Camp NaNoWriMo Meme

1: Have you participated in NaNoWriMo before? If so, which years and what end result? If not (or even if so, for that matter) what’s your connection to writing? Why do you want to participate this year?



Yes, both times I made it up to roughly 11,000 words and then stopped because of life drama. I am a published author but I would like to make it into bigger leagues someday, and I’m always trying to push myself. This June I want to complete the novel I began last November. I realize this is cheating but since we’re not actually competing against one another I think that’s fine.



2: What’s the title of your story? Why did you choose the name you did?



My novel is called Seasons Four Behind Closed Doors. It’s a sequel to my previous NaNo-begun novel, Seasons Four Open the Door, and I plan to follow it with Seasons Four All Outdoors and Seasons Four Now Indoors.



3: Pick one of your female characters. Introduce your readers to her, from her point of view and her words only.



My name’s Kira Greer. How do you do. I’m originally from the Temperate Zone, but these days I live in Summer’s Castle with my husband, Jared the Lord Summer, and his personal assistant and lover William. I’m good friends with William, and Jared has enough love for the both of us. I let the two of them deal with politics and ruling and such - I’m a carpenter by trade; my sales go to fund different charity projects. I grew up poor and reckon no one else deserves that if it can be helped.



4: What genre is your novel? Why did you pick it?



Urban fantasy. Because that’s my favorite genre.



5: Name two songs from your playlist that you feel are connected with your novel in some way, and explain how they are.



“All Arise!” by The Decemberists is the official song of this novel; all the official songs of this series come from their album The King is Dead. Seasons Four Open the Door’s theme was ”Calamity Song”, “Down by the Water” will be the theme of Seasons Four All Outdoors, and “Don’t Carry it All” for Seasons Four Now Indoors.



6: What is your one biggest stressor related to forcing yourself to write at least 50,000 words in a span of 30 days?



Being at work and wanting to write but not being allowed, then being at home and not wanting to write.



7: Where’s your favorite place to hunker down and write?



As long as I’m sitting in a chair and I’m not being yelled at or bothered, I’m happy.



8: List your current, most up-to-date word count. Are you satisfied with your progress thus far?



15,000, which is par. I'm okay with this.



9: Have you told anyone else you’re doing NaNo this year? Who? What was their reaction?



Yes, either “I could never do that!” or “Good for you!”.


10: How does your love of writing manifest in non-NaNo months?



I’m almost always writing or planning writing something, even if it’s short poems or fanfics.





Day 11: Ever tried collaborative writing (such as play-by-post roleplaying)? If so, what do you think of it?



Collaboration is really fun! I just have trouble finding people I have a good rhythm with.





12: Imagine you’re behind in your word count goals (even if you’re not) and are going to pull an all-nighter to catch up. Screencap a playlist of inspirational music you would use to get you up to speed.



[This question would be more laborious to answer right now than I find worth it.]





13: Name a male character from your novel. Describe him through the point of view and words of the female character you introduced in question 3 (if they never interact, pick another female character).



William Meloy is a lot different from me, though Jared says he needs the both of us to complete him. He’s an albino, to start with, though the kind with golden eyes instead of pink, so he stays indoors out of the sun and helps run the castle so Jared can work on running the realm. He’s always tidy and he calls Jared “sir”, except when they’re having a tumble in which case Jared calls him sir, which I still don’t full understand but even though Jared has all these bruises afterwards he seems happy. He’s helped smooth out matters when Jared and I quarreled and has never tried to push me out of the picture. I’ll riddle anyone who calls him names full of holes with my Remington, and he knows it.





14: Is the sexuality of your characters a large part of your novel’s story? If so, are there characters who deviate from the heterosexual “norm”? In what way?



Jared Derkins, the Lord Summer, is in a bisexual polyamorous relationship with Kira (straight) and William (gay). Lynne, the Lady Spring, is a lesbian whose life partner, Amber, is pansexual. Rain, legal but reluctant heir to the throne of Faerie, is omnisexual but aromantic. Djones, an extremely dapper assassin, is a transman, asexual, and demiromantic. All of this is important but not their only character traits.





15: Do any of your characters have a disability or mental illness? If so, how does that affect their development throughout your story?



Amber is paraplegic but an accomplished telekinetic. However, compensating for her paralyzed legs takes up a tremendous amount of magic, which in this universe burns calories much as exercise does, so she must either stay in her wheelchair and lift only small objects or eat constantly. So far it hasn’t been much of this novel’s plot, though in the prequel it was of more significance.