Wanderslust (excerpt 1)

I'm kind of ahead in NaNoWriMo for this, and almost done with the first chapter.  So, here's the excerpt:

  James pops up beside Benjamin, slinging an arm over Ben’s shoulder.  “You mean you don’t enjoy the time you spend with her?  How could you ever say such a thing?” he asks, mock horror lining his face for a second.  He bursts into laughter seconds later, forcing Ben to rock from side to side. 

     “What are you, drunk?”  Ben shakes his head at James and steps away, standing in the road for a moment.

     “Knowing him, he has some scotch somewhere in his coat,” I mutter, turning on my heels.  Ben appears at my side, the two of us abandoning James.  I try hard not to smile at the close proximity and instead focus on the carriages as they move forward, the Minister’s car gone.

     “You know, that’s not a very nice thing to say.”  James slings his arms around our necks, his head hanging between us.

     I stop walking and glare at him through a lock of auburn hair.  “Go hifreann leat!”

     He steps back, hand covering his mouth.  “Such words spout from such a proper young lady.”  He closes his eyes and shakes his head, dark blond hairs shaking into his eyes.  “Benjy, you really should be a hold on your lassie.”

The phrase is an Irish phrase in the Gaelic language (so says the website where I found the phrase).  (I kind of screwed up the formatting.  Need to fix that soon.)

So, how's your writing coming along?  Do you know any phrases in foreign languages?

Wanderlust!

The title of this steampunk (at least, I plan to be a steampunk) was inspired by my marching band's show, the Gypsy Life. The last song (out of three) is Wanderlust. I absolutely love our show this year, so I don't find it surprising that I've "adopted" the title.

Anyways, I have yet to post the pitches for Wanderlust, so I'll post them now.  Tomorrow, there will be a 300 word excerpt. Wanderlust excerpts will be on Wednesdays for this month.

When right and wrong collide, there’s a mess. 

She doesn’t like messes. 

The Minister ignores the poor. There is no such thing. 

The poor work and starve. They need food now. 

The Resistance is ready for change. But they don’t exist. 

~*~

Johanna grew up with the Minster’s daughter, America—her playmate for years. She learned how to act like a proper woman, yet hung out with more young men than women. And she grew up at her father’s side, following in his footsteps. 

1800s Ireland is a time where one can hear word about the Resistance on the street. Just the utterance of the word and hope springs within all people. Except for the Minister. This group appears to be after him, and he fears for his life. These horrible men won’t stop terrorizing the rich—the Minster’s most helpful people. Which means he needs body guards. 

For years, the Minister has looked for Johanna’s father as a guard and adviser. He’s heard of what Johanna can do, and he needs her help to keep his precious America alive. 

But everyone always has different incentives.

This is my NaNoWriMo project. I hope to reach 60000 words out of the expected/planned 80-90 thousand words. My first attempt at a steampunk.

Are you participating in NaNo? If you do write, but aren't participating in NaNo, how's the writing coming along? 

Starting tomorrow!

The last few days have been busy. And the next month will be busier.
Last Friday was a football game. (My school won, by the way. Off to playoffs.) And then Saturday, my school hosted a marching competition. Where I was sunburned, marched twice in heat that I'm not used to (we usually march during the evenings) and had only 6 hours of sleep. Then I got 12 hours of sleep Saturday night. And now I have a whole bunch of history homework plus some reading to do.

Anyways, I plan to start posting excerpts from the novels I plan to work on throughout November for NaNoWriMo. I hope to get the 1.7k for my NaNo, Wanderlust, every day. Which might be achievable when I only have one more Monday night rehearsal for band. And early outs. And two three day weekends (even though Saturdays are for band.)

I might aim for a schedule. I've got four different projects I'm working on, all of different genres. (With the help of Write or Die, of course.) I'll try to think of a good schedule today.

And, as for my reading, I'm halfway through Carrier of the Mark. Still have a lot more to read, and I hope to get a lot of reading done this month. I'm getting myself busy, which isn't very smart of me.

So, what are you reading or writing this month?
Oh, and Happy Halloween for those of you on the Western side of the world.

NaNoWriMo, here we come!

Thus begins the last few days of the month. Which is really not good for me.

Why, you ask? Well, let's see...
My novel, Deception, is in inkpop's Top 5. Which means I need to make sure it is as close to how I want perfect as I can make it. And I'm only on chapter seven of twenty-five plus chapters. Not good, being that I'm adding scenes and rewriting things.

It doesn't help that I have to play at a football game this Friday, and then my school's hosting a marching competition Saturday. So I have the rest of tonight, Thursday, some of Friday and Saturday, hopefully all of Sunday, and then Monday night (yay for no rehearsal for marching band!). Not a whole lot of time. So, I'm partially freaking out.

And then NaNoWriMo begins a week from today. I've already planned the first three chapters for my steampunk, Wanderlust, which is good. I should be able to survive the first day or two. Then I have to plan. A lot. That's between marching band, football games, and competitions. Next month is going to be chaotic.

So, anything big coming up for you? Are you going to participate in NaNoWriMo? If so, let me know a bit about your novel.

Have a good day/evening!
-Dylan