How to Make Friends and Keep Enemies

This is how I draw*. Benny is on the left, Caroline on the right.
In case you couldn't tell.

So I mentioned liking the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) in my last post, but didn't really connect it to anything. The point of that was that I kind of see my three main characters -- Caroline, Zeke and Stephen -- forming this sort of bond. What intrigues me about my tio is that Caroline fulfills Hermione's role, not Harry's, but she is definitely the hero of this story (Stephen would be Harry, Zeke, Ron).

When I say Caroline is Hermione, I mean, more along the lines of their initial dynamic -- Harry and Ron are off being best friends, while Hermione is lonely because she's a know-it-all. Zeke and Stephen hit it off really well, because Zeke is very likable, and Stephen is incredibly noble (and stupid about it sometimes). Zeke and Caroline really don't like one another, but share the bond of a common home (not a Hermione/Ron thing, just mentioning it).

So now, I am trying to find a way for them to all become friends. In Harry Potter, they fight a troll and win, Hermione takes the fall for them, and they find out she's not all that bad. I don't know how to do this with Caroline, Stephen and Zeke. Stephen has seen a softer side to Caroline just now, and he was upset when she nearly died, but Zeke and Caroline are a different matter. I'm worried that their years of fighting with one another and hating one another for no real reason, can't be overcome by just Stephen letting her join in the games.

I know I was all excited last post about not knowing what's going to happen, but here I am, worried because I don't know how this will work, and I really want them to be friends. Indeed some of the plot, I sense, will need them to be friends. The real reason they aren't friends now is that Caroline is jealous of Zeke.

Anyways, so I'm writing that.

I'm also finding it amusing that Benny, a character from a seperate novel, is making fun of Caroline and Caroline back at Benny as I write. They have amusing interactions. I wish there was a way to combine their stories, but not really. AH WELL. We solider on.

*This is not how I draw. But its how I draw when I'm feeling lazy/am at work and realize I have no image to go with the post. ;)

Playing with Point of View -- CampNaNoWriMo Day 22 (ish)

I have now started three NaNo's for this month. One was about the characters I posted about below. I am still very much in love with that story, but I think it needs some work in terms of getting it to be... a story. Currently I have a beginning, a vague idea of a middle, and an end. I just need to work on it a little bit because it was reading flat to me.

The next one, was of course, The Book of Gates, my twelve part series following Alane and various other characters. It is, in a word, epic. I have been trying to write it for years. Unfortunately, I seem to be a bit daunted by the idea of twelve books to write in a series. I have decided, for my own sake, that if I were to ever try and publish tBoG (hee, t-bog), I would have to write all 12 books before sending out the first one. Mostly because they are complex in terms of their scope, and some things have not yet been planned, and there are arcs, and mini-arcs and over arching arcs, and I want to make sure they all fit together, and come to a satisfying conclusion, so as to avoid the third book slump that seems to happen with quite a few trilogies, and several series (not that it occurs in the third book, its just it happens in trilogies a lot, so I call it that). Anyways. Its a labor of love, and I think I may have to snowflake it, just to try and get a grasp on what I'm writing towards in the first book.

So then I threw my hands up and went and watched Treasure Planet, which, dudes, seriously underrated film. It came out in an over saturated market, and was marketed towards the wrong crowd, which is why people think its not as great as it is, but having watched it nine years later, I've got to say it was impressive. Anyways, so I watched it with the intent of coming up with a novel idea from it. And I did.

I'm not ripping off Treasure Planet, but the initial spark was -- treasure seekers. In the movie, the characters are motivated by the idea of gold, but this is me, so treasure automatically means knowledge to me. Anyways, I was thinking about motivations, and the need for money, and how Harry Potter works, with a trio and the power of friendship (which is to say, OT3?), and I came up with this orphan character who was left at a Space Port and is therefore always looking for money.

And when I started writing it, you know the strangest thing happened. 1. Caroline, my main character, decided to be written in present tense. 2. She decided that she was telling the story, and so it had to be first person.

Most people say first person is an easy tense to write in. I could not agree any less. I hate writing in first person. Mostly because I end up starting a lot of sentences with "I did this" and I find it incredibly difficult to vary my sentence structures in first person. Third feels more natural to me -- I have written in third person limited for most of my novels.

