NaNoWriMo

For those of you who missed my last newsletter, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.

And guess what? I did it in 12 days. It helped that I was in Florida for a week with plenty of free time. But I scrounged up all my creativity and got the words down, with only a few small panic attacks along the way.

The Mighty Pens

The Mighty Pens is a charitable organization. This year, we’re raising money for We Need Diverse Books, which supports representation of marginalized groups in literature and helps stop book banning.

If you would like to contribute to my fundraiser, you can do that here. Anything helps!

Vae Victus

Vae Victus is the novel I’ve been working on, about a Germani girl who marries a Roman soldier for information…and gets more than she bargained for. There’s real-life battles and sinister magic.

A Snippet

The smile that pulled at his lips was at once conciliatory and kind, and she hated it. “I apologize, domina. I was merely taking a bracing walk.”

She despised the formal way he spoke, and how he seemed to command the clearing as though all the space around him were his to command. Typical Roman arrogance.

“I suggest you walk elsewhere.”

“I would like to, but you see, I’ve lost myself in the woods.”

She sighed. Romans. So stupid. “Where do you go?”

“To the Aescomanni village.”

“Which one?”

“Er…there’s more than one?” He looked sheepish; it made his eyes soft, but she wasn’t thinking about that, of course.

She rolled her eyes again. “Yes. I assume you’re probably looking for the village of the reik.”

“Yes! Yes, that is where I need to go.”

“It’s that way.”

“May I accompany you there? It’s growing dark and dangerous.”

She did not answer at first, but she did lower her spear. “And I am one of the dangers,” she said, and then, before he could say something else to provoke her, she turned on her heel and sprang off into the twilit forest, towards where the hart had gone.

Finitus

It’s a short check-in for today! Come back in December for a full newsletter. Thanks to everyone who has donated or provided support.