NaNoWriMo 2017 prep – Day 3

Sorry about getting this up a little late — the notes are from yesterday, I swear.

Notes for Day 3

The Grey siblings have a sizable trust that they inherited from their mother’s late parents. This trust was partially depleted in the name of Peter’s care when he was a teenager. The siblings successfully sued their parents as a result (which played a role in both their estrangement from their parents and the legal emancipation of Jason and Peter before age 18).
- The three siblings have a mutual agreement between the three of them that they will only tap the money in trust for things that all three of them agree on.
The Universe game world offers options for all kinds of play styles and genres. The most popular settings are the space and fantasy settings. Most settings are segregated on particular “worlds,” (ie, servers), but there is some crossover between genres and settings with game balance restrictions built into the game to prevent abuses.
- Players who helped fund the game through the crowdfunding campaign were allotted special in-game positions of power (nobility with actual power, fleet captains, town mayors, etc.). Through particular sets of game mechanics and roleplay, these individuals may be unseated, but it is a difficult task.
  - Peter (as one of the creators of the game) is the Lord of a particular world (a largely fantasy world with science fiction elements and a few science fiction enclaves). Jason and Joslyn are actually both subordinate nobles on his world and Elaine was recruited by Joslyn as one of her subordinate nobles.

October 2, 2017

NaNoWriMo 2017 prep – Day 2

Below are more notes from my planning for NaNoWriMo 2017.

One of Elaine’s classmates is Hadrian Bridger, who is starting his graduate work as well. They have a few classes together and while Elaine doesn’t know much about him, they’re becoming friends.
Peter’s middle name comes from Ezecaius Koerpel-Schliemann, the head of UNSETIC. Ezecaius is an uncle(?) of the the Grey children and—in the view of Peter, at least—has been there more for them than their parents.
The company that Joslyn was temping at helped set up the gaming café where GreySoft is going to test its full-immersion gaming experience. She was also a donor to the crowdfunding campaign that helped launch the game, so she got passes to come in and try the experience. Both she and Elaine have dabbled in the game before and she brings Elaine along with her to try it out.
Joslyn and Jason first meet each other through the game and then later begin dating. Elaine and Peter follow a similar trajectory, though at first Elaine doesn’t particularly like Peter—and is pretty sure he hates her in return.

October 1, 2017

So it’s the first day of October, which means I start prepping (and writing things down!) for the yearly round of NaNoWriMo, which will kick off on November 1. Here’s my initial scribblings for this year’s project, which is set in the UNSETIC Files universe and will be called Universe until I get a better idea for a title.

Initial notes

Story set in 2015, about a year after a successful crowdfunding campaign brought GreySoft’s Universe game to the masses. Virtual reality integration is an offering of the game starting in December 2014. The company starts testing full-immersion options starting in September 2015, with a few “gaming cafes” set up in test markets.
Peter and Jason Grey are largely estranged from their parents. Marissa has a somewhat better relationship with them at this time, though she respects her brothers’ reasons for distance.
- Marissa and her husband, Brannon, have a young daughter at the outset of the story (Wynter Marie, born in 2012).
- Marissa is several years older than the boys and met Brannon while studying abroad in the UK. She half raised the boys, especially Jason, who their parents never seemed to have time for (focusing most of their attention on Peter, who resents them for it).
  - Peter has been in and out of hospitals since childhood. He has a rare neurological disorder that in part inspired the full-immersion technology he developed with Jason and Brannon.
  - Jason and Peter were legally emancipated from their parents when they turned sixteen.
- The work that went into the Universe game is part of Peter’s doctoral work, supplemented by Brannon and Jason’s expertise.
  - Jason did a brief stint in the Navy before he went back to college. He was finishing his undergraduate work when Universe
- Elaine and Joslyn are roommates and friends from their days as undergraduates. Joslyn is just finishing up at temping gig (getting ready to start another) and Elaine is doing graduate work.

