I Was Bored Last Night

So I was bored last night, frustrated with my writer's block and the lack of sales on my KDP and CreateSpace report pages, and tired from a long day at work ...

So I just randomly went through my word documents and deleted several. Oh, and threw away several of my notebooks ....


....


...



....


Maybe I shouldn't have ...


....



....


All those words, gone forever. Sure, there were many that I completely regretted, but still ... they were my words.

....


Okay, I'm just kidding there. I learned my lesson on random deletion several years ago, so I don't plan to repeat it any time soon. I think you'll be much happier about what I DID do last night. You see, I've been talking about that short story collection coming out sometime this year.

Well, I noticed one of the collection was done, and as I've already run it through a few editors, and had done up a cover for it, I decided to go ahead and publish it.

Okay, I know I was telling you that it would be called "Sun Jewel Adventure," but when I did up the cover, it looked awkward to have "adventure" on there twice. So, anyways, head over to amazon and pick it up for the perfectfully unreasonable price of 99 dollars ...

Yeah, I forgot to add a period when I told KDP how much I wanted them to charge for the book. Hopefully this'll be fixed soon.



This is the story of Sir Erran's first contest against Sir Christofer. I tried very hard to give it the feel of the story games that my sister and I used to have as children. I watched both of the hobbit movies during the writing process, so quite a bit of Tolkien leaked in.

I let it. As I told V, who was nice enough to type it up out of the notebook for me, obviously Jenny had been reading the book.

Most of it was written during my break half-hours at work.

I hope ya'll enjoy it (once I get the price down to a more reasonable number, of course!)

(And to get you all interested in reading it .... Snippets!)

Two girls crouched behind a rock as sounds of battle rang around them. Neither dared look, knowing the sight to be too gruesome for maidens such as themselves to look upon.

“Oh, Jenny,” whispered one, the girl with long blond hair and large blue eyes. “Do you think he’ll be all right?”

Jenny, the girl with frizzy brown hair, freckles, and glasses, put a reassuring arm around her friend. “Of course he will, Tisha.” She said, confidently. “Chris is the best knight in all the world. Of course he will.”

....

Jenny just smiled, “So, what you seek is a contest? You against Chris? Winner declared the official finest knight in the world?”

Chris and Tisha both gasped, but Sir Erran just smiled. “Are you really so eager to see your favorite knight humiliated?” he asked. “Well then, I accept the challenge. What sort of contest shall it be? Sword? Jousting?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a quest.”

“A quest? And how does that work?”

Jenny folded her arms over her chest. “It’s simple you both look for the same thing, and the one who finds it will be, without a doubt, the bravest, cleverest, truest knight there ever was.”

....

“I fear no foe,” said Chris resolutely, giving Tisha’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “If I fail, I do not deserve the title of Lady Jenifer’s finest knight.” With that, he started climbing, helping Tisha however possible.

“I have no intentions of letting you fail.” said Jenny, over her shoulder. “Sir Erran is a pompous fool. I don’t want him for my finest knight.”

“But he’s a grown-up – and has armor!” Tisha pointed out.

“That does not give him right to lord over us,” said Jenny “Being a grown-up will make him slow and his armor is cumbersome. Besides, do you see him here to ask the dwarves questions?”

My Great Plans ...

First off, if anyone is interested, I'm giving away a free kindle copy of Trust over here. All you have to do is comment asking Molly a question about her writing or something else of that nature.

With everyone laying out their plans for 2014 for all the world to see, I've decided to join the band wagon.

First off and most importantly, school. I want to be done with high school by the end of spring. Hopefully, that won't be too hard, as that only involves finishing two and a half Apologia science books (Physics, Chemistry, and half of Biology), mastering all of the math section of Khan's academy,  finish all of the states in U.S. Geography, and watch a lot of videos about history. The math will probably be the most difficult, not necessarily because I'm not good at math, but because it's the most involved. Can't wait. (Although I may have forgotten a subject. Mom is welcome to remind me if I have.)

Frankly, I should have been done with school two years ago, as I started kindergarten at four (I was bored with preschool). But I distracted myself with writing ... and look where I am now. Of course the fact that I like to squeeze every drop I can out of any particular subject didn't help. I probably have a college education in some of the subjects that interest me.

Secondly, which I'm sure you're far more interested in than my education, my writting goals. Since winter and spring will be dedicated mostly to learning, don't expect any books to appear on Amazon. However, I do want to publish at least two books this year.

Firstly I want to release the short story collection that I promised last year. The four - no, five, I added one - short stories are still unfinished, though at least I have very good progress on all but "Saffron's Even Bigger Plan." I just can't figure out how to get that one started, though I foresee it becoming quite a sweet little story, just like its predecessor. The other four stories are coming along not too badly, though I keep getting stuck on them. I have only two more challenges planned for "CinderEddy," and the next two are the exciting ones. Maybe once I get to them, it'll just fly out of my fingers. "The Sun Jewel Adventure" is coming along nicely, though I haven't written on it in a few days. No fault of its, however. I've been focusing on another project. "Woodcutter Quince" is about to have Eric show up, and I'm pretty sure that scene will work out beautifully. "Gift Exchange" however ... well ... it has a cover art! (Lower left-hand corner)

I also want to publish My Kingdom for a Quest this year. Having become frustrated with what I had written for NaNo'12, I have started over in a notebook. I'm liking how it's coming together this time, far less choppy. Although, the other day, I noticed a weird pattern in the Bookania quests. In book 1, R&R escape a castle in chapter three. In book 2, Arthur and the old man escape a castle in chapter 2. In book 3, there's a castle escape in chapter 1! And each time, the stakes surrounding that escape are higher. Very interesting, and definitely not done on purpose.

