NaNoPitchMo 30: AN UNWAVERING FLAME

It's the final day of NaNoWriMo! How did everyone do? I've heard a lot of success stories this year.

For my last pitch-a-day, I'm reaching back to the beginning of the month and the EMPTY LIES THE DARKNESS series I did then. I think this story line would fit really well in that world.

Part of the reason I'm drawn to this particular story is because I just finished reading The Light Between Worlds. It's a lovely book with some really evocative writing, but it's not the way I would tell a "can't go back home" book. AN UNWAVERING FLAME would be my response:

Veriss was traveling on the mainland when her entire home island was obliterated. Now she has nothing—no people, not even the ground of her home to walk on. In the space of a moment she has gone from temporary visitor to permanent refugee.

But the need for home drives her to forge a new life out of the scraps of her old one. She joins the crew of a ship setting out to explore until it finds a new land to settle. The journey is dangerous, with no guarantee of safety at the end, but the rest of the crew is as desperate as Veriss. They must learn to trust and rely on one other or they will all come to a final resting place in the watery depths.

NaNoPitchMo 29: THE REFLECTED

I've been playing with this idea of gathering magic from reflected light for a few days, but I hadn't figured out how to use it until today. Here is...

THE REFLECTED

Juliet Hayes can absorb reflected light--moonlight, the sun on a lake, sparkling jewels--and turn it into magic. With that magic she can make herself reflect anyone around her--not their physical appearance, but their internal selves: skills, personalities, fears. The brighter the reflected light, the stronger the effect.

Juliet uses this power in the service of a secret organization called The SPIRE, doing whatever assignments come her way. But when she comes across a file she's not meant to see, she learns of another Juliet, one whose attributes are entirely identical to her own.

Now she's left wondering: who was she before she became Juliet Hayes? And why did she use so much power that she made herself forget her own name?

NaNoPitchMo 28: THAT WHICH IS OWED

Today's post brought to you by too many episodes of The Good Place.

THAT WHICH IS OWED

Leanna can travel back to any moment in her life and relive it, either to experience it again or to change it. She’s altered her life many times, often making small changes here and there, but there’s one moment she’s never been willing to touch. On that night she made the most significant choice of her life, one that hurt her deeply to the benefit of every other person around her.

But as the years go by, her choice wears at her. While her loved ones continue to prosper, Leanna continues to languish, and the temptation to go back and make the opposite choice grows stronger. The fates of everyone around her depend on two troubling questions: What does Leanna owe them? And what does she owe herself?

NaNoPitchMo 27: SEARCH NOT FOUND

Today's pitch comes from the popular superhero concept of someone whose power is in manipulating machines. I decided to go with a different twist on it, and I think it's interesting, mostly because I have no idea how the rest of the story would go. I'd love to read this book though!

SEARCH NOT FOUND

When it comes to computers, Marten has a magic touch. He can make any machine do as he wishes simply by willing it, and he can find anything online in a blink. Even encrypted information isn’t hidden from him for long. He has no idea how he got his abilities, and his aloof parents have never shown any indication they are aware of what he can do.

Marten’s only clue is a fuzzy memory from his early childhood of a girl who was just like him. He can remember her name—Liv—but not much else. Yet no matter how hard he looks through his vast online reach, the one thing he can never find is her. And the longer he searches the more certain he becomes that someone doesn’t want him to.

NaNoPitchMo 26: THE UNTAMABLE VERSE

Not much to add to this one in the way of commentary, so I'll simply post it as is.

THE UNTAMABLE VERSE

For every soul there is a unique set of words that will show a person precisely who they are. For some the words are a novel, for others a single phrase. For Helena it’s a poem found in the middle of a dusty old book, and once she’s read the words she can never forget them. They reveal to her the vastness of her loneliness and the depths of her longing.

But for Helena, knowing who she is isn’t a blessing. Filled with anguish over the truth of her inner self, she refocuses all her energy into becoming someone else. And yet the harder she tries, the farther out of reach such a change becomes. If she can’t master her restlessness and accept her soul as it is, her quest to become other will consume her.