Hello again, dreamers.  It’s that time of year: a time when novelists across the nation gather together to write, connect, and devote an entire month to writing a novel.

Last year at this time, I was almost dreading NaNoWriMo; my previous two attempts had yielded minimal success…to say the least. But this year is different, because last year, I wrote a book.

Okay, so I didn’t write a book during the month of November. I’d already begun The Pioneer before NaNoWriMo began, and finished said novel nearly a month after NaNoWriMo ended. But I did write over 50,000 words during November. After two years of fruitless attempts, I did it. I did the thing.

NaNoWriMo 2018 was a transformative experience for me. I spent an entire month writing my brains out. I was in the zone. I faltered more than once, I hit snags, but I pushed through it. In the end, I wrote all of Phase 3 of The Pioneers between November 1 and 30. In the process I met amazing new people, including members of my local writing community in Cincinnati.

I have to admit, I feel slightly more pressure this year. After all, last year I proved I could do it, so this year I need to prove to myself that I can do it again. But I am ready. That said, without further ado, allow me to introduce my 2019 NaNoWriMo project:

Dawn of the Pioneers

As with last year, my frequent readers will recognize my NaNoWriMo project as my current work-in-progress: the sequel to my 2018 project, The Pioneers.

Set 33 years after the events of The Pioneers, Dawn of the Pioneers sees Randall Holmes returning to Phecda 9, now known as Denali. There, he finds that much has changed since he’s been gone: where once there was a small colony struggling to grow, he now finds a developed society struggling to define itself. His friends and comrades from the Samarkand Expedition have grown old, and are now passing the task of building their new homeworld on to a new generation.

While he is glad to be home, the growth of Denali and of other colonies in nearby star systems had led to unrest. Distance from Earth and the hardships of the frontier have given rise to the Pioneers: a generation of men and women devoted to rugged independence, and opposed to the idea that Earth represents the sole authority over mankind. The Pioneers have begun to agitate for independence from Earth, and they have done so in Holmes’s name.

Now, Holmes must take up the mantle of leadership he has long rejected. His newfound prominence among the Pioneers will take him to new planets with new companions, all in the hopes of uniting the colonists in common cause. But when a sudden technological leap places the colonies within Earth’s grasp, Holmes will find himself caught in a tug of war between the world of his birth and the world he helped to build.

Dawn of the Pioneers currently stands at around 50,000 words, but there’s a lot more to do. This year will be challenging: if I’m to make 50k before the end of the month, I’ll need to move from Phase 2 directly into Phase 3. But I know I can do it, and I will.

As is the case most years, for the month of November I will be suspending my weekly “Week in Review” posts, replacing them with a weekly NaNoWriMo update. I can’t wait to see what NaNoWriMo 2019 has in store for me, dreamers. And I’m happy to have you along for the journey. – MK