I also have a few book that I intend to finish. Water Princess, Fire Prince is so close to being done (maybe five chapters if I really stretch the upcoming battle scene) I'd like to be done really soon so I can write up a plan of attack for draft two and begin it. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to publish it come fall of 2015. And then I'll cry because I'll have to say good-bye to Clara and Andrew because they won't be back until book 4, and that'll be only a cameo appearance. But then I'll get to work with Petra, and I do miss Petra. And Ashna. Sweet, sweet Ashna. I've missed her interesting outlook on life. Oh, and Summer ... can't forget Summer ...

Some of you may have heard me mention that Miss Jack and I are writing a book together, Worth of a King, which is coming together quite beautifully. We've decided that we're going to make it a goal to finish its first draft by the end of the year. The last two chapters came out pretty quickly, so at the moment, we're both pretty optimistic. Although I dreamed the other night that she completely messed up the story. I was pretty annoyed with her for a few minutes until I realized that it hadn't actually happened ... and that I still hadn't sent her my chapter, so it was frankly impossible.

I want to finish my NaNo from last year. I'm over half-way, but without the NaNo oomph, it's become buried under some of my other projects. I need to get back to it, because I really do love the story and all of the characters, even John, who was, admittedly, a bit flat. I'm sure he'll improve in later books.

I'm not going to break this down and schedule myself like I did last year.

Last year I wrote over 180,000 words (give or take) This year, I'm gonna try for 250,000.

As for reading goals, I read nearly ninety books. This year, I'm going to try for 150, and I want to make sure I read a very good variety of books, including contemporary which is, quite frankly, my current out-of-comfort zone.

I also would like to make it a goal to publish at least two reviews on O.Scarlett each month. I'd like to do more, but since I'm currently the only one of the original trio still doing it ... Hum. Maybe I should look for another partner? Clara has declared that she intends to publish at least one review a month over at her blog. I told her good luck. (But really, I need to get back on the ball with that blog.)

On another note, I've been considering steeling an blogging idea from Anne Elizabeth Stengl. Actually, I've been considering it since last year, but anyways. You see, last December, she did a read through with her first book, and she did another one this December with her second book. Here's her blog, if you want to see what she did (you only need to go a few posts back, since she only just finished.)

I was thinking of doing something similar with Sew, It's a Quest this February. If you'd like me to, comment below with your pleas. If enough people ask, I'll be back later with more details!

What's Next?

The Ankulen is published. I can no longer pull up the document and make a small tweak or change. I'm done ...

Which means I must find a new project.

Considering my very long WIP list, this shouldn't be a problem.

And yet it is. So ... I'm going to sit back and do a run through of all of my books/ideas, tell you where I am with each, and the pros and cons of each book. BTW, this'll be a rather long post, so I won't blame you if you bail halfway through ... but virtual cookies to anyone who gets to the end.

First on my WIP list (see the link two paragraphs up) is The Ankulen. I really need to remove it from the list, but ... oh well. While I am finished with the book itself, I do have a list of spin-offs that I can talk about. First, Jen has a bunch of adventures she had as a kid, and I've decided to write them up and ad them to my short story collections. I'm about a quarter of the way through writing the first, "The Sun Jewel Adventure," and those of you who have read The Ankulen may guess what it's about. Second, Jen wants to write some original stuff that would occur after she got her imagination back. She says she's going to write her first book (which has yet to be titled, but will be about Princess Mynna of the Mermaids - which I think will make all of you very happy since she seems to be a favorite among my readers) during NaNo. I'm not sure how that's going to play out since I'll be writing my own book at the same time. Third, I am planning an official sequel, which will be entitled Anka Jenifer, and it will explain almost everything that I left hazy, and a certain character's sisters will make their appearance. But since this book takes place five years after The Ankulen I'm not in a hurry to get it written. Sorry, folks.

Second on my WIP list is Cayra. MY mermaid book. These mermaids are very different from the ones in Jen's imagination, even to their clothing. Cayra (what these mermaids call themselves) cannot breath air unless they use a special magic pill, which is available only to the royalty. The don't believe that humans (who they call Eamals) actually exist. Their clothing is more like what L. Frank Baum gave his mermaids in his book The Sea Fairies, (a book I highly recommend if you've read the whole Oz series and want to know the backstory of Trot and Cap'n Bill.) This is actually my only fantasy that is set 100% in the real world. I'm not sure where it is, but it's along a seashore - perhaps on an island. I like the logistics of this book, but while I've written the first chapter, bits and pieces of the middle, and most of the ending ... I can get the book to string together. Sigh ... maybe someday.

Ah, The New Division! Now that's a book that's making progress. It barely had any writing at the beginning of this year, but on whim, I decided to write it for 100-for-100 and I added a good 12,000 or so words to it. (Don't remember the official count, though I could probably look it up.) During July, I pulled it up and wrote another thousand words, and right now, a second 100-for-100 is going. What do you think I'm writing? Why The New Division of course! (Or at least I will until NaNo starts, and then I'll be allowed to switch it for my official NaNo novel. I'll get there later. I'm really liking this book, and I don't think I've ever really seen a book like it. I love all four of the main characters, even Alistaar (who really needs to be taken down a few notches, but that will come later.) It's a slow story, though, and it must be written slowly. I don't know when I'll finish it, but I've already decided that it'll probably need rewritten. I'd like to publish it before my Rizkaland legends, but if WP,FP gets out first, I really won't mind.