But I was thinking about this, and how my last novel was third-limited to one person -- another first for me, usually I jump around in about five people's heads (oh yes, I am terribly good at finding four people I want to write with, and then discovering I need a fifth voice) -- and it was incredibly interesting to see what it forced the characters to do. So with this in mind, I decided to let Caroline have her way. Who knew, maybe first person, present tense would work for me.

The beginning is rough. I always try and start with some sort of action -- whether it be speech, or something important about to happen -- because it means I have to keep going. If I start with description, I'm bogging myself down in unnecessary backstory. Action requires my pen (fingers, I usually type) to move. In this novel what ended up happening was a lot of "I ran. I looked around. I slid on my knees towards. ect." I hated it. I wanted to get out of it so badly. Often I would find myself trying things like "She did this," before realizing I was referring to Caroline, and having to delete it. I also have many, many problems with the tense. I have written "said" instead of "says" so many times, I am shocked when I manage to type "says" first.

But something funny happened around 7,000 words. I stopped noticing. I got into the story. I found Caroline's voice, while slightly annoying, and things began to happen.

I've got to say, there are some brilliant bits to writing in first person, present tense. For example -- I know as much as Caroline about what's going to happen and I DON'T NEED TO KNOW! I usually write towards something, it helps, and with third person, past, you have to know where you are going so you can have the write thoughts cross character's minds. With first person, present, you can guess where you're going, but the story can accommodate all sorts of things, and you feel much more connected to the character.

No, I am not in love with first person present, I don't think I'll stick with it forever. But for this story, which is teetering between sci-fi and fantasy, where I don't know what the end is going to be, its perfect.

Anyways, I'm 11,000 words in, and I have 9 days to finish this novel. Oh, would you look at that? Another 9 day novel?

Except it won't be. I don't have the pressure to finish the novel like I did with 9 day, just to get to 50,000 words. :D

OH AND CHECK OUT FIREBIRD ON BLOGGER. We're mirroring it on blogger and on LiveJournal because Josh doesn't have the same experience on LJ as me. I prefer LJ, to be honest. BUT IT WILL BE UP ON BOTH SO CHECK IT OUT.

In Defense of Passion (Harry Potter 7.2 Midnight Showing)

We are told as children to sit still, hold our tongues, listen to our elders. And we do. By the time we've entered school, the rule of 'behave yourself' has gotten written into our social dialogues. If you're loud, if you say things in a different way, if you are different you get called out on it -- an ostracized if you push it too far, or become popular if you fall within a strict concept of "cool".

Oh, am I revealing I was a nerd in middle school/high school -- totally. I was a COMPLETE NERD (what do you mean was? I am still a nerd, I get excited over having scientists contact information at my command, not that I would use it, but do you see?). Let me be honest, though, my school was not the typical high school you see in Hollywood, it was too big. I was not downtrodden and reviled, I do not have high school flashbacks of awful times. Indeed my time in middle and high school was remarkably smooth, for all you hear about how terrible it is from other nerds.

Anyways, the point is, the rules tells us to stay cool, calm and collected -- homogenous with the rest of your peers lest you break away and become that ostracized person who eats dirt with worms down the bottom of the garden.

This makes having a passion about something hard. Passion is loud, noisy and it makes you give away so much of yourself you're afraid you're never going to give it back (this does not always happen). Passion is squashed down in us as children -- for a reason -- and from then on, you can be labeled as 'weird' for liking something passionately. That's why Trekkies are labeled as weird -- they are willing to break the bounds of propriety that are imposed by society to dress up in costumes and deeply care about something (and my impulse to say 'sometimes a little too much' is a symptom of this point).

I was thinking about this the other day because I had this exchange with my brother:

Me: So you'll be home Wednesday?

Jasper: Yeah.

Me: Just in time for Harry Potter!

Jasper: Uh sure.

Me: So you're not planning on going to a midnight showing?

Jasper: What's the point, you already know what's going to happen.

Why would you want to go to something you already know the end of? Why wouldn't you? I grew up with Harry (as in, I was about his age when it started and was around his age each time the next book came out. He was my peer). I was Harry crazy -- I reread the books, have a compendium of random trivia around Harry. I am a loud fan, a crazy fan, someone who went to midnight book releases and was SO EXCITED about being in London for the seventh book. I have forced people to come with me to see movies, and book releases but I would have happily gone by myself.

