Long Over-Due Update

Hey all!

So, I started writing an update back in March, then got bogged down with work, sickness, more depression issues, so that I never ended up updating, and now it's almost June! WTF?!

I'm going to try to be more regular with my blogging from now on, so fingers crossed on that front.

​Let's see what's been going on since my last update. 

(Read more under the cut)

NaNoWriMo A-Z Challenge 2019

Yes, I know I haven't updated in almost two months. I have started writing a March entry (which will become a March/ April entry now), but I've been busy with work (YAY! I have work. More on that in the full update). But I wanted to announce my participation in both NaNoWriMo and the A-Z Challenge this April, and ask for your help.

I've always wanted to combine the A-Z Challenge with NaNoWriMo. Some of you may remember me previously serializing All It Takes for the A-Z challenge, and the format works perfectly for me.

This time around I want to write a new(?) story and post a 2,000 word instalment each day for the challenge (the title of the chapter will be a corresponding letter of the alphabet.)

My problem is which story, and this is where y'all come in.

I have four different story ideas, and I want everyone to vote on which you'd like to see me write in April. Part of my reason for doing the challenge the way I am is to attracted new readers to my work, so what better way to do so than by writing something you're all interested in?

Here are the choices (some might be familiar to you, as they're re-writes of previous unpublished works.)

1. LGBT, Sci-Fi romance about parallel universes.

A recent episode of The Flash had me wondering, if parallel universes were real, would you be drawn to the same person from all universes? What happens if you've lost your lover and meet an alternate version of them?

The story I have in mind centres around a young (25-ish) lesbian couple - Sian and Jasmine - who met in uni, and have recently gotten married. Six months after getting married, Jasmine is killed in a car accident. Sometime later, a freak storm opens the doorway between universes, and a version of Jasmine comes through from Earth 2 to Earth 1, where she meets Sian. But E2 Jasmine doesn't know Sian, because in her universe they never met and fell in love.

2. Choosing Sides; urban-fantasy about witches oppressed by the government.

Those of you familiar with my writing will know Choosing Sides is my urban-fantasy novel about three young women, who discover they have magical abilities, in a world that hates those with magic. 

This will be my third draft of the story, as I try to get onto the page exactly what is in my mind. 

We have Esmee, who works with the 'good' witch resistance, and believes with the right policing witches and non-magical people can live peacefully side-by-side. Nola, who is part of the 'bad' witch rebellion, and believes witches should have power over those without magic. And Maggie, who is part of the PID, a team who believe witches are dangerous and should be imprisoned/ wiped out.

3. YA fantasy about a gender-divided magical school.

This one is a new idea, and I see it as a sort of cross between The Handmaiden's Tail and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The story centres around a magical society where males are the elite and females are inferior. Men train in magic to become leaders, military, doctors, lawyers and other esteemed professions. Women are taught housekeeping, cooking and child rearing related magic.

Breena enrols at the Arcanium at fifteen, like all others her age, and at first falls in line like the other girls, knowing no better. But as her time progresses, she starts to see the inequality in the world and forms a group to challenge it, eventually uncovering a dark secret about society.

4. Cupid; upper YA/ NA paranormal-romance.

This is another one regulars to my blog will recognise, as it's a re-write of a previously unpublished story. 

Eighteen year-old Ruby Collins discovers her biological parents are fae, of the Cupid verity, and now she must give up everything she knows and loves - including her adoptive parents, and her best-friend Lucas, who she's never worked up to courage to admit she's in love with. If she doesn't embrace her new destiny as a Cupid, and help seventy-two couples fall in love before her nineteenth birthday, a dark fae named Abraxas will claim her soul. 

So those are my four story ideas. Two romances (though scifi and paranormal) and two fantasy with social commentary. 

Whichever gets the most votes, I will write and serialize on my blog during April, and then probably self-publish a paperback edition. The other three will be the projects I work on throughout the rest of the year - so don't worry, you will get to read all four stories eventually.

To vote for your favourite, and the one you'd like to see me write during April, please visit the following poll:  

What should Clare Dugmore write for NaNoWriMo/ A-Z Challenge April 2019?

