Y

Please read the blog post [here].

Pages: 106

Word Count: 26k

Publishing Date: September 4, 2013

Note: I will admit that Y has some technical issues, and that my writing style has greatly improved since it was written. I wrote Y while I was still in high school, and published it soon after. I have decided to keep this page here as a record of its existence. If you still want to read this work, it might technically still be available for purchase (despite my best efforts to make it out of print). I just won’t be marketing it. For more information, see [In Retrospect].

About:

Y is the first book that I have written. So, for me, it will always have a special place in my memory. At 106 pages and 26k words, it is also shorter than most novels, at more of a novella length. I chose to self-publish this book when I was 18 years old, and there is a story behind writing it:

During the first semester of my senior year of high school, I took a creative writing class. Sometime around then, I realized that, if I worked towards it, then I could finish one of my stories by getting it to novel length.  At first, I was going for a longer length, until I realized that it ended well at 26k. So, it remained at this length.

When I made the decision to finish one of my stories, I searched through my previous drafts and partially-started ideas until I found one that inspired me, and that I thought would have the most potential. What I actually found ended up being what I had titled the ‘Y’ chapters, and the first few numbered chapters. (These were in the same folder, even though I am unsure if they were originally meant to be together or not.) I realized that the idea had potential, so I worked with it and added more to it. I wrote new chapters when I could, and typed them in the evenings. Then, I printed out the typed versions afterwards so that I could edit them in groups of a few chapters at a time.

I continued writing and editing when I could, even in the second semester of my senior year. I was finally able to finish that portion of the work over the summer. Then, I convinced my mother and a family friend to read over it for me, so that I could correct any mistakes that I may have missed. After that was completed, and after certain selected changes were made, I chose to self-publish the story.

The book itself is only about 106 printed pages, and about 26k words. Even with its shorter length, I am glad that I was able to finish and publish it. I wrote the story because I wanted to, and because I enjoyed writing it. The summary ended up as what is mostly an excerpt, yet I decided that the words themselves show the story better than any summary could.

Also, I chose to go with self-publishing because it was written for the enjoyment of writing, not for marketing or profit. Yet, I would still like for people to read it. My story is titled Y because of those original chapters that I found. They kept their original letter titles in the finished work, instead of the numbered titles that were given to most of the other chapters.

 

Summary:

It began with a dream. . .

“There she stood, facing the mirror. Her long, red hair fell towards the floor with the appearance of fire. The woven curls swirled with hues of red and orange. These colors appeared to dance through her hair like the colors of flame. A golden border around the mirror shown brighter than the mirror itself. The girl faced that mirror, yet her expression remained unseen.

“She was far away, yet Lyva could see her clearly. An old, green dress held itself upon her skinny limbs. Her hands must have been clasped before her. The skin and face remained unseen.

“For a currently unknown reason, Lyva simply knew that the girl needed help. Quickly, she ran down the long hallways towards her. The silver, metal walls seemed to stretch and twist. They gleamed and shined eerily around her. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, the red-haired girl appeared to be moving further away. Fear began to fill her mind, as Lyva realized that she would never save the girl. . .”

So begins this story. Our heroine, Lyva, and her brother, Parnih, must set out on a quest for the missing stars, and to find an answer to Lyva’s dreams.

 

[link to excerpt]

[link to amazon page]

[link to return to novels]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

css.php