EelKat's NaNoWriMo 2009: Jack's Revenge

As most of my Twitter and FaceBook followers already know, I started my NaNoWriMo planning on August 1st (just as I do every year.) My problem, as always when I start a new book, is that as soon as I get an idea and start researching it, while I'm researching, other ideas pop up and I end up planning several books at once. This can cause problems with NaNoWriMo, because with a timed contest like this, you have to write at the seat of your pants, non stop break neck speed, which means once the contest starts, you really can't stop your novel and start a second, third, or fourth one dead in the middle! In my early years of NaNoing this has been a problem - heck, it was a problem last year too!




Anyways, in order to give myself time to change my mind about my plot 10 or 20 times, I start my NaNoNovel plotting in August instead of October with every one else, and it's a good thing I did. This year I ended up with 13 plots between August 1st and September 30st!

In August, my goal was to write about a creepy circus. I love creepy circuses, always have, always will. Throughout the month of August all my Tweets chattered about my circus history research, but as the month wore on, more ideas popped up and my circus idea changed and evolved many times. From Steampunk to Horror to Romance to Fantasy and than back and forth between them all, my NaNoNovel has yet to settle down into a genre, but it's plot, has become more clear.

As I said, my first thought was: "I want to write about a creepy circus". From there on in, I threw around ideas about a vampire circus, a zombie circus, a circus from hell, a ghost circus, a circus that shows up every year, a circus that appears every 100 years, and other assorted various ideas about a circus that was not all it seemed.




The plot remained Gothic steampunk for the most part. The original idea itself came from "From Out of the Rain" a Tourchwood episode about a ghostly circus that showed up every time it rained. In that episode, Captain Jack and the gang noticed that every time a theater played old reels of circus side shows on a rainy night - people from the reels vanished from the film, while people from the theater were found frozen to death. Somehow the circus people had been literally captured on film and trapped on the film reels and could only escape if the film was played on rainy nights. Than they became soul sucking vampires who drained the life out of the living and returned to the film reel once it stopped raining. It was one of my favorite episodes of Tourchwood, and I wanted to write a book based on that same basic story line.




Something Wicked This Way Comes, another book/movie based around a ghostly circus, was also attracting my attention. Another circus that appears with changes in the weather - this one riding in on a ghost train, just before lightening storms. These shadowy carnies are attracted to the wicked desires of the hearts of mankind, more or less a circus straight from hell itself sent to give wicked men everything their hearts desire at the cost of their souls. In this story the men no sooner get their wish, than they are swept away and trapped forever as slaves to the circus's evil leader Mr. Dark.




Another inspiration was "Dig This Cat, He's Real Gone", an episode of Tales From the Crypt. Again a circus theme, but this time an ordinary, every day, non-supernatural circus, which gets swindled by a freak of science - a man with a cat's brain grafted to his own brain, thus giving him 9 lives to live and 8 times to die. He becomes a modern day Houdini, who instead of escaping actually died before your very eyes. After swindling the circus to near bankruptcy he gets his own just deserts when he remembers too late that he only had 7 lives to die because the cat had to die to give him it's brain.




So throughout August and most of September, while my plot changed quite a bit on a daily basis, it remained firmly in the idea that it was to be based around some sort of creepy circus that could embody the terror these three circuses held for their audiences. And so while it had it's basic theme, it still had neither plot nor characters to write about.

I'm planning on ghosts for 09, still trying to figure them out though. I think they died in a train accident, and now 100 years later a town has built up on that spot, so they are "haunting" the town.

I'm thinking that they can change appearance "slightly" by that I mean from solid to transparent, so that when people first see them, they don't realize that they are ghosts.

I'm thinking that they avoid physical contact with the living though because their bodies are cold as ice and "freeze" humans when they touch them, thus giving away their ghostliness.

I'm also thinking that when they go all transparent that they have a pale blue glowing mist around them. My ghosts "feed" on the fears of the living - sort of like how vampires feed on blood, so they appear different to different people depending on what that person's fear is.

I think ghosts are scary because you don't see them every day and even when you say you believe in them, deep down you don't truly believe in them until you actually see one. I think it's like anything else that is unusual or rare or thought to be a myth: (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc) your first response is always to freeze, than run, than stop and ask yourself why you were scared, than go to investigate. It's just the whole *unknowness* of it, which startles the senses.

once when I was very young maybe 10 or 12 years old, around that time, I woke up to see a man walk through my door, go straight across the room, and than stand staring out the window. He was transparent and had a neon blue glow all around his body; I couldn't see his feet, it was like at the top of his head he was more solid, but his body got more transparent as it went down until his feet were invisible; He had a very old style dress - late 1300's era possibly Flemish or German or French. I got the impression that he was very sad, that he had died a long time ago and that he was "alone" (alone in that he could not see or hear any one around him, and had no idea I was there, or that any one else was anywhere either; like every one on the planet had vanished and there was no one left but him - or at least that is how he felt.)

I was not afraid. I don't know if it was because I was too young to be afraid, or it was because I could tell I had nothing to fear, or what.

I think it is because of this "sighting" that I write about ghosts and describe them as semi transparent with a blue glowing mist around them, because that's what the one I saw looked like.

In popular culture ghosts speak (literature, movies, etc.) but how many REAL documented cases are there of ghosts that talked, or for that matter - how many documented cases are there of ghosts even acknowledging that they know you are in the room with them? Real non-fiction cases with talking ghosts or ghosts that even acknowledge they can see/hear the living are exceptionally rare. Most actual cases report the ghost doing the same ritual movements again and again (walking to the same window; pace on the same porch; siting in the same chair) and doing it completely oblivious to their current soundings.

Only in books and movies do ghosts speak or otherwise interact with the living.

EDIT: October 6, 2006

The ghosts in my novel, as mentioned above are cold and glow blue. Since writing that post originally, I have since determined that my ghosts are "frost ghosts", in other words, the ghosts of people who froze to death, and came back as sort of ice demons.

So hot sunny August quickly went by, followed just as fast by September. No, almost. Something happened this year, something rarely seen. Something that threw a plot right in my lap, complete with characters. You see, I'm a farmer in a tourist town on the North Atlantic coast. That means winter comes fast, and summer is fleeting, our growing season is short, barely a 100 days long even in our best years, and when tourists hit the beach, they hit it all at once on one of the few days that we get each year without snow.

We start planting in May (providing the snow has melted that soon) and we hope we can get everything harvested before mid October when the first blizzard season of the winter starts. (Our "big" blizzards of February, make our much smaller four foot blizzards of October look like a dusting.) Our town has a strange meteorological phenomena caused by the extreme cold winds that blow in off the Gulf of Maine and get trapped in Saco Bay. While the rest of the Southern Maine's growing region is listed by the weather services as zone 5, here in Old Orchard Beach, we have a zone 4 growing season most years, and a zone 3 season in the colder years. Our summers rarely reach 70F and our winters commonly dip to -20F. Wind chill factors bring our temps to -40F from December to February. It's like somebody cut a piece out of Alaska and dropped in next door to Portland just to be funny. (Yes, mini icebergs have formed on the shores of Old Orchard Beach - it's rare, but it has happened.) Why we get this extreme cold while the rest of Maine does not, has been explained by weather men as having something to do with the way Saco Bay is shaped. It's shaped like a horseshoe with a very small opening, which let's the wind in off the ocean, but than traps it there holding the cold air in, all year long.




This year, has been abnormal, even for us. In 2009 our growing season started late - it was the first week of June by the time the ground had thawed enough to plant - a result of heavy rains the fall of 2008, getting frozen deep in the ground just before a blizzard than hit us in mid October that same week. By May 2008 we still had snow well over a foot tall covering most of our garden plot. This was highly unusual, because by May first we usually have the ground tilled and planted. Our growing season lost a whole month this year.

Usually when we have a late spring, we also have a late winter, so our growing season stays about the same. That is what we expected. Therefor, in August when I started planning my NaNoNovel, I did not plan on an early winter to take us by surprise. Second week of September 2009, after a night of Tweeting about my circus ideas, we awoke to find an alarmingly early frost had snuck in during the night and decimated our crops nearly 4 full weeks before harvest time!




To make things worse, the early cold, drove fish deep into the sea to escape the cold blasts on top of the ocean - meaning not only did farmers lose their crops, but fisherman lost their hauls as well.

