What I'm Writing

Writing a novel is a crazy undertaking. You have to have at least a little bit of insanity and a lot of ego. I, for one, have both in abundance.

Jokes aside, right now I'm three chapters into my first draft after starting on December 31st. Merla follows the story of a young woman navigating the growing threat of miasmic beasts while everyone else buries their head in the sand. I've set her story in an alternate version of our world, where WWII was interrupted by the creation of miasmic beasts, and the world took on a completely different shape by the time Merla comes along.

Of course, hundreds of years of stability dulls the public's appetite for danger. And sometimes we prefer to ignore the problems in front of us until they become too much to ignore.

I have an addiction to world-building. Every time I write a story, it's placed in a fantastical world, and I just can't help it. Writing stories that are not based in the real world trades the challenge of trying to match reality for the challenge of trying to create a new reality.

My goal while writing is to place you inside the world alongside my protagonist, and that is a challenge every time. This time, I am trying to create a world running on a completely made-up power source. It's also set in a futuristic West Africa that does not follow the usual futuristic conventions that lend more to sci-fi. I am going for an aesthetic where solar punk meets steam punk with West African design sensibilities.

This means doing a lot of research and trying to figure out how to convey my ideas in an immersive way without being overwhelming. Luckily, that's my exact idea of fun.

I'll do my best to accomplish this goal, and you'll get to be the judge of my level of success.