the stories within the story

Before I begin trying to unpack how a story can contain SO MANY stories you didn't even realize what you were writing...

Thanks to my sister for this gorgeous moon photo (for Luna!) and for using her oh so inspiring Lawyer Brain to probe for plot holes while I think aloud (and ramble) about various ways to make The Protectress better.

I'm SO CLOSE to being done with the latest round of changes which was mostly re-writing the last two thirds of the book. And I'm very excited to read it all through soon and see if the changes all come together to shape the story and characters in the ways that I hope they will.

When I started writing this book 1.5 years ago, it was a story about a girl with powers from the night sky. Different drafts have flushed out why she has these powers, who the Protectresses are, what the evil is, what Luna wants and needs and is haunted by and many many many other things.

Now, when I think about this story and Luna's journey, I don't really think it's about the girl with powers from the night sky. Instead, it's about a group of girls gifted raw powers to protect the town because that's the way it's been done since Star's End was discovered with a HUGE abudance of a unique resource that shapes everything about the town and the people who live there.

The universe demands balance from the resource giving Star's End so much prosperity. So a Door is ripped open to allow access to other worlds. But it works both ways.

The other worlds are full of dangerous creatures addicted to the resource in Star's End.

The first Protectress created the Silvis - a creepy cool forest - to trap the Door and confine the creatures that came through to the woods. It's super dangerous to everyone in town except Luna, who can communicate with it in a strange way.

But, for the most part, the Silvis did its job. For one hundred years, the Protectresses have been able to keep Star's End safe (minus a few notable disappearances every year). But now, disappearances are becoming more frequent, and lies from the Vis Group are unraveling.

Luna has to choose between accepting the power she never wanted or throwing it all away to save her best friend from the mess she put her in.

It's about power and balance and greed and what happens when the old system fails and you have to build a new one.

And, this now serves as both a blog post and a practice run at re-writing my synopsis. Looking forward to many many more polished attempts before it feels right.

Happy Friday!