To go one step farther - in mid-September our tourist season is not yet over. Palace Playland (the beach side amusement park) is still open and running, ice cream and pizza shops are still open, bikini clad tourists are still shopping, - the early cold front chased all the tourists out of Maine, forcing the rides and shops to shut down early.

As is normal for winter in Old Orchard, shops are boarded and shuttered, buildings are empty and the few of us that stay in this cold icy town year round, are once again living in a ghost town - a full two months earlier than normal!

And while normally I would complain at this early arrival of winter killing crops, chasing away tourist income, and driving me indoors to flee the harsh cold ocean winds - this could not have happened at a more perfect time! I had my creepy circus to write about, but no reason to write about them, no reason for them to be creepy, and more importantly, I had no characters to write about. November is fast coming upon us and I still had no clear idea what I wanted to write - and than this happens, and suddenly, riding in on an ocean breeze, everything makes perfect sense to me now - the story, the plot, where the circus came from, why they are here, what they want, and more importantly - who my main character is whom is leading my creepy circus onward: Jack Frost.




Of course, weird way our seasons are, this freak frost only lasted 2 days and than our weather went back to normal for this time of year. It came just long enough to kill crops, ruin fishing, and chase away tourists, leaving our town a ghost town. Oh well. In any case, it lasted long enough to give me a plot idea.

I'm going to bore you a bit with some random history of Jack Frost and my own connection to him. Why? Well, because this lens is for brainstorming for my NaNoNovel and what better way to do that than to randomly chatter about the history of my main character?

Jack Frost has long been my favorite character, be it a holiday character, a fairy tale character, a book character, or a movie character.

My obsession with Jack started early. I only attended school for 3 years, being pulled out of school at age 8. However, in my short time at school, one thing went over big with me, and that was stage acting. Our school had 4 plays staged each year, and I made it my goal to be in every one of them - and I was. My photographic memory meant I had the highly unusual ability to recite pages of lines from memory after only seeing them a couple of times, and this unique talent got me cast in major roles of every play.

My preference however was always to play villains. Unfortunately for me, villains rarely had long lines, and my memory skills put me in roles where I had to do a lot of talking (strange considering my selective mutism in later years.) Only once, did I get to play a villain, and I was chosen for that part, not for my ability to remember lines, but rather due to my outlandish clothen style, which meant I had access to the proper costume for the part. For this silent mime style acted part, it was all about costume and an actor who could pull off a lot of glitter and glam. Boy can I do that. :) I scare people, not just today as an adult - but way back than in first grade - my chosen style of dress always scared people. But that year - it was my outlandish outfits that got me the part in a play that would forever change my view of book and movie villains and influence much of my later life.

I was 6 years old and the villain was Jack Frost in a reinterpretation of Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant.

Next time I found Jack it was in Keenan Wynn's Winter Warlock version of him, from Santa Claus is Coming to Town, another claymation movie.

This interpretation of him, brought to light the fact that this guy was damn mean, but that, he wasn't always mean - long ago he had been a mortal human who had only wanted love and friendship but was meant with cruelty and unkindness, and so turned his heart cold to the world and set out to freeze it, than created the North Pole as his hide out. This of course would result in him playing a roll in Santa Claus having a place to escape to and thus how Santa Claus was able to build a magic village and toy shop that no one could see.

So, now I had new ideas about Jack - who I now saw as not only having power to control the weather, but also, a wizard of sorts with other strange powers as well.

As the years came and went, I would find Jack Frost hiding in many places, but only in the two movies mentioned above, was he ever found to have any sort of leading role, and even in those two movies his on screen time was minimal at best. (Okay, yeah, I know, he's in other kids movies and cartoons, but the other ones always show him as a good hero figure and I'm looking for bad guy versions of him.)

My luck with books was not much better, outside of The Selfish Giant, Jack Frost was rarely seen in books, and usually only ever mentioned in passing and not actually seen at all.

A few assorted winter poems and Christmas songs mentioned him now and again, but as usual, it was nothing to write home about - so to speak.

Frustrated with fruitless searches for Jack in books and movies, I turned my search elsewhere and found that folklore, myths, and legends are where you find the real stories about Jack.

As it turns out Jack is an ancient character from Norse mythology, who once upon a time was known as Odin. In his early days Jack Frost was Odin, a fearsome god of winter whose servants were the Frost Giants and Ice Giants and prime contender was the black hearted trickster, Loki. His early incarnation was your basic viking warlord complete with big long bushy beard, huge weapons of war, and big Conan muscles. He later became known as Woden and was given a day of the week as his own personal festival day: Wednesday.

By the Celtic times Odin/Woden began to be called Jokul Frosti which basically means The Icicle King or The Frost King. During this time he was sometimes called the son of the Nordic wind god Kari. He also had a change of appearance, looking less fierce viking god and more Father Christmas Druid Wizard. The name Jack Frost is a direct English translation from Jokul Frosti and where his current name comes from, but this still is not the Jack Frost we know today. Jokul Frosti The Icicle Frost King, was more wise man than god. He had become a less scary warrior and a more friendly father figure. He was now looked upon as, and often called: Old Man Winter. This version of him was the old man whom Baby New Year had turned into by the year's end. He died the last day of each year, and was born again the first day of the next year.




In later Celtic times, he would change once again, due to the arrival of the Christian invaders. Inspired by romantic stories of martyrs and saints, most especially a recently killed gift bearing Turkish Saint named Nicholas, followers of Odin turned Old Man Winter, began to call him by various versions of Saint Nicolas, most common among them to rise out above the rest would of course be *gasps* Santa Claus.

Through studying the history of Jack Frost it was an amazing discovery to learn that, the two men, seen so often as bitter rivals in Christmas movies, were in fact one and the same person! Santa Claus IS Jack Frost! It was in colonial times that we would see the rise of Father Christmas, a man robed in blue with brown fur trim, fur skin cape, body coated with ice, long white beard flowing to the ground, and a bag of toys on his back. From here the story splits and evolves depending on which culture/country is telling it.

It's not until the Victorian times, do we see Old Man Winter separated into two unique individuals. At some point, it seems around the 1850's, Saint Nicolas became Santa Claus, the toy toting jolly old elf wearing red furs; while Father Christmas became Jack Frost the smaller and much younger, blue clad sprite who turned everything he touched to ice. From this point on we see the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde side of the Old Man Winter stories, with Santa Claus being the infinity good Dr, Jekyll to Jack Frost's infinity evil My. Hyde.

And that is how Odin went from Norse God to a duo of Christmas fairy tale characters, which brings us to the Jack Frost as we know him today - a little, cold hearted, blue guy who spends his time painting ice on windows, freezing blades of grass with his breath, and plotting his revenge against the infinity more popular Santa Claus .

The whole Odin to Jack Frost version of him, is of course the English version of him, but Jack possibly predates Odin, and it questionable whether or not he actually was Odin or whether he served Odin. Stories are not clear on this issue, because well, Jack as we know him today - the elf-sprite-faerie being, was not around back than anyways. The elfish version of Jack really was not seen before Thomas Nast drew a picture of him in 1864.

And even in Nast's drawing he is called "General Jack Frost" and depicted as a war lord riding a frozen ice horse and wielding an icicle sword. He didn't really go all pixie until much later when Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. got a hold of him in the 1950's - 1970's and made all those Christmas claymation movies, nearly all of which featured Jack Frost as a minor character. One of the Rankin and Bass movie, Jack Frost, stared Jack Frost as the leading roll. Thanks to Rankin and Bass Jack is now in constant competition with Santa Claus or working with or for Santa Claus.

But outside of the English versions, Jack Frost, takes a different roll. Traditionally Jack has nothing to do with Christmas at all. Jack is all about winter. While modern American tales have him an artist painting ice on windows and making plants look pretty and glittery, old folklore of Russia shows us a very different Jack. The Russian tales of Jack are ancient and no one really knows when or how they got started. This Jack was usually see with a wife. He was cold and blew terrible icy windstorms when he was angry. She was made of snow and scatted feathers to earth (which turned into snowflakes) in order to sooth her husband fierce temper. Blizzards came about when they were both angry. Together they controlled the weather and used wind, ice, hail, and snow to control and enslave humans. This version of Jack was not a friendly painter, but a terrible destroyer who brought down food crops with a single breath, froze men to death during storms, and trapped travelers in blizzards. When he is not killing humans with his cold breath, he id a blacksmith who builds chains out of ice and wraps them around plants to pull them down.

