Ready for a challenge: a prequel, a sequel, and poetry

This is year is going to look a lot different.

For the first time since I was three years old, I won't be going to school in the fall. I'm so ecstatic! I want to dedicate a lot more time to my writing now that I don't have to worry about classes, homework, research, clubs, and a job on top of that. It was so much. There was always something on the horizon to be worried about, but now after my workday, I can relax.

My writing process is changing, and I have big plans like working on THREE different projects. I want to accomplish so much more this year than ever before. Bring. It. On.

I work about 25 to 30 hours a week at my new job, which is actually my ideal scenario. With my current living situation, I only need to work 30 hours weekly to support myself financially, and I'm dedicating the 10 other hours in the work week to writing. These 10 hours can be applied to anything related to my writing career including working on my projects, marketing The One-Sided Coin, updating my website, etc..

I have a planner where I write what time I start writing as a way to "clock-in" and I do the same for "clocking-out". It's already helped a lot with focusing. I can't believe how much I can accomplish in 10 hours a week! I wasn't even close to working that amount while in school. If I keep this up, I'll be able to accomplish so much more this year than in previous ones.

I've always been interested in working on several projects at once but have never had the capacity to do so. I feel that this year I just might. I have my poetry collection and both a prequel and a sequel to The One-Sided Coin calling my name.

My goal is to start the first draft of The One and the Other Volume Two for this November's National Novel Writing Month. Though I don't always participate in the way originally intended, I like to use NaNo months to jump start projects like I did with the Labeth prequel back in April. If I want to start writing the second book in The One and the Other series this November, there's quite a few things I need to do before then.

I want to write this sequel differently than The One-Sided Coin. For that book, I outlined some before writing a quick first draft in three months. I planned to completely rewrite that first draft, and I did. I thought that this process would allow me to have a cleaner second draft, but there was still much needed rewriting afterwards. It took me five years to write The One-Sided Coin (granted there were some periods of inactivity), and I want to write this sequel a lot faster. This time around, I'm going to outline extensively before writing. Then, I'll do my version of the zero draft, where for each scene I summarize what is going to happen. That way, I have every single step figured out in the manuscript before I bring it to life.

To start the first daft November 1, I need to:

1. Finish the Series Bible for The One and the Other

2. Outline TOATO 2

3. Zero Draft TOATO 2

That's a lot. It might be too much, but I need to challenge myself more to see what I'm capable of. Now that I have a lot more time on my hands to write, I might be able to do this.

I told myself I wouldn't work on TOATO2 till I made significant process on my first full-length poetry collection. Since the beginning of July, I've written 11 new poems and revised 3 old ones. I would call that some significant process if I may say so myself!

I have one more poem to write before I restructure the collection. The main focus of the collection has shifted, calling for a new structure. I'll make a separate blog post detailing that process soon.

I haven't touched this project since I finished the first draft in May, but I printed out a copy of the manuscript today and it looks so great! After every draft, I print out the manuscript and read through it, marking it up with edits I want to make. Since I'm moving up the timeline for TOATO2, that project will take up more of my focus than this one, but I do hope to finish the read through before Nov 1st.

Whew! I have my work cut out for me for the next couple of months. I know I've said it before but I'll say it again, I'm so excited for this next year! I can't believe I'm starting my first sequel. I've been dreaming about this for years. This is so cool!

Thanks for reading and following along on my journey! We'll keep in touch, and stay safe!

#amwriting #fantasyseries #WIP #theoneandtheother #poetry #theonesidedcoin

Writing Poetry Till Further Notice

I don't know how it feels like this year will never end and yet it's gone by quickly. Compared to last summer, I feel like this one is going by faster, especially June. June just came and went in a blur. I was busy all month scrambling to find a job and a place to live since my original plans were postponed due to covid.

But anyway, it's already halfway through July and I feel like this blog is overdue for an update.

If you haven't heard me shouting about this from all my social media channels yet, my first novel The One-Sided Coin has been published! It's been out for a month now and people have actually bought it! I was worried that I would release it to crickets, and while it hasn't been a overwhelming symphony, it's been a success and better than I had hoped!

You can read more about it here or watch the book trailer.

I'm also working on something special related to The One-Sided Coin that I hope to share in the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled!

