actually finishing something wk 4

Week Four Questions

How goes progress?
Better than last week, but not so good as the week before.

Do you have a Pinterest inspiration board, or other collection of images, that inspire your story? If so, share one or two of them with us.
Why, yes I do! here's the LINK to my TLOS board, but these are my favorites....

i would love this as the cover for book 1 because it's just so perfect!

skyrian

How would the main character of your story react if she were introduced to you?
Even though (or perhaps because) we share some personality traits, I'm sure she would be singularly unimpressed with my comparatively simple and uneventful life. And perhaps my lack of impulsiveness.

Introduce us to one of the secondary characters in your story. 
I'll introduce you to Tyrel. He's freckled, clever, selfish, silly, and because of his red hair and thin frame, I believed I describe him for the first time in my book as looking like a flaming matchstick. I thought at first that he would be kind of the clown of the bunch, happy-go-lucky inspite of things, a source of entertainment. He's actually much more of a beast, which surprised and alarmed me, at first. Not to say that he's mean spirited - he's not. He just looks out for himself before others, always. I've just realized while writing this, that a lot of books romanticize this way of thinking and often give it in trait to their hero, as a branch to the Independence movement, I suppose. While it may work for them, Tyrel's story is going to be the reverse side of the coin. There's a price to saving you own skin, one that someone dear may have to pay.

If one of your characters were allowed to choose a super-power, which power would he most desire? 
I think Tovah would choose Timelord (your argument is invalid). There are many things he would like to go back in time to change. Many.

We're nearing the end of this summer challenge! Is the completion of your goal in sight?
Oh, that depends :/ I'm not quite sure how long some of my more important scenes will have to be. If I can keep them tight and trim and to the point - maybe, just maybe I'll make it. Maybe. *meep!*

-That's all I have time for if I want to catch up today!-

actually finishing something wk 3 (a day late, but who's counting)

can you believe i scored these at walmart for $7? whoot!

Week Three Questions

Were you able to meet (or exceed!) your goal this week?
*le sigh. Unfortunately not. I missed two days of writing because I had to keep the baby until late at night twice this week. Which is not fun because I'm getting excited about my storyline and want to charge ahead! (Though, there is a massive amount of minor & major conflicts coming up, and no doubt I'll be steamrollered by them.)
 I hope to make great strides today & tomorrow.

Where did you get the bulk of your writing accomplished? In the quiet of your room, outside on the patio, on the bus?
My haven of a room. Propped up on temptingly fluffy pillows, wrapped in my quilt, with the fan running full-tilt. :)

Share a couple of your favorite snippets!
Bah! I have made no great favorites this time around :( But here are some 'meh' ones for the sake of the game.

The Westerner's eyes took on a new intensity. "Did you touch the horse?" He looked less friendly and more desperate. Fearful, Cilla retreated to lying.

 "No, sir .... he wouldn't come near."

~*~

The window was wide open and it wasn't a long drop to the ground. She should make a break for it before this 'Aidan' changed his mind and called in some type of law. People were like that. They would fill you full of confidence and maybe even a pie or two when they heard your orphan plight, but as soon as they turned their backs and you had a chance to dip your fingers into the sweets jar, here came the guards to catch you redhanded, with cries for 'no quarter!' usually being shouted by your new 'friend'.

 Well, that was one particular time....

~*~

Cilla watched as Aidan, with low words and small gestures of his hands, commanded Uraeus. The horse did not immediately obey, but tossed his his head before moving off at a showy trot, as if to say, 'I'll do it, but only because I want to'.

Have you introduced a new character into your story? Tell us about his/her personality.
Well, there's Aidan. He's the newest. Somewhere between 27 and 30 years old, he's from the Western marches beyond Ithreal's border where the people are renowned (even {grudgingly} among Ithrealians) for their horsemanship. Aidan is a young horsemaster whose original intent when he left his homeland was to be a sort of free-lance trouble horse fixer, selling his talents where he could and thus seeing the world while still being in touch with his calling. That worked up until a few weeks before we meet him the story.
He's quiet, somewhat reserved, and prefers the company of horses.

List the favorite foods of your main characters.
Cilla's favorite is strawberries and honeycomb. She's got as much of a sweet tooth as a medieval diet allows :}
Tovah will probably eat anything, so long as it hasn't been salted or dried for months. If he were to live in this day and age, I'm sure he would be on the crest of the fresh-organic foodie wave.

Introduce us to the antagonist in your story. Does he/she prefer crunchy or creamy peanut butter?
Oh, I haven't yet met him in person - just heard his rumblings. So far my impressions of him have been somewhat Thorin-esque, in that he is determined (to the point of fanaticism) to win the cause of his people. Very stubborn, very blunt, and very angry with the Crown's rulings. He must be a crunchy man.

first fruits | actually finishing something wk 2

 Something's different this year... something has made all our fruit trees want to behave like fruit trees...
As a High Plains dweller, this is quite novel to me. Getting anything besides weeds to grow here is exciting, but having it produce? First there's shock and then elation - somewhere on the feelings scale between Christmas morning and rescuing a meadow lark chick. :-)

Week Two Questions

1) How time flies! Did you reach your weekly goal?
meh, yes and no. I was hoping to check off several boxes on my events-that-have-to-happen list, but didn't really think that through. There turns out to be many, many more details between the events that took up most my time.

