Back in the Saddle Again (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 632
Total words: 36,142

Mean things: temptation

Favorite: If only I could speak to him, just one more time. The thought had burrowed itself into her mind, speaking its desire every few days, flooding her with renewed sense of loss and longing.

***
Dreams in Which I'm Dying

New words: 684
Total words: 2,601

Mean things: uncertainty

Favorite: I did this sort of thing all the time. Usually I did it when the client came in to see Mr. Teeter, and occasionally I went with him to the police station—though I didn’t like doing that; there was too much going on there, too many things clinging to the walls and seeped into the floors that leapt at me, pushing their way into my brain.

---
This week was crazy. We had orientation for the writing center, where I'll be working for the first year of my assistantship. After doing nothing for the last few months, the last four days were incredibly taxing. I'm also finding out stuff about the program I didn't know that have me freaking out--qualifying exams! Next semester!--but the people here are amazing and helpful and supportive, so I think it will be okay.

I almost wasn't sure I'd be able to get back into the groove of writing this morning, but I think I did okay. I've got a total of about 1,700 new words, which isn't bad, especially considering I had to reread the last chapter of Dragon Knight because I completely forgot where I'd left off.

Now I get to go do the dishes and laundry that piled up this week, then take a shower and prepare for the department party tonight. Normally I wouldn't go, but I really want to fit in and do well here, so I guess I've got to do the socialization thing. (I'm really looking forward to it; I've already made several friends and several other friendly acquaintances, and I'm hoping to get to know some of my profs.)

Does it make me a complete nerd that I'm looking forward to having homework and REALLY looking forward to next year, when I get to take Old English Language and Literature and translate reams of Old English text every week?

That was rhetorical.

Summer Reading, Part 2

The summer officially over, as I started orientation for my assistantship duties today, I've taken down the "summer reading" thing in the sidebar and gone back to the one-cover-at-a-time thing. Here's the list of the REST of the books I read this summer (the first list is here). They're still in reverse order.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
The Outlaws of Sherwood - Robin McKinley
Spindle's End - Robin McKinley
The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley
Beauty - Robin McKinley
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Life in a Medieval Castle - Joseph & Francis Gies
Uppity Women of Medieval Times - Vicki Leon

Let's Go to Work (Stats)

Dreams in Which I'm Dying

New words: 691
Total words: 1,917

Mean things: over-awareness

Favorite: Being clairvoyant wasn’t quite like being telepathic, at least as far as I understood it, in that I didn’t know what people were thinking, precisely, but I knew things about them. Quite often, things they didn’t want me to know. I also knew things about places and objects. All of this knowing can really strain your head, especially when trying to sort out what you’re supposed to know and what you just know.

---
So today's words were kind of pathetic. I got started late because I was redoing the music on my mp3 player, then just as I got into the groove, a friend of mine mentioned Repo! The Genetic Opera on Facebook, and that was all she wrote. After a spate of quoting random songs at each other, I decided I needed to go watch the movie and sing with it. Now I'm too distracted to write anymore.

But I did get the first 3 chapters of the new NECROMANCER outlined. I've decided that this story needs to start almost midway through and then back up. Linear storylines? Who needs 'em?!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go get my hit of Zydrate. . . .

Preparations Underway (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 992
Total words: 35,509

Mean things: panic

Favorite: I do not know how to do this, he realized. A cold hand crept up his belly to grip his throat, his heart throbbing unevenly in his chest. I have never had to do this, and I do not know what to do.

Music:
"Away" - Mediaeval Baebes

****
Dreams in Which I'm Dying

New words: 1,226
Total words: 1,226

Mean things: mom is a bitca. Being poor.

Favorite: I turned it over and slid a finger under the edge of the flap. The upper portion of the envelope tore to shreds as I tried to slit it neatly open. I had never gotten the hang of opening envelopes without a letter opener. Sliding the single sheet of paper out of the envelope, I squeezed my eyes shut as I unfolded it, then peeked through my eyelashes at the words on the page, skimming past the letterhead and salutation to the meat of the letter.

