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When I started NaNoWriMo on November 1st, I didn't have an outline, but I knew the story I wanted to write. The first couple of days were easy, but suddenly, it took a strange twist, and by day 10, I was pretty sure I was 22,000 words into my first romance novel. It goes without saying that obviously, if the characters are flushed out well, that they have minds of their own, which is exactly how I can describe what happened here. I went with it, eagerly awaiting what they would do next, or where they would go. I wasn't in control anymore. I realize that sounds like a crazy person talking, but I swear, November was one giant, prolonged, out-of-body experience.
This character named Charlotte Bloom took over, and I barely ate or slept until she was done. I found myself copiously typing detailed emails to myself midday at work on several occasions, turning down requests for drinks with friends to sit at home and write, and pretty much ignoring my fiancé for 30 days straight (sorry, Peter). This hugely contrasted my first book, which I wrote over a period of 2.5 years. This was an all-out obsession.
I decided on the last week of NaNoWriMo that I would turn this into three books, instead of one. There was more to tell, and I wasn't nearly finished with the characters. Or... the characters weren't nearly done with me. I haven't decided which is more true. I've created detailed outlines for the each of the next two books. Though these books may not win me any Nobel Prizes (or even sell well, I have no idea), there's a story here that deserves to be told. Yes, it's romance, and yes, it gets a bit smutty at times. If I'm being honest, those are the most entertaining scenes to write. ;)
I bought a few stock photos, did some (very) light designing in Photoshop, and voila! The covers are done (for now). I'm not planning on publishing these traditionally, but rather, via Amazon Kindle. If all goes well, I'll have the first book in the series up in January. The other two, I hope to publish sometime in the Spring/Summer. That means... instead of being done with Nano, I am about to embark on two months (or more!) of solid writing. Wish me luck!
