TWICE UPON: KNOW THE NOVEL PART TWO!

WE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH OF NANOWRIMO. WHAAAAAT. 

Somehow it's already November 23rd and??? I'm pretty sure I blinked and the entire month went by. Still not quite sure how that happened. But here we are, and it's time for part two of none another than Know the Novel! 

You may have noticed that I didn't post a week 3 update... that's because not enough happened to update you on. xD So, just enjoy me answering these questions and rambling about my story instead. 

And on to it we go!

1. How’s the writing going overall?

Pretty well! I've had minimal moments of "okay where in the world do I go from here" (which is a normal part of my writing routine). Things are flowing pretty well, and I'm liking the direction they're going in. Although of course, that could change tomorrow. xD

2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

Getting to know Trentley and Jynnia better and just being back with them in general has been so fun! I'm fangirled many a time over my characters, but it's true: I enjoy being with these characters SO much- I think more than any of my other characters, actually. They're just so adorable and fun. 

I'm also getting to explore some different fairy tales for this one! That's one of the things that excites me the most about this series- all the different fairy tales I have to choose from. There are so many aspects that I can play with. 

3. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

Um... do you really have to ask? *gathers all my characters into a big, suffocating group hug*

*then remembers social distancing*

*oops*

So far I haven't had too many characters playing a huge part in this story. But of the ones I have, of COURSE my favorites are Trentley and Jynnia. MY BABIES.

4. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Surprisingly, not yet. Last year I had a bunch of random sassy fairies showing up uninvited, so this year is pretty tame so far. xD

5. Have you come across any problem areas?

Just my usual "where do I go from here" problems. Also, I have run into a bit of a challenge differentiating this book from the first. There are parts where the characters are reminiscing events from the first book, and also revisiting some of the places they went; so I'm trying to not just make it a rehash of the first story. *cough*likethestarwarssequeltrilogy*cough*

6. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

Honestly? Just making time to write. I don't want to keep talking about how busy I am with college and everything, but, well, you guys know what's going on. And it's hard. There have been some days when I haven't written at all, which usually just doesn't happen for me during NaNo. 

But, I guess you could say, my biggest victory is just proving to myself that I CAN write, work, and go to college. I was really worried I was going to have to sacrifice my writing, and while I still don't have enough time to write as much as I'd like, I now know that I can juggle it all if I work hard enough.

And actually, there has been minimal juggling as of late. Some weeks I end up a little more weighed down with assignments, but for the most part I've managed to create a system that allows me to get everything done and still have time to write. (Now if I can keep that up AFTER NaNo, I'll be really pleased with myself. xD)

7. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

Well, given we're working with basically the same characters as I was last year, my answer would be the same as last year: if we're talking who would I WANT to be, it would be Jynnia so I could marry Trentley. But as for who I would actually be, it would definitely be Trentley. We have the most in common (other than the way me and Jynnia share the same fangirling skills). 

As for any different actions? I'm not sure about that one. He's very much a "stay quiet and let everybody else talk" person in new situations, which is basically me. 

8. Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

I shared the beginning paragraphs in my first update post, but I'll gladly share it again!

Once upon a time, a warm breeze played with the dark strands of hair flowing just above a young girl's shoulders. She smiled and brushed the strands back into submission, letting her fingers linger at the ends for a moment. 

"What if I knocked the jailer unconscious?" Winlie said. 

All eyes turned to her. Jynnia could not help but burst out laughing, not at the idea itself but the visual in her head. If she was being honest, there was not much she would not give to see short little Winlie knock out a jailer. 

"I don't mean with brute force," Winlie said impatiently. "I mean with magic. I get him out of the way long enough for Deston to go in and do whatever it is he's doing, and Delga pretends to be the jailer."

"Excuse me?" Delga said for the second time in five minutes. 

"Um, it's a great plan and all, but how is Delga going to pass for a jailer?" Jynnia gestured toward her sister. "She's clearly a woman. And I don't think I've ever seen a lady jailer."

