Since I was a young teenager, I wanted to write a novel. Over the years, I have produced many files called “novel.doc” and later, “novel.docx,” but none ever amounted to more than a few thousand words.

The day after Donald Trump was elected president, I was surprised, upset, and hungover from too many bourbon manhattans. I am very tolerant of political views which differ from my own, but I do strongly feel that a president should be presidential and able to express their feelings in a professional and mature manner that doesn’t involve mean-spirited twitter rants.

While browsing the news that day at work, I came across an article about a California secession movement. My horror at the election results was instantly lifted. I spent the rest of the day lost in thought imagining how screwed the U.S. would be if California seceded, and how awesome California would be. I rode my bike home from work listening to Caravan Palace and formulating the plot for the book in my head. Caravan Palace’s robot album became my writing idea soundtrack. I spent many hours those next few months stalking and biking the streets of Chicago listening to it while outlining the book in my head.

Less than a year after I came up with the idea, the book was finished and I got my first full manuscript request from a reputable literary agent (who later rejected it). I solicited feedback from other writers and discovered that my book needed way more editing. Now, an awesome editor is working with me and giving me exactly the kind of constructive feedback that I need.

I am also working on writing a prequel (30,000 words so far). I am hoping to find a literary agent and go the route of traditional publishing for both books, but may end up self-publishing if that doesn’t work out.

Note: I promise that my heavily edited novel contains way fewer adverbs and passive language than this post.