NaNoWriMo 2012

And the winner is…

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Feels good, man! After failing horribly last year at getting my NaNo completed, it sure does feel good to mark this one off my list. This is the second NaNo I’ve completed this year if you include Camp NaNo. It’s amazing how having a deadline and constant statistics to look at helps improve my wordcount and my writing regiment. So here’s the progress report:

You can definitely tell when I got sick at the beginning of the month and had to play catchup after that. I felt like I was always under par for the rest of the month, but I just kept on working on it. Smoke & Witchcraft is far from being completed, but I sure do feel like the finish line is closer than it was at the beginning of the month. It’s at least halfway completed if not over that, and it feels amazing. I was a little unsure about participating in NaNo this year, but now I’m glad I did.

I think I’ve gotten more writing done this month than I have the last three months combined. 😛

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement! Without all the helpful blog comments and the r/nanowrimo reddit board, I don’t think this would have been possible. 🙂

Researching the Occult

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So one of the problems I’ve run into with using magic in my series is that doing research is really difficult. My online searching keep running into pen and paper roleplaying games or online MMOs instead of anything that’s actually historically probable. Luckily I’ve got a few books at home that help me get to some really useful information, even if they’re a bit minimal. One of the books that has been surprisingly useful during the writing of these two books has been The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. It’s great to get ideas for how things could work in an amplified magical world, but sometimes can be kind of confusing. It really makes you realize how very complex and confusing the occult is though, and I keep seeing names that have been used in a plethora of video game references. I found references to Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7) and Seraph (Soul Reaver series), so my brain is totally ruined as far as what these actually referred to historically.

Thanksgiving was fabulous, and even though yesterday all I wanted to do was veg out and play on the Sims 3 Season expansion pack, I still have been keeping up with my NaNo work. It’s annoying to think I’ll still be heading into work tomorrow, but some things can’t be helped, right? On the plus side I’ve shot ahead on my word count, so I should be hitting the 50k mark before the November 30th deadline.

Project: Smoke & Witchcraft

Woot! Over the 50% mark!

Summary: My trio of protagonists (a werewolf, a half-vampire, and a sharpshooter) head to New Orleans to investigate a series of unexplained abductions. So far this pulpy paranormal will have plenty of banter, a slew of fistfights, undercover operations that fail miserably, battles of magic, a necromancer seductress, a coven of witches with a bad rap, and a ton of zombie alligators. Also I plan to toss the damsel in distress idea on its head since both guys will likely need saving. Oh, and did I mention awkward romance?

Current Word Count: 43,653

New Words Written Today: 2,700

Progress: Witches should never be angered. Ever. The guys are still recovering from their intrusion. Rennick also got in over his head with his flirtations and very nearly got assaulted. Kind of a change for him, and I don’t think his will be the first time he gets an unhappy turn of events like that. Also I’m having a good time describing the three witches. They’re all forming their own personalities and their own screwed up issues. I do think Ada has probably the worst problems, even though she looks the most innocent. It’s a good thing that she has two coven sisters to keep her straight.

Total Words for 2012: 156,666

Romances and Creepy Paths

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So even though I am re-reading The Hobbit right now in preparation for Peter Jackson’s film release in just a few weeks (can you say excited?), I promise you that I didn’t have it in mind when I wrote my bit today. It just so happened that the path that leads to the witch’s house kind of acts like the Mirkwood elves partying in the woods. So if you’re familiar with that scene, then you’ll have an idea of how that works. In addition to that fun bit, my MC and gunslinger girlfriend got into a bit of an unexpected romance scene. Totally didn’t anticipate that happening, but that’s where the characters decided to go. Those unexpected moments are really what make me love the writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants method. Also found out that Rennick chugging down half a glass of whiskey makes for some much needed hilarity.

In other news, I’m finally caught up with my word count in NaNo. I’m over the halfway point, so it’s all downhill from here, right? The plot has totally veered off course from the very loose outline I started out with. Kind of expected, but makes it a bit more difficult with how to wrap up all these loose ends. Somewhere ahead there’s going to be another kidnapping, and plenty more unexpected magical hijinks, cause you know, these are actual witches not herbalists like my poor trio thinks they are dealing with. Though I suppose the long, windy path with creepy mirror qualities should have been a major clue.