Music:
"Walking on the Moon" - The Police

---
After yesterday's pity-party, I think I'm doing okay. I have plans for NECROMANCER, I've started DIWID, and DRAGON KNIGHT doesn't feel dead anymore. I guess every writer hits those times when they just want to pack it all in and not bother anymore, because what's the point, anyway? But getting through those times is what separates a published writer from a failed one. I can totally do this.

Writing Woes

So I tried to replot NECROMANCER. Still stinks. I think this may be the third novel to throw off a bridge and try to forget I ever attempted. However, I finished outlining DREAMS IN WHICH I'M DYING today, and I'm quite happy with it. This is the first time I've started with a complete outline and several character sketches before beginning writing, so hopefully that will make things better. DRAGON KNIGHT is starting to flag, but I don't think it's dead yet. I'll keep poking at it and see what happens. Maybe it'll twitch. I'll start working on DIWID and maybe the new burst of creativity will bleed over to DRAGON KNIGHT and revive it.

On Monday I start orientation for my assistantship, and the week after that, I start class, so God only knows when I'll have time to write. I should make the time. I'll probably draw up a weekly schedule and figure out when I can set aside a couple of hours to work on these things. Maybe having some intellectual stimulation and not trying to force words every day will help.

Mah Bookshelves

As promised, here's pictures of my overladen bookshelves. Most of these are actually double-stacked, with two rows of books on one shelf. Bibliophile? Me? Naaaaaaaaaaaaah.



I've tried to arrange the shelves with all the books by one author together. Mostly this worked. The piles on the floor are even piled by author. The ones on the top shelf of the short bookshelf are the ones in my "I haven't read this yet (or I want to read it again)" pile, except the Harry Potter books. I've finished those, I just don't have anywhere else to put them right now.



Here's a better look at the taller shelf.



This is the one in my bedroom, with my absolute favorite authors in the whole wide world on it (Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, Robin McKinley, Kelley Armstrong, and Kim Harrison).

This doesn't include my academic library, most of which is still in boxes (waiting for me to get an office) or on the table behind my computer with my pretty new dragon bookends holding them up.

The Critting of Necromancer

Jodi Meadows got her response to NECROMANCER back to me this morning. I haven't had a chance to look at the detailed in-text responses yet, but overall, it seems that I have an issue with tension and conflict in early chapters (the same thing I'm noticing in DRAGON KNIGHT and trying to rectify). I guess I come from the LORD OF THE RINGS school of Fantasy writing, in which I'm perfectly okay with several chapters of lead-up to the main conflict. Unfortunately, that sort of thing doesn't exactly work in the modern market. So I'll most likely do some hard core re-outlining of NECROMANCER and see what's salvageable, then dive back in and try to make it into something that might maybe sell. Maybe.

Meanwhile, DIWID already has quite a bit of conflict before the serious stuff starts up (right around Thanksgiving break), so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. And for the second book, the main conflict will start in the first or second chapter. So hopefully, now that I'm aware that this is a problem, I'll be able to prevent it in future writing.

Today W.E. took the day off work so we could get our cars TN-legal, which involved getting them both emissions-tested (and praying that we didn't get pulled over on the way to the testers--the VA tags on the truck were expired by two months), then over to the DMV and changing the titles over and getting our TN tags. Then we went over to the university and I got my ID as well as my parking pass (which was a hassle, but it worked out). THEN we went to the Hobby Lobby so I could get thread for the fairy cross-stitches I'm doing (I needed 82 hanks that I didn't already have. EIGHTY-TWO). Now I get to wind thread onto bobbins. GOOD TIMES.

Barbarian is a Relative Term (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 2,057
Total words: 34,517

Mean things: choices. Refugees. Dragon danger.

Favorite: Cynric flailed up out of sleep to a violent shaking. For a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was or even who he was—his dreams had been full of flying, he’d been a dragon, but he wasn’t a dragon . . . right?—but then the odd noise resolved itself into words.