As for the rest of June. . . I wrote one poem. It was a very dry month creatively. While I managed to write the first draft of what was supposed to be a novella in April and May, I just got overwhelmed in June by a lot of things and didn't have the energy nor the desire to create anything. I chose to accept this rather than fight against it. You can't always be in the midst of a productive season, and I needed to listen to what my mental health was telling me which was to take a break. It would've only made things worse to make myself feel bad about not writing.

So I've just been handling personal things but FINALLY the creative energy is coming back. Now that The One-Sided Coin is out, it's time to work on the sequel, right?

Well. . .

Don't worry, the sequel is going to happen, but I've been working on and off on my first full length poetry collection for about two years now and I'm still farther than I would like from completing it. I can't seem to juggle writing poetry and writing a novel at the same time because I always end up focusing more on the novel. Poetry is much more emotionally and mentally demanding to write than prose, and this full-length collection is especially difficult to work on. I've written all of the poems that come easily and am now left with the ideas that are harder to put on paper. Since it's so difficult, I've put off working on this project in the past, but it is important to me and I need to finish it.

I've told myself that I cannot start working on The One and the Other Volume Two (the project I've been dreaming about for the last 2-3 years) till I make SIGNIFICANT progress on my poetry collection. I don't quite know what that is. It could be that I work on this till I am too burnt out on poetry to write any more, or it could be I can only stop once the first draft of every poem is written. I don't know how many poems that will take, and I have also been revising old poems along with writing new ones. Not to mention I'm considering vastly changing the structure of this collection as well.

I want this collection to be ready to send to publishers by the end of the year, but I don't know if that's possible or how much work it will take. This might have to be my main project till it is finished, which makes me sad because I REALLY want to dive right into TOATO2.

As I mentioned earlier, I wrote the first draft of a novella which is a prequel to The One-Sided Coin. The prequel is about the character Labeth and occurs 180 years before the events in The One-Sided Coin. What was supposed to be a 20,000 word novella ended up becoming a 43,402 word short novel. I project that this book will end up being 50k-55k words once I'm done because I tend to have to add a lot of words to flesh scenes out. I'm thinking of printing out a copy so I can begin re-reading it during my lunch breaks at my new job.

That's all I have to say for now. I'm writing poetry till further notice, which means that I will have a lot more excerpts to post on my Instagram now. You should follow me there @marykgowdy if you want delicious sneak peaks into my poetry collection along with other unrelated poems. Here are some samples:

If you want more regular updates, you can sign-up for my monthly newsletter. I share exclusive poems and news about my writing projects, and you can get the first 50 pages of The One-Sided Coin for free just for signing up!

We'll keep in touch. Stay safe!

#amwriting #poetry #debutnovel #theonesidedcoin #fantasy

10 Questions about my Debut Novel

My debut novel is coming out early this summer, and I'm going to answer 10 questions you might be wondering about it. Read on to find out if this book is for you and if so, how you can get your hands on it!

1. What is the title?

The One-Sided Coin. It is also Volume One of The One and the Other Series.

2. What genre is your book?

It is mainly fantasy leaning towards the darker side of the genre. It includes elements of dystopia, gothic fiction, and poetry. It combines the worldbuilding and magic of traditional fantasy with the mystery, focus on character development and interaction, and technology that is found in many of the sci-fi-esque TV shows I love.

People who enjoyed Six of Crows, the Obernewtyn series, and the TV series Lost, Person of Interest, and Westworld will also enjoy The One-Sided Coin. Also, lovers of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe might also be interested in the book's gothic atmosphere.

3. What is the plot of the book?

When Monoria’s institutionalized for burning her house down--with her family in it--she hopes this means that the voice in her mind isn’t real. But a scientist informs her that she’s infected with a parasite, an abomination originating from the mystic world. As part of the Secularists, an organization intent on eradicating anything mystical, the scientist promises to kill the parasite.

Monoria allows him to run tests, but as his methods turn questionable, she realizes that he might not have her best interests at heart nor be telling her the whole truth. The parasite is dangerous, but it also might be her only ally. It warns her that the Secularists will do anything to achieve their goal, even harming anyone that gets in their way. As the scientist nears a cure, she must decide who to trust--the scientist determined to destroy mysticism or the parasite that threatens to consume her soul.

4. Where did you get the idea?

I've had this idea for so long that I don't exactly remember how I came up with it. It went through many different phases before becoming the idea that I wrote my first draft on. Two big sources of inspiration were the smoke monster from Lost (you'll understand why if you read the book) and the song "All That I'm Living For" by Evanescence. When I first came up with the idea, I wrote the first two chapters and quit, because I was a really young writer and hadn't yet learned how to finish what I started.

