She Be Done!

Well, technically, she be done in the sense that I have achieved my 50k goal by the end of November and thus won Nanorimo this year. That means in around 21 days I wrote a crap-ton of words and came up with a novel I love and characters I enjoy getting to know.

Here's the proof!

Ah, sweet victory, you sure are beautiful. There is nothing quite like validating your final word count and having the screen switch to the 'Congratulations, you won!' page. I know I say this every year but I am never competing again!

Until next year of course :)

Here's a quick snippet of the novel-in-progress.

Ingrained Memory

Ever have those songs that you listen to once while doing something and then from that moment on that song reminds you precisely of that moment?

Well, this song ALWAYS reminds me of driving to the library I worked at in high school while drinking Snapple kiwi-strawberry drinks. Every.Single.Time. I can't hear it without thinking of Snapple.

My Overwhelming Religion

Ever have those moments where there are so many thoughts racing through your head that you practically want to scream them out at the top of your lungs?

This, readers, is one of those days.

I went to see Life of Pi last night. I read this book many years ago in high school and it stayed with me for many years. It was the basis of my own religious beliefs. After revisiting its ideals once again, I can't help but sit here and wonder to myself how anyone can believe just one religion.

Why is it that we must be confined to one set of beliefs? Why is it that if we want to be 'true believers' we only follow one religion and ignore the others? Why are we called cheats and flip-floppers when we try to look at other religions and bring their beliefs into our lives?

But I'm not here to just sit around and complain! The truth behind those questions lies in something that is so magically beautiful that it fills my heart. I choose to not just believe in one religion because there are so many wonderful things about all the religions.

How can someone not love the way that in Buddhism (sometimes considered to not be a religion due to no god) the true goal of life is to look inward and see the root of all problems, both within and outside the person? Only by recognizing our weakness can we reach beyond and leave behind our foolish tendencies and become something pure and simple.

In Hinduism, your goal is to reach enlightenment and this can only be achieved through the four main paths. You are not alone in Hinduism. You are part of a great, all-encompassing cycle that repeats until you achieve transcendence. One aspect of this is the belief in noninjury and that is what I bring from Hinduism. I will not kill. I cannot take a life because all life is sacred.

When you bring all these religions together, when you practice their beliefs and expose your mind and body to their customs and teachings, you become something more than just a simple believer. You become something so much more.

That's why I cannot bring myself to believe just one religion. Each religion has its own aspects that are beautiful and respected. By bringing these pieces together, you educate yourself in the ways of the world and the customs of millions of other humans and, in turn, you become xposed to so much more than just what one culture calls acceptable. You rise above judgement and prejudice.

In the end, when I pray I have the comfort that I am praying to the same God that millions of people all around the world in corners of countries I've never seen are praying to, even if that God goes by different names.

Torn

"It's ridiculous really how things end up. For twenty-five years she's been there for me. For eighteen years she helped me stay on time, do my homework, taught me what was right and wrong, and gave me everything she had. She helped me move into college. Went I went overseas, she prayed for me and my squad everyday. When I came home she was right there at the hospital to take care of me. Now here I am. She doesn't even realize I'm here. She doesn't even know she has a son anymore. I reckon keeping her like this is the least I can do to give her as much time as possible."

Writing Update

With it being the day before the holiday and chores begging to be done and responsibilities calling, I'm a tad short on time. So here's a quick update on the novel-in-progress.

A week and a half-ish after starting, I have a tad over 23k words written. It's November 21 and that leaves 27k to be written before the end of the month. We'll see if that happens! Even if I don't win Nano, I still love the book. It's so different to be writing this genre. The plot unwraps in such a strange way that it's still a little bewildering. The only solution I can think of? Just roll with it! Besides, this is my first realistic fiction so mistakes are allowed.

Here's a tidbit from the story. This features Matt, the secondary character and friend to MC Ethan. Matt suffers from PTSD after serving in Afghanistan and having his motorcade ambushed. He's also a little intense. I would say he's most similar to Jace from the Bell Tower series but he is by far the first character of his kind I've written.

            When Matt saw nothing of interest in the fridge, he closed it and spun around as he picked up the scent of coffee. “That’s what I need.”

            One second he was by the fridge and the next he was grabbing a mug from above the coffeemaker and pouring a cup. It only then dawned on Ethan that Matt was probably a little too slim for his height and build. There should have been a few extra pounds on him. But he had no time to worry about food while he grabbed the sugar from the pantry and shoveled three scoops in his coffee.

            Ethan stared at him. “Really? Three scoops of sugar?”

            Matt grinned “I need to wake up.”

Sheriff Mayberry

           The officer parked in front of the office before getting out of his squad car. He waved out at them and headed up to the front door. After living the last seventeen years in the city, this man was the strangest lawman he’d ever seen. His brown uniform was pressed and neatly arranged on his imposing frame. The sheriff’s star hung over his right breast pocket while above it was his name tag of R. Mayberry. Somehow the name fit the owner. His skin was leathery from years in the sun, his hair a dash of salt and pepper over strawberry blonde, and a handlebar mustache so bushy across his upper lip that it looked like the thistles of a wicker broom.

            He nodded his head at him, touching his finger to the faded cowboy hat on his head before he mumbled, “You must be Mr. Williams.”

I Want You to Make Me Feel Again

That's the phrase that keeps ringing in my head for this book. It's an old writing mantra writers use to remind themselves to make a book so moving, so inspirational and tragic and stunningly beautiful, that a reader can't help but be affected.

