Well, I did it. Cloud Cursed was wrapped up by Day 19, which left me free all last week to pursue other things. In the meantime I also managed to pass 10,000 words on A Courtship of Dragons, taking my November total over 100,000.
So what has NaNo taught me this year? Not a lot really, since I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to throw a lot of words out if I have a chance to put in the effort. It’s still nice to know I can complete a challenge when I set one, though.
Am I glad I did it? Yep, because now I’m one book deeper into the Dragonlands series and have plenty of ideas to keep carrying me forward. This book also brought out the overarching plotline and coalesced a few nebulous ideas, which is always nice. I don’t know how concrete they’ll prove to be going forward (spontaneous dragons and all), but having the daily word count chasing me meant I kept writing when I might otherwise have taken a few days out to think things over and lost the momentum.
I also didn’t go completely crazy over the last few days. Well, relatively speaking. I wrote as much from Day 13-19 as I’d written up to that point, doubling my word count in a week. But this isn’t unheard of for me when I get my teeth into something, and I didn’t have any 10,000+ days, so I didn’t lose my head completely. Which I’d count as a success judging by my output in previous NaNo attempts.
Overall I’d call this a success. I hit my goals and didn’t keel over from exhaustion or pressure. I started and finished the book I wanted to and also managed to start something else along the way, regardless of world events, boiler breakdowns and other unexpected drains on my time, energy and brain space.
So thanks, NaNo 2016. You were tough, but we made it and maybe I’ll play properly next year.
To finish, here’s the final Snippet List of Progress:
DAY SEVENTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 19
ANHARDYNE WAS FED up of stairs. For creatures who could transform into thirty to forty foot beast and fly every which way they pleased, dragons built far too many stairs.
– Anhardyne, Chapter 19
Something long and smooth brushed over his wings and Estenarven spun, snarling.
– Estenarven, Chapter 19
Day 17 – 4942 words
Overall – 73,234 words
DAY EIGHTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 20+21
Without a word, Khennik assumed his dragon shape and curled his longer form around the front half of Estenarven, covering the young dragon with a shimmering bronze and gold wing.
– Khennik, Chapter 20
“We rarely get what we deserve,” Goryal said gently. “Although sometimes, if we are lucky enough, we get what we need.” They opened their clasped hands and the scent of tea filled the air. “Drink?”
– Goryal, Chapter 21
Day 18 – 7804 words
Overall – 81,038 words
DAY NINETEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 22 – 25
“Have faith in yourself. Trust your strength. We are with you.”
– Khennik, Chapter 22
Maegla, it was beautiful.
– Nera, Chapter 23
Tempting though it was to tell the elder to buzz off – rainbow sparkles optional – they were still a powerful, influential dragon and she didn’t think either her captain or the ambassador would be pleased if she somehow offended Goryal. Not that Goryal was easy to offend, but it would be just her luck if she managed it nevertheless.
– Anhardyne, Chapter 24
“What happens now?”
– Reglian, Chapter 25
Day 19 – 8880 words
Overall – 89,218 words
THE END!
Now that that’s over with, I suppose I should return to working on Storm Rising and get that ready for release in the new year. I would much rather get working on book 4 (Burning Sands), but if I just keep writing without releasing things I think people might get fed up of hearing me talking about them.
So next on the list will be Storm Rising edits. Rift Riders has about nine more weeks of scheduled updates to go, then I’ll be prepping that one for release too before deciding what to do about book 3 in both series. Woven in amongst all of this I’ll also continue to work on A Courtship of Dragons, because there will never be too much fluffy dragon romance in the world and writing Esten and Mastekh is pure brain candy for me.
All in all, business as usual. Much writing has been done, too much editing remains and books will appear as and when I can get them ready.
Farewell, November, thanks for the words. To my fellow NaNo participants out there, congratulations! I hope you made it to the end, or if not, then you’re at least happy with what you achieve. If (again) not, well, I guess there’s always next year. I’ll see you then.
In the meantime, take care, my lovelies!
I hope you’re as excited for the next phase of Mhysra & Co’s journey as I am. Unlike books 1-4, which I wrote years ago and haven’t really changed, Aquila’s War and World’s End were both written within the last year. I really hope you like it.
Becca Lusher 