Ink yet to Flow

There's thing that's been going around the authors and writers I follow. It's a wish list of sorts of books one would like to write, but isn't sure she'll ever get around to doing so. I've got a ton of ideas rolling around in corners of my brain, of course I'm going to do this.

So, in no particular order: My ideas. The ones I'll probably never get around to writing, but still burn in my heart just the same.

A historic retelling of Sleeping Beauty: I honestly don't know why nobody else has ever thought of this one, made this connection, but Henry II (the dad of Richard the Lionheart and John the worst king of Ennnngland) had a mistress named Fair Rosamond, who he kept hidden in a maze of sorts for several years until Elanor found her and she became a nun instead. Based on the fact that Rosamond is one of the names of Sleeping Beauty, and there are versions of the tale where he hid her away, kinda forgot about her and took another wife, my brain just naturally made the connection. This isn't the sort of book I'd normally write, but it's certainly a story that I'd love to see written.

Crystal Castle: Has anyone here seen Barbie's Diamond Castle? I've seen it several times, and my younger cousin (the one who inspired Chris) commented that it's a bit of a "Jesus story" as he put it. The two girls have to believe in something they can't see, and when they turned from the path, and took off their protection, they fell. He then wanted to perform his own version of it, so I started writing this play. Names changed, and so did the plot, becoming a bit more of a Pilgrim's Progress. I'd love to get back to this idea and pull at least a short story out of it, because it's rather sweet.

The Story of an Enchanted Sword: This one also came from my young cousin, he wanted an enchanted sword. I, of course, took it to the next level and decided that the sword was enchanted because some dark magic had tied the soul of the daughter of the man who forged it to it. Whoever wields it is promised twelve victories in battle, but then the girl asks them to destroy it, and thus break the spell on her. If they don't, in the next battle, they die. Pretty morbid, huh?

A Western Version of Sew, It's a Quest: This one is ... new. You see, the other day I pulled a blue jean shirt out of my closet and the thought passed through my head that it'd be exactly what Robin would wear in the wild west, which led to the wonder what it the story had been like had it been a western instead of a fairy tale retelling. Robin became the owner of the largest ranch in the town. Robert stayed her brother, but became a preacher (he'd been sickly as a kid, so had turned to booklearning while Robin followed their dad everywhere and learned the boyish stuff. Eric is the new sheriff who had gone to school with Robert. Rosamond - or Rose, as I think I'll change her name - is the new schoolteacher who has caught the eye of both Robert and Eric. I've got it all plotted out, complete with a snake of a villain and all that good stuff. I've never turned my hand to a western before, but I think this one'll be fun.

I mean, I never thought I'd write a Super Hero story, but HaV Academy twisted itself out of Sew, It's a Quest as well.

A story about Winged People: This is mostly so that I can have a board for all the lovely pictures of winged people on Pinterest. I have no idea what I'd do with this, but still, it's something I'd like to write someday.

Via Pinterest

A First Contact Sci-fi: I'd planned to write this for a Cats in Space contest thing that a friend was running, and I was going to enter. My entry was going to be a sorta prequel to my NaNo of '13, about how the Catalins, a people group who are a cross between Vulcans, computers, cats, and Orientals that I had created for that book, made first contact with humans ... and mistook our cats for the intelligent life forms on earth. Unfortnately, I barely got it started. I shall attempt it again this time, and this time finish it, because it's sure to be an interesting story.

A contemporary. I don't read contemporary books, because they're usually just a lot of drama about boys and "Important issues." However, I'm all for stretching myself as a writer, and having to write about an era and world I don't know very well is definitely something I ought to look into. Don't know what it'd be about though ...

Urban Fantasy: Again, to stretch myself. Have no idea what I'd like it to be about, but currently the closest thing I have is League of Royals.

A Book about Bed Monsters: This would have to be a picture book ... but have I ever told you guys that I have a monster under my bed? Well, she's under my desk now that I have a loft bed, but anyways, her name's Googi, and she looks a bit like Liz from Magic School bus, except that has a ruff of purple feathers. It's a ... game I play with my younger siblings.

A Book about Fairies and Leprechauns: No, not Unforgiven. I'm talking about an older story that was originally a game between me, my sister, and a friend of ours. It's a ... complicated story, but I'd like to pull it out and write it some day. But basically, if I remember right, it's about a girl who's mother was a fairy and abandoned her and her father when she was a baby, and then the mother returns, and then the dad becomes a leprechaun and ... it's crazy.

Amazons: About a band of women who shun men and travel the woods hunting. I don't know why, but I've always found this theme interesting.

Kendra the Author

And now for part two of Cait and Mime's linkup!

1. How many books did you write this year? (Estimate your overall wordcount for us too!)
I only wrote one full book this year, The Ankulen's second draft, and it ended up at 70,000+ words. But I also worked on most of my other books.

