Oops!

I almost forgot! In and amongst all the bad news I had a bit of good news! I won the April Writing Challenge on Fantasy Faction! :D The theme was spring inspired. The story also had to include themes of hope and warmth. The story I entered is actually based in the world I'm writing my books in, but is set hundreds of years earlier. You can see all the entries here. And here's the piece I entered.

Mela stood on the edge of the massive plateau staring out at the dark horizon. The ground far below appeared flat and even, but the sound of breaking waves in the distance broke the illusion. The sun would rise soon over the water and send its golden light into world once again. And Mela would be there to see it. Mela had to see it.

The cold wind whipped past her into the ancient forest at her back. The first birds were already awake and gracing the trees with their sweet songs. Mela heard something scurry into a bush at her side, but she didn’t turn to investigate. The sky fey, Sunil, had told her to watch as he left and to continue watching until the first rays of sun breached the surface of the ocean. Mela had been standing rooted to her spot for hours, determined to finish the last wish of her former master.

Another gust of wind blew up from the Flatlands brushing a tear from her eye and tossing her dark hair about her shoulders. The wind didn’t seem to care that the fey were gone. Neither did the forest or the birds. Mela brushed the cold tear from her cheek and added a ragged sigh to the twisting breeze.

“No one cares,” Mela said still staring at the horizon, “that’s why they left. People think they have no use for essence magic; they’d rather rely on technology to save them. But wild, untended magic is a dangerous thing, and the only beings who knew its secrets have finally abandoned humanity. We are lost, and yet the wind continues to blow and the birds continue to sing, as if nothing has changed; as if we can carry on without them.”

Sunil hadn’t told Mela why she must watch the sunrise. He hadn’t told her where the fey were going or what she was to do now that they’d left. Part of her hoped the sun’s light would cut through her body like Sunil’s last words had done. That the first light of spring would be the last she’d ever see, and that her spirit would stay forever watching the horizon and waiting for the fey to return.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Mela shifted her feet and felt the frost covered grass crunch under her boots. It was cold and her mind’s wanderings weren’t helping her repel the icy air. She rubbed her arms to warm herself, but the wind bit through her shirt as if trying to thwart her efforts.

The sky was starting to lighten and Mela could just make out the waves of the sea crashing against the sandy shore. She had thought that she would be too far off to smell the salt air, but even at this great distance she could hear the rhythmic crashing of the waves and the smell of the ocean drifting up the side of the plateau, giving the forest an otherworldly feel. It seemed the lighter the sky became the more clearly she could sense the ocean. The sounds and smells of the sea mixed with the deep earthy tones of the forest were tossed together by the ever present breeze. Mela had the urge to close her eyes and take in the sensations without the distraction of the view. But Sunil had given her an order and she could not tarnish his memory by disobeying him. So she waited; for the sun, for spring, and to complete her final task.

“How can I go on without my master? Without the essence?” Mela thought, as another tear rolled down her cheek. “My whole life was learning the balance and understanding the ways of magic and the fey and how to use it to help my people. Now I have nothing. Nothing but the sunrise and the wind.”

As if in answer, the wind blew straight up from the cliff face, startling Mela from her thoughts. She almost looked down to see where the wind had come from, but stopped herself just in time.

“You won’t distract me from my task,” Mela said to the breeze. “You are a trickster, but I won’t be fooled by you. The essence of the wind has no power over me. Go bother someone else!”

One last gust of wind blew past Mela into the woods and then the breeze fell silent. The whole world suddenly seemed tense as if the forest itself was holding its breath. Then a small bit of the horizon sprung to life and the golden rays of spring’s first sun leapt up from the sea into the sky. The light was blinding and Mela had to concentrate to keep from blinking. She took a single step forward and recited the verse Sunil had taught her.

“The sun has risen from the depths and touched the sea and sky. And with this I give one last breath and bid the fey goodbye. We stand alone to keep the day and push away the night. Grant us one last boon oh sun and bless us with your light.”

With that Mela closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the sun cover her face and chase all traces of winter from the air around her. She realized quickly that the warmth she was feeling was far greater than it should have been. And that the heat seemed to be coming not from the sun before her but from inside her very being! She opened her eyes and saw the world covered in the glow of magic; essence floating out of the forest and into the sky before her carried by the playful breeze. Sunil had not abandoned her completely; he’d given her a parting gift. He’d given her the gift of magic!

