Hey, hey, friends! I’m emerging from my frenzied writing fog to give an update on how my FicFrenzy novel has been going!

Whew! It really has been a frenzied few weeks of writing. And I can’t believe the event ends FRIDAY! But it’s been such a joy gathering with my FicFriends and supporting each other as we make progress on our WIPs.

Today I’m joining in on my Know the Novel tag to give a little peek on the chaos that has been my FicFrenzy!

THE WRITING OF
UNWIND THE SHADOWS

How’s the writing going overall?

Noooothing to see here. Things are going great.

Okay, okay, things have been going super well and have been really hard all at once.

I stepped into this challenge unsure how well I’d hold up and how much I’d be able to do. For years (with the exception of last year), I’ve written the first full draft of a novel in a single month, first during NaNoWriMo, now for FicFrenzy. But as I am still recovering from surgery this year, I wasn’t sure if I could do my usually intense writing.

Yet I have.

Every single day I show up to my story, and at the end of each day, I have a good number of words added to the document. And it’s been…incredible. It’s been so encouraging seeing what I am capable of and finding the energy to come back to my novel again and again. It has filled me with thankfulness that I have been able to do it.

At the same time, it’s been hard. The energy has been difficult to muster up. Though I’ve managed to get pretty high wordcounts each day, it takes so much of the day to get those words out because the writing itself is slow and this story has been—ah—a bit of a headache to work out.

It’s been exhausting in many ways.

BUT.

Though there have been lots of challenges and some discouraging days, the fact that I’ve been able to do it? That fills me with immense gratitude. I’m here and I’m writing and making progress every single day, and I am so grateful for that!

As far as the story itself… Well. I keep going back and forth between absolutely adoring it and wondering what kind of horrific mess of a monster I’m creating for Future Christine to have to wrangle into submission. Ya know. Normal writer feelings when first drafting. Alllll part of the process. 😅

But I’m so sorry, Future Christine.

What’s been the most fun aspect of writing this novel so far?

There have been a number of things that have just delighted me!

Including…

• Amelia’s entire home. The CHAOS of that household with Amelia and her wild time magic, her three magical aunts, one (1) longsuffering uncle, a total chaos cousin, a sassmaster of a butler, and an adorable shapeshifting cat who once shapeshifted into a mouse, popped out from behind a cushion, and made a guest shriek and spill tea all over herself and the floor (good times, good times). I could happily write scenes in that house forever. It’s just delightful chaos all the time. (Well, except the times when there is Trauma™️ but *flaps hand in the air* details.)
• Amelia’s ESTP cousin Benedict, who made not one, not two, but three ladies blush within thirty seconds of walking into a room. This boy is trouble. Like. He’s already caused so much trouble. I love him.
• Exploring all the different forms of magic. I’ve been really digging into Amelia’s special brand of time magic and it’s been fascinating. And I’m LOVING Connolly’s memory magic.
• The fact that I can have one chaos scene of a shawl magically growing so big it’s trying to take over an entire house and then turn around and have super creepy shadow people assault someone. The fun whimsy on top of dark tones is my fave.
• Bringing magic and magical creatures into Regency England. There’s nothing quite like taking a real world setting and adding MAGIC. I’m thoroughly enjoying the challenge of taking the way people thought back then and seeing how that would translate into a world full of magical abilities.

Though I’ve hit a lot of trouble spots, the overall concept of this story still thrills me and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me next.

What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

OH BOY. These characters. They are proving to be something. Can we talk about how every. single. time. I throw in a tiny side character who’s meant to be there for like a chapter or less or even just briefly mentioned by name, they turn into a WHOLE thing and make me fall in love with them?? This happened FOUR times, you guys. I kid you not. FOUR. There was one character who was genuinely supposed to just be a nameless guy there for a single paragraph simply to escort Amelia from one room to the next, that was it, nameless, faceless NPC man. But the minute he walked in the room, he was like, “Oh no, I’m actually super cheeky, very charming, and may be an extremely important part of the plot.” And I’m just ???

But don’t worry, my main characters are bringing plenty of entertainment too.

Amelia is just an endless source of charm and chaos and thinking she’s doing good and helping but unknowingly causing sooo much trouble. I don’t want to give away too much in the way of spoilers, buuut let’s just say she’s going to have a lot of moral questions to wrangle with and is going down quite an arc. It’s gonna get messy. I’m excited.