Just Another Sci-Fi Novel 50,000
The New Division 16,000
Half-Hidden 10,000
Behind the Rainbow 2,000
Water Princess, Fire Prince 50 notebook pages, which turns into 12,500 words at my average squish (how many words I can fit onto one page, my record's nearly 350 words, but it's usually closer to 250)
My Kingdom for a Quest 45 notebook pages, 11,000 words
Worth of a King 3 chapters at 1,400 words, 1,200 words, and 1,600 words.
And I've worked on some short stories which rack up another 3,000, 2,500, 1,500, and 1,400 words.

Which all together is over 184,000 words, since I was rounding down, which is pretty epic all things considered. I think I shall attempt to double that for next year ... 

2. Which was your favourite to write?
Shish-kabobs. Quaggleshump. Jump-rope. Popcorn.

You're making me CHOOSE!

Well, if I have to make this difficult decision, I think I shall have to go with Water Princess, Fire Prince, simply because I've been working on it the longest, and because I love its plot and characters.

3. Which was the hardest to write?
My Kingdom for a Quest. Ugh. That book is constantly getting itself stuck. I'm breezing through it fine right now, however!

4. Tell us about you favourite Male Character you wrote this year!
Derek from The Ankulen. Having grown up with very few peers of the opposite gender, I often struggle with writing them as characters. But both my Grandma and Aunt Viv (who both grew up as only daughters with two brothers, and Grandma raised three boys) say that I pulled Derek off pretty well.

Derek had a very bad childhood, including, but not limited to, his parents divorcing and his mother adamantly not wanting him. He wants a family, but has been burned so badly, he's wary of anyone who tries to get close to him. In the first draft of the book, he was a complete jerk, but in the second draft ... eep. He's a great guy, despite how annoying he can be, and he makes a great big brother.

5. And how about your favourite Female Character?
This one's even worse, because I love all of my gals. But since I have to choose, I'll go with Analyssa Stardrana from Half-Hidden, the titular half-hidden. She's one of my rebellious princesses, but she's not in-your-face about it. Her mother's people hunt wyrmen and ride dragons, so she spends much of her time doing that. But when she's at home with her father's people, she's as proper a princess as you could ask for ... though she can be quite haughty when in the presence of a potential suitor.

6. Can you introduce us to some awesome sidekick(s)?
Tisha and Chris from The Ankulen, and the short story "The Adventure of the Sun Jewel" where they are even more sidekicky than in the main novel (despite the fact that Jenny declares it Chris's adventure).

They are figments of Jen's imagination, but because she has an Ankulen, she was able to bring them to life as a child. Sir Chrisofer is her personal protector, and Fair Maiden Letitia is her best friend. At least, they were until they managed to get out of her imaginary world and install themselves as Jen's brother and sister ... a stunt that Jen was not impressed with.

7. Any romances in your writing? Which couple didn't go together as expected?
Plenty of romances. A and M in Just Another SciFi; Clara and Andrew, the titular Water Princess and Fire Prince; Obsidia and Delaney in Worth of a King; Jyson and Stardrana in Half-Hidden. A romance between two side characters in The Ankulen. Oh, and everyone in My Kingdom for a Quest. That's complicated.

But as for anyone not coming together as expected, that didn't happen, unless you count the fact that Clara has finally decided that Andrew isn't half-bad after all much sooner than I had initially intended. I realized that I needed to have them working together before the climatic battle, you see.

8. What's your favourite Pinterest Board for one of your books? Can we see some pics for the book they inspire?
I think that would be the board for the Rizkaland Legends, to which Water Princess, Fire Prince belongs.

And sure, I'll show you some pics!

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest 

Via Pinterest

Via Pinterest

9. What challenges did you compete in this year? (NaNos? Personal goals? Challenges run by other blogs?) And how did you go?

I did and won NaNo. I attempted and gave up on July's NaNo (Where I got most of Half-Hidden's word count), I did and completed the first 100-for-100 over at Go Teen Writers, and I attempted the second, but realized that it was intruding on projects that were much more important. I did Actually Finishing Something In July hosted by Whisperings of the Pen, though I didn't do as good as I wanted to.

As for personal goals, I published The Ankulen and Do You Take This Quest. The latter was supposed to be out last December, but ... anyways. Ankulen got out on the day I intended!



10. Show us the full cast in pictures from one of your books.
Most of my books have these epicly huge casts that I can barely keep up with (but have tons of fun doing so), and if I were to do any of them, we'd be here all day. But The Ankulen actually had a pretty small, self contained cast, and I've hunted down pictures of almost everyone, so I'll do it.

Via Pinterest

Jen, the main character, narrator, and possessor of the ultimate case of writer's block. This girl actually needs more freckles, but everything else about her is pretty good.

