So, About NaNo

Hello.

I'm sure you all remember (or at least, I hope you all remember) that I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I know I promised excerpts and other updates and that this post is long overdue. I've been kept reasonably busy by school, and last week my computer was infected by a virus, which left me unable to access my document for a couple days (not to mention a little freaked out and slightly unwilling to continue working).

Despite everything, my manuscript is currently almost 21,000 words long (YAY ME!), and I have ten whole days left to work in. If I get about 1,000 words a day (fingers crossed) I'll hit my wordcount goal, which is very exciting. At this point I think my biggest concern is that I won't be able to finish the story by November 30th, but hey, I can continue working after the month's over. All in all, I'm feeling pretty confident.

But enough about my concerns. You probably want an excerpt. Well, it took me a while to decide what section I wanted to sample here, but after some deliberation I decided I might as well be horribly vain and upload the section where I introduce the character who's loosely based on me. She's actually barely in the book, but this should give you a feel of my writing style and the basic traits of the main characters. Feedback is very welcome as long as it's not too dream-crushing. I hope you all enjoy! (Oh, by the way, it's not specified in this excerpt, but Beast is a horse.)

Her eyes fixed on their hiding place, and slowly she smiled. “Greetings, travelers,” she said genially in a wavering voice. “Please, come in. It’s not often we here receive visitors.”

            Slowly, reluctantly, Aliss emerged from her place in the trees despite Lutroft’s attempts to stop her. Beast followed Aliss, and Lutroft was forced to accompany them, although he hung back warily, his eyes skating over the strange creature that had beckoned them.

            Aliss was shocked by how young she was. From a distance, her unsteady stance and soft voice had made her appear elderly, but she seemed to be barely older than Aliss. Aliss expected her to shy away from Beast, like most people did, but instead she gasped excitedly upon seeing him, quickly approached him, and gently placed her hand on his nose. And rather than unceremoniously tossing his head to dislodge her hand, as he normally would have, Beast kept still, allowing the strange girl to stroke his head.

            “Such a fine creature,” the girl murmured. “Which one of you does he belong to?”

            “Her,” Lutroft said quickly.

            Aliss smiled. “He doesn’t really belong to anyone. But I suppose you could say I’m the one he listens to.”

            “Lucky girl,” the stranger said, smiling. Aliss noticed that, while the girl’s accent was Sineergian, it sounded somewhat forced. Still not looking at Lutroft or Aliss, she asked, “What brings you into the forest on this fine day?”

            “We’re trying to get to Istengil,” Aliss explained, ignoring Lutroft’s violent headshake. She could tell from his expression that he’d also heard the strange falseness in the girl’s inflections.  

            “Well, you’re again lucky,” the strange girl said. “You’re only five days away. Four if you ride this beauty.” With a final approving stroke, the girl finally turned away from Beast and sat down beside the fading fire.

            “Oh, that’s wonderful!” Aliss exclaimed exultantly. “Isn’t it, Lu?”

            “Why is your head covered?” Lutroft asked suddenly. Aliss shot him a disapproving look.

            “My dress is my business just as your dress is yours,” the girl replied, keeping her attention on the fire. “Would you like to stay and breakfast with us?”

            “Perhaps,” Lutroft answered before Aliss got a chance to accept. “What’s wrong with your eyes? And who’s ‘us’?”

            “Lutroft, really,” Aliss scolded. But inside she had been wondering the same things. There was nothing immediately unsettling about the girl’s eyes, except for the fact that they were blue, and of all the people one might expect to come across hiding in a wood, a noblewoman wasn’t even on the list. Yet somehow, beyond that, there was something else, something… off. And while Aliss thought it was safe to assume the girl was including the person in the makeshift house in her statements, that person wasn’t necessarily the only other one around.

            Turning her gaze on Lutroft, the girl gestured toward the shelter and replied, “Us is me and my friend, Erykah, who is resting at the moment. And to answer your other question, there’s nothing wrong with my eyes.” Here she stood and walked up to Lutroft. “My eyes are as just as good as those deep brown orbs you and your friend have-” she stopped abruptly. She’d turned to face Aliss as she spoke, and now she froze, looking at Aliss as though she hadn’t seen her before. Cautiously, the girl stepped over to Aliss and reached up, as though to touch Aliss’s eyes.

            “Inme tatago,” she whispered reverently. “Look at you.” A smile played at her lips as she finished, “You’re a Neer.”

            “And you’re a Llenyen,” Lutroft said harshly, stepping forward and yanking back the girl’s hood. From it her hair tumbled loose, long and thick and coppery red. And in that moment Aliss realized what was wrong with the girl’s eyes: they weren’t deep blue like the common noblemen’s or icy blue like the eyes of royals. They were in between the two shades, a soft, steely blue, almost gray.

            For a moment, the girl stared at Lutroft in blank shock. And then, suddenly, she began laughing.

            “Ah, yes, woe is me,” the girl said, her voice having lost its Sineergian accent and slipped into a Llenyen lilt. “You Sineergian folk have such clean blood. You’re all either blond or brown-haired, depending on your station. You’ve never blurred class lines enough to create variety of appearance. Someone like me has no hope of blending in.” With that, she proudly released the rest of her hair and arranged it carefully on her shoulders before asking, “Well then, Sineergian boy, are you going to kill me just because my hair’s prettier than yours?”

            “What are you doing in Sineerg?” Aliss asked quickly, before Lutroft could say anything.

            The girl scoffed. “What do you think?” she shot back. “We’re running away.”

            “From what?” Lutroft queried.

            Looking at him a bit bemusedly, the girl said, “Stay and breakfast with us and I’ll tell you.” Seeing Lutroft’s hesitation, she added, “I won’t poison it, I promise.”

            “We accept,” Aliss answered for them.

            “Excellent,” the girl said. “I hope you two have food, because we certainly don’t.”