Projects (Old and New) for the New Year

It has been about a month since I have posted anything and as I sipped my afternoon tea, I decided that today was as good a day as any to update the world on my writing adventures.

My "book cover" 

In November I won NanoWrimo which is in itself a spectacular feat but I feel all the more accomplished considering I started a bit late and made a remarkable come back with the bulk of my manuscript furiously typed during the last week.

During the month of December I have been working on a new project, a semi-historical dystopian piece which explores the history of political unrest in late 18th century France. I am also drawing inspiration from WWII era Germany and both Soviet and modern Russia. Sound confusing? So far, it is placed in a fictional society with limited technology and I am struggling to decide which direction I want to take it in.

When January hits (in just a few days) I will have to return to revising & editing my Nano manuscript which (though it seemed brilliant at the time) is a bit depressing to see how horribly it all came together. (Hint: It really didn't.) Of course I still have my fantasy novel(s) which are crying out to me - please finish us! It is, of course, a massive endeavor which was nearly impossible on a Word Document.With Scrivener now at my fingertips, I am feeling more confident that it is a project I might actually finish.

So here's the breakdown - I have a (~200 pages) Noir / Crime Fiction piece that is in desperate need of revision and restructuring. I have an elaborate 3- piece fantasy set (totaling at ~300 pages though it should be 1,000) which I have not looked at in over two months (probably also in need of deep revisions). There is something just off with the over all timeline and I am still unhappy with the pace it is unfolding.

A grocery store - dozens of shelves
 and a few spare patrons.(1919) 

And finally, there is my most recent piece which is (yet another) piece of [Libertarian ?] fiction though it certainly does not fit well into genre fiction. It is still evolving but briefly put, the main character is living with regret for her involvement in a political movement (led by her brother) which has overthrown the government and launched the nation into a chaotic Socialist mess. She hides away in the countryside but it is no use, the new political sphere permeates all corners of the nation. The protagonist must decide between trying to stop her brother and escaping with her lover. Of course there's a little more to it than that ... I (hope to) examine the flaws of a variety of governmental regimes ranging from Communism to Totalitarian Oligarchies. I am not writing this with a preachy belief that any particular government form is better than another (though I do hold my own beliefs on the issue), rather, I hope that the piece is something that will make people (if only a single person) to question what they believe about the flaws of humanity and our deflection of these issues onto whatever governmental system reigns at the moment. I believe by the end it will likely be speculative dystopian- with gritty salt and a fresh twist.

A simple wooden cottage. 

To be honest, except for historical fiction, I don't really read a ton of genre fiction. I much prefer authors that take the risk to blur lines and draw inspiration from a thousand different directions than those whose work plays too obviously off of the genre staples that came before them. I think this might be an issue later on when I become more serious about seeking publication (that and my "weak platform"). At the moment I am still writing for myself and as such, I aim only to please an audience of one.

I find myself seeking out strange and beautiful images for inspiration. I carefully collect them, then keep them all around me, imagining life as it has been captured in the image. Of course, this is nothing new and I'm sure that tons of writers do the same. I only mention it because I wanted to include two images that have literally inspired about 50 pages of my new project.