Nano 2009 - This is the Year!

This is the year I will finish my novel. I know - I know - some of you have heard me say that before - but if I say it loud enough, and long enough, it will come true - and I hereby put all of my friends in charge of flogging me if it looks like my motivation tapers off and I turn back into a slacker.

Because I'm close. Very close. I have over 300 pages already - and I'm at the point in my novel when all hell breaks loose, and then all that remains is wrapping up the aftermath. Then I plan on giving myself a year (maximum) for editing - and its onwards and downwards to finding a publisher. The good news is, Fantasy has traditionally been the easiest genre to break into.

So I continue to trudge forward, nano-ing in my spare time and trying to force 50,000 words from my fingertips. (I did debate cutting and pasting some of my blog posts over, since these are essentially wasted word-count, but it just didn't fit the true spirit of Nano. I'm not trying to write 50,000 words. I'm tryig to write 50,000 ON-TOPIC words! YAY. )

This month coffee is my friend.

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Excerpt 1: Nano 2009

“At the very least, I think he will send a selection of dresses with the Lady Arisa tomorrow. With any luck, one of them will fit.”

Gwen’s cheeks flushed. “Is the entire court privy to issues involving my wardrobe?”

Arin chuckled. “The Prince was astute enough to ask about your injury – and it seemed safest to ply one of your tricks and turn the conversation to clothing. My other option was to discuss Lefyre and his unruly riding beast.”

“I find I rather prefer blue dresses,” Gwen blurted, her eyes sparkling.

Arin arched an eyebrow. “By which, I take it, you’d rather not discuss Lefyre,” he said, his lips twitching into a wry smile. He shrugged. “Aside from my conversation with Prince Naev, the rest of the evening was quite uneventful – save that Father Sideo stopped by the table and invited the both of us to join him for a picnic on the morrow. It appears that he feels Fenriod and Naev have had an unfair opportunity to spend candlemarks in your company – an imbalance which he means to rectify.”

Gwen drummed her fingers on the cover of the book. “On the surface, it all sounds reasonable,” she said, “but don’t you find it odd that all three candidates seem to be seeking out my company? Don’t you think they should be more interested in you, as the official representative of the crown?”

Arin started. “So much for a good night’s sleep,” he grumbled.