Russia's version of Jack is typical of nearly all non-American versions of him - fierce, spiteful, cruel, destructive, and taking great delight in causing pain and suffering. Traditional Jack is not well liked, he is feared, people do not look forward to his visits.

I think my favorite interpretation of Jack was when Jack Frost became a Disney Villain as portrayed by Martin Short in Santa Clause 3 The Escape Clause.

Everyone who knows me, knows I'm an uber major Disneyaniac. Yes, that IS a real word - it has the same meaning as Trekkie (a Star Trek geek) or Whovian (a Doctor Who geek).

A Disneyaniac is a person who suffers from server Disneyania (Disney mania and yes, that's a real word too), and obsessively collects and hordes Disney memorabilia to the point of utter insanity. Disneyania is an actual, though uncommonly mentioned, psychological illness, that you can be diagnosed with - it's a form of OCD which involves uncontrollably hording Disney memorabilia. My Disneyania is somewhat monumental in that it's nearing the point of breaking a Guinness World Record - yep, I'm not going to stop until I break that record either. That is my goal.

Of course, Jack Frost being my favorite character and me suffering from diagnosed Disneyania, means I nearly went through the roof when Disney announced they were turning Jack Frost into a Disney Villain! And to top it off, after years of cartoon characters - Jack Frost was at long last going to be a live action villain. YAY!

Martin Short was already one of my favorite actors, due to his early roles as Franque, the Fairy Godfather, and Mab's elf assistant. His later role as one of my all time favorite book characters, The Mad Hatter, boosted him way up the line, to making my top ten list of the best actors, but it wasn't until his portrayal of Jack Frost as a Disney Villain, that he became top on my list sharing rank with Vincent Price, Johnny Depp, and Alan Rickman - all 4 of these guys tying for first place as my favorite actors of all time.

A character long condemned to the cartoon sidelines, Martin Short brought Jack Frost to life in a leading role, that surprisingly mirrored everything I had long thought Jack to be: a stuck up, sneaky, pompous, well dressed, bad guy who'll smile, win your trust, and make you think he's your friend only to stab you with an icicle and pelt you with frozen snowballs the moment your back is turned. Of course, being a Disney Villain, means Jack could only get just so evil, because no Disney Villain is ever allowed to be truly all evil. That's just the way Disney Villains have to be, which of course is why it's so easy to love a Disney Villain. And in the end, we saw our evil Jack Frost have a change of heart and a change of ways, and we watch the end of the movie and ask: Is this the end of the cold hearted Jack Frost we came to know and love? Needless to say, I did not like the end of the movie - though that didn't stop it from becoming one of my favorite movies ever made.

Okay, so there you have it, my observations on Jack through out history and the media. As always, I love all the interpretations of Jack, however, I am disappointed that there are remarkably few instances where Jack is not seen a children's story book character.

I only know of two instances when Jack Frost was seen in media NOT aimed for children or teens: Jack was once the serial killer in a slasher movie, and once Jack was found among the pages of a Harlequin romance novel as a winter love god. In both instances, the Jack portrayed could hardly be recognized as being anything other than a bad guy whose name just happened to be Jack Frost. Both the serial killer and the winter sex god, where based on Jack Frost, without really being the actual Jack Frost himself, a fact I found quite disappointing.

And so that brings us to now, the last day of September 2009. I write. I write a lot. I write every day. Every year I compete in the National Novel Writing Month writing contest. Oddly, though I write as much as I do, and though I obsess constantly over Jack Frost, I have never written a story about him! I can not explain it. It defies all logic. Logic would seem to indicate that I should be writing Jack Frost stories left and right, and yet, here I am, a compulsive writer whose completely obsessed with Jack Frost, and whom has not a single word of prose devoted to the guy! Mr. Spock would raise an eyebrow and call it illogical and I would agree with him. I plan to correct that.




For this year's NaNoWriMo, Jack Frost has been picked to be my main character. Only, my Jack is not trickster style goody-two-shoe Jack. My Jack is mean. My Jack is evil. My Jack boarders on Joker style insanity. Oh yeah, did I ever mention that the Joker is another of my obsessions? I have a lot of obsessions, you can tell.

My Jack has been around for centuries, he's had a long time to learn to hate, he's had a lot of practice being mean, he's had plenty of time to become absolutely down right evil. He also, for some odd unknown reason, seems to have been heavily influenced by Davey Jones of Pirates of the Caribbean, I guess because what with me living right on the ocean like I do, I got this thing for creepy pirates with flying ghost ships, too. You know, it looks like I may over the years, have taken all the worst out of every comic book, movie, and cartoon villain and rolled them all into one hell of a cold heart bad guy, which somehow I mixed together with all the stuff I've learned about Jack over the years, and in the end, Jack Frost, my Jack, seems to have become a new incantation of Jack Frost fit for manga. Oh well, so now I've got my theme, my plot, and my main character - now all I got to do is wait for November to get here so I can write this all down.

What would NaNoWriMo be without The DARES Thread? In a word, it wouldn't. One of the first topics to ever be created on the NaNoForums, The DARES Thread has remained a steady and popular part of the NaNoWriMo competition. The theory behind it is simple - play a game of Truth or Dare with your characters. Your character has chosen Dare over Truth, and now you as the author must come up with a dare for your character to carry out. The DARES Thread is a place for NaNo contestants to leave dares for each others characters. You go through the list until you find a dare appropriate for your character, and than ad a scene to your story with your character carrying out the dare.

I usually grab a dozen or so dares and scatter them throughout my NaNoNovels. It's a traditional thing that makes a NaNoNovel stand out as somewhat different from a regular novel, making it like a game. I'm currently seeking out dares, as I do every October. As I find new dares, I'll come back here and add them to my list. As the month of November rolls along, we'll see how many of them I actually use.

Dare = The dare itself.
BP = Bonus Points: An extra idea for the dare.
DBP = Double Bonus Points: Going beyond the dare itself
TBP = Triple Bonus Points: Going above and beyond the dare
QBP = Quadruple Bonus Points: Taking the dare to the point of utter insanity

Found in the 2008 DARES Archive: (link not currently available)

Dare: Have a Death Scene in every chapter.
BP: If it always involves a main character.
TP: If it doesn't involve a secret evil organization
QP: If your MC starts to not notice everyone dying.
My Soul: If all of them are ridiculous deaths, such as Death by Tuna Sandwich.

Found in the 2006 DARES Archive

Dare: Have an entire scene spent picking flowers.
BP: Picking flowers somehow is vital to the plot.
DBP: If the MC uses them to defeat the bad guy.
TBP: If the bad guy uses them to defeat the MC.
QBP: If everyone is screwed by said flowers.

This one is perfect for Jack. I on't know why, but I've always seen Jack as sort of "afraid" of flowers. I can just see Jack obsessively freezing every flower he sees. Now if I could just figure out how Jack could be defeated with flowers, I'll be all set.

I have no idea who Mr. Ian Woon will actually "be" in my NaNovel this year, but I created a NaNoDare to help me figure that out. I think I am going to try using him as a random slapstick character this year. Here is my Mr Ian Woon dare if anyone else wants to have a go at it:

DARE:
Boost your word count with Mr. Ian Woon.

Bonus Points:
If Mr. Ian Woon randomly walks in at least once per chapter.

Double Bonus Points:
If Mr. Ian Woon dies every time he shows up.

Triple Bonus Points:
If your evil villain is always the one who kills Mr. Ian Woon.

Quadruple Bonus Points:
If no one but the villain notices that Mr. Ian Woon won't stay dead.

Homemade Cookies:
If your villain becomes obsessed with finding a way to kill Mr. Ian Woon permanently.

An Ice Cream Sundae with Cherry on Top:
If in spite of how many times he has been killed off, Mr. Ian Woon is still alive by the last page.

Mile-High Cheesecake:
If in spite of how many times he has been killed off, Mr. Ian Woon is the ONLY character left alive by the last page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE for those who don't know who Mr. Ian Woon is:

For those who don't know who Mr. Ian Woon is, he is the official NaNoWriMo character. (That guy who runs by with the giant pencil.) His name is NaNoWriMo rearranged. For nearly as long as NaNoWriMo has been, it has been the tradition of NaNovelists to write Mr. Ian Woon into a cameo appearance at some point in the NaNovel. He is not the only NaNo character. You can also create other NaNoCharacters by rearranging the letters in NaNoWriMo and to see what you get.

