In preperation for NaNo, I’ve been thinking about plots. I had a few picked out with two leading the group as great possiblities. Those two were:

• Sequeal to Grimm Aspects: Grimm Mistakes – All I’ve got for this idea was that I’d be introducing werewolves to the story line and the war between the factions insue. Main characters switch to Lucas and Auburn, with Lucas being the POV focus.
• Character inherits a house and it’s current tenent: a demon or a vampire. 

I have some reservations about starting the sequeal to Grimm Aspects when the first draft of that piece isn’t anywhere near finished. I feel that the elements of Grimm could change so drastically that starting Grimm Mistakes would be a bad idea.

The second possiblity wasn’t much, but it’s hit a strong chord within me. I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out what I could do to spice it up. Divorcee with kids, family issues, a whole nest of vampires; none of it seemed to fit. So the other night, I took a trip through the Adopt a Plot thread to see if anything I read would spark an idea, and it did.

Here is my idea for NaNoWriMo 2010: The Set of Skeleton Keys

After accepting the inheritance that her grandfather left her, Mary Brooks must pass a series of tests to prove that she is worthy of taking her grandfather’s place as the Grim Reaper’s assistant.

Mary is an antisocial young woman whose only real “friend” is her social butterfly older sister and her trickster mentor-ish grandfather, who has recently passed on. Her grandfather leaves her his shop, which Mary can’t recall ever having seen before with the instructions to “have fun.”
She then finds out that her grandfather was a sort of Grim Reaper’s assistant, and now that he’s dead, she has to pass a series of tests before she can take over his job of helping Lost Souls to move on. Her only assistance comes in the form of a few cryptic clues her grandfather left around the shop and one less than helpful demon who has managed the shop in the grandfather’s absence.

I’ve got my rough outline finished and currently, I’m working on completing character sheets for the main characters, Mary and Apollo (the demon- though, I’m not sure if that’s going to be his name or not). After these are completed, I’ll start work on a phase outline, reward system, and graphics for the NaNo site.

Here’s a quick definition from NaNoWriMo.org:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time.

Who: You! We can’t do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let’s write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

It’s July now and it’s time for me to get to planning! I will make the 50,000 word count this year. I WILL!! Well, I hope that I will. Last year was a success and a fail at the same time. I made it as far as ever have into NaNo, 16,000 words, but that was still 34,000 words short!

So here are my calculations for 2010:

November 2010 = 30 days =50,000 /4 weeks =12,500 words a week (6 days) = roughly 2,000 per day.

If I can break my story into the 4 Sequences (parts) of 12,500 words each, that will be my weekly goal, with me trying for a daily goal of 2,000 words.   …Yikes.

My first step to preparing for NaNo is to start thinking about what story ideas I have lurking around my brain that I’d be comfortable writing for a month. My second step is kick up writing on my current Work in Process, and start trying to hit 2,000 words a day.

Is any one else going to do NaNo this year? Let me know and we can start planning together!

• A and J, thanks for always listening to me gripe about the crap that goes on in my life.
• S and E, you girls give me strength when I have none and inspire me to work towards my biggest dream.
• Josh, thanks for putting up with me being so fickle and for those long nights you let me write in peace.

A change is coming in my life.  I’m switching jobs and I suddenly feel so much lighter, happier than I’ve been in a while. I’m excited too because my new job is closer to home and means that I won’t have to spend so much time driving to and from work!

I also got comments back on the rewrite of the first couple of chapters of Grim, and well, S and E said it’s ‘45.2 million times better’! There are things that needs to be tweaked, like with all first drafts, but now I know I  can move on! I can’t wait to sit down and write, and I’m plan to spend most of the weekend doing just that!

I’ve been following him on Twitter for a while now, and after checking out the site, I can see that there’s quite a bit to him. Writer, Producer, and a NINJA! That’s just awesome right there!

Best known for his Lawson Vampire series (the 5th book is due in 2011 from St. Martin’s Press) and his work on eleven novels in the bestselling Rogue Angel series from Harlequin/Gold Eagle, Jon writes an incredibly varied array of exciting stories…

Be sure to check out his site today for the launch! He’s got a bunch of goodies to give away today!!

http://jonfmerz.net/

I think I may need to set this aside for a while, and come back to it later with a fresh perspective.

oh, btw, this is post 500. Crazy, uh?