Via Pinterest

Jen as a child ... back when she was called Jenny, and right after she developed her Writer's Block. And there is an important plot reason for her being in black and white.

Via Pinterest

Fair Maiden Letitia. Jen's former best friend, now here resented adopted sister. She's in black and white for a similar reason.

Via Pinterest

Sir Christofer, Jen's valiant protector. He was trapped in Jen's imagination after she discovered the whole getting out and becoming a sibling mess, so he's still a kid. Which was pretty interesting.

Via Pinterest

Megan, the girl Jen's parents were supposed to adopt. She's so sweet and innocent, despite being fifteen. She provided such a nice balance for the grudge-holding Jen once she entered the story.

Via Pinterest

Derek, the boy Jen's parents were supposed to adopt, and Megan's complete opposite. He was so cynical and jaded ... but I've talked about him earlier, so I won't say anything more.

11. Epic quote(s) you wrote?

Arthur carefully selected an arrow and fitted it to his bowstring. He drew back, carefully aimed, then let it fly.

It missed the target by a good three feet.

"You're improving!"

Arthur turned to see his cousin, Robert, who was endevoring to teach him archery. "I was closer the last time."

"Yes, but your form is better this time." Robert claimed the bow from Arthur, selected an arrow from his quiver, fitted it to the string, and fired. The arrow flew straight to the target and sank soundly in the bull's eye. "No one masters archery in a day. You've only been at it two weeks. Give it time."

"How long did it take you?"

Robert slid the bow onto his back and gathered up the arrows and trust them into the quiver. "A week and a half."

- My Kingdom for a Quest

 “What dost thou plan to do?”

“Oh, read Fibonacci’s Rabbits for the one thousand and fiftieth time, discover the one hundredth twenty-third place in pi, roam the garter, talk with my birds, and, if I can squeeze it in, boredly watch as quinces try to rescue me.”

“Ah, thou dost have a busy day ahead of thee! I hope that thou mayest get it all done!”

Doranna sighed. “Well, if I get started at once, I just might!” She glanced at the mirror for a moment, trying to perfect her expression of complete and utter boredom, but instead burst into laughter. Maria soon joined her, shaking her head in amusement.

“Any other princess,” said Maria, as their mirth died down, “wouldst be in tears after spending … how long has it been? Fifty? Sixty? Seventy years trapped in a castle caught in time. But thou, Princess Doranna, thou art a wonder.”

“Seventy-seven years and three hundred and three days,” said Doranna, automatically. She sighed. “Verily, it hast been far too long. I tire of my confidence, yet my only other opinion is unsinkable.”

- "Woodcutter Quince"

 “Hey, Jy,” continued Samul. “Do you think there's any chance we might see a dragon on our way there? Because that would be seriously cool.”

“It would only be seriously cool if it stays well away from us. Those beasts breath fire, if you'll remember. That's seriously hot.”

“What's this!” exclaimed Samul in an incredulous voice. “Jyson cracking a joke? The world must be coming to an end!”

- Half-Hidden

I glanced around myself and feigned a sigh of disappointment. “You’re right. We landed high and dry. Oh, I hope this isn’t a desert! What if there’s no water at all! We’ll die of thirst!”

V was now on the ground and glaring up at me. “Cut. It. Out.”

“Fine, Vienna Sausages,” I said, rumpling her hair, causing her to squeak. “Let’s just see if we can find that rainbow. You know what they say, where there’s a rainbow, there’s bound to be water!”

“Kendra!”

“That's my name – don't wear it out!”

- Behind the Rainbow

And I think that's all I'll share for now.

12. Last word from your manuscript(s)! Go!

The Ankulen: note
Just Another Sci-Fi Novel: Door
The New Division: Grandmother
Half-Hidden: gone
Behind the Rainbow: already
Water Princess, Fire Prince: day
My Kingdom for a Quest: honeymoon
Worth of a King: anxious
"Woodcutter Quince": guess
"Gift Exchange": think
"CinderEddy": was
"The Sun Jewel Adventure": asked

That's quite an interesting collection...

13. First sentences from your manuscript(s)!

The Ankulen: I have no imagination
Just Another Sci-Fi Novel: In our day and age, competition among authors has grown fierce.
The New Division: During the Great Depression, it was not an unusual thing for a small baby to be left on the doorstep of an orphanage by parents unable to provide for the tiny life.
Half-Hidden: In his dreams, Jyson could always fly.
Behind the Rainbow: I hear that my sister is being all dramatic and all that up there, with the present tense and stuff like that. (This is actually the first sentence of the second chapter, by my sister wrote the first chapter)
Water Princess, Fire Prince: Clara sat at the top of a big slide with three of her friends. (Actually, that line's around five years old. I've been working on this story that long!)
My Kingdom for a Quest: Once upon a time, in a land called Bookania, two servants were locked in a dungeon for the mere crime of not knowing where their prince was.
Worth of a King: “Milady, please, put down the book, I need to do your hair.”
"Woodcutter Quince": Once upon a time, in a land called Bookania, there lived a woodcutter and his wife in the middle of a large and fearsome wood called Black Forest.
"Gift Exchange": Once upon a time in a land called Bookania, a small party was camped beside the main road, but was in no hurry to continue their journey, at least not that day, for it was a very special day.
"CinderEddy": Once upon a time there was a valiant knight whose kindness and bravery were known throughout the land.
"The Sun Jewel Adventure": Jenny Brown was eight years old.