Winlie shrugged. "It'll do in a pinch, don't you think? Maybe she can say that the other jailer is sick, and she's his daughter and she's taking over for him for the day."

"Hm." Jynnia tilted her head to consider the idea. 

"If you don't like it, tough, because that's all we have," Winlie said. 

"I like it!" Jynnia grinned. 

"I don't like it!" Delga protested. 

"You!" 

Trentley's heart fell. He looked up, pretending to be surprised. "Uh, hi there. We met before, didn't we?" Might as well try to act the least suspicious he could. 

"Yes, and I met your girlfriend as well." Deston's voice was tense and irritated, surprising Trentley. Jynnia had said he was irritatingly polite when she had spoken to him. Maybe he only spoke that way to girls. 

Wait a minute. "My girlfriend?" He had never seen them together, and Trentley knew Jynnia had not mentioned him to him. The only time Trentley had ever even seen the guy was when he had walked by the sawmill whistling and eating a poisoned apple. Or least, what looked like a poisoned apple. 

"Yes, Miss Jynnia Trace," Deston said, speaking to Trentley as if he were a child and Deston were an adult who needed to explain a simple concept to him. Trentley immediately felt hate rise up in his chest for the guy. He tried to tamp it down, but as long as Trentley was looking at his face, he felt nothing but contempt. 

"I'm aware who my girlfriend is," Trentley said, surprising even himself. "But how do you know? I've never even met you before."

Deston sighed and put his hands on his hips, eyes darting back and forth between two points of focus Trentley did not know, in what he suspected to be a stalling tactic to hide the fact that he had nothing to say. "She told me about you," he finally said, looking up and trying to appear confident. At least that was what Trentley chose to see. 

Trentley lifted his chin and leaned a little closer to Deston. The other man did not flinch, but Trentley felt good knowing he had imposed on his space, anyway. "Listen, I don't know what I did to you, but I have to get back to work." He only wished he was a little taller so he could look down on Deston. "If you're stalking me, I would like to politely ask that you stop. And if you're stalking Jynnia, I would like to inform you that if you bother her one. Time. You will be making a visit to the town doctor." Without breaking eye contact, Trentley raised a hand and pointed down the street. "It's that direction."

(just to drive y'all crazy I want to say that I omitted a sentence from one of these snippets that would have been mad spoilerish so hahahahaha) (it's actually killing me having to hide it more than it's killing you)

9. Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

I don't recall any typos yet. At least, nothing like last year's napkin in the lapkin. I haven't killed anyone off. Outlines? 

So, well, I guess this has been a pretty chill NaNo so far. 

Oh, I guess I could mention the random daughter that I gave my villain and then completely abandoned?? Like, we haven't even met the girl "on screen". The guy just mentioned her and she was supposed to come into play, but then kind of... didn't? So I don't know how that's going to turn out. xD #pantserlife

10. Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

Much of my writing this year has been completed late at night, although there has been surprisingly little irresponsibly late writing. This has nothing to do with my being responsible and everything to do with that fact that I'm getting old and apparently can't stay up past my bedtime anymore. maybeishouldstartdrinkingcoffeebeforebed justkiddingthatsterribleadvice

I usually alternate between my chair and my bed, though sometimes I end up downstairs at the kitchen table. And I think I pretty much always listen to my story playlist?

And thus concludes part 2 of Know the Novel! Whew. Can't believe we're already so close to part 3 and December!

As of the time I'm writing this, my word count is at 25,854. Yeah... not exactly what I want to see a week away from the end of NaNo. Will I close the gap between here and 50k? Who knows. But I have some extra free time right now, so we'll see what I can do!

Also- GUYS. It's almost Thanksgiving. What even is time anymore? 

So, I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and find plenty to be thankful for! And also lots of pie because pie is fantastic. 

NaNo's almost over- how are y'all doing?? Is your story/characters behaving or running off in a completely different direction? Any special plans for Thanksgiving? And who's excited about the Christmas season?? So many exciting things!