March Writing Update

March has been a better month for me in the writing department.

I think.

The Ankulen: If my estimate is correct, I'm at about 42,000 words - and I'm still on chapter 16 of 25, so I'm quite pleased with how my word count is cooperating. Chapters in the second half of the book seem to be longer. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not ... I guess I'm getting comfortable with the characters or something like that. I filled up the first notebook last week, so I'm now on notebook two. It appears that I can cram about 35,000 words into a notebook.

 Sixteen thousand of those words have been typed up on the computer.

Do You Take This Quest?: I've worked on this quite a bit this month. There are a few scenes that have changed dramatically, and, of course, lots of punctuation and grammar still remains for clean-up. Mom says I use the word "got" too much so ... I've been removing them. I think I shall make it my goal to have the Kindle version out by the end of April. Can't promise the paperback though until I have my own computer. CreateSpace and I are having file-formatting issues.

The New Division: Progressing right along. I'm currently writing the scene where Melisza and Alistaar discover that they are a Dizalay and a Nalish of the Lilnas. Jaqob and Tabetha are still out cold. I'll probably revive them in the next chapter.

Behind the Rainbow: This is a book that my sister and I are co-writing. She's annoyed with me because I'm going too slow. Frankly, I don't blame her, since I've been working on my chapter for the last five months ... and I've only just stopped jumping on the giant pillow. I still need to get the V and I off of the pillow and to the Rainbow, and into the Library, and then Otis needs to give me a tour and hand me a book to read. Then V. can take back over with her narrative. (And, yes, the two main characters of this book are my sister and I. This story is based on a dream my sister had a long time ago."

Other: well ... I've been plotting my secret project, of course ... and I've pulled up the documents of some of my stories, I think I actually wrote something on To Perfect a Fairy Tale ... but other than that ... I really need to write those short stoires. Oh well.

H - Hide and Go Seek

Via Pinterest

H - Hide and Go Seek

Err, well ... sorta ...

I couldn't think of any one word that began with h that was important enough in The Ankulen to warrant an entire post. Hide and Go Seek only made the title because the scene I'm currently writing involves four of the characters playing that game. It's quite an amusing chapter, to say the least.

But ... I don't think I can write an entire blog post writing about hide and go seek, even though the first half of the book is basically Jen playing hide and go seek with her memories. I'm planning on saving that topic for later

So ... I have, in desperation, pulled a dictionary off of the shelf, and will now go through it, word for word, and look for anything that was important in any way in The Ankulen so far.

Hack - Chris spends the first half of chapter 2 hacking at pricker vines and undergrowth with his sword ... as well as freaking Jen out over the fact that a eight-year-old is the one wielding that sword.

Hair - Jen has frizzy brown hair that only goes to her mid-back - if she stretches it out to full length. Tisha has wavy blond hair that falls to her feet. Chris has messy brown hair. Derek has black hair. Megan has curly red hair. Jen spends a good portion of the first half of the book running around with a stick in her hair, which provoked an interesting conversation between her and her mom.

  Mom frowned. "Why is there a stick in your hair?"
  I laughed self-consciously. "Oh, Walnut gave it to me after I helped him find his Home Tree. I'm told it can grow into a full-grown tree in minutes."
  "And why is it in your hair?"
  "Uh ... because I didn't have anywhere better to put it?"
  "Well, I hope you don't plan to make wearing sticks in your hair a habit."
  I shrugged. "Actually, I was thinking about trying to start a trend. Do you think it would take?"
  Mom shook her head. "No, I don't."
  "I thought it wouldn't." I gave a wistful sigh.

- The Ankulen

This conversation was partly inspired by my own attempts to start a "trend" as a child. Potholder hats.

Handwriting - Jen is writing The Ankulen out by hand. Errr, well, I am.

Hedgehog - Actually, no. There haven't been any hedgehogs ... yet ... *acquires that devious look that authors get when they have a plot idea*

Horse - Sir Erran rides a horse. I'm not sure about anyone else. We shall see.

Homeschooled - Jen is homeschooled. The story begins with her working on an impossible assigment that her mom is convinced she can do: write a story.

Hollow - Jen feels hollow without her imagination.

Hope - Because everyone needs some. Jen opts to take the more involved route while restoring her imagination, because it would give her imaginary people hope.

