Hi All,
It's November which means one thing and one thing only... it's time for NaNoWriMo!
This is my first time taking part in National Novel Writing Month and I am so excited to take part. As you know, I've spent the last year co-writing the Fortune's Well series with my business partner, Chantelle Atkins. What NaNo has allowed me to do is carried on with my own solo projects where I'd normally not have the time.
There's something about deadlines and expectations that I really love. It keeps me on track as a writer and forces me to stay dedicated and motivated to a project.
We're a week in and I'm already 8K words into my 50K goal.
The project I've chosen to work on is "Welcome to Hollow Wood" (working title). A teen slasher-mystery which follows four friends with a secret they've sworn to take to the grave... LITERALLY!
This is a story I began back in my uni days. I submit the first five chapters for my exam piece and received fantastic feedback from my professor. Unfortunately, the story was lost and for years I tried searching through old laptops, files and hard drives to recover some remnants of it.
As of 2020, I decided to start the story again, changing it to make it more adult and less middle-grade.
This is the blurb for the story which I plan to be the first in a trilogy:
“On the surface, the town of Hollow Wood seems like the perfect vacation destination. Quaint countryside, large estates, wealthy residents with perfect lives and perfect smiles.
But with senior year coming to an end and exams looming for four estranged friends, this year's going to be an absolute killer...”
Each chapter of the book follows one of the four friends - Weaver Lawrence, Eliot Chase, Noah Castello and Bethany Sinclair.
Here's an excerpt from Chapter 3 (Noah) (Copyright ©2021 Sim Alec Sansford):
"Eliot Chase was the kind of girl that wouldn’t let something go when she wanted it. Of that Noah Castello was absolutely certain. But why now? Why, after two whole years, did she suddenly feel the need to reach out? Did she feel guilty for what she did that night, was that it? Heaven knows Noah felt enough guilt for his small part in things. But it had happened, and there was nothing that could change that..." - Chapter 3.
For Eliot's playlist, "The World According to Eliot Chase", click here.
