7th Year of NaNoWriMo
That's right, it's about to be my 7th year doing NaNoWriMo...and you might ask, WHY DO THIS? Well, it gives me a great SHOVE to move onto another project when I'd like to just maybe watch TV after a grueling 6 months. That time was full of traveling for research, attending conventions (more traveling), working with multiple editors for my two short stories that'll be coming out soon, AND writing another short for to submit for consideration for an anthology I desperately want to be a part of. So I really wouldn't mind a break.
Guess what, I'm taking that break, too! Well, sort of...I get 2 weeks off; the 18th to the 31st of October. In that interim I'll put up my Hold Onto the Light posts and edit something for Skye of the Damned, and prep for NaNo...and yes, that IS me taking it easy. LOL!
Anyway, I'm here to tell you all what the 7th year holds for me. Last year, I began to write The Curse of Billy the Kid and this year...well, I'm doing it again. I started the first draft of this Historical Fantasy novel last November after about a year of research on the Lincoln County War and a trip out to Lincoln, NM. Since then, I've been out there two more times, have decided to move there once I find a job, and finished the 1st draft over the summer while working on the short stories too.
Thus, it is time to do the 2nd draft. You may ask what that entails. A LOT OF REWRITING AND EDITING AND FACT CHECKING. It took so long to write the first draft (for me 9 months is a long time for writing a novel) due to being meticulous on research and historical facts (as well and making choices when the facts had multiple options). So as I go through this 2nd time I'll have some writing to do to connect sections (as this is the first book I ever wrote in parts vs. all in order), take notes on my own book so I can keep track of names and concepts that need to be brought to a close by end, and clean up bad writing. I also have to write the side story.
If you read The Curse of Scáthach, you know that it is told by Will McCarty in 1949. That will stay the format for the full novel except the section swill be more sparse, as the real story is what is going on in 1878. However, the 1949 section compliment the main story AND by the end of it, help put a button on it so that you will see there is a full other story going on moving forward (as there will be more than one book).
SAY WHAT?
Yep! The first book takes you through the Lincoln County War (Feb 18 thru July 20, 1878) while book two will continue onward, following Billy after the McSween house burned down that horrible night, and will continue the journey in 1949. Now, in order to write those sections, I need to know where they are going and the point of that story, as it will run through the series (likely 3 books, more if someone buys them) and possibly be it's own story without the Lincoln County War being the primary focus and taking our heroes into 1950 and onward.
Anyway, here's the Synopsis I did for the NaNoWriMo novel (write 50K words in 30 days) this time around...and this is based on the 1949 section of the novel vs. 1878. See what you think:
The year is 1949 and Will has returned to Lincoln, NM, where he "died" 68 years ago. Physically, no more than 25 years old, Will's curse has made him MI-4's top demon hunter. But nothing can prepare him for the infestation he finds in Lincoln. They aren't "the law" this time around, but they're working hard to take over, annihilating anyone in their path.
This time around Will works with the Sheriff, Sally Ortiz, to rid the county of the demons, only to realize that Scáthach herself has orchestrated this. She'd returned from the Underworld, the place Will sent her back to 68 years ago. Somehow she's escaped again and built an army ten times what she had before. Quickly, Will realizes he and Sally cannot do this alone. He'll have to bring back his old partners; some he'll have to bring back from the dead and some just from Portland, OR...the later of which, actually being the more difficult of the two.
It's time to send Scáthach back to Hell to stay.
It's time Will ended his curse once and for all.
It's time the Regulators rode again...and this time, they're going to finish what they started.
So...wish me luck this NaNo Season as I work my day job, work on draft 2 of the novel, and look for work in NM so I can move. Hoping to be there by the holidays for sure...God willing.
Good luck to all of those also doing NaNo this year...may the muse of your work be with you in earnest.
That's it for me this time around...until next time write hard, bathe in imagination, and stay tuned for my 3-part #HoldOntoTheLight true story about my time in life dealing with bullying and how that has shaped me as both a writer and a human being.
Best, Tamsin :)