What I Wrote for #CampNaNo2022

   I have not been on the blogosphere much in 2022, and that is probably not going to change unfortunately. My life has been absolutely nuts the past couple years and my writing platform has suffered. However, if you want to see a bit more regular writing/book content from me, you can follow my writing account on instagram: @writeremilymundell and I will keep to more regular posting there. On here, I am probably going to just post about projects as they come up, and publishing things, with the occasional life post to keep updated. I have so much going on these days that something needs to take a backseat and blogging has already been doing that anyways. 

  With that being said, I thought I'd share about my #CampNaNo project with you all! I was pretty excited for it at the beginning of the month and though I did not finish and became incredibly swamped (as I usually do in April), I have a direction for another manuscript and a several thousand words written so I'm happy with that. The rest of spring will be dedicated to rewrites (check out the end of the post for an announcement there).

CALVARY

New Adult sci fi // "Faithless" sequel

"Do you remember the moment? The moment you knew the world was cruel?"

Segen Karemi is a seventeen year old freedom fighter, a young woman of a generation destroyed by mass genocide. Her brother was killed by the enemy when she was very young, along with every other male of her people. Over a decade since the horrific destruction of her tribe, Segen has joined the rebel army in hopes of overthrowing the oppressive Katarian regime that seeks to destroy their country and people. Segen and her friend Medya come across a man on a routine surveillance mission, the first man they’ve ever known outside of enemy forces, Damien Sparr, a member of the Zephyr Resistance and a Katarian. The two young women must come to terms with their nation’s history of violence in order to spare Damien’s life and stop a decades-old war. 

  Similar to November's NaNo, I picked this story from my plot bunnies with just a couple weeks to go before NaNo, and because I was busy writing "The Revenge" in March, I didn't do like, any outlining, lol. So that's been fun, kinda nice just seeing what comes out of my brain in the moment.

 What inspired Calvary?

  A few years ago (quite a few actually lol) I was inspired to write a story about women soldiers in a desert-type setting, because of the Kurdish Women Freedom Fighters, who were common in the news at that time. I thought it was amazing and badass of them to be fighting ISIS in a part of the world that the rights of women are still so contested, and I wanted to honor that in story. I also combined this idea with the story of the Israelite infanticide in the book of Exodus, where Pharaoh demanded the killing of all the newborn baby boys. I thought that this paired really well with the idea of women warriors fighting for their country, being the only ones left to defend it after the men and boys of their nation are wiped out by genocide.

  Additionally, I got the idea to bring this into the Faithless universe by linking Damien to the story of these two girl soldiers, Segen and Medya, thus giving us a better glimpse into Damien's world, as well as the world beyond Katar and Saagar's experience. I've been pretty excited to delve back into this universe and to discover more about this world.

  Who is/are the MC('s)?

  The POV MC is Segen Karemi, a seventeen year old girl from the decimated nation of Zaretha. She is the daughter of General Sarya Karemi, who leads the remaining women and girls of the nation in the defense and planned revenge of Zaretha. Segen suffers from extreme guilt for the death of her little brother, Kessar, and lives under her mother's disapproval, longing to make up for what she can never forget. She is reserved, sad, and impulsive, committed to helping her people and restoring them to something better, as well as doing the right thing.

  Other MC's are her best friend and companion, Medya, a slightly older girl, orphaned in the Slaughter. Medya is beautiful, practical, and an excellent shot, but of the two girls, she is less keen on breaking the rules for the good of their people. Third is Damien Sparr, who we already know from Faithless. He is a Katarian rebel soldier, the instigator of the civil war in Katar, who finds himself lost in Zarethan territory, and ends up traveling with both Segen and Medya into Tronus, the capital of Tokar.

  What is the target audience for this story?

  Like it's predecessor, I'm aiming for new adult with this one, it might be a little lighter than Faithless content-wise, since it's focusing on some younger characters, but it's still set in a brutal world, full of brutal people.

  What is the opening sentence?

  "When Segen looks at the bloody knife in her hand, she thinks of him."

  I'm lowkey proud of this sentence though I literally just opened the new document and BOOM - this came out. The whole opener I quite enjoyed. This book has been so funny cause it's the literal definition of "trust the process." I've had no idea what I'm doing at any point.

  What do I think of the characters and who is my favorite to write about?

  I mean, I still love writing about Damien. I don't know why, something about him as a character has always intrigued me, so I'm really glad to learn more about him through this book. I'm also really enjoying getting to know Segen, and by extension, her mother. They have been a really interesting pair. 

  So far, I think they're all turning out to be fairly interesting people? It'll be cool to see where it goes from here, cause like I said, I have no idea. 

  What are my plans with this story?

  Eventually I'd love to publish this one, but finishing it first would be ideal, lol.

  What was my NaNo writing process? And did I win?

  My writing process was a HOT MESS. I did not have an outline, just an idea, and every new chapter has absolutely surprised me. I don't know what's coming around the corner, I'm writing this essentially like I'm reading it for the first time, and I love/hate that.

  And no, I did not win, but that's not a surprise for me this time of year. It was still fun to explore the story and I passed the halfway mark, so there's that!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

  What I wrote for #NaNoWriMo 2021

  NaNoWriMo2020 - What I Wrote And How It Went

  Camp NaNo: A Surprising Sequel + Exciting Announcement!

  As per my announcement at the beginning of this post, my rewrite news is that I'm dedicating May and June to diving into the rewrites/edits of The Sorceress and the Soldier, my sequel novel to The Sorceress and the Squid! I'm pretty excited to get back into this after writing it for last year's CampNaNo, and I'll be sure to keep y'all updated on the process!

LET'S TALK.

  Did you do #campnano this year? Or are you working on any writing projects this spring? What do you think of more books set in the Faithless universe? Let me know in the comments below!