As I mentioned, this month I’m busy writing My Place or Yours.
As I won’t have time to write posts, I’ve put together this series of retrospectives from my past NaNo challenges in advance, so that I can have a clear run at the novel in November.
The good news is that I’m keeping up with the schedule, so far.
This week I’m featuring NaNo’s projects from 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In 2020, I had an idea for a Fantasy adventure, which I called The Syk’m. Based on a folk tale from my youth, it explored the idea of things not always being what they seemed. A young man, living a boring life, is called on to perform a quest with a difference.
Behave, or the Syk’m will come and take you away.
That was the threat hanging over my childhood, the terrifying punishment that made us all obedient.
As children, we were told that the Syk’m watched over us. Should we misbehave, they could do unimaginable things.
Because we were young and knew no better, the mere mention of their name was enough to control us. We went to bed, minded our manners, stopped our shouting. Although the Syk’m were mythical creatures, never seen, we all believed in their power over us.
Now that I’m older and wiser, I thought that I had outgrown the unseen terrors of my childhood. I thought that I no longer believed in the power of the Syk’m.
Then the day came when I discovered that the Syk’m were real. The day they found me. Their message was clear. Despite everything I had imagined, they needed my help. It was the day I discovered that they were not the monsters we had all believed them to be.
There were others in the universe.
And the review,
In 2021, I was back to Sci-fi but with a twist. We Are Saul is set mainly on Earth, in a time not too far removed from now, where medicine and science have collaborated to produce miracles. The central issue in the novel involves the use and control of these advances, as well as the effect on those involved. And what it all means for humanity.
When Saul is paralysed in an accident, he thinks it’s the end of his life. In fact, it’s just the beginning.
While trying to come to terms with his injuries, the mysterious Dr Tendral offers him a way to make a difference. All he has to do is join his project. There are no other details until he agrees, he’s either in or out.
What choice does he have?
Agreeing is just the beginning. Saul undergoes drastic surgery, only then is the full depth of the project revealed.
Or is it?
As time goes on and he learns more about Tendral’s scheme, Saul’s new life becomes increasingly difficult.
In the end, he has to abandon everything as he learns the truth.
Here’s a review,
Moving on, we come to 2022’s novel. And a movement away from Sci-fi altogether.
I Remember Everything is a paranormal story, about death, rebirth, the persistence of the soul and the need for karma to work itself out.
A psychological thriller.
It’s the big question. Where do we go, when it’s all over?
What happens to our unfinished business?
At 20:08, Detective Ian Gisbon is murdered.
At the same instant as he dies, on the other side of the country, Suzan Halford is born.
Nobody could have guessed that locked in her head is the key to unmasking Ian’s killer.
All Suzan has to do is grow up and remember it.
Before she’s aware of her knowledge, a chance discovery sets an unstoppable chain of events in motion, and Suzan’s life spirals out of control.
What’s happening is impossible, it’s destroying her family. And driving her crazy.
There’s only one person she can turn to, the only one who can help. But they’ve been gone for years. Finding them will mean that justice can finally be done.
A review
I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. If you’ve read one of the books mentioned, please let me know what you thought of it.
Next week, I’ll be looking back at 2023 and 2024.
If you missed the first part of the series, find it here.
Why not comment below and give me your thoughts?
I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.
Leave a Reply