At the start of this blog, I used to post every Wednesday. Then I lost inspiration of what to write; after a while, I renewed my efforts and tried to turn this into a more writing/book-related blog. Now, I do still tend to post once a week but I always feel like I have a lot to share to those who want to hear. So my posting schedule is all over the place.
But today seems appropriate to talk about the topic I want to post about because of two things. Firstly, I hit a major goal with my current project. Secondly, I shared a part of that project with a trusted friend-slash-reader who is so loyal to my writing its actually incredible.
I've been taking part in CampNaNoWriMo for the first time and set myself a target of 50,000 words. I thought that was pretty ambitious to someone who forgets their own goals and then yells about having not met them. But I went ahead and made that my goal to hit by the end of July. So off I went into a new adventure to write and reach this word count with.
Said adventure has been titled Mad Rebellion and it's a fantasy retelling of the famous Alice in Wonderland. Aaaaand yesterday, I hit over halfway to my goal! I felt so close to not reaching it but come evening time, I made myself sit down and write with determination whilst watching Word kindly tell me when I reached 25,000 words. I was actually sweating by the time I checked and I'd hit 25,200 words.
Mad Rebellion is the story of Amina who works as a baker and follows the instruction of a fortune-teller and takes a drink that allows her glimpses into another, very different world. One day, a boy comes into the bakery where she works and leaves a red coin, which prompts her to find the fortune-teller once more and demand to know what's happening. This leads her to find the "doorway" to Wondering Land. The world Amina finds is divided in two, depicted mainly by colours. Ruling over it is the "red side", where a queen sits on her throne. Fighting that power is the Hatter, the leader of the purple rebellion, trying to claim her throne back, as she's the rightful ruler. Years ago, the red queen's mother was the king's commander. But she overthrew the king and ended his rule, bringing her own family into power. The Hatter is the forgotten princess of that king who just wants her father's legacy to continue. When Amina literally falls into Wondering Land, she's wanted by both sides because she's the added piece for either side to gain the upper hand. She has to choose who gets her loyalty, as each ruler demands something different from her and her choice will affect the result of the war Wondering Land is caught in.
Along the way, Amina meets creepy rabbits, a fortune-teller who serves as the go-between through Wondering Land and Ferran (where Amina comes from) and pays the price for it, twins that show her what she could be depending on her choices, and finds love deep among the madness of the strange world she finds herself starting to like.
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I've written this book for two of my friends. They showed me a different side to the original Wonderland and characters, in two very different ways, and spurred my interest to find out what more this tale could offer in terms of weirdness and to reach an older audience. Earlier today, I sent one of my friends the first two chapters of Mad Rebellion and nearly cried happy tears at the feedback they gave me. When you know you're writing a story and dedicating it to certain people in your mind, you get nervous when you send them it, hoping they'll love it, even the messy glimpse of a first draft. But it was loved and stirred intrigue and that's the most I had hoped for in the stage that the story's in. I still have a long, long way to go with telling it but I'm happy to have passed over halfway at the right time for CampNaNoWriMo and the goal I set.
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