14. Show us your favourite funny scene!

Ooh. This one's tough, partly because I have a lot of funny scenes (many of the punny variety,) and partly because most of those funny scenes are only funny in context. But I'll look ...

Without thinking, I began slowly walking in the direction I was being pulled. I heard Tisha and Chris fall into step behind me, but I kept my eyes shut. We walked like this for some time, but then I ran into a tree.

Yes, you read that right. I ran into a tree.

Well, actually, I walked into that tree, but, still. The tree and my face had a collision.

Instantly, my eyes flew open and I jumped backwards. As I pulled off my glasses to make sure they were still intact, I heard giggling behind me, so I threw a glare over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“Were – were you walking with your eyes closed?” questioned Tisha, who was, to her credit, trying not to laugh.

“What does it matter if I was?” I answered, turning my attention back to my glasses. Well, at least they didn't seem to be harmed. With grudging satisfaction, I slid them back onto my nose and turned to face the pair.

- The Ankulen

15. Show us a snippet of dialogue you're proud of.

Again, difficult. I'm a dialogue-driven author (in case you haven't noticed from the above snippets), so to single out one snippet (that, again, makes sense out of context) is tricky. But I'll look!

Robert sighed and shook his head. "Well, I'm her brother, and I say she can't sleep in any longer." With that, he stood up and marched over to the girl's tent and pulled back the flap. "Robin! If you sleep any longer, you'll miss the party."

No response.

"Robin!" he said, louder. "Wake up. It is morning."

"Go away," Robin growled. "I'm asleep."

"Fine then. You'll miss the party." Robert turned to go, intending to get some pine cones or something that he could throw at his sister to wake her up.

"What party?"

Robert turned to see that Robin had actually opened her eyes and propped herself up on one elbow. He grinned. "Well, Eric's here, so it must be a party."

"Go away."

- "Gift Exchange"

16. Tell us about some funny typos or writer-bloopers you've had this year!
Um, during NaNo I wrote that that the ceilings in engineering were taller than in other humans ... instead of other rooms. Also writing the words "The flippant" turned into "Theippant" somehow.

17. What has writing taught you about yourself this year?
Patience. You have to be very patient when it comes to writing. Very, very patient.

18. Best piece of writing advice you learnt this year?
Don't insist that the first draft be perfect. I didn't used to, and then I did, and now I don't anymore. I love rough drafting, but actually, my favorite part of writing is rewriting.

19. Anything big on the horizons for next year? Plans to query? Publish? Edit?
I hope to publish a short story collection and at least one more installment of the Bookania Quests. I

20. Tell us a bit about a book you're super excited to write in 2014!
Hopefully I will (finally!) finish with Water Princess, Fire Prince's first draft, and I'm looking forward to tearing it apart and rebuilding it. Maybe I'll have it out by June 2015! (I can dream, right?) I'm also looking forward to writing book two of the Rizkaland Legends. This is one of my oldest stories, and it'll be its fifth draft. Very fun!

A bit about the two? Well, the series is inspired by Narnia, and as a result, it involves a lot of world traveling. Book one (WP,FP) is about two teens, Clara and Andrew, who become a Water Princess and Fire Prince and are forced to work together and save the island of Klarand. And that sounds really cheesy, doesn't it?

(And the reason I didn't share any snippets from that book was the fact that I'm so close to finished, almost everything would spoil the plot)

CE Grandma's House - John

Via Pinterest

I shut my computer with a satisfying click and lean back, partly in relief, partly in triumph. I was done with NaNo, a day early according to the calender, by just in time based on the fact that today is my last day to access the website and validate my word count.

"I hope you intend to finish the book."

My chair leans backwards and I find myself looking up at a boy with straw-colored hair and blue eyes. I blink a few times as I process his sudden appearance. There are no blond-haired, blue-eyed boys in my family, especially none this old. And while I'm getting used to boys flirting with me on front counter at work, it isn't supposed to happen at my Grandparents' house.

"Because you see," he continued, in a distinct country drawl. "If you you don't finish the book, we'll never stop Reginald and everything will be horrible."