Honor - The Valiant Knights talk about honor a lot.

Human - Because Jen is only human, after all.

I have been Tagged again!

The Mad Elvish Poet has tagged me again with an eleven's tag, so I'll go ahead and answer the questions. Since Jack has also tagged all of her followers (which includes me) with the same tag, I'll do hers in one fell swoop.

(And weasel out of posting the "eleven random facts about me" part ;)

The Poet's Questions:

BBC or Kiera Knightly Pride and Prejudice?
I haven't seen the BBC version yet, but I'm not willing to put my complete stamp of approval on Kiera Knightly's version. It was good, I'll give it that, and I do like Kiera Knightly ... but until I've chased down and watched the BBC, I won't say either way.

Eowyn, Galadriel, or Arwen? Or, if you like, you can add Luthien and Nimrodel to the mix.
Uhhh ... I like all three pretty evenly. They're all wonderful in their own way. (And, unfortunately, I can't call the other two off the top of my head. It's been a while since I pulled the book off my shelf.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi? If Sci-Fi, Dystopian or straight up Sci-Fi?
Fantasy.

Mermaids or Faeries?
Sea Fairies.

Are you sick of 'or' questions?
Not yet. But I might if you keep asking them.

If you could have any color, style and type of hair you wanted, what would it be? (and no saying, 'I like my own.' nobody likes their own hair)
I'd like my hair to be longer and redder, but other than that, I have pretty much perfect hair. Honest! It's not so curly that it's impossible to brush, yet curly enough to be pretty. It's thick, but not too thick. Longer hair will come with time though ... but I'm still scheming up ways to turn it red 

Are you a dark/punk makeup person, a natural highlight person, or a who-gives-a-rat's-finger person?
I'm the person who has a box of eyeshadow in my room, but uses it to do face painting on the forth of July. True story!

Would you consider yourself quiet and shy, quiet and mysterious, loud and friendly, loud and annoying, or just a socialite?
I'm the person who'll sit on the side of the room until someone takes pity on me and then I'll talk their head off.

If you could go back in time, what time period would you go to?

Ooooh ... so many choices, so much history. I think I would like to go to Israel during the days that Jesus walked on earth.

Who is your favourite Doctor? If you have no answer, WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN DOCTOR WHO???

I have seen all of thirty seconds of Doctor Who in my entire life, and my opinion was ... creepy guy with glowing eyes is walking towards me. That does NOT look like the sort of TV show I want to watch, where's the cooking channel? I've since heard more about it, but we've also lost our cable since then, so the likelihood of me ever becoming a Whovian is pretty slim. Sorry, but that's just how it is. I don't watch much TV (and when I do, I like it to be a DVD. I can speed them up so I can watch them in half the time), and I'm picky about what I watch. I mostly watch the cooking channel. Oh, and the history channel if I see something interesting.

Besides, if I did become a Whovian, I have a certain character who would not be happy with me, since she holds to the firm opinion that her brother's the best doctor in the world (which he is) and therefore Doctor Who is a pretender. Honestly.

Did you cry at the Reichenbach Fall? Did you cry when Sherlock talked about the note, or when Watson gave his little heart-destorying speech?

I have not seen anything of the Sherlock TV series, for much the same reason that I don't watch the above. May I change the question to "Did I cry when he fell off the cliff in the books?" To that, I'll answer no. I just sat their stunned (as I had been listening to it) then I shook it off and shrugged. The author was dead, so there wasn't any chance of there being any new books anyways.

It wasn't until my Gma and Gpa got me a copy of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for Christmas last year that I discovered that Sherlock had escaped death. I'm acutally not sure what to think about that, though I have really enjoyed reading it.

Jack's Questions:

1. Do you collect sporks.
No, nor do I use them very often. However, I do like Dr. Hovind's spork collection ...

2. Would you be an author if you had to write with a quill and ink, or would you give up and become a knight instead?
I think I would still be an author, since I do enjoy writing with my calligraphy pen and ink. The only drawback is the fact that it's harder to correct mistakes.

3. Do you have a puppy?
I have a dog. She's an eight year old terrier mix. Not exactly a puppy, but ... anyways. Her name is Toffee, even though she's black. We got her for Halloween - the same day mom discovered our little brother. That was an interesting day.

