I know I haven’t been replying to comments, but I have been reading and enjoying them. Once Nanowrimo is done, I need to work on some php code and fix my ability to reply to comments on Wynderlon.com — it’s kind of neurotic. But thanks for the encouraging words, guys! I have taken a few breaks; last Thursday I went to bed at 8pm, I was that tired. But, since then, I’ve been sleeping. And this week, the one before Thanksgiving, isn’t going to be very difficult. I only have 3 days of classes and then a 4-day weekend! Although, at least 2 of those days will be with family, so I doubt I’ll have time to work on my word count.

I’ve gotten behind twice due to schoolwork and just not enough hours in the day, but I’ve managed to make up the word count — and get a little ahead! My goal is to get ahead enough so that I won’t have to write on Thanksgiving. I’ve really been enjoying this novel. It’s my first urban fantasy and although I’ve read quite a few of them, and a quite a few stories with vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc., I don’t think I’ve ever written a novel with those creatures in it. Not only that, but I’ve created a few fantasy creatures of my own, like the Luguse. They lived in an area that would now be in the middle east and they lived next to a river that became the foundation of their religion and culture. The river had magical properties which eventually changed their genetic makeup and now the Luguse can technically live forever (the only way to kill them is to destroy their brain); they can regenerate any body part, even if they are just a head. The whole story revolves around the Luguse, their past, and the fact that people have begun to make drugs out of their blood (it’s illegal, but when did that stop anyone?) because in humans Luguse blood creates a feeling of euphoria and calm.

Heh, listen to me gush about my plot. It’s a good sign, it means I like it. And I know that I’m probably not going to finish the story in 50,000 words — probably more like 70,000. It’s also just going to be the first book in an ongoing series. Anyway, here’s a little excerpt. Remember that this is very rough stuff, I haven’t done any editing and I think I wrote this particular part somewhere around midnight, so there may be a few grammar issues that I should have caught, but didn’t:

From the shadow, something was stepping out. Tayce’s eyes were widening, until they hurt and it felt like her eyeballs may fall out. She watched as two, long arms shot out of the shadow. They were white as a corpse’s, with a slight blue tinge underneath the skin. Tayce shuddered and twitched as the arms flexed and the hands spread against the ground, the fingers wide; it looked like those arms were trying to pull something out of that ink stain of a shadow.

Tayce was hyperventilating now. She was so afraid. Her bladder felt full and heavy. She wanted to cower in the farthest corner, but she couldn’t move because her fear was rooting her in place.

Slowly, inch by inch, what was being pulled forward was a very pale girl. She was short, skinny, and her skin looked dead. She wore a tattered shift that was dirt-streaked and blood-stained, and for some reason, this made it even more terrible. Her face was turned towards the ground, so all Tayce could see was the back of her head; her black hair was the same shade as the shadow she was crawling out of, and it wasn’t until her midriff was out of the shadow that Tayce realized her hair was very long and trailed on the ground, but the ends were choppy, as if it had been cut in the dark.

Tayce was trembling badly now, so badly her teeth were chattering. Her muscles were clenched so tightly that they were beginning to ache. The buzzing in her ears had reached a feverish pitch, an orchestra that dimmed out even the pounding of her heart.

She was watching a girl with dead skin pull herself out of a black shadow.

The girl’s waist and legs came quickly, as if she had been pulling herself out of something viscous that had finally let go and she could slid out easily now. She came forward and Tayce gasped—she was breathing so quickly now she wondered if she would faint. The girl hadn’t moved like a human should, she had skittered, quickly. It reminded Tayce of how a spider moved. The girl skittered towards Tayce and Tayce really wanted to move backward. She strained against the fear, but she couldn’t move, and she wondered if she could manage to move, would she loose control of her bladder? It felt so heavy and hot in her body; she needed to pee, it was the only feeling she had beyond the fear and the panic and the sensation of her heart pounding in its chest and the sweat trickling down her body.

12:41 pm | Category: Nanowrimo | |

Leave a Reply