This is the ninety-sixth installment of West Wind, your weekly drop of thoughts, ideas, and info for this Season.
Alright! It is nearly the end of October, and you know what happens after October, right? November! In addition to being the month that begins with All Saints Day and ends with Thanksgiving, it is also traditionally the month that people write novels. Or at least, it has been for the last 26 years…
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) was started that long ago to help motivate people to write as a community during a normally slow month for outdoor activities (also probably because of the alliteration with novel and November). I’d known about it for a while, but never really found the motivation or reason to accept the challenge. Even after I started writing and publishing regularly, it just wasn’t something I made the time for. Then at the beginning of this year, and somewhat suddenly, the organization that managed and promoted NaNoWriMo disbanded.
And, since I am perpetually behind the latest trends, this is the year that I actually have time to complete the challenge! I decided to take a long-overdue sabbatical and enjoy the entire month of November off of work, so I’ll definitely be able to write 50,000 words, and likely even more. But what about that sense of communal progress and solidarity that comes with working with others? Fortunately, the other communities and groups I belong to have that covered.
Inkwells & Anvils is busy promoting their newest anthology, but will kick off an event next month that is pretty much the same as NaNoWriMo. I’m looking forward to participating with those crazy funsters.
World Anvil, which is the site that lets me keep all those rascally Florabeasts nice and organized for your reading pleasure, is also putting on a November writing challenge. I’ll get a shiny badge for my profile, because badges are always valuable!
And to round out the fun for the month, I’ll also be participating in a third novel writing challenge, which actually isn’t any more difficult than two, since I’ll be doing the same amount of work and benefiting multiple times.
ProWritingAid is a tool I’ve used in the past, and intend to use again, and they’re partnering with Scrivener, which is also a tool I’ve used in the past and intend to use again this month. Isn’t it funny how that works out? They’re also hosting some webinars with other authors that I’ll actually be able to attend for once. What fun.
So, with all of that out of the way, what is this going to mean for you, my dear readers? The opportunity for something new and exciting, that’s what!
The (writing) project I’ll be focusing on this next month is Counterbalance, the next tale in the Euphony of Seasons series. It’s a different kind of story than Paper & Feathers, with more action and intrigue, and less awkward politeness and self-reflection. It’s set in the same world as P&F, and I’ve been waiting to write and share it for a long time.
And, rather than waiting even longer to let you read it, I’m going to try a little experiment. All throughout the month of November I will be posting a serial version of Counterbalance for early readers to enjoy. It will be released as I write it, so you’ll get to enjoy the fresh-pressed goodness way ahead of vintage time. I’ve seen several authors do this with degrees of success, so it’s time to conduct that experiment for myself.
How do I get in on this, you might ask? How can I be one of the first to read a garden fantasy chase thriller about a jaded Hunter turned minstrel who gets tangled up with an inexperienced though idealistic runaway, evading pursuit from bounty hunters through the towering city of Als Solare and beyond? You can put in for your share of the harvest.
I know I haven’t done much to promote my subscription service lately, so we’re gonna start watering that plant right away. The entire focus of my brand and writing journey has been to make my stories as widely available as possible, to the point of offering each and every one for free online. And while the costs for maintaining the story garden are minimal, they are non-zero. So, I’ve been offering DRM-free downloads of all of my works, both in text and audio format, to those who believe in the message of family-friendly, faith-focused stories for all to enjoy.
One of the benefits listed on the subscription page is “early drafts of upcoming stories,” a benefit which has gone unrealized, until now. Counterbalance will be published through the CSL site, and you can read them in your email or at the membership portal. The other half of the sentence promises “the chance to shape the world through polls and feedback.” This will be a part of the project too, I’m really interested to get reader’s feedback as the story unfolds.
That’s plenty for today! Check out the membership site if you’re excited about the promise of reading a serial as I write it, and stay tuned for more updates, for there will be many. Until then, enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!