Monthly Archives: February 2021

February 28, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Sunday Snippet, February 28, 2021

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I’m posting from my current writing WiP, Song and Shadow, a prequel to Song and Sword. It’s a rough draft and I still don’t have an actual outline for it so it’s going to be a fun ride.

Picking up from last week’s snippet.

“Only friendship, Your Highness. Only friendship.”

Pashevel rose and bowed deeply. “But I fear I have presumed too much upon your time already this evening, Your Highness, and perhaps overstepped my bounds. I wish you a pleasant evening.”

“Wait…”

But Pashevel had already turned away and Hierik lowered his head to hide his tears, sensing that he had just lost all hope of being a good monarch, had lost the one person who had offered him hope, who had treated him as a person, and as a prince.

Treated him with the respect due his rank.

Treated him…

Pashevel had not sat until told he could — he had waited for his response, not just assumed…

Hierik’s lips curled into a smile. People would treat him the way he let them treat him.

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February 27, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Rainbow Snippet for 2-27-2021

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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.

Taliya has bought a used space ship, had a few (mis)adventures with it, and has gone to look up an old friend from school for help.

“Yes, me.”

“What did you do?”

“I bought a ship.”

“Hot?”

She shook her head. “I bought it from a reputable dealer. Vastyne’s. The night I took possession, Vastyne’s was blown up. I was questioned and my ship was searched. They found nothing and let me go. I made a shipping run and on the way back I was fired on by an unknown ship. Later I was contacted by Gilles Staunton, who apologized for the ‘misunderstanding’ of one of his ships firing on me. He then offered to buy my ship, but wouldn’t say why. I was going to go the Pendelia Four officials about it, but when I went to meet them they were talking to Gilles Staunton – and seemed very chummy. And the berth I was to set down in was surrounded by armed military craft. And it’s gotten worse from there.”

 

 

 

 

 

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February 26, 2021 · 8:21 PM

T.G.I.F.

(Someday that “F” is going to stand for “Finished” but for now we’ll settle for “Friday.”

Only one more Friday in Bedlam. People who work with special needs kids do not ever get enough credit. Or money. I know I couldn’t do it long term, or even for a five day week.

Still plodding along with The Academy of the Accord. Only two more books to get ready to print. (I’m not counting the prequel as it’s nowhere near done.)

The last book I worked on had chapter breaks… Starting on page 70. Yeah, no. I added a few before there. Probably a few too many but I’ll sort that out in edits.

Some of the books were printed ages ago (I knew that) and have paperclips marking their chapters, as well as margin notes and post-its (I’d forgotten about that). I suppose I should probably go through them before I print them again.

Then I got a bright idea to change something in the last book. It’s not going to affect the outcome at all, but it will affect large parts of text and will make me have to work in a new subplot.

Maybe by the end of the year I’ll be able to start a solid round of edits and bible-building.

(Yes, I know it’s only the end of February. But there’s an overwhelmingly long road ahead of me…)

So, anyhow, it’s supposed to rain this weekend so my plans are to curl up with a bad draft of a good book or two, drown myself in tea, and see if I can get ready to start the comparisons with what was printed earlier by the end of the weekend.

And blog hop and set up my weekly posts for the next month.

Happy weekend, everyone!

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February 24, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Wednesday Words #322 (2/24/2021)

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!

setting: a basement
event: a card game
characters: a young woman and a demon

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

 

 

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February 22, 2021 · 9:29 PM

Plodding Along

And I have chapters!

And possibly a cold.

And probably bronchitis.

And how was your weekend?

I went to my mother’s on Saturday and took both dogs with me. I took my two out for a potty break and hers got out too and all three ran circles in the snow, chasing each other and having a great time and completely ignoring me when I tried to get them to come in.

I finally got the Demon Dog inside, but the Diva was having too much fun on her “girls’ day out” and I might as well have not existed.

Then mom’s dog (Hershey – yes, she’s a chocolate lab) took off around the front of the house with the Diva in hot pursuit and I lost sight of them.

By that time I was starting to panic, worried that something would happen to the Diva, and, in addition to my own guilt if something happened to her, my roommate would kill me.

So I trudged along after them, following their tracks in the snow, breaking through a crust of ice and floundering in snow halfway up to my knees.

Fortunately they hadn’t gone far and came when they saw me and I was able to grab the Diva’s leash. (And she walked very nicely beside me on the way back, which should have been my first warning.)

Got her inside with my feet soaking wet (sneakers are not the best shoes for breaking trail in the winter) and freezing cold and discovered that all four of her legs were covered with blood. (She’s white, so it was pretty noticeable.)

I cleaned her up and there were no big injuries, just some tiny scratches and scrapes from breaking through the crust on top of the snow and continuing to run like a maniac.

Through all of this it was probably 13 or 15 degrees Fahrenheit out there, so I spent yesterday feeling like death warmed over and left to congeal again.

Today I’ve only felt like death warmed over, so not quite as bad, although it still hurts to breathe. (We had a snow day today so at least I didn’t have to go to work.) Since I felt semi-alive today I got chapter breaks put into the book that didn’t have any. I’m pretty sure they’re temporary and will move a lot.

