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!