#campnanowrimo The Halfway Point

So we’re halfway through April. Last time I participated in a Camp Nanowrimo, I struggled a bit to meet my goals, which weren’t as large as my current 20k, but I was also writing near the end of the story. I’m on chapter five at the moment (Tavern brawl!) and it’s still only been two days storywise. Two days! And already Darshan’s all set to see if Hamish’s is dtf. Hehehe.

It’s a little easier this time with a new-ish storyline. To Target the Heart is shaping up to be a far more surprising tale than I’d originally banked on. Slightly longer but, so far, not as wildly as In Pain and Blood was. Perhaps a 100k less. That might change as I flesh out the latter half, but that’s a time for another month.

And, with bits of Tirglas and Udynea are still being formed, some of the stuff is only starting to knit together as I write it. This month alone, I’ve had revelations such as…

• Nora, Hamish’s older sister, having such a love of books and a knack for trade and numbers. I did wonder where her husband had vanished to for a bit and he was mysteriously absent from my story, turns out he died.
• Gordon, Hamish’s brother. Whilst I knew he was supportive of his brother, I never actually intended him to become Hamish’s wingman, but hey…
• Udynea having a lot of gods and goddess isn’t a surprise (they sort of absorb knew deities into their pantheon whenever they conquered), but it didn’t occur to me that one of them was a group of women who served the High Mother (who is the old Domian Great Mother) and wandered around topless, raising orphans who generally wound up in the priesthood. Until Hamish singled them out.
• I certainly didn’t know about Daama, Darshan and Anjali’s elven slave wetnurse/nanny who was gifted to them (along with several others) upon their birth. I also thought she might be meeker, but no… she’s a no-nonsense woman that’s rather forgotten her charges are in their thirties and, technically, her owners (not that the twins wouldn’t do anything for their ‘Ma).
• The most surprising has been how relatively even the narration has been between the two princes. I thought, what with it being set in Tirglas, that Hamish might garner more scenes there, but no Darshan is simply too delightful to have patiently waiting for his turn.

No doubt there’ll be other surprises popping up as I continue.