On Writing: Untitled Duology

I have been working on this duo for over a year and it still has no title. This is infuriating to the highest degree, and a very big insult to my naming capabilities. (I usually name an idea seconds after having it-- in some cases, I even have the name before the idea).

But this idea is basically my child now. And yes, I love all my ideas (that's a lie. some I just stash in broken corners and ignore the existence of. I'm the most loving mother ever what are you talking about) but I'd be lying if I said this one didn't have a special place in my heart.

This "On Writing" post isn't going to be like my last one, where I briefly talked about what the book is about and then touched on the two most important characters extremely briefly. Yes, I'm still going to be talking about characters (and yes, there's two of them again), but it's not going to be brief and I don't talk about the plot at all.

Before I get in to it, I would like to mention: This is a stabby sequence of books. There is blood. (A LOT of blood). People die. (A LOT of people die). And the reason is this: It's a post-apocolyptic sci-fi-ish, dystopian-ish novel and I really wanted to touch up on the forever-question of Can you kill people and do horrible things and still have your humanity? After a lot of writing on this topic, the answer is both yes and no. Just... don't stab things alone. Have a friend. Make it a party. (Obviously, I'm kidding, please don't stab things omg).

The main character is Quinn Rivera.

Quinn is bottled up rage and pain at the age of seventeen. She's probably the most complex character I've ever written-- she has such deep fears and hopes, and even though she acts like a walking icicle armed with way too much sarcasm, love is her guiding force.

I filled out a character chart today about her characteristics. Basically, what makes her tick. And I realized, despite what I'd originally planned, she's not a broken person. She's one of the strongest character that's ever graced my thoughts, actually.

And even though that seems kind of obvious-- she's a bounty hunter so of course she's strong in the literal sense-- she was never meant to be. Quinn was always supposed to be fragile. Breakable. Forever on the brink of losing her mind but too afraid to let herself show it. Now, I know she was always strong, despite the cracks and the tears and the anger that rushed to disguise them.

Can you tell she's my favorite.

Ahem.

If Quinn is chaos, then Luna is the calm.

Luna is Quinn's older sister-- she's nineteen years old-- and she's pretty much Quinn's polar opposite.

She suffers through things quietly and softly. Never enough for anyone to notice, and just so little than everyone thinks she's fine. Better than fine. Happy.

Luna was always meant to be the hero of the story, and Quinn the sidekick, even though Quinn is the main character. From the moment I sat down and started plotting, that was just how it was going to be. In my mind, Luna was... well, the closest thing to perfect.

She's gentle and loving despite all that she's experienced. She's held on to the parts of herself that Quinn abandoned. She still finds it in herself to be able to love and trust those who probably don't deserve it.

And yes, she's still all these things. But now, she's so much more. She's a girl who doesn't know who she is, just that she's her little sister's protector. She didn't mean to be a hero-- she just didn't want to watch the world burn again. She's lost just as much as Quinn is, if not more.

So, yes, this is a book with aliens and guns and war. It features a lot of bruised knuckles and broken bones. But I never really wanted that to be all. I wanted it to be about Luna and Quinn. Sisters who would do anything to hold on to each other, even if it meant losing themselves.

I'm currently writing the second book-- I have everything plotted and this is the first time this has ever happened. Seriously. It's a miracle. And I'm also super excited-- which hasn't happened in a while. I'm over halfway done (!!!) and I'm actually not hating my writing (!!!!!!!). (And then after that comes edits and more edits and more edits and more edits and...). 

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This is the shortest post ever and I am super sorry because my brain is basically falling apart from exhaustion right now. Anyways. I may not be able to post next week. I probably will. This is just a precaution, so you know what I'm doing if I suddenly disappear.