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Introduction
National Novel Writing Month—NaNoWriMo—is a writing challenge held every November to write 50 000 words in 30 days. I first made the attempt when I was in high school, way back in the early 2000s (yes, I am old and mouldy) but failed miserably. I think I did a couple thousand words, I don’t remember any of it, the files are long gone, and that’s probably for the best.
Back then there were no helpful guides like there are now (entire websites and corners of “authortube” devoted to it, you kids have it easy.) You were just expected to sit down on November 1st with a blank page and start writing. Word vomit, the best kind. Me, I’m not a plotter anyway, so I’ve stuck by these “rules” with every attempt I’ve made but one (and although I did win that year, I wasn’t the happiest with the experience. I wanted to know if I could stick to an outline. I did, ain’t that something?) With every other project, including this one, I only have characters in mind to start, maybe a scene or two, and I go.
You aren’t expected to produce anything readable, the goal is to turn off your inner editor and establish a habit. Write. Every. Day. Even if it’s shit. Fix it in post. I really do love the challenge for that, as my ADHD brain struggles with that good-habit thing the most. I’ve won the challenge enough times now, I haven’t done it in a couple years, but I cherish it.
This novel I’m about to share, this thing that is somehow portal fantasy, sword and sorcery and… something else, is one such win, but I’ve debated since typing “the end” about doing anything with it. See, I wrote it for me, which is important for any project, but especially relevant here, because I sat down on November 1st 2020 with only one idea to run with: taking the absolute piss out of a bunch of fantasy tropes that I had a love/hate relationship with at that moment in time (and not everyone gets my, uh, sense of humour.)
But it didn’t end that way.
As with most projects, it grew from that initial thought and though it does retain a lot of my odd humour, it’s not anywhere close to a straight up satire. It became larger than that basic premise, a passion project as I grew to know the characters and the world they inhabit. (Perhaps in a future post I’ll elaborate on all the historical research I wound up doing for my on-the-fly worldbuilding. Who actually worldbuilds first? Not me. My first drafts are pure chaos.)
I was manic as I wrote it—I won NaNoWriMo with half of November to spare, finishing the first draft at about 100k words just after December. Blasted the fuck out of the standard goal of 1667 word per day. A few months later and I polished it into a new draft, so on and so on. But I haven’t shared it outside my closest circle (hi, if you’re reading this, back then it was just “codename: horselords”) and never considered it something that would really see the light of day. Not because I thought it wasn’t worth sharing—it’s just one of those things, you know, where you aren’t sure…
As I discovered Substack, something clicked in my brain. That “why not?” voice kept chiming. Yeah, I have other books in the pipeline set for proper indie releases, praise Bezos, with covers and paper and editors and beta readers and all that good, serious author stuff. (And I will be talking more about those soon.) But this one?
Why not?
I’ve decided to release Pull Me Under chapter by chapter here on Mechanical Pulp. For free. I didn’t make any changes to suit an episodic/serialized plot format, you’ll read it as a regular novel with a week between each chunk. The first three chapters will be immediate upon me publishing this intro (but only this post will be emailed out, to save your inbox) starting Saturday, April 15th, 2023, and another chapter every Saturday after that, until the full book is posted.
I don’t believe in trigger warnings, but I’m not that big of a jerk, if you ask me for them I’ll provide them. But! I will say: the following program contains mature subject matter and scenes not suitable for younger audiences, viewer reader discretion is advised.
Pronunciation note: because it wouldn’t be Fantasy without silly made-up words, I couldn’t help myself. Any word with “dd” is pronounced with a hard th, like this or thou. No, I’m not sorry.
Obligatory shill request: If you like what you read, tell your friends!
(PS: Blurbs are the bane of my existence.)
The Blurb
Time to start fresh.
Tanner and Lauren, brother and sister, addict and runaway. Lauren had left Tanner behind when they were younger, but after returning home and seeing the shape her brother was in—she won’t be abandoning him again. In order to get their rough lives smoothed out, they need to get away from it all, together. As they plan their future, they walk through a portal to another world… Leaving home is a little too successful—everything familiar is gone.
Found by nomads riding strange creatures, taken through a land of superstitions and ancient legend, Tanner and Lauren are forced to carve out their place. No matter where they wander, tribal politics, magic and warfare all threaten to upend the culture they grow to love. Through it all, they wonder if returning home could ever be possible…
Would they want to? Their new hosts brew fantastic beer.
Table of Contents
Links to each chapter will be updated as they’re posted.
Oh fuck yeah I’m ready let’s go
Teaser had me at fantastic beer!