Connolly is proving to be an absolute sweetie, warm and teasing, with some really fun memory magic to play with. He’s struggling a lot with some moral quandaries himself that are putting his people pleasing tendencies and lawful good nature at war with one another. I have—ahem—not been very kind to him. Sorry, bud.

I adore Amelia’s whole family. Like the aforementioned cousin Benedict who is like an older brother to her, though…not always the best influence. 😅 Strict but motherly Aunt Rosina, chaotic, fiery Aunt Naomi, sweet and quiet Aunt Lilias, and Uncle Horace, the poor magic-less, very introverted uncle who would happily sit and nap in his chair all day but who, ultimately, is deeply loyal and loving to his family.

There are SO many more I could talk about (this cast is huge 🙈), like my cinnamon roll and traumatized ISFP Gabriella, the very charming Lord Thorburn, quiet, mysterious, gentlehearted August, and the twists I’ve made on the usual Cinderella stepmother and stepsisters.

But how could I talk about characters and not mention Dove? The precious, somewhat timid shapeshifting cat whose favorite thing is to snuggle and nap with someone. If she had her way, all her owners would just nap all the time. Like. What more is there to life than naps and snuggles? I mean, really?

I don’t know if I could choose a favorite. Every single one of these characters has stolen my heart and fascinates me in their own ways.

And come out of the woodwork and demand to be important.

The NPCs are trying to take over. #halp

Has your novel surprised you in any way?

The real question is, has any part of this wild, monstrous thing not surprised me? *points above at aforementioned NPC becoming a whole key to the plot*

I mean, granted, I am pantsing this thing to extreme lengths so naturally most of it would come as a surprise but BOY. I feel like with each chapter I discover something that just takes me by complete surprise and all my expectations have to be rebuilt. But, like, not in a bad way AT ALL. It’s really the characters. People I thought I knew pretty well have been throwing some curveballs, let me tell you. Like the one character who decided, the second I let him take over a scene, to rewrite his entire backstory I had all nicely planned. He just. Took my neatly typed up backstory, balled it all into his fist, hurled it out the nearest window, and handed over a whole other tangled mess that I am still trying to sort out. #rude

Don’t tell him I like the concept of this new backstory much better than my original idea. We don’t want our characters getting IDEAS that they’re in charge.

But the biggest kicker was sometime near the beginning of week 2. I was looking at my story, looking at everything I had and thinking about ALL the things I hoped to happen, all the arcs, all the relationships to explore, all the tangled threads to sort out, and it hit me.

I’m writing a duology.

The Plan™️ was to have a nice standalone to whip out in a month and hopefully edit early next year. That plan, like that one character’s backstory, has been unceremoniously yeeted out a window. This story is becoming something much, MUCH bigger than I originally planned. On the one hand, it would have been lovely to have a neat and tidy and non-overwhelming standalone under my belt. On the other hand, I LOVE big, epic, sprawling stories with a giant cast and long, complex character arcs. It’s just, you know, a tad overwhelming when you’re the one having to write such stories. But write the stories you want to read, yeah?

So we doin’ it!

At this point, I have no idea how long telling this full story is going to take, but I don’t want to cut corners with this one. I think it’s one worth telling in full. That means I won’t be writing it from beginning to end for FicFrenzy, but that’s okay. As I said above, I am so grateful for the progress I have been able to make. We will get there! One word at a time.

But let’s be real, could this really be labeled as a “surprise” that a Christine story had decided to become bigger than planned?? Just wait. Watch me come back and say I’m writing a trilogy or, like, a whole series or something insane. Because…I may very well be. 🙈

Have you come across any problem areas?

Eheheheh. I did mention I am creating a monster for Future Christine to tackle, yes? Yes. But it’s part of the process. My first drafts are always chaotic word vomit and throwing random things out there and seeing what sticks. A plotter I am not. This is how I find the story. It’s an excavating process, and I gotta get messy to do it, but the treasure will be found to clean up in the end.

Overall, finding some big plot points in this one is proving to be a headache. I have an idea of some things but a lot is still vague and I’m just stumbling my way forward. BUT. I hit on some pretty big things in just these past few days, so I feel like this monster plot is slowly starting to reveal itself to me. I’ll fully find it eventually. 😅

There is also, ya know, that whole thing about it deciding to be bigger than a standalone without my permission, but that’s not exactly a problem other than…way more work for me.

What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

Absolutely the fact that I’ve shown up and made progress every single day. It’s been tough this time, and the urge to just go collapse and nap forever and never type another word again has been strong.