"Yes, John, I intend to finish the book," I say, realizing who this is. The captain of this starship I've been writing about for the last month. Or, at the moment, he's just a fifteen-(nearly sixteen)-year-old farm boy. But he's both in the book, so it works.

"Not only that," he continues, as though I hadn't said anything. "But you just left Trix with a broken leg, and that's not fun. Do you like breaking bones or something, because back in chapter eight ..."

"The next chapter is the doctor's," I say, shaking my head. "She needs some sort of medical emergency, and Trix volunteered."

"And I suppose that the still unnamed little girl also volunteered," suggests John.

"She gave you a chance to be heroic and all that," I point out. "And she doesn't need a name. Not important to the story."

"Which brings me to another point," John continues. "I'm the only character mentioned in the book description, and I've so far gotten the least screen time. My chapter and two others, and you only half-wrote the second of those."

"It involved medical terms," I said, shaking my head. "I didn't have time to mess with trying to figure out what to do with them - and I'm going to have to mess with them in the next chapter, too."

"But I'm the captain, the one character whose name you've told your readers on your blog," John continues to protest. "Captain Kirk was always the hero in every episode and movie. Me, I just sit around on the bridge while everyone else saves the ship."

"Well I can't help it that everyone who's had a chapter since you has wanted to be the hero," I tell him, shaking my head. "And since they're the ones writing, you're just going to have to live with it."

"But it's my ship!"

"Well, your character is obviously not as strong as some of the others. Don't get me wrong, you're a great guy and all, but you don't have any problems. The doctor is trying to get over her shyness and the fact that there are men on the ship. The princess is trying to get used to the fact that she'll never see anyone she knows again, and that she's about to marry a stranger. Your security chief ... well he's there for a dual reason, your second officer just found out that she has some non-human DNA, and that's just some of the other characters. Haven't even talked about the computer and his sister."

"But I'm the captain!"

I sigh. "Maybe you'll be more important in another book. For now, be the best captain you can be, stop trying to be the only hero, and let the other eleven have their day in the sun. You may find that that works out best. And next time, give your character a few problems. I don't write Stu's very well." I slide my computer into my bag. "But for now, I'm done with NaNo. Fifty thousand words. That's the longest first draft I've ever written. It's no easy feat."

An Update of Sorts

Hi folks! You may or may not have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much this month as I usually do. But I do think that ya'll deserve something of an update.

Firstly, my NaNo. It's around 44,000 words at the moment, though it will probably be higher by the time you read this, because I'm about to go write some more as soon as I'm done with this post. Plot-wise, I'm about half-way through with the book, and I'm quite happy with it. I'm not sure how motivated I'll be about continuing it once NaNo is over, because there are some other projects that rate higher on the importance list (such as Kingdom, my next short story collection, and two other books one of which I've talked about quite a bit.) I finally got over to my Grandparents house this weekend and discovered just HOW high OpenOffice was counting. I was giving it a 100 word discrepancy, but 1000 is closer to the mark.

And I've started working a real job. Same place where my sister does, a fast food (well known one, so if you want to start guessing, feel free). Though V is getting pretty fed up with the hours they've been giving her, so she's been threatening to leave them to go to someone else, and if she goes, mom says that I go to.

And since I need to go give a back massage to a turkey and pulverize some patatoes, I'm going to leave you with two snippets from my novel that mean absolutely nothing.

Okay, she somehow gets into engineering. I don't know HOW she GETS INTO engineering, I just know that she does. Maybe she uses a sonic screwdriver. And Maryanne, please do not dump a bucket of water on my computer for referencing Doctor Who. I can't afford to buy a new computer. Yes, I know I just got a job, but that doesn't mean that I want to create unnecessary expenses for myself. Yes, I know you don't like Doctor Who, and yes Peter is the best doctor in the world (and not the Peters who have played the Doctor, either – your Peter). Happy now? I was researching, and my online friends have been talking about the 50^th anniversary which was the other day, so it slipped in. Now go translate a book. I've got this NaNo to write.

On the bridge, Eric made Robin popcorn. She wasn't quite sure what popcorn was, and I'm not sure how this line got here.

Anyways…

On the bridge, John turned to the hologram there, one corner of his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “So, how are you feeling on your first mission.”

A Quiz!!!

Anyone want to Beta read the first three chapters (and the lengthy introduction) of Just Another Si-Fi Novel? Well then, today is your lucky day!

I'm looking for one, or possibly two people to read over said introduction and first three chapters, tell me what you think of them, and answer a few simple questions.

Of course, I don't want just anybody to be reading this book, it IS top secret after all. So I've set up a test, a quiz if you like, to weed out those who are not worthy. Answer the questions in the comments, and I will decide who gets it based on your answers. All answers can be found in my published books. And this INCLUDES the short stories.

