Actually Finishing Something in July 2.5

I know this over a week late, but I've been busy with my worldbuilding posts and making myself a sword. Excuses aside, here is my last post for the Actually Finishing Something in July Challenge.

Did you reach your goal?

Well, I did get quite a bit of editing done on The Ankulen, but I didn't have a cover art until a few days ago, and I'm working on the back right now. I don't know when I'll be able to convince my dad to let me order a proof copy though .

On the other projects ... well ... for the most part, they're all still right where they were the last time I did one of these posts. *ducks head in shame* no, I haven't been having a good writing week, why do you ask?

If you didn't fully complete your goal, were you able to make a good amount of progress in your project? 

See above.

What was the most difficult part of finishing something this July?

Gumption. It's hard to write when it's 101 degrees outside. 

Did you maintain a writing schedule? How often did you write to meet your goal?

Me? Writing schedules? Ehh ... I wrote whenever I pulled up the document. 

List some of the musical tracks/artists you listened to most frequently this July. Tell us why they inspired you and how they fit with your story.

As I've said before, I don't really listen to music. However, Jenny Freitag posted some of the songs that she has been listening to for her latest novel ... and one of them, King and Lionheart, is almost perfect for Clara and Andrew of Water Princess, Fire Prince, especially for the scene I wrote this week. I don't care much for the lead girl's voice, truthfully, but most of the lyrics fit Clara and Andrew.

Other than that ... well, I ran across the soundtrack for The Hobbit on YouTube, so I've been listening to that, too.

Snippets! Share as much, or as little, as you choose.

Since I didn't write very much during the last few weeks, and I don't want to share anymore of The Ankulen, (It'll be out in less than a month. Be patient and soon you'll have the whole thing!) I'm going to share a few snippets from a project I attempted to start at the beginning of the month, namely 300 Dragons. I let it fall to wayside because I realized that I needed to divert more attention to The Ankulen and Bookania, and I discovered that I began in the wrong place, but that can be fixed. Later. Anyways, I did write some good stuff there.

 “Do you think King Hubert is going to prefer you or me me?” Samul asked, flashing Jyson a grin over the stable partition as they saddled their horses. “Because frankly, I don't see how he's going to resist my charming manners.”

Jyson shook his head as he tightened the girth. “If he can get past your pretentious attitude, I think you'll do just fine.”

“It's part of my charm, Jy,” said Samul. “Now you, I really don't know what you have to recommend yourself – unless he's interested in broody young knights given to violent bursts and obsessed with keeping their hands smooth.”

“You never know,” said Jyson, frowning momentarily at his gloved hands. “I've heard that King Hubert can be quite the broody man himself. We might find that we have much in common.”

Stardrana slid out of her dress and laid the bulky thing on the bed, then turned to the trunk that lay at the foot. Drawing a key from around her neck, she opened it and pulled out a tunic and a pair of trousers. “Yes, but according to my father's people, this is men's clothing.”

“Among the royalty, yes,” agreed her mother. “But you yourself tell me that plenty of the common folk dress practically when the need arises.”

“Aye, but they don't hunt,” she said, as she slid into the clothing and pulled out her leather armor. “And they especially don't hunt what I hunt.”

“They do not need to,” said her mother. “Their curse is different than ours.”

Then the wyrm's eyes went glassy and it stopped moving.

“Fun!” exclaimed Bark.

“Not fun. Dead. Duh – EH – duh. Dead.”

Bark just hissed before she ran over and tackled Aoril. “Fun!”

Pick a character from your July writing project and describe his or her daily wardrobe. Imagine how this character would dress is he or she were living in the year 2013. 

I believe I shall pick a character from 300 Dragons, since I am already talking about it, namely the lead lady, Stardrana. She leads two lives, that of her father's people and that of her mother's, and dresses appropriately for each.

As you may have gathered from the snippet, when among her mother's people, she wears trousers and a simple tunic, over which she places her leather armor. She wears sturdy boots, and her hair is done sensibly in a braid down her back. Her people hunt the Wyrmen, the fallen dragons, so this is quite a necessary thing. Often, but not always, she will wear sturdy leather gloves.

Via Pinterest

However, among her father's people she plays the part of a noblelady, and dresses appropriately. She wears long dresses made of sumptuous silks and satins, often gold or blue because those colors best set off her eye and hair color. Her boots are exchanged for dainty slippers, and she wears her hair down or elaborately done by a maid. She'll still wear gloves often enough, but dainty silk ones.

Via Pinterest

If she lived in modern day, she'd probably be the girl who wears a leather biker's jacket over a fancy dress. She's comfortable in both lives (the only reason that she resents her father's is that no one there knows that she sneaks out to hunt Wyrmen), and her clothing reflects that.

Bonus Question (skip if so desired--I shan't be offended)! What was your favorite part of Actually Finishing Something [in] July? What could be done next year to improve the challenge?

I enjoyed reading everyone else's, and answering the questions. I love answering questions.