But I’ve resisted. I’ve taken time to respect my dream, even amidst the struggles, and written one word after the other. Each day that ended with another set of words on my manuscript has felt like SUCH a huge victory.

They’re messy words. And though wordcount-wise I’ve made a lot of progress, it often hardly feels like I’ve made a dent in the monster that this plot is becoming. But I know every single paragraph, sentence, word is a step forward. And I don’t want to take a bit of it for granted.

I also hit another BIG victory just a couple of days ago, but I’m sharing more about that at the end of the post!

If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

Personality-wise, Connolly is my fellow ENFJ, and I would definitely say I relate to him the most. That whole people pleasing tendencies warring with his lawful good nature? Yeah. That maaay have come directly from his author. I didn’t mean to put so much of myself and my own struggles into this character. It just happened, and now I have to deal with facing my own very personal struggles and quandaries and questions in life and just #rude

As far as taking different actions… I honestly feel like I’d be right there with my boy, stumbling around caught between doing what I deeply feel is right and bending my principles to give my loved ones the help they want even if it may not be the help they need.

Good times, good times.

Give us the first sentence or paragraph then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

Well…if you guys really want my first draft word soup… 🙈

OPENING:

Amelia Octavia Charity Godwin knew of three methods that would enhance the chances of success of her magical creations. The first required retiring at a rather unfortunately late or, as the case may be, early hour. Time was peculiar that way. It was thicker at night, sleepier and slower and easier to gather.

“Time is far too thin and slippery during the day,” she told her latest experiment, carefully threading another stitch into the slipper. That was the second method. The more the item was created by her own hands, the deeper the magic she could wind into it. With every labor of her fingers, she felt the magic strengthen. “We do not wish your magic to be thin. Only the strongest of magic will do for your purposes,” she continued to explain.

Because that was the third method, and, unlike the first which resulted in unseemly bags under her eyes and far too many yawns or the second which made one question why a young lady would be required to hand make a pair of slippers among various other bits and trinkets, this one she did not mind indulging in a bit: talking. Talking to the magic livened it, helped her grasp hold of it and wind it into the item, much like a lively conversation could awaken even the dullest of souls.

SNIPPET #1:

Lady Hambleton could not complain about Amelia not attending social events after tonight. Stepping through the doors of Almack’s upon its opening night of the Season should suffice for at least three, maybe four, social engagements. Every person with a voucher, short of being horrifically ill, would be attending tonight. And, indeed, even the cloakroom was already stuffed as she, Aunt Rosina, Uncle Horace, and Aunt Naomi arrived, servants hurriedly taking cloaks and hats as a hum of voices echoed from the ballroom. Amelia could not ignore the excitement of it all tingling through her.

Really, she had been avoiding her favorite, most enjoyable types of events for— No, she would not finish that thought. For nothing. She was being absolutely absurd over the whole thing. If Mr. [Connolly] Knotts was here, she would smile and curtsy and that would be that, no sense in making a fuss.

And if he asks for a dance? a little voice in her mind asked.

That was silly, he wouldn’t.

But if he did? the voice nudged.

Well, then she would tell him she could not because, apparently, she had gone mad and now had delusions of two minds in her head arguing with one another. He could judge her about that too. Might as well add it to the list.

Oh, now we have a list, do we?

Heavens, since when had her mind become so sarcastic?

Annnd a little bit later, while Amelia is *ahem* eavedropping on a conversation…

SNIPPET #2:

Around the leaves, she could just make out Lady Hambleton whipping out her fan, her eyes positively gleaming. “They did make quite the pair, did they not? At least we know the young Earl has proper taste. Anybody with any sense of good character would wish to spend time with Miss Godwin.”

Amelia shook her head in fond amusement. Perhaps Lady Hambleton’s loyalty came with no small amount of bias, but Amelia was grateful for it nonetheless.

“I hope I’m not interrupting too private a moment between you and the plant.”

The voice, low and male and far too familiar, spoke near her ear. She squeaked and started so violently, she bumped into the plant making it teeter. Lady Hambleton and her friend whirled about, wide eyes landing straight on her, but Lady Hambleton’s shock shifted with frustrating immediacy to one of pure, smirking mischief and satisfaction. Before her friend could speak a word, Lady Hambleton took hold of her arm and hurriedly steered her away.

Traitor.

But, really, Amelia had no one to blame but herself, she and her lack of self-control to eavesdrop. Of course he would sneak up behind her the moment she had let her guard down.

With nothing else for it, Amelia turned to come face to face with Mr. Connolly Knotts.