2) Is this challenge pushing and encouraging you to write more often?
I think so! I've also started another 30 days of writing no matter what challenge, which also helps. But this has encouraged me to write more than just a scape-goat sentence at midnight the times I'm worn out after a long day.

3) Did you accomplish most of your writing in the morning, afternoon, evening, or at random intervals during your busy day?
At night. Always at night. My weekdays go like this, without fail: 7am wake up. 7:30 - 5:30 I have the baby. During his naps (when he chooses to take them) I try to do either school- or housework. After he goes home it's supper, then maybe I'll ride or garden or otherwise revel in my freedom. After dark Momma, Little Brother, and I might play a card game, or (more likely at the moment) gather in the living-room to watch an episode of Merlin (we're working our way to the last season) :-) Then it's prayer and then bed for everyone else, and writing for me. I write usually until the end of an idea/scene or until I start spelling 'of' o-v and wondering why the heck it looks wrong (hint: sounding it out doesn't help).

4) Any particular musical tracks inspiring your prose?
Nothing new. But there's always Esca's Freedom [click here] to help inspire me with visions of an archaic world when I sometimes would rather write modern. It usually always cures me.

5) Share a snippet (or two!) of your writing!
Mm. I don't feel entirely comfortable sharing, since it's all very first draft and written close to midnight. but here it goes...

Tyrel took a bite of the stuff and the girls watched closely. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. Then, "Fish," he announced.

 "Ah," said Cilla, and took a slice of bread instead.

~*~

[Cilla] knelt on the planks and dipped her fingers into the cold tide to press them against her still stinging cheek. Salt water ran down her face to speckle the front of her tunic. Not all the drops came from the sea.

 "Save us," she pleaded to a God who seemed as cold and indifferent as the stars overhead.

6) Share your three favorite bits of dialogue.

"Are you sure it's all right?" Emy hesitated, her fingers on the window ledge.

"It's fine." Cilla said with exasperation. "Just so long as we don't get caught." she added when Emy dropped down inside.

~*~

"Isn't he gorgeous?"

"He looks bored out of his mind."

~*~

"It's not white."

 "So?"

"Fairytale horses are aways white. The good ones anyway. Don't black one's like him usually represent death or plagues or something?"

"Oh, Emy! Why can't you like horses?" 

"You make it sound like a fault,"

"Emy, you are full blooded Ithrealian and you don't worship horses. It is a fault."

"Well maybe if I had a chance to like one. A sweet one. And not ever, ever have to deal with Brogdan's wretched beast ever again. Then I might like them."

7) How are you going to move forward in this challenge? Are you changing your word-count goal, or other such battle plans this week?
Same battle plans as last week: Whenever + Whatever. I might try and get ahead this weekend.

actually finishing something in july | jumping on the bandwagon

 I hope you all had a marvelous Independence Week! I certainly did.
 Four days of not-nannying, ranch & PRCA rodeos, good music & friends, parades, fireworks, and too much barbeque make me one happy girl. Monday is going to be hard to survive.
 But I digress....

I am here to join (a bit late) Katelyn over at Whisperings of the Pen's little blog-hop link-up deal:

Actually Finishing Something [in] July

which is exactly what is sounds like, for writers.
Here's the deal. We all have a project (or two) we know we should work on in order to finish someday but have a bugger of a time trying to carve time out of our busy lives for it. So it sits in the corner, all dejected and lonesome day after day leaving us feeling guilty and occasionally sleepless.
NO MORE!
We finish this this month with the help of Katie's initiative and the pressure that comes with announcing a thing in such a loud and confident manner.

 

Week One Questions

1) What is your writing goal? 
I'm not going to attempt the impossible and try to finish one of my novels, but rather take great strides in one: The Legend of Skyrian. I wish by the end of the month to finish the first third of the book, which is equal to about seven (long) chapters.

2) Give us a short synopsis of your project. What makes it unique?
Books can usually be divided into three parts: The Set Up (where you are introduced to the characters & setting), the Backbone (by now you know the MC and now learn the point of the whole story), and the Climax (exactly that, plus the wrapping up of various threads and arcs). Any part can make or break  the story, but none more so than the set up. It has to be engaging and set the tone for the rest of the book. And that is my challenge.

Cilla believes Fate may have smiled at last on her and her friends when their master's cart brings them to a seaport town, where ships come and go daily and the chance of escape is within reach. But freedom may not just come in the guise of a ship with sails...

3) How long have you been working on this project? 
Too long. Since the end of January: that was the last time I scrapped TLOS completely in order to restart.

4)  How often do you intend to write in order to reach your goal by August 1st? 
Every day, as often as I get the chance (not often when you're babysitting a seven month old 7am — 5pm everyday.)

5) Introduce us to three of your favorite characters in this project.
There's Cilla, of course, who is my vessel through whose eyes I get to explore the semi-medieval world of Ithreal.
Then there is Aidan, a horsemaster from the west, who has a very dry sense of humor. And then there's Tovah. He's my best friend. Cilla tends to criticize me when I'm stuck and purposely avoid my pen, whereas Tovah is sympathetic and patient and sometimes even bails me out of trouble.

6)  Go to page 16 (or 6, 26, or 66!) of your writing project. Share your favorite line or snippet on the page.
She had one blue eye and one green. But the blue was so green and the green so blue that most of the time no one noticed.

7) Tea or coffee? 
Either over ice this time of year, I care not which!