Anyhow, I’m back to work tomorrow (or so my checkbook hopes) and am finally back on track with getting the Academy of the Accord ready to print for editing and concordance-creating.

Here’s hoping the momentum continues.

 

 

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February 21, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Sunday Snippet, February 21, 2021

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I’m posting from my current writing WiP, Song and Shadow, a prequel to Song and Sword. It’s a rough draft and I still don’t have an actual outline for it so it’s going to be a fun ride.

Picking up from last week’s snippet.

“Princes don’t have friends.”

“Why not?”

“Because friends… Friends are equals, and no one treats me like one. They are either busy bowing and scraping and catering to me or else they are like the palace guard and barely tolerate my presence.” He shook his head. “I wish you could help me, but I fear I do not know how to pay the price. I have no idea what friendship really is, let alone what it means.”

“Then perhaps I can help you with that as well, Prince Hierik.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Pashevel’s response was gentle, curious.

“Why would you want to help me? And be my friend? What favor do you want from it later?”

“Only friendship, Your Highness. Only friendship.”

 

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February 20, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Rainbow Snippet for 2-20-2021

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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.

Taliya has bought a used space ship, had a few (mis)adventures with it, and has gone to look up an old friend from school for help. Picking up from last week.

They made small talk until their food arrived and then Josul put a small object on the table. It emitted a silent hum and Taliya winced.

“You’ll get used to it in a few minutes,” he assured her. “It keeps us from being overheard.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t come all the way out here to rib me about my love life. What’s wrong?”

Taliya sighed. “I don’t know exactly, but I’m being pursued by several law enforcement agencies and even more crime syndicates.”

He stared at her, his fork halfway to his mouth. “You?”

 

 

 

 

 

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February 19, 2021 · 8:58 PM

Chapters

And the lack thereof.

So I finally finished the latest untangling of the middle books of the Academy of the Accord series, and thought I was finally in for some smooth sailing to get the rest of them ready to be printed.

I was wrong.

When I write, I put in chapter breaks. (Usually labeled “Chapter Break” because I lose count. I put the numbers in when I do the first round of paper edits.)

When I get a manuscript ready to print for editing, I have each chapter start on a new page. (It’s just how my mind works at organizing things.)

So, I opened the next book and did a Ctrl F to find the word “Chapter” and Ctrl F said “Word not found.” And I said “What the F?” and tried again in case I’d mistyped it.

Nope.

There are no chapters.

And I said “F” a lot. (Without “Ctrl”)

How?

How could I have written this whole novel and never put in chapter breaks?

And how could I have read through it multiple times and never noticed that I didn’t put in chapter breaks?

At any rate, I decided it could wait until tonight, but work left me with a migraine so now it’s waiting until tomorrow so I’m not tempted to delete the whole thing. (Kudos to teachers and support staff who deal with a roomful of special needs students five days a week for nine or more months of the year. You all are a special breed of human who deserve a whole lot more money and recognition than you’ll ever get.)

But at least I got the most problem-filled book printed after work tonight so it’s ready to be attacked with paper clips, post it notes, highlighters, colored pens, margin notes, etc.

I should probably start on that fairly soon, while the memory of what I was trying to accomplish with that mess is still semi-fresh. (There is likely to be more swearing in my near future.)

But tomorrow I have to go try to help my mother recover and reset all the passwords that she lost because despite my best efforts to orient her to the truth she is under the delusion that I am some sort of computer guru.

(Some computer guru. I have a Word doc that is “Read Only” and I know I didn’t do that (at least, not on purpose) and have no idea how to fix it. *sigh*)

Anyhow, I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

 

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February 17, 2021 · 12:01 AM

Wednesday Words #321 (2/17/2021)

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!

milk
a snowstorm
a lost bird

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

 

 

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February 15, 2021 · 9:35 PM

I Finished It!

Really short post tonight because today totally got away from me and it’s already 9:00pm and I have to get up at 5:00 to get ready for work, just in case school isn’t delayed or cancelled. (Lots of places around us are already announcing a two hour delay but I swear this school district is allergic to calling it until the last possible moment.)

So, what have I done today?

Well, I shoveled snow and salted the sidewalk. Made a pot of chili. Mixed birdseed and filled the feeder. Played doorwoman for the dogs.

And, for the most exciting thing: I finally finished the paragraph by paragraph fixing of the spacing issue in the Academy of the Accord novel I’ve been swearing at for most of the month. Please cross your fingers, toes, eyes, and any other movable body parts that the remaining books aren’t like that because I’m beginning to think that it would be easier to just retype it than go through all of that again.

It seems that I’m following my heart this year – or at least at the present time – and working on the Academy of the Accord series.

I have a lot of stuff that is so much closer to being finished that I should be working on, but this is currently consuming me, despite trying to find a balance, so I’ve decided to just roll with it. I only have four more books to read through, then I can get them printed (one or two each pay) and start on the concordance.

(And if ever there was a series that needs a concordance, this is it!)

(Five books. Just realized I forgot about the prequel.)

So, anyhow, that’s been my day today. Well, that and a change in my work schedule that will result in an extra hour of pay and one hour less of commute.

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