You know... that writer chick...

Camp NaNoWriMo - August

Project: Wonderland

Genre: Urban Fantasy (Rio Crew Novel)

Word count (22 Aug, 4:20 p.m.): 25,961

Analysis: Woefully behind schedule. Adore the Rio Crew - love the plot - but this is going SOOOO FRAKKIN SLOOOOOOOOW

*sigh*

Excerpt:

“It was worth a shot,” Staci said gently.  “We’ll just have to look around some more.  The Lodge and the surrounding buildings, maybe?”

“He’s gotta be somewhere, right?” Liberty sighed.  “We gotta keep looking.  I, for one, don’t like the idea of leaving the guy with his skull bleeding… wherever he is.”

“We’ll find him, babe,” J.J. assured her as the group turned back toward the slope.

They’d start at the lodge itself, they decided as they worked their way back to the number Seven.  There had to be a hundred places to hold someone captive in the sprawling rich hardwood inn and if he wasn’t inside the main lodge they could move to the auxiliary structures that housed supplies, staff and equipment.

“We will find him,” Tiffany said quietly, squeezing Liberty’s shoulder gently.

They were lined up beside the slope, watching other skiers fly past them on their way down the hill.

“What’s the deal with this guy, anyway, Lib?” Billy asked casually.

It was a question that had been on all their minds, but there just hadn’t seemed like a good time to ask it.  Feeling Liberty’s shoulder tense under her hand, Tiffany wasn’t sure this had been a good time either… but the damage was done.

“I draw a guy with a cracked skull and I gotta have more reason to be worried?”

“A head wound isn’t necessarily as serious as…”

“Does it matter, China Doll?  Can’t I just be the good guy?”

“Of course, dear,” Staci smiled gently.  “There just seems to be something else about him… some other reason you’re concerned for Mitch Cramer.”

“Nothing special,” Liberty shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s convincing,” J.J. said quietly.

“God,” Liberty sighed loudly.  “He reminds me of Alex, alright?”

Without another word, Liberty pushed her way out onto the slope.  She’d been trying to avoid thinking of just how much Mitch Cramer’s easy smile and casual outlook reminded her of her twin brother but now that she’d actually vocalized it, she was even more sure that there was no turning back. 

At this point, it didn’t matter what her friends thought of her motives: it didn’t matter if they thought she was insane or reaching for some emotional golden ring on the roller-coaster like carousel that had been her life or just wanting to see something so badly that it was appearing before her even if it wasn’t there.

At this point, all that mattered was getting to Mitch Cramer before anything else happened to him.

“Well, that’s tragically enlightening,” Tiffany said quietly as Liberty vanished down the slope.

“That’s one way to put it,” J.J. grumbled as he followed Liberty.

Camp NaNoWriMo - August

Project: Wonderland

Genre: Urban Fantasy (Rio Crew Novel)

Word count (19 Aug, 8:35 a.m.): 23,677

Analysis: Still way behind schedule.  Blocks hitting and missing at random intervals.  Lots of stuff going on with work and school starting back up and all the other other-than-writing responsibilities.

Excerpt:

Part of Josh’s preparations for the trip to Summit View had included the acquisition of gear that would appeal to each individual as well as maintaining a high levels of quality and effectiveness his own tastes demanded.  It hadn’t been a simple task but as they converged at the top of the staircase, he knew that the task had, with no doubt, been successfully completed.  With a smile to the others and a mental note to thank his mother for her assistance, Josh offered Staci his arm and the group headed downstairs and out into the snow.

“I can’t believe you talked me into this shit,” J.J. grumbled as they walked toward the equipment building.

“You coulda stayed inside the lodge,” Liberty smirked.  “But then you wouldn’t’ve been able to boss me around,” she added, glaring in Staci’s direction.

J.J. chuckled and rolled his eyes as they walked.  “You see what you’ve done to me, Staci?” he laughed.  “This is all I’ve heard.”

“You just seemed like the best man for the job,” Staci laughed softly. 

“God knows whoever’s holding her leash’s gotta be able to back up their commands,” Tiffany added with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Liberty grumbled, rolling her eyes.  “That pretty much leaves him.”

“Besides,” Billy smirked.  “Is there anyone else here you’ll admit will know when you’ve pushed too hard?”

Liberty smiled and pushed her long golden curls out of her face.  “Who said I’d admit that he knows it?” she laughed.

“Okay,” Josh laughed as they kicked the snow off their boots before entering the equipment building.  “Let’s just get out gear and get out…”  Realizing there were other people in the shop, Josh quickly rethought his choice of words.  “Just get where we’re going, shall we?”

The sound of Joshua Forester’s voice made Alanna cringe.  It was hardly noticeable, but the way her muscles tensed under Drew’s hand was hard for him to ignore.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Alanna lied as she turned toward the group that had just entered the building.  “We meet again,” she smiled.

“The world is, indeed, quite small,” Staci smiled.

