Beautiful Books: Introduce Your NaNoWriMo Novel

~Well, Hello all!~

First of all, apologies for missing my usual Saturday post. I was in Dubbo with my family, visiting the zoo and having a grand time. I could have pre-scheduled a post, but I honestly didn’t have time and couldn’t be bothered. So…

Well, Beautiful Books went up last week, so I’ll be answering the questions and telling you all a bit about my NaNoWriMo novel, which is currently in the stages of planning. It has the rough working title of Stars Fill Infinity, mostly because that sounds really pretty.

If you want to know a bit more about Beautiful Books, check out Cait @ Paper Fury or Sky @ Further Up and Further In.

The Beautiful Books questions!

1.What inspired the idea for your novel and how long you had the idea?

So, this was inspired by Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (I hope you aren’t all tired of hearing about Les Mis yet. You’d better not be).  Social justice has always been a huge passion of mine, when I read Les Miserables it changed my view of storytelling. I decided I wanted to write my own story about freedom, mercy and justice. Basically, it’s inspired by Les Miserables but isn’t quite close enough to be called a retelling.

2.Describe what your novel is about.

My novel is about two sisters, Chessy and Sapphire, both who have suffered through their own heartbreaks. They want freedom, they want love and they are willing to shed their blood for it. It is also about forgiveness, acceptance and family.

Oh wait, here’s a cool blurb that I wrote just then:

Chessy Verde and her sister, Sapphire, have spent their whole lives cut off from the world. That is, until Sapphire rebels and runs away with her boyfriend. Broken-hearted at her sister’s betrayal, Chessy continually escapes into the city outside the walls of her community to heal the sick and care for the poor of the town. 

But a storm is brewing in the air, disrupting the fragile peace. A charismatic, fiery young man, calling himself Justice Rift, has arrived in town, bringing with him a flag of freedom and talk of revolution. As the disillusioned young people of the town flock around Justice, clamouring for rights and for the rich and corrupt to pay for the damage they have caused, Chessy finds herself drawn towards the rebellious Justice and the cause he is willing to lay down his life for. 

When Chessy makes a foolish choice that puts her on the radar of a deadly and determined police officer, she finds herself asking hard questions. She is willing to die, but is she willing to forgive? She is willing to sacrifice everything, but she is willing to show mercy to those who have hurt her most?

3.What is your book’s aesthetic?

Freedom–revolution–compassion–muddy water–barefoot kids–physical wounds–mental wounds–rejection–love–justice–strength–truth–standing for your beliefs–honour.

4.Introduce us to each of your characters.

Chessy is spirited, compassionate, slightly wild, a wandering soul, she longs for freedom and something more.

Sapphire is beautiful, broken, she is healing, sad, loving, giving, nurturing, a motherly type, she longs for forgiveness and acceptance.

Justice is strong, a leader, a commander, smart, passionate, fiery, rebellious, determined, he longs for justice for the downtrodden and also for acceptance from his family.

5. How do you prepare to write?

By screaming. Drinking hot chocolate. Procrastinating. Oh yes, and writing character sketches. Finding models of my characters (because I can’t draw to save my life), deciding on MBTIs. Researching. Outlining. All that.

6. What are you most looking forward to about this novel?

Killing off my characters! Haha, just joking. I am looking forward (in a weird way) to the death of one character (I won’t say who!) because it’s going to be super emotional and I’ll probably cry writing it. I’m also looking forward to the challenge of writing something different to what I usually write

7.List three things about your novel’s setting.

1. A disgusting river with a pretty name–the homeless kids dredge it for lost treasures to sell.

2.A maze of muddy trenches and barricades where they fight for freedom.

3. A closed off community where Chessy longs to be free.

8.What are your character’s goals and who (or what) stands in their way?

Sapphire wants to be accepted and she wants unconditional love. She also wants her son to have a good education and a comfortable life. Her own broken past her and mindset interferes with that. And then there’s also another character in her way, but I won’t go there.

Chessy wants freedom. She wants to leave the community she lives in and help the outcasts on the city streets. Her goal is to become a teacher and to run a charity. Her father interferes with this goal–he wants her safe behind the gates where no one can harm her. There is also the fact that Chessy is being pursued by a cranky policewoman.

Justice, as I mentioned before, wants justice for the outcasts, he also wants acceptance from his family. What stands in his way is his own pride and the pride of his family, both of them refusing to be the first person to make a move towards that reconciliation.

9.How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

Sapphire finally puts her mistakes behind her, accepts forgiveness and starts again. Also there’s more, but #spoilers.

Chessy learns to forgive and, having fought for freedom, she finally understands true freedom. She also has learnt what love truly is, not simply a feeling, but an action, a sacrifice, a breaking of her heart.

Justice puts away his pride, after being humbled rather dramatically. He also has a sort of negative arc, but I won’t really go into that right here, because I haven’t really worked it out myself yet.

10.What are your books themes? How do you want your readers to feel when the story is over?

I’ve mentioned a lot of the themes already. I haven’t worked out the main theme yet, but there are several sub-themes that I’ve touched on. Acceptance/forgiveness, justice/mercy, true love, honour and freedom. I want my readers to feel triumphant, joyful, proud and closer to God. But I think my ending is going to be very bittersweet, so I want people to feel sad. I also want my readers to question things, I want my story to challenge our view of things and think about ideas I’ve raised.

Here I pause awkwardly and realise that my story sounds super deep and philosophical. I promise it won’t be that way at all! I’m hoping that it will turn out quite humorous and fun, but also serious and deep. Who knows if I’ll achieve that, but I’ll try.

~Good Day All!~

 

Are you participating in NaNo this year? If so, what are you working on?

P.S. Yesterday I gave my My Books page an overhaul, so go check it out!! Tell me what you think of the new look 😀