Ready, Set, Go!

That could apply to so much this week. I’m ready to go. My ablation procedure went well last Monday and I’m feeling healthier than the proverbial horse. Tomorrow, I expect to receive flight clearance from my cardiologist and will be back on the road by next Sunday! It’s time to move south for the winter.

We’ve been having some spectacular sunsets. This one was on Halloween. Later that night, I joined about a hundred other writers at the Shoreline Community College Library for the NaNoWriMo kickoff at midnight. I got a couple thousand words in on my newest work, American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. Since then, I’ve managed to get to 33,650 words and six and a half chapters! It’s going well and I should easily finish the 50,000-word NaNo requirement. Whether the book gets finished in November remains to be seen. I’m guessing I’ll be writing well into December with an anticipated release date in June. My $10/month patrons are already reading the first six chapters and will get first look at everything I write each week. American Royalty is expected to include three books, Coming of Age, Coming to Power, and Coming to Grips. It is an alternate universe story in which America has a well-defined class structure complete with its perks and conflicts.

Join my Patreon and follow the story as I write it.

In an American society based on class distinctions, someone still needs to teach the heir apparent how to behave like royalty.

I’m having a good time writing it and I think you’ll enjoy reading!

ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK

I was invited out to lunch Thursday by a fan of my stories and fellow author, Les Bagley. The catch this time was that Les wanted me to come to Kingston and be his guest at the Farm Café. It was the first time I’ve been on a Ferry in several years. And was great fun!

The trip was great. The food was incredible. I spent a lot of money on bread and cookies to go. And meeting Les’s wife tossed into the bargain made it an extremely pleasant afternoon. I even drank a cup of ferry coffee, which I learned years ago was not worth the effort but was part of the experience.

Friday, I had lunch with my editor and proofreader, Denny Wheeler. Mostly, we talked about the work I'm doing now on American Royalty. He's started reading and among the things that we all agreed on was a change to the name of the lead character. These are things you need to figure out!

That evening, I joined my dear friends, Jason and Terina Black. Jason has edited many of my books and I designed a good number of his. In addition to fabulous chicken and chickpea tacos, Terina baked an unbelievably good chocolate fudge bundt cake. Jason and I spent some time going over the new covers for his upcoming re-release of his novels. Believe me, I'll be announcing them here when they are out! Fabulous artwork.

THE PLAN FOR NOW

I have a last doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning. Tuesday, my truck goes into the shop for a major tune-up. If the hospital doesn’t get a bill for me sometime soon, Harris Ford will get paid first! There is a recall notice on my truck that I want to get taken care of before I start towing the trailer. I had a recall during the winter for the same problem and had it fixed before I headed north in April. Here’s the text of the notice:

What is the issue? Our records indicate that you previously had Ford Safety Recall 19S07 performed on your vehicle; however, the correct software was not installed at that time. Ford Motor Company wants to ensure the software in your vehicle is updated to the correct software. Your vehicle without the correct software remains at risk for unintended transmission downshift due to an intermittent output speed sensor (OSS) failure.

In other words, they are recalling the recall because it could kill me.

Quinne is planning to drive out to Spokane with me on Friday because she still doesn’t trust that I’m capable of driving myself. I’m happy for the company and will put her on a plane back to Everett from Spokane. Then I need to get the trailer ready to travel. Make sure black and gray tanks are empty. Put ten gallons of fresh water in, if it’s running, fill the propane tanks, and restock the shelves and fridge with food. Then Sunday morning, I’ll pull out of camp and head south, planning to stop the first night in Pendleton, Oregon. The second night, south of Portland. The third night in California. From there I’m headed to So Cal and then east across Arizona and New Mexico, which have easier pass crossings over the continental divide. I hope to get to my sister’s place in Texas for Thanksgiving and then on up to Oklahoma to see Amy before a book fair in Tulsa on the 7th of December. All plans are written in sand.

I’ve been here in Lynnwood since September 28th. I would undoubtedly have died if not for the care that Quinne, Michele, and Jason took of me. I can never thank them enough and love each of them to the depths of my soul.

And with another spectacular sunset viewed from their deck, I’m just about ready to mount my truck and head out!

I’m NaNoing

This is a short update because I have other things to write. Most notably, my new novel, American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. I might have mentioned this project before. Maybe. I’m sort of excited.

First of all, I’m excited to have the energy and the clarity of mind to launch a new project like this. I might have some delay or downtime on Monday when I go to the hospital for an ablation, but I’m confident in the cardiologist and expect to be out and on the road again in a week or so.

Second, now that I’m actually writing it, I’m pretty excited about the story. It has so much to be considered. Here is the logline and detailed blurb.

In an American society based on class distinctions, someone still needs to teach the heir apparent how to behave like royalty.

Long description. This alternate reality story begins on John Cyning’s sixteenth birthday at which he is told the truth about his heritage, America’s underlying class structure, and why he has been denied the pleasure of any woman’s company in the past eight years. He is then introduced to Meredith Sauvage, an eighteen-year-old of the servant class who is enlisted to teach John what he needs to know and how he needs to behave as royalty. The two become very close and support each other through the difficult years of school as they discover what a tricky role each has to play. In the end, however, nothing will alter the fact that John is royalty and his closest advisor and lover is a servant.

So, NaNoWriMo is two days old. How am I doing?

I’ve got 12,200 words written and haven’t begun today’s writing yet. No, I don’t expect to write 6,000 words a day all month. The initial stages of writing are always the easiest because I’ve been thinking about them the longest. I’m halfway through chapter three and expect to finish it and chapter four today—maybe more.

As I mentioned, I anticipate that I won’t be as productive Monday and Tuesday. And I still don’t know when I’ll be ready to travel again. But I’m very excited about it.

I will also mention that I’m not sure whether I’ll be releasing this book under the author name of Nathan Everett or Devon Layne. It depends largely on where I think the market is when I finish. I expect it to have what SOL calls “Minimal Sex” in it. It could be rather hard to avoid all sexual situations as it is a coming of age story and that is such a significant part of growing up. How detailed that mention is defines which author it will be released under.

For now, I have established a works in progress page on which $10 patrons of either Nathan Everett or Devon Layne can read as I develop the story. I’ve already posted Chapters 1 and 2 on the site, as well as a detailed outline of the first ten chapters and my development notes describing the world and characters. I post updated chapters on the site every Sunday. If you join my Patreon site (www.patreon.com/nathaneverett) linked here and at the top of this blog, you will have access to all of this, BUT I highly advise you do not read the chapter outlines unless you don’t mind spoilers and are just interested in seeing the development process and how close I come to following my outline. I had a full 13-chapter outline of City Limits when I wrote it and was off target by the third chapter and in a completely different direction by the fifth. It remains to be seen.

So, join me for this fun NaNoWriMo month and the writing of American Royalty 1: Coming of Age. I’d love to have your comments as I write.

Now back to the words!