I am a NaNo slacker (and other writing news)

Apparently, I'm not meant to do NaNoWriMo this year, as I wasn't last year. I would say it's because I already have too many stories going on and really have no business starting another, but the truth is...I started another one yesterday. LOL My muse (also known as the collective voices in my head and their ringleader) likes to get excited about new story ideas. I swear, I finish everything. Eventually.

That said, I am debating two online serials: one, the story I started for NaNoWriMo, and the second, a continuation of my short story First Impression. Yeah, the short story I swore I wasn't going to write any more on no matter how many people hated how short it was.

See, here's the thing. I was never sure if I was going to continue it because of how I was inspired to write the story. I was emulating several short stories (and one online serial) about band members in relationships. The most recent inspiration came from my reading of Conquest by S. J. Frost. All of these stories have stuck with me for some reason, but I didn't want to write my own longer version because I don't want to unconsciously recreate any aspect of those stories. I want my idea to be as original as I can make it. Given how much I loved those other stories, this could be an issue. Especially if (when, ha!) I write my serial. There's a big difference between admiring what other writers have done and basically rewriting it with my characters as stand-ins for theirs. Gotta think about the direction of this one before I get too far into it.

The Starting Over expansion/sequel is taking on a life of its own. *sigh* This is a good thing because it means moar gud sturytime! but I didn't see any of this coming. I feel like I should have seen more potential for this story and its characters. Sometimes they do take over and the authors are as surprised as the readers. I thank (blame?) my beta readers for pointing things out to me. It helps to have voices other than my muse in my head.

So, more sexytimes, much more writing ahead and yesterday I got the coolest idea for a book cover for an upcoming novella. Thank goodness for photoshop tutorials!

Whoever is working on adding three more hours to the day, please get on finishing that, kthx.