1. LGBT, Sci-Fi romance about parallel universes

2. Choosing Sides; urban-fantasy, about witches

3. YA fantasy about a gender-divided magical school

4. Cupid; upper YA/ NA paranormal-romance.

Created with QuizMaker

NaNoWriMo 2018 and Writing Update

Due to various reasons, I haven't done much in the way of writing the last few months. 

I did add a bit more to Choosing Sides, and I now have about 12, 000 words/ eight chapters left until completion.

Additionally, I decided to serialize it on Wattpad. You can check it out here: ​www.wattpad.com/633473780-choosing-sides-author%27s-notes

Kyra and I resumed work on our co-novel, and decided to make some changes. 

The story we wrote in part last year, is now going to be book two in a series focused on a UK wrestling company. Book one will introduce the male lead for book two, but also follow two best friends, who're debuting in the company. 

It's a story Kyra and I have drafted a couple of times over the years, and we now feel it's the right time to really work on it and get it out there. 

It was going well, but we've had to put it on hiatus for a few weeks, so Kyra can work on her solo novel, Say What You Feel (Chaos and Consent #2), as she's on a tight deadline for it, because of it being due for release on November 6. 

Once her book is out, and she's had a break, we'll get back to it.

I spoke about re-writing my 2012 novel, Cupid, and I did start work on that, getting about 5k down, before illness hit. Then I lost my motivation to write ... until NaNoWriMo was approaching.

I've been conflicted on what to write in November, as I recently had an excellent idea for a young-adult, high fantasy book/ possible series. 

But, after much deliberation, I feel Cupid is the best choice to go with. It's more developed that the high fantasy, which I'm still working out the details of, and with less fantasy world-building needed. 

I think both could be excellent stories, but the high-fantasy probably isn't the right thing to write during NaNoWriMo, and I need to give myself more time to iron out the plot, and nail down all the world building aspects.

So I will be sticking with Cupid, and after re-reading the 5000 words I wrote in September, I'm certain it's the right choice. Damn it, I love that story, even if I do say so myself and what I've written so far is excellent. I'm so excited to work on it again once NaNoWriMo starts. 

If you're interested in following my NaNWriMo progress, or learning more about Cupid, please check out my profile here.

That's it in the way of writing updates, but if you want a more personal update, please check out my recent blog post over on my website. http://www.claredugmore.com/blog/october-update

Until next time. T.T.F.N ...

Writing Plans for September

One of my main goals for the month is to write 10k per week/ 40k per month, and I plan on doing this over three projects! Yes, three. I am insane. 

I plan on continuing to write Choosing Sides, which I estimate has 20k left before the story is complete. Kyra Lennon and I have also discussed re-writing our co-written novel to change some aspects, and I want to start re-writing a new version of my 2012 novel Cupid.

The basic premise is the same, and the main changes are that I'm making it firmly YA (it was NA previously, and I've aged down the characters a couple of years) and turning it into an origin story. I've also renamed and changed the dynamics of the characters somewhat, mostly to include a best-friends to lovers romance, which I think works really well in the story. My aim is to start by serialising on Wattpad once I've gotten enough lead.

Be sure to follow me on social media for updates on both Choosing Sides and Cupid, as well as my co-written novel with Kyra.

And if you want to know how my vacation was, and what I've been up to in August, please feel free to check out my main blog on claredugmore.com! 

AUGUST 2018 UPDATE: IS IT VACATION TIME YET?

We go on holiday (or vacation for those in America) on August 13 and I CANNOT WAIT! 

It's really hard to focus when you have little over a week until you'll be sat on a beach drinking Starbucks iced lattes. But focus I must, as I still have a week of work, so here's an update on life etc. this July... 

Writing 

July was CampNaNoWriMo again, and I set myself the target of adding 20k to my urban-fantasy Choosing Sides, which I'm happy to report I achieved. 

The story is now at 75k words, and I estimate I have between 15 - 20k remaining to write, in the form of 12 chapters!! I'm so excited to be almost finished with draft one of this story. 

