Okay, so I’m doing the thing. I’m going to use NaNoWriMo to rewrite Storming Amargosa. I’m going to take it from an unwieldy 140,000 words to a more manageable 90,000.
“90,000 words in 30 days? Are you out of your gourd?”
Probably. But this ain’t my first rodeo, partner.
- I have done a NaNo project before, as Jim Winter. Back in 2006, I wrote Road Rules in 13 days on a dare. It actually got a couple of sniffs in New York, but at only 55,000 words, it would never make it onto the shelves of Barnes & Noble without me begging the regional manager.
- Of those 90,000 words, I esitmate that 40,000 are already written across two drafts. The rest will be adding and cutting scenes to make the 4-POV format flow better. It will be Davra, JT, series weasel Marcus Leitman, and the new Laral overlord. I have a sort of prequel novella to replace No Marigolds in the Promised Land as the newsletter freebie. It will explained why Laral Umish’s cousin is terrified of a 15-year-old girl. And well he should be!
- Some of this will be rewriting. Davra will be our eyes and ears on Amargosa. So another character’s scenes will not only have to be rewritten from her POV, but I’ll have to rewrite some of the latter scenes so they’re not separated.
- Holy God, I can’t wait to be done with this. Out of the three Amargosa novels, this one has kicked my ass the most. Second Wave proved a challenge until I simply decided to have Davra and JT watch the Ban Ki-moon fall from orbit and go after it.
- James Bond will return in No Time to Die.