A New Writing Project: Hillary for President!

I have a new writing project that I'm really excited about. For those of you that have been following me since I started my indie writing journey in 2012 with Adventures in Funeral Crashing, you'd know that I love writing challenges. That first Funeral Crashing book was originally started in 2011 during the 3 Day Novel Contest. Crashing Prom's first draft was also a 3 Day Novel. One of my other books, The New Girl Who Found a Dead Body was a NaNoWriMo novel.

What I'm about to do, is start a new writing challenge. It's exciting because for the last couple of years it has been tough for me to do writing challenges. I have toddler twins and my writing time has most definitely been impacted by that huge life change. I'm so tired! I've been searching for a motivator lately, to push me on even when the twins have exhausted me (which is most days of running after any toddler) and I think this is it!

Aren't they adorable?

So, here's what I'm planning! Starting today, I've published the first chapter of Hillary for President.

About the book: Hillary Rhodes is excited to be starting her senior year, but running for class president is not on her agenda. Mostly, she just wants to make it out of high school and she's quite happy to be invisible. That all changes when she gets nominated for senior class president. Will she rise to the challenge? More importantly, can she win? 

I officially decided to write it on June 7th, 2016 when Hillary Clinton gave her speech claiming the Democratic nomination. Whether you're for her or not, it was a huge moment in United States history!

Yes...that's only a few weeks ago. The thing is, it is so inspiring! It's history in the making! Anybody can be president! I was truly inspired, for myself, for my daughters, and for future generations. I wanted to write about that, in my way.

You know, now that I think about it, the general idea for Hillary for President had actually come to me over a year ago when Hillary Clinton decided to run for president in the first place. Again, it was just so inspiring to see a woman run for president!

At the time, I just didn't know how I should undertake such a project. Was I the right person to even write a political story? I don't write political satire, you know? But then again, I realized that I can look even further back and see the seed for this story. I actually had a story started for a 3 Day Novel contest years ago (about eight actually because I think it was when Hillary was running against Obama!). That book was about a quiet girl who eventually became the first woman president of the United States (it's told in flashback), but it was never finished. So, as you can see, the story has been in my head for awhile. FOR YEARS. Whether I'm the right person to write a political satire or not, I am and I'm going to write it in my style, my way. Truthfully, I don't think I've ever read a YA novel about student elections (I'd love to hear about some good ones!), so this is definitely new territory for me. It's kind of scary, actually, but I quickly realized that I had to write this book now if I was going to write it. So, here I go! Carpe diem! 

HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT is a serialized novel so the way I'm writing this is very different from how I usually write my books. I will publish a chapter, starting now, every Tuesday, all the way until Election Day: November 8th, 2016. So, yes, it's a serial and part of the fun is being along for the ride!!!! I have a very general outline (and am working to fill it in fast so that I can build the story adequately, although I also want to leave room to wiggle if something interesting happens in the real election!), but I will be writing about a 5000+ word chapter every week to be published the following week. I'm looking at it being like writing an episodic television show, except that I'll be releasing a chapter of a novel every week. That is why I'm calling them episodes. Each episode will cost $0.99, but it will also be in Kindle Unlimited. I'm going to do the best job at this that I can. It is a story that I am very compelled to write and I hope that you will all enjoy the ride along with me!

I know that with about 20 or so episodes, buying each one can get pricey. I think it's part of the fun reading it week by week and if you look at it that way, it's not that much a week. Still, I'm hoping that many of you have Kindle Unlimited and can read it through that program for free. They do offer a FREE 30 day trial if that interests you: Join Amazon Kindle Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial My ebooks Murderous Muffins (Book 1, Killer Cupcakes is FREE to all) and Crashing Prom are also currently in KU, so you'd be able to read those as well if you join.

And I know I usually write mysteries, but in some ways this book is a mystery too - it's just of a different kind. Who will be senior class president? You have to read it to find out!!!!!  

Okay. Pause here. I know that some of you are like: "Wait!?!?!!?! What about Death by Chocolate (Celebrity Cupcakes Cozy Mystery #3) and Adventures in French Sleuthing (Funeral Crashing #5)? And Doppelganger 3?!?!!? I've been waiting ages for that one!" My plan is to keep pushing forward on those books too. I want them all written by the end of the year. Now, that will be tough with an extra 5000 words to write and edit every week, but I want to keep the deadlines I have for all of you die hard Milda Harris fans as well. That's why this is even a bigger challenge. I really want to work on upping my writing productivity and thus becoming a better and more successful writer. I'm really going to try my best to do it all.

Wish me luck! Happy reading!