Beautiful Books #1: Introducing Shadowwhisper

5:03 AM Gemma Fitz 16 Comments

I caved.

I always told myself I wasn't going to do Beautiful People, because, I thought, no one's going to care about my characters until they read the book anyway. So it was always something that looked cool, but I would never do.

Until this month, when instead of Beautiful People, they introduced something called "Beautiful Books". And it's so lovely and tempting and easy that I'm doing it. And I don't even care if you don't care.

So today I'm linking up with Beautiful Books, hosted  Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In, and I get to answer questions about my NaNoWriMo Novel.

1. How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

It happened back in May. I'd just read the Raven Boys and had Urban Fantasy on the brain. I was taking a walk in the hot May sunshine and happened to glance down at my shadow and wonder "What if it was alive? What would it say? Would it be my friend?"

I continued working on a WIP I was rewriting and tried to forget about the idea, but it wouldn't. go. away. I wrote down some notes and started a Pinterest board, just to hold the ideas until I was done with my other projects, and for months I lived with "Shadowwhisper" on the brain, longing to write it.

2. Why are you excited to write this novel?

It's so different from anything I've ever tried! It's Urban Fantasy, has no body count (yet), and is really, really creepy. It's also got a big cast of very quirky characters and it's set in the country. And dude, it's about an evil talking shadow and that just makes me super excited.

3. What is your novel about, and what is the title?

For now, it's entitled "Shadowwhisper", and it's about a girl with a sentient (and evil) shadow. 

4. Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!)

One word? THIS IS TORTURE.

(Images all courtesy of Pinterest.)
Rae-- restrained

Chloe-- genuine

I couldn't actually find individual pictures of my dudes, so here's one with all of them.
from left to right:
Darryl-- composed
Glenn-- reliable
Micah-- crazy

The Shadow-- creepy?

There are actually a lot more characters, but we'll stop there.

5. Which character(s) do you think will be your favourite to write? Tell us about them!

The Shadow! Duh! It's evil, it whispers creepy things all the time, and it's on a mission to destroy the universe. *hyperventilates*

I also quite like Rae-- she's kinda grumpy and snarky, and for the most part closed off emotionally, but she cries when she watches movies/TV. Even Teletubbies or the Olympics. She's so contradictory that I can't help but love her.

6. What is your protagonist's goal, and what stands in her way?

When Rae discovers that her Shadow is slowly killing her, it becomes obvious it's his life or hers. The only problem is, there isn't a really good technique for killing shadows.

7. Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!)

It's set in modern day Virginia, USA, in a borderline red-neck small town nested beside the Appalachians.

8. What is the most important relationship your character has?

*panics* There are soooo many relationships going on in this book, but I guess the most important would be the Rae/Shadow relationship. I mean, they do have a rather-- close bond. And then there's the fact that The Shadow is sucking all the life out of her and feeding on it, so that drums up some suitable tension. Plus, of course, for half the book they're trying to kill each other and the other half they're whispering snarky things to each other so they really do have the best relationship.

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

I'm a pantser. I have some vague ideas as to what's going to happen in my story, especially early on, but ask me questions about the end of the novel and I will say, "I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IT YET." Rae will change-- she'll change a lot. But I have no idea how or in what direction until I get there I find that she's-- different. Be patient, my lovelies. These things take time.

10. What themes are in your book? What do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

Friendship, family, betrayal, if we want to be cheesy, the "triumph of light over darkness". Again, I haven't written it yet, so I'm not sure of everything that will be going on, but those will definitely be in there a lot.

I want my readers closing the book with a deep sigh of relief because the let off from the suspense and tension is so huge that they feel totally drained, emotionally. In an ideal universe, they'd also be sobbing profusely as they hugged the book to their hearts, swearing to love it forever. But I'll settle for less, if I must.

11. BONUS! Tell us your three best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.

Because I always give such good advice, don't I?
  1. Find someone to support you. It can be a family member, friend, online friend, another writer-- ideally, several people from each of those categories. Find someone who will hold you accountable to your goal and tie you to your writing desk when you just don't want to write.
  2. Love your idea. Writing fifty thousand words in a single month can easily make you feel like you hate writing, and especially like you hate your novel. Don't go into NaNo without an idea you are super excited about-- an idea even fifty thousand words can't make you hate.
  3. Don't stress. Well, of course you're going to stress-- that's part of the NaNo experience. But just remember, ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you churn out 50K in the 30 days-- what really matters is that you have fun, improve your skills, and come out with something more than what you went in with.
  4. And of course eat lots of chocolate.
Are you doing NaNo this year? Why are you excited about your NaNo-novel/current-WIP? What's your best tip on surviving NaNoWriMo? Comment away, and if you're doing Beautiful Books, please include your link!

16 comments:

  1. Thissssss this sounds awesome. /Really/ awesome and original. o.0 Creepy shadow monster? BRING IT ON.

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  2. Oh my gosh this book sounds so awesome! It sounds like exactly the kind of book I would pick up at a bookstore. Huge casts of characters are right up my alley and it sounds like you are just in love with all your characters which is such a great thing! Plus small towns are my kind of towns, and just the vibe your explanation gives off, with the creepy shadow... this book is going to be so epic! Have a great NaNoWriMo!

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm glad it sounds interesting, and you have a great NaNo, as well. :D

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  3. Wow. This sounds amazing! (Also, bonus points for Russell eating chocolate!)

    Good luck with NaNo! Let me know how it goes.

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    1. Thank you! And that gif is just the greatest. x)

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  4. This book is gonna be so great!! I just know it :) good luck! Also that Rory doctor gif is beautiful :D
    -JH

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    1. Thank you!!! And isn't it just? I love them so much...

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  5. Your story sounds really intriguing! I hope you have fun writing it :) stories that you can't get out of your head just have to be written down!

    I love the visuals you picked and the gifs were awesome as well!

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  6. Having an evil entity as your shadow sounds really, truly terrifying. I can understand why that shadow and Rae would be the most important relationship. (It makes me wonder how Rae sleeps at night... *shudder*) I'm hoping the best for your MC because the villain, well, needless to say, does really, really sound like a force to be reckoned with. Good luck to your writing and cheers for coming up with a great, fun story to tell! :)

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    1. It is definitely scary. (Especially since I still don't know how Rae defeats this thing? Ah, the joys of a pantser...) And I actually expect to have a scene dealing with, as you put it "how Rae sleeps at night", though we'll see what happens. Thank you so much! :)

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  7. Oh I love this idea! I've been eyeing books that have weird shadow stuff in it at the book store I work it. This one would totally be added to the list!

    dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks! I really want to read some more books with weird shadow stuff in them-- for "research". ;)

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  8. This sounds so FANTASTIC AND AWESOME! An evil shadow? Yes!

    Also, I like the picture of all your dudes.

    Rae sounds really interesting. I love contradictory characters. They aren't always easy to write. *glares at certain characters* But they are some of the best and I happen to think they are very true to life.

    I'm not doing NaNoWri this year. Still working on Oddball.

    I love your answer about being a pantser and not having a final and complete idea of the themes and ending in the book. I'm like that too. I don't know what exactly I want to bring out most until the first draft is done and writ.

    Good luck! I hope NaNoWri goes well for you!

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    1. Thank you!!! Contradictory characters are definitely hard, but if done well, they are some of the most realistic. :)

      I don't /know/ anything about my novels until I've finished the first draft and have started rewriting. I've got some ideas and preconceptions, but everything just changes so much while I'm writing. Which is why I can't. plot.

      Good luck with Oddball! Thanks for commenting!

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