the writing thing

[coraa]

So, dancambull asked me what I was writing about, and I figured I'd answer here in case the rest of you were interested. :) In short: it's a fantasy novel, probably aimed at a YA audience. (Which doesn't, for the record, mean that it has to be fluffy or 'soft' -- I just read The Hunger Games, which is a wonderful book and pretty well refutes that particular myth. But more about that in a later post.)

The slightly longer version is that it's basically a fantasy novel in which I throw together a whole bunch of elements that I think are cool. :D A werepigeon (well, shapeshifters in general, but in this case a werepigeon), an invented secondary world, an archipelago 'nation' of semi-independent citystates, steampunk-esque anachrotech (though not Victoriana), magic based on writing systems, colleges and libraries, cloak-and-dagger machinations, and language/linguistics. Plus female characters -- the aforementioned werepigeon scavenger, her engineer friend, a city militiawoman and a priestess-mage who get drawn into the conflict, and the antagonist. (There's also a romance subplot, because I'm a sucker for a good love story.)

I can't say a lot more -- my brain is such that if I talk too much about a story before I get a draft done, I'll feel like I've already written that and my mind will be bored and itching to get to the next thing. But once I get a draft done, I can say more. :)

Might also be helpful for me to start doing status updates, for self-encouragement purposes.

Comments

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I also just finished Hunger Games and really liked it. The book put me in mind of Westerfeld's Uglies series and also Marsdon's Tomorrow When the War Began, both of which feature badass female protagonists.