What I #AmWriting for #NaNoWriMo 2013

I’ve posted a bunch of my own tips on planning for NaNoWriMo as well as the links to my worksheets and planning guide, and I realize I have yet to tell you all anything about what I’m writing this year. Shame on me! How can you believe my advice if I don’t go through the whole process with you this year too?

Be my buddy on Nanowrimo.org

Today I’ll remedy the situation. I am indeed going to participate—and WIN—at NaNo this year. I want to. I have to. I have a December 1 deadline with my publisher for a novel, so I damn well better get one written during November.

I have the luxury of being a full-time writer, though if you saw my tax returns “luxury” would be a drastic overstatement. While my lifestyle is not luxurious, I do have a lot of flexibility in how I allocate my time. During November my novel will be my top priority, and freelance or financial writing drops to the side until I get the NaNo word count down.

So what am I writing?

This year I intend to finish a novel I first started thinking about a few years ago. I got the idea while on a trip and spent most of the flight home scribbling ideas down on airline napkins. I lost the napkins ages ago, but thankfully I transferred most of the ideas into one of my braindump files with everything I needed to sketch out the story and characters. I haven’t looked at the file for a while , but it’s past time I did!

I even started working on it during NaNo three or four years ago, then lost interest when I wasn’t sure what would happen next. This year I’ve got the advantage of having perfecting my planning process and pre-writing character work so I can take the original ideas and shape them into something I can actually use this time around. I’m sure I’ll be able to finish once I get my own worksheets filled in.

What’s it all about?

It’s a bit of a genre jumble. It’s got elements of romance, mystery, suspense and a BDSM twist. If you’ve read my How to Blurb posting, you may recognize the story. It’s a gay romance, and here’s the blurb I am starting with. I expect a lot to change by the time I’m done. Especially the characters’ names. I haven’t yet decided on the right ones for them.

Thom Turner is a broken man, facing the end of his career in the FBI. He’s on desk duty after a botched drug raid left the suspects and two children dead. He’s got one chance to prove himself or the only thing he’ll be investigating is the Help Wanted ads.

Dane Monroe has been on the run for ten years. Forced onto the streets when his father kicked him out, Dane earned his living in other men’s beds. Finding his john dead in a hotel room forced him under the radar. Now his relatively stable new world shatters when Thom Turner catches up with him.

When Thom’s tasked to take down a drug dealer with terrorist ties and a taste for the dark side of BDSM, his only weapon to get close is the suspect’s interest in Dane. In return, Thom offers Dane immunity from his past. As Dane falls under the drug lord’s domination, Thom finds himself falling for Dane.

Now Thom has to choose between Dane’s safety and his own future.

Sound interesting? What are you writing? Let me know in the comment box below!

Would you like for me to post some of my worksheet entries for this story so you can follow along as I build the foundation and use the planning guide to start writing?