On a completely unrelated note, my aunt, who lives just across the yard, has kittens ... lots of kittens.

4. Can I come play with it?
Sure, if you're willing to make the road trip.

5. What's your opinion of spiders.
As long as they're no more than three inches in diameter, and they aren't on my pillow or on the railing to our stairs, I'm good. They eat roaches, I hear.

6. Why do you think there's a debate between apples and oranges?
Uhh ... because people like to debate strange things?

7. Should chocolate have oranges in it, or should they be kept safely as oranges, and let chocolate be chocolate?
I don't really care. It tastes good either way.

8. Which British actor would you like to meet?
I actually haven't ever given this thought. It's not my life's aspiration to meet actors. Personally, I would like to meet C.S. Lewis, but I hear he's dead, so maybe I could meet his stepson instead.

9. Do you garden in January?
Not usually. My mom wanted us to this year but ... it didn't happen.

10. What would you do if green snowflakes fell?
First, I would make sure that they aren't a rare form of Oobleck, then I would build a green snowman.

11. Would you fight a one-handed troll?
Probably not. I suppose it wouldn't be as bad as a six-handed troll, but ... still. I'm not much of a fighter. I'm more one for the pen.



Now for my questions. Actually the first eight of these are from my mom (long story.)

1. Who is your favorite princess of all times?
2.  What is your favorite movie that originated as a book or literature dating prior to 1900?
3.  If you had to leave everything behind, what ten things/books would you put into your backpack. Assume no electricity.
4. Are you modern to the core, or would you prefer to live in another time? When? Why?
5. If you were given $100, how would you spend it?
6. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?
7. If you were to visit me, what should I cook for supper?
8. What do you consider your best asset/talent?
9. If you have your own computer, does it have a name?
10. If you had full control, what would you name your first child (give both a girl's name and a boy's name)?
11. Dost thou have an accent? If not, how easy is it for you to fake one?

And for tagging ... (Sorry, I don't have eleven, but ...)
V. Kathie Ardnek.
Kiri Liz
Miss Melody Muffin
Rhoswen Faerie Wrose

Story Saturday - Winter's Home

I probably should have posted this back in winter ... but it completely slipped my mind.

"Winter's Home" was for a cover contest. I was given a word and told to come up with a title that contained it, a story to fit the title, and an amazing cover to top it off. I entered the contest because the girl running it looked lonely. I was sure I wouldn't win.

Wouldn't ya know, I got third place. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that my word was "Home" and the way I used it was very much not the usual thing you think of when you hear that word. The only reason it occurred to me was the fact that I wanted to use one of my own pictures - and a surprising number of my pictures were of snow-laden trees ... Apparently, I like taking pictures of snow ...

Hey! I have an excuse - we don't get snow very often where I live, so when we do, it's a big deal!

Anyways, I'll show you the award-winning cover, and then you can read the story. "Winter's Home" may or may not worm it's way into Jessica's Summer. I'll have to see.

Winter's Home

Spring's home is  a flowery pavilion. Butterflies flit here and there.

Summer's home is on the beach, with sand, sun, and fun!

Autumn's home is in the forest, where she can always have food to gather to protect against want.

But Winter is cold. She has no home. She has an icy fortress to which she'll retreat, but it is not a home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter stalked up and down the halls of her fortress. It was Summer beyond her domains, and her power was at its weakest. She was always the most restless at this time. Finally, she got tired of inactivity.

She had her sleigh readied, then got in and took the reigns.

It took only a few minutes for her to reach the edge of her territory. Good ... good ... the snow wasn't melting. Still ...

She got out of the sleigh and surveyed the area on foot. There was something off here ... something that didn't belong here. She wrinkled her nose as she pulled back an evergreen branch. Evergreens were such nuisances, being so colorful and all. Yet, she put up with them ... 

Then she let out an annoyed growl.

There, laying on the ground was a small child, a girl, maybe three years old. Such was not an unusual thing during her own reign. During her own reign, the portals to her land were open. People, especially children, wandered here frequently.

It was no matter, however. Winter bent over to kiss the child, a kiss that would pour her cold into the miserable creature, and end its miserable life.

Yet something stopped her. She held back. What was the child doing in her lands?

For some time she just stood there, eyes fixed on the child. If she had been Spring, Summer, or even Autumn, she would have taken the child in, and made attempts at returning the child to its parents.

