Tags
doctor who, nanowrimo, nanowrimo november 2016, novels, selay'uu (sort of), steampunk, story dynamics, the gentlemen adventurers' society, writing
This November, ill-advised or not, I am participating in NaNoWriMo. Since I am currently waiting for my next class (6:30 to 9:10 pm, I am gonna die if I don’t get out early), I thought I might as well take the time to introduce you to my project and the two main characters.
The Gentlemen Adventurers’ Society is a historical fantasy (pssst, it’s steampunk) novel set in the later years of the Victorian era and follows the adventures of Maeghan LeClere and James Pennon as they try to avert the annexation of a small German princedom by the growing empire of Kaiser Wilhelm I (I haven’t technically fact-checked it yet, fact-checking can wait until the end of NaNo!), an event which might catapult the world with its growing system of alliances into a vicious war (as in, World War I, if it started early.)
Maeghan is a young American woman, orphaned and out to make her way in the world, even if it’s an ultimately unremarkable one. She’s very good at organization, but balks at the idea of being put in charge of things. (I think we already know how we’re going to force some character development, guys.) She’s never done anything notable in her life, but that’s about to change.
James is English nobility–a youngest son, insignificant by birth, practically penniless, and yet too determined a personality to fade into mediocrity or to take a minor government position. Intelligent (perhaps too intelligent for his own good) and with a startling streak of fire in his character, he’s never failed to get anything he’s ever fought for, but he doesn’t quite live in the real world; he’s been sheltered his entire life. He’s never been burned before, and while he knows on a cognitive level that he could get hurt, he hasn’t quite realized it on an emotional one. He’s also a bit oblivious to when people are hitting on him, and it’s a rather unpleasant shock for him to be reminded that some people consider him a marriage prospect. His worst fear–the secret fear that he himself isn’t even really aware of–is failure.
James is a member of the mysterious, prestigious organization known as “The Gentlemen Adventurers’ Society,” a group for upper-class people (men and with some restrictions, women) who don’t settle down easily. Occasionally, they will provide some services–guides, detectives, scientists, students and so forth–on the condition that whatever payment is made is made to the Society, in the place of dues (and the surplus goes to make up pensions for some members who, like James, are sophisticated enough to belong but who don’t have livings of their own.)
Maeghan is travelling to Europe, by coincidence aboard the same airship as James. Working together, they manage to save the airship, and James invites Maeghan to join the Society as his protege. (Don’t look at me like that. Read it and weep, romance fans–there’s not really going to be any in this book.)
However, that’s really only the beginning for the two of them.
Hopefully you all enjoy my recaps of their misadventures throughout the month.
(Rosalie, did I mention that James is redecorating the mind palace for Christmas? Already? And the Doctor is aiding and abetting. Those two are terrible. It was a bad idea to have the Doctor and Charley stand in for James and Maeghan, since they get up to twice as much trouble after discovering their sympathies.)
Depending on which Doctor, I’m neither surprised nor particularly concerned. Suggest to him blue tinsel, Helena has some he can use.
(You already know I think your story idea is great, so I’m just responding to the PS.)
Blue tinsel? Who’s getting out blue tinsel?!
Sorry, that was Ten. He grabbed the keyboard from me for a minute. It’s Eight who’s decorating the mind palace. Oh dear. He found mistletoe somewhere. I should probably go make a diversion while one of my more sensible characters steals it away from him.
I’ll send Peter around with it directly, Ten dear.
Oh, if it’s Eight you’ll be fine, it will all go swimmingly. Eleven I wouldn’t trust with thumbtacks let alone holly.
*bangs head against wall* I’m thinking I may need to enlist the TARDIS’ help to keep all the Doctors from going all out. (Twelve Doctors decorating is a force to be feared. It looks like the Oncoming Storm just got into the glitter.)
Oh RASSILON no. Eleven would probably injure himself, and Twelve would not be amused. 0_0
Except for the mistletoe, Eight does have taste… Victorian Christmas. 😛
Twelve is the only sane person, except he just started shouting at Clara again and needs to stop shouting. I’m going to make hot cocoa and try and get him to calm down…
If you all ever get a chance to read it, it is extremely wonderful. 😀
And good luck on the decorating, kids ;D
*blushing*
No don’t tell them that! I need help from someone who is sane! Aaaaaaaaaaa
It is simply brilliant, Erin. ^-^
*hands them a christmas tree* Go all out, kiddos!
