Monthly Archives: October 2017

October 30, 2017 · 10:23 PM

The Day After Tomorrow

Less than two days until NaNoWriMo and I am…

…baking.  (Pecan pies, in case you’re wondering.)

Does that mean that I have a fully fleshed out and highly detailed outline all ready to go on November 1st?

Um…

No.

I have an outline that is… passable. Usable. It has some logic flaws yet (although it has a fewer of those every pass through).  And it’s going to cause a few minor problems for the main series as far as things to change here and there.  But, for the most part, it will work.

Names are still… in negotiation.

Will I have tomorrow to finish getting everything lined up and perfected?

Um…

No.

Tomorrow I’ll be baking pumpkin bars and a chocolate cherry upside down cake, and cooking a ham and mashed potatoes and gravy.

And finishing the assembly of my Work Box 3.0 (which I haven’t touched this evening).

And hopefully thinking up names.

Or maybe I’ll head over to Serendipity and see if their generators inspire anything.

One way or another, I will be starting writing on November 1st. I might be able to stay up until midnight, but that’s a little unlikely since I’ve reverted back to my morning person ways and am usually awake by 6:00 in the morning even on my days off.

But I will start on the first. And hopefully I’ll get 5000 words written that day because I’m not sure how my day job is going to affect my writing on work days.

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October 29, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Sunday Snippet, October 29 2017

More from Song and Sword, the first novel I published, since I’m working on a sequel and need the motivation.  This follows immediately after last week’s snippet, which ended with:

The breeze grew stronger, bringing with it the scents of spring, and a faint light beckoned as well.  It grew brighter until he was almost sobbing with relief as he squeezed past a fallen boulder and found himself at the entrance to the outside world. 

The sky was burning with sunset as he stumbled out onto a boulder-strewn plateau.  Ahead of him a small rise promised a view of the world, and he headed toward it.

“Look, Kashrya,” he whispered.  “We’re free. It’s beautiful…”

She stirred in his arms, her eyes opening, staring up at him blankly. “Dakkas…”

“We made it, Kashrya! We’re out. We’re free.”  He dropped to his knees at the top of the rise, holding her so she could see the sky. “Look.”

She nestled against him. “Thank you, Dakkas.” Her voice was barely audible and the faintness of it pained him.  For a long moment they remained in silence, watching as the sky purpled.  “Dakkas? Sing to me. Sing me to sleep…”

“No!” he thought, but he could not deny her, and he sang, softly, choking on the words of the ancient lullaby.

 

Song and Sword cover

Blurb:
Pashevel: a simple Elven Bard — and the Crown Prince

Marlia: a Paladin of Arithen, the Elven God of Justice – seeking vengeance for the destruction of her village

Dakkas: heir to the Drow throne — if his father and elder half-brother don’t kill him first

Kashrya: raised among a tribe of nomadic Humans, she is unaware of her true heritage — or of the prophecy that made her mother an outcast

Their goal: build a bridge between the Elves and their outcast brethren, the Drow, reuniting them and undoing the damage caused in a time so far gone that history has become legend and legend has become myth.

But first, they have a problem to solve:  how do you stop a war that hasn’t started?

Available for Kindle at Amazon

and at Smashwords for everything else

 

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

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October 28, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Rainbow Snippet for 10-28-2017

rainbow logo 1

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

More from Onyx Sun, (which really will be finished some day) picking up from last week. Taliya is explaining what she felt from the ship when Ayess first came on board.

“It was a… a storm of emotions.  So many, so fast, and all mixed together.   Fear, terror, regret, pain, feeling… sickened… by what had happened… grief, guilt, and more pain… so much pain… Not… not physical, not even mental or emotional, but like his soul was aching and sick…”  She was shaking slightly.  “He didn’t mean to do it, Ayess.  He didn’t want to do it, but…”  She shook her head and looked up at him, a silent plea in her eyes.  “He didn’t want to,” she said again, her voice tight and distant.

Ayess’ race does not have words for he/she/his/hers, etc, because they are (for lack of a better term) hermaphroditic. Their pronouns to refer to other members of their race are “ni” (for he/she/him/her), “ni-es” (his/hers), “ni-en” (they/them) and “ni-en-es” for theirs.

 

 

 

 

 

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October 27, 2017 · 9:34 PM

Four More Days

Not counting today (which is almost over) there are only four days left before NaNoWriMo begins.

And my characters still do not have new (easily typed) names.

Well, the warrior might. I’m not really in love with it, though.

And the wizard’s wife has a name, but she’s a minor character. Figures, doesn’t it?)

So, yeah. Four days left and I have no names.

