Thread: Share your Novel Info! (Synopsis and Excerpt)

This will be my first time participating, and I'm rather excited about it. There is an option on the site in the "Edit Novel Info" to post a synopsis and excerpt of your novel. I'm eager to share mine, and just as eager to hear yours as well. I realize not everyone has gotten this far yet, but I find it good motivation and recommend you give it a shot if you haven't already.

Here's mine. Looking forward to reading yours!


Synopsis:

Travel back in time two million years, to the Pleistocene epoch, where a small band of hominids struggles to survive against ferocious predators, harsh climates, and a mysterious presence that stalks their journey across the African continent.

Excerpt:

...J’jogo let his eyes wander over the beast. He had never seen one this close before. It prowled through the grass as silent as Wind, with hunched shoulders and ears drawn back. Its coat was like Zebra, but colored differently, with brown stripes stabbing through dark yellow fur. On its side was a white diagonal mark, which J’jogo thought looked like the swipe of a spear. The hind legs flexed at the end of the body, short and compact, folding diagonally like coiled springs. The bones in its back raised with each shift of its weight, jutting up beneath the muscled hide. Dark quills of hair bristled from its neck, shoulders, and head.

Its strong forelimbs moved teasingly through the grass, pausing now and then, only to jerk back into motion. “Like Mantis,” thought J’jogo, remembering the spiny insect he had watched one afternoon as it stalked its tiny prey. But J’jogo was most interested in the pincer-like teeth that jutted from the two corners of the creature’s mouth. So vicious were these canines that animal’s jaws could not contain them. They stabbed through the air, osseous sabers of death, so notorious that the clan signed them as two index fingers bent downwards from the mouth. It was the sign of Fang Cat, and was almost always accompanied with one palm sliding away from the other.

J’jogo felt angry at himself for being so careless. Ga’an had taught him better. “Know,” Ga’an had once said, touching his own head. Tilting a hand back and forth in front of his eyes, this was the motion for “where”. Clasping his palms together, he then slid one hand away, the gesture for “flee”. Moving a finger in a full circle, this meant “time”. And Ga’an had made many circles. He repeated the signs until the message was clear. “Know where to escape at all times.” And here J’jogo was, tangled like Snake in a heap of dry, crunching brambles, within pouncing distance of a hungry Fang Cat. He tried his best not to move.

...The animal’s tail flipped back and forth like a short, furry whip. J’jogo watched the creature raise up from its crouch. He saw its ears roll forward and relax. It took a step forward then suddenly paused, tilting its head up to the sky. What was it doing? The creature bobbed its head in small, jerky motions, and J’jogo’s eyes grew wide when he realized what was happening.

It was sniffing.

Could it smell him? J’jogo looked down to make sure his cutting stone was still there, nestled in the boar-hide pouch strewn across his chest. That’s when he noticed them. Specks of dark red, like swollen ladybugs, peppered his body. They were drops of blood. His blood. All over his arms and torso. The brambles! They had scratched him and now his scent was in the air...

Just one question: How the eff do you have an excerpt when it's not time to start writing yet? Hmm???

Just teasing. Sounds really interesting though, something that would be both fun and challenging to write. Good luck! (Are you Hotbox on the Nano site?)

Did I break the rules? That's all I have written so far. Paragraph one. It's my motivation to keep going. I'm trying to ignore the daunting amount of research needed, and just embracing creative thinking, to see where it goes.

And yes, I'm "hotbox" there.

You didn't post your synopsis, Tia!

I've joined but what I plan to enter already has bits written to it. I've about 50,000 words or so left on it so the plan is to only enter what I've written from the start date into the count box so I will be writing 50,000 words in the month, though at the end I'll have more like 70/75,000
if that makes sense?

It's more just to give me motivation and a deadline to get it finished as soon as possible.

Oh, and my title so far: Last Chance,
Havn't filled in the synopsis or the excerpt yet, will get to it over the next few days and name over there is AlanJamesKeogh.

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

You didn't post your synopsis, Tia!

Oh, right. Haha. Here it is then :

"Yes, but..." is never the answer one expects when popping the question, but that's exactly what Ashli Merreck tells her boyfriend of five years. She'll agree to marry him only on the condition that they split up for a year, date other people, and still want to spend the rest of their lives together when the year is up.

Originally Posted by ProcrastinationStation

I've joined but what I plan to enter already has bits written to it. I've about 50,000 words or so left on it so the plan is to only enter what I've written from the start date into the count box so I will be writing 50,000 words in the month, though at the end I'll have more like 70/75,000
if that makes sense?

It's more just to give me motivation and a deadline to get it finished as soon as possible.

Oh, and my title so far: Last Chance,
Haven't filled in the synopsis or the excerpt yet, will get to it over the next few days and name over there is AlanJamesKeogh.

That makes sense. I was considering doing the same thing and working with my altfuture blognovel but I'd rather go with a new work. I think the site bylaws say you're supposed to do it that way-not that it matters in any real sense. I just want to do something new and add another project to my queue.

So I'm proceeding with my Martian novel/collection. Vermilion Dawn is the working title-it's set perhaps a millennium in the future (most of it, anyway), and the plot involves drug-smuggling cyborgs, zero-gee athletics, and robotic counterculture.

Originally Posted by ProcrastinationStation

I've joined but what I plan to enter already has bits written to it. I've about 50,000 words or so left on it so the plan is to only enter what I've written from the start date into the count box so I will be writing 50,000 words in the month, though at the end I'll have more like 70/75,000
if that makes sense?

It's more just to give me motivation and a deadline to get it finished as soon as possible.

Oh, and my title so far: Last Chance,
Havn't filled in the synopsis or the excerpt yet, will get to it over the next few days and name over there is AlanJamesKeogh.

