Hello again.
November, and with it NaNoWriMo, are coming awfully close, and I’m starting to get nervous (as I’m sure at least a few of you are as well). In fact, as of today, we have precisely one week before the writing begins. What better time for an update, no? Let’s make it a big one.
First things first, I don’t think I have ever been this prepared for a story. I’ve said this before, but this tale of extraterrestrial adventure has been on my mind for quite some time. In fact, I started planning and outlining well before I had even decided to take part in this year’s National Novel Writing Month. It just so happened that, as the preparations were nearing completion, November wasn’t all that far away, and so I decided to give it a shot. Best case scenario, I finish a second novel. Worst case, I don’t.
The timing is… unfortunate, I have to say. Right of the bat, on the fourth, I’ve got three (!) papers due, so I’m going to be writing a whole lot to which the term “extraterrestrial adventure” isn’t applicable (alas). At the same time, they are all final papers, so I don’t have any classes to draw me away from my desk. That must count for something, right?
Whatever the case, I will certainly give it my all. I remember the sheer euphoria I felt when The Sunken ‘Panesian finally arrived in physical form, as well as the continuing pride. On top of that, the story itself is also just downright amazing, and it deserves to be given form (other than in my ocean of notes and memo’s). What more motivation could any author need?
Onwards to the story, then. With only a week to go before I start writing in earnest, I see no reason to keep the details a secret any longer.
Quite a while ago, a couple of friends and I were hanging out, playing Once Upon A Time (an amazing card-based, collaborative storytelling game which all of you should try out if you ever get the chance), when a good friend (and incredible Dungeon Master) somehow came up with the word “Demonarchy”. A society ruled by demons. The word immediately went to work on my brain, and carved out a lodging-place there. I remember telling him that, one day, I would write a book about a Demonarchy, and that he’d be in the acknowledgements. Well, it looks that day might actually come.
In a semi-distant future, the world is ruled by a group of mutated humans who have chosen to call themselves Monarchs. The mutations expresses itself, among other things, in extra-dermal bone growth, mostly on the skull, which, in some cases, look a lot like horns. Because of this, dissenters took to referring to them as Demonarchs. And, while the resistance was swiftly overcome, the term remains in use. Just not anywhere where it might be overheard by the less trustworthy.
In this setting, our protagonist, Wayne Bowen, is struggling on the darker side of society. The ruling elite, the Demonarchs, show increased tendencies to paranoid behaviour, and as such, Law has taken a more… restrictive character. Smugglers, then, are as much in demand as they are at risk.
Once, Wayne’s smuggling career was significant. He had a spaceship (an old model, with some flaws, but, you know, it had personality), trafficked highly illegal merchandise (even books!), and generally lived a very exciting life.
Alas, as his close companion, known as Lie, who’s a bit of a pessimist, might say: nothing good ever lasts. On a job that, really, wasn’t all that high-end, events transpired that necessitated any ship’s captain’s (be it naval or astronautical) least favourite protocol, best known as “ABANDON SHIP”. Sponsored by a local would-be crime lord (or lady, really), Wayne has been doing small-time smuggling jobs, but that’s nothing compared to what he used to do. Heck, he doesn’t even get to fly, he’s been stuck driving a vehicle with actual wheels. Now where’s the fun in that?
Now, this lost ship, called The Maiden, was rather important to Wayne. After he was forced to leave it behind, it was impounded by the Demonarch-run state, and he has lost track of it. For a long time now, Wayne has been spending a significant amount of resources trying to track it down. So far, it hasn’t resulted in anything but a significant drain on his (already limited) income, but deep down, something tells him that all that is going to change.
Any day now.