Speaking of rewriting, here's Infiltration, which DEMANDS a rewrite. Now, I love this story, especially since its set in my oldest world, but I'm actually not in a hurry to get it published. You see, it takes place after the Rizkaland legends in much the same way as The New Division takes place before. It also is one of the last of my sister's Mikada Chronicles, technically, so while it functions quite all right as a standalone, it will be much better if I wait and let all the history be written. Also, I'm not sure how I want to rewrite it. I really liked the journal/memoir format I used ... but I want to know the stories of more than just Tiger and Snap. Let me think on this quandary for another year or so, and maybe I'll figure something out. The book also has a sequel planned ... but while I've written an introduction for it, I'm not at all sure how the events should play out.

The Land of Numbers ... Truth be known, I haven't touched that book since I copied it off of facebook and into a word document. It's a delightful story about a pair of twins and a fairy girl who are trying to save an oz-like land of numbers ... but I'm stuck. Maybe I'll finish it someday ... but I'm not sure.

And now we come to Half-Hidden. "Wait" cry those of you who are reading through the WIP list with me, "This says 300 Dragons!" Yup. I know. You see, when I attempted the book for Camp NaNo back in July, I realized that 300 Dragons was the wrong name, despite how eye-catching and exciting it sounded. You see, I discovered that only the good dragons were called "dragons." The fallen dragons, which were the 300 that Jyson was supposed to hunt, are actually called Wyrmen. Not only that, but the official hunt only takes place in the first half of the book. So, why Half-Hidden? Well, you see, the people who hunt the Wyrmen are called the Hidden. They aren't human, but they are trapped in human form. Analyssa Stardrana, my leading lady, is half-Hidden, but she doesn't know what, exactly, the true form of the Hidden is. It's an exciting book, and I'd like to get back to it ... but I have a few facts wrong about Stardrana's mom, and I don't like the opening scene ... so I'd debating whether or not I need to restart it or just keep plowing through.

To Perfect a Fairy Tale ... this book has a started word document and about a page and a half of writing ... but I'm not quite sure where all I'm going with this book. I know what it's about ... but it's going to be a very haphazard book ... and truth be known, haphazard books kinda scare me. I like Anthea, she's a great main character ... so I'll keep chipping away at the story ... but I don't see it picking me up by the ears and making me write it any time soon.

I haven't really talked about Jessica's Summer, even though I think about it a lot. The problem with this book is that, while I know how it begins and have a vague idea how it ends ... I have no idea how to get from point B to point Z. I love the opening chapters, though, and I've written them several times. I love the banter between the Season sisters, especially since Jessica (aka Summer) thinks she's a mortal human. She and Winter are ALWAYS arguing. Maybe I should restart it for the fifth time and maybe I can get somewhere this time ... I'm actually thinking about turning it into a series, called the Cycle of Seasons. We'll see about that if I actually ever get the book written.

Unforgiven is actually a longish short story. I have the outline for this book in play format ... but I'm not sure how to get it started. I can see it progressing beautifully once I get it started ... but opening scenes are the bane of author's existences. But I do like this story, and all of its characters. I just need to get it written.

HaV Academy is probably my most unique book. I'm not really into superheros, or books about boarding schools, but this is a book about both. But I really like it, and the idea simply won't go away. I'm only on the second chapter of Roxanne's story, but I'm considering going ahead and writing Fiona's, since her's is technically first. (There is a reason I'm putting them in out of order, but I won't get into that here.) Lucy's story is last ... but I have written bits and pieces of hers and I might like her best as a main character. Not sure though ... Rox is fun too. And Fiona.

I'm not sure why I never talk about Part of the Family. It was a huge chapter in my writing journey. I have the basic outline in the form of four plays that I wrote for our church to perform ... but I'm not completely sure how to translate them into prose. I do plan to release them as plays as well for other small churches like my own to use for their own kids ... but I need to chase down the original scripts for two of the plays. I'll get back to all of you on this one.

Stolen Ideas probably won't be written for at least, oh ... five or six years, since I want a good supply of writing published. Can't say anything more.

I was considering writing The Nutcracker's Son for NaNo this year, since I've finally settled on a reason that the still-unnamed titular character was turned into a nutcracker like his father. However, since I've decided to write a new, shiny idea instead, I don't know when I'll write it. I do know that I want a Christmas publication ... whenever that happens.

RPS was another book that I was considering for NaNo. Unfortunately, not all of the plot is well thought out. I've decided on an ending, and I KNOW how it'll begin ... but there's a lot of uncharted middle territory that I haven't decided on yet, so I suppose it's just as well that I'm not going to write it yet.

The Faerie Realm was another huge chapter in my writing journey that I really haven't talked about. It's a very broad story with lots of plot. It may end up being a series, I'm not sure. I need to figure out how to twist together all of the plots. I really like my Fairies, so I really am looking forward to writing this.

I have talked some about Silivock, and have even introduced some of the characters. This is one of the early Mikada Chronicles, so it is high on the I'd-like-to-publish list. However I need to do some research into the workings of the computer. The main characters are inventing a computer, so I'd like to at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.

How to Grow a Tulip in Fifty Thousand Words can't be written until after it's first mention in my sister's book. I'll probably write it for a NaNo seven or so years from now.

League of Royals is a fun book that I'm really looking forward to writing. I've slowly been pulling pieces together for it, but I'm not quite ready to start writing it. I love it though, so the day when I can start it may come soon.