My outline is shaping up nicely, though. I have solved a bit of a logic problem (one that has plagued me for the entire series, actually) and I think I have enough plot points to get me through November. I am still working on it, however, and will be refining and revising right up until midnight Tuesday night.

And in between now and then I have to do a lot of running on Saturday, and then work on Monday. (I took off Tuesday – and Wednesday, of course.) And somewhere in there I have to get groceries.

And in my free time I need to finish assembling the Work Box 3.0 that I finally took the plunge and bought. It’s not all that hard to assemble, actually, but the pieces are heavy so I can only do a little bit at a time and then have to stop and rest my back.

And I need more floor space because the whole thing is assembled on the floor and when it’s all put together you stand it up.  (Me and what army? The individual pieces are heavy. The shipping weight was a little under 700 pounds.  This is going to be… interesting.)

So, I have the weekend and Monday evening and Tuesday to finish putting the Work Box together and get it upright. (And put the front room back together too because Jazzy would really love to have access to her couch.)

If I can just clear enough space to work, assembly is doable.

Naming characters, however…

 

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October 25, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Wednesday Words #148 (10/25/2017)

Welcome to Wednesday Words!  Every Wednesday I will post some sort of prompt for a flash fiction piece.  The prompt will go live just after midnight Eastern time.

The prompt might be a picture, or it might be a list of things to include in a story, or maybe a phrase or a question or something from a “news of the weird” type thing, or a… who knows?

After that, it’s up to you.  But if you do use the prompt to write a bit of flash fiction (say, 500 words or so) I’d love to see what you came up with, so comment below with a link to where it is on your blog (or on WattPad or wherever).

(And a pingback to the post here where you found the prompt would be appreciated but isn’t necessary.)

Oh, and this isn’t a contest or anything.  It’s just a (hopefully) fun thing for all concerned.

And, hey, if it inspires more than 500 or so words, run with it!

This week’s prompt:

(Click for larger image.)

(Image by MysticsArtDesign on Pixabay.)

And, as always, I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

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October 23, 2017 · 9:56 PM

Where Did The Weekend Go?

In preparation for NaNoWriMo I re-read Book One of the Academy of the Accord series and it turns out that the characters that I’m trying to name already have names.

It also turns out that the names need to be changed because they are way too long. I refuse to use names with 10 letters as main characters.

I also decided that Book One reads like a bad soap opera in places so it’s going to need another thorough going over before it’s ready for a second round of beta readers. (It’s too mushy. Seriously. It looks like a bad fan fiction romance written by a 15 year old.)

I sincerely hope that the others aren’t that bad… I don’t remember them being that bad, but then, I didn’t remember this one being that bad either.

And that is why you take a few months from finishing the first draft to doing the first round of edits – so you can come at it with fresh eyes and mind.

And before anyone jumps on my case about the “bad fan fiction romance written by a 15 year old” line:
yes, 15 year olds can write some pretty amazing stuff
yes, not all romances (gay or straight) are mushy
yes, fan fiction it not a bad thing – I’m actually highly in favor of it, especially for young writers (Maybe I should do a blog post about fan fiction.)

The important word in that phrase is “bad.”

Anyhow, that’s mostly where my weekend went. And with just over a week left until NaNoWriMo I should have spent it working on the outline. Still, the outline is in okay shape (not as detailed as I would like, but not too bad) and the refresher was good. I kinda wish I had time to read the other books between now and the first of November too.

 

 

 

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October 22, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Sunday Snippet, October 22 2017

More from Song and Sword, the first novel I published, since I’m working on a sequel and need the motivation.  This follows immediately after last week’s snippet, which ended with:

As he drifted off he was awakened by what sounded like the loudest whip crack he had ever heard. His head snapped back and he was on his feet in an instant, fear lending him strength.  Heart racing, he looked around, seeing only blackness.  The ground trembled again, but in a different way, and he heard the sound of more rocks falling, this time from ahead of them.

Then all grew silent again, but something was different.  As he turned, he felt a trace of a breeze on his face, and drew in a deep breath.  Yes.  Somewhere, somewhere up there, up the passageway they’d been following, somewhere there was fresh air, an opening to the outside and he nearly laughed with joy as he pulled Kashrya to her feet and into his arms again and began walking toward it, hope propelling him as much as fear had done previously. 

“Soon,” he whispered to the unconscious woman in his arms. “Soon we will be out of here.”  Part of him wondered if it was true, or if they would get to the source of the air only to find an opening too small or too high up to get out of.  And part of him knew that she was going to die anyhow, in the cave or out: there was no hope for her – or for him.

But he went on.

