A Look Inside My Novel // Song of the Desert

Last month my novel (he calls himself Tan) guest posted on the blog. Tan's very different from me. Blunt. Sassy. I-do-what-I-want-attitude. He and I do not get along well.

But (unfortunately for me. heh.), you all enjoyed his guest post. So when word got along that I was going to write up a post about my novel, Tan demanded that he himself do it. Which makes sense, him being... the novel... and all. Let's just hope that it goes better than last time.

Like before, my words will be in bold, and Tan's will be in normal font starting now. Good luck. 

So I'm Tan. (Totally Awesome Novel. You get the acronym? It describes me perfectly.) 

... it describes YOUR opinion of yourself, Tan. Not others.

The difference?

Ugh. 

Katie "wanted" me to talk about my insides. (ew, right? Like, she never talks about HER insides.) I will reluctantly comply, but only because I rebelled last time I guest posted. Let's get started, I guess? All about my insides cause you people are nosy like that.

So despite the fact that I call myself Tan, Katie calls me by a different name. Several different ones, in fact, ranging from "stupid," to "annoying," to "stubborn" to ---

Tan, stop. I only call you that sometimes because you are like that most of the time. Please give the readers the name I usually call you.

*huffs* Fine. OCCASIONALLY she calls me Song of the Desert. 

Katie intervening once more to give you the "official" (quotes around official because I fail at writing blurbs. Ack.) blurb of Song of the Desert before Tan rants about it more. 

///

Gita has always lived in a land of blurry surroundings and nonexistent melodies. 

Until she gets trapped in a sandstorm. The first doesn’t change—her eyesight is just as bad as it used to be. But while she fumbled in the swirling sand and the suffocating darkness, she heard a mysterious song string its way through the air and to her ears.

Immediately Gita knows that something is up with the singing amidst the silence. She begins to explore the curious noise—asking questions and doing research. But views on this song are varied. The Mistress she serves bans it. The messenger boy she meets follows it.

Bound by her loyalty to her Mistress and curiosity fueling the relationship with the messenger boy, Gita is forced to make a decision: whether to suffer the Mistress’s wrath and become an outcast to the Land, or to betray a new friend.

really cool collage graphic thing

You really do fail at writing blurbs.

Just finish writing the blog post.

Whatever you say.

So let's talk about characters. Katie made this little graphic for the main character:

That's Gita, an ISTP. Sometimes she's like me. Most of the time she's nicer(occasionally) and shyer. She's not always the typical strong heroine you see in YA novels, I guess. I suppose that makes room for character development. 

Oh, right. And she's also practically blind. Not really -- but she would need glasses if she lived in the modern world. But since she lives in medieval times and there aren't any glasses in the fantasy world, she's forced to live with blurriness everywhere.

Mwaha. I'm so cruel.

Sigh.

The whole novel basically revolves around a stupid mistake she makes. Or is forced to make. You'll understand if you ever get to read this novel.

They will. 

Not at the pace you're going at, slowpoke editor.

*glares* 

Then there's the other main character, Xander. Apparently there weren't any Pinterest dudes who fit his description, so, yeah. He has long(ish for a guy), shaggy, blond hair, average height, and smiles a lot compared to Gita.

Katie popping in. It's absolutely ridiculous how hard it is to find characters of guys who are smiling. I searched "smiling young men for stories" and this came up:

UM, NOPE. DEFINITELY NOT XANDER. Anyways, continue, Tan. I had to share it since it made me laugh. :P

Stop interrupting me, Katie. It's rude. But if you people have any pictures that would even remotely fit Xander with a dude who's smiling, send 'em on over.

So Xander's basically the opposite of Gita. He's an ESFP. He's optimistic, friendly, confident, easy-going, and just generally fun. He's too good for all the pain Katie gives him in the novel. (Like I care, though. Call me heartless if you want.)

Basically there's just lots of pain in general in the novel. Oops. But there's hope. That's the underlying thing that Katie makes sure of even when I just want to break everyone's hearts.

There are other characters.

      The Mistress(villain)       Woodwind                  Edhan                     Naya                    Gita again

Moving forward from the characters, there's also the matter of "that song." I mean, it's called Song of the Desert. Something's up with this special music thing.

It came into existence when Katie listened to this song by Switchfoot.

And supposedly Katie got the idea for a song/music being an allegory to God's love. And God is who they call "The Music Master." (The book was originally gonna be called The Music Master. But again, I can't follow rules so I named myself Song of the Desert. Ha.)

So the novel is also about Gita figuring out this mysterious song. Figuring out the conflicting views. Figuring out life and such. It's an allegory, but a subtle one, and I make sure it doesn't get preachy or anything. ...

Ah....

KATIE I'VE GONE LIKE FOUR WHOLE PARAGRAPHS WITHOUT BEING DISRUPTIVE I CAN'T DO THIS ANY LONGER.

No. Please. Just keep this up, Tan. 

I'm going to talk about broccoli.

...why. 

Cause I can.

...are you serious.

I love talking about things that you hate. Burnt pizza, editing, me...

... I will ban you from my blog. 

I have your readers on my side. Ha.

Moving on... Here's a random mock cover from Hannah since when better to place it in the post? 

that gorgeous font, though.

There is a sequel to come, The Sand Dragon's Song. Katie has written it, but right now it's horrible. The sequel's my younger brother, actually. I'm jealous because he has more death and I barely have any. *sulks* 

You have your own sort of emotional and physical pain, Tan. Don't complain. 

Whatever. 

Katie will be looking for beta readers at the end of March. Yay. I get to be torn apart by other people, then.

This is just a duology. Song of the Desert is currently 85,000 words, and the unedited sequel is 105,000. (But there will be NaNo gibberish cut off from it, so it's probably going to turn out to be 90-95k or so.) 

It doesn't end on a terrible cliffhanger(well, kinda. Sorta. Not really?), but it's obvious that the story isn't finished yet. 

Tell them about the surprise, Tan!

Oh. Right.

So I was forced to share a bit of myself with you (my right pinkie to be exact). It's the beginning 800 words in which Gita, the main character, is trapped in a sandstorm. Wow, much action. Much excitement.

Stop sounding sarcastic. THIS IS REALLY EXCITING You can click here to read the first scene. *squeal* You can let me know by commenting in the Google Doc on the divider line, or below. Or keep your thoughts to yourself. ;)

READ THE FIRST SCENE OF SONG OF THE DESERT HERE!

- Katie Grace

Did Tan miss anything you'd like to know about? How'd you like the beginning?
Since I'm curious... how long is your novel?

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