The Characters

Peter Ezecaius Grey
Elaine Cavanaugh
Jason Grey
Joslyn Ballard
Marissa Grey
Brannon Marsden

July 7, 2017

UNSETIC Files: Lost and Found – Chapter 2 (original draft)

At the end of Bering Songs and Silence, Brigid O’Connell makes a fateful phone call–and sets in motion a series of events that neither she nor her new partner, Tim McConaway, can predict.

What follows is the draft of Chapter 2 of Lost and Found, one of the UNSETIC Files. I’ll be releasing the first couple of drafted chapters for free of this project and a some others through patreon, tumblr, and here with the possibility of releasing the full draft for patrons later–we’ll see what happens.

Lost and Found is a story told from the point of view of Alisa “AJ” McConaway, fledgling mage, anthropologist, and a team leader in UNSETIC’s Portal Corps.

I look forward to your feedback. Happy reading!

Two

Uncle Chris was climbing out of his SVU as I pulled up and into the circle drive in front of the house. He took one look at my face and came over to the driver’s side of my Jeep, his eyes narrowing.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’ll tell you inside. I have to pack.”

His brows lifted as I climbed out of my car and headed for the front door. He was wearing dress shoes. There must have been a board meeting or something today that I’d forgotten or that he hadn’t mentioned. “Pack?” my uncle echoed. “Where are you going now?”

“Virginia,” I said as we walked into the foyer. “I got a phone call today and I’ve got to get there tonight.”

“I can arrange—”

“I’m driving,” I said. “It’s going to take that long to get my head on straight.” I turned toward him, throat tightening around a lump. “Tim’s alive.”

“We knew that,” Chris said. “We knew that eighteen months ago after you and Kate came back.”

“He’s in Virginia, Uncle Chris. Brigid O’Connell called me and Tim was with her. He’s alive and he’s here, he’s back. I have to find out what’s going on.”

Continue reading “UNSETIC Files: Lost and Found – Chapter 2 (original draft)”

June 30, 2017

Original Draft – UNSETIC Files: Lost and Found – Chapter 1 sneak peek

At the end of Bering Songs and Silence, Brigid O’Connell makes a fateful phone call–and sets in motion a series of events that neither she nor her new partner, Tim McConaway, can predict.

What follows is the draft of Chapter 1 of Lost and Found, one of the UNSETIC Files. I’ll be releasing the first couple of drafted chapters for free of this project and a couple others with the rest of the drafts appearing as patron-only posts at my Patreon site. This is early-access, since Lost and Found will be released in ebook and print form once it’s complete and edited.

Lost and Found is a story told from the point of view of Alisa “AJ” McConaway, fledgling mage, anthropologist, and a team leader in UNSETIC’s Portal Corps.

I look forward to your feedback. Happy reading!

Become a Patron!

Continue reading “Original Draft – UNSETIC Files: Lost and Found – Chapter 1 sneak peek”

November 5, 2016

Because I can’t not share this…. (NaNo 2016)

Site’s been quiet lately, but that’s because between school and work and writing and a few other things, there’s just not much time. I’ll try to change that, but we’ll see what happens.

However…I can’t not share this. I’m working on another one of the UNSETIC Files for NaNoWriMo and I’m just compelled to share this because…well, because I can.

Fiction below the break.

Continue reading “Because I can’t not share this…. (NaNo 2016)”

August 23, 2015

UNSETIC Files special preview/extra – Brigid, Tim, and AJ after the end of Bering Songs and Silence

If you haven’t read Bering Songs and Silence, you might want to stop reading right here and now and go do that before moving on. Of course, folks who are currently reading The Man Who Made Monsters over at LP Loudon’s site will already know that something must have happened in the aftermath of Bering Songs and Silence, which is the story of the first mission for UNSETIC that Brigid O’Connell and Tim McConaway embarked on together.

Spoilers (and a preview of an upcoming piece, Lost and Found) below the cut.

Continue reading “UNSETIC Files special preview/extra – Brigid, Tim, and AJ after the end of Bering Songs and Silence“