KNOW THE NOVEL 2021 PART 1 // LOOK FOR THE FLARES

IT IS TIME. *cue celebratory music* 

You GUYS. NaNoWriMo is just a little over a week away. (hang on gotta go panic for a second) I have a new project I'm wildly excited about, and today I'm sharing it with you!!

I always love taking part in Christine's yearly writers linkup, Know the Novel! Not only is it a ton of fun, and a great way to tell y'all what I'm going to be writing this November, but it also helps me learn more about my story. (seriously, before I started working on this post I was about 50% more in the dark about this thing. xD)

SO. A quick rundown: this year's project is LOOK FOR THE FLARES, an adult science fiction story set on the planet Myrandis. (the title isn't 100% set in stone... but I do kind of love it.) This is a pretty new idea, and kind of came to me out of the blue one day. But the more I think about it, the more I'm obssessed with it, and... yeah. Needless to say, I'm super pumped for November.

BUT that's enough of that- allow me to actually tell you about the story!! (all photos are from Pinterest!)

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

I was at work one day and this random thought popped into my head (which I can't share because #spoilers), and I thought... whoa. I love that. I want to write that. I don't remember if I got the idea for any reason, or if it was just a random writer lightbulb xD but it started growing from there until it was an idea that I was totally in love with.

I was also able to tie in a thread of an idea that I'd had for a few years- one day I thought, wouldn't it be cool to write about a man who goes to slave auctions and buys all the slaves just so he can free them? Well, it's changed a bit and isn't quite so ambitious anymore, but that idea fit right into this story! 

2. Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

As a child, Kalar Raynes watched slave traders steal his newborn brother and murder his parents. Now, thirty years later, Kalar has never stopped looking for his brother. When he takes a job to eliminate the infamous leader of a human trafficking ring, he hopes to find answers that will lead him to the one family member he has left- if he's still alive.

Adley Barron feels indebted to her husband for rescuing her from slavery when she was a teenager. The trouble is, his occupation, which she's a reluctant partner in, is none other than slave trading itself. One day amidst a drastic attempt to appease her guilt, she's mistaken for one of her husband's victims and whisked away to safety- for now.

Okay, obviously the plot and everything are still a work in progress, but I think I rather like this attempt. xD

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects about the setting?

There's still a lot of world-building to be done here. Sci-fi is challenging for me, because I think it's harder to create a unique world. (because, y'know, you can't just throw in a weird magic system or wacky creature like you could with fantasy.) But I CAN tell you that this story takes place on the planet Myrandis, where slavery and human trafficking are big problems but also somewhat socially accepted. So, yeah. Not a great place. XD

Aaand considering what I said about still needing to do a lot of world-building... I don't really have any favorite aspects about Myrandis yet. But I look forward to learning more about it!

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

Kalar lost everything as a child, when he narrowly escaped being thrown into slavery. Since then his sole focus has been to find his baby brother who he hopes is still out there somewhere. 

He's also an assassin. *crowd gasps* He gets paid exceptionally well to *ahem* eliminate people, and though it's a job his mother probably wouldn't have approved of, it provides him with enough money to travel Myrandis searching for his brother. Hey, don't worry, though- he only accepts jobs to take out evil people. 

Then there's Adley. Coming from a background of slavery herself, her loyalty to her husband and her deep contempt for his line of work keep her in constant turmoil. She desperately wishes she could put a stop to trafficking instead of helping run it, but she can at least show kindness in the dark lives of the victims her husband harbors. 

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

The great thing about doing this linkup is that it makes me ask myself questions about my project that I haven't even thought about yet. XD Overall, slavery/human trafficking is somewhat of an antagonist itself in this story, I suppose. I'm sifting through ideas about who the villain could be, but since I'm very much not sure yet, I'm not going to share it yet. oooh, mysterious

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

First off, I don't usually write sci-fi. I have only one other project that's straight-up sci-fi, and I haven't worked on it in years, so this is going to be pretty different for me! 

Also, Kalar. I don't know, guys, but I'm just so excited to write this character already. I think he's going to be awesome. And also Adley, poor precious broken Adley who I already want to give a hug. 

I'm also super excited to write some stuff that comes later in the book, which I cannot reveal to you.... muahahaha. *evil laughter*

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

As of right now, a standalone! Unless it turns out to be too big to tackle in one book... but that remains to be discovered. *nervous laughter* 

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

Plotting? Who is she?

Nah, y'all know I'm a pantser. XD I go into every NaNo not knowing what's going to happen beyond the first few chapters, and maybe a bit of the climax. My version of plotting is stopping in the middle of the story and taking some time to figure out what needs to happen next before I proceed.

