"Together or not at all."

 It should be a known fact by now I'm not a detective. I like to study people, especially when things are boring at work, but detective? No, not really. I've never even solved a mystery. But this shouldn't be a problem, right? If a mystery ever shows up I might have enough of the right skills to solve it, but until then I'm an author so at least I have a profession.
 I'm starting to think it might be a huge problem, though. I watch a lot of detective shows and I've learned at least one thing from them. If you're not the detective, or at least the funny side kick, that means you have a good chance of being the random citizen who dies five minutes into the show.
 I've been practicing, you know, just in case. I never go into car garages alone. I never blackmail anyone. I avoid dark alleys. I don't give scissors to girls who come into work asking for them. Hopefully, with these staying alive skills I've acquired I will live past the first five minutes.

 Now, on a less random note.



  With NaNo only two weeks away, or three depending on how you look at it, I'm going to start a series of posts about this years NaNo book. Mostly because, if all goes well, I will be publishing this one soon. I've written it and re-written it ten or more times, if that doesn't qualify it for near publication I don't know what does.

 I'm a little nervous to begin this book. Not only because I've tried to get it completed ten times already, but because it is going to be romantic. (The girls who first read it insisted it had a romantic side to it and asked me to write at least one version that way. When I complied they fell in love with that version and when I went to write the final draft asked if I would keep the romance in, which I was ready to ditch. I told them I would - I sometimes have trouble turning down direct requests - and while I don't think they're interested in the story anymore I would feel bad chickening out when I told them I would write the romance in.)

 I like to write friendship stories more than romance ones. Apparently all of my beta readers found hints of romance in Abolished, but that was all sneaked in by my characters and I had little, if anything, to do with it. Also, the book itself isn't romantic. Its an adventure and filled with battles and lots of running and swords. The romance is in the background. (When I realized what was going on with it I told my characters we had to keep it almost hidden. Then if readers wanted it to be there they could find it and if other readers - like me - didn't want it there they could ignore it. If that makes any sense.)

 That said, my NaNo book will have a more prominent romance. It will not be hidden - but it won't be mushy. I still close my eyes when people kiss in movies, I think writing a mushy romance is beyond me. 
 And it will still have the friendship quality I like. 

 All of that said, the trouble I'm having with it is that I don't think I know enough about romances to write one, and to balance it. Writing romances are tricky because if you go too far into it the book becomes predictable and the characters borderline annoying. All they care about and talk about and think about is the person they love until that is all the book is about. And this book cannot do that because it is about the plot I've spent more than six years developing. 
 If you go too far in the other direction, however, and leave out almost all of the romantic elements, then the book is obviously not romance.

 Also, while all of that is going on, I will have a complex plot to untwist and character issues to work out. So, it really isn't the best choice for NaNo because of all the detailed work that needs to go into it. But, the thought of actually having it DONE, one completed draft I can keep and not have to re-write is too tempted to turn down. I'm hoping to just jump into it and write and see where I am at the end of the month.

 I've been preparing myself as much as possible. I have pages filled with plot outlines, and even some snippets 8-D I made early snippets! I was so happy with myself I gave myself a cookie. I now just have to talk to the characters and convince them it is in their best interest to behave during November. (I'm silently laughing my head off because I know that will never happen.)

 Is anyone else slightly nervous about their project this year or are you ready and can't wait to get started?

 I'm leaving you with a depressing Amy and Rory quote, because it is romantic, but in the tragic sense...

 Allons-y!