NaNoWriMo 2018

November may be a while yet, but I've already picked out my NaNoWriMo project for this year!

Reid's story takes place after Terence's time. This story takes place before Terence's time; it's the story of how the great kingdom Daire came to be.

After all, every kingdom has to start somewhere.

The main protagonist is Prince Varian:

Varian is a nice guy for the most part, but he's also quite spoiled due to his wealth, status, and sheer handsomeness, and his father (sort of) teaches him, "There is no room in this world for weakness." He's got some major, major lessons in humility in store.

In a time and place of intense prejudice, Varian forms an unexpected friendship with a unicorn, Silvan:

Varian had always believed that unicorns were supposed to be hunted, and most unicorns avoid humans if they can help it. While Silvan is a bit more trusting, he's not at all ignorant about what humans are capable of, and when he and Varian meet for the first time, he notes the "irony" about their interaction with each other.

For whatever reason, man and unicorn take a wonderful fancy to one another and form a bond that couldn't be more genuine. Naturally, this leads to a tremendous complication of things.

Though Varian is the main character, this story will focus just as much on a princess, Aurora (and no, not the one from Disney):

I wondered for a while whether this story ought to focus on a man or a woman. Then I thought, "Why not both?"

As you can tell, my Princess Aurora is a rebellious princess. But she's not your typical royal rebel; in any case, I'm working to make her not that way. She has legitimate reasons for acting the way she does. She's an only child and her parents just use her for their own gain; they care more about what they can get through her than about her as a person. She learned from an early age to trust no one, including her own servants. So while this makes her wonderfully resourceful and independent, she's also very cynical and sharp, quick to assume the worst of everyone she comes across.

Her status, wealth, and beauty also go to her head. Like Varian, she carries a massive ego, and she'll also learn a big thing or two about humility. But her heart is genuinely good and in the right place most of the time.

And finally we have Theia, Silvan's mate:

Like Aurora, Theia is wary of other creatures, but she's much less brash about it. She doesn't trust too easily, and if you do gain her trust, that's saying an awful lot. It takes a long time for her to warm up to Varian, in spite of her mate's friendship with the man.

I've even got my story set up on my NaNo page, all ready to go!

Now all that's left to do is wait for November 1. I'm excited already!