The Shared WIP Tag Week 3: Main Character and Antagonist// There has been a change of plans

Okay so a lot happened over the course of a week. As I'm sure you all saw in my last post, I finished SoS, and I was extremely tired afterwards so that feat didn't exactly get the amount of screaming, freaking out, and flailing that it deserved. As I took the weekend off to rest so that I will be ready to start MoC on Monday I realized something. I wasn't actually excited for this story. I then realized that I was pushing myself too hard. First to finish ToT, then to finish SoS, and then MoC, all in the span of a few months without any break whatsoever.

So that is when I decided to not work on MoC this month. And yes, that means that it will be published later than I had previously expected. I've been reconsidering the planned publishing dates for all of my upcoming novels, they now mostly all have new publishing dates. Ones that are much more realistic. If you are at all curious about the fate of any of the books you have been looking forward to, feel free to ask and I will let you know my new plan for it.

In the meantime I still am doing NaNo, just with a new project. Leave it to me to start a project on the 12th of November (the day in which I actually decided to start this book). Is there no end to my insanity? Apparently not.

Anyway this book is actually one that I had started back in September, but had to put aside to focus fully on SoS. I had been about to announce it but then I went on hiatus all through October so I guess an introduction to this story is long overdue. And then we will get back to the Shared WIP Tag XD

Anyway, with all due fanfare I give you...

Darkness From the Stars

Think Beauty and the Beast, meets the X-Files, with a mix of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Rook and you will basically have an idea for this odd little story that absolutely refuses to be defined by genre. It is equal parts historical in that the setting is very Regency Era-esque, but also science fiction taking in a future somewhat apocalyptic world with zombies. A future, Regency Era themed apocalyptic world with zombies. Add into the mix a healthy dose of family drama, horror, and mystery respectively and there you go. You have Darkness From the Stars.

This story is actually a very old one. The original concept came from my submission to the Rooglewood Press Five Enchanted Roses anthology. That submission was titled Beauty of the Stars and essentially nothing, absolutely nothing is the same between the two stories except for the heroine's name Astra and the faint Beauty and the Beast theme (the original story was a hardcore retelling this one though only faint traces of Beauty and the Beast can be found if you look closely enough).

I do not at this moment have any publishing plans for this book beyond the fact that this is the story I want to pitch at Realm Makers. It is going to be a standalone, my very first standalone and may very well be my longest story (although it will have some trouble beating SoS in all its 150k words).

You can find its Pinterest Board here: https://www.pinterest.com/nickichapelway/darkness-from-the-stars/

And its Spotify Playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jgKBcWZbvCQ0e1NbqoJat

Finally, a rough synopsis:

Safety is an illusion.

Astra Dempshire has always led a quiet life. As the middle daughter of a wealthy merchant, living in the walled confines of her circle of society protected from the Infected, her only cares so far have been to avoid her mother's matchmaking schemes and survive family feuds. This all changes when the handsome Edgar Wintersleave, son of the famed General Wintersleave, decapitates her dance partner.

Edgar Wintersleave is a mystery to the good folks of Eastern Yorkshire, even his own family. Even to himself. When his whole regiment disappeared months ago, he was presumed dead or worse. Only to appear wandering in the Infected lands wounded with no memory of the past few months or any idea of what became of the rest of his regiment.

You are never alone...

Astra however knows just what to think of Edgar and his claims that there are more deadly things out there than just the Infected. Perhaps he has won over all of society with his alluring dark manners and famed father, but she won’t forget what he did to George Pimberly. Even if he claims that he actually saved her life and that Pimberly was an Infected.

But as Infected attacks and other deadly encounters find their way inside the walls of Eastern Yorkshire, Astra is left questioning all she believes. Edgar may not be as mad as she originally thought. Perhaps there is an intelligence behind this pervasive evil. Perhaps the Infected aren’t the only things out there that threaten humanity.

Sometimes being right is a deadly business.

Anyway, now that you have a pretty good feel for this project onto the Shared WIP tag in which I will be talking about DFTS since it is my new NaNo project XD Primarily Astra Dempshire, my MC.

-Would you be friends with your MC? Why or why not?

I think so, yes. Astra is a fellow INTP and we both love reading more than we honestly should. We would have a nice time taking long walks across her grounds and playing a friendly turned intense game of chess together. We are also the middle sister in large families so yeah we would have a lot in common.

-What would an ordinary day look like in the shoes of your MC?

If Astra has her way it would involve mostly reading in the library. If she decides that she has spent too much time sitting down she will go on a walk or ride her horse through town. The day is considered a success if she avoids as much human interactions as possible, with of course the exception of her siblings. She will often good naturedly rib them and tease them.

-You’re walking down the sidewalk when the villain approaches you and tells you he needs your help. What do you do?

I would probably scream my bloody head off. And hope that someone, preferably Edgar, showed up to save me and chop off the villain's head. Because my villains in this book are zombies. I mean, I have other villains and some humans who do shady stuff, but I'm going to avoid going into that any further because of spoilers. So all villains in this section are going to be the Infected. My other villains aren't exactly the type to ask for help anyway; they don't generally ask anything they just take whatever they want. They are rude like that.

-What would be your first impression of your MC upon meeting them?

Um, probably that she is a woman of quality XD Honestly I would see her scowling at the world like it personally offended her and just be like, a woman after my own heart. Then I would probably get torn apart under her biting wit, but oh well. A small price to pay.

-What would be your first impression of your villain upon meeting them?

Yucky icky zombies.

-What would happen if you were stuck in an elevator with your villain for five (or worse, ten) minutes?

I'd die probably. Which is unfortunate. And by die I mean I would become an Infected as well. Which would be doubly unfortunate.

-What makes your MC most like you and least like you?

Astra and I share the same personality as I mentioned above, we are both from large families so we have quite a lot in common. One thing we do not have in common though is that Astra hates balls and parties and frankly I don't so...

-What song or selection of words best describes your villain?

"Won't see us coming, at the door even before you even blink. Something so cold blooded. With a deep killer instinct." - Wolves, Sam Tinnesz (featuring Silverberg)

-If your MC was teleported to your front porch, what would be their reaction (and what would be yours)?

Honestly I think Astra would be extremly surprised. Even though she comes from a world far into the future, it's similar to the Regency Era and she has only read about the technologies that we have. I think she would be quite inquisitive about the time before the Infected and also somewhat relieved to exist in a world where there are no Infected.

And I would just be like eyyyyy, it's you! Come on in, I've got some reading recs.

-If the antagonist had a dream come true, what would it be? (no spoilers!)

Hmm, no spoilers indeed...

So yeah still talking about the Infected. Essentially their whole goal in life is to share their parasites with the rest of the world (how very generous of them). So you know, giving someone a loving bite and sending their little babies that they produced asexually to swim up that person's bloodstream and kill that person's brain? Yeah that is their dream come true. Real family oriented villain, eh?

So anyway that is all for this week, what do you all think of my new project? As always, don't forget to check out everyone else's posts this week:

Sarah: http://sarahrodeckerwriter.blogspot.com/

Snapper: http://silverphoenixwriter.blogspot.com/?m=1 

Lily Cat: https://lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com

Lila: https://lilakimswriter.blogspot.com/

Julian: juliandaventrymemories.blogspot.com

Ceci: https://ceci-creates.blogspot.com/