For other Wrimos out there, I’ve been finding Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s blog to have some good writing tips, and she recently recommended Adam Maxwell’s Fiction Lounge, which has a writing prompt generator should you get stuck or need inspiration for a few more words…

Anyone interested can read the first two chapters of Cabin Fever!

Cabin FeverChapters1-2 (.pdf)

My novel this November is called “Cabin Fever.”  Up until about Oct. 25th I had no idea what I was going to write about, so I went over to the site Seventh Sanctum and used one of their story idea generators, which gave me a plot about combining the legend of the Jersey Devil with something else (I can’t remember what it was, now).  Then I looked up the Jersey Devil on Wikipedia and it’s actually pretty fascinating – a winged creature with two hooved feet and the head of a horse that was seen by various people in the winter of 1909 in New Jersey.  Reading all the origin stories and about the sightings gave me this image of a family trapped in a house in the winter, hearing sounds on their roof… which reminded me of a story I’d started back in high school called “Cabin Fever,” about a family trapped in a snowstorm and how they all go murderously crazy.  I don’t know where that original story is, although I can remember scenes of wolves jumping up out of a frozen pond and attacking people, and family members freezing to death on the side of the road a short ways from safety. 

This time around, I have a mother who may or may not be mentally ill, an older brother with a fascination about sciences and becoming a surgeon, a flighty sister, and a little brother who has night terrors, trapped in a monster of a storm. 

You can visit my Nanowrimo profile to check out my progress – make me a writing buddy if you are a fellow wrimo!

Long story short, this trail of bread crumbs led me to rediscover the books that inspired me to want to be an author.  I found myself hunting down some of the Point Horror classics by those authors at a used bookstore.

I selected some titles that I didn’t think I had read… only to discover that I had!  The first of these was Freeze Tag by Caroline B. Cooney.  The story was very simple, yet effective, and took me only a couple of days to read.  There wasn’t really a subplot, and Lannie’s ability to freeze others with a touch is never really explained.  But there was a lot of atmosphere, and romance didn’t rule the book – as in, the story wasn’t all about a happy ending for the couple.

Next up was The Fever, by Diane Hoh.  It was only an extended description of the main character’s best friend that reminded me that I’d read this book.  Certainly this was the sort of book I devoured in high school – over the top horror, complete with cheesy tagline on the front and a murder mystery with a full cast of suspects.  Although the main character seemed interested in a couple of the male characters, there wasn’t a romance at all.  It took me only a day to read this one.

These books were as easy to devour back when I was a teenager as they are now.  I always imagine myself writing series of books like these, fast-paced and full of action, mystery, and gore.  What happened to those days of YA literature?  It seems like every book on the shelf these days is over 500 pages and always includes a romance, or worse, a love triangle.  While I think YA these days has more fleshed-out characters and I do appreciate staying in the world of a particularly good novel for a long time, sometimes I feel nostalgic for the old days…

Inspired, I headed over to the Hollis Flea Market in search of my own weird photos.  I found a few, too, which I will scan and post when I get a chance.  None of them are quite as weird as the ones Riggs found, but just the idea of writing about ghostly sorts of people inspired me to do more writing last night than I’ve done all summer.  I pulled out an old unfinished favorite of mine – Rumors - and started with the main character looking through old photo albums. 

Hopefully this will keep me inspired for longer than one night!  Especially since Janina and I have rescheduled our writing group for Monday nights for the remainder of the summer…

As for getting more writing done… it’s summer and it’s busy and hopefully come September (or at least November!) I will find more time for writing again.

I just find myself getting distracted by having to look up what bathtubs were like in the 1600′s, or what were common insults in the 17th century.  Or by the woman sitting next to me who is reading a stack of periodicals with titles like UFO Magazine, Mysterious America, and Skeptic (one of these had a cover story about the 50-foot SuperCroc).  And one issue of Better Homes & Gardens.  I theorized that her home renovation process had been derailed by some paranormal activities caused by ghosts or possibly aliens.  Or SuperCroc?

I have been tempted to begin working on the sequel to Hitchhikers (working title: Dreamwalkers), but just yesterday I was reading Rachel Hawkins’s blog posts about how she got published, and she calls this the Slutty New Idea that tempts you away from your work with the promise that this new story will be easier and more fun to write.  I. Must. Resist.  At least until I can finish Blood Countess, although at 38,000 words and no sign of how I’m going to wrap this up, I may be putting off Dreamwalkers for a good long while.