In addition to Mr. Ian Woon, other characters, businesses, food stuffs, etc, that have been used in the past have included: Warm Onion Record Company, Naomi Worn, Omar Ninow, Naomi Rown, Rowan I. Nom, Norina Mow, warm onion soup, Ironwoman, Ian Monrow, Mona Rowin, Mr. Ian O. Won, and many other anagrams.

To find out how others will be using him this year, please see The Official Mr. Ian Woon Thread of 2009.

I'm calling it Steampunk. I think, what I'm planning to write, will classify as Steampunk.

I think it is going to be Steampunk-Horror, but at this point in the planning it's too early to say. It could go more into straight Fantasy leaving Horror behind, and it could go more modern than Steampunk. We'll see once November gets rolling around, which way it turns out, but for the time being, I'm calling it a Steampunk-Horror until it tells me otherwise.

Is it bad that I have never read or written Steampunk before?

I'm a huge fan of Edgar Alan Poe and H.G.Wells, and I want to create a story that combines both of their styles, in the same sort of setting/era as their stories, but at the same time taking place in the present day. You see, I want to use a real town, which is utterly perfect for my novel to take place in, and was in existence in the 1800's, but was wiped out by a fire in 1964, so the town today is nothing like it was than - none of the original buildings are left, though most of them were *rebuilt*. A lot of stuff that is in the town today (the amusement park rides, for instance) did not exist in the 1800's, but I want to use them in my novel. I want to story set in the 1800's, but I want all sorts of modern things too. My answer to that, was to throw everything in the pot together and write an alternate version of this town. So, what I ended up with, was a novel set today, in a real town, but in an alternate reality where it's like most of the 1800's lifestyle (cloths, theology, technology, etc.) is pretty much still here too. From my understanding of what Steampunk is, I think, my novel is going to be very much what could be classified as Steampunk.

Is it?

But my question is whether Steampunk is Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Adventure?

Admittedly, I'm somewhat new to Steampunk as a genre (if you don't count the fact that I've read nothing but 1800's sci-fi and horror for the past 30 years, that is), so my thoughts on this could be a bit skewed. I've never really thought of Steampunk as a genre in and of itself, but rather as a setting, in which any genre could be set. In other words, my feeling is that there are such things as: Steampunk Fantasy, Steampunk Horror, Steampunk Adventure, Steampunk Science Fiction, Steampunk Romance, Steampunk Murder Mystery, etc. etc. etc. I wonder, is there such a thing as Steampunk Chick Lit too?

I think any genre can be done as Steampunk, depending on which direction you want to take your story.

Personally, when I think Steampunk, I think of a modern day world, that for whatever reason, still lives predominantly in the lifestyle of a historical era. Sort of an alternate reality sort of thing, I guess. As for timeline, maybe I'm lose-er than others, but I see it as from the mid-1700's to the 1940's. I guess that goes a bit before and after the "steam era", but that's the way I see it anyways.

That's what I meant earlier, about not being sure if I'll stay strictly in Steampunk once I get started writing. You see, I'm setting my novel in the present day, but I'm also assuming that in *this* present day, things are quite a bit similar to what they were in the 1800's. So, it's not like I took things from our time and stuck them in the 1880's, but rather, I took the 1800's and stuck them in our times. Things like cars, I don't think will exist in my world, people will still be using horses for the most part, or walking. On the other hand, I plan on having an airship of sorts (still designing it and trying to figure out it it's the *only one* or if they are like cars and everybody has one. Not sure how that'll go yet)

I think the ship, most likely, will be an actual ship - you know, like a pirate ship; only it can leave the water and fly through the sky as well. Not sure how it'll do that yet, but I've always wanted a flying pirate ship, so I'm going to try it out and see what happens. I think, in the end, it sort like a space age science fiction time, but as though it was science fiction written by a person living in the 1850's. You know, before cars and rockets were invented, so the *author* would be thinking in terms of water ships in the future. That sort of thing.

And zeppelins, I want to write about zeppelins. Is that weird? I've always wanted a zeppelin or a blimp, or some sort of big funny lightweight ship I could fly around town in. Ever since I was about 4 years old and I saw a blimp, I've wanted one. It's one of those things, you know, when someone asks you: "If you had a million dollars what would you buy?" and my answer would be: "Why a zeppelin, of course!" Yep, I'm weird. I know. I was a weird kid and I grew up into a weird adult. It helps that I grew up in an almost Amish family, and have never NOT worn 1800's cloths too. My clothes scare people, I never understood it, because it was the way my family dressed. I was 27 years old, before I had contact with people outside of my family, so I wasn't aware that my clothing style had gone out of style some 200 odd years earlier. It was quite a bit of culture shock for me, but, you can see why I find it so very difficult to set anything I write, in a modern world, that does not live as the 1800 world.

I have a few odd idea running around in my head right now, things I would *like* to use, but am not sure yet how they well fit in my plot, so not 100% sure I'll use each of them yet.

First off, I have this idea about an air ship, that is sort of part seafaring pirate ship and part zeppelin, so that it can go by air or water. I'm not sure yet how it is powered, but it has the ability to freeze solid every thing it passes over - turning the ocean to ice and such. Well, I suppose since it's Jack Frost's air-ship-boat-thing, you could say it was magic powered to some extent - though I still haven't worked that all out yet. Maybe I should write up some sort of *magic system* so I know what magic can and can not do in my universe? I don't want the answer to always be that magic can solve everything - there's no real challenge for my characters if I did that. More like magic is there, and people who know how (have learned/studied) can use it to varying degrees, but most people just don't know how to do anything with it - so it's like, only a few "magical person's" really know how to use it - Jack Frost for example - only Jack Frost has gone power crazy with it and is using it to freeze everything, sort of just because he can and no one knows how to stop him - which he sees as making him the most powerful person alive.

I still haven't worked out how Jack goes from ordinary magical person who creates winter, to megalomaniac magical person gone mad. Or who it is that is going to step in to stop him, or how. It seems like it should be another *magical type* but than again, it might be better if a regular, non-magical type stops him - possibly using some sort of weird ice-melting steampunk gadget? Not sure yet.

In any case, I definitely need to build up laws for my magic system, I forgot to do that.

I have another idea for a merry-go-round which I want to do something really creepy and scary, but I'm not sure yet what it does. Maybe it freezes time? Maybe people get on, but don't get off? Maybe it's a portal to another dimension? Maybe it's a time machine? I haven't decided yet what it'll do or how I'll use it. I can just see clouds of dry ice wafting off the floor as it turns, filling the park grounds with an icy fog that freezes those who walk through it.

I also had an idea about a weird flying motorcycle, that is somehow powered by ice.

I was also thinking about this frozen ghost train, that crashed during a blizzard and everyone froze to death, but now years later it comes rolling through town in the dead of night, all coated with ice and snow, and instead of clouds of black smoke, it puffs out clouds of dry-ice fog. And all of its passengers are these sort of frost-ghost-zombies. The train was my first idea. Last August I kept thinking "I'm writing about a ghost circus train this year" but that's all I had. Just the ghost train, nothing else. I think the ghost train is probably going to be a big part of the story, and the other stuff more background side things. I seem to be putting most of my focus on the train than the other things. I kept seeing the ghosts as very cold and icy, and one thing lead to another.

You can tell I've got this whole ice theme going here right? I want all my thingys to be powered by ice or to give off ice or turn things into ice. I guess mine will be more Icepunk than Steampunk. LOL! But hey, ice turns to steam as it melts right? Ice turns to water as it melts... yeah, but where does steam come from? Evaporated water! :)

So, I'm calling it Steampunk Horror for the time being. Of course, than I've got the whole Horror bit going too. I'm still calling it Horror at this point, but I wonder if maybe, it's really, more of a Dark Fantasy instead? Maybe I should change my NaNoGenre setting?

Hopefully, I'll have everything worked out between now and November.

Okay, reposting these questions again. This time to see where I'm at and find out how many questions I've got answered.

What should I write about? Answer thus far = Jack Frost and a ghost circus taking over the world, more or less.

Of course, I could also say my novel will be about death, life, loss, pain, grief, confusion, fear, shock, disgust, courage, and peace. :)

Where do I find inspiration? everywhere, esp outside, and in the cold weather

What's at stake? uhm -- the world? on a big scale, that is; on a smaller scale, the main character's hometown; so basically, stop Jack on a small scale = stopping Jack on a big scale; right?