The Worth of a King, my co-write with Miss Jack, is currently in my court. I need to finish chapter five and give it back to her. We've been having lots of fun with this book.

I have started No Refuge for a Princess in a notebook, but I didn't get more than a paragraph in. I really like the idea so ... maybe I'll give it a word document soon. I need to do some world building .... though maybe I can slide it in as a different page of Bookania ...

And now we come to the end of my standalones. Technically, the tentatively titled Eternal Queen may end up being a series, or it may only have one book. I don't know yet. I've started writing it, but like No Refuge, I didn't get very far. I'm still open to World Building, so if you want to head over here and ad something new, I'd be much obliged to ye.

And now for my series.

First we have The Bookania Quests. I believe I've mentioned this series a few times, because the first two books are actually published, as is a short story. At the moment, I trying to stumble through My Kingdom For a Quest ... but it's not going too good at the moment. I'm also writing two short stories for my next collection. At the moment, I'd rather write books six or nine ... but I suppose I ought to take what I get ...

Now I know I've talked about The Rizkaland Legends. I've been working on this series for the last ... oh ... seven or eight years. I've completed book two four times, and it still needs a fifth rewrite. At the moment, I'm focusing on finishing writing the first book, Water Princess, Fire Prince, in notebook form. I'm very close to the end, just a few battle scenes perhaps. (Yay!!!! ... or not... I still don't like battle scenes.) When I finish, I'll start rewriting it on the computer for the fourth time. Fun.

The Tales of Ooladada are coming nicely ... except for the fact that I'm stuck at the moment. My sister isn't pleading for the book to be written at the moment, so I suppose I can be forgiven. Bookania's about to show up, so I'm looking forward to that. I have finally convinced my sister that this world doesn't have to be in the Andromeda Galaxy, and that it can be beneath our feet, so I'm happy again!

Dreams of History hasn't been touched or even thought about in a very long time. Sigh. I love Historical Fiction, and I've always wanted to write a Christian version of The Magic Treehouse, but I don't know when it's going to happen. Maybe I should try doing a different book in the series ... like the one where she's a Jewish Girl in WWII ... or the one where she's a Christian girl who becomes a Roman Slave ... Much thought will have to go to this subject.

I have decided that I need to start over with The Trilogy of Secrets. I'm not expecting brilliant word counts out of these books ... so maybe I'll write them all in one fell swoop for a NaNo at some point, then publish them boom, boom, boom. I'm not looking forward to the second book because it takes place in the real world, and I don't like the real world.

And now we come to the Trilogy of One, which I stole from my mom as we all know. She doesn't like all of my added ideas ... but she's the one who dropped the book. She should have had it completed before I got to it. Problem is, I'm having trouble getting into the characters ... but I think I've finally come up with a solution to the problem. I shall email the file to my kindle, and then I shall retype it into a new document and she shall keep the old one for her to finish with if she ever decides to and I shall finish mine.

Of course there's my top-secret, multi-genre series. At the moment I'm planning on writing the first book, which is Sci-Fi, for NaNo this year. I'm looking forward to it! I don't plan to release any of these books until I have the first five ready, which I will then publish in one month increments.

But what book is next on my publication list? The short answer is a Short Story Collection. It will contain two Bookanias, "The Woodcutter Quince" (which is Doranna and Casperl's Backstory) and "Gift Exchange", (which is sandwiched between Sew, and Take) as well as the Jenny Adventure that I mentioned earlier, and a Saffron Adventure entitled "Saffron's Even Bigger Plan." The first three have been started, and I've even made good progress ... but I'm not sure yet where I'm going to start with the Bigger Plan.

But after that ... well, what would you like to see? You've read the pros and cons from each. Which ones do you want me to crack down on and get written?

February Writing Update.

Today is the last day of February, and I'm here to tell you how I'm doing with my writing.

This month, I was supposed to finish CinderEddy.
Write Unforgiven.
Finish editing Do You Take This Quest?
Write draft 2 of The Ankulen
And write at least 100 words a day on The New Division.

Well ... I didn't finish CinderEddy, though I did make a little bit of progress. Not much though. Sigh. Short stories are supposed to be easy, aren't they?

I didn't even touch Unforgiven. I'm not sure how to start it. The only way I've ever completed it is in play format, and you introduce plays in a very different way than you do stories. Sigh. This little story is one that's very close to my heart ... it just doesn't like getting written. And it's not the character's fault, because both Keely and Carlin are wonderfully cooperative. It's just ... getting it going, since I'm not sure where the story begins.

I'm ashamed to say that I really haven't worked with Do You Take This Quest? this month. Some conversation with my mom and my kindle as we walked down the road, but that's about it. We're on chapter ... six or seven, I don't remember which. Actually making the changes she's suggesting ... I'm on chapter two. Sigh. Since this is a 23 chapter book, that's not exactly good. My brain ... just doesn't want to think about Robin, Madeleine and Arthur right now, though I love all of them dearly. I ought to force it to think about them ... but I don't have the gumption. There's a cold/flu going around, and it's sapping everyone. I'm not sure I've been down with the flu part, but the cold ... ugh. At least I'm not coughing anymore.

The Ankulen, though, is what has mostly captured my attention. I don't think I've ever connected with a character as well as I have Jen, nor has there been a story so close to my heart. I thought I loved the story the first time I wrote it ... but now ... oh! There's depth to this story I hadn't even glimpsed the first time, plot twists I hadn't noticed, character quirks I'd barely guessed. I think I just crossed the half-way point chapter-wise, but I'm not sure. I don't know how close I am to the middle of chapter 13, and this is a 25 chapter book. It's almost 30,000 words long at the moment, so I'm pleased to say that I'm fully expecting it to be a full-length novel. About 8,000 of those words have been typed up into the computer.