Music:
"Five Millennia Later" - Eric Serra (Fifth Element soundtrack)
"Protect Life" - Eric Serra (Fifth Element soundtrack)
"Someday the Wind" - Fauxliage

---
Not a bad day's work, for the first day back from flailing around trying to figure out where this story is going. Especially since tomorrow will be given over to getting our tags changed so we can legally drive in Tennessee, so there won't be any writing tomorrow. Perhaps more plotting for DIWID, but not actual writing.

Whatever (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 116
Total words: 32,459

----
Another day of minor revisions. Tomorrow should be back to the grindstone. I also got the first 5 chapters of SUPER TECH Book I, now tentatively titled DREAMS IN WHICH I'M DYING (which I'll probably frequently shorten to DIWID) outlined.

Finished the cross-stitch I've been working on. It's this one:


I know the details aren't very visible in this picture, but it's the best one I can find. Now I'm gonna work on this one:


Though I'm not sure if I want to start on that NOW or play some video games for awhile first.

Up the Tempo (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 395
Total words: 32,343

---
There's really not much else to say about today's writing, because it wasn't all new words. I worked on the first five chapters, trying to add in some of the stuff I decided would make it more driven. Cynric's land grant is now conditional--if he doesn't show Alvey he can run the manor well, he doesn't get to keep it. And Edlyn is now searching for some way to speak to her dead husband one more time. I think there will have to be even more conflict later, but at this point, I just want to get this stuff in and keep going. I have scenes for SUPER TECH pressing on my brain, and I've decided I'm not going to start writing that until I've mapped the characters and completely finished the outline for the first book.

Further Lack of Writing/Stats

It's only 8:20 AM, but I've already ascertained that no work is going to get done today. At least, no adding-to-the-word-count work. After the latest critique of my newest posted chapters on OWW, I realize that another POV isn't the only thing DRAGON KNIGHT is missing. It's also missing a sense of urgency, a real drive for the main character, something huge that must be taken care of or else. And since I'm already halfway through writing it, I need to fix that. Now.

So today, I think I'll back up and do character sketches, figure out what it is my characters want more than anything else, how the war is going to affect that, how their wants are going to affect each other--all that stuff I really should have done before I started but I got so excited about finally getting to use the idea for dragon knights that has been knocking around my brain for the past ten or twelve years that I just dove in. Hopefully, when I get to writing again, I'll only need minor revisions to kick up the adrenaline and urgency in the chapters I've already written, but I'm ready to do major revisions if necessary.

And eventually I'll get around to finishing "The Truthsayer's Ward."

Complete Lack of Stats

I got about a page written on chapter 13, realized the writing, pacing, and characterization were all terrible, and deleted it. So I have absolutely no new words today. Since DRAGON KNIGHT doesn't want to cooperate, I spent some time writing up character bios for SUPER TECH. I'm going to be with these characters for at least four books; I'd better know them inside and out. I have the three main characters set, I think. Later, I'll do some of the minor characters and possibly the school itself.

For now, it's off to exercise and then eat lunch. Tra la la.

Superstar

Today's writing consisted entirely of revising my "Superstar"/Jonathan Levinson article for Slayage. The peer readers expressed concern that I wasn't explaining my sociology/psychology terms well enough and that I'd omitted others, that I hadn't used one certain article as a source, and that I wasn't focusing on Jonathan's fictional-ness enough. So I did some digging through boxes to find the sociology and psychology books I'd used so I could attempt to explain better, found a friend who had a copy of the article I needed (and was nice enough to scan it and upload it for me), and attempted to address the concept of Jonathan as a fictional, created character without falling out of psychology and into film studies. I'm gonna sit on it for a day or so and see if I can't get any other Buffy freaks to read over it for me to make sure it still makes sense, then send it back in.

In the meantime, I ordered my textbooks for next semester (over $200 for two classes. Ouch!) as well as a pair of bookends so I can keep my work area as organized as possible. Now I think I'm gonna go do my exercising for the day and then have lunch.

