Here We Go Again

It's that time of year. Time for National Novel Writing Month to gear up. This year, I've decided to approach it a little differently. While I've enjoyed the get togethers and such, I'm just not up for the social interaction this year. So I've created a novel specific user name and have not posted in the forums, although I've glanced through them. Just nothing there for me any more. November is really just an excuse to write something. Not like I need an excuse, but generally speaking, I need a kick in the ass by this time of year.

This year's novel (almost a WIP but not quite) is One Thousand Holes. It's the story of a man called Shiva who is insane attempting to get some tiny thread of his mind back in place. He's in this condition because of his powers. It started when his mother died in a car wreck (he was in the car, too) and he started seeing spirits. From there, he got more powerful -- learning to read minds, control minds, break things with a mere touch and all kinds of other nutty, impossible things, all with the encouragement of his imaginary friend, Pete. Pete isn't exactly an imaginary friend. It's just that no one else can see him or knows he's there. At some point, Shiva meets a man named Timothy. Timothy offers to teach Shiva how to control his abilities. Shiva reluctantly agrees, as it quickly becomes obvious that there are pepole in the world who don't appreciate Shiva's abilities. Well, things progress, and Timothy is soon driven mad by Shiva's power and his unwillingness to use it to its full potential. Shiva is very aware that doing so would be dangerous, but Timothy sees only the lure of absolute power. Timothy murders Shiva's wife and tries to murder Shiva but fails. Five years later, Shiva tracks Timothy down and gets revenge. Within weeks of the resolution of that conflict, Shiva vanishes, leaving Pete behind. Three years later, with everyone believing Shiva's dead, Shiva falls out of the sky. But there are problems. His body is full of holes -- one thousand of them, to be exact. And he has no memory of his past. He seems to know things in bits and pieces, but for the most part, it's gone. His reappearance gets the attention of a number of people, some who'll be good for him and some who won't be. These include Pete, Penelope Rain (Shiva's lover), Kelso Brandon (a federal agent with powers similar to Shiva's), Timothy and the Black Hands (the group responsible for Shiva's fall). There will be others who take notice and lots of little things to play with. Fun stuff.

My problem this year will be time. Time is not going to be on my side this year. The move is scheduled for the end of October/early November, and there will, of course, be the insanity of unpacking afterwards. I've got no expectations this time around. This is my fifth year. I won't feel bad if I don't hit the mark (at least I don't think I will), but knowing me, I'll hit 50k and more and still get everything done with the move. Why? Because I'm insane. And I like it that way.

Happy NaNoWriMo!