The point is, I am passionate about Harry Potter -- and that's why I want to go to a movie I know the end of (though, ugh, there were moments of annoyance). Its about expressing that passion -- and having other people with you who do the same!

Harry Potter is the reason I am still friends with Sammie (I went to middle school with Sammie, we bonded over it. She is my Harry Potter Best Friend). Harry Potter has brought me closer to Matt and as a result, Maddie (friends from school). We share this connection because of a deep love for these books, these characters -- this story.

And that's something worth being passionate about.

I own all the paper backs, all but 1 of the British versions 

(I have two of some of them) and all but 7 of the 

American hardbacks (7 went missing after I 

bought it -- UPSET). 

Anyways, I'm not as upset about the end of the Harry Potter movies as I thought I would be. I think its mostly because, in re-reading I've found I love them just as much as I did when I started them. There is so much in them that you can learn from. True, re-reading creates a different feeling, and there are parts that didn't bother me as a child, but are annoying now, but there is also so much good in them. 

As Dumbledore says: "Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" Harry will always be real to me. 

Thank you J. K. Rowling. Just... thank you. 

Writing Fail

I have Harry Potter thoughts, but I'm keeping them to myself for the moment because I'm running on three hours of sleep and it doesn't should like anything at the moment.

Instead, I'm staring at my NaNo and BEING UPSET WITH IT. Apparently, Neil, Leta, Erik and Jane aren't entertaining enough for me. I have to write OTHER people. Its because Alane has popped up again -- actually Alane hasn't, Mattie has, and she is loud, annoying and well... I like her.

Don't be annoyed with me for the fantasy cliche, but Mattie is a nickname for Mataline. I usually hate this, but my reasons for doing it in the Book of Gates is that there are some made up names and some names that are commonplace here (Elaine, Harvey and Madeline) but some that are clearly not (Navari and Koil). Rather then have an Aerith and Bob situation, I decided to change everyone's names up. Some names do have spellings that are normal, but that's because you can't really spell Anna differently. Mya is a way of spelling the name, but it works cause its got a y. ANYWAYS. Not a discussion of names. (Though, if you're curious, I changed Harvey into Harvi).

Anyways, so Mattie showed up and was all angry and so full of anger because I've had in the back of my mind the idea of a character who Alane has hurt badly stalking her for revenge, and Mattie is so interesting in that respect because -- well she's Adair's daughter, the one who takes after her mother, and I think it would be fascinating for me to see what she does. Adair is so pissed with me. Originally Anna was going to die, but now I've just disfigured her, and Mattie has run away from home to get revenge on Alane.

Mattie and Anna are the polar opposite type twins -- Anna is sporty, full of energy, and takes definitely after her father. Mattie was planning on becoming a doctor like her mother, loves to read, and doesn't go outside if she can help it. So you would think Mattie wouldn't go out seeking revenge -- but she does. And its this twist in her character that I find to be so interesting.

The fun part was that within moments of me finding Mattie, a new character showed up and he told me about himself -- a charming trickster. I was trying to puzzle out some more about it when it hit me -- he's a shifter -- THIS IS EXCELLENT. In the world I've built here, shifters are so rare they are thought to have been killed off and are no longer considered to be magical. :D I LOVE WHEN CHARACTERS ARE BRILLIANT.

Now, if only I could name the scamp, we'd be in the money. Thoughts anyone?

PROOF

LIFE, its so difficult

I was gonna take a picture of my phone or my desk in some way to prove I actually have a job, but then I couldn't because my phone died. In the most annoying way possible. I have to bike home and I was listening to Bossypants by Tina Fey and really enjoying it and now I shall have to bike home with nothing in my ears!!! #firstworldproblems (other first world problems: I have started to add hashtags to normal posts other places then twitter).Well anyways, I will post a picture eventually.

I think I've kind of found a groove with this blog and know how I want to use it. So now, instead of articulating it, as good practice, I'm going to pretend I didn't know and just keep doing whatever the hell I want. In my own life: I've got a job as a receptionist at NOVA, which has brought out the super nerd in me. I was putting in information off of business cards on Tuesday and I typed "Elizabeth Lo" and Elizabeth freaking Loftus showed up. SERIOUSLY. Then I went around looking for other people I knew, and DUDE THEY WERE ALL IN THE DATABASE. Yes, I am a nerd for being excited about this. Its not like I'm about to call one of them and be like "Give me a job." but I might fangirl at some of these scientists... I'm such a bio nerd.

