Thursday, May 1, 2014

Magicland Deadline


New Goal: Complete my latest novel, Magicland, by August 28, 2014.

That's only four months from now. 120 days. But I'm already on Chapter 5, and I wrote the entirety of The Witch's Key in three months, so I think I've got this.

Once Magicland is finished, I will begin editing The Witch's Key (yes, I am aware that I've been editing this novel since May 2013, but this time I mean it.) I'm giving myself a good long break from the project, trying my best to not think about it at all (which is surprisingly difficult.) Focusing on Magicland has been the best distraction that I've found (and I still get distracted by my Pinewood cast from time to time. Who knew Phyllida could be so pushy? No, she's not helping me thresh out the details of her novel -- she just wants me to write cutesy stuff that happens with her and Thanasius after the book is over. Which, by the way, is not that interesting.)

See? I'm still thinking about Pinewood! Let's move on to Magicland.

First, what is this story? My elevator pitch (which, of course, is bound to change after I finish the book and learn what it's really about) is this:

An enforcer for a loan shark in Depression-era New York City gets dragged back to Fairyland to fight in a war he thought he'd already lost. 

I'm really stoked about it. The story begins with Jak Day and his sister Maurelle living, as stated, in 1930s New York (I have it pegged at 1933.) Then Jak gets captured by gnomes -- wait, stop there. This is probably what you think when I say gnomes:


And the image of a lawn of those coming after my hero is just silly. Kind of beautiful, actually. But so, so wrong. This is more what I have in mind: 


Not so silly now, is it? 

Anyway, where was I? 

Right. Jak gets kidnapped by buff, scary gnomes and dragged off to Fairyland (actually, he goes willingly so they won't kill his sister.) But, of course, Maurelle doesn't want to be protected, she wants to save her brother. So she, her elf-friend Niron, and Jak's crazy witch (literally) ex-girlfriend all go running off on an ill-planned quest to save him. 

In the five years that Jak and Maurelle have been gone, Fairyland has changed a lot. Now, instead of a land of music and freedom, it has become a police state. Or something... I'm not 100% on the political structure at the moment. I know it's totalitarian and that most of The Council is corrupt and evil. I'm sure the rest will figure itself out... probably. The joys of being a Discovery Writer, right?

So, that's the basics of the story. Like I say, I'm almost done with Chapter 5. That's 24 pages, a little over 7,000 words. Wow... putting it in those numbers makes it seem much smaller. It's cool, I've only got about 81,000 more words to write. In four months. Psh, that's nothing. If I can write 50,000 words in one month (which, actually, I've only done once) I'm sure I can do 80,000 in four. Cake. Mmm, cake. Now I want cake. No, wait, focus. 

I haven't been getting a lot of writing done recently ... mostly because I've been distracted filling out character sheets on Charahub. I did discover a few things. Suzerra (the witch) was raised by goblins, and Hereward, who is the human member of The Council, has three sons. Charahub is a lot of fun, and has gotten me thinking and excited about this story again. You should definitely check out the link and see all of my beautiful charries. I cast Lauren Cohan as the villain of my novel -- I only know who she is because she plays Vivian Volkoff on Chuck, but she's so perfect for Donella! Who says watching television isn't productive? 

But character-building is only so productive, and then I've really just got to get the thing written. I suppose I should work on that. 

Oh! But in the spirit of procrastination, here is my beautiful Fairyland Pinterest board. And my 1930s Pinterest board, for good measure. And why not throw in Fairies and Gnomes, too, while I'm at it? 

Omigosh, speaking of gnomes, I am in love with this creepy gnome child! 


I don't know who she is, but she is going to be a character. She's just so obviously evil and creepy and I love her! 

Can you tell I'm procrastinating because I don't want to work on my novel? *sigh* I guess I really should go put these words someplace more useful. I've got a (self-imposed) deadline to meet. 

Live long and prosper, my lovelies. 

♥/Kat!e

2 comments:

Ginny-Gin-Gin said...

Sounds like good times! If you need any test readers, you know where to find me!

The Hot Girl in the Comic Shop said...

I may well take you up on that. You're such a great test-reader! Now I've just got to finish this first draft....