What are the obstacles? Jack's army of ghosts are already dead, so it's pretty hard to stop them, seeing how you can't really hurt a dead guy, right? How does the town fight back? Can they fight back? What if they can't fight back? What happens if they do NOT defeat Jack? Will Jack win and freeze the entire world? Do I have the makings of a series as a result of them not defeating Jack and the world is sent into a new ice age? I can see there is much to work out in this area still.

Who has the most to lose? Everyone - if Jack wins, there will be no more sunny days, no more warmth - and how the hell would Jack pull that off? What can he freeze the sun too? WOW! Never thought of that point before - new obstacle for Jack - How does he stop the sun from melting his frozen handiwork?

What is everybody's motivation? The Humans don't want to live in a world of ice and snow or worst freeze to death, and be turned into one of Jack's ice clown drones. The Frost Ghosts are like zombies with no minds of their own, and have no motivation other than to obey Jack's will. Jack has been around for centuries getting more bitter as each year passes, he's got a lot of pent up anger to unleash on the world.

What needs to change by the end of the scene/chapter/book? ???

What do the various characters need to accomplish? Jack needs to raise an icy hell over the world. The Frost Ghosts need to do what Jack tells them. The Humans need to survive long enough to defeat Jack. Has Hell frozen over? Is that what's going on here? Is Jack like a frozen cousin of Satan? Need to work on these ideas some more.

How do I actually get on with writing? Who knows?

What am I passionate about? Jack Frost?

Can I see myself immersing in, researching and spending my morning, days, weekends and evenings writing this? Yes, I can.

What do I know about? What am I an expert in? What knowledge can I share with the world? How does that help my novel? need to come back to this one

How many broad headings can I come up with to describe my plot? How can I turn them into 12 to 30 chapter headings. Haven't done this yet.

I should write up some sort of *magic system* so I know what magic can and can not do in my universe? I don't want the answer to always be that magic can solve everything - there's no real challenge for my characters if I did that. More like magic is there, and people who know how (have learned/studied) can use it to varying degrees, but most people just don't know how to do anything with it - so it's like, only a few "magical person's" really know how to use it - Jack Frost for example - only Jack Frost has gone power crazy with it and is using it to freeze everything, sort of just because he can and no one knows how to stop him - which he sees as making him the most powerful person alive.

I still haven't worked out how Jack goes from ordinary magical person who creates winter, to megalomaniac magical person gone mad. Or who it is that is going to step in to stop him, or how. It seems like it should be another *magical type* but than again, it might be better if a regular, non-magical type stops him - possibly using some sort of weird ice-melting steampunk gadget? Not sure yet.

My world has to different races: Humans and Magical Beings/Elementals (which are sort of like the ancient *gods* or immortals- heavily influenced by Norse mythology, at this point.)

My Humans *can* become magical in a Jedi Knight sort of way, but are unlikely to do so as it's an ancient nearly dead art.

My Magical Beings rarely associate with the Humans, live among themselves, and are controlling the weather/seasons anonymously, so the Humans pretty much are unaware that without the Elementals, the climate and weather would go all to hell. (Which is just what is going to happen - Jack Frost is going to take over and the rest of the elementals are for whatever reason not going to stop him - maybe they go on strike because the Humans forgot about them?)

I've divided my magic system by seasons and elements as a result: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Frost/Wind/Snow, Rain/Water/Fog, Green/Plants, Fire, etc.

In any case, I definitely need to build up laws for my magic system, I forgot to do that.

I need to answer the following questions:

What IS magic?

Magic is the ability to do ordinary things by extraordinary means.
It is also the ability to do seemingly miraculous or otherwise impossible things, using methods that deify explanation.

What can magic do?

Magic can help or harm. It can be used for good or evil.

Magic can alter the state of things -

In Humans this means strength of will power - think Jedi Knight - using the force around you not grab a wand and shoot (Harry Potter style).

In Magical Beings this means and Frost Being can enhance the wind to make it colder to the point of turning water into solid ice instantly, or freezing a person solid, etc. and a Green Being could cause plants to grow faster or cause vines to wrap around a person to tie them up, while a Fire Being could make wood burn by touching it. That sort of thing.

What can magic NOT do?

Magic is not the answer to all life's problems. You can not just snap your fingers and toys march themselves to the toy box. Magic is limited. Magic is not all powerful. Magic does not defy the laws of physics - it can seem like it is doing so, but it's only making it look that way.

Magic can not turn something into something else - a person into a newt, a copper teacup into a gold brick, etc.

Who can learn magic?

There are two types of magic in this universe:

1.) The type mentioned above, which is a flow of energy throughout the world that every one has access to, but almost no one knows or believes they do. These are ordinary Humans, not unlike us. They are not born with "mutant powers*. Some of them are just more spiritual or psychic than others. They have the same physical limitations as us. They can not do *Harry Potter* magic. These that do harness the magic energy do so in much the same way Jesus did.

2.) Magical beings and immortals are born with *magical gifts*, which they can either choose to develop and use or not. Due to their species they are born with *special powers*. They are a race of *super beings*, somewhat akin to super heroes and super villains from comic book universes. Their powers are in controlling elements of nature - the weather, for example. They are thus referred to as Elementals.

These elemental powers do not just appear at random - they are specific species. For example, a being who can harness, control, cause, and create ice, wind, and snow, would have been born from parents who could do the same. One that could control water, fog, and rain would have had parents with the same powers. A child of Ice parents wouldn't develop fire magic, for example.

These are specific species - like cats and dogs and goats and chicken they do not cross breed one with another and create "half breeds", because it is not physically possible. They are not Humans, they do not think or act like Humans. They do not live with Humans. They can not breed with Humans and create Human/Elemental cross breeds.

How does one learn magic?

Everyone has magic in them to some extent, but few people are away of it and only rare individuals ever discover this fact or try to use it. The ones that do discover it are more spiritual or psychic. Once they discover they can tap into this *magic energy*, they must learn how to use it, otherwise it is useless to them. Their studies are very much in a Jedi Knight sort of way, with them tapping into mental energies. Magic in Humans is more of an enhanced karma thing - again - think Jedi Knight style magic.

Magical beings have it at birth and can use it to some, minor, insignificant extent, usually when angry. But they require years of training to learn how to really use it to a great advantage. As such, most Magical Beings are just somewhat different from Humans, most Frosties have a tingling cold handshake, but can't turn you to solid ice, for example. While only those, like Jack Frost and Mother Nature, who made a career out of using magic, became really powerful.

Why would someone want to learn magic?

Usually to help the world, the people, but sometimes folks have selfish motives.

Why don't more people know how to use magic?

It requires many long years of hard training and most people are either too lazy to bother or can not afford more than a couple of years of basic training.

Let's see if I can add to that by answering these now:

So how does magic work in your world?

I think it's like an energy force field for the Human Magic. But for the Elementals it's like a natural ability, so not really magic per say, but seems like magic to Humans because Humans can't do it.

Can everyone use it, or just some people?

All Humans *COULD* tap into the energy field and use magic if they knew they could and tried to, but almost no one knows they can and only few that know about it actually try it.

All of the Elementals use their elemental magic to some extent, but mostly in minor ways. Only a few really go all out with it.

Are you born with the ability or do you need to be taught?

Elementals are, but Humans are not.

Where does it come from, how does it exist, and how is it harnessed?

The magic Humans use is the energy given off by the earth, and they can harness it through psychic training.

The Magical Beings, elemental powers are natural abilities, and not really *magic* to them.

Is your magic similar to any other author's ideas?

The Human magic is very Japanese Mythology and Star Wars - so, yep.

The Elemental Magic is very Norse mythology and Celtic, so, yep again.

Do you explain magic in your book, or do you hope your audience will accept it for what it is?

Not sure yet - I guess we'll find out once November rolls around. I doubt it though. I'm not a big fan of stories that do a lot of explaining all the hows and whys - I want to hear the story. As long as every thing is logical in comparison to the rest of the story, and the system stays consistent, there is no need to explain it. My feelings are that a story shouldn't have to try to explain itself.

I'm experimenting with banners for my NaNoNovel.

I'm having a character and plotting problem. I have an idea (not really a full plot yet - but November will fix that), and I have a place (the town I grew up in, of which I know every nook and cranny of), I have the backdrop people (nameless folks in the sidelines who's sole purpose is to be killed off by the villain), and of course I have the villain (a nursery rhyme character gone comic book megalomaniac) and his evil minions (a traveling side show-circus of frozen ghosts).

