A History of Me and Nanowrimo

It begins today. I didn't have my outline as fleshed out as I wanted to, but I got enough to at least start writing. I've been saying all along it's fantasy... really it's science fiction. But without me telling you that it's Sci Fi, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't know. As it's clearly fantasy. Well, that doesn't make a ton of sense, but I think my conceit is pretty clever. I won't give it away yet. As I want to pretend for a while that it's completely unique.

But I also realized that I've participated in several Nanos to date. I figured I'd recap previous years entries to see what I've done.

Year 1: James and Galfar: The Blutonian Death Egg. Yes, this book is my first ever Nano attempt. I had written several short stories before, but nothing serious. This was my first try at a novel. It was really, really bad. I had rants that went on for days. I had a kernel of a story I liked though. But I shelved this one, chalking it up for experience.

One sentence synopsis: An average guy ends up being humanity's ambassador to an alien race.

Year 2: The Alarming Alterity of James Coastsman. This was a sequel to the previous Nano. Even though I knew the previous year was chalked up as practice, I liked where I was going and so I wrote more. It was a much better attempt at a novel and I still really like it. I plan on revisiting this later this year.

One sentence synopsis: A new kid in school claims to have moved here straight from outer space.

Year 3: The Bleeted Undulations of an Aphasic Universe. This one was a framed novel. A present day story with a long novella length tale set about a hundred years ago within the larger story. I love the novella part, but not the modern day part. That's kind of a mess. I think I was trying a murder mystery, those things need more planning ahead of time. It might be salvageable, but I have no plans to try. Well, the novella will probably get recycled for something else.

One sentence synopsis: When a gas station attendant that runs a website dedicated to welcoming aliens to earth receives an artifact unlike anything he's ever seen, people start dying and he has to run for his life, all while trying to uncover the artifact's origins.

Year 4: The Blutonian Death Egg. I went back to year one's Nano and started over from scratch. This novel has been shopped around some without anyone showing any real interest. Although I continue to query.

One sentence synopsis: Twentysomething slacker and gifted codebreaker is drafted to take a top secret mission to discover the secret of an alien artifact that's been found near Earth's moon.

My personal life got a little crazy not too long after this and I didn't write for a couple of years. Well, I did write, but only short stories. So when I came back I decided I was going to really try to get something done and see if I can make this writing thing work. I'm still in the middle of that - I'll let you know how that goes.

Year 5: Crazy Shit with Space Aliens and Stuff: Yes, that is only a working title, I realize that it might need a bit of work. I wrote A Dead God's Wrath and another novella length piece set in the same universe. I even have a spreadsheet that details the history of the universe that I use as a guide. This one is set in the modern day and is probably the most fun I've had writing since I was much younger. Full of insane aliens and zombie attacks... as well as the possible end of all life on earth. I tried to raise the stakes here. Well, the end of all life on earth is something I've tried before. But this at least was more of an immediate threat. I really like the concept here, but this novel is pretty rough. It needs tons of work before I can start showing it to anyone.

Once sentence synopsis: When his grandfather dies, a man finds his grandfather was part of an ancient secret society that has vowed to protect the earth from an unnamed threat - that threat has now arrived.

Year 6: The Wizard's Secret. That brings us back to the present. This year is again, an attempt at fantasy. That medieval society with monsters and magic and all that. I've tried to spend some time doing some worldbuilding. I haven't got as much as the story plotted out as I meant to. Enough to get started I suppose, but not what I wanted.

One sentence synopsis: When Jeb flees his village and into the forbidden lands beyond he stumbles upon a dead wizard, and is now the only hope to save the world from an ancient evil.

And now you know. Wish me luck with this year.