How I turned my NaNoWriMo novel into a real book
By Laura Roberts
It's National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, and lots of people wonder "Whatever happens to all the novels written in November?"
Sometimes they actually get published!
The first two books in my Naked Montreal series are actually books that I finished writing during NaNoWriMo 2012. The only catch is… I cheated.
You see, the concept of Naked Montreal as a whole was a book I had been working on for several years, trying to figure out exactly what direction I wanted to go with the story. I had several different pieces I had written within the same landscape of the "Underground City," but I wasn't sure what tied them all together. They were set in Montreal, and revolved around a fictional cast of characters based on some of the people I'd met during my time as a sex columnist, but there wasn't quite a through line to pull the stories together.
I had originally thought about writing a guide to the sexy side of the city, and naming that Naked Montreal, but I couldn’t find any publishers who were interested in such a book. And the more I thought about it, the more I found the title perfect for a novel with a sexy tour guide as the central character – someone who would give tourists a view of the real Underground City, sort of like the “Sex and the City” tours in New York, but more raw.
Finally, I made the decision to finish the story once and for all during NaNoWriMo 2012. I had a bunch of stories needing connection and this protagonist, Francesca “Frankie” Parker, waiting for something to do. I decided to make her a sexy tour guide, which would give her carte blanche to explore all areas of the sex trade with a behind-the-scenes all-access pass.
Joining a local “Sit Down, Shut Up and Write!” Meetup group in Austin, Texas (where I lived at the time), I banged out new pieces and arranged the older pieces I had so that they fit together cohesively. I refused to worry about the 50,000-word mark, and just concentrated on putting together stories. At the end of November, I had parts 1 and 2 of Naked Montreal, which together are roughly the size of a single NaNoWriMo novel.
I had cheated by working on an existing manuscript, but two of my previously unfinished books were finally done. Even better: I had generated tons more ideas for a continuing series, and could begin working on those right away!
In 2013 I published parts 1 and 2 of my Naked Montreal series as Naked Montreal: Sex and the Underground City and Naked Montreal: Porn Stars and Peccadillos. I also published a nonfiction collection of my sex columns as The Vixen Files: Naughty Notes from a Montreal Sex Columnist. I was on a roll with self-publishing, and ready to expand my collection of ebooks to reach new readers.
This November I've been working on a book called The Cheater's Guide to NaNoWriMo, with writing tips for people who want to get their November novels finished and prepped for publication. I also published a short guide to the system I use for writing my books called Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist. I hope both of these writing guides help others get their novels finished this November, and look forward to reading many of them in the new year!
By Laura Roberts
It's National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, and lots of people wonder "Whatever happens to all the novels written in November?"
Sometimes they actually get published!
The first two books in my Naked Montreal series are actually books that I finished writing during NaNoWriMo 2012. The only catch is… I cheated.
You see, the concept of Naked Montreal as a whole was a book I had been working on for several years, trying to figure out exactly what direction I wanted to go with the story. I had several different pieces I had written within the same landscape of the "Underground City," but I wasn't sure what tied them all together. They were set in Montreal, and revolved around a fictional cast of characters based on some of the people I'd met during my time as a sex columnist, but there wasn't quite a through line to pull the stories together.
I had originally thought about writing a guide to the sexy side of the city, and naming that Naked Montreal, but I couldn’t find any publishers who were interested in such a book. And the more I thought about it, the more I found the title perfect for a novel with a sexy tour guide as the central character – someone who would give tourists a view of the real Underground City, sort of like the “Sex and the City” tours in New York, but more raw.
Finally, I made the decision to finish the story once and for all during NaNoWriMo 2012. I had a bunch of stories needing connection and this protagonist, Francesca “Frankie” Parker, waiting for something to do. I decided to make her a sexy tour guide, which would give her carte blanche to explore all areas of the sex trade with a behind-the-scenes all-access pass.