My villain is well planned (I spent years creating him) and is life like and three dimensional. I know what he wants and what he'll do to reach his goals. I know he's about to land unannounced in this town and pretty much turn it upside down. I know that somewhere, somehow, someone (my hero/main character???) will come along and figure out how to defeat him.

And there's my problem - I have no main character! I think I want three main characters (three best friends who for whatever reason take it upon themselves to defeat this guy), but I've yet to figure out who they, what they look like, or more importantly HOW they will defeat the villain.

I think as it goes now, the villain is going to be the point of view character, but than I wonder - CAN a villain be a PoV character? Stories should build up around the MC right? But does the MC always have to be the hero? My story is building up, but it is building up around the villain and as yet, no hero has come forward. Does that mean that my villain (and not my hero) is the main character?

Traditionally, the bad guy gets defeated at the end, and is no longer seen in the last chapter of a novel; the last chapter being reserved for tying up loose ends and showing the heroes living happily ever after (more or less). Can the novel be written through the eyes of the guy who will be defeated at the end? (He'll still be alive at the end, the hero isn't going to kill him off, just stop him from succeeding in his evil plan.) Can a novel end, not showing the hero riding off into the sunset, but rather showing the villain going off to sulk in his lair instead?

I know publishers always want the HEA (Happily Ever After) endings, but I'm just really not a HEA writer! It's been the major stumbling block to my getting published, actually. Editor's are constantly telling me: "This is great, but could you change the ending?" Are you crazy? Me? Change the ending? I'm not your sunshine and happiness writer! I don't let my heroes get everything they ever wanted - heck, they are lucky if they are still alive by the time the book ends! I love Poe's morbid endings, and I love writing Poe style morbid endings. I get sick of every book I read, ALWAYS having a HEA ending. I get to the end and I wish - just once, why can't the bad guy win? Just once, why can't the hero give up and say "To heck with it, save yourself." Just once I'd like to see a stumbling block fall in front of the hero and he has to end his quest WITHOUT reaching his goal! ACK! Why don't more publishers give us this? I mean, it's not like us writers are not writing this stuff. Sure we are, we just can't get publishers to publish anything without an HEA ending. :(

End rant.

Okay, back to my NaNoNovel of the year. Well, my novel this year, I'm planning to get published. By December I want to have a draft worthy of editing and polishing, so that by next summer I'll have an MSS I can send out to publishers. Here's my problem - I've done this before, but my endings are always either hero dies, bad guy wins, heroine dies and hero goes mad with grief, or some other such ending of gloom and despair. I LIKE writing endings like that, but publishers don't want to publish those types of endings. So, I'm torn between writing what I'm good at or writing what publishers want.

Well, this year, my story, as usual, revolves heavily around the villain. It's very likely that he'll be the MC and the PoV character. It's also very likely that he will defeat the hero and gain global domination. As it's going right now (in this early planning stage) it looks like my hero is doomed to fail on his quest, and me the author is going to sit back and let it happen. In other words, I WANT MY HERO TO FAIL! No matter what he does or how hard he tries, I'm just not going to let him win. Is that bad?

Anyone ever seen the movie "Quarantine" (It's a zombie movie that well, let's just say does not go quite the way the hero expected.) or "Saw"? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Those kind of endings. Bad guy wins. No matter how many loops the hero jumps through - bad guy still wins - game over - hero loses. I like to call them *Twilight Zone Endings* because it happened so often, that the bad guy wins in The Twilight Zone. So, that's the way my story is going.

Of course, it also looks like my plot is turning into sort of a zombie apocalypse here too. Whoops! I didn't plan on that!

Can anyone recommend any books where the villain/bad guy is a PoV character? I'd like to read some to get an idea of how others have handled writing from the PoV of the bad guy, but so far I can't think of any books writing from the villain's PoV. Preferably stuff that makes you think: Quarantine, Saw, Poe, Joker, or Twilight Zone (since this is the way my story is leaning quite heavily at this point.)

I know Batman comic books are somethings written from the villain's PoV and it's not uncommon to see Gotham through the Joker's eyes or to see the Joker taking the lead in the stories while pushing Batman into the sidelines. And of course, though he's defeated in the end of the story, the Joker is never fully defeated, he always comes back a few issues later. But this is the only example I can think of, of a villain taking the lead, and a comic book is not exactly the same as a novel. Are there any novels that do this?

Is there any one else who has or plans to write using the villain/bad guy as their MC and PoV character?

So many questions, I know, but it's just that I've never seen a novel written from a villain PoV before and outside of comic books I don't know of any villains ever being used as a main character before. Let me know if you know of any, please.

Also I need to find my heroes (main characters???) but so far they are doing a good job of hiding from me. If any one has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I'm going good - my plot is moving right along, ideas and characters are snowballing into all sorts of plot snow-bunnies, everything is going great - and than today my plot does all sorts of weird things.

Quick recap - my plot revolves around this megalomaniac super villain who comes in and takes over this small town, planning to make it his "secret headquarters" for his bigger plot of global domination. He figures, no one will think to look for his HQ in a little hick town on the edge of nowhere, everyone will expect him to have some huge fortress in plain sight (because that's his style). He also figures, no one in "a little hick town in the sticks" is going to be smart enough to defeat him or thwart his plans (yeah - this guy has a big ego problem).

Okay - so the town in the book, is in fact the tiny town in the middle of nowhere that I grew up in - so I know every nook and cranny and can really get into writing up the setting. I also know the locals pretty well and know that they just HATE outsiders barging in and will not stand for this guy's attempt at taking over and setting up HQs here. They are not the backwards idiots he expects them to be.

So far so good. My problem is, I've yet to figure out WHO my hero is. I don't have a main character or any of his side kicks yet. My story as I've planned it gets pretty dark and bloody, and is very much a horror story. Too horror to be considered a Young Adult novel. So I've been planning on an adult aged hero team (hero plus two friends).

Than this morning rolls around and I'm working on my plot and suddenly out of no where I've got these kids (about 16 years old -ish) and ideas about all sorts of ways they can defeat the bad guy, and I'm going - this is great! And than it hits me - it's starting to sound an awful lot like Potter and crew going after Voldemort. :( Than I'm like - "Wait a minute! I wasn't writing YA, what are these teenagers doing battling the villain?"

I need to steer clear of having Harry Potter-type personalities for my heroes. I think that's the problem right there - it started sounding like it was Harry, Hermione, and Ron doing all these things. It was like they jumped out of the Potter books and into my plot. :( Not so much the plot itself being Potter-ish, but the characters acting like they were Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I don't want to sound like I grabbed them, gave them new names, and set them in my plot, but just the way I was writing about their character bios - it seemed like that's what I had done.

Of course maybe I SHOULD write YA, because that's what I read, and doesn't every one always say to write what you read? What do I read - well, Harry Potter of course, and The Three Investigators, Bunnicula series, Jane Eyre, Edgar Alan Poe, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Lemony Snickets, Alfred Hitchcock's Young Reader series, Bruce Coville, Betty Ren White, Kieth Laumer, James Blish, lots of random assorted single title books off the YA paperback rack of my local library - I rarely ever read adult fiction. . . uhm, yeah, YA books is all I ever read, maybe I should try writing YA after all?

It's odd, I read one and write the other. All my books have always been adult books, usually very adult M rated books, not once have I written YA. It never occurred to me before that I am writing the complete opposite of what I'm reading. Weird, actually. Writing YA is so very not my style. I'm thinking now though, maybe I should give it a try seeing how this one is trying to go that road.

So my question is, SHOULD I go with it and let my teenage characters jump right in and battle the villain? or should I continue searching for older heroes for my book? Should I change my focus and make this a YA novel? And how do I come up with ways for my characters to defeat the villain, without making my readers think - "This is soooo Harry Potter"?

Today while reading the NaNoWriMo forums, I ran across this question which inspired a rather long winded answer from me. It also, in an odd sort of way, helped me to get farther ideas for my plot, so I'm copying it and pasting it here for reference, once November rolls around. The question and my answer to it follow:

What village is right to base my fictional one off?
I've got so much great research on villages, now I'm trying to find a village that seems right to kind of base it off, I feel like I need to for some reason, just put up with me!

I'm looking for the kind of architecture like Lacock and Castle Combe, but Lacock is too big of a village I'm looking for and Castle Combe is too small!

Not looking for coastal villages either, preferably in land.