However, with only three exceptions, I have managed to write at least 100 words a day on The New Division. Not all of those words have come easily, and most of them have been horrid, but they are words. This is a story that I've been wanting to write, but haven't had the courage to actually do so. There's a lot of heavy stuff in this book, and a lot of uncharted waters to wade through. I don't even know how it's going to end, which is scary for me since, usually, that's the one thing I do know for certain.

Interesting fact, last night I was on my mom's computer and had The New Division on the screen and The Ankulen on the desk in front of me, and, yes, I was working on both at the same time. (One of my weapons against writer's block. Have two things to think about. Your brain will be forced to come up with something). Within seconds of each other, I had knocked both Chris (TA) and Jaqob (TND) unconscious - for completely different reason, and completely different ways, and I'm not sure I was planning either of them until they happened.

There was a whirring sound, a flash of light, and Jaqob fell over, unmoving.

For a few seconds, Alistaar just stood there stunned, as he gazed at Jaqob’s body, then he whirled on the man, opening his mouth, but was unable to form any words.

  “Oh, fear not, youth, I didn’t take his life – Elonodi forbids the taking of life, even if it belongs to a cursed Harsha,” said the man.

- The New Division

  Then she cocked her head to the side. "This may be painful, Chris, but not as painful as your betrayal is to me."

  Without hesitation, she struck Chris on the forehead with the Ankulen. He winced, and I could see the pain in his eyes before he collapsed, unconscious. He didn't even let out a whimper.

- The Ankulen

Oh, I've also been plotting on a Secret Project. I can't tell you what it is until it has a title, but it is related to the Secret Project that some of my readers may have heard mentioned on another person's blog. That's all I can say.

So ... there you have what I've been up to, and, hopefully, within a month or two, I'll have my own laptop again. I've been babysitting for an aunt every other week, and I've almost saved enough money to buy a successor for Algae. Then I'll take the new computer to my computer-fixing uncle, and he'll transfer all of Algae's old files, and I won't have to rely on mom's computer, and can access my own pictures again.

Because, really, trying to use a combination of your mom's, sister's, and brother's computers, and a android isn't exactly the most convenient thing in the world.

Oh, and no, I haven't even thought about book three. Okay, well, I've thought about it, but not the scene I'm stuck on. Who knew a crazy dream sequence could be so hard?

Maybe we got the Wrong Address

Via Pinterest

It is nearly the end of February, and I've decided to finally post my snippets from December and January. Due to the lack of Algae, I haven't been able to write as much as I would like. I did write quite a bit in notebooks ... but ... it's not as easy to share notebook writings.

But I do have some writing on the computer, so I will some snippets. Mostly The Ankulen and Do You Take This Quest? but some other stories might slide in. Head over here if you would like to join in.

  Madeleine was in the middle of a glare war. She threw up her hands. “Will you two please figure out how to get along?”

  Both Robin and Shira folded their arms. Neither said anything.

  “You two are so much alike,” said Madeleine, standing up. “Have your glaring contest, then. Just don’t hurt each other.”

  Shira was on her feet in a moment. “Thou art not leaving me with her.”

  “Fine, you don’t have to have a glaring contest. Honestly, I thought you two were having fun, and was getting out of your way.”

  Shira’s face contorted into something between disbelief and rage – but Robin just snorted. “Of course we were having fun. And it seems that I just won.”

  “Thou didst not win,” said Shira, whirling back around to glare at Robin.

- Do You Take This Quest?

  “It looks like a meteor struck,” I commented, indicating the barren land.

  “I suppose it does,” agreed Chris. “If only the cause were as simple as that.”

  “Are you sure this is my imagination?” I hesitantly asked. “Maybe we got the wrong address or something …”

- The Ankulen

  “I actually can’t tell much of a difference between whose sewing is whose,” remarked Robin. “She seems to be imitating your style Robert. Is that legal?”

  Robert laughed. “It is if I’m letting her.”

- Do You Take This Quest?

  “Well, well, well,” said Pearis, in the same condescending voice that Joan used when talking to people of inferior rank to herself, “if it isn’t one of those girls that Robin dragged in the other day. They said you were all over a hundred years old, didn’t they?”

  “Verily,” said Serendipity. “We were under a spell that rendered us in an enchanted sleep for an hundred years.”

  “Well,” said Pearis, “I almost didn’t believe it – how could people be over a hundred years old and yet look so young?”

  “An enchantment, as I said before,” said Serendipity.

  “But then I saw you and your hair,” continued Pearis, seeming not to notice what Serendipity had said. “And I knew that it had to be true. Concerning you, at least.”

- Do You Take This Quest?

Shasta put a tentative foot out onto the flowstone. It was solid enough – but it moved so fast she soon found herself seated on her rear. At least she was still on the stationary ground and hadn't fallen onto the flowstone.

-The Nine Gems of Virtue

  “Why don’t you ask her to dance?” questioned the old man.

  “Oh, but Grandfather, I couldn’t – I can’t dance at all, and she’s already dancing with someone else!”

  “Her brother, I’m sure,” said the old man. 

- Do You Take This Quest?

  “Glowbeetles,” said Chris, the only one of us who was not hampered by the low ceiling. “You put them in all of the caves. They’re really handy.”

  “And they seem to like hair,” I commented, knocking several more to the floor.