“You, in fact, were interrupting,” she said, forgoing any sort of proper greeting as he, apparently, decided to do so himself.

He had the audacity to look amused. “Then my greatest apologies to the plant. Was it sharing anything particularly interesting?”

“That is Monsieur Plant to you.” Of all the irritations, why was she smiling back? She schooled her features back to cool indifference. “It is exceedingly rude to inquire after a private conversation.” Never mind she had done that very thing only earlier.

“Of course.” He gave a half bow in the direction of the plant. “My apologies again to Monsieur Plant but perhaps he will forgive me as I do believe his current companion has been avoiding me all evening and this is my first chance to say hello.”

“First of all”—she pointed an accusing finger at him—“you did not even say hello and instead chose to frighten me nearly out of my wits. Second of all, you have no proof that I have been avoiding you.”

A single eyebrow shot up, his expression far too knowing. He did always have an uncanny knack for seeing straight through her.

Share an interesting tidbit about the writing process so far! (For example: Have you made any hilarious typos? Derailed from your outline? Killed off a character? Changed projects entirely? Anything you want to share!)

Well, I’ve already shared that my novel went from a standalone to a whooole thing. So though it didn’t derail from an outline (because I have no such nicely planned out thing, clearly 🙈), it’s certainly derailed from my original ideas.

Killed off a character? *thinks* Well, there are a ton of deaths in backstories (😅), but everyone in the present story has managed to stay alive, so we’re calling that a success!

But I can’t promise everyone will stay safe. *COUGH*

As far as typos, many days my brain has decided it is done wording. Such as the day I wrote “loose holdened”. It was supposed to be “hold loosened”. After a time, the words just stop wording…

Take us on a tour of what a normal writing day for this novel looks like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!

Of course coffee is involved. What do you take me for? I’m sorry to disappoint, friends, but I am, in fact, mortal.

I usually sit down to get in my first words for the day around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and end up writing off and on as I can throughout the afternoon in between other Life Things. But my biggest chunks of writing tend to be after supper. I don’t know what it is about the sun going down, but I usually end up writing twice as fast and am a thousand times more immersed. This, of course, also means some—ahem—late nights because, every time bedtime rolls around, the words just flow and of course I can’t just STOP when things are going well, now can I?? #RIPMySleep #sendhelp

One extra dose of loveliness though is that the weather has been mild and lovely and has given me a chance to take my laptop and do some afternoon writing outside, which is SO refreshing. There is nothing like a fall afternoon out in the sun to give a boost of motivation.

And there we have it! Chaos, exhaustion, coffee, and WORDS. 😄 But Monday (November 11th), I made a big milestone on the novel.

I hit 100k words!!!

I am very, very excited. (And tired.) Now, normally I’d keep going until I reached the end of the book. But, as we’ve learned, this story has decided its ending is a LONG time in coming. It may be a duology, it could be a full series, I could have an ending not too far from now for book 1, but I’m not sure about any of this. SO. My chaos brain has decided to try something I’ve never done before. Instead of separating it into books now, I’m going to write the ENTIRE thing as one enormous story and then see where I am and how to separate it into more manageable stories. It’s going to be an Experiment, but I’m excited to give it a go. I’ve also had thoughts of turning this into a more serial-type of story and releasing it into volumes, sort of like seasons of a TV series. I have Thoughts™️. But I first need the full story down before I can implement them and see how massive this thing truly decides to be.

Maybe it won’t be as long as I think, she says laughing at her delusions.

WITH THAT SAID. It’s been pretty intense keeping up this pace of writing. Life is full right now and I am, in fact, still recovering from heart surgery, plus we’re right on the cusp of the holidays. SO. Now that I’ve hit 100k, I’m going to take a break and (hopefully) start back adding to this thing in January. It would have been nice to finish FicFrenzy with a full first draft under my belt, but since I’m just going to keep chaotically writing all the way to the end of this thing, there is no telling how much farther I have to go. I think 100k is a good place to end the event. 😅

And, truly, as I keep saying, I am SO grateful I’ve been able to do it. I wasn’t even sure if I’d have the energy to participate this year, but I DID it, and I’m just filled with immense gratitude.

So that’s been my Fall FicFrenzy 2024! It’s been exhausting and stretched me, but I am tremendously thankful and happy over being able to tackle it, and very excited to see where this story takes me next.

But first I need a nap. Or 30.

How has November treated you so far, friends? Any big writing projects or other things in the works? Anybody else writing chaos drafts? *raises hand*

And don’t forget you can join this tag yourself HERE!