5th November

I haven't updated this last couple of days because I've not been very well. Friday was a very stressful day, and I was pretty sick (I think I'm allergic to all this American dairy) so my wordcount wasn't brilliant. I wrote about 4k yesterday. Today I've only written 5,000, but that brings me to a nice 25,000 which I'm pefectly fine with. After all, I have work to do!

ALSO, and this is amazing, MY COVER GOT MADE. So, NaNoWriMo have this thing where they recruit a bunch of awesome artists to create covers for a few Wrimos during November. You nominate yourself/get nominated, and then the artists have the final choice as to which cover they make. 30 people get covers made, and mine was one of the ones they chose. This makes me feel awesome!! lol.

And they got my character down (aside from her level of attractiveness, anyway!)

See?

On another note, my novel is getting super crazy. I don't know what's going on any more. And I do believe that I like it.

“Ah-hah,” Emmeline gloated. “I knew you couldn’t discriminate against this kind of beauty.”    

I waited to respond until I had reached the top, collapsing to my knees before I realised that we were actually sitting in - well, an area that was made for sitting. I pulled a face. “I don’t see anything beautiful,” I muttered. But I was glad that I at least wasn’t dead. And that I hadn’t made a fool out of myself. I couldn’t wait to tell Eris about all of this.

“It is beautiful,” Emmeline said, her tone forceful. “I’m sorry, but just wait. It really is nice up here. You can come and sit, and - well, it’s not that cold. Here, would you like a cigarette?” She patted down her pockets until she came up with an opened packet. They probably didn’t belong to her. She didn’t seem to care. I shook my head.
    

“I don’t smoke.”
    

“That’s what everybody says. But the tea makes it nicer.”
    

“The tea what?”
    

“Makes it nicer. Here, look.” She lit the end of a cigarette between her lips, and then passed it to me. I took it for fear that she might burn me with it, and then stared at the thing like an idiot.
    

“What the hell am I doing with this?”
    

“Smoking it,” Emmeline coached. I tried to hand it back. “Nope. Not until you’ve at least tried. If you don’t like it, you can give it me right back. Go on. The tea makes things taste different.”
    

I wasn’t sure how much of this I believed, but her offer seemed fair enough. I lifted the thing to my lips, inhaled, and almost choked. But Emmeline was right. It tasted like nothing I had ever tasted before. Like pomegranates and fresh water and sweet, sweet sugary apples.
    

“Wow.” I didn’t know what else to say. The smoke hurt my nostrils as it blew out, but the taste was divine.
    

“If you liked that, you should try sex.” Emmeline took the cigarette back and put it between her lips. “Seriously. It’s amazing. That tea - it’s god.”
    

“I’m not sure-”
    

“God.”

Words written: 5,021
Total word count: 25,051

2nd November

Annnd another day where I really can't be bothered to blog. I used all my finger power on ze writing (well, minus repetitive strain power, but I'd really rather not crack that out at all, kthnx).

So, today was both a failure and a success. It took me long enough to get my characters out of the house (fail), but I did finally manage it after 11k words (success) - and now I really don't know where to go with the novel (fail). Yet, I still hit 15k. I think it's going pretty well, and I'm sure I'll come up with something dramatic to keep me on my toes.

Want an excerpt? Of course you do.

Before I could react, if such a thing were even possible given his speed, his right arm flew back and came down on the side of my face with such force that I immediately saw star-spots across my vision. I reeled, but having nowhere to go simply stood still, stunned into silence. My mouth opened without my consent, in shock, but he didn’t care.
    

“Get out!” he ordered. “Now!”
    

I didn’t understand what he was saying, or why it was so important. Why did he want me to leave so badly? I trembled, but my whole body was frozen to the spot. I couldn’t have moved even if I had wanted to. Vaguely I heard Eris say my name, but my brain was too focused on Uncle’s face as it darkened from pale pink to scarlet with anger. He was holding his breath, but only so he could hit me harder.
    

His fist came down again, this time crashing into my shoulder so hard I swore I heard something snap. Still I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I was rooted to the spot, not knowing why but still knowing that I couldn’t move. Uncle didn’t seem to care; he’d stopped caring after deeming us useless  to him more than a year ago. My brain was whirring. I wondered why we were still living here, why he hadn’t kicked us out yet, or why he hadn’t gone and just auctioned us off to the highest bidder - all whilst he brought down his fist twice more.
    

I felt his knuckles connect with my jaw, and this sent me stumbling over, away from Eris and towards the door. That was the last place I wanted to go. Uncle darted after me, the alcohol I knew he must have in his bloodstream not doing anything to slow him down. I pulled myself to a stop, hit the floor hard on my knees, and felt my wrists crack as I landed on my hands. Uncle kicked at my side, sending me sprawling.
    

Eris remained silent. I wondered whether she was dead.


Word count: 7,140
Total words: 15,163

1st November

Off to a rolling start! I will not stick around for long, because I'm hurrying for an early bedtime. :) It's going well, and I'm not dead yet. I have my characters (although they're not doing much yet) and an emerging plot. This is good. I also managed to stay on top of my school work. I don't know how well that'll work tomorrow considering I have a paper due on Thursday, but all the more reason to get ahead now.

Anyway, an excerpt anyone?

When we reached the top, past Uncle’s room without any problems, I released my breath. I hadn’t even realised I had been holding it. My lungs burned and I took in several large gulps of air as we slipped through the door into our bedroom.
    

Eris still had her back to me. She stood looking out of the window which I had forgotten to latch. There was a cold breeze that snaked through and she appeared to be repeating my motions. I saw her shoulders roll as she took in breath after deep breath and let her head sink forward to rest on her chest. I was torn between going to her, laying my hand on her shoulder, and just leaving. I could go downstairs, leave her to sort herself out. I could make her fix it, this time.
    

But, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not really. Eris, despite her dark humour and snarky attitude, was as fragile as some of the women that Uncle chose to bring here. That was, after all, what he had initially intended for us. I closed my eyes, leaning back against the door as I tried to clear my mind. There wasn’t anything that I could do for her. Not really. I could only be there for her, help a little to clean up - well, whatever it was. How could I prevent it from happening again?
    

“I really screwed up, Persey.” I opened my eyes at the sound of her voice. It was clear from the way she held herself that she was still in pain, but she didn’t sit down. The blood on her skirt was more obvious in the electric light that came from the bare, hanging overhead bulb. I shuddered, my hand involuntarily going to my mouth.

Word count today: 8,022
Total word count: 8,022