Staci didn’t necessarily dislike Alanna Madrid, but the heartbroken and prematurely worn young actress simply wasn’t on the extremely short list of classmates she’d have been even remotely pleased to run into on vacation.  Of course, the fact that the only people she wanted to see were the people she’d already planned to spend the holidays with was irrelevant… Alanna was here, and it seemed that the inexplicable gravitational field that drew Rutherford students together was diminished by neither their physical removal from Delora Valley nor the frigid air of the mountainside.

Drew was still trying to figure out the dynamics of the group.  While it was a stretch, he could justify Billy Russell being friends with J.J. Dawson and Liberty Haley… after all, there couldn’t be that many people in Rio Hevrir even worth knowing, let alone hanging out with.  But the other half of the group – the half that apparently had some sort of ties to Alanna – confused him more than he cared to admit.  The fact that the amazingly glamorous and carelessly wealthy trio in question knew Alanna wasn’t the confusing part, though…

“So, William,” Drew smiled.  “Aren’t you going to introduce your… um… friend?”

Tiffany squeezed Billy’s hand reassuringly as he sighed.  As far as he was concerned, Drew was just another cog in the terminally crazy machine and the last thing he wanted to do was build any sort of casual rapport between agents of past and current insanity.

Camp NaNoWriMo - August

Project: Wonderland

Genre: Urban Fantasy (Rio Crew Novel)

Word count (4 Aug, 9:30 a.m.): 4884

Analysis: Off to a slow start. Behind schedule. Total block most of yesterday. Going better now… just have to get caught up :)

Excerpt:

“Artist or ghost-chaser?” an amused male voice asked from the stairs above them.  The man descending the stairs looked around Tiffany’s age, but that was where the probability that he actually belonged at Summit View ended.  His shaggy sandy blonde hair had suffered far too much sun and wind and his dark even tan didn’t have that strange orangey color that came from laying in tanning beds to get rid of raccoon eyes and watch lines.  More than that, though, he was about a thousand times more relaxed than any of the people they’d seen relaxing by the huge stone fireplace in the lobby.  “ ‘cause no offense or anything… but you don’t exactly scream fashion designer.”

As a half-dozen heads turned toward him, Mitch Kramer had only a moment to analyze the entire party.  He didn’t know what the deal was with these kids, but they weren’t the spoiled snow-brats he’d been expecting.  Only half of the group even came close to fitting into the mold Lynette Miller’s instructions had created in his mind, and even they were different.

“Now that you’ve insulted one of my best friends,” the auburn-haired woman smiled coldly.  “Perhaps you’d be so kind as to either explain yourself or get the hell out of our way.”

Billy smiled as he slipped his arm around Tiffany’s waist.  He had no idea who the guy was, but he’d seen a hundred clones of him hanging around the sponsors’ tents at Lance’s competitions.  From the admittedly brief exchange, this guy wasn’t shaping up to be much more tolerable than any of the others.

Great job, Kramer, Mitch chided himself as the grinning cowboy slid his hand around the auburn-haired woman.  These kids are gonna get me tossed out of this place on my…

“I honestly didn’t mean to offend anyone,” Mitch said with a smile.  “It’s just that the cloak there only really attracts three types of folks.  Artists…”

“Ghost-chasers and designers,” Staci interrupted coolly.  “We got that part.”

“Okay,” Mitch sighed.  “I seriously put the wrong foot forward, here.  Can we start this again?”

“That depends on what you think you’re starting,” Josh replied.

Of course it does.  “Mitch Kramer,” he introduced himself to the group.  “I’m one of the ski instructors here, and…”

“You’ve been assigned to babysit the half-dozen rich kids arriving this evening,” Tiffany interrupted, weaving her fingers through Billy’s.

“Something to that effect,” Mitch shrugged, turning his attention toward the lithe blonde who’d been examining the cloak.  “And I really didn’t mean to offend you, miss…”

“Haley,” Staci offered as Liberty turned toward Mitch.

“Miss Haley,” Mitch smiled.  “But I have a tendency to talk before I think and, like now, it usually lands me in trouble.”

Liberty began to chuckle and her face broke into a smile.  “No harm, no foul, man,” she laughed, kicking at the stair in front of her with the toe of her electric blue Doc Marten.  “So, what was your first clue that I wasn’t a designer?”

Once it was clear to the others that Liberty was neither offended by the Mitch’s initial comments nor likely to rip the guy’s throat out, they relaxed some. 

Mitch chuckled, nodding toward Liberty’s feet.  “So, why the interest in the Specter’s cloak?”

“Specter?” Billy echoed with a tired sigh.

“Lots of folks say this place is haunted,” Mitch shrugged.  “Supposedly by the ghost of the guy that wore that,” he added, nodding toward the glass case on the wall.

Hey Wrimos! Who’s up for round 2?

Anyone interested in filling up a cabin? I’ve got a couple long-time wrimo buddies I’m going to try to bunk with — but there will be room for a few more ;)