Several years later, I decided to pick up the project again but only after an intense revamping. And by intense, I mean INTENSE. The whole plot of the first book--and kind of the whole series--changed drastically. Characters were thrown out, created, changed beyond all recognition, and the story that rose from its ashes was the one I wrote.

5. Tell us about the world.

It is set in the country of Loreiak in the world of Azain-leigra-ro. Loreiak is a medium-sized country that encapsulates its own continent in the middle of the ocean. Before the start of the story, it used to be a society dedicated to mysticism before the Secularists overthrew the old government and have since been eradicating all traces of mysticism.

Something that separates Lorieak apart is that one hundred eighty years before the novel's beginning, the sky went dark, a day known as the Darkening. There is no sun, moon, or stars, and though sunlight filters through, the days are cast in an eternal twilight. Across Loreiak, severe climate changes occurred--the western and eastern edges turned into snowy wastelands year round and the Demingin Desert appeared in the center of the continent.

The majority of the plot takes place in the Karack Delusional Care Center, also known as the KDCC. It's a mental institution, hiding something darker at its core. Some of the patients believe that they're not there because they're crazy but are being kept prisoner, and every so often a patient will disappear to the institution's underground tunnels and return in worse shape or not at all.

6. Introduce us to your main character(s).

While the book has a main protagonist, the narrative shifts between the perspectives of an ensemble cast.

The main protagonist is Monoria Fledyia, an 18 year old girl who's always been a social outcast in her hometown. Above all else, she longs for freedom from society and its rules that have oppressed her. Her situation worsens when a violent presence begins to inhabit her mind.

She calls this presence her Ghost. He is a being from the mystic world, speaks only in poetry, and appears as either black smoke or a dark-haired version of Monoria. He's angry at the Secularists for their plot to destroy mysticism and urges Monoria to act out against them by flooding her mind with his violent desires.

Eshrusk Lamcalay is a Secularist scientist, who studies mysticism in order to destroy it. His loyalty to Loreiak and the Secularist's vision for the future is unwavering.

Celond Larp and Attalayla Nageet are two patients at the KDCC, and the story's main romantic couple. They both know that they're not in the KDCC because they're crazy. Celond is haunted by his past regrets and is determined to get released in order to return to his mother even if it means turning a blind eye to the KDCC's shady dealings. Attalayla wants her freedom but is torn by her love for Celond and her desire to get back at the people who institutionalized her, especially Karack who continues to torment her.

Jeriph Seroni is another one of the KDCC's patients not there because of a mental illness. He spends his days pilfering Dr. Renek's gin and sticking his head into everybody's business. However, there's more to his actions than meets the eye.

Dr. Ionio Karack is the founder and head of the KDCC. Like Eshrusk, he is unwaveringly devoted to the Secularists and enjoys lording his power over his patients.

7. How long have you worked on the book?

April 1st, 2020 will be my five year anniversary, and that's with just the revamped idea. In 2015, I wrote the first draft in about 3 months knowing that I was just going to rewrite everything. The first draft is where I figure out what story I actually wanted to write.

It took me about two years to rewrite that draft into something palatable. I revised it several times over after that, taking breaks to work on other projects, mainly poetry. I finished the last line edits last summer and then got kind of scared to publish it so I procrastinated for a couple months. Eventually, life circumstances made me get over that fear, and here I am with it coming out in a couple of months.

8. What else about your book might pique a reader's interest?

The mystic figure of the Ghost speaks only in poetry, so there are sonnets, other poetic forms, and passages of free verse through the novel. There exists a link between poetry and the magic of the world.

The novel is also separated into nine episodes like a TV show. TV is one of my favorite story telling mediums, and I try to tell as much of my stories through dialogue and action rather than internal narration.

The One-Sided Coin features many female friendships (because we need more of those), several heist and chase scenes, and philosophical contemplations on the relationship between beauty and sin.

9. When is it coming out? Where can I buy it?

Early summer, probably June. It will be available on Amazon exclusively for the first few months and then later I may put it on Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

10. Trigger Warnings

The One-Sided Coin deals heavily with mental illness particularly depression, suicide, and anxiety. There's also torture, some graphic action scenes, and some sexuality.

If The One-Sided Coin interests you, you can read the first 50 pages by signing-up for my email list! You'll also be the first to know about upcoming news.

#writing #debutnovel #fantasy #book