But she was Winter. Cold-hearted. Cruel.

Yet ...

She bent over and scooped the child up. She almost balked when she felt its wamth. The child was nearly blue, yet was still warm compared to Winter herself.

She carried the child over to the sleigh and climbed in. She would have to talk to her sisters about the child. For it to have wandered in during Summer's reign, that meant something was up.

Once in her fortress, she handed the child to one of her few warm-blooded servants. Even though Winter could stand cold - no, thrived on it -  those puny humans, especially children, could not. She handed the child to her servant ... and forgot about it. She had more pressing issues to attend to.

A few days later, a curious sound awakened her. Was that ... laughter? A child's laughter? Here? In her fortress?

Then she remembered the child she had rescued. Frowning, she went to investigate.

She discovered the child playing in the snow. Playing ... and laughing.

The faintest smile touched the corners of Winter's mouth. The edges of her frozen heart melted ever so slightly. The child could stay, she decided.

And that was how Winter's fortress became Winter's home.

G - God

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G - God

Readers of Sew, It's a Quest may have noticed that I don't really talk about God in that book A short exchange between Agatha and Friar Tuck, and a conversation between Robert and ****Plot Spoiler. Sorry, name is concealed.**** is it ... and those scenes weren't even in the original version!

The Author, as God is called in Bookania, is mentioned a few more times in Do You Take This Quest? and will probably be mentioned quite a few times in book 3 and beyond ... but ...

The Bookania Quests just aren't the richest allegories ever written.

However, The Ankulen is different.

While in the first half of the book, the only mention of Spiritual matters is when Jen refers to the fact that she was always the shy child in Sunday School, and when she feels uncomfortable eating without praying while in her imaginary land ... the second half does not shy away from the topic.

There is a reason I don't really mention the Lord in the first half - because Jen is not close to God. Yes, she's a Christian, and she knows what she believes and all that ... but ...

As long as she holds her imaginary friends at arm's length, she holds God at arm's length as well. He gave her her imagination, and for a purpose - and when she turns her back on His gift and that purpose ... well, she turns her back on Him, too.

No wonder she's so miserable.

I didn't know this the first time I wrote it, but I just discovered that Megan is a Christian as well ... but Derek ... most decidedly is not. 'Twill be interesting seeing how those twists will take things. I foresee Megan's sweet, childlike faith being very essential to Jen's own struggle.

At the same time, The Ankulen is an allegory. In Bookania, He is called the Author ... and it seems that I like that description of God. Jen is by no means a perfect representation of God. She's a fallible human, after all. But we're not perfect either, and, somehow, though imperfect pictures, we can better understand the perfect.

Taking Over the Keyboard.

Snippets time!!!! Again. Let's see what my brain managed to fling onto the computer in February. Don't forget that, if you want to participate, all you have to do is head over to Katie's Blog.

Via Pinterest

  “Yes, their ears – they’re pointed, as if they’re fairies or elves or something.”

  “Elves and fairies don’t exist,” said Mrs. Arden, firmly.

  “Maybe they do, maybe they don’t,” commented Miss Pearstean. “All I know is what I see." 

- The New Division

“Do you think it’s safe?” questioned Melisza.

“Is anywhere safe?” returned Tabetha.

- The New Division

  I hear that my sister is being all dramatic and all that up there, with the present tense and stuff like that. I’d like to have you know that I jumped off the board on purpose. V gets freaked out over the simplest things. And I’m still not sure how V thought she was going to rescue me from falling with a stick.

  Oh, well. Anyways, this is Kendra, and I’m taking over the keyboard.

  Where were we?

  Oh yes, jumping into the gully.

- Behind the Rainbow

  “No, I cannot say that I do,” she admitted. “But perhaps your Ankulen can answer that question.”

  I lifted my arm to look at the Ankulen. “How?” I asked, skeptical. Did the Ankulen talk? Just what I always wanted – a golden bracelet that flashes and talks.

- The Ankulen

“But, V! I’m having fun! Hey – I can see houses from here!”

“Houses?”

“Yup! Do you know what that means, dear sister?” I gave my sister a questioning look since I was, for that moment, on her eye level.

“That someone might see you acting crazy?”

“No! That people live here! Oh! I see mountains, too – far, far away – and a rainbow!”

