are in the middle of a personal challenge.

Peace and Love

NaNoWriMo (2018)

I'm going ahead and committing to the NaNoWriMo writing challenge this year. Every year in November writers all over the world take on the task of writing 50k words over the course of 30 days. I've completed that challenge a few times during Camps, but I've never met my goal in the official month. This is the year I beat it!

I won't be doing it the traditional way. Instead of working on one story I'm going to work on two. This makes me a rebel and I'll embrace that title. The stories are going to be the last two in the Star Crossed Series. Meredith and Malcolm are ready for their stories to be told and finished and I'm willing to roll with them.

Chasing High Noon, the third story in the series is complete now and going through revisions. It will be released this coming Winter. The two stories that follow are the ones I'll be working on this November. The titles for now are Witching Hour Madness and Knot in Destiny.

Meredith and Malcolm have been driving characters and while they can make me run in circles trying to keep up I really love working with them. That's why this November is THE month I'm going to reach 50k. Caught by Nightfall (25k words) was completed last April with lots of time left over. This gives me hope and determination.

Fellow writers, are you going to take the challenge this November? Are you a preper or a pantser?

Readers, what would you like to see happen between Malcolm and Meredith?

CampNaNoWriMo 2017: It Begins

So it's that time of year again and I'm ready! Camp NaNoWriMo is one of my favorite Spring/Summer activities, and it has helped me complete books and really fill out others. NaNoWri month is always in November and I almost completed my first novel, Witch Hunt, the first year I participated. I fleshed out Fox Hunt between a Camp and a November challenge the next year. In a 2015 Camp I completed Lost Relic. So I love challenging myself and the challenges really do help. Even if I don't complete the challenge, I've always added a great deal to a WIP.

This year I'm working on Shadow's Fall. I'm working with a handicap though. Several months ago this story had a sudden spark of inspiration and I was able to type up part of the first and second chapter. At the time I was revising another story and let the spark flare to life and flicker out after I'd done all the typing. So I'm starting this challenge with a little over 3k words already written, but I'm going to withhold those and only report the words I write this month.

Shadow's Fall is the second story in a trilogy. So the characters and world have already been created and some details filled in. I've also already got an outline and lots of notes. I'm going into this challenge ready and I hope to meet my 50k word goal.

And if I don't I know I'll learn something and have a nice chunk of this novel completed. I'll be adding a tracker to my sideline. (It helps kick me into motion if I know others are tracking me too.)

That's all for now. Look out for a few CampNaNoWriMo tips and updates this month.

Peace and Love!