Mela took one last look at the rising sun, and then collapsed to her knees with a great sigh of relief. She would continue in her master’s footsteps and would save her people from the world and themselves. She again had a purpose, a link to the essence, and more importantly she again had hope. Smiling Mela picked up a dried leaf and let the wind carry it from her hand, watching as the blue-green essence magic blew it off into the distance, over Flatlands and into the sea beyond.

There were some really great entries in April, so I was happily surprised that I won. I'm thinking of entering this month's contest as well. This month's theme is storms! You can check out the specifics here if you're interested in entering. This months contest runs till June 30th. All you need to enter is a Fantasy-Faction account, and if you don't have one, it's free to sign up!

Well that's it for now! I'll try to remember to be back soon! ;)

Have a great day! :)

Rollercoaster of Life

There have been quite a few ups and downs for my family of late. The biggest down being my husband lost his job. Luckily at the moment he has a few leads and hopefully he'll be back to work soon. But having him around all day has thrown the household completely for a loop! Not only have I not been blogging much, but I haven't had time to write much either. I was really hoping to finish my second book by now, but it looks like that's not going to happen till next month at the earliest.

The one thing I have had a lot of time to do is think and plan. I now know where this story is going and have a good idea of how to end it. I've also plotted out the next two or three scenes. All I have to do now is write them down.

So here's hoping you’re all doing well and that the next part of this rollercoaster is an up part. :)

Rollercoaster Fine Art Print by janeheller

Spotty At Best

The title of this post can describe both my blogging habits of late and the progress of one of the main reasons I haven't had time to post. And that reason is: I'm in the process of potty training twin boys. There, I hope reading that has made you a little happier about your own life.

Seriously though, I have been writing. Not as much as I would like, but the story is coming along. I've also been doing a lot of mental planning, since I'm away from my computer more than I normally am. I think I've got the end of the story figured out scene wise. Now I just have to get from where I am now to the end of the book. Piece of cake! (She says sarcastically.)

I think if I can just get through the scene I'm working on now, the rest of the story will follow. But this scene is kicking my butt and I don't know why! As I said on Twitter, it's like pulling teeth to get the words out for this one. Maybe I'm just too distracted with the kids? I don't know. But I'm not going to let this one scene sidetrack my whole story. I will finish this book! Just wish me luck okay?

Stuffed Animal Twin Monkeys by SewnNatural

Good Writing Night

I had to scrap a whole chapter towards the beginning of the book I'm working on. It killed me to have to do it. It was a long scene that added an important bit of plot, but it was flat and didn't really add anything else to the story.

I tried to rewrite it twice but nothing helped. I finally gave up and resigned myself to a complete rewrite. It took me two weeks to get up the guts to cut it, then another week to start writing. But once I started, the scene just flowed. It was like magic! Then I had my beta reader (my husband) take a look to see what he thought.

"I don't know if I like it," he said.

I was crushed. "What do you mean you don't like it? Is something wrong with it? Did you really like the old scene better?"

"No, it's a really good scene. I just feel bad for the character. It's funny when you pick on the comic relief guy, but picking on her, it's sad. It's just not fair. She's had such a crappy time and this just makes me feel bad for her."

"Thank you honey, that's exactly what I was going for!"

Yay! *little happy dance* I love it when a scene comes together! The only regret I have now is not writing it sooner.

Have you ever had a scene or even a paragraph just flow through your fingers onto the page? It is the best feeling ever!

Origami Lotus Flower Decoration by fishandlotus

Queries

I haven't gotten to post in a while. My kids, husband, and I were all sick last week, which means I spent all my 'free time' cuddled on the couch watching children's programming with upset little ones. However I did manage to make time to send in a query to Angry Robot just in time for their open submission month!

I think I did a good job with the query, even though it was completely different format then most of the places I'd been reading about. Of course I ended up sending it from the wrong email address, but hopefully that won't confuse the issue too much.

Anyway, now that I've gotten up the nerve to submit to an actual publisher, I thought I might send my story out to a couple more. Not sure who yet, but I'm looking into it. Looking around at places is also helping me keep my mind off the fact that I probably won't hear back from anyone for six months. Waiting is not my strong suit, but I guess now is as good a time as any to learn to be patient.