- Behind the Rainbow

“How do you know he’s a Harsha?” questioned Alistaar.

The man seemed taken aback. “His dark hair and skin are proof enough of his curse!” he spat.

“Curse!” exclaimed Jaqob, “what do you mean, curse?”

“All of the Harshia are cursed,” the man replied. “They love not Elonodi, and He loves not them." 

- The New Division

  “Huh.” I placed the spoon tentatively in my mouth. The flavor of the “mashed greenroot” was just on the sweet side of bland.  It wasn’t nasty … but it wasn’t amazingly good either. After a few more spoonfuls, I decided to examine my spoon instead. Eating something that I didn’t care for when I wasn’t hungry was a silly thing to do.

  The spoon was rather pretty.

- The Ankulen

Melisza’s pale blue eyes met those of her brother. “All right,” she said. “If you think we should.” Hand in hand, the Lilna twins stepped over the threshold into to the red world.

Tabetha and Jaqob gasped.

“What is it?” asked Melisza, a wave of panic washing over her.

“It’s … nothing …” said Tabetha. “Only … the orphanage just disappeared.”

- The New Division

Me? I was enjoying myself – hey, it isn’t every day you get to jump on a pillow the size of a house.

- Behind the Rainbow

“We can’t be the only people like us in the world,” argued Jaqob. “Even I can figure that one out. We had parents once, didn’t we?”

“Once,” agreed Melisza. “But they abandoned us. They obviously didn’t want us, since they haven’t come back to get us either.”

“Maybe we were too strange for them,” said Tabetha. “Maybe they got rid of us because we were deformed …”

“Four of us on the same night?” Alistaar pointed out. “If it were only one of us – or perhaps one set of twins, it would have been plausible … but we Lilnas are obviously not related to you Harshas.”

“Two sets of twins cannot be coincidence,” said Melisza.

- The New Division

Oh, and today I'm being interviewed over at the Homeschooled Authors blog.

Guest Post - Rachel Rossano

I'm pleased to introduce to all of you a fellow homeschooled author and her new book,

Duty: a novel of Rhynan

Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a winter of starvation if they do not find a solution soon.

Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king. When that same king demands Tomas marry the impoverished daughter of the late Lord Wisten, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.

Duty: a novel of Rhynan follows their journey from strangers to friends as they face complications from their pasts and the shaky politics of a changing regime. Then Brielle is implicated in her cousin’s treasonous activities. Can a marriage of duty survive treason?

It's available on Amazon and Smashwords:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Duty-novel-Rhynan-ebook/dp/B00BAI41RO

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281699

About Rachel:

Author of a growing stack of novels, novellas, and short stories, Rachel Rossano balances her time between the chaos of raising and homeschooling her three children and the world of drama and high adventure in her head. With her faithful husband and chief consulting editor by her side, she dreams of many more adventures to come in both of her double lives. Check out her work at http://Rachel-rossano.blogspot.com.

Also, Rachel has written up a lovely bit about 

Plotting, Pantsing, and the Space Between

  When a writer meets a writer for the first time, frequently we ask each other one question. “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” For those of you who do not write, you probably don’t recognize the terms. A plotter is one who plots the novel before writing it. Those who claim to be pantser make the plot up as they go along.

  I have a confession to make. I am stuck in the vast space between.

  I began my writing life as a completely committed pantser. I rambled, I wandered, and my early manuscripts suffered the consequences. As I dug them out years later, I recoiled from the mess and promptly reburied them.

  Still, I persevered because I loved to write. Characters came alive beneath my fingers. The way they took up residence in my thoughts and daydreams thrilled me. So, I wrote and reveled in my characters while I ignored the loose and meandering stories I produced.

  Then one day a friend commented that my plots struck her as simple. Comparing my stories to my favorite authors, I realized she had a very valid point. So, with the best of intentions, I endeavored to plot. I promptly plotted myself into boredom with the story.

  Not one to give up, I tried again. The second attempt didn’t follow the script. My characters rebelled and started doing things consistent with their make up by definitely not what was in the plan. That was when I had a revelation. I needed to plot and pants my stories.

  I tried a new technique for me. I did extensive pre-work on my next project: world development, cultures, clothing, character histories, and (gasp) a bit of plotting. I only developed a very general idea of where I wanted to go in the scenes ahead and a few vague plot points that I had to hit. I set to writing and discovered it worked.