Things have been busy, busy, busy!! Last night was the first Friday of the month and that’s a big day in the artist’s community here in Raleigh. The galleries downtown open their doors in the afternoon and stay open late in to the night. Sometimes there’s food and wine, but mostly it’s a great night to network with other artists in the community or buy some art.

Last night, I went down to the opening day of a show at the LoDi Project Gallery.  They put out a call to the artists in the community and across the world to unite to support those in need in Haiti. The LoDi Project received over a 1000 pieces of artwork from around the globe! Each piece will be sold for $25 dollars with all the proceeds going to support those in Haiti. I submitted three pieces of my own artwork and was very happy to hear that one of them (iHeartbronze) sold before I could even get down to the gallery last night! I haven’t heard about the other two , but I hope that when they are bought, I might hear from the new owners. :)

iHeartbronze by =Sachula on deviantART

I’m a little stumped with Grim Aspects at the moment. I have written about 350 words of a brand new beginning, but I’m not sure if it’s the direction I want to go with Gabrielle’s voice. Here’s a snip-it, the very beginning of the first chapter. Feel free to tell me what you think.

The smell of burning wood tickled my nose. I opened my eyes to see a small fire burning only a few feet from me. The heat from it felt wonderful.

I sat up and rubbed my face. The dull ache behind my eyes was still there. That’s what I get for letting my emotions get the best me. Seriously, when was the last time I’d cried like that? I sighed and looked over at the fire.

Only one person I knew would go through the lengths to build a fire instead of trying to wake me. He was my saving grace, the only person I confided in and yet, when I think about it, I didn’t really know much about him other than his name.

Adrian.

“Do you have a death wish?” a voice said behind me.

I grabbed at my chest to keep my heart from jumping through it and spun around to face him. Adrian was stepping over the remains of the broken wall. He stopped, posed with one foot on a sunken stone and just like that, I was just caught in his presence.

It happened every time we met and every time, I couldn’t be less prepared for it. The way the moon light behind him caught the honey color strands of his hair and made them glow. The lines of his face that he had so carefully composed to give off that air of indifference. Every movement, the slightest gesture to the merest of nods, thought out intensely in the depths of his hazel eyes.

I shook myself from the weight of his gaze and found that, yes, I still had a working jaw bone.

“I have a death wish?! I think you’re the one with the death wish. Sneaking up on a highschooler in the woods at night. Jeez…” I turned my back on him and immediately regretted it, remembering all too late that even the thought of him standing behind me sent quivers down my spine.

For a while after we’d first met, it was a healthy fear of a stranger in the night, but as we met more over the years, my mind began to wonder just what Adrian would do if he were to stand against my back? Those thoughts brought an entirely different type of shiver to my body.

I need to keep working on it and I’m very, very glad that I have my cell phone. I’m away from my computer more often that not these days, and it seems that the notes app on my phone is getting a very healthy work out. I’m also still working on my Three Act Structure. I’m not thrilled with it yet, if I ever finish it – it will be a Christmas miracle. XD

This week I watched the anime Peacemaker Kurogane. I remember watching most of this a few years ago, but I couldn’t remember if I ever got to watch the ending. So, I looked it up on CrunchyRoll (my new friend, btw) and was very happy that I did finally get to finish it this time around. I enjoyed the historical aspect and it reminded me a a series of books that were set around the same time period. I’m going to have to go look those up and add them to my To Read List again.

Here’s today’s amv : Dive Right In // anime: Peacemaker Kurogane // music: Dive Right In – Story of the Year

its snowing again…

I spent my chilly weekend indoors mostly, watching TV with Josh and anime on my computer. I caught up on Tegami Batchi which I’m really liking, and I started and finished Nabari no Ou. I was bawling at the end of it. THAT is how awesome it was. I completely fell in love with Yoite’s character and Miharu’s evil side. If you’re into anime I would highly recommend watching Nabari.

