NaNoWriMo Update, and Other Stuff

Hi folks! Remember when I said that if I would do the NaNoWriMo thing, I would do it out in the open? Yeah. It turns out doing that would have heaped just a slice more stuff upon an already ridiculous work load. In fact, clearly even writing regular page updates has eluded me. However, there are a few things worth mentioning and I might as well let you in on what’s turned me into a hermit with a keyboard.

The NaNoWriMo book–much to the chagrin of Book of Deacon or Sci-Fi fans, I’m sure–is a goofy little satire about Superheroes with really dumb powers. It grew out of a game my friends and I would play. First it was just “what are the most useless abilities you can think of?”. We came up with some good ones. (Well, we came up with some bad ones, but you get the idea.) The ability to make bees fly upside down and the ability to turn your liver blue are two that leap to mind. Then, many years later, we sort of resurrected the game and added the component of coming up with what that superheroes name would be and what their secret identity would be. So then “Person With The Power To Be Attacked By Bees On Command” became “Beatrix ‘Honey’ Combes, AKA Pollinatrix”. As things inevitably do, it stewed around in my head and scenes started to come together, and eventually it struck me that with an idea this goofy, I’d feel okay sort of squandering it on a speed-written novel. I’ve now got over 36,000 words written, which is a shade ahead of par, but whether or not I end up with a full story at the end of November remains to be seen.

Like the Sci-Fi books, the Super Hero book takes a stab at humor, and uses language a couple of notches harsher than I would use in general conversation, but so far I don’t think there is anything you can’t say on TV. That said, there are one or two powers not described in detail that might curdle your brain if you try to figure out how they work or what exactly they are. Also worth noting is that this book, which exists only as an unfinished word document, already has fan art. An avid fan artist responsible for plenty of stuff on my (badly need of update) fan art area informed me she was bored and wanted to know if I had any requests. I said I was working on this book, and offered to send her a description of one of the only characters who appears in costume. She jumped at the chance, and so she was introduced to Nonsensica. Here’s the result.

Nonsensica, with the power to say two successive words so random they cause people to physically twitch!

Pretty nice job! In case you didn’t recognize the style, that’s by none other than ArieieTheWatcher. And just so you don’t feel left out, here’s the chapter I shared with her to form a basis for her drawing.

Finally, I’ve closed a deal with a narrator named Fiona Dwyer to narrate the audio book for Jade. It’ll be a few months before I’ve got any serious news about that, but I just wanted to let you know, because it’s got me excited.

Thanks for reading!