I’ve been sitting here trying to think of an interesting blog post. I’ve bounced around about nine billion ideas, and apparently almost 2am after a full day of work is just a dead zone for my brain activity. So, in lieu of something better, I present to you, the previously elusive details on my much mentioned NaNoWriMo novel.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to discuss this with you. I am quite proud of it, though I’ve neglected it for the last FOREVER. It’s the longest thing I’ve ever written, and it was completed in 30 days. A task I will never attempt again, unless of course, I have been given a month off from adulting. Yes, I turned adult into a verb, write it down it’ll be famous.

My 30 day novel idea started with one simple sentence, uttered by a co-worker as she left one September evening. I doubt she even knew I’d heard, or if it mattered. She and another co-worker were walking out, and they said something along the lines of “It’s already dark, it its only 8:30!” Of course, in the Fall, time starts getting all weird, and the sky decides its time for nap-nap, so darkness falls a bit earlier.

But, my writer’s brain (this should be a condition, perhaps the name of a syndrome) decided that this would make interesting fiction. And so, about two months later, “Darkness” was born.

The story (calling it a novel still feels odd and makes me giggle) is about the world without the light in the sky-no sun, no moon, no stars. Something, telling you would give it away, has taken the light. The first to be affected, in the confines of the plot of the story, are three large dogs, owned by the first characters introduced. Edward and Rosalie. The dogs, Do, Re, and Mi, are frightened of the dark and their owners bring them in.

As the endless night wears on, people quickly grow concerned. The President (at this point he is unnamed and has no physical traits. YAY FOR EDITING) intervenes. He assembles a mighty team of scientists. Sorry to disappoint, but THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES. I am not salivating.

The scientists–a geologist with an attitude, a psychologist with a superiority complex, a shy botanist, a timid zoologist, a retired meteorologist with with a  weather themed name, a German astronomer with an interesting accent, and a biologist who now that i think of it has no defining characteristic YAY FOR EDITING–are tasked with discovering the cause and delivering us from darkness.

The darkness seems to suck up all light, swallowing it up, weakening the streetlights and headlights on cars. Soon, it seems to suck up life as well. Birds fall from the sky, deer, attempting to find somewhere safe from the darkness, die in the middle of darkened roads. And very quickly, it begins to seep into our homes, and into places more private–our minds. Not only is the world darkened, but the people in it seem to grow darker as well.

Intrigued?

I hope to get my rear in gear and get back into editing soon. I’ve made it about a quarter to halfway through, and that’s just a rough edit. Once that’s done, I hope to snag a decent designer whose willing to go cheap to help me create a cover fit for a bestseller, or just a self-published wonder. When I know, you’ll know!

And as always, thanks for reading!

-C