In 1996 I discovered something called NaNoWriMo, and decided it was the most absolute brilliant idea ever. I had written one novel (okay, technically two, but I’m only just starting to own up to that first one) before that point, I was pretty sure I had written it in less than a month, and I figured what the hell, I can do this.
Epic fail. I still have the notes somewhere on my computer. That’s a minor understatement. That was actually about the time I started backing up everything everywhere, so I have three or four copies of unfinished first chapters, along with that many outlines, spread across old and new computers and my USB drive.
I’ve gotten better since. I’ve learned what kind of planning it takes me to actually sit down and write 50,000 words. This year, I want to call the book Contagion. I hesitate to do this only because I know that it was the name of a series of Batman comics over a decade ago that later became a graphic novel. But no one knows that besides me, right? And hundreds of thousands of other Batman comic fans?
Doesn’t matter – I like the name, and for once I think I’ve come up with something appropriate to the story. So…my synopsis for my latest unwritten book: (And then the follow up question – are you NaNo-ing this year and how much are you prepping?)
Mackenzie is a post-graduate student who’s been asked to tutor a failing student in computer science. No big deal, she does this all the time. Except this time, when her roommate/best-friend-since-forever Ryan finds out, he freaks. Turns out Xander, the guy she’s tutoring, is known around campus as the guy who can get anything done for the right price. Ryan is afraid Mackenzie is about to get used so this guy can get a passing grade.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie’s been directed to a Facebook fanpage by one too many friends to ignore. She’s finds out why when she checks out his status updates: a series of uber creepy blurbs about how he’s thinking about following someone, watching them day and night, plotting their death, that kind of stuff. People are speculating about whether or not he’s for real until one day he starts posting blog links describing people he’s killed. They’re always off the deep-end gore-wise, but they never go into any detail beyond the visceral and disgusting.
The self-proclaimed killer has gone viral and half the country, including Mackenzie, are following him with horrified fascination. Since no one knows where the mysterious poster is, everyone figures he’s in their home town and college campuses are the most prone to speculation.
Mackenzie doesn’t think it’s real. She’s been paying attention and she’s starting to discover evidence –including clues back to the responsible party — that the whole thing is hoax. When strage things start happening to her, Ryan tries to convince her that Xander is responsible. But she suspects it’s linked back to the real perpetrator of the morbid online sensation; whoever is conducting this experiment in online social infection is trying to stop her from blowing their cover.
Mackenzie is running out of time in a world where online media has made instant gratification an expectation. She has to stay alive, figure out if her best friend is more important to her than the guy she’s starting to fall for, and finish her thesis. If discovering the truth behind the online infection doesn’t kill her, her own personal stalker probably will.