"Saffron's Big Plan," by the way, is free this week! (That is, until Friday night) You don't have to have a kindle to read it, just an Amazon account. Amazon has these handy little kindle apps that you can download, or if you don't want to do any downloading, you can read it in your browser.


1. How do you chop cube roots?
2. What is the name of Mynna's mother?
3. How do you use Thyme?
4. Who are the best planners in the world?
5. What did Greenie the Lizard grow up to be?
6. What happens when you get the punchline?
7. What is the curse of beautiful daughters of kings?
8. Where do they get the saying "Love is Blind"?
9. What does the Rainbow do in Jen's imagination?
10. What does Saffron ride?

Jack's Newest Book!

I think all of you have heard me talk about Jack - Miss Jack Lewis Baillot. We are writing a book together, after all. Currently its in her court, and I'm eager to read what she writes next ... but with NaNo on, I'm going to have to wait a while. If it weren't for the fact that I'm working on my NaNo at the moment, I'd be pacing impatiently for it - she has some pretty funny characters on her side, and I'm eager to see Adrian adjusting to the big reveal.

Speaking of my NaNo, I writers block last weekend, did two thousand-days, and then wrote nothing on Monday. And since my target wordcount is 2,000 a day, that was unacceptable. So in trying to catch back up (I was now a day behind even going by the 1,667 word-goal) I completely forgot that I had agreed to particpate in Jack's cover reveal for her newest book. (No, not Worth of a King. That's still miles from needing a cover, we haven't even talked about it!) It's the sequel to her first book, and entitled Abolished Impracticality. 

I had the privilege of beta-reading this book, and I can assure you that it's better than the first (mostly because I caught most of the bad spelling errors that slipped past Jack in the first), except for the ending where Jack is pretending that she's Moffat writing Sherlock. Or at least I hope that's what she's doing.

But back to the cover reveal. I do have the cover, and I do intend to show it to you. And since it's late, I won't even beat around the bush anymore!

That's Singur on the cover. He's possibly my favorite character. Although I like Darcy too.

Oh, and I gave her three questions to answer, and here are the answers! (Something new for those of you who have already seen all of the reveals on Thursday)

 One. Why did you choose the title Abolished Impracticality?

 Aw, that question. There is a meaning behind all the titles in this series. I keep meaning to do something special when I reveal it, but I don't know when that will be or what I will do. For now, I will just say it kind of fits the book, because a lot of things are abolished in the book. (Peter's idea of who he can trust and who he can't. Isidore giving up something he really wants. And so forth.)

Two. What is your least favourite scene?

I don't think I have one. I figure if I don't like a scene then neither will the readers. I had some in, but I took them out while editing. I can't think of examples right off the top of my head, but I know one of them was a conversation scene which was really dorky and boring.

 Three. So you think this book is better or worse than the book before?

Neither I suppose. I think I learned a lot more grammar wise and it has a lot less mistakes, thanks to my wonderful beta readers. But I like it just as much as the first. I just like the story of the whole series and I'm kind of endeared to this cast of characters. 

 And once again, sorry Jack about forgetting about you! I didn't mean to! But you know how NaNo is!

Speaking of my NaNo, I am now at 26,000 words (Or at least I was when I wrote this, I haven't done my Friday writing yet). I'm mostly happy with it, though my mom doesn't like what I'm doing with one of my characters. She's supposed to be smart and mysterious - but she's coming off as a know-it-all and snob. Sigh. I'm writing her first chapter at the moment, and she's about to make a call to her twin brother (who isn't in the main cast) and hopefully that will shine light on her nice side. Because she really is nice ... Sigh. Oh, and on Monday I'll post a quiz about my writing, all questions will be answerable if search my blog or have read Sew, which I'm pretty sure all of my readers have done. (It's either been free on Kindle, or I've sent it to you in PDF as prize for something.) The prize for answering the most questions correctly (and if there's a tie, I'll pull a random name out of the hat), is getting to read the first three chapters (and the lengthy introduction) in PDF form. You will, of course, have to answer a quick survey about the chapters and characters and such, but I'm sure you'll understand.

Oh, and because I feel like it - some snippets! Again, names removed when possible, shortened when impossible. I have a reason for keeping the names under wraps, honest I do ... but I don't know when I'll tell you what the reason is.

“I was pointing out that I am not in awe of his travel history, and that I have no need to go and listen to his boastful adventures.”

“And it's not as though you sit around telling us about yours."

“I would rather not even think about them. They're terribly distracting when I'm trying to read.”

“There are days when I doubt that you ever had any."

“Same here. Sometimes I suspect that they were taken by someone else, and the memories just tricked their way into my brain. I'm far too young to have invented the computer, you know.”

Thirty minutes later, they were putting away their rapiers and borrowed gear.

“You're not bad,” he admitted.

“Not bad?” she arched an eyebrow. “I bested you twice.”