  So, three and a half manuscripts later, I am enjoying this new technique. I even began integrating some editing into the writing process when I was writing Duty. I just have to watch out for those revision loops. They are definitely more of a hazard when editing while you write.

  If you are a writer, what hazards do you have to watch out for in your writing process? If you are a reader, do you like reading about the inner workings of the writing process or do you suspect all fiction writers are a bit mad?

Stay tuned for an interview in a few weeks! (Oh, and a review on the O.Scarlett blog!)

F - Friends and Family

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F - Friends and Family

The Ankulen is, up front and foremost, a story of a girl and her long-lost imaginary friends. That's what it had been from the first, and it never changed. Yet, as I wrote it, I discovered that it was also a story about family.

The first half of The Ankulen is primarily about friendship. True, Tisha is posing as Jen's adopted sister, but she's still her imaginary friend. The only real family member you meet in the fist half of the book is Jen's mom, and that's only briefly in chapter eight.

The second half of the book focuses more on family. In the second half, Jen is trying to get to know her two new siblings, as well rethinking her behavior to her own parents growing up.

Relationships are probably one of my favorite parts of writing. The complexity of human nature and how people so different can be best friends just fascinates me. And tossing up otherwise mortal enemies into a family? No wonder my characters think I torture them.

There are really only six important secondary characters in The Ankulen, and Jen's relationship with each is different.

Chris: Chris was Jen's protector, her valiant knight. Her safety, and Tisha's, are his first priority. Her memories of him are mixed. She can't remember anything negative about him, but ... for the longest time after his disappearance, she hated him. Since then, she's managed to tame the hatred into more of a wariness, and, by the time he makes his appearance, she's willing to work with him. His relationship with Lady Jenifer has always been rather on the formal side.

Tisha: Letitia was the first thing Jen brought to life after receiving her Ankulen, and was always the closest to her. Letitia knew all of Jen's secrets, all of her worries, all of her cares ... until she and Chris called Jen's wrath upon their heads. Now ... well, let's just say Jen barely speaks to her, let alone entrusts her with valuable secrets. Tisha finds this painful - possibly the most painful part of their punishment.

Mom: Jen's mom (whose name I still don't know ...) is the one person who never gave up on Jen getting her imagination back. There are times when Jen resents this - as she puts it,

It's easier to squeeze juice out of a rock than it is to squeeze a story out of my brain.

- The Ankulen

but she really does want her imagination back, and, when she goes home for lunch in chapter eight, she thanks her mother for doing it.

Derek: Derek and Jen's relationship has a very rocky start. She's an odd combination of shyness and mischief, and he finds her as confusing as much as she finds him intimidating. It's not until nearly the end of the book that they develop a sort of alliance ... and even a tiny bit of sibling trust.

Megan: Megan and Jen hit it off well right from the start. Megan is in awe of Jen's imaginative powers, while Jen is refreshed by Megan's innocence. She tries to be a bit of a peacemaker between Jen and Derek, and, while Jen listens ... Derek doesn't always.

Popcorn Trees

Some of you may be wondering why Kendra has dropped off the face of the earth this week. I mean, there hasn't been a post here on Knitted By God's Plan in a whole week!

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, tsk, turkey pot pie.

Oh, by the way, I am not Kendra. I'm one of her dearly beloved characters! My name's Lillillil, and I'm a princess. Kendra's still not back. I think she's cleaning her room and writing The Ankulen and editing Do You Take This Quest? They're both delightful books, and I'm sure all of you are going to be quite pleased with them when she finally gets them published.

I'm an inventor, too. I'm working on inventing the computer right now. Kendra finds it staggering that the Silions are such an advanced people, I mean, we have electricity, but we still haven't invented the computer.

So I've decided that I will change that. Between Rikkard and me, I'm sure we can come up with something.

Oh, and these movies that Kendra's world has. They're amazing. I wish that I lived a thousand years later, when Silivock has access to Ooladada so that I could spend time in the Theater behind the Curtain, but, oh well. Kendra says that my descendants will have access to the Theater.

Kendra says she's going to the library today, but not the one behind the Rainbow. I don't know why she would. She has access to every book ever written in the Library, but still she insists on going to the one in her world and making what she calls ILL's.

