Nano Jitters

As it's five days until Nanowrimo 2009 officially starts, it's about a time I did a post about it! Excited? Not 'alf. I've only been planning for it all year...

This year I want to take things to new extremes of insanity - we came so close to the number one slot in the regional word wars last year... so very frustratingly close, only to be knocked off the top in the last couple of days. Bugger.
(And if you're a Nano bod who happens to claim England: Elsewhere as their home, word war sign ups have started in the forum... get in there and kick ass...)

Anyhoo, what lovely projects is yer 'umble blogger chick going to attempt this year? Ah ha, sez I, many and various, as my first drafts tend to only just skim the 50K and there's many words need doing... As yet I have no idea what one's getting done first, so, in no particular order, there's:

Aquarius:
Being the prequel to last year's Nano project 'Taurus'. (For those of you who remember last year's blatherings, Taurus was the Minotaur thing with the ridiculously high bodycount... which is currently being edited & rewritten to within an inch of its life in the hopes of getting enough decent wordage together for an Authonomy upload...)
But back to Aquarius - starring kick ass not!tomb-raider chick Abigail Jones, whose search for the ruins of Lyonesse take her into multiple worlds. Hijinx ensue! :-)

Then there's Blackthorn:
This one's another Nano prequel - charting the rise of Alice Blackthorn from respectable(ish) trader to planetary rebel to queen of the Salia system pirates.

A recent addition to the line up is Ghost Wolf:
An urban fantasy with werewolves. (Definitely was not expecting I'd write that, but the more I plan it out, the more fun it looks!)
So here we have Lena Morrigan, ex-mob hit-woman turned magic-supplies courier whose recent attack by a werewolf is just the start of what's turning into a really bad week. Do I need to mention at this point that assorted supernatural hijinx will ensue? :-)

Then there's Wicked Sisters:
The Little Mermaid gets a curse intervention and dumps the idiot prince, then chooses to make the most of her new human life by turning pirate, much to the chagrin of her nearest and dearest.

For a little breathing time there'll be Durrington Tales:
Being a collection of short stories of the urban fantasy/contemporary mythic fantasy type, set in the town of Durrington. With urban mages, old gods and other wild spirits wandering around causing chaos. A bit Charles De Lint meets Hellblazer in tone. I hope!

And if I'm feeling particularly brave there'll be a more traditional secondary world fantasy called Tides of Marigan:
In which the acolyte of an exiled goddess must find a way to free her people from invaders while trying to survive the fall out of making questionable allies.

Plus there's a few smaller projects, but we'll cover them as and when (and if) they get done!

Ultimately, the aim is to get somewhere between 5000 - 10,000 words a day done to keep the word war numbers up. (And then my fingers will drop off and my brain will dribble out of my ears in a picturesque pile of goo...) :-)

Support Our 'Zines Day!

And welcome to Support Our 'Zines Day! And what is it, you may be wondering? Very simple. SOZ Day is the day when you shout your love for your favourite 'zines across the internet and if you're in a flush mood, donate a little to keep them putting out the stuff you love... See here for the whys and wotnots...

So here's mine:
Clarkesworld Magazine
Fantasy Magazine
Strange Horizons
Hub Magazine
Murky Depths
The Lorelei Signal
Weird Tales
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
Expanded Horizons
Theaker's Quarterly Fiction