The AMV I’m posting today is a Nabari no Ou AMV, because I’m still craving more of it. >.>

[AMV] Nabari no Ou – Meant to Live by AlaenaNight

Anyway, on to Grim Aspects update. I’ve figured out Gabrielle and Adrian’s characters for the most part. I’m currently working on Nathan’s (antagonist) and I’m also trying to work out my Three Act Structure – which is not going so well…hopefully I will get it figured out soon.

Anyway, I’m now currently in the process of re-writing the beginning of Grim Aspects. I’m really liking the new image of Adrian that I have in my mind.  When I first pictured him, he acted more like his age.  But when I thought about that last night, I realize that it really didn’t fit with how he looked like a twenty something kid. That’s when the sudden cord of inspiration struck me and Adrian’s new personality was born. It’s going to take a little effort not copy Ikuto’s character from Shugo Chara to refine it, but it’ll work.

This AMV totally sums up how I feel about life some times, not to mention it’s the perfect anime/song combination ever! Well, maybe not ever but close enough.

In other news…well, there isn’t much really. This week has just been another cycle of work, house work, and anime. I’m currently watching Shugo Chara! which is just complete crack.  And I’m slowly compiling a list of anime that I want to see/need to finish.  Here it is in the order I’m goin gto attempt to watch it in:

• Shugo Chara! – Currently watching
• Nabari no O
• Darker than Black: Ryusei no Gemini
• NANA – seen some, would like to finish
• Skip Beat!
• Spice and Wolf
• Pandora Hearts
• Zero no Tsukaima – I’ve seen the first and part of the second series; would like to rewatch and finish.

Progress with my novel is going slowly. >.> I’ve been too caught up in anime but, I don’t think this is too much of a bad thing.  I do this shuffle between different activities, (writing, art, craft, anime, manga), I work on one, move on to the next, and by the time I get round to, let’s  say writing, again my mind is fresh with ideas for the story and characters.  So, I don’t see it as a waste of time but, I did wish I could complete this little cycle faster.  Gabrielle’s character sheet is almost done. There’s just a few more questions that need to be answered.  Then, I think I may do one for Adrian.

Anyway, on to the AMV. I know that’s what you really want. I’ve chosen Empty Motion by Nikolakis because of it’s upbeat nature…really need to kick up the enthusiasm today. This AMV has a total of 75 different anime and is to the song Love gun by Aya Hirano ???. It’s very well made, so enjoy!

• Voice – I need to find a consistent voice for Gabrielle’s character.
  • To accomplish this, I’m going to fill out about a number of different character sheets that I’ve found. I think this will help me find and ask Gabrielle the different questions that will establish her voice.
  • I want her voice to be naive, and very youthful, and maybe a little spiteful to her overbearing mother.
  • I’m also thinking about creating a number of journal entries that show Gabrielle’s dissatisfaction with her mother, and records the events up to her running away.
• Emotion – I need to add more emotion to the characters.
  • Gabrielle- I think this will be accomplished mostly when I find her voice.
  • Gabrielle/Adrian – More sexual tension between them
  • Adrian – Show more of his Emotions in general.  Show his attraction to Gabrielle sooner.
• Miruna’s Character – She needs to stand out a little more.
  • The girls in my group had some great suggestions that I’m totally going to use:
    • She’s going to be more stoic
    • She’s going to be a smoker – I already know a great way to add this to the restaurant scene
    • She’s going to think regular humans are expendable; easy to manipulate to get what she wants.
    • She’ll be loyal to Adrian’s family only.
• Clues- I know what I mean!
• The NEW Beginning – I’m going to move the beginning to further along in the story, to where some of my group suggested it should start. I like the idea of it beginning there and mystery it brings to the story of  “well, why the hell is she out there in the first place?” Don’t worry, I’ll save all that pretty imagery to reuse later in the work…well, at least I’ll try to fit it in. :)
• Choppy/Crappy Descriptions – will need to be fixed and re-worded.
  • I plan to work on what’s left of these after I complete the above. I think that most of these will be corrected as I go.

I may add to this list as I work on it, but so far this is what I want to start with.