I did that last year, and the motivation certainly helped. While I have since finished that book, I didn't make it to the finish line in time for Nano. Good luck and I hope you do better than I did!

Thanks I want to get it done as soon as I can so even if I don't get the 50,000 words I'll be happy if I get a good boost on it.

I will use Nanowrimo for background, so I am not trying to make something readable, just doing magical explanations.
Basically a young mage learning different magic spells, how he does it, and what mistakes happen.
Not wasting writing, just not worried about getting it published.
I have written research items like this before, just not left it open to "magic" before. If I run out of Wizard magic, I can do religious magic, or even the limited mental magic.

I have written out the "how to" for some magic I used in books, This will be actually using the magic, for the magic I haven't created I can write the how to in the story.
(one example is mage lights, a mage trainee's money maker.)

I'm using Nanowrimo to get a kickstart on my novel. I plan to make a "compact" version of my story and then extend it after I have all the basics down on virtual paper.

Here's the synopsis:

It all started in a lonely afternoon of Autumn. The promising pianist of the local junior orchestra, Ellen Hawkins, is having a bit of a block. That day she went to a nearly-abandoned little park she often visits to find out it is not so abandoned after all! Sitting there is Arthur, a boy her age, admiring the scenery. Their adventure starts with an quirky beginning; Ellen is too busy worrying about everyone's expectations, while Arthur doesn't seem to care a penny about what the world thinks of his rude and straightforward attitude. Will Ellen find what's missing before her life falls apart? Will Arthur pick up the pieces of what's left of his previous life? How will these two deal with their problems?

Well, I don't know, yet.

Severin - Sounds fun. Ever since Harry Potter, anything magical is sure to attract attention. I had no idea there were different kinds of magic.

Elite - That's an interesting premise. Sounds like Literary Fiction (focusing on the growth and connections between characters). I can see that being a Sundance Film Festival movie.

It was last minute... but I signed up. I need something to get me moving. Hopefully this gets me moving!

Synopsis:

Fantasies mount with a warm breath on a fallen eyelash. Hope soars into the night sky on a shooting star. Whispers float with the summer breeze on the toss of a coin. Visions dance with the sight of a colourful rainbow, embraced in the afternoon sky. Not all genies live in a bottle. In fact, Emma lives in a dumpy studio on Fifth Avenue. Drawn to earth by our wishes.

Excerpt:

The bass pounded under my feet. I could feel the tremors riding up my shins, dancing through my insides, thumping behind my ribs. With each step I took, I realised how much I didn’t want to do this. It was so hot; sweat was dripping down the back of my neck, tickling my backbone as it glided down my spine. The teens were so dazed and out of it, I wasn’t sure some of them weren’t laying there dead. The place stank of rotten food and other fowl smells that I couldn’t place; I wasn’t inclined to investigate either. I stepped over one girl who had obviously slouched off the couch and lay sideways on the floor, half under a toppled over table. It didn’t surprise me that her friends, or whatever they were, had left her lying bent at an awkward angle on her neck. Her left arm was twisted behind her back with her right arm curled over her head. Her hand rested like a skeletal claw on the filthy floor where it landed when she slid off the couch. Her skinny fingers coiled around a dirty hypodermic needle, held in a weak grip with the promise of life, fading with each thrust of the plunger. The girl’s pallid-blue eyes were iced over; almost dead looking, blankly staring back at me. She moaned and I crouched down, cracking my knees with the sudden movement; no one would notice, even if I weren’t invisible.

Wow, I really like the sound of yours Kyle- keep me posted when it's finished, it sounds like something I'd love to read!

My synopsis is as follows:

DreamWorx has changed the way we sleep- and the way we live. The invention of shared, lucid dreaming has transformed the way modern humanity engages in everything from recreation to romance. But the DreamWorx has a dark side, one that unassuming server technician Ned starts to uncover as he sinks into a world created by the imagination- and ruled by fear.

And yeah, I don't have an excerpt yet, but I've posted the short story that the novel is kind of based on in the Writer's Workshop section under DreamWorx (title on loan from the lovely DreamWorx95 herself)

Hey SnooSnoo, glad to see you've joined us. The beginning of your synopsis confused the heck out of me, then the mention of Emma living in her dumpy apartment made me laugh. Your excerpt was intriguing as well, the last line really got my interest piqued. Have fun, good luck!

Thanks Baba, I'm glad you're interested. For sure I'll keep you posted. Yours also sounds great! A Sci-Fi techno-thriller with endless possibilities. I'm eager to find out which direction you take it. Cheers!

Synopsis

Deon Trevis has the life. A beautiful girl falling head-over-heals for him, a high-paying job that gives him access to the world, and all the charm and charisma a man could ever as for. He never thought he would have a hit out for his life, but when a nasty bullet whizzes past his ear, he knows something is wrong. Suddenly, the mysterious Lion begins sending him text messages with a startling surprise: the nine best assassins--Mercenaries--are after his life for a very high price. Why? Only Lion has the chance of finding the answer. But Lion is the 10th Mercenary, also hired to take his life. Can Deon trust this person he has never seen before? Or is he destined to die?

Nothing super exciting has happened yet, so I haven't posted an excerpt. >.> It's kind of just meeting characters at this point. But yeah.. I was so excited for weeks before to start writing this. Even though the concept isn't that fantastic--and has been done at least similarly--I hope to make up for it with the characters and "twists".
Also, I'm not 100 percent sure what the genre is. It's like... action mixed with a sort of modern fantasy. I draw a lot of inspiration for those anime shows about the fights between characters with really weird powers or traits. Wow, talking about it makes it sound kind of dumb. D;