If you do end up downloading Hitchhikers, and you liked it, I would be eternally grateful if you were to either hit the “like” button on the Hitchhikers Amazon page (so easy!), or if you’re feeling really generous, write an awesome review!  Side note: if you read it and hate it, I would be eternally grateful if you do nothing.  I will warn you in advance, the story is meant for older teens, there is strong language and it’s gory.

This second round meant that my excerpt was read and reviewed by two Amazon Vine reviewers.  The first reviewer called it “…horrifying yet morbidly fascinating” and said, “Hitchhikers has given that ‘hook’ that will draw readers in.”  The second reviewer summed it up by saying it had an ”[a]bsolutely fascinating plot.”  While I heard some contestants received some very negative reviews (and pretty unprofessional ones at that), I was very pleased with my two reviews and I feel pretty lucky that my baby didn’t get skewered (especially considering my concerns about typos).  Yeah, so if you download and read Hitchhikers, try to ignore those…

That’s right, I made it to the next round!  I was so excited I almost ran across the library to tell someone, anyone, about the awesome news.  I kept myself from running but I’m pretty sure I was skipping at the very least, and then of course happy dancing in the staff room.  Woooooooo!

From what I can gather from the ABNA website, Publisher’s Weekly writes up a review for all 500 quarterfinalists’ manuscripts, and Amazon customers can read each entry’s excerpt.  So that will be awesome, even if I don’t make it through the next round of cuts (which is over a month away, to be announced on April 26).

#1: 21st century attitudes in historical characters: GUILTY

The narrator of The Blood Countess, Ilona, is a pretty modern girl.  She questions things.  She likes to have secret trysts with boys in the hayloft.  She likes to prove that she can do anything better than said boys.  She can read.  However, she knows that being an independent-minded, intelligent girl means that other people think she’s a witch.  So I guess Ilona isn’t totally 21st century.  After all, Elizabeth of Bathory could read in three different languages and was pretty independent-minded herself.

#2: Trendy historical periods: NOT GUILTY

Hungary in 1606 is not a real popular time era to be writing about – especially when you consider the popularity of, say, Tudor England (Philippa Gregory, anyone?).  However, a novel about Elizabeth of Bathory was recently published (The Countess by Rebecca Johns) and there are a couple of other novels out there as well (check the Blood Countess page for those that I’ve read).  But I wouldn’t say it’s “trendy.”

#3: Choosing a historical period or country for its accessories: NOT GUILTY

Really, I’m not guilty!  Although I do take bellydancing and so have a fascination with gypsy and medieval type clothing.  But isn’t this dress gorgeous?  It’s exactly what I picture Ilona wearing.

#4 & 5: Sex scenes in the rain / Ecstatic sex scenes in general: NOT GUILTY

Well, I’m not writing a historical romance, so this doesn’t really apply.  Let’s just say: so far, so good.

#6: She hates him, but she loves him: GUILTY

Ilona and a boy from the village, Kristophe, don’t seem to like each other.  Ilona thinks Kristophe is too cocky, but secretly she likes his confidence.  She doesn’t want to admit that she likes him, but there it is.

#7: Humorless historical fiction: GUILTY?

Blood Countess is a pretty grim tale, so there’s not much humor.  Although Ilona’s a bit of a spitfire, so she’s not serious all the time.

#8: “She isn’t beautiful, but she is”: NOT GUILTY

Ilona’s got a pretty high opinion of her looks, although she does think the Countess is the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen.

#9: The pregnancy issue (lots of sex, no protection): NOT GUILTY

Ilona hasn’t lost her virtue yet, although many of the villagers (including her father) think she has.

#10: List-making (of heroine’s clothing; of hero’s weapons): NOT GUILTY

Since she’s a peasant, Ilona doesn’t have that many different outfits.  Not much really to make lists of, unless you include some listing of herbs and various torture devices.

In conclusion, there are a few cliches but not too many… The biggest offender is #1, but Ilona does go through a change when she goes from wild-spirited peasant girl to servant to the Countess, where any minor infraction leads to severe punishment… but hopefully the spitfire Ilona returns at the end.

I’ve got at least one new chapter in my work-in-progress Blood Countess, plus I was able to make some edits in the earlier chapters.  Verdict?  Writing groups are good, even if it’s just one other person