A Closer Look at My Contemporary Paranormal WIP!
Wow, where did February go?!
One of my monthly goals for February was to blog at least four times--which I totally didn't achieve. But that's okay, because another one of my goals was to be kinder/more forgiving towards myself when I don't reach my goals. So I at least accomplished that 😅
To get myself back into the blogging world, I wanted to do a little bit of a fun post today! If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that I'm working on two books on and off--a YA contemporary fantasy, and a YA contemporary paranormal.
I've talked about my contemporary fantasy, Awaken, in a few different posts. But, I've never really talked much about my contemporary paranormal!
And since right now I am working on that one over Awaken (because I was going too edit-crazy with Awaken and needed a pause from it) I wanted to take some time to share a bit about my latest WIP, how I got the idea for it, and where I'm at with writing it!
I affectionately dubbed this book my "Tilden girls" book before I even started writing it, and that's what it's stayed. I do have a working title for it, but I have yet to share what that is so for now we'll just call this book Tilden Girls!
My main character, Meredith, has struggled to cope with life ever since losing her sister and therefore struggles with a lot of mental health issues. She is overall a good-hearted, kind person, but she has built up walls around herself over the years that make her appear hard, unfriendly, and rude. Meredith is a really delightful character to write because there is so much depth to her, and it's been really interesting to kind of peel her back layer by layer and get a better feel for her true personality.
Her identical sister, Mae, is the complete opposite of Meredith in practically every way. Where Meredith shoved her feelings down and kept a hold on her grief, Mae worked through her emotions in a healthy way and is considered by Meredith to be the "okay" one. Mae is very bubbly, bright, and affectionate. She very badly wants to "fix" Meredith any way that she can, but doesn't seem to realize that in the process she's only pushing Meredith away. The only physical difference between Meredith and Mae is the length of their hair, and Mae's use of makeup.
I was on a walk with the baby I nanny, headed down an empty road lined with forest on either side. It was a super eerie, cloudy day, and everything was so freakishly still and quiet. Also, I was just around the corner from an area where the grounds are said to be haunted by a very old ghost. But that's a different story.
As we were walking, I was brainstorming a bit, and suddenly the line "They say Aunt Cora was screaming when she died" popped into my head! I immediately knew this was going to be some kind of creepy story, and as soon as we got back to the house, I started writing. One thing led to another, and suddenly Tilden Girls was born.
I'm currently on chapter 8 out of 20 (my outlines often start out short but usually gain chapters) and I've written a little over 24k out of a projected 70k. So I'm getting there, slowly but surely!
I am participating in Camp Nano for the first time this year, and this will be the project I work on for that. I'm hoping it will give me the chance to finish the first draft!
One of my monthly goals for February was to blog at least four times--which I totally didn't achieve. But that's okay, because another one of my goals was to be kinder/more forgiving towards myself when I don't reach my goals. So I at least accomplished that 😅
To get myself back into the blogging world, I wanted to do a little bit of a fun post today! If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that I'm working on two books on and off--a YA contemporary fantasy, and a YA contemporary paranormal.
I've talked about my contemporary fantasy, Awaken, in a few different posts. But, I've never really talked much about my contemporary paranormal!
And since right now I am working on that one over Awaken (because I was going too edit-crazy with Awaken and needed a pause from it) I wanted to take some time to share a bit about my latest WIP, how I got the idea for it, and where I'm at with writing it!
I affectionately dubbed this book my "Tilden girls" book before I even started writing it, and that's what it's stayed. I do have a working title for it, but I have yet to share what that is so for now we'll just call this book Tilden Girls!
What is the book about and who are the main characters?
Tilden Girls is a story about identical triplets turned twins, a hoarded mansion, and forgiving yourself.My main character, Meredith, has struggled to cope with life ever since losing her sister and therefore struggles with a lot of mental health issues. She is overall a good-hearted, kind person, but she has built up walls around herself over the years that make her appear hard, unfriendly, and rude. Meredith is a really delightful character to write because there is so much depth to her, and it's been really interesting to kind of peel her back layer by layer and get a better feel for her true personality.
Her identical sister, Mae, is the complete opposite of Meredith in practically every way. Where Meredith shoved her feelings down and kept a hold on her grief, Mae worked through her emotions in a healthy way and is considered by Meredith to be the "okay" one. Mae is very bubbly, bright, and affectionate. She very badly wants to "fix" Meredith any way that she can, but doesn't seem to realize that in the process she's only pushing Meredith away. The only physical difference between Meredith and Mae is the length of their hair, and Mae's use of makeup.
Where did the idea for it come from?
I've always wanted to write a ghost story, but in an unconventional way. And this book is just that! I got the idea for it back in October, right before halloween when there were a lot of spooky vibes everywhere and the trees had lost most of their leaves.I was on a walk with the baby I nanny, headed down an empty road lined with forest on either side. It was a super eerie, cloudy day, and everything was so freakishly still and quiet. Also, I was just around the corner from an area where the grounds are said to be haunted by a very old ghost. But that's a different story.
As we were walking, I was brainstorming a bit, and suddenly the line "They say Aunt Cora was screaming when she died" popped into my head! I immediately knew this was going to be some kind of creepy story, and as soon as we got back to the house, I started writing. One thing led to another, and suddenly Tilden Girls was born.
What is the current status of the book?
Currently, Tilden Girls is my book of choice to work on over my other projects. I have the entire outline completed, which means all I need to do is write each chapter!I'm currently on chapter 8 out of 20 (my outlines often start out short but usually gain chapters) and I've written a little over 24k out of a projected 70k. So I'm getting there, slowly but surely!
I am participating in Camp Nano for the first time this year, and this will be the project I work on for that. I'm hoping it will give me the chance to finish the first draft!
What is your favorite line from the book?
Honestly, I have so many favorite lines! But this one is one of my absolute favorites, because I feel like it gives a really nice overall message for the entire story itself.
So there you have it! A little inside look at my latest WIP and some of the characters from it. I plan on doing some more in-depth posts about these characters later, so stay tuned for that!
For now, I'm going to get back to writing this baby and hopefully finish it by May! If you want to keep up with updates about it, be sure to subscribe to the blog, or follow me on Twitter!