My Fake Nano

[Bianca <3]

So even though it's Nano-time now, I know I can't do a whole story this month. Much too busy. HOWEVER I do want to try to write a little everyday, whether it be just editing or writing or something. So tada! Fake Nano!

The good this is that I have a project I'm working on, a novel that's been in the works for almost three years. But the first draft is almost done!

SPOILER: Click to show

So Kayden is a 16 year old New Jersey girl, but she's a bit stubborn and bitter. She doesn't like wearing short shorts and she's a bit of a loner. When her cousin Lexi visits her, they decide to spend the day in NYC... when they witness a building exploding (well, the windows just blow out), right across the street from the world trade center.

In the chaos, Kayden bumps into this boy, also about 16, who babbles about how he's the one who accidentally made the building explode. And he runs off.

This boy happens to be a wizard (postestas) named Blaze. The explosion was a bit of pubescent magic gone awry. Anyway, he's deathly worried that he accidentally told Kayden something about magic when he bumped into her. So he decides he needs to erase her memory so she forgets the whole incident.

Unfortunately things don't go as planned. So eventually, Kayden blackmails Blaze into casting a Bonding Oath spell. The spell will allow her to keep her memories in exchange for a spellbook which she has taken from Blaze. The spell goes off without a hitch, the two part, and they think everything is fine.

But then magic shifts. Suddenly, spells that have already been cast go awry. And new spells that are being cast have disastrous consequences. And the Bonding Oath, which initially just kept them from breaking their promise to each other, has now physically joined them together. Kayden can't be more than a few few away from Blaze without being magically transported back to him.

And yeah. Stuff ensues. With corrupt politicians, illusions, an old hippy inventor/author, etc. So yeah lots of fun.

So yeah. I hope that making this thread motivates me to write this July!

[Bianca <3]

So today I went to Barnes and Noble to write. My friends were there so I didn't get much done, but I figured I'd show you what I did write. ^_^

SPOILER: Click to show

Joseph was a jolly man in his early forties of average height and weight, though he did have a bit of a stomach; he enjoyed sandwiches a bit too much, he claimed, and always had one on hand as he worked. His mouth was framed by a trim brown mustache and goatee, his brown eyes were both wise and bright, and his hands were coated with white chalk dust, fine like powdered sugar.

“Why don’t you three come on in?” he said, gesturing for them to step inside with an urgent motion. “But please hurry. I don’t want the staff here to see what I’ve been up to!” He grinned.

Lexi looked at Kayden, slightly uncertain, but Blaze went right on in, thanking Joseph as he stepped over the threshold.

“Kay,” Lexi whispered nervously, “is what he’s doing… legal?”

Kayden repressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Come on,” she said, dragging her cousin inside and then allowing Joseph to shut the door behind them.

The room hadn’t changed much since Kayden had last been inside only a week or so ago, but to Lexi it was all new, and her blue eyes widened as she took everything in.

For the most part, it was a normal hotel room. Much nicer than the cockroach-infested motel they had stayed in when they first arrived in California, but nowhere near as extravagant as their suite. There were just two rooms: the primary sitting room equipped with a small couch, TV, desk, and a small kitchen area, and then the bedroom through an insignificant white door.

The place was fairly neat. Save for a single half-eaten sandwich on the narrow kitchen counter, there was no food left out, no clothes lying around, and not a pillow out of place. But there was still an overwhelming sense of chaos because the entire room was covered with runes.

Written in a rainbow of differently colored chalk, the walls, floors, and even the mini fridge were covered in large circular runes, each rune in turn composed of hundreds of smaller symbols. No doubt housekeeping would immediately evict Joseph if they were ever to see the chalk drawings graffiti-ing the room, but the runes also glowed with a subtle magical light that would no doubt have worried the staff even more, looking like enchanted wall art left there by an ancient civilization.

As for the rest of the room, it was bursting with people. Men and women, young and old, dominated the small sitting room. They sat on the sofa, lounged against the walls, or stood in the gaps in between the runes written on the floor, careful not to smudge any of them with their feet. They didn’t seem like a particularly rowdy bunch. Instead, they all were fairly quiet and seemed to be waiting for Joseph to rejoin them, watching the new arrivals with curiosity.

“Is… there a party going on?” Lexi asked, confused. She had a tendril of blonde hair wrapped around her finger like a makeshift security blanket, no doubt wondering what she had gotten herself into by agreeing to visit.

“Nope,” Joseph said with a laugh; it was deep and hearty without a trace of mockery. “These are all illusions I’ve made. A pretty interesting bunch I’d have to say. Some actually aren’t quite done.”

It was true. When Kayden looked closer, she could see that some of the illusions weren’t completely whole. Most were missing subtle details like fingernails and eyelashes, but she did spot one in the corner who completely lacked a face, and another his right hand. It was slightly creepy, but in Joseph’s presence, it really did feel more like a giant party than a magical workshop of partially-created people.

[Avery]

Can I just say how fun this idea sounds? Totally a kind of book I'd read. And your excerpt is lovely. <3

[Bianca <3]

Thanks! It's been pretty fun to write, but I am ultra behind! So I'm going to write right now!

Edit: Finished up a chapter! Here's a short excerpt:

SPOILER: Click to show

But even as Kayden helped pick out eye colors and chins, she couldn’t help but hear Blaze’s words play in her head one more time: we’re just waiting for the spell to pan out.

Kayden watched Lexi gushing over the spell book, trying to describe the symbols for the Blaze to draw, and felt a bit sick. She couldn’t help but feel that their access to this wonderful world of magic was only temporary, something that was being given now, but would be taken away before she knew it.

What happens when the spell pans out? she thought, looking around the room, at the glowing runes and the illusions milling about, trying to commit them to memory. But it felt futile. Each thought was a grain of sand, falling through the cracks in her fingers, easy to take in and hold for a moment, but even easier to lose. What happens then?