HOWEVER, I kind of would like to be a bit more prepared this time around. I already feel like I have a slightly better handle on this story than I have previous ones, but I'm also a master at getting stuck, so I might try to even outline a little bit. *crowd gasps again* Will the outline probably go out the window? I mean, yeah. But still. XD

9. Name a few unique elements about this story.

The fact that there's no romance and one of the characters is married is pretty unique, I think. It's not unique to my own writing, since I rarely write romance of any kind, but anytime you find a book with no romance, it's kind of unexpected, right?

I'm also writing a morally gray protagonist for the first time. help I didn't plan this, but literally while I was writing this blog post I stopped and thought... this is morally gray, isn't it?? I think so?? It's not something that I'm super familiar with but it's fine. xD 

Other than that... like I said, I'm still working on worldbuilding and all that good stuff. So, sharing about more of the uniqueness will have to come later. xD

Oh, and one more detail that makes this story different from my other NaNo projects... I kind of already started it?? Back a few months ago when I first got the idea, I wrote the first scene, because it was fresh and burning in my mind and I just had to write it before I lost it. So. That's that. xD

10. Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

THIS PINTEREST BOARD IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES I THINK. I PRESENT IT TO YOU.

full board HERE

Also, I'm thinking the theme song of this story is Flares by The Script. I haven't put together a whole playlist yet (shocker), but I think this song is perfect. < 3 And yes, it was the inspiration behind the title. Full disclosure, I came up with the title and kind of started shaping the story around it a little bit. xD But I think it's actually working really well??? And GAH I'm just so excited to write this thing!!

And there you go- everything you need to know about my 2021 NaNoWriMo project! (certainly everything I know, minus the spoilers XD) I've already said it many times, I think, but I'm sooo ready to jump into this thing on November 1!! I requested a short work day so you can bet I'll be attacking draft 1 of Look for the Flares full-force! (actually, you could probably safely bet that I'll irresponsibly stay up til midnight the night before to start writing. so what if I have work the next day. #crazythingswriterssayduringnano)

Before I go, I have a quick announcement: I have a new story coming out with Havok!! At All Costs publishes in two weeks, on November 4th, so keep your eyes peeled! I'm so excited for you all to read it!

All right, SHOW OF HANDS! Who's doing NaNoWriMo? Tell me something about your project! And this is random, but what's the weather like where you live? It's been somewhat of a warm fall here so far, but today is delightfully chilly and I am just the happiest camper. 

A REVIEW OF THIRD WINTER'S WAR BY M.L. LITTLE

Hello everyone!! Um... we're just gonna ignore the fact that it's been a month of postless days since I made that dramatic return from an accidental hiatus. Yeah. That didn't happen. (but seriously y'all I don't know why I have so much trouble returning to regular posting now I'm literally a terrible blogger)

Today I'm FINALLY reviewing Third Winter's War by M.L. Little- the final book in the Seventh Realm trilogy!! I reviewed books one and two already, so go check those reviews out if you haven't already. Aaaand... go read the books if you haven't yet! 

This review is spoiler-free and you're technically safe to read it even if you haven't read the first two... however, if you haven't read them yet, go do that right now!! If you do want to skip the review, just jump to the bottom of the post so we can chat!

(WARNING: Emily's book reviews are quite unorganized and really just a word dump of all her thoughts on the book she is reviewing. Please excuse her.)

(also I came back to the document that I started writing this review in so I could finish it... and it was all gone :)) :)) fun times)

The king is dead. Glennerdells has burned.

The survivors sail across the sea to Bellica to face the enemy–Rex Bellum, who uses elements as weapons and snaps minds to his will.

Gideon Black, the rightful king of Glennerdells, suffers under the mind control, forced to work as Bellum’s puppet until it drove him mad. But Elowyn believes that the words of a forgotten prophecy refer to him–and can bring him back.

Nations clash and fate rests in the hands of the boy who started it all in the epic conclusion to the Seventh Realm Trilogy.

SO. Let me just start by saying that from the beginning of this book, there's no shortage of intensity. Or pain. Or suffering. (doesn't that make you want to read it already? because it would make me want to read it. the sad part is I'm not even joking) Just like the first two books, I was drawn into the story from the start. (The setting, the atmosphere of these books? GOLD. More on that later.)

It doesn't get any less intense as it goes on, either. This book is about war (hence the title, of course), and seriously... get ready for a lot of emotions AND action, because it is a WHIRLWIND. In the best way. 

In this book, we get a lot more POV shifts than in the first two. This was so fun, because in addition to Gabriel and Elowyn (which I think was basically it in book 2), we get a lot of time with Hollis and REN- and of COURSE we needed more Ren! I will say that while I loved getting in all these characters' heads (especially Ren), I rather missed Gabriel. He was the one we started out the journey with, and though I know it was necessary to spend more time with other characters in this story, I did miss having more of Gabriel's POV. 

