Meet Hank who is the main hero of this story. He is modeled after my nephew, Bruce, who actually does live in Illinois and has a sister named Heidi. When they were very young, they sometimes came to visit us and stayed for a week or longer. I really enjoyed their company, and I love to this day how some of our influences have stayed with them a bit.

Like my peculiar love of spiders. I had a great nest in the corner of my kitchen window one summer when B. was visiting. He wasn't too bothered by it, but being the thoughtful young man he was, he did point out one day while washing dishes, that soon we would have more spiders.

“You realize all those eggs are going to hatch, right, Aunt D?”

Ah, well. Brilliance disguised in a quiet, thoughtful young man. Ha ha ha. Yes, it was no surprise he would become the main character.

Anyway, after rereading his first episode, a few characteristics were evident:

     ·       Best friend named Heidi

·       Likes to eat barbecued steak

·       Likes gaming

·       Doesn’t usually swear

·       Wants to buy a house

·       Doesn’t like cramped spaces

·       Hates the sight of blood

·       Has nosebleeds when stressed

·       Detail oriented, might miss big picture

·       Not an athlete but notices them

·       Prays under pressure to Mary and Jesus

I don’t have a clear sense of Hank’s voice in the writing. And I need to find a way to make him more ponderous without seeming slow. Also, not much about his physical appearance yet. Hair color, eye color, other distinguishing features other than size? That could probably wait until later.

What crutch words can this character have to distinguish him in dialogue? Maybe I could just ask my nephew!

NaNoWriMo 2022 Day #9 Spider Rider Kindle Vella Writing

When I began moodling what to write for my NaNoWriMo 2022 project, I knew it would be for a new Kindle Vella book. I had originally planned a murder mystery with a knife-throwing traveler as the hero, but the plot on that one went nowhere.

At the same time I was dreaming up possible NaNo themes, I was also struggling with Kindle Vella. Sort of. I mean I was writing and publishing, but with few readers. Not even family and friends. Part of that was the nature of the Kindle Vella platform. It’s really geared to young readers who like certain genres and episodic novels they can read on their gadgets.

 The quality of writing on Kindle Vella is all over the place too. From fake books written by ‘bots, to amateur publish-as-you-go stories, to really good offerings by New York Times bestselling authors. I started taking a hard look at was earning the coveted “crowns” in the KV rating system, in which readers participate in voting for their favorite stories.

That, too, was all over the map. But if NaNoWriMo was good for anything, it was trying something new and cranking out some serious word counts over the month of November. To that end, I decided to try some different things, starting with… a lot of things I hate reading. Ha! How’s that for stretching out the writing muscles? Do what you hate. Here is what I am focusing on  for starters:

     ·       First person POV (I don’t love reading it)

·       Head hopping from character to character in 1^st POV (just shoot me now!)

·       Horror genre with touches of dystopian and fantasy

·       YA genre (maybe leading into NA)

·       Bad punctuation and…  (Why not???)

·       Publish as I go, not waiting for a completed book. (Scariest of all!)

I figured it would be a good opportunity to try different voices and dialects/slang, as well as to really envision a different world. Do some new research. I had to have monsters, right? So spiders. Those aren’t really horror to me, but they are to a lot of other people, and hopefully new readers.

Maybe I could become a little less judgmental in the editing department. After all, I tried my first NaNoWriMo book 17 years ago to understand the writing process of my editing clients a little better.

Who knew I would fall in love with writing over the years, and November would become my favorite month? 

Anyway, next post I’ll start recapping what the evolving characters are sharing about themselves. Episode #1 is about Hank.

NaNoWriMo Day #3 Developing a Character

Everything is hopping along quite nicely this year and I wrote over 2,000 words today. It's quite amazing to me, because I have absolutely nothing pre-planned. Not characters, not plot, literally nothing. I have never been much of a pantser, so this is all new to me.

Today, a character named Jubel entered the stage, a young black man who definitely has his own voice. But not enough of one, so I researched AAVE to sharpen that a bit. I don't like to use too many unusual words with my characters, especially foreign words, and African American Vernacular English should be treated and respected as its own language.

(Don't get me on my soapbox about fat, old, white politicians throwing the word "woke" around!)

Anyway, I decided it was worth getting informed about this language. Words Jubel will probably use regularly are a few of these:

• Lit
• Sis
• Squad
• Hood
• Dig
• Crib

And double negatives. I asked him about whether he'd use them. He said, "You're not wrong."

Well then. 

What Is AAVE & Why White People Shouldn't Use It Flippantly | YourTango

NaNoWriMo Day 2 More Caving and More Characters

Another day of writing success. 2,039 words completed in my total pantsing experiment. I succeeded in introducing two new teen characters, Heidi and Jubel. We also got to know Ryan a little better. 

Apparently, this book will have one token white male. The two new males are Asian and negro, though we only get hints of that so far.

The young woman is a seemingly timid fairy-like creature. But perhaps stronger than we think at first glance.

And there are voices talking about the mains. Who are they? We don't know yet, but they sound very wise.

I definitely need to learn more about caves and spelunking. This link looks good and some cool photos. Also, lots of stuff on YouTube about it, which puts me right there!

Day 1 NaNoWriMo

Episode #1 is complete with 1,833 words. 

This story will be a stretch for me for several reasons, and sinceI am trying numerous things I hate. Because, you know, it's one way to stretch out. Here's what I tried today:

• Wrote in first person POV
• Tried to think like a teenage (YA novel)
• Tried to get in touch with the Horror genre

I think I accomplished all of that.

And tweaked a temporary book cover.

The Spider Riders of ....

 ... what? I haven't decided yet. But it will be an exercise in writing. YA. Head hopping with eleven characters. Dystopian. All stuff I am not fond of. 

Let the planning begin!