Anyways, she just told me that I have to get off the computer.

CE Church - Melisza

Via Pinterest, but with a bit longer hair
and slightly less dramatic pointing
to the ears.

My church was started on Easter Sunday, so our Easter celebration is extra special. A big pot-luck lunch, then then candy hunts for all of the kids. Tons of fun.

This is my first year as "not a kid" so this is also my first year that I won't be participating in the candy hunt. Oh, well, I had a good year last year ... maybe my sibs will share something with me ...

I'm wandering the halls, trying to look like I'm doing ... something, when I spot her. At first I think she's merely our pastor's daughter, the one who usually goes to another church, but doesn't live out of state.

But then I realize that her hair is much too long, she's much too tall, and young ... and her ears ... are pointed?

I don't mean to be caught staring, but she turns at that very moment and sees me. I start to pull my shy act and back away, but she smiles encouragingly. "Oh, Tiyay!" She has a strange accent.

I blink and force a smile. "Uhh ... Tiyay?"

"I mean hello." She smiles self-consciously. "English. It's just so hard to speak. I speak it better than most elves, though."

"You're an elf?" Of course. She has pointed ears. I frown slightly. Could she be one of my characters? I have several books with elves in them ... many of them with long, pale blond hair.

She nods. "Of course. My name is Melisza, Dizalay of the Lilnas."

Yep. Definitely one of my characters. "Oh, my name is Kendra ... um, what are you doing here?"

"I spent my childhood in the human world, which is why I speak English so well. I wanted to see here again, but it's changed so much. The orphanage where I lived, it's now a great house, and Mrs. Arden's great-great grandchildren live there," Melisza explains.

I nod. "Oh, yes. I know about them. I'm ... well, I know about the Ardens."

"Yes, that is why I was sent to see you, Kendra. They said that you are a great Makatay." 

"Makatay?"

"Story writer. You write stories."

"Oh, yes, I do. Lots of stories. In fact, I think I'm already writing yours." I quickly pull my black bag of notebooks off my shoulder and unzip it. Yes! I do have that notebook with me today! What luck. I've been excluding it sometimes of late, since I've been writing it on the computer. I pull it out and hand it to her, turned to the page where the story begins.

She squints at the paper, and I wince, remembering that, though Melisza is as smart as any Lilna - which is pretty smart, by the way - she still has trouble reading English.

"I seem to be having trouble reading this word," she says at last. "I guess that it is supposed to be Arden, but it looks like Ardnek to me."

"Oh! Um, actually it is Ardnek. I had some facts confused when I wrote that. I've corrected it later on." I take the notebook from her and flip to the summery that I wrote for my illustrator, who wanted to know what happened after the beginning I had written.

"This is the summery," I explain to Melisza. "But it isn't complete. You see, I don't know how it ends."

Melisza sighs, then hands the notebook back to me. "I don't know, either. Everything looks so dark and grim right now. But there is hope. Someday, the Lilnia will see that Elonodi does love the Harshia, and all will accept the truth that Salv brought."

I draw in a deep breath as I slide the notebook back into my bag. "It's been two thousand years, and we still seek that day in our own world. Everything just keeps getting worse though."

"But there is hope."

"Yes, there is."

"It was good talking to you, Kendra," said Melisza. "I hope we meet again someday."

"Someday," I agree. She opens the door nearest us, and I gasp to see that it's not the classroom that's usually  behind it, but a forest - full of two trunked trees with black bark and red leaves. Indeed, the door frame itself appears to be one of the trees on the other side. She steps through the door, and it closes behind her. When I open the door again, it's just a classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Character Encounter - March 2013

It's that time again!Character Encounters! I've finally remembered to do this on the first rather than than the second or third!

I'm so not liking relying on my mom's computer.

Oo-kay, to cut things short, I'm just going to tell you where to meet, and I'll see you there! Kay?

Church

Via Pinterest

It's Easter time, so where better to meet your character than at your annual Easter-whatever-your-church does? Have fun, and please, do respect the building and the holiday. I personally consider Easter to be the most important holiday, since it celebrates the cornerstone of our faith.

Now I need to figure out who I'm going to meet ... for the first time, I haven't a clue! I'm bouncing between Tisha from The Ankulen and one of the main characters in The New Division.