Now, on the topic of the characters... my goodness. These books have some of my favorite characters ever, seriously. First of all, the SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS. GAHHH I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I LOVE THIS FAMILY SO MUCH. They're just the cutest, break-your-heart-loyal bunch of siblings and I probably won't ever get over it. Their selfless love for each other is just inspiring, and I just love everything about them. 

Second- the characters in these books are so REAL. Writing kids can be difficult- it's easy to make them seem too young, too old, or just too unrealistic. But my goodness, M. L. Little just writes the most believable people, children included. Their actions, their dialogue- it just adds to the characters' lovability so much more. 

You really see so much of the characters' HEART in this book. It's heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Everyone wants to protect everyone else. Everyone wants to help. Everyone knows they're probably going to die. They keep fighting and protecting anyway. They don't give up, not once, not if they know someone else's life is on the line. (shoutout to my girl Ren, who goes through SO MUCH trying to protect her brothers and just... *weeps*)

One random thing: if you've read the previous book, you'll remember that thing that Gabriel and Elowyn did. You know, that plan they came up with that was absolutely one of the best parts of the book and just had me DYING? It was sadly only mentioned once in Third Winter's War. Granted, the part where it was mentioned was one of the best moments/lines of the whole book. XD But still. I would have loved to see it played with a lot more. BUT this book was also a lot more serious, so I understand that it just may not have really fit into the story this time around.

ALSO, two characters we got a whole lot more of in this book: DARIUS AND DALE. YES PLEASE. I love the Draven dad and older brother so much!! Darius is probably one of my favorite fictional dads ever. He's just fantastic. And I absolutely loved having Dale more present and doing things with the rest of his siblings. It was totally a highlight of the book.

Remember how I mentioned earlier how much I love the setting? Because I LOVE THE SETTING. I've talked in my previous reviews about how much I love the unique world- where there's magic and strange creatures and everything in between, but also cars and planes and refrigerators and super normal things that we're familiar with in our world. It's really like no other storyworld I've ever seen before, and I love that. 

And then there's also the eeriness that I mentioned before. I LOVE a story that's good and eerie- it doesn't have to be a thriller, or even remotely scary, but if it's got that mysterious, eerie vibe? GIVE IT TO ME NOW. I can't tell you much I love when a book has a good shiver-y element, and this series has had it from book one. With the mysterious talk of Rex Bellum and magic and all that good stuff, it was just delightfully eerie, and book 3 really carried that on. Especially since it took place in the cold and snow- of COURSE that made it even eerier. 

I would like to file a complaint, however, about the devastating lack of nullians in this book.

Now- the ending. The ending was perfect. It was hopeful, and bittersweet, and painful. It was just about everything I want in an ending. The last line gives me shivers and makes me want to go right back to the beginning and read the adventure all over again. (which I will definitely be doing at some point.) 

These books are amazing. They'll make you laugh, and cry, and cheer, and they'll draw you in and make you feel a part of the wonderful world they take place in. The characters will make you fall in love and never want to leave their side. If you love fantasy, unique storyworlds, and sibling stories, you ABSOLUTELY need to read this series. I mean, if you're reading this review chances are you've already at least started the series... but let this be your sign to obnoxiously shove it in everyone you know's face and tell them they need to read it right now. 

Also, at the end of this book you'll find the greatest author bio to ever exist. if you know you know.

And there it is- my rambly review of Third Winter's War and my final review for a Seventh Realms book. *sniffle* I'm seriously so sad to leave these stories and characters behind. But that's the mark of a great book- if it leaves an impact and makes you emotional to say goodbye to, it did its job. 

Hopefully I'll be able to actually POST here from now on. xD I just really got out of the habit of preparing a post every week, but I really want to get back to regular posting again- whether that be weekly or biweekly- so bear with me. And actually, there will only be a few more regular posts (if I manage to actually post XD) before... *drumroll please* NANOWRIMO UPDATES BEGIN!! Um... yeah. NANOWRIMO IS ALMOST HERE, YOU GUYS. It just seriously blows my mind how quickly this thing creeps up on us. The last couple of years I've found myself in June/Julyish (maybe even earlier) thinking about NaNo and how I can't wait to do it again... then I blink and OH LOOK IT'S HERE NOW. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but oh well. xD

Anyway, I hope you all are having a lovely week and an even lovelier autumn, and I'll see you next time! < 3

Have you read the Seventh Realm trilogy? Are you picky about finales, like me? And who's doing NaNoWriMo??