  “Yes, so they seem,” agreed Tisha, brushing several out of her hair. “I’d never noticed that eight years ago.”

  “Perhaps because we were shorter eight years ago,” I pointed out.

  “Quite likely, Jen.”

- The Ankulen

  Since he got no negative response from the suit of armor, Edward decided that the answer must be in the positive.

- CinderEddy

  “That may be the case,” said I, “but wishful thinking isn’t going to get us anywhere. Let’s … let’s start looking.” I stood up and, after carefully positioning the notebook and pencil on a nearby stump, began kicking at the dead leaves that carpeted the ground at my feet, looking for the glint of gold.

  I saw none.

  “This is going to take a while,” I muttered.

- The Ankulen

  I raised both of my eyebrows as I lifted my wrist, holding the Ankulen like I’ve seen spies hold their communicator watches in movies. “Attention Ankulen. Bring me Tisha.” Self-consciously, I loswered my wrist. “Like that? What’s supposed to happen?”

  He laughed and shook his head. “You have to tap it!”

  “Tap it?”

  “Yes, tap the gem,” said Chris. “Then you say ‘Bring me Tisha.’”

- The Ankulen

  “Robin,” said Queen Charlotte, as Meg placed the sword on a desk. “Brides don’t usually carry swords.”

  “Brides usually aren’t the best swordsman in the world,” Robin countered.

- Do You Take This Quest?

  “Oh! That’s terrible.” Tisha’s voice was panicked. “We must find a way to – oh! Jen, do you have any idea where the Ankulen might be?”

  “I thought we had already come to the conclusion that your guess was as good as mine.” I gave her a pointed look.

- The Ankulen

Story Saturday - CinderEddy

One of my writing projects last month (and this moth too, but that's beside the point) was a short story called "CinderEddy."

"CinderEddy" was originally written for a short story contest on Figment, and since the contest had a 1,200 word limit, I wasn't able to expand it as much as I wanted. The point of the contest had been to write a classic story in a new genre. I chose to rewrite Cinderella as an adventure.

I'd been debating pulling this from my Figment account, since I'd been planning on publishing, but I've decided that, since I didn't end it the way I wanted (because of the word restraint) I can go ahead and share.

Oh, and those of you who recognize the cover art from my website and FB page, it's because it's one of my working cover arts for Sew, It's a Quest. Some day I'll share that picture, because I'm quite proud of it. The only problem it had was the fact that I made the title too small.

CinderEddy

"John! John! Guess what! Guess what!"

Edward glanced up from weeding the garden to see the elder of his two stepbrothers gallop up.

"Yes John, what is it?" asked the other stepbrother, James, who was overseeing Edward's weeding.

"The Princess Eileen has been kidnapped!"

"What!" Edward exclaimed, and was instantly given two glares.

"This is of no importance to you, CinderEddy," said John, then turned to James. "The Princess Eileen! Who would do such a thing!"

"I don't know," said James, "but I do know that her father has promised her hand in marriage to any young man who can find and rescue her!"

Instantly all thought of weeding the garden was forgotten. Edward was now ordered here and there, in a flurry of excitement to get his two stepbrothers ready to go. He wasn't going, of course. Why would CinderEddy even dream of doing something as glorious as riding off to rescue a princess? Instead he was ordered to polish his stepbrothers' armour, take his stepbrothers' swords to the blacksmith for sharpening, and saddle the two finest horses in the stables for his stepbrother's use. Oh and pack food. He daren't forget to pack food.

At long last the stepbrothers were ready to go and mounted on their horses. "Be good, CinderEddy," said James.

"Watch the house, don't let anything get stolen," added John. And with that, the two rode away, leaving Edward to cough in the dust.

Once he had finished coughing, Edward broke into a run back towards the house. Even while being bossed here and there by his stepbrothers, a plan had been forming in Edward's mind for how he himself could go and rescue the Princess. You see, his own father, Sir Reginald, had perished in the crusades. Now, while he had been a valiant and renowned knight, he had also been a poor one, so Edward's mother had had to remarry the rich Baron Geoffrey. The Baron Geoffrey had had something against Edward's father, and so treated Edward quite horribly. When Edward's mother had died, it had only gotten worse. Edward had been degraded to a mere servant, and made to sleep in the kitchen. Trying to sleep in the fireplace for warmth had only earned him the nickname of "CinderEddy." Even when Baron Geoffrey himself had died a year before, it had not gotten any better.

As soon as Edward was in the house, he headed for the attic, where he had found an old chest a few years before while dusting. In this chest had been some clothes, some medals from various famous cathedrals …

And Sir Reginald’s sword.

Since Sir Reginald was Edward’s father, Edward regarded this sword as his rightful property. He took nothing else from the room, or even from the house in general, save for a bit of food.

And then, whistling a merry tune, he headed off into the woods in search of the Princess’s kidnappers. Sure, he didn’t have a horse, but, hey, he had a sword. Besides, even if he didn’t succeed, at least he wouldn’t be under his stepbrothers’ thumbs anymore.

After a few days of travel, his feet hurt and he was out of food. He was just about ready to decide that this had been a bad idea when he encountered a bridge. What was remarkable about this bridge was that, as soon as he approached it, a short, but powerful-looking man appeared out of the woods and took his place beside the bridge.

“If you wish to go over my bridge,” he said, “You must solve my riddle.”

“Um,” said Edward, gulping, “I’m looking for Princess Eilleen …”

“And you’re headed in the right direction to find her. But you won’t find her unless you solve my riddle.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, now, do you plan to hear the riddle or not?”