As I've previously mentioned, Choosing Sides is actually a complete re-write of my 2011/12 novel Sibylline Nights. This is a story that's been in my head for years long before 2011, when I had the idea of magical triplets separated at birth. 

As well as the family aspect, one story that I've always wanted to tell with this novel was the oppression of witches. The idea was originally spawned by the events of video game Dragon Age 2, which focused on the oppression of mages. My love of the X-Men comics helped this idea grow, and then seeing real world oppression in the media every day added to that growth and desire. 

I hope what I have now is an urban-fantasy that will not only entertain, but make people question their actions towards those that are 'different', and encourage people to be more empathetic and understanding towards those who're not like them in some way. I'm taking a break from writing for August. 

As I mentioned above, we're going on holiday soon, so it's hard to focus, plus the kids are off. And, having just written 20k in a month, I feel the need for some down time to do fun non-writer activities. My aim is the add the final 15-20k in September, and then begin revisions, before sending it to beta readers at the end of the year. 


Reading

In addition to writing (and work), my productive time in July was spent beta reading two books, and I also found time to read a third just for the pleasure of it. 

 All three books were amazing in their own ways, though completely different from each other. I feel very fortunate to know such fantastic writers. 

The books I read were HEAR WHAT YOU WANT, by Kyra Lennon, a heart-breaking dual-POV romantic-suspense novel about a young woman who wakes up after a night out half-naked with her memories missing. You can check out my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2455499691 

The second book was a mind-blowing paranormal horror, DON'T EAT THE WAFFLES, by Scout Dawson, about a man who wakes up in a waffle barn themed afterlife, with no recollection of how he died, and begins experiencing distributing flashbacks of his life. You can read my review here: ​https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2481790119 

The final book I read was reverse-harem romance HARNESSING THE WINDS, by Morena Silver, a light, fun romp full of magic and pirates, about a sea captain must bind with the Four Winds to break a curse on her ship and crew, and you can check out my review here: ​https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2481802389 

That's All Folks

While I'll be taking it easy for August, I plan on refocusing come September when the school starts, so I can kick butt with writing, work, and general productivity. 

Until then, I hope y'all enjoy the rest of summer. I know I sure will ... now where are my sunglasses! ;)

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week ThreeUpdate

One week of CampNaNoWrimo left to go, and I'm only 5k away from meeting my self-set target of 20k in the month of July.

I'm so pleased with how things are going. 5k a week Mon-Fri was the exact right amount for me. I don't feel burned out, I'm still enjoying the story, and I feel like I'm making good progress, instead of feeling like I've achieved nothing.

This week's highlight was the repercussions of the twist at the end of act two leading to some interesting developments for one of my main characters. I'm also setting up conflicts for the other two MCs to battle with before the climax. I'm so excited to finish this story.

And I only have another 15-20k to go, as I broke the 70k mark today. My aim is 95k max for the story, and I will probably work on the final 20k in September. I say this as I'm taking August off not only to avoid burn-out, but to enjoy the summer school break with my sons, and head to the beach for a vacation! 

So that was my positive writing week. How are things going for everyone else? Let me know in the comments, and until next week (when I'll hopefully be reporting making it to 20k) have an excellent week!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week Two Update

Hey everyone!

I'm back with another update on my CampNaNoWriMo progress.

I didn't meet my self-set 5k target this week, because I took Thursday and Friday off, but because of my efforts in week one, I'm still on target to make 20k by the end of July. I just need to make sure I don't slack off next week, or all fall behind.

Week two was mostly focused on the transition from act two to act three; dealing with the fall out of the thing that happened at the end of act two, and then setting up the building blocks for act three and the climax. It was some good stuff, but I'm excited to get back into more action-y type stuff as act three gets into full swing. 

Is anyone else doing CampNaNoWriMo or working on something? If so, let me know in the comments. I'd love to know how you're getting on.

Until next week, hope y'all have an awesome week!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18: Week One Update

The first week of July's Camp NaNoWriMo has finished, and I'm slightly ahead of my self-set target of 5k words per week. 