“As I said, not bad,” he repeated, nodding. “There's a good chance I let you win.”

She snorted. “And there's a good chance I don't believe you.”

(Yes, there's a rebellious princess. What can I say? I'm addicted.)

“I feel very reassured,” he said, not quite sure if he was or not. “So… uh, is it true that Catalin computers use the programs of their… deceased?”

“Affirmative.”

“Then… if I'm not prying…”

“Sugar poisoning.”

“What?”

“I died of sugar poisoning."

“Perhaps so, but I have a strange allergy.”

“And what is that?”

“Bribes. Can't stand them. They make my ears ring.”

NaNo Update!!!

My goal this NaNo has been to write at least 2,000 a day. Not necessarily because I want an amazing word count, but more because I want to reach 50,000 early. And if I get a high word count, that's fine with me.

I haven't always reached that goal, but since I hit 11,300 yesterday, I'd say it averages out. I also finished chapter 1 yesterday, coincidentally.

And no, that's not as bad as it sounds, since I didn't start chapter 1 until I was about 7,000 in. Yes, there's a very, very long introduction.

I've also been drinking a lot of tea. I know that I've said that I don't care much for the stuff, but I've learned that if its hot and strong and has enough stevia (a natural, non-sugar sweetener that's actually healthy), I can stand it. And its cheaper than hot chocolate, so I've been drinking it.

And since I'm in a good mood, and can't think of anything else to write, I'm going to share a few short snippets. And because the only character whose name I've revealed is John, and I don't want to reveal anyone else's names yet, I've abreiviated the rest. So if you see J, it's someone else.

Via Pinterest

42 Elm Street was an abandoned house that had reached the state of disrepair to which the superstitious gave “haunted.” Of course, S L and her twin brother, S H, were not superstitious by any means, but still. There were spiders and mice, and they were enough to give one the creeps.

   “So one of us'll be the dead computer.”

   “Ah, take your seats – girls on the left, boys on the right. S L, S H, you two sit down in the center there, I'm sure you don't mind – my, how I love twins.”

   “You do have a pair in every book of yours we've read,” S L observed.

   “She only has one book without one,” offered B.

   The author looked up, peering over her glasses. “There is a twin in that book – the villain, you just haven't met the sister yet.”

   In our day and age, competition among authors has grown fierce. Either you must know just the right person, be willing to sell your soul… or settle for eternal ignominy.

  “Wait… you have cats!”

  “Yep. Ten of 'em.”

   “But… I have asthma! I'm allergic to cats!” 

   “This isn't supposed to be a very complicated mission, but this is a book after all, and that means that things won't be as they appear, and there'll be lots of danger and…”

   “Captain,” J interrupted.

   “Yes?” he said, turning to his first officer. “Have they arrived?”

   “Not quite yet,” she replied with a small smile and shake of her head. “But we're not supposed to know this is a book.”

   “The computer's her brother.”

    “I don't want to be a princess.”

    “Ah, but you're perfect for the part! You see, this isn't just any sort of princess – no she's a rebellious princess!"

And that's all the snippets I feel like sharing. Maybe I'll be back next week with more, but for now ... that's all folks.

Oh, and a heads up. Once I finish chapter three, I'll post a sort of treasure hunt here on my blog, and the winner will get to read the introduction and said three chapters. (And possibly find out what the true title is.)

My Devious Plotting

Via Pinterest

On Saturday, Anne-Girl posted her plotting style, and how she thought that, though it's not a good idea to copy other authors' styles, it is a good idea to read and study them, and use what you like of it.

Which got me thinking ... what IS my plotting style? How do I go from a plot bunny showing up with a shiny (and impractical) idea to a story ready to be written? Honestly, this isn't something I often give much thought to because I don't usually write it down.

So after some thought, I think I've nailed down a few things that I feel are important to my plotting.

1. The initial spark. This can be anything, from a random line I hear my sister say, to a random thought that pops into my head, something I read and I want to write their book ..., an idea my mom has and doesn't have the time to write herself ... (honestly, my mom gets a lot of those)

2. Casual dating. I usually don't write down the spark, since I get so many in a day, and my WIP list is already so long, I need to put it though some sort of test. If the idea keeps coming back and pestering me, I may be onto something, if it doesn't ... well  obviously it didn't really have the makings of a story.

3. Tell my mom. Actually, this step is optional, or it may occur later on in the process. Once I tell her, we may or may not spend long hours talking about plot and characters.

4. False starts and snippets. At some point or another in a book's journey, I will pull out a random notebook and start writing random conversation and scenes between random characters, and try to write an opening scene.

5. The breath of life. This is when I stumble upon a character, thought, theme, something that turns the story idea into something living, breathing, alive, and maybe even heart-wrenching. This is when I realize what the story is truly about.