Thanks in advance!

I'm afraid I've never heard of Lacock or Castle Combe, and I've no idea where they are in the world either. Uhm, I don't have any villages to offer for you, sorry. However, I'll tell you what I do in this sort of situation, because it's exactly the sort of thing I deal with all the time.

For some reason, I just can't write about a place until I have actually visited it, walked around the buildings, seen the people, taken note of the types of trees and flowers that are growing - ect, etc. I mean, I can read about the town in books and I can look it up on Google and everything, but somehow it's not the same as actually standing there. To make this just a bit more difficult, I'm a borderline agoraphobic; I've only left the house on a few rare occasions in the past 30 years, and when I do leave the house, I can't go alone and I can't go very far. So, this results in some problems, since I can't write about places I haven't been, and I can't leave my yard without a massive panic attack sending me back into my garden.

Well, when it comes to my books and stories, they are pretty much, almost always, set in a small coastal Maine town somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, by the ocean to one side and a forest to the other. Guess where I live? Yeah, in a small coastal Maine town somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, by the ocean to one side and a forest to the other. :)

Problem is, my stories are not always suited to my town. Sometimes I need a bigger town with a lot more bustle. Sometimes I need a smaller town, a lot more secluded. Sometimes I need the house to be a beach cabin right on the sand. Sometimes I need the house to be a castle on a rocky cliff battered by the shore. Sometimes I need a dense forest, sometimes a busy city. Sometimes I need deep dark caves. Sometimes I need sprawling swamplands. Sometimes I need huge deserted cemeteries. But no matter what I need, always is my story set in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, whither it has what I need or not. Always. Whither it's an accurate description of the town or not, does not matter. I could give the town a different name, say Rockland, and suddenly I find I can not write about it anymore, even though it's the same setting it was when I was calling it Old Orchard Beach! It's the weirdest case of Writer's Block I've ever heard of and I can't explain, it, but it happens every time. If I don't set my story in Old Orchard Beach, I just can't write about it.

So, if you read my stories you'd think the real Old Orchard Beach was everything from a big city to a tiny fishing village, with beaches and mountains and thunder-holes and castles. You'd also think it was overrun with werewolves, vampires, phookas, faeries, aliens, ufos, serial killers, ghosts, haunted houses, morbidly depressed emo-goth Edwardian dudes, and psychotic sex crazed mermen. What is the real Old Orchard Beach? The real Old Orchard Beach is nothing like I write it as!

Here is the real Old Orchard Beach, the one I actually live in: When I was a kid, it was a tiny Victorian beach front township, complete with amusement park and a train station, cut off from the world by a 3000 acre forest. By the time I was a teen, out of state developers bought the forest, cut it down and put up skyscraper condos. Today, 30 years later, I live on the last farm, in the middle of the last 26 acre section of forest. There are no mountains or cliffs or castles. The Thunder Hole is real, but it's not in Old Orchard Beach, it's about 100 miles north of here, on the Canadian border. Old Orchard Beach had about 2,000 residents when I grew up, most of them farmers and rifle toting lobster men. Today there are 12,000 residents, most of them souvenir shop owners or hotel managers. Voted the World's Finest Beach (scientifically - meaning it has the world's tiniest grains of sand; not meaning it's the best place to visit!) Old Orchard Beach, now gets an average of 2 million tourist visitors each and every summer. Our winters are cold, fierce, and last nearly 8 months, so our tourist season is VERY short, averaging 2 to 3 months. In the winter it is a virtual ghost town, with only a few thousand residents braving off the sub zero winter season. This town has grown and changed a lot over the years. It expanded and evolved. A hundred years ago, it was predominantly black, being a safe haven for escaped slaves, and most of the business owners and town council men were black (a rare thing in the early 1900's). It's most famous residents were the Jazz singers Louis Armstrong and Billy Holiday. . . I live 4 houses down from Louis Armstrong's summer house, and am a 15 minute walk from The Pier (a casino 2 miles off shore and standing in the middle of the ocean) (and seen above in photo by me, taken at low tide when you can walk under it) where both Louis and Billy got their start, and had concerts every Saturday night. (The end of it was cut off during a hurricane, so today it'a not half as long as it was in the 1920's.)Today the town is .0001% non-white! What a turn around! My town has a hell of a long history, since it was settled by my pirate great-great-great-great-great grandfather Thomas Rogers in 1657. The land I live on is the oldest in Maine to still be in it's original family. (Very original, since he married a local Native American girl.)

So, now that I've told you all this, how does it help you and what was my point? My point is this - write what you know. It may seem that Lacock and Castle Combe are not just right for your story, but if you are writing fiction - what does it matter whither or not the real village is exactly perfect for your fictional one? So, Lacock is too big and Castle Combe is too small - so what? Combine the two, create a Castle Lacock of Combe instead - a village that combines the best of each and throws out the stuff you don't need. Take what you know about these two villages and blend them together, and create a village that perfectly suites your needs, out of something you already know about. You will write it best, if you stick to writing what you know, and being a novelist, you can move buildings around to fit your story, you can take a mountain out of France and stick it in a Georgia swamp if you want to! (I grab mountains out of France and drop them smack in the middle of Old Orchard Beach, all the time. I also grab castles out of Scotland, caves out of Tennessee, trees from California, volcanoes from Oregon, and snowstorms out of the North Pole and stick them in Old Orchard Beach, too. Damn - half the time it seems like I've condensed the entire United States and squished it into my tiny 7 mile long by 2 mile wide home town!)

The point is, don't feel that you have to write the village just exactly as it really is. You are a novelist after all - no one expects you to write an accurate travelogue - they expect you to tell a good story, set in a world that seems like the real world, but is a place they would rather be instead. I know it's not exactly the answer you were looking for, and I don't have any villages to offer to help you out with, but hopfully this will help you take the villages you like best and find a way to make them the village you are looking for.

Hope this helps you out some. I think all of that made sense - it made sense in my head at least. =/

Yep, I know, I'm driving you crazy analyzing the hell out of Jack Frost from every angle. But here it is, 3 days from NaNoWriMo 2009, and I had 9 days of sick in bed and couldn't do anything at all, so I'm back to obsess over Jack some more to make up for the 9 days in bed. :) In 3 days I can start writing - I will be watching the clock and the second midnight gets here, I will start writing. Let's see how many words I can get in before sun up on day one.

Okay, so for todays, I can't stop talking about Jack while I wait to write about Jack, session, is creating a character profile for Jack Frost, my Jack Frost, not history's Jack Frost. I already figured out everything there was to know about the historical Jack Frost, now it's time for me to figure out everything there is to know about Jack Frost in my book.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 1: The Basics

What is your full name?

Jockal Frosti, Jack Frost for short.

Where and when were you born?

In a time near immortal, many, many centuries ago. In a country far north, where the humans can not dwell.

Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, etc)

I don't know much about my dad, he was never home, there was always winter somewhere, rumor has it that he died, but no one really knows for certain. I took over his job centuries ago. My mother was a servant in Mother Nature's palace. Servitude is not the place for me. I left it behind in search of greater things.

Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?

Nope, I'm an only child. My father was never home. It's amazing I was even born.

Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.

The far North is my home. It's winter in Alaska all year long. So I'm there most of the year. I live alone. Well, almost alone, I've the Frost Giants, and the Frost Ghosts and the Frost Zombies to keep me company. But my people? No. I stay away from them. My people are mindless drones, they serve Mother Nature without question. They can not think for themselves. And everything, everything is about the Humans. Everything they do, is to make life better for their precious Humans. What thanks do they get? Do the Humans care? Do the Humans even know any of us exist? No!

What is your occupation?

Winter is my occupation, my career, my life, my destiny.

Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks.

What do I look like? I'm about 5'3, kinda skinny, silver blue hair and pale blue eyes. I wear glasses, blue lenses but otherwise there's nothing really distinguishing about my appearance. I look like most of the other Frosti's. You'd swear I was made of ice. And Magma's a liar, I'm the whitest person you'll ever meet. Her skin does not pale in comparison to mine. The hot headed hussy, doesn't know what she's talking about, too many years spent living in a volcano. Fried her brain. Poor dear.

To which social class do you belong?

Social class? That would be a Human thing to worry about. Humans and their petty concerns, they worry about class. Pitiful.

Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

Not that I know of, though, uhm, fire doesn't mix well with me. I melt. I have to avoid the hot tropic regions. I really must find a way to block out the sun. The sun makes it so difficult for me to travel.

