Chronicles of the Dragon Queen

There's something prophetic about Halloween falling on the eve of the start of NaNoWriMo. Hopefully, the omens will bode well and not ill for my second year of the maddness that is NaNo.

Last year's NaNo creation was a fantasy thing loosley based on Anne MacCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern. Mine was about gryphons and one girl's attempt to become a Gryphon Rider despite several things stacked against her. At least that's how it started. By the end, it became a rolling conspiracy between two brothers with my main character stuck in the middle of it, as well as her father's story about whether to reveal that he was her father. Some other really wierd stuff happened in that book that didn't make the final cut but I only added for word count. Amazing what you'll put on paper in the interest of words. I somewhat know how Dickens felt.

I also had a lot of background stuff worked out at the start of last year. This year, all I have is an idea based from a short story I wrote many moons ago. I'm sort of flying by the seat of my pants this year. I'm also departing from my fantasy roots and doing something set in present day. Of course, there is a fantastical element. Vampires. Another omen?

The title of my fledgling NaNo novel is proving more difficult than the last one. Anything involving vampires seems to categorically demand a title with blood in it. I'd like to avoid that if possible. Blood Rites, Bloody Death, Blood and Beer... etc. (Part of the book takes place on a college campus).

Maybe this will be a case where the title jumps off the page as I'm writing. I hope so. "Untitled" is so uninspiring.

So, with about 6 hours to midnight and the start of NaNoWriMo 2005, I've stocked up on coffee and have a rough idea of the plot of my story in my mind. Hopefully I can make it this year without adding useless sex scenes to pad the word count. But then, sex and vampires seem to be companions at the same party.

And on another note, Hubby has come through with my signature graphic. Hope you like it. Thanks darlin'!

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• #2 Comment from aurielalata 
  11/2/05 10:37 PM | Permalink

  I admire the idea of doing this in 30 days. I wish I had nothing on my agenda, because I would love to try this. Anyway, best wishes with your vampire novel. It'll probably be better than the majority of vampire fiction on the market right now.
  
  Jess
  http://journals.aol.com/aurielalata/CIWTheOtherInvisible
• #1 Comment from lmarley 
  11/1/05 7:52 PM | Permalink

  Queen, if the jewelry on your shoulder is something you made, I hope you're going to start selling your creations online!
  
  Louise