How to hold back?

The floodgates have been opened. I want to write... and I want to write now. Damn it, I should've looked up the rules more closely. I hadn't realized that writing is to start November 1st. *sighs*

Okay, I wonder if working on the backstory is kosher and not considered writing? Let's hope so. So far, for the prelude, I have:

• Klystra - the witch at the edge of the forest.
• Tak - the sad, hermaphrodite elf, whom life just seems to bat around.
• The Queen Fairy - (gotta think of a name for her) - basically, the evil one in the story. Though I'm inclined to make her less malevolent. Too often, i think of the Queen Mother in Snow White whenever I think of this character... which is very unfortunate, cause I really don't want a caricature.

The main story will have the following characters:

• Tristan - Borne of three, perhaps a destiny of uniting the three? She definitely has the heart. Oh shit, since I'm considering a mainstream market for this, maybe make this one a male? Y'know... I'm just going to write this as lesbian lore for now. Maybe change the names and genders later to protect the masses.
  
• Kat - She be cool. She be hot. 'Nuff said? Oh yeah, think Elektra - assassin type, think dry humor, think cool cool cool.
• Headmistress - need name. She's the head of the school Tristan trains in. Cool head on her shoulders, not prone to emotions nor action. Prefers to think things through.
  
• Heartmistress - need name. She's the heart of the school Tristan trains in. She teaches things like the healing arts to her students, as well as exercises to train the heart. (Think heart like in Brett Favre, how everyone says he's got the biggest heart in the NFL).
  
• Handmistress - need name. She's the hand of the school Tristan trains in. She is the one who teaches martial arts to the students. Hot headed... quick to action.

Can you tell what's missing from this list? Yup, no antagonists.

What then to do about Jesus of Nazareth.... oh sorry. Just singing to myself. What then to do? Yeah, there's going to be bad guys sprinkled along the way, but you know what it is? I write comic books. I co-wrote Nobody (available now from AIT publishing) and when you're writing comics, you don't have ONE overreaching nemesis normally. The author tends to think serially and I think I'm doing that here.

So far, I do have one nemesis... the daughter of the god of war... but how Xena is that?

I'll have to let things develop.

OH! And one more character...

• Tiny - a huge hulking guy who was a runt as a youngster and Tristan basically protected him from all bullies. Now Tiny will do anything for her.

That's it for now I think. I'll be adding to this cast more and more. I'm a believer in epics (how the hell am I supposed to finish this in a month????)

whoops!

FYI, the reason for this blog is the following: I signed up for the insane contest, NaMoWriMo.... in short: National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

So wish me luck!

Author's Note

Okay, I'm scared. Scared that I'll write something awful, scared that my idea isn't going to jell together, scared that I'm picking the wrong story to write.

I'm busy fighting off the voice in my head that's saying "You're a fool, Sharon." So, instead, I'm going to just jump in with both feet into deep dark murky waters.

This idea has been in my head for about 5 years now. I'm pulling in characters I've created from elsewhere to infuse this book with energy, just cause those characters are so much fun to create and watch. Those characters are Tristan and Kat... yeah I know, fairly common fantasy names.

Okay, here's the rub.... I've always intended this book for a gay market (this idea was born during the days of Xena, what can I say? Derivative yes, but hopefully with a hint of brilliance somewhere). So far, all the characters in the book have been women/women warriors. SO! The question now begs to be asked, should I turn this novel around to suit a more... mainstream market shall we say? Let's see where I'll end up.

Okay... for the sake of clarity, my authors notes are going to be in this godawful color. I'll figure out what the color for the novel is later. Also, I've a feeling there are going to be tons more author notes than novel... at least at the beginning, until I've figured this thing out. Yes, even though the idea has been germinating in my mind for 5 years, I've absolutely no idea where the story will go. I've some characters, a sort of beginning, and I've got to figure out how to bring all these elements together.

Hope you all will enjoy!