Tomorrow it begins...

That's right. Tomorrow is the official starting date of the madness known as NaNoWriMo, and therefore the beginning of my new book. How do I feel? Excited? Yes. My characters are alive in my head and just waiting to come to life on the page, the story is as outlined as it's going to get, in my head at least. I have whole chapters written up there in my skull and I just need to spew the words out onto the page.

I'm also worried that I won't make it. I've been having trouble with my right arm for most of the year, and it seems to be getting worse. It's Radial Tunnel Syndrome. I'm trying to change my typing position and wear a wrist brace while on the computer, plus I have a series of exercises to do which may or may not help. I'm going to try and write through the pain, but if it becomes too much, I may have to abandon ship.

So what am I writing? Interestingly, I had planned to write an adult book about these characters. When they came to me, they were in their mid and late thirties, and their story was very plain to me. But as I delved deeper into them, I realized their backstory was as interesting as the story I thought I'd tell. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it couldn't be just a chapter of backstory in my grown-up book: it needed a book of its own. So now I'm going to write a YA novel about them in their teens instead. But I still have their mid-life story hanging about in my head. Could make for an interesting sequel of sorts somewhere along the line.

Whether or not I make the 50K is yet to be seen. But I'll give it the best I can. And by December we'll all know if I did it. And then I'll set this project aside for a month or two while I get to some serious revising on my three earlier books. By mid-Jan or Feb I should be ready to dive into the NaNo novel again.

Anyone else have a plan of action? Anyone have any miracle cures for RTS? Would love to hear from you....

Oh, and if I'm not blogging as much as you're used to, you understand, right?