I feel like a little kid at Christmas, desperately waiting for Santa to come... only this time I'm waiting for November 1 to hit so I can start working on my NaNo novel! It's like adult Christmas for me.

As you discovered last week, I'm writing another book in the Soul world for my November challenge. This guy is called Soul Collapsed and you can actually read it as I update it live! It will be a first draft, so pretty rough, but I wanted to give myself an extra bit of accountability. It's also a great way to get some input from my readers about the story, characters, and reactions to the plot - so be sure to vote and leave comments on all the Wattpad chapters as you read!

The rules of NaNoWriMo are basically this: write 50K words of a new story during November, but it's not like the police are going to come busting through your door if you do it a little differently. I guess that's a good thing because I've been writing a little prequel short story which will serve as background research for the main novel. Technically, it's not going to be part of the book so it doesn't count towards the final word count, but it's still a fun thing to do.

Lucky for you, that's what you're getting a snippet of in today's WIP rough draft.

Work In Progress (WIP): Prequel short to Soul Collapsed

Finally, as my other arm punched through the golem's head, I felt the small burn of fabric on my skin. I yanked my arm back through, fingers gripping the inside of his head as my hand broke free, pulling the strip of red fabric out from inside its body.

Panting and completely exhausted, I dropped to my knees and held the flag over my head. The other golems stopped their advances, slowly melting away.

Cheers echoed above me and the door to the training room opened, a small crowd of people running in to congratulate me. My dad led the crowd, a huge smile forming just after I caught the look of concern on his face as he saw the state I was in.

"Sweetheart, that was amazing," he said, dropping to his knees so he could wrap me in a hug.

"I'm glad I only have to do that once," I grunted as his arms held me tighter. He lifted away, running his thumb over the cut on my forehead as his frown returned. I reached up and pulled his hand away. "I'm fine."

"This is exactly why we have regulations in place, David," my mom shouted as she got closer. David was in tow, wincing as she gripped her fingers into his upper arm. She pointed forward at my loose-dangling arm and bleeding face. "Does that look like a safe match?"

David rolled his eyes. "Look, she's fine. Kiya, you're fine, right?"

I shrugged my good shoulder and pointed to the cut on my eye. "I'm considering giving you a matching scar."

My mom's lips twitched in a grin before hiding it.

Hairballs Comic:

I feel like this week's Hairballs comic is super appropriate for NaNo prep. You sit down on day 1 with such a bright idea but by the time you reach the end of edits or you get stuck in the middle, it feels really overwhelming. As much as you love the story, you also somewhat get sick of it.

Still, it's always worth it in the end, even if you kill off a few characters along the way.

Made With Patrons:

Thanks to my awesome tribe over on Patreon for making these things possible:

• Medium: Protecting your NaNo space | Write on your phone
• Patreon: Soul Forgotten Commentary CH 41 & 42
• Reading List 1 | Reading List 2
• Passion Planner: Get 10% off all Passion Planner items using code LAURAW10. They also have free downloads if you can't afford one right now.

Outro:

I'm gearing up for a fun November of writing, and I am definitely excited for everyone to get their hands on The Fall of a King, book 4 in the Warrior Series, on November 10. That's up for preorder, including books 5 and 6 which Amazon is now populating into the Warrior Series page.

With a new month just a couple days away, what are you gearing up for? Have any fun Halloween plans? Exciting vacations? I'd love to hear from you! I respond to every email I get, so be sure to say hello.

Reminder:

I'm offering a great deal for you guys. If you leave an honest review on Amazon for The Stolen Lives, I'll send you book 2 of the Warrior Series (The Innocent Named Warrior) FOR FREE. And if you leave an honest review on Amazon for that book, I'll send you book 3, The Troubled Stranger, FOR FREE AS WELL. I'm even doing it for book 4, The Fall of a King, before it's released so definitely check that out!

All you have to do is leave a review and send a screenshot of that review to me at author.laurawinter@gmail.com and I'll share the files with you!