Two weeks til school starts again! Yay!

Under Your Spell (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 1,852
Total words: 31,948

Mean things: Cynric getting ever more wound around Haylee's finger.

Favorite: “Ah, but the outdoors is cold at this time of year,” Cynric said. “And I would not have the cold chap your skin.”
Then he could have kicked himself. The outdoors is cold this time of year? Why not just point out that the sky was blue, or that hawks flew? Imbecile.

Music:
"Stupid" - Sarah McLachlan
"Beyond the Invisible" - Enigma

---
After a lot of staring at the page and being absolutely certain that in my current state (which turned out to be allergies; I think the people next door smoke and it's leaking through to our apartment and I'm ALLERGIC to cigarette smoke, thankyouverymuch) I would never be able to do the scene I was working on justice, I took a 30-minute break on the couch with Goblet of Fire. As soon as the antihistamines kicked in, I came back and tackled it again, and managed to finish chapter 12.

In the next chapter, the war begins. Yay!

Later today, the post office person should be bringing by a package which includes a bellydance-fitness DVD, which I'm quite excited about. I've only heard good things about this particular DVD, and I can definitely use the exercise. Might also help shake me out of this funk I've been fighting for the past few weeks.

A Flight of Dragons (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 800
Total words: 30,096

Mean things: not speaking to manservant.

Favorite: As fall sharpened and winter began to take hold, making her presence known in frosty mornings, sheens of ice over the ewers, and cold winds that gusted out of the north without warning, Aethelstenc began to show the same interest in Colsweart that Getynglic had. When Cynric told Alvey, the baron had the guard on the stable doubled, and Derek took to sleeping outside Aethelstenc’s stall. The herders stood ready to slaughter the animals they’d picked out of their herds for this, and everyone’s nerves stretched thin as they waited for Aethelstenc to make her move.

Music:
"Elk Hunt" - Trevor Jones (The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack)
"The Ring Goes South" - Howard Shore (The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack)

---
I finished outlining DRAGON KNIGHT last night, and now my brain is raring to go on SUPER TECH book 1 (which is still untitled, but I'm trying to think of something that doesn't lend itself to YA lit). I'm hoping that the rest of DRAGON KNIGHT stays the way I put it and doesn't rearrange itself as I'm writing. My handwritten outline is a mess of crossed-out stuff, new plot points and notes to self in the margins, and random other notes all over the place. According to my counter, I'm 37% through this draft, so much more self-adjusting might mess with the overall plot in a BAD way.

According to my outline, I have 7 chapters left to write. It appears a short word count will, again, be an issue. But I'm sure the people at OWW can show me where I need more description (which seems to be my biggest problem) and help me plump it out so it reaches minimum novel length, at least.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue to watch S1 of True Blood again and try to outline SUPER TECH book 1 so I can have it fully outlined by the time I finish DRAGON KNIGHT.

Hardly Worth Mentioning (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 585
Total words: 29,316

Mean things: failure

Favorite: While he waited in the thick silence for Alvey to speak, he imagined all the terrible things the baron could do to him.

Music:
nothing

---
Can't concentrate today. It's like ADD. Maybe I'll come back to this later, but for now, I'm putting it down and folding laundry. Bleh.

I have, however, figured out the major conflict for SUPER TECH book 2.

Random Sunday Linkage

Enjoy!

Students can be very very whiny. Thank goodness for people who say what the teachers are all thinking.

Apparently, blue M&Ms are good for you! And they dye rats blueish-grey.

I, too, feel as though I'm faking being an adult. I keep expecting others to realize I'm a big fraud and take away my Master's degree.

It's a good thing blogging agents have a sense of humor!

And finally, I'm glad this guy isn't my landlord!

Born Free (Stats)

Dragon Knight

New words: 1,415
Total words: 28,729

Mean things: hard work. Grouchy breeder. Loneliness. Treason. Female dragon escapes.

