Novel Roulette

I don't presume to know how many other novelists out there are like me and constantly playing roulette with their projects.

I figure I've got seven fiction novels that I've created detailed worlds for and written large portions of their plots. Seven. And I am not the most productive wordsmith in the world by a long shot. So I end up focusing on maybe two of these projects at a time, only one if I'm either extremely inspired or if I'm being perversely focused, but usually two so I can world build for one (which is fun and relaxing) when I'm stuck in actually writing the other one.

For example, here's how the past five months of my writing life have gone:

October: got wicked excited about plotting Grave of the Goddess and decided to write that while waiting for NaNoWriMo to start. Pretty much focused exclusively on this world even while nominally working on some kind of plot and characters for my planned NaNo, Solemn Vow. Also spent a ton if time in the NaNo forums soaking up all things writing.

November: ditched the chick lit idea immediately to write Grave of the Goddess for NaNo. Worked only on this all month. Wildly successful except for one week where I got bogged down by a slow part of the plot and the presence of relatives.

December: relative crash and burn. Set everything aside for several weeks. Wrote nothing, not even journal entries. I still can't decide if I did this to recover from NaNo or if the bad effects of unemployment were starting to gnaw at my creativity.

January: slow slow slow. Set Grave aside entirely. Instead, spent all my creative time invested in rereading and thinking about how to restructure A Hunter's Fire, and also creating ridiculously detailed history for my Stormwatch series.

February: got a freaking job! Also completely lucked out as the job has copious amounts of free time where no one cares if I'm reading or writing my own stuff. I've finally come back to Grave of the Goddess, just as enthused as November. But Face the Flames and Stormwatch are at my fingertips too.

I don't know if there's something wrong with me that I operate like this - with a writing backup, waiting to see where the ball lands today. But that's how it seems to be.

Strike That, Reverse It

Strike everything I said about Stormwatch being my superbook project. My real project is going to be.... dun dun dun... Mortal Coils! I've set up a glittery new blog for it and the first post is already up. I figure this is a great way for me to develop the story further AND to get to hear from more of the characters than I had originally planned. Everyone's a winner! Drinks all around!

Blog is HERE.

Mortal Coils

I'm starting a series of posts about my various novels and writing projects. And since I've been recently rereading it, we'll start with Mortal Coils, a novel I came up with for 2010's NaNoWriMo and which I failed utterly to finish.

Thistle and Weeds by Mumford and Sons - theme song for the story

This is one of those novels that I feel has been in the back of my mind for a long time. Because it's set in what is essentially my parents' hometown - a small but ancient (in American terms) mill town on the coast of New England. As I mentioned in my last post, I have tended over the years to write many detailed descriptions of places and people on random scraps of paper. I have a rather large collection of those scraps pertaining specifically to spending time in that town and being around the people who live and have lived there for most of their adult lives.

Here's a rundown of the story.

The Macpherson family has lived in Lamprey Falls for centuries. And for centuries the citizens of Lamprey Falls have known that there is something about the Macpherson family that is not quite normal.What they don't know is the family's long-kept secret that they are witches with demons bound to their service.

Noah Macpherson

Noah, a young scion of the Macpherson clan, has been summoned back to his family's house after finishing his college degree halfway across the country. His grandfather is dying. His sister is about to have the first baby of the new generation. His alcoholic uncle has moved back into the house after his latest divorce. And his grandmother, the clan's matriarch, is trying to choose an heir.

But Noah has his own problems that his family and even his demon can't seem to help him with. He's dreaming.

Miranda Fairchild 

Noah dreams repeatedly and with increasing frequency of a red-haired woman who is destined to fall in love with and destroy him. Not long after he returns home, he meets this woman from his dreams and is terrified to find that she is real - and working at his favorite bookstore.

Another theme song - for Noah and Miranda.

Miranda likes Noah right away. They both love art and history. They both want to visit Europe. And he makes her laugh. But there is something not quite right about him. And sometimes she catches him looking at her as though he's trying to decipher a puzzle. Then again, sometimes Miranda thinks something isn't quite right about her either. Ever since she moved to Lamprey Falls, she can't sleep at night. She wakes up from daydreams she doesn't remember having. Not to mention she can't quite explain to anyone why she wanted to move to this town in the first place.

What Miranda doesn't know about herself could not only kill her new boyfriend - but it could destroy his entire family.

There's the rundown. I'll post more in-depth about the characters later. This ought to be fun, considering I have a Macpherson family tree going back four generations (and heavily linked to two other witch clans).

NaNoWriMo and ALB

Anyone who knows me well these days knows that the month of November is largely dedicated to the crazy trip that is writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

This, along with the fact that I spent the majority of last month finding a place to live, furnishing it, and delving into the realm of real adulthood is why I haven't posted for nearly a month.

So a brief update is in order.

I have started my new job as an Inventory Arborist. I'm in training right now - but the job consists of surveying trees in the Worcester County area for signs of the Asian Long-Horned Beetle. As you may or may not know, this invasive beetle causes terrible damage to our native trees (maples in particular). The USDA has launched a huge effort to get this beetle under control here on the borders of rural New England before it can get away from us and invade our hardwood forests, causing untold numbers of dollars in economic damage - not to mention irreversible aesthetic damage. The ALB arrived in this area in 2008 and since then the government has cut down nearly 30,000 trees in an effort to eradicate it. The contractor I work for is responsible for closely monitoring and indicating where damage remains or is spreading.

Above: Damage caused by the ALB - perfectly round exit holes and chewed areas where the female lays her eggs in the tree.

Below: The adult Asian Long-Horned Beetle. 

Alert the USDA immediately if you notice any of these beetles in your area or see this sort of damage on your trees! www.mass.gov/agr -or- 1-866-702-9938

So I've got that going on. And it's going well. I love that I'm working a job where I feel like I'm making an actual difference in the world. Wish me luck cause my first USDA test (only get two chances to pass this thing) is this Friday!

National Novel Writing Month is the other thing dominating my life right now. I've got what I think is a fantastic story this year. Mortal Coils is about a family of witches living in an old New England town. Told through the eyes of Noah Macpherson, a male scion of the family, there is lots of family drama, the problems with growing up different from everyone else, and mysterious dreams that seem to be plaguing Noah and no one else. Did I mention that he falls in love with a girl who houses an angelic spirit determined to kill him and his entire family as demon worshipers? It's crazy stuff. I've fallen behind this week due to adjusting to new work schedule and other things like an all day Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon on Saturday. But I am catching up today. 

I hope. 

Hopefully more normal posting will soon resume - that way I can feel like I really have a life again.