“Um, riddle, yeah, let’s hear it.”

“What force and strength cannot get through,
I with a gentle touch can do;
While many in the streets would stand,
Were I not, as friend, at hand."

Edward was stumped. "Um ... how long do I have to answer the riddle?"

"However long it takes. No one else has answered it yet, they have all gone off and tried to rescue the Princess another way, or they have tried to use force to get past me. They've all met most horrible fates."

"Oh." Edward wandered off. Thinking over this riddle would be hard enough without the man's watchful gaze. What could get through where force and strength could not? If only he had some clue ... some key ...

Key!

He hurried back to the bridge where the short man was still waiting for him. "I think I've solved it!" he exclaimed.

"Really?" said the man with a yawn. "And what do you think the answer is?"

"Well," said Edward, "When you can't get through a locked door, you don't use force - you use a key! And if a person loses the key to his home, he's stuck out on the streets - so the answer is key!"

"That is the correct answer," said the man, nodding. "You may go past." He stepped out of the way, but as Edward was passing, he grabbed the young man's hand. Edward started to cry out, but the cry died on his lips as he found a small metal object pressed into his hand.

A key ...

"Take it, it may be of service to you."

And so Edward continued on his way. Thing was, he was still out of food, and his feet still hurt. Luckily, he found an old woman to stay with that night, who gave him some supper, and a small bit of food to take with him to continue his journey.

Soon he found himself in a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a tower. A tower with a thick door at the base, and a large lock. At the foot of the tower was a young man on a horse. Peering down out of the window at the top of the tower was a beautiful girl, so beautiful that, for a moment, Edward's heart forgot to beat.

"I'm sorry, but the old troll has the key," the girl was shouting down, in a music-like voice. "And there's no other way in."

The man got of his horse and tried to knock down the door with brute force, but, alas, it was a very strong door.

"Fear not, Fair Princess, I shall soon return!" the man declared, then remounted the horse and rode off.

The troll has the key ...

Timidly, Edward stepped out of the woods, and approached the tower. "Um, princess?"

"Yes? Do you wish to rescue me too? I'm sorry, but the troll has the key."

"Um, actually ... I think I've already gotten it from him."

"Did you? Well, then, hurry up and unlock the door! I'll be right down!" She disappeared from the window.

Edward quickly slid the key into the lock and it did, indeed, fit. When he opened the door, there stood the princess. She was even more beautiful close up ...

"You've won!" she said with a grin.

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

End of January Writing Update

End of January and the question of the hour is ... How am I doing with my writing?

Well ...

Do You Take This Quest?
Still don't have it out. It's quite likely that it will be my birthday party before it's ready. *is about to pull out all of my hair* My Mom's going through it right now ... and well ... there's a reason I save her for last. There are days when I wish my mom was one of those moms who think that every word I write is a drop of golden honey ...

Don't tell her I said that though ...

The Ankulen
I'm sitting at over 16,000 words and am about halfway through chapter 7 and there are 25 chapters planned.  I've typed/formatted the prologue and first two chapters, and the prologue and chapter 1 have been sent to my Gma for editing purposes. She says they're very interesting. I'm really enjoying rewriting this book (which is more than I can say about my Take experience)

CinderEddy: 
I have discovered that typing on an Android is not a fun experience  I'm somewhere between a third to half-way done ... and not sure how to get moving again. Grrrr ....

Book 3:
Sorry, still haven't mustered the gumption to pull it up and work on it.

Anything else?

Well, I did pull up Water Princess, Fire Prince and decide that it's horrid and I need to start over for the eightieth time. Sigh. I love the story, I love the characters ... but getting it started. Grrr .... Once Clara and Andrew meet, the story flows fine ... but ... Jumprope! ... It just sounds choppy until then, since I have to go back and forth between Clara in the Upper Kastle, and Andrew who's with a hunting party.

Umm ... I worked a bit on Behind the Rainbow, which I'm co-authoring with my sister, V. I've actually written this story all the way out all by myself, but she says that I'm writing it all wrong and that we need to add Dazy. I told her that I would rather bring Elsie and Elise along for the ride. She gave me a Look and told me that she isn't bringing Three of me along for the ride. Oh, well. At least I get to jump on a giant pillow.

And ... I don't think I've worked on anything else.

Next Month (February)
I plan to:
Publish Do You Take This Quest?
Continue writing and typing The Ankulen
Finish writing CinderEddy
Start writing Unforgiven
And start writing The New Division for the 100 for 100 thing I've signed up for. I only have to write 100 -300 words on this a day, so ... we'll see how this goes.

Writing Update January .5

Hola and Guten Tag!

Since we're about half-way through January, I'm here to talk about how I'm coming in the writing department. This month's projects are (according to my calender) The Ankulen, CinderEddy, Do You Take This Quest? and book 3.

So ... how are they coming?

The Ankulen: After piddling around trying to find time to type it out on a computer, I've decided to write draft two out by hand in notebooks. Jen is supposedly writing it in a notebook anyways, so I think that, by writing it out by hand gives it an authentic feel. I'm estimating myself to be around 7,000 words out of the 50,000 (at least) I want this book to have. Based on some percentages I ran, I'm right around schedule (based on how many chapters were in draft two and how many chapters I've written so far) for getting 50,000. Draft 2 has some radical changes from draft 1 already, since I'm only following the basic arch and the chapter titles that I have renamed and put in a handy-dandy list that I taped to the wall over my desk.