*buried in a pile of ornaments* So help me, Doctor, if this is the result of your pack-rat-ish-ness I will… I don’t know what I’ll do but it will be drastic!
also heh i made you like the Brigadier X-D
*adds a star to the top of the pile*
How could one dislike the Brigadier? XD
gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!!!
*smirks evilly* LET THE DECORATING RESUME!
*grabs frosting and squirts it all over you* TRAITOR
Whhhyyy would you do such a horrendous thing? *licks icing off of mouth* Though, this is some tasty icing.
You were encouraging the denizens of my mind palace to decorate for Christmas! It is not even Thanksgiving yet!
Psh, I decorated my cousin’s house before halloween! ;D
*sigh*
At least tell them to hold off on the mistletoe! I don’t like being surprise-smooched and I don’t trust half the people in this mind palace.
*waves at them* No mistletoe! Just everything else!
*sigh* okay. I suppose we can get out the apple cider…
Your story idea sounds fabulous, and I want to read it, please. 😀 Steampunk and history and adventurers and sheltered nobles, huzzah!
And you have my sympathy. Lianna and I are in accord as far as Christmas goes: nothing ’til Thanksgiving, and that’s that. We would offer to send help against decorating, but not quite sure what help we can send. I happen to need Lianna to keep me sane.
Everyone wants to read this story… 0_0 I’m not done writing it yet! The bits I do have typed up were from the experimental stage when I was still working out the kinks and the Doctor and Charley were standing in, so there’s a lot of Doctor Who references in that version of it.
I completely understand. (Mordred–who is not quite a bad guy here, long story–and I are working on a mistletoe detector so we can get that bit down, at least. Mordred’s not keen on the thought of kissing ANYONE. Ever.)
I can live with Doctor Who references. I might even get most of them.
Good. (And I may ask you to explain that long story later, but I still have 4.75 seasons of Merlin to go before I do. So, yeah. Anyway, I don’t blame him.)
*cough* the Doctor doing the stand-in is Eight *cough*
Nope, this is a totally different version of Mordred from a slightly-tweaked Arthurian legends novel I’m supposed to write eventually.
Oh. Maybe not, then. Most of my knowledge is of Ten and Eleven, with a little bit about Nine. (Oddly enough, I know next to nothing about Twelve- though that’s because most of my Whovian friends wandered off somewhere and never came back between Eleven and Twelve, and those who haven’t wandered off don’t talk about it nearly as much.)
Ahhhh. Coolness. So theoretically I could ask you now? (I don’t mind a long story.)
X-D I chose the most obscure and esoteric era of Doctor Who to be a fan off… whoop
TWELVE! YES TWELVE I LOVE TWELVE HAVE YOU SEEN SEASON NINE YET because if you have good for you i haven’t yet no spoilers
Which long story???
Of course you did.
*leans back from computer screen because that’s some very excited typing* I haven’t seen *any* Doctor Who. I’m a secondhand fangirl. I’d like to become a firsthand fangirl at some point, but that won’t happen for a while, I don’t think.
The long story about why Mordred isn’t a bad guy in your Arthurian retelling.
Yeah. ‘Cause I’m weird like that. And now I’ve changed my avatar again (poor Eight.)
Well, if you have Amazon Prime, it’s easy. All but the latest season of New Who is up for free on Prime Video. 😉
I should probably just put that in an email rather than cluttering my blog with it…
Why poor Eight?
Thanks for the tip. I shall keep it in mind for if/when I have time to watch the show.
Email, comment, I’m not particular. I just want to her this story.
He was game for it… and he likes the genre, anyway. Have you seen his TARDIS?! Besides, this is not anywhere NEAR as whumpy as the stuff he’s normally in–for him, this was practically vacation.
I meant why are you saying *poor* Eight, but that explanation works too. No, I haven’t seen his TARDIS, and yeah.
Oh! Well, Eight is probably the most whumped-on character in the fandom–there is even CANON whump-without-plot. It’s what comes of there being no actual show on TV at the time–EVERYONE turns into a fanfiction writer. X-P And we’re talking the weird side of Star Trek fanfiction when we say “fanfiction writer.”
I do not know what the weird side of Star Trek fanfiction is like, but ok then.
Okay, the weird side of Star Trek but less campy (sometimes–other times MORE campy)
Hurrah, Erin! Three cheers! I feel terrible that I’m not doing Nano with you. DX