Novel-in-a-Day 5: Go Set A NiaD

[Mikeydev]

"Blaze of Glory",

"Wanted Dead or Alive".....Bon Jovi, the only soundtrack to this years NIAD!

[FleetAdmiralO]

Whew. Done and sent. Always enjoyable! Thanks PigFender! I really appreciate all the hard work you put into this every year!


I look forward to the completed versions!

[katlovergilpin]

Done and sent as well. My first year and I worried for nothing. It wasn't as hard as I thought!

Thank you! I look forward to reading all three versions.

[pigfender]

Okay, I'm back. Thanks for indulging me in a couple of hours away from the screen. Hopefully no-one was held up too much.

400 words short and the chapter is 'finished'. Have to see if I can stretch it out some more.

Heya Lazey. We've all been there! It always seems like there's not enough on the first pass to me.

I opened the pack before bed, a little drunk, and almost cried at the amount of info given!

Cried with jubilation, right?

FleetAdmiralO and katlovergilpin, thanks for your chapters. I've received them and can open them, but haven't been through them yet. That's three chapters in now!

[Daurmith]

I'm here, I'm here!

Oh, God, it's a... Western?! *panics a little*

Right. Yeah. OK. No problem. I can do this. Yep. *hiperventilates*. Just need a, a, a... moment to think. Oh lord.

[xiamenese]

Good morning, all.

Now I am up against it — though perhaps less than I would have been last year — being a Middle-class Brit who has never read a Western, though I have seen a few Western films!

And are there any Native Americans around? I don't want to have a posse of them arrive and call them Apaches if the local tribes would have been Hopi, Navaho, Cherokee or something else … I also know nothing about the geography of Native American tribes.

Come to think of that I know nothing of the physical geography of that area ... Of course I've heard of and seen photos etc. of the Grand Canyon, and a bit about the mesas and the Anasazi — "The Thief of Time", anyone? — so have no perception of the landscape in the parts we are concerned with, so shall assume it's pretty much desert.

Were there any Chinese around in those parts, like there probably were in California etc. for the gold? If there were, I could have them swearing in Chinese ...

Mr X

[pigfender]

IOh, God, it's a... Western?! *panics a little*
Right. Yeah. OK. No problem. I can do this. Yep. *hiperventilates*. Just need a, a, a... moment to think. Oh lord.

You got this!

On another note, Mrs Pigfender thinks it's funny that I'm doing a perfect impression of my t-shirt.

[Raymond Xander]

Question! My part contains two new characters, un-named and undetailed, who are pretty much front-and-centre the whole way through. I will obviously flesh them out but can I name them? It's not entirely clear what part, if any, they'll play in future chapters so I want to avoid such a simple error from occuring...

[Library Lil]

Has anyone given the characters' horses names, sexes and colours? If not I will and will show them here (unless Pigfender would rather they were't named etc, and I'll just refer to Frank's colt or Charlie's horse where necessary)

[pigfender]

Good morning, all.

Now I am up against it — though perhaps less than I would have been last year — being a Middle-class Brit who has never read a Western, though I have seen a few Western films!

And are there any Native Americans around? I don't want to have a posse of them arrive and call them Apaches if the local tribes would have been Hopi, Navaho, Cherokee or something else … I also know nothing about the geography of Native American tribes.

Come to think of that I know nothing of the physical geography of that area ... Of course I've heard of and seen photos etc. of the Grand Canyon, and a bit about the mesas and the Anasazi — "The Thief of Time", anyone? — so have no perception of the landscape in the parts we are concerned with, so shall assume it's pretty much desert.

Were there any Chinese around in those parts, like there probably were in California etc. for the gold? If there were, I could have them swearing in Chinese ...

Mr X

There's a rich history of native americans in Arizona. I visited the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and saw some absolutely jaw dropping collections of art, including this modern take on traditional forms:

Art.JPG (124.43 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

You could do a lot of research in to this of course, but suffice to say for now, Apache and Navajo were both resided (resode?) in Eastern Arizona at that time.

And the Arizona landscape is breathtaking, and quite different in the Southern edge of the state from the red rocks of the middle and the Canyon at the top:

1.JPG (103.12 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

2.JPG (208.15 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

3.JPG (87.34 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

It also get's pretty hot there. This was taken in roughly that region at the same time of the year (i.e. September, although admittedly about 150 years after our story):

temp.JPG (56.69 KiB) Viewed 2162 times

Yes, there would have been Chinese in the region at the time. Probably not treated that well, sadly.

[pigfender]

Question! My part contains two new characters, un-named and undetailed, who are pretty much front-and-centre the whole way through. I will obviously flesh them out but can I name them? It's not entirely clear what part, if any, they'll play in future chapters so I want to avoid such a simple error from occuring...

Heya! As long as they're not named in your brief, you can flesh 'em out as much (and provide them with as much facial hair) as you like!

[pigfender]

Has anyone given the characters' horses names, sexes and colours? If not I will and will show them here (unless Pigfender would rather they were't named etc, and I'll just refer to Frank's colt or Charlie's horse where necessary)

I think I only named one horse? I have no objection to other people naming horses as well.

[tickbite]

Maybe I just missed it among the wealth of information, but where exactly is John Lacey's place? I picture it near the canyons Northeast, but I have no idea how I know this. Which way would the Laceys ride into town?

[pigfender]

The only info I've provided is it's about 30min ride out of Flintwood, and you leave town heading East-ish
(it's in John Lacey's character sheet).

[xiamenese]

Question! My part contains two new characters, un-named and undetailed, who are pretty much front-and-centre the whole way through. I will obviously flesh them out but can I name them? It's not entirely clear what part, if any, they'll play in future chapters so I want to avoid such a simple error from occuring...

Same here. I need a bunch of characters who I'm giving names to, including names for the two bank managers. I don't mind sharing them, but short of any guidance from Rog on posting them here, I'll leave it to him to sort out any conflicts at the end.



Mr X