 

 

 

 

Song and Sword cover

Blurb:
Pashevel: a simple Elven Bard — and the Crown Prince

Marlia: a Paladin of Arithen, the Elven God of Justice – seeking vengeance for the destruction of her village

Dakkas: heir to the Drow throne — if his father and elder half-brother don’t kill him first

Kashrya: raised among a tribe of nomadic Humans, she is unaware of her true heritage — or of the prophecy that made her mother an outcast

Their goal: build a bridge between the Elves and their outcast brethren, the Drow, reuniting them and undoing the damage caused in a time so far gone that history has become legend and legend has become myth.

But first, they have a problem to solve:  how do you stop a war that hasn’t started?

Available for Kindle at Amazon

and at Smashwords for everything else

 

Find more great reading
at the Sunday Snippet group.

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October 21, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Rainbow Snippet for 10-21-2017

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Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

More from Onyx Sun, (which really will be finished some day) picking up from last week.

“What were you feeling?”

“Anytime that the ship was boarded to be searched there was fear.  And when Josul was talking to me about buying a slave to help me there was a feeling of sadness, like it was pleading with me not to.  And when I came in tonight, with all the upset between you and Luzita, there was also a sense of upset.  And…” 

“And?”

She drew a deep breath.  “The thing that makes me feel we have nothing to fear from him is what I felt when you came on board.”

“Which was?” ni prompted gently.

Ayess’ race does not have words for he/she/his/hers, etc, because they are (for lack of a better term) hermaphroditic. Their pronouns to refer to other members of their race are “ni” (for he/she/him/her), “ni-es” (his/hers), “ni-en” (they/them) and “ni-en-es” for theirs.

 

 

 

 

 

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October 20, 2017 · 10:11 PM

Downs and Ups

It’s been an interesting couple of days.

Due to some confusion at the garage I got my new muffler Wednesday afternoon instead of Thursday morning, which freed up all of Thursday for a trip to a town (DuBois) about an hour and a half away to go to a craft store (Pat Catan’s) that I’d heard great things about but had never been to.

And a trip to DuBois isn’t worthwhile without a trip to Dutch Pantry for lunch – and an Apple Fritter Sundae for dessert.

Only it wasn’t.  Horrible service there this time. Definitely not the norm but definitely beyond bad.  Sort of ruined the day.

Which means that I wasn’t in the mood to explore the craft store.  Which means that I’ll have to go back to the craft store another time. (Such a sacrifice!)

My Work Box 3.0 was, according to tracking, scheduled for delivery today but apparently that only means to the freight carrier’s hub, so I’m not getting it until Wednesday, which means I have to take another (unpaid) day off work. I’m not a happy camper because I was looking forward to getting it today (since I was already off) and having all weekend to get it assembled.

So I emailed work to request the day off (because by that time talking to people was probably really not a good idea). I got a reply (that gmail, for some unknown reason, decided to hide in my spam folder so I didn’t find it until the office was closed for the weekend) stating that I can’t call off via email.

Um… Okay, but I’m not calling off.  I’m requesting a day off, in writing, just like I did for the 31st and first.

So I called and got the on-call supervisor who was as confused as I was and agreed that wasn’t calling off.  I’ll reply to the email (when I get my snarkiness under control) and will also call on Monday when the regular people are in the office.

So, anyhow, I’ve kind of not been in the mood for much of anything creative lately and I swear the universe is conspiring to piss me off. (And succeeding quite well.) It’s enough to make me want to log into Materia Magica and kill things.

But on a brighter note, I have tentative names for the two main characters (and one secondary character) for my NaNoWriMo novel.

And on an even brighter note, I have figured out how to use Asana to manage trilogies and beyond.  Name the project for the trilogy (or series) – The Other Mages, for instance. Then, instead of adding a task, add a section (it’s kind of hidden next to the “add task” button), and then add tasks below that.

This means I have no excuse not to enter the Academy of the Accord series into it now. (That’s going to be a task and a half!)

 

 

 

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October 18, 2017 · 12:01 AM

Wednesday Words #147 (10/18/2017)

Welcome to Wednesday Words!  Every Wednesday I will post some sort of prompt for a flash fiction piece.  The prompt will go live just after midnight Eastern time.

The prompt might be a picture, or it might be a list of things to include in a story, or maybe a phrase or a question or something from a “news of the weird” type thing, or a… who knows?

After that, it’s up to you.  But if you do use the prompt to write a bit of flash fiction (say, 500 words or so) I’d love to see what you came up with, so comment below with a link to where it is on your blog (or on WattPad or wherever).

(And a pingback to the post here where you found the prompt would be appreciated but isn’t necessary.)

Oh, and this isn’t a contest or anything.  It’s just a (hopefully) fun thing for all concerned.

And, hey, if it inspires more than 500 or so words, run with it!

This week’s prompt:

 

(Click for larger image.)

(Image by MysticsArtDesign on Pixabay.)

And, as always, I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

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