[Writing] Well, the YA novel I'm doing for NaNoWriMo this year has a title: A Tide of Ashes.

And, though I'm kinda nervous to share, here's the plot synopsis:

Rosalie Pollard is just entering high school and secretly dreams of being a singer, though her overprotective father tries to convince her to pursue a more practical career.

Her mother left the household after her older brother died in a car crash when she was very young, and has all but cut off contact with the family.

The only real support she has is her aunt, who's kind of eccentric but understands her dreams, and also gets the nerdier things Rosalie's interested in.

Her only other escape is an online game called Cataclysmia, where she plays the hero of a mecha anime.

She's got a few regular RP partners, but her best friend is a knight named Kyria.

The night before she's going to try out for a singing competition, she gets word that her mother has died.

Having nowhere else to turn, she logs into Cataclysmia and talks to Kyria, despite a taboo that you never talk about OOC issues.

Kyria sees she needs help, reveals that she lost both of her parents, and agrees to meet in order to talk with her.

Except when they finally do meet... Kyria is dressed as her character, and seems absolutely convinced she IS her character.

As much pain as Rosalie's in, she thinks Kyria needs help just as much, and wants to try and figure out why she's essentially escaped completely into this fantasy world.

Because she can't REALLY be a knight from another world... can she?

And... that's pretty much the set up of the book.

It's a lot more personal that I originally intended it to be, for some obvious reasons and some not so obvious ones as well.

And regardless of the answer to the questions about Kyria, I really want to keep it grounded in that friendship and how the two of them are dealing with their grief.