Back in October as Nanowrimo was approaching, I decided to put aside all of my current WIP novels, which consisted of 1 YA dystopian, 1 YA Fantasy, and 1 Middle Grade Fantasy, and focus on something completely brand new. Those other three had been plaguing me for quite some time. And I say plaguing because I couldn't stop thinking about them but wondering at the same time if they were good enough, worth working one, blah blah blah.
Once I decided to work on a new novel, I thought about what elements always showed up in my favorite stories, regardless if they are overdone, cliche, etc.
1. Chosen One stories. I love these! From Harry Potter to Star Wars to Hunger Games to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
2. An ordinary character who finds out he or she is part of a magical world in one way or another. aka The Heroes Journey.
3. Teenage main characters
4. Elements of fantasy, mystery and danger
6. Vivid characters/world that would inspire artist to draw the characters/world.
I decided I wanted to write a Hunter character with a destiny to fight evil. Yeah, like Buffy. In the beginning I brainstormed about what she would hunt. Aliens, Fairytale and Mythological characters, monsters, ghosts...nothing that hasn't been done before, but my favorites nonetheless. In the end, it was an episode of Face Off that brought my world to life. In the episode titled: Teacher's Pets, the Spot Light Challenge centered around a Fantasy High School and it's stereotyped characters. The contestants brought to life an Emu Faun, Emu Minotaur, Nerd Minotaur, Nerd Goblin, Jock Goblin, Faun Cheerleader, and a Cyclops Cheerleader. What a fun episode. I loved the idea of a high school full of fantasy creatures. It started my creative wheels turning and Maggie Rose burst to life. I had a blast writing this novel. I know I made the right decision to just write what I love and not worry about if it's been done before. Because in the end, a novel is so much more than it's premise/synopsis/idea.
This is the synopsis I wrote before starting Nanowrimo:
Monsters are real. Maggie Rose knows this, but she rarely thinks about them. Why should she when she’s safe at an all Human school in an all Human city. She’s never run through a forest with a Faun, hunted with a Griffin, or even dreamed about flying on a pegasus like many Human girls do. Maybe she should have thought about the Monsters more. It might have prepared her for the day her mother and father moved her to a village full of them.
Now, forced to live in her estranged grandfather’s mysterious old mansion and enrolled in a Monster ridden High School, Maggie must face her fear and learn to coexist. Lucky for her, Library, an energetic Tree Nymph, befriends her and suddenly she has more friends than she did in the city. Aryiaya, a beautiful Unicorn girl, Timothy, an intelligent and geeky Shedu, and Kaine, the mysterious Pegasus who always carries a battered sketchbook. Her new friends at New Helena High are not really monstrous at all, just teens like Maggie.
But Monsters are not the only inhabitants of New Helena, and when Maggie’s parents are abducted by Skin Walkers and her grandfather is left indefinitely unconscious, it’s up to Maggie to unravel the mystery behind their abduction. Her only clue is the fox mask that she finds hidden in her mother’s trunk, a mask that reveals the truth about the destiny Maggie was meant for. Can she face the truth of who she really is and outfox whoever is now after her? She must, for her Mother and Father’s lives and all of New Helena depend on it.
