This week, I picked up Getting Buried in Vegas, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo back in 2008. It’s one of my unfinished novels that I’ve always wanted to get back to. I’ve considered revising it as a screenplay. I’ve also considered leaving it in the drawer forever. It needs a lot of work, but the premise is very sound. A nice, “normal” couple elopes to Las Vegas, taking their wacky siblings and friends along for the road trip. After they arrive, a zombie outbreak separates them and ruins their big day, and they spend the rest of the novel trying to survive, reunite, and escape.
To motivate myself, I put it up on Inkshares, which is a crowdfunding platform. If I get some followers, I’ll feel obligated to finish it. If I get 250 preorders (even just the ebook, at $10), Inkshares will provide some copyediting and hand-holding through the publishing process. If I get 750 preorders, they’ll do a more complete editing and marketing package.
Oh, and along the way, I get to post chapters and get feedback from readers. So, someone who wants to read along with the novel (or who did so in 2008) could do so and make suggestions for what direction the story should go.
That’s useful to me as a writer, since I know there’s a key scene that rather upends the comedy and makes the story more tragic, but which is… the only word I can think of is delicious. It’s emotionally delicious, but I’m not sure it belongs in this book.
Anyway, I hope if you’re reading this, you’ll hop over to the Inkshares page, make an account, and at least follow the book, even if you don’t pre-order it. Just having some followers and getting some folks talking about it would be encouraging for me.