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.