The thing I find most amusing about The Ankulen is that the main character is fifteen and I wrote it when I was seventeen. The main characters of Sew, Robin and Robert, are both seventeen, and I wrote that when I was fifteen. Just an interesting bit of trivia.

CiderEddy: I've been typing this out on my new Android (that I got for Christmas - Thank-you Uncle T. and Aunt H!) and am at about 2,000 words. There's still quite a bit of story left, though, so CinderEddy may be pushing the limit on short story length. I suspect Unforgiven will do some limit pushing as well, so I'm expecting this Short Story Collection to be quite a bit longer than the last one.

Do You Take This Quest?: For this one it's been mostly sit around and twidle my thumbs while I wait for my editors to get me my chapters back, then stay up late while I apply those changes. I'm hoping to have this out on the 25th Attention Editors! This means that if you're editing for me, I'd like you to get them back as quickly as possible - please?

Book 3: I've pulled it up a few times, but haven't done anything. I may scrap this document and start over. Sigh. I had to do that with both Sew and Take. It's not that I don't know where the story is going to go ... I do ... but the beginning ... ugh! the beginning. I have two chapter 1's and neither really works (though I love both of them!).

Lastly, Tears, Frogs and Laughter will be free for the next five days, so, while I'm trying to put my brain together and get something new written, you can enjoy something that my mom and I wrote together when I was sixteen.

Auf Wiedersein!

Writing Schedule for 2013

2013 is going to be, hopefully, a very busy year in the writing department. If all goes well, I plan to have four new books published. And, since one of my proposed progects is a collection of short stories, it will look like eight on my Amazon bookshelf.

So, here's my writing schedule. Whether or not I actually suceed in all of these is another story, but anyways ...

January:
Apply edits petioned by editors and publish Do You Take This Quest?
Work on draft 2 of The Ankulen.
Write CinderEddy
Work on book 3

February:
Finish draft 2 of The Ankulen
Write Unforgiven
Work on book 3

March:
Begin the Formatted draft 3 of The Ankulen and start running it through my editors.
Write The Woodchopper Quince
Finish book 3

April: 
Continue work on The Ankulen.
Write Saffron's Even Bigger Plan.

May:
Publish The Ankulen
Edit the short stories and begin their thek through my editors.

June:
Edit short stories
Edit book 3.

July:
Publish short stories
Format book 3 and begin its trek through editors

August:
Edit book 3
Work on whatever I feel like working on.

September:
See August

October:
Publish book 3

November (NaNo):
Write either RPS, Silivock or book 4

December:
Give my brain a break and make Cristmas preasents.

Of  course every bit of this may change, depending on how my nrain cooperates. However, if book 3 is not out by the end of October, I will stop work on it until January 2014. I'm not going to have a repeat of the Take drama. November is for NaNo and December will be my brain's vacation.
y

I'm Sorry to Disappoint, but ...

Do You Take This Quest? will not be out today.

I'm awfully sorry. I was looking forward to this as much as ya'll were.

But I got stuck on chapter 13. The reason: Chapter 13 didn't exist. Half the content that is in it was in what was previously chapter 16, the other half was stuff  I realized the book needed after I finished writing the book. I'm still not done with it.

I'm almost done, I hope, but, anyways.

Also, I still don't have my cover, and it hasn't finished going through my editors (namely, my Gma, Uncle S. and Auntie V.) I've been sending them it chapter by chapter for them to edit. Gma and Auntie V are on 8. I forget where Uncle S is, but he's behind them.

I do hope, however, to have the book out before Christmas. Trust me, this is cutting into editing time for The Ankulen (which I plan to publish sometime this spring. Probably late spring.) and I was planning on writing some short stories for my next collection. I have the titles for the four I plan to publish sometime this summer, I just need to write them. (The titles being The Woodchopper Quince; Saffron and the Ogre; Unforgiven; and CinderEddy) They have plots, too. Ogre isn't well plotted yet, but I've actually written Unforgiven all the way through in play format (and it's on my WIP list). Which will be the title book? I haven't decided yet. Possibly Woodchopper.

Not only that, but I didn't finish book 3 for NaNo. Sigh. I got 17,000 some odd words, most of which I really like, but I don't think it flows properly. The beginning was too fast, that's for certain. So ... I'm not sure when I'll have that out. I was hoping for an August publication like I had for Sew. Maybe I'll do it in October. (Not November or December, though. They are henceforth not off limits for publication)

But ....

I do have some good news!

Sew, It's a Quest will be free for the next five days!




This was the actual reason I wanted Take out today, since these are the last five days available to this quarter's round of free days. I should have waited a week or two to resubscribe back in September, but I wasn't thinking.

Oh, well. Enjoy reading Sew, and make sure you leave a review somewhere. I love reviews. They make my brain hurt less. Even if they aren't favorable, they still mean that someone took the time to read my book - and to write a review, right?

And ... hmmm ... I feel like a contest ... I know! How about a guessing game for the title of book 3.

Clues:
1. It contains the word Quest. (Not all of the Bookania quest will, but this one does)
2. It is based on a Shakespeare quote.
3. It is from one of Shakespeare's Histories.
4. The actual Shakespeare quote does not include the word Quest. (Similar to the way that wedding vows don't actually contain the word Quest, either). Except for the "Quest" I have the quote word for word.

Have fun guessing!!! I'll come up with a prize later when my brain is working. Contest will be closed when Take is out and I reveal the official book 3 title. Oh, and those of you who are my friends on NaNo, please refrain from shouting out the answer, though you are allowed to snicker in the background going "It's a genius title!"