Project: Smoke & Witchcraft

Summary: My trio of protagonists (a werewolf, a half-vampire, and a sharpshooter) head to New Orleans to investigate a series of unexplained abductions. So far this pulpy paranormal will have plenty of banter, a slew of fistfights, undercover operations that fail miserably, battles of magic, a necromancer seductress, a coven of witches with a bad rap, and a ton of zombie alligators. Also I plan to toss the damsel in distress idea on its head since both guys will likely need saving. Oh, and did I mention awkward romance?

Current Word Count: 32,240

New Words Written: 2,234 (Today), 5,034 (since last post)

Progress: Ex-boyfriend gets the gunslinger pissed off? Check. Unexpected romance with new boyfriend ensues? Check. Cue the creepy magical wards, disturbing illusions, and yep, now they’ve spotted movement. I swear, I don’t think I’ve given this group a break since they stepped off the train and into town. That’s a good thing though, right?

Total Words for 2012: 145,253

Mini Council of Doom?

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Just a quick post this afternoon. After being sick last weekend I ended up being so slothfully behind that I ended up spending most of the day today playing catchup. Amazing how it only takes a day or two of non-writing to get you skewered.

Project: Smoke & Witchcraft

Summary: My trio of protagonists (a werewolf, a half-vampire, and a sharpshooter) head to New Orleans to investigate a series of unexplained abductions. So far this pulpy paranormal will have plenty of banter, a slew of fistfights, undercover operations that fail miserably, battles of magic, a necromancer seductress, a coven of witches with a bad rap, and a ton of zombie alligators. Also I plan to toss the damsel in distress idea on its head since both guys will likely need saving. Oh, and did I mention awkward romance?

Current Word Count: 27,206

New Words Written: 4,811 (Today), 16,972 (Since last post… oops!)

Progress: Lots of plot progress made today. Big, epic action scene with the protagonists running away in order to get to safety. They’re way out of their league here and it led to one character actually having a bit of a breakdown in the aftermath. Also had a fun scene with my two villains finally meeting and putting their ideas on the table. This was a fun scene to write, especially since the big villain really hadn’t been seen yet.

Total Words for 2012: 140,219

Okay have to hop offline now. Off to get ready for a friend’s birthday party. 🙂

Everything is amazing

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My 200th post and I just hit over 10k words on NaNo. Hooray!! Amazing to realize that I’ve been posting here for what, almost two years now? It’s awesome to think I’ve been writing stories for so long, and actually getting stuff published. (It still amazes me that folks are willing to pay me for stories that come out of my head. As someone who writes code to match requests for a living, that’s a pretty amazing thing.)

Thanks to all you lovely people out there that like, comment, or drop in to give me ideas & encouragement. You all are just fabulous!

It honestly has been.

Decided to change the perspective to the bad guy, cause well, he’s kind of funny. Definitely not the kind of character I expected to be here, but I was amused with him after doing a short blurb with him earlier and decided he needed his own few scenes. Have to find out what he’s up to for the reader to see how the world is unfolding from both sides of the table. He’s not quite a bad guy really, but just has different goals from our main protagonists. And he kind of wants to kill the werewolf. Yeah. That counts as having a different goal, right?

The part I like best about aiming for 2k words a day during NaNo is that it gives me a good bit of breathing room to work with. I’ve already got tomorrow taken care of, so if for whatever reason I can’t get any writing in it’s no sweat.

Project: Smoke & Witchcraft

Summary: My trio of protagonists (a werewolf, a half-vampire, and a sharpshooter) head to New Orleans to investigate a series of unexplained abductions. So far this pulpy paranormal will have plenty of banter, a slew of fistfights, undercover operations that fail miserably, battles of magic, a necromancer seductress, a coven of witches with a bad rap, and a ton of zombie alligators. Also I plan to toss the damsel in distress idea on its head since both guys will likely need saving. Oh, and did I mention awkward romance?

Current Word Count: 10,234

New Words Written: 2,008

Progress: Having to walk around in the pouring rain sucks, but they did enjoy giving the innkeeper a hard time while trying to get a room. It’s as dead as every other place seems to be in the city. Colton’s realizing he is crap at dealing with kids (big surprise there). Oh and a kind, old man tries to sneak past some cops without much luck. Too bad they had a drawing of what he looked like, and a tipoff that he would be arriving on that train.

Total Words for 2012: 123,247