Hello, dreamers. It’s that time of year again: National Novel Writing Month.

For those unfamiliar with the event, each November writers across the world come together with the goal of writing a novel in thirty days. Unfortunately, the actually NaNoWriMo organization isn’t with us this year; after a series of scandals, the group officially shut down. However, the dream persists, and I’m proud to be one of the stalwart authors who refuses to let it die.

That said, it’s time to introduce my NaNoWriMo 2025 project:

Aquarius 1

This will be my third attempt to write this story, and I still believe in it. It’s just too cool and original to not give it a good shot. To be fair, while I began my first attempt before I was ready, last year’s only ended because I shifted to preparing Seven Days on Samarkand for querying. In fact, I may run into that problem again this year. But my hope is to at least make a lot of progress between now and mid-December when I start getting ideas of querying again.

Aquarius 1 is a multi-POV work of hard science fiction, following the first manned mission to a habitable exomoon. The moon is covered entirely in ocean, and the main POV character, Karen Hernandez, is the first marine biologist in space. My secondary POV character, Anita Powell, is a brilliant polymath and engineer, who has succeeded in all forms of science while failing as a wife and mother.

I’ve made some notable changes in the story since my last attempt, notably having the action play out on a Cold War-esque backdrop. However, the endgame remains: the crew ultimately encounters a species of intelligent cephalopods, confirming that humanity is not alone in the universe and setting off a desperate battle to protect the creatures and their home.

I currently plan to begin work in advance of the official start of NaNoWriMo, partly in order to fully enjoy my college football on Saturday. From this point forward, I will make two NaNoWriMo-related posts each week. My “WIP Wednesday” posts will become NaNoWriMo mid-week updates, which will focus on the direction of the novel overall and my ongoing research efforts. And on Sundays I’ll have my weekly wrap-up, which will focus more on my overall progress.

It’s an exciting time of year. A time of crisp afternoons and pots of tea in front of the computer. I’m eager to begin work on this new project, and happy to have you along with me. Until next time, dare to dream. – MK