A Scene Like This Moves Viewers

Writing a realistic fiction is so different from fantasy. In fantasy book, your enemy is clear, especially in my novels. You know that the guy that's committing war crimes and tearing through the nation is your enemy. You know there's something that has to be done to stop him. There's a slow and steady plot as the enemy's plan is revealed and your characters must fight to prevent it from succeeding.

That is so not true with realistic fiction. Your enemy isn't ripping through the nation. He isn't plotting and planning your downfall - at least not proactively. In this story, you have a person with a damaged background suffering PTSD and struggling to survive while he fights to keep a dog shelter from going under. But there's no black and white in this novel. There's no true and clear antagonist or even protagonist. The characters are a host of flawed people with positives and substantial negatives.

The only way I'm charging through this is by reminding myself that I have to make the reader care for each of these characters in a way that will move them when the ending comes. I have to make the reader love them when they do something wise, hate them when they turn their backs on good, and sympathize with them when they stumble.

The healing a character has to go through in a realistic fiction novel is incredibly different from anything I've worked on before. But I'm learning the tricks. Ethan, my MC, must have flaws that keep him from succeeding. The enemy in this novel is not clearly an outside force. It's an inside force that the character must defeat.

At one point in the novel, Ethan speaks of his childhood and has this to say; "When I think about it, I shouldn't be so upset. It's not like getting hit as a kid destroys the world. I need to move on. But when I think about it, for that kid that I used to be, the day I was first hit was the day my world was destroyed."

That is the point of the 'feel' mantra. The writer must make the reader feel as if the story they are reading is the entire world. They have to pray for their heroes. They have to bite their nails and sit on the edge of the seat when they are caught in troublesome places. They have to quietly weep when they are hurt and betrayed. Because when that book ends that world has come to an end and the reader must feel wholly devoted and confident in the ending provided.

Next Writing Project

I decided to try my hand at realistic fiction. This is the first time I've written for this genre. All my past books have been fantasy/adventure so you can imagine how intimidating it is to write something that has to be so grounded and realistic. Here's a brief rundown of the story.

What is the title of the story?
Lazarus Story

What is the synopsis of the story?
Ethan receives a call saying his estranged father has passed away, leaving him with his troubled animal shelter and the staff that runs it. While settling in to his position as shelter manager Ethan is entrusted with a dozen dogs rescued from a dog-fighting ring. He is faced with the task of rehabilitating the dogs before animal advocates claim them, keeping the shelter from drowning, earning the trust of his newly inherited staff, and caring for himself as he fights the demons from his parents' divorce and the troublesome past he spent in the foster system.

Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
It actually came from the life I've led while living on a farm for the last year. I've watched as some animals thrive, others withdraw, and the rest learn to live with the humans they are placed with. I wanted to write a story about how animals and people are both so similar in that they can scar so easily but take so much work to recover. I wanted to use pitbulls as a major plot because they have a terribly mistaken history.

What pushed you to write this story?
I had the idea floating around for a while but shelved it. In the last few weeks, it's really spoken to me and I thought now would be the best time to just go ahead and write it.

Why should people read this book as compared to others?
This book is so realistic that it could just about happen to anyone. Ethan's work with the shelter isn't unrealistic like most animal books. There are successes and failures but it's through these events that humans and animals both develop. If someone likes animals then they will like this book!

Writer's Thoughts: Big Reveals

You know what moment I love most in books? The big reveal. It's that pivotal scene where things come together for the characters and, for the tiniest fraction of time, the world makes sense.

 Book 1's Reveal at the Crisis

Some reveals are typical. They take place at the end of the novel where the character is transformed by all the events leading to this moment. Book 1's reveal was like this. It happened soon after the crisis.

  Book 2's Reveal Near the Middle

Other reveals take place toward the beginning. These ones tend to be smaller and not as monumental and game-changing as the final reveal. This scene from Book 2 has Meika, a desert native, discussing the desert people's view of God as she tries to convince Roan there is a God out there.

 Book 2's Final Big Reveal

This reveal reiterated the first one as Roan comes to terms with the fact that there truly is a god. This is the crisis of the story and still one of my all time favorites. It might even take the cake for being my favorite scene in all my works thus far.

 Book 3's Reveal Near the End of the Middle

This reveal was not the main one for Book 3 but it was important nonetheless as it serves as the main plot to this book. Roan comes across this reveal before the crisis hits. It's different from the others because this reveal was the epiphany of tension in the novel. It all came to this moment where Roan thought he had everything figured out. Unfortunately, after this rather positive reveal he was dealt a terrible blow and his spirit broken. Most reveals tend to set up characters for success. This one not so much.

Book 4's Big Reveal Had Help From Jace

After basically taking a hiatus from the series for a couple books, Jace came back in this final big reveal as he attempted to help Roan describe what he learned as the plot progressed in Book 4. Roan's reveal here was extremely impressive, perhaps the greatest since Book 2. I really enjoyed writing this one.

There are a number of reveals in a novel but only one big reveal. Timing that moment to perfectly coincide with the crisis, climax, and the transformation is a struggle but definitely an art. It's one of my favorite things to write, probably thanks to its difficulty!

Years Later

It's been exactly two years since I wrote this post. You'd think I would have things figured out by now but I'm human and that means I am flawed.

Basically, these days I'm still struggling with faith. I was called to this post today and after reading it I am once again reminded of why I do not see immediate results in life. I'm being called to patience and I have to make an effort to do as I am called to.