NaNoWriMo... AGAIN!

So, it's November.

You know what that means, right?

NaNoWriMo! 
(aka National Novel Writing Month)

Yup, I'm writing another novel. I don't know when I'll find the time to squeeze it in around work and college and work and more college... Yeah.

But I do have some secret weapons:

-M&Ms
-Write or Die
-Fingerless gloves
-Friends who are also writing!
-My Snowflake document 
-A NaNo playlist full of soundtrack music that fits my story
-A Pinterest pinboard full of images that make me excited to write
-My sketchbook

My novel this year is fantasy with strong elements of steampunk. It's set in Victorian London. I've been doing a lot of research in the last year or so getting ready for this, and I STILL don't feel qualified to write about a real time and place. So I'm just going to toss all my nonfiction books about Victorian London out the window and write the dang story first.

Title: Twyndyllyng

The story revolves around a young inventor named Alexander "Phoenix" Gaffney, the son of two ornithologists. He's working on a revolutionary invention that could change history forever if successful - the world's first flying machine. His only problem: ever since boyhood he has been cursed with a degenerative disease that will kill him if a cure is not found.

His mother, who gave him his mythical nickname when he was first diagnosed, raised him on fanciful stories of a powerful being called the Twyndyllyng, the magical link between humans and birds. If anyone could help him, the Twyndyllyng could. However, the Twyndyllyng has not been seen for over a century, and for Phoenix, time is running out. And if by some miracle, he can find the Twyndyllyng, he may find that she's not at all what he expected.


That's it, folks! What are YOU doing this November?

Another Round of Novel Writing

Yes.
It's that time of year again. November is, after all, National Novel Writing Month.

This will be my 7th year participating in NaNoWriMo, and hopefully the 7th time I "win," ending the month with another 50,000-word novel. I'm preparing to block myself from Facebook, lock myself in my dorm room, attempt to avoid any and all distractions, and write like there's no tomorrow.

Call me crazy, but this is my favorite activity of the year. This year I'm doing something totally new: I'm trying the seat-of-the-pants approach. No outline, no extensive worldbuilding, no research. Whee!

So what am I writing? Having been thoroughly inspired by books such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Airborn, and Leviathan, I'm going all-out Steampunk!

Y'know, like this:

Or like this:

Even though I don't have an outline, I do have a general idea of where I'll be heading with the plot. Here's a short teaser for Silver Sky:

"In an imaginary world where all compasses point to the Queen's palace, an awkward, bookish young woman named Sylvianna is shocked to find that her rich family is actually made up of feuding sky pirates. She's kidnapped by the worst of them all, a man named Sean Fletcher... her long-lost father.



As she reels with this discovery, she struggles against her family history, social expectations, and her own secret desires for adventure. But eventually, she realizes that she must become what she most hates -a pirate- to stop the empire from destroying itself."

Want to join the writing fun? Head on over to the NaNoWriMo website and get yourself signed up!

A Compass to Point the Way

For my birthday, my parents gave me this lovely brass compass. Cool, huh? It came in the mail today. Now my head is full of exploration and quests and sailing ships and steampunk-ish adventures. 

These words were in the card they gave me:

"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

May this gift always remind you of your true compass, the Word of God.

It's a good reminder.