Favorite: Spring passed into summer, and as the weather warmed, Cynric wished he dared, as the horse-trainers were wont to do, go shirtless while he worked with the dragons. But their scales were too dangerous, and Perth was beginning to fuss about the number of tears in his clothing. Cynric could only imagine how he’d fuss if Cynric began returning to his rooms with similar gashes in his own flesh.

Music:
"Age of Loneliness" - Enigma
"Amis Raynaut" - Qntal

---
I had intended the events of this chapter to take a chapter and a half, and one of the events wasn't supposed to happen at all, but it made more sense than something else I was going to have happen. So now the outline for the last half of this chapter and the first half of the next are completely wrong and I'll have to redo them. Grumble. But at least the story is moving and stuff is happening.

The Truthsayer is Online

"The Truthsayer" is available to read in the current issue of Sorcerous Signals. I'm providing a small snippet of the story . . . just to whet your appetite!

Kayla stared up at the walls surrounding the city of Derby. She was filled with equal parts excitement and anticipation. On the one hand, she was about to be in the same city as her twin brother again after several years apart. On the other, she was not here on a pleasure jaunt, but on business.

As the keeper of the first tame gryphon in known history, Kayla had been pressed into the service of the Peace Keepers and forced to use the gryphon’s magic for law enforcement purposes. The legends that the magic of gryphons prevented the speaking of lies in their presence had been proven true not long after Kayla had rescued Liah. As long as the gryphon was within eyeshot of a person, lies would not pass their lips.

It’s moderately amusing to watch people stammer like fish when they’re trying to lie, Kayla thought. Unless, of course, the person in question is your husband and he’s trying to cover up a wild affair with the barmaid. She shrugged and patted her horse’s neck. So much had changed when she’d found Liah fluttering around near the base of a cliff, her parents nowhere in sight. She’d learned later that poachers had killed both of them, gryphon bits being quite popular with charlatans who claimed that these bits still had magical properties after being removed from the animal. They tended to do the same thing with unicorns and other magical creatures, most of which were now extinct or close to it.

Kayla urged the horse back into motion and rode up to the gate. The guards seemed more uptight than she remembered, but she didn’t think much of it until one of them grabbed her horse’s halter.

“City pass,” the guard barked. He released the horse to hike up his pants, which were being subsumed to his overhanging belly.

“I don’t have one,” Kayla said. She frowned at him. “Since when do you need a pass to get into the city?”

“Since four wenches’ve gone missing over the last few weeks,” the guard snapped.

“I don’t have a pass. I’m the Truthsayer,” Kayla said.

“Right. I’ve heard of the Truthsayer. She comes with a gryphon.” The guard looked around, though his gaze never rose higher than the horse’s shoulder. “I don’t see no gryphon.”

Kayla rolled her eyes and fished her whistle out from under her shirt, where it hung on a thong. She put the whistle to her lips and blew one piercing note on it, enjoying the way it made the guard wince and pull away. She enjoyed the expression on his face even more when Liah came spiraling down from the thermals she’d been riding to land at Kayla’s side.

The gryphon was almost as tall at the shoulder as the horse, which, with her leonine body and raptor’s head, was very imposing to those who didn’t know her. Kayla wasn’t above using Liah’s natural intimidation to her own advantage. Liah glared down at the guard, obviously having deduced the situation for herself. Kayla still wasn’t quite sure just how smart Liah was; sometimes she seemed as quick as a cat, and sometimes as dense as a mule. For all Kayla knew, both were pretense on Liah’s part and the gryphon was constantly laughing to herself.

“Right,” the guard said. His eyes were open so wide that the whites were visible all around the irises. “Go on, then. But tell the Peacekeepers you’re to get a city pass.”

“I’ll do that,” Kayla said, barely managing to keep her exasperation out of her voice. “Thank you, sirs.”

With another whistle to Liah, this one between her teeth, and a cluck to the horse, Kayla rode into the city.

Go check it out! And if you like the story, artwork, and/or issue, please donate so the magazine can keep publishing.