Countdown to NaNo

National Novel Writing Month, affectionately called NaNoWriMo, NaNo for short, is quickly approaching. After much cajoling, my friend A.K. Morgen has convinced me to participate again this year. I was not able to participate last year due to impending board exams and the end of classes, but I'm back in the game this year. Probably next year too. I make no promises after that.

Even though I'm stuck on editing Hidden Souls, and haven't touched the Kamore world in ages, I've decided to start another story. Just adding to my graveyard :) I've had a couple ideas bouncing around in my head for a while, but the idea of writing some sort of fairy tale again has nagged at me for ages. After all, it's the 'in' thing right now.

Introducing... Found. That's my working title, anyway, since I am absolutely terrible at novel titles, but the NaNo website begged for me to put one in. In the coming weeks, I'll post snippets, character descriptions, plot bunnies, and anything else that catches my fancy.

For now, I'll leave you with the synopsis as it is in my head now. Be warned that my characters do take me on some odd bunny trails, so this synopsis may very well change by the end of November.

What if your favorite fairy tales weren't really fairy tales? What if they were real?

Blanche's life hasn't been going as planned. She's single, has a job she'd do just about anything to be able to quit, and now has lost her mother to cancer. While cleaning out the attic of her childhood home, she stumbles onto an antique mirror. Not just any mirror, but a magic mirror. Or so the inscription claims. Intrigued, she takes it home with her, setting off a chain of events that will change the very course of history. Will anyone get their 'Happily Ever After'?

Fade

I know, I know. I haven't posted in months. I'm in some of the rough rotations in school again, and I'm finding a hard time to get the motivation to write (well, edit, mostly) during the little free time I had. I'm working on it.

But I'm not here today to talk about me.

One of my best friends is getting her book published this week. I don't exactly have the readers to get her to put the time and effort into writing a blog post for me, so I'm doing it myself.

The book? Fade, Book One of the Ragnarok Prophesies, by A.K. Morgen.

Why should you buy it? Well, beside the fact that I think it's an awesome storyline, and uses Norse mythology, something you don't see too often in stories... a portion of the proceeds does go to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, one of Ayden's favorite charities.

Synopsis:
What do you do when you realize nothing in your life is what you’ve believed it to be?

When Arionna Jacobs loses her mother in a tragic accident, her world is turned upside down. She’s forced to leave her old life behind and move in with her father. Dace Matthews, a teaching assistant at her new college, is torn in two, unable to communicate with the feral wolf caged inside him.

When they meet, everything they thought they knew about life unravels. Dace has intimate access to Arionna’s mind, and something deep within her fights to rise to the surface. They don't understand what's happening to them or why, and they're running out of time to sort out the strange occurrences around them.

Their meeting sets an ancient Norse prophesy of destruction in motion, and what destiny has in store for them is bigger than either could have ever imagined. Unless they learn to trust themselves and one another, they may never resolve the mystery surrounding who they are to one another, and what that means for the world.

You can learn more about the book and check out excerpts, as well as author interviews and whatnot at Ayden's blog: www.akmorgen.com.

You can also add Fade to your bookshelf on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15830521-fade

Six Sentence Sunday #6

I've failed at editing this week. I did manage to get through several pages last weekend, but ultimately, didn't touch my draft during the week. Don't really have an excuse, just didn't pick it up.

At any rate, this section comes from one of the scenes where Sophia is struggling with what is reality and what's part of her imagination.

Maybe her soul really did leave her body, just as a shell. No one said that a body had to have a soul to continue living. After all, they claimed those with severe brain damage were dead, but their bodies still mostly functioned. She would have to get Kate to watch her next time she slept. Or maybe she should try to go someplace else, force it to happen. But how?

Check out other entries at Six Sentence Sunday.

Six Sentence Sunday #5

I'm back to posting my six sentences. I've been fighting through my manuscript this week, and it's getting torn up. But, my dear friend Ayden Morgen demands a completed draft, so I sludge on.

Since I started over at the beginning, this excerpt is from earlier in the novel, before Sophia meets Michael (officially, anyway). Specifically, this section deals with the kidnapping itself, and how the students at Sophia's college are responding to it.

Another girl shrugged. "Missing children aren't exactly a commonplace occurrence here," she reasoned. "For a college town, we have a surprisingly low crime rate."

"Oh come on, Abby," another said with a scowl. "If it had been, say, Erica's younger sister, the mayor wouldn't have made a personal statement. Let's face it, he only cares because it's his daughter and he has the power to get the whole town involved in the search."

Not terribly exciting, I admit, but it is the conflict for the scene I'm currently working on. Hopefully I'll have a juicier tidbit for you next week. Until then, feel free to check out other Six Sentence Sunday entries (read at your own risk; many entries are from writers of erotic fiction).