Anyways, so life has been going on. I've been working for three whole days. I have been struggling with Neil, Leta, Erik and Jane (Oh, Madeline still exists, but in a future book, maybe it will be book 2 for August's Camp).

This is the point where I pull out my strategies for fleshing out characters. The first one is to go to TVtropes and click on random and find something I know, before going and looking for a trope that I love and want to incorporate. The second is to take the Mary Sue Litmus Test.

I have decided to share with you, the tropes that are associated with my four main characters, as well as their Mary Sue Scores (and why the got them).

Neil:

Was your character's name... Taken from a character from another fandom that you like? Yes, Neil is taken from Humon's webcomic Neils, which is hard to link because its on her deviantart page.

Do authority figures not punish your character when they probably would have punished his or her peers under the same circumstances? Neil and Jane get away with a lot, at first because they're rising stars, and then because they've got a dead end case that have made them less then noticeable by higher ups.

Is your character unusually accomplished for his/her age, time period, place, occupation, and/or social status? In something that is extremely desirable and/or useful in the story's universe? Neil and Jane are both in their early 20s, and have both received awards for their service... not lately though. They both work as Agents, which is a desirable position to be in.

Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? Click one box for every language. Neil can speak Spanish fluently as well as English.

Total: 10

Neil is The Hero of the story, main protagonist Charmer, with a smile that gets him through most doors (especially to women's doors). He has a cheery, almost Determinator quality about him when it comes to the case file. He is the Cowboy Cop to Jane's By the Book Cop, but they work well together, and are basically, Heterosexual Life Partners.

Leta:

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Leta is a skilled hacker. Neil and Jane have a few conversations about how brilliant she is.

Are other characters extremely impressed or astonished at your character's skills and/or virtues? When Neil and Jane meet Leta for the first time, Jane and Neil have a similar reaction of 'But you're in a wheelchair'.

On the subject of your character and his/her family... Was your character orphaned, abandoned, kicked out, or at least raised by a family/person that was not his/her own family? Yes, yes, yes, Leta's mother was awful and her father wants nothing to do with her, because he has a new family. Doesn't mean Leta's upset by it. Indeed, she seems not to care much. Probably a reaction to Erik's epic over response to it.

Is your character physically disabled, and has nothing to make up for it? She used to have mechanized legs, but getting kicked out of the game meant that they came for the legs, and she was left with... nothing at first, but then Eric went a bit mad and insisted on getting her a wheelchair.

Total: 5

Leta is a Genius Cripple, being unable to move her legs, but being The Smart Guy. She tends to be Erik's Morality Chain, though to a less extreme extent -- certainly Erik would not work with Neil without Leta around. Nor would he be above killing people in the Agency without Leta. Despite her Missing Mom, Leta has never had major issues with her parents. Her father knows about her, but has asked to not be contacted as his life has changed since Leta was born. Her mother left when she was 14. Neither seemed to have had a major imprint on her Manic Pixie Dream Girl personality towards Erik.

Erik:

Any ordinary name spelled or changed so that it's more unusual? Erik is an actual spelling of the name Eric, but I would normally have spelled it Eric. His mother was feeling poetical, as she was with Leta's name.

Is your character described, illustrated, and/or shown as exceptionally beautiful, cute, or handsome? Do you find your character attractive enough to date him/her? Mmmmm, Erik is half Native American, half white. He's very, very, pretty. (he also doesn't share a father with Leta, thought I should point that out).

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Along with Leta, its admitted they are the best hackers.

On the subject of your character and his/her family... Was your character orphaned, abandoned, kicked out, or at least raised by a family/person that was not his/her own family? His father never knew he existed, and when Erik showed up to introduce himself, he found his father refused to believe it. Then his mother left him, basically to look after Leta, when he was 18. He never quite recovered.

Has your character ever been honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow, or pointlessly cruel? He made an Agent that was after him and Leta go into the office and almost shoot his partner because it was "More fun" that way.

Total: 9

Erik has strong Big Brother Instincts towards Leta, but despite this he is a little bit of a Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk. He is The Lancer to Neil's Hero, and the two have a Ryu And Ken relationship. He's something of a Well Intentioned Extremist when it comes to the Agency and those who work for it (part of why he and Neil don't get along). Leta is his Moe. He has severe Parental Abandonment issues due to never knowing his father (his father doesn't know he even exists) and his mother's struggle with drug addiction which took her in and out of his life often.