Joining a local “Sit Down, Shut Up and Write!” Meetup group in Austin, Texas (where I lived at the time), I banged out new pieces and arranged the older pieces I had so that they fit together cohesively. I refused to worry about the 50,000-word mark, and just concentrated on putting together stories. At the end of November, I had parts 1 and 2 of Naked Montreal, which together are roughly the size of a single NaNoWriMo novel.
I had cheated by working on an existing manuscript, but two of my previously unfinished books were finally done. Even better: I had generated tons more ideas for a continuing series, and could begin working on those right away!
In 2013 I published parts 1 and 2 of my Naked Montreal series as Naked Montreal: Sex and the Underground City and Naked Montreal: Porn Stars and Peccadillos. I also published a nonfiction collection of my sex columns as The Vixen Files: Naughty Notes from a Montreal Sex Columnist. I was on a roll with self-publishing, and ready to expand my collection of ebooks to reach new readers.
This November I've been working on a book called The Cheater's Guide to NaNoWriMo, with writing tips for people who want to get their November novels finished and prepped for publication. I also published a short guide to the system I use for writing my books called Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist. I hope both of these writing guides help others get their novels finished this November, and look forward to reading many of them in the new year!
My date for tonight, an overstuffed businessman with slicked-back hair in a greasy little ponytail and a vaguely Bronx accent, is so chuffed to be here with a beautiful woman that he's practically salivating over my white flesh, my smooth black hair, my pouty red lips.
Little does he realize, I'm just the appetizer. The main course is on her way, ready to beat him into submission. She goes by the name Lady Evelyn, but I've never seen any evidence of her title's origins. I keep getting texts from her that say she's on her way, which usually means she'll be fifteen minutes late. I've got to keep the Catch wriggling on the line for a few more minutes, until she shows.
I finally receive a text from Lady Evelyn announcing her arrival, and swiftly draw our meal to a close as the Consultant inhales the last bits of mungfish left on the plate. I casually gesture for the check, and he signs off on our decadent feast with a look of pure evil in his eyes. I stand up, as if headed for the ladies' room.
“Meet me in back in five minutes,” I whisper in his ear.
His eyes widen, and a smirk creeps across his face. Showtime.
Little does he realize, I'm just the appetizer. The main course is on her way, ready to beat him into submission. She goes by the name Lady Evelyn, but I've never seen any evidence of her title's origins. I keep getting texts from her that say she's on her way, which usually means she'll be fifteen minutes late. I've got to keep the Catch wriggling on the line for a few more minutes, until she shows.
I finally receive a text from Lady Evelyn announcing her arrival, and swiftly draw our meal to a close as the Consultant inhales the last bits of mungfish left on the plate. I casually gesture for the check, and he signs off on our decadent feast with a look of pure evil in his eyes. I stand up, as if headed for the ladies' room.
“Meet me in back in five minutes,” I whisper in his ear.
His eyes widen, and a smirk creeps across his face. Showtime.
♥ Click on the cover for more info ♥
Laura Roberts writes about sex, travel and ninjas. Because what’s better than hot sex on a dream vacation while dodging shuriken?
As the author of the “V for Vixen” sex column, Laura began her career writing about Montrealers’ sexcapades, which have been collected together for her book, The Vixen Files. Blending real-life observations with fictional fantasies, she’s penned parts 1 and 2 of her serial novel, Naked Montreal, along with the short story collection The Montreal Guide to Sex, saucy poetry volume 69 Sexy Haiku, and satirical novella Ninjas of the 512. She’s currently hard at work on a sexy murder mystery entitled The Case of the Cunning Linguist.
Laura lives in an Apocalypse-proof bunker in sunny SoCal with her artist husband and their literary kitties, and blogs regularly at Buttontapper.com.
Win a $25 Amazon gift card and an eCopy of Naked Montreal
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this!
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Looks interesting
ReplyDeleteGreat review, it sounds sexy.
ReplyDeleteThx for the giveaway!
This book sounds AWE SOME! Thanks for the giveaway!
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