6. The end. I'm a panster. Too much of an outline kills my inspiration. But I do need to know where the book is going. If I don't, the book is going to meander here and there and maybe to the moon, and it probably won't make any sense. Also important is the mid-goal. I like to have two goals in my books, conscious or not, one of which is reached about half-way through, and the second at the climax. For instance, The mid-goal of Sew, It's a Quest was for Robert to find out who Rosamond is, while the end-goal was the twins finding their Fairy Godmother (as well as a certain swordfight). For Take, the mid-goal was to get them to Winthrop Castle, and the end-goal was to have the wedding. You get the idea.

7. Determine my POV's. I don't need to know every character when I start my book, but I do need to know everyone who will have a POV in the book. This means up to six characters. Or once in a crazy while ... twelve! Sometimes I'll do up character profiles, determine their personality types, their likes/dislikes ... other times, I just pin down a name, a basic goal for them, and an appearance.

And then I start writing!

These may be done out of order, and sometimes I'll write a summery of sorts. With my NaNo novel this year, I've gone as far as to write out an entire table of contents (though none of the chapters have names, not sure if they'll get any - we'll see how it goes come November), with POV's and brief descriptions. However, that's not my normal reunite. This year's book has twelve characters, and each gets two chapters in their POV, so I needed to know who gets their chapter when for optimum suspense. And no, you're not getting anything more than that out of me!

Just Another Sci-Fi Novel ... and Mermaids

Via Pinterest

I have mentioned here and in the comments of other blogs that I am doing the first book of my Secret Project for NaNo this year, and that this book is Sci-Fi. I've also mentioned that I am really, REALLY excited about writing this book.

But it's my secret project ... and after hiding last year's project (My Kingdom for a Quest) under the rug and not letting anyone know anything about it (unless you happened to be my friend on NaNo, and then you could see my profile page), I'm not sure I'm willing to do a repeat.

So I've decided that I'll share a few things. Such as the working title. Just Another Sci-Fi Novel. 

This is not the official title, but I did consider it for a good while (Along with The Next Great Sci-Fi Novel, though my mom said THAT sounded a bit pretentious). It is in no danger of becoming the official title (which is what happened to The Ankulen) because I have a much better title already picked out. But I can't share the official with you yet ... so ya'll will get the old working title instead.

And I'll also share a book description. Not THE book description that will find itself on the back of the official book, but this book has several layers (kinda like an onion) so I'll show you ONE layer.

Captain John C. Douglas has been waiting for the command of own starship (and the heroic adventure said starship would entail) since childhood. But the U.S.S. Ingenuity is a diplomacy vessel ... and his first mission is to escort an alien princess half-way across the galaxy so she can marry an alien prince. But since this is a book, they know that all is not as it seems and they'll be faced with assassins, explosions, and threats to human civilization as we know it. Wait - they don't know this is a book ... well, scratch that. This will be the most boring diplomatic mission in the history of boring diplomatic missions.

Fun, right? I've been doing a lot of plotting and character developing the last few weeks, and I'm really ecited about the whole affair. Oh, and if you want to buddy me on NaNo, my profile's here. Don't know when I'll get around to buddying you back ... but I'm sure I will eventually if I know who you are.

Random fact about Kendra: During '11, she got addicted to Roleplaying in the NaNo forums, and as last resort to get her to stop, her dad had to block it on our WiFi. Therefore, I cannot pull up any link containing "nanowrimo" at home, and must therefore update my word count at the library, church, or my Grandma's house ... and I'm never sure when I'll get the chance to take my computer to said locations. (This also means that if you have nanowrimo in your blog post titles, I probably won't be able to comment. Sigh. 'Tis a sad, sad life I lead.)

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

Via Pinterest

Hello, Jen here! Kendra's letting me use her blog to talk about MY NaNo Novel. Actually, it'll be more of a novella, since I'm aiming for only 20,000. (Kendra's rules ... not sure of her reasoning, but she says I'll be lucky to get 10,000 ... so anyways ...)

Anyways, since everyone seemed to like my mermaids, I'm going to cash in on a plot I planted back when I was a kid. In case no one noticed, Mynna is the youngest of seven mermaid sisters - sound familiar?

Ever since I first thought her up, I've looked forward to giving her legs and letting her marry a valiant knight- once she grew up of course. She was only thirteen during the events of The Ankulen, but Kendra's taught me several time-jumping techniques, so that isn't really an issue. Thirteen is only three years away from sixteen.

I haven't settled on a title, unlike Kendra. (By the way, Kendra's Secret Project is REALLY cool. Yes, she's told me all about it. It's a benefit of being a real-life friend of hers - she's very open about what she's writing.) She thinks I should give it a punny title like The Mermaid's Tale but I think that's a bit cliche ... so I'm open to ideas!