Jane:

Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? In order to become an Agent, you need to be fluent in two languages. Jane can speak Japanese perfectly, having been a nerd as a child and watched a ton of anime.

Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? Is he/she famous/reknowned for it? She's known as the best shot in Boston. She's a remarkable sharpshooter, and its why Neil trusts her to have his back.

Does your character ever single-handedly take out more armed forces (EG, security guards, soldiers) than you can count on one hand using his/her kick-butt skills? The reason Neil trusts Jane is because of this. Also, she scared him a little by doing it.

Total: 5

Jane is a Kindhearted Cat Lover. She has a serious, long term relationship with her boyfriend Kevin. She is a Girl With Guns and knows how to use them (everyone in the Agency agrees she is the best shot in Boston). She's an Action Girl with a sense of the Lady Of War variety. She has a bit of Jeanne D'Archetype about her, due to her perseverance and desire to do what is right.


Good way to waste time!

Anyways, going to read some now. HARRY POTTER RE-READ. I'm live tweeting it. :)

Camp NaNoWriMo Session 1 Day 3

As the titles of these posts get longer and longer, the days of July creep away. I only have one more day before I start my job and my time becomes... different? I'm not sure, but I'll be working a 9-5 job and that will be something to get used to.

Anyways, so today I sat down to do a minor amount of planning for Camp NaNoWriMo. You may recall that the outline method I attempted for the 9 Day Novel failed, so I am not going to attempt it again. I do, however, think that having wrestled with characters for a bit, I accomplished a lot in terms of knowing where things were going to go. The other thing I found out was that I tend to find characters after the end of their novel. In my 9 day novel, Penny and Tia were found way, way, way after their novel, and recently I realized that Neil, Leta and Erik have a lot of background that has to get covered before I can really dive into the present I was working with. So I will probably be going even further back and trying to plot from there. 

I'm using James Scott Bell's method as described in his book on writing Plot and Structure: A disturbance and two doorways. The basic premise of this idea works with the three act structure -- the beginning is a disturbance, the doorways lead from one act to another, and are 'doorways of no return' so there is no way to go but forward for the characters.

So, this is what I'm doing for an outline -- the disturbance and two doorways and then I'll hit the road running, because I now know I've lost all the words I could have written due to the shift in timeframe.

At least I have tomorrow off, right?

Anyone else doing Camp NaNoWriMo? How's it going?

Camp NaNoWriMo Seesion 1: Day 1, 2 and 3

Wow, Day 1 of Camp NaNo was a slog. I didn't get around to until late, and I was super tired, so I'm pretty sure the end of the section I was working on doesn't make sense. I even think that a majority of it is going to have to go as I think about the requirements of point of view. 

Also Day 1 involved a drive into Boston which turned into Dorchester and Roxbury and being really, really lost. The story goes like this: Kat called me around 5:30 to ask me to bring her cell phone to her in Boston, because she left it at her parents. I was not pleased at the prospect of heading into Boston Friday night around rush hour, but I couldn't very well say no, so I went. She is currently working on a show, which was why she didn't me to bring it to her and while I had been to the theatre once, I actually hadn't been to the theater by car, so I got a bit lost heading down to the theater. 

I saw one of the actors heading into the theater as I pulled up and yelled for him to bring the phone to Kat and then, because I'm dog sitting, I headed back towards the house. Only, not quite knowing where I was meant that I went the wrong direction. I was heading out of Boston, I kept telling myself, and that meant I could find a way back home. However, as I traveled in search of a street I knew I got more and more lost. And then my phone died. 

So here I was, a white girl in a red VW Bug, feeling very visibly suburban and lost in one of the most dangerous places in Boston and I had to pull my laptop out of my bag to charge my phone. Great. While my phone was charging, I hit a street called "Washington" which I took gladly, thinking it was a street it turned out not to be. I ended up wiggling around in Dorchester for almost an hour, trying to figure out the best way out. 

Eventually I got on a parkway, which lead me, finally, to streets I knew, but it was very, very disconcerting to not know where I was. It meant when I got to the place where I'm housing sitting, I wasn't feeling super up to writing.