What does your voice sound like?

Kind of quiet. I talk more than Mother Nature but still not a lot. I suppose that's not hard to do, she never has anything to say does she? People are so surprised when I yell at them, though, it happens so rarely. They don't expect me to get mad at them, I stay so calm and cool most times. Well, I find it easier to just freeze them, than to yell at them. I mean, why waste my voice on them?

What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

My goodness, I should hope not. I don't talk frequently.

What do you have in your pockets?

Snowballs. Icicles. Dry ice powder. It always comes in handy. Freezes everything (and every one) instantly.

Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

I personally don't know any, but I'm sure you could ask someone else and learn a lot. Of course, that is, if you could find someone whom I haven't frozen. Not many people live long after seeing me. As a general rule, once you've seen me it's already too late - you're dead! I just have that affect on Humans. It's not that I try to kill them, they are just so weak, they can not stay alive in my presence. My body gives off such cold air, the temperature drops when I set foot in the room, things freeze, and Humans who get to close, just, die! It's not something I have any control over.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 2: Growing Up

How would you describe your childhood in general?

Eh, average, I guess. Being a Frosti, is a pretty lonely life. You can't get near any one other than other Frosti's and well, most Elemental's are not born Frosti's. There aren't too many of us. My mother wasn't the type that had to stay away from everyone, her cold aura was just cold, you could stand next to her if you wore enough layers of cloths. My father, on the other hand, he could never come home, froze any one who got near him. Mother Nature has scientists and doctors working on a "cure". A "cure"! Can you believe it? Like we are sick or something. Is she trying to find a cure fore any of the other Elementals? No! The Greenies have vines sprouting up in their foot prints, the Fireries turn everything they touch to ash. Is she looking for a cure for them? No! And it's not even all the Frosti's, no, just one - just me! I can not live with the other Elementals. When I was a kid, I touch them, they die - frozen solid, turned to a block of ice. And it got worse as I got older. I don't have touch them to freeze them any more. No, I don't even have to be in the same room with them any more - heck, I could freeze the entire room, just be thinking about it. Yeah, that's what my childhood was like. That's what my life was like. People terrified of you. People run at the sight of you.

What is your earliest memory?

I don't remember a time when people did not run from me. That is all my memories consist of. Being alone, and people running from me.

How much schooling have you had?

I could not attend school. I had a private tutor. Mother Nature found some other Frosti's who could get close to me. That didn't last of course, as I go older and colder. Not even other Frosti's dare get near me now.

Did you enjoy school?

Most of the time. I enjoyed reading about the Humans. Humans fascinate me. Such strange delicate creatures, and we Elementals, do everything we do, for them. Yet, we must make our presence unknown? Why? We control the weather, the temperature, the rain, the snow, everything we do, we do for the Humans! Why? What thanks do we get? Do the Humans even know we are here? Do the Humans even care?

Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?

I was a pretty curious kid so I taught myself a lot of stuff. I had too teach myself most things, especially after I started getting older. Older and colder. Not even other Frosti's could get near me after a while. I had to teach myself everything. How else would I have learned?

While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.

None that I can think of. I suppose my problem, is that I'm just so damn undefeatible. I'm like god. When you are this all powerful being whom everyone runs from, how can you find some one to look up to? Who is there?

While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

Didn't know my dad, lived with my mom. We got along pretty well, at least we did, when I could still live with the rest of the Elementals. I wasn't very old when they made me leave. They were too terrified that they would all freeze to death if I stayed. So, most of my life has been spent wandering the arctic regions alone.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I think I've always wanted to own a circus, a carnival. The rides, the train, the clowns, the cotton candy. The people. So many people. Circuses draw large crowds, lots of people. I'd like to be around people. I've never been allowed to be around people.

As a child, what were your favorite activities?

I like building things. I've always liked building things. I built the air ship myself.

As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

I always had so many ideas running through my head and sometimes I'd have to say them out loud or write them down. I passed my time building mechanical things - spider robots, tiny air ships. Like the big ones I build today, only smaller.

As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?

I had no friends. My inability for people to get near me without them getting frost bite was the cause of that.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 3: Past Influences

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?

There haven't really been any. My life is uneventful. I mean, look at me, I live hidden away from the world, and what do I do? I make it snow! I make cold winds blow. I freeze water. I have polar bears and moose for companions.

Who has had the most influence on you?

I think the Humans. I watch them. They are curious creatures. They find such unique ways to live in my winter realms and yet, they are oblivious to my existence. So of them come here for peace and quiet and other come in with their machines and cut everything down and build up huge cities, than complain that it's too cold. Such strange creatures the Humans are. I find them fascinating.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement? I'm working on it right now. I'm building an air ship unlike anything ever seen before. I will use it to freeze everything, every one, everywhere.

What is your greatest regret?

Nothing so far

Do you have a criminal record of any kind?

Not so far

When was the time you were the most frightened?

I can't ever remember being frightened by anything. I guess, when every one is afraid of you, you don't have a reason to fear anything yourself.

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

Friends. I would like to have had friends. It would be nice, to not always be alone.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 4: Beliefs And Opinions

Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

Neither. Life is what it is.

What is your greatest fear?

I can't say that I have any fears.

What are your religious views?

Religion? That is a Human concept. Humans are small and weak, they have need of building up gods to follow because they are petty creatures. The Elementals have no need for religion. Half the time Humans are busy making us their religion.

What are your political views?

I have none. I have no country, I have no people. I am alone. No one cares wither I live or die. No one even knows, I exists.

What are your views on sex?

It's not something I think about.

Are you able to kill?

Oh yes. All the time. It just happens. No one can get close to me without freezing to death. I have a powerful aura. I used to try to warn people, but Humans are stupid. They do not listen. They have to see it with their own eyes, and by the time they do believe me, it is too late, they are already dead. Oh well, more people for my army of Frost Zombies.

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

Oh, yes, I think so.

What do you believe makes a successful life?

To live the life you want to live.

How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)?

I say exactly what I mean and I mean exactly what I say.

Do you have any biases or prejudices?

Not that I can think of.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 5: Relationships With Others

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how?

I don't usually notice people around me. There aren't any people around me to notice.

Who is the most important person in your life? Who is the person you respect the most, and why?

I am the only person in my life.

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people.

I have no friends.

Do you have a spouse or significant other?

No

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.

No

What do you look for in a potential lover?

I'm not sure

How close are you to your family?

No. I am alone.

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not?

No. Not sure if I'd want to or not.

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help?

I have no one.

If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

No one.

Who is the person you despise the most?

My social circle is too small to contain people I hate.

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

I have no people to argue with.

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?

I suppose you could say that.

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not?

I wouldn't know.

Do you care what others think of you?

Not really.

Jack Frost Character Profile: Part 6: Likes And Dislikes

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

I like building things - mechanical things, robots and ships and such.

What is your favorite color?

Blue of course. Pale icy, whispery blue. Not quite white, not quite silver.

What is your favorite food?

I don't really have a favorite.

What, if anything, do you like to read?

I read science journals and weather reports.

What is your idea of good entertainment (music, movies, art, etc.)?

Entertainment is not something I really do.

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

No, those are petty things Humans do to ruin their bodies.

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

Saturday night? Why would I do anything different from one night to the next?

What makes you laugh?

Laugh? I don't.

What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

Blatant stupidity

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

I would design something and than build it.

How do you deal with stress?

I don't really have to. Most things that bother me, end up frozen and dead before they get to disturb me too much.

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

There's usually some kind of plan.

The content of this lens was created by Wendy C. Allen compiled from posts on EK's Star Log, the official blog of author and artist Wendy C. Allen, a.k.a. EelKat. Reprinted here on Squidoo with permission.

EK's Star Log Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 2005-2008. Star Log, Space Dock 13, The Twighlight Manor Press, Moonsnails, Buried Treasue, Copper Cockeral, and Xavier's Nest Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 2005-2007. Twighlight Manor, EelKat, White Rock Asylum, Planet Ptarmagin, Crystonite Chronicles, Etiole, Sir Roderic, The Swanzen Family, and all other related characters, info, writings, names, images, and content Copyright © Wendy C. Allen 1978-2008. Reuse of these names, characters, writings, and images are not allowed without prior authorization.

All content written and designed by Wendy C. Allen unless otherwise stated. No part of this site may be reproduced or transmitted without the express permission of the author. All rights reserved.