This time around I'm only writing Monday to Friday, and taking weekends off, for the sake of my own sanity. Though I did take Thursday off this week (as I wasn't in a good headspace) and instead made up my word count on Saturday afternoon. That's it for this weekend though, once I've finished this post I plan on spending the rest of my weekend playing Elder Scrolls Online! 

The highlight of the week was an unexpected twist near the end of act two. I have a loose chapter plan and I know how I want the end to play out, but I still have some blanks on the way there. This was one of these blanks. Recently, I'd decided to give my healing witch Esmee an additional ability, and this manifested towards the end of act two, with some interesting consequences, which led to me writing one of my favourite chapters to date. I have one more chapter in act two to write, and I have a plan in mind for that. Then I'm moving onto act three, for which I have a handful of chapters in mind ... then nothing for nine chapters, until I start building towards the climax. So it will be interesting to see where the majority of act three takes me.

I'll be back next week to update on my week two progress, but if you want daily updates, check out social media.

Until next week, take care and have a great week ahead!

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18

Hey all!

I'm back with an update about my writing life.

I did well for Camp NaNo in April. I added almost 35k to my work-in-progress urban-fantasy Choosing Sides. But then in May and June I did very little - perhaps adding a couple of thousand words here and there. 

I want this first draft complete and ready to send to beta readers by the end of the year. By my calculations I have just under 36k left to write (I'm aiming for a 90k novel, and currently have just over 55k written). 

It SHOULD NOT take me six months to write 36k!! So, I've signed up for Camp NaNo again in July, with the aim of writing 20k. That's 1k a day, Mon-Fri for the duration of July. I can do that. I won't be writing in August. The kids will be off school, and we have plans to go to Weston Super-mare for a few days, so I'll take the month off to relax. 

But there's absolutely no reason I shouldn't be able to write the remaining 16k, go through it myself to make sure it's all correct, and then go through it with Hubby for edits/ beta reading, before sending it to others, by the end of the year. 

 There are other projects I've also been thinking about ... Kyra Lennon wants us to get back to work on our co-written novel, so that we can publish it before the end of the year. I will have to find time to fit that into my schedule. 

I've also been thinking of polishing and publishing Every Moment With You, and Seeking The Truth, which are both complete, but just need a good editing. I don't want to put too much on my plate/ take my focus off of Choosing Sides, so I plan on revisiting those other projects in a few months when I'm in a better routine, and I'm close to completing Choosing Sides.

I'll try to post weekly updates with my progress here, but for those who want to see daily update, snippets, and titbits (in July I'll also be doing the WIP Joy challenge again) please feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And for anyone interested in what's being going on in my personal/ non-writing life recently, feel free to head over to my website blog for an update. 

Camp NaNoWriMo April 18: Week One Update.

Since the beginning of the year. I've been working on a re-write of my 2011 urban-fantasy Sibylline Nights, which I've since renamed Triquetra: Choosing Sides. 

I'm on just over 26k words right now, and am taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo with the aim to get the story to at least 65k by the end of April (I'd already written 15k between January and March, and I'm aiming to add 50k in April). 

Some aspects are the same - i.e. the main characters, their names, abilities and backstory/ history, and the theme is still centred around magic and witches. But previously, the story didn't have a clear direction and I didn't feel like the early chapters were distinct enough (it's really tough having three main point of view characters. Gods only know how GRRM does it). 

Now I feel the story has a clear direction, and I have a more thought out chapter plan that's helping me write. Plus I've changed the early chapters so that they're more distinct from each other, where as in the original draft all three MCs went through the same experience, so it was sort of repetitive. Now there isn't that repetition. 

I'm so happy with where it's going, and excited to write this first draft, then get to work on revisions. If you're interested in learning more, I post about it on social media, and this month I've been taking part in the WIP Joy challenge, as well as posting daily snippets from my Camp NaNo progress.

If you're interested in knowing what's been going on in my non-writing life, you can head over to my blog for a full update. http://www.claredugmore.com/blog/long-time-no-blog