Day 2 hasn't been much better. Indeed, I seem to have lost the 2,000 words I wrote due to the POV issue. I also lost words due to these guys: 

Theo is lying on the cushion, Thor is sitting there with his funny face. They are both super old and slow at everything. However, that being said, they are both characters, and quite amusing at times.

I also went to see Kat's show. I'm not a huge fan of the show -- I never went through a Rent phase -- but the show was quiet enjoyable. Possibly because there were actors that I worked with in high school in the show, and people I knew from Kat talking about them, and the moment the show started I could tell who had directed it. I also didn't noticed mistakes the way I used to. I wonder if its the distance of time that has changed my perception of theater, or something else, but it was different to go to a show and not pick out the details that were problematic.

Except for Ryan (who played Roger, if you know the show, and who I stage managed in his first show at my high school as a freshman) who was weirdly mumbly at the beginning -- that I noticed and was annoyed by, mostly because it felt like he just wasn't opening his mouth. Weird.

Anyways, so writing!

I came up with characters! I have Leta, Nik, Neil and Lilah. Huh, typing them out like that I have noticed a trend in names. I guess Nik will have to be Erik, which is fine, as that was his name originally until he told me he was half native american and I got a mental picture of him. Okay, so Erik, Neil, Leta and Lilah. I kind of am unsure of Lilah's name, but I have a really strong sense of her character.

I also have something that could be a plot, mostly to do with forcing people together in a specific way to ensure that they have to interact, which will force plot. I hope. I could also muddle about with the characters until they tell me their real plot as I did with the 9 day novel. We'll see. I'm off to look for a better name for Lilah. Now I've thought about it, Leta is a good name, but Lilah is an 'L' name that can change.

Other then that, of course, I have to write for Firebird. I'm excited about the prompt. Maybe I can use it for NaNo?

Post 9 day novel Wrap up

DONE! *faints*

My final word count with the chapter titles removed came to 59295 (a pleasing palindrome of a number).

I've been playing with these characters for less then a year, but they're already huge in my mind, real people. I'm excited to finish this chapter of their lives (I know what continues to happen with them of course, and it may turn into another novel, it may not). But its tinged with sadness. I really love these guys and now I think I should take a break, or I'll never be able to edit this thing.

Halley wants me to send it to her and to get it done by August, which I'm totally for, but I need some separation from it, so I'm going to head into Camp NaNoWriMo which starts today and attempt to keep up with the blogging as I go. Of course, there are fewer words involved with Camp NaNoWriMo, so it might not be as pressure cooking exciting as the 9 Day Novel stuff.

The problem is, now I've got Penny (my lead) stuck in my head. I'm having problems trying to come up with a new character to play with. I started thinking about how I started with Penny and the gang: NaNoWriMo last year where I had a brain wave about 11 days in and decided to do something that was based entirely around five characters that I pulled out of no where.

That novel was not terribly good, I will admit. After all, nothing happened but people running around shooting each other. But I did get five great characters from the exercise of writing about 40,000 words on them (I wrote 50,000 words in November, but only 40,000 of them were for that story). It is at this point, that I have a confession to make. My brother, Jasper, actually was quite instrumental in getting the actual novel I wrote these last 9 days started.

Jasper put up this on his blog, which for some reason spoke to me and resulted in me asking him to illustrate something I wrote. Then of course he was like "Yes! Totally!" and I was like "Crap! I haven't written anything he'd like to draw!"

Luckily I had been kicking around with the idea of doing an Oregon Trail in space story, and had been borrowing the characters from my NaNo to do it, and had this idea of a city in my head, a city made out of giant space ships that had settled in the ground. Anyways, taking that, I threw my five characters into the city and tried to see what would happen.

This was where I met Lee, and what I sent to Jasper: the mixed up beginning of Penny getting into Carys and seeing the great ark ships. This was what Jasper got from it:

It was kind of fabulous (the middle sketch of the woman with her hand on her hip has lead to Lee's expansion) to see what someone else thought of my characters (and typical of Jasper to gravitate to Lee's character, he likes mechanical things) and so it was that I began to search for a way to make their story real.

June came around and I realized I hadn't written anything, and so the 9 Day Novel was born.

Now I'm having problems because WTF am I going to write for Camp NaNoWriMo? Perhaps its time to find some characters again and throw them into something they don't quite understand. :D

9 Day Novel has been great. I've enjoyed it incredibly. I will probably do it again.

Keep watching. Camp NaNoWriMo is up next.