I also posted another book review in my reviews section. This time I reviewed The Fire Roseby Mercedes Lackey.

Rosalind Hawkins was born in the wrong era. Before women were allowed to vote, even before electricity had reached all areas of the country, Rose was working towards acquiring her Ph.D. in medieval and ancient languages. While most women were reading Jane Austin and The Bronte sisters, Rose was reading The Odyssey in its original Greek! Rose cared little for what others thought of her. She would make her own way and not have to rely on her father’s money or some man to leave her mark on the world.

Rose’s plans ran smoothly even when a failed business venture placed her and her father under crushing debt. But, Rose could make do without the fancier things in life. She could walk to school instead of taking a cab and make her clothes instead of buying them from boutiques. Having to skimp a little here and there would not interfere with her dreams. However, when her father dies and the debt collectors force Rose on to the street, it seems fate as different ideas about where her future is headed.

That’s when she receives a mysterious letter. A rich rail baron on the west coast is seeking Rose’s services as a governess and tutor for his two children. And if that weren’t odd enough, the job description matches her qualifications exactly! Rose isn’t sure why two young children would need to learn ancient Latin or medieval French, but she accepts the job anyway, and makes her way from her home city of Chicago to the huge manor of her new employer an hour outside of the growing city of San Francisco.

But her employer, Jason Cameron, is not entirely honest with Rose, and instead of a job teaching children she instead finds herself translating obscure text on alchemy and magic for a man that she has yet to lay eyes on. And massive house seems to be empty, save her and Mr. Cameron’s assistant. Servants anticipate her every need and whim, but work in complete silence and are never seen or heard. However, the love of her work keeps Rose going without questioning, until she decides to read one of Mr. Cameron’s ‘magic’ books cover to cover on her own time. Her scientific mind suddenly brims with questions. Could magic be real? Could it be that her benevolent employer is really a wizard? And if that’s true, why does he need someone to translate texts for him? And what does he really want with Rose?

* * * * *
The Fire Rose is the first book by Mercedes Lackey in the “Elemental Masters” series. This series takes place at the turn of the 20th century. Each book in the series is a retelling of a classic fairy tale; The Fire Rose being Beauty and the Beast. The world it’s set in is pretty much historically accurate, except for the existence of magic. But magic and its masters are hidden from the world and most people go their whole lives without ever knowing that the unknown is all around them. In this alternate universe, for example, the general populous is blissfully unaware that the Great Chicago Fire was caused by two warring Fire Masters rather than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

The magic system in the story is based on the four elements: earth, fire, wind, and water. Every person has all four elements balanced in themselves. Only people whose balance is off, and leaning towards only one element can cast spells and talk with the spirits of their given element.

In The Fire Rose, Jason Cameron is a Fire Master and his ‘invisible’ servants are actually mythical salamanders, beasts of fire and magic. And if you haven’t guessed by now (from the cover of the book if nothing else), the reason Jason does not initially speak with Rose face to face is that he has accidentally turned himself into a beast and now needs someone to help find a way to change him back.

As a kid I was a huge fairy tale buff and to this day Beauty and the Beast is still my favorite fairy tale and one of my favorite stories of all time. So was this a good retelling of the story? After thinking about it for a week or so, I would have to say yes. I like the way the author made Rose a strong character before she even met Jason, rather than being a poor maiden in need of true love. I like the way magic works in the world and I like the way they fit major historical events into the story. Even the twist that he turned himself into a beast, instead of being cursed by an outside force, makes the story that much more interesting.

That being said, I was not thrilled with the ending. It made sense and it fit with the rest of the story, but it seemed rushed almost as if the author had a deadline or page requirement they needed to meet. And while the magic system is interesting, the book spends a lot of time explaining how it works, which can get a little tedious if you just want to get back to the plot. I’ve only read the first book in the series, but I have it on good authority that the books following this are much better, as the world is already fleshed out and the magic system doesn’t need to be explained a second time.

Overall I think the world and the characters were interesting and it was a nice easy read. But if you’re not into fairy tales or you like more gritty fantasy stories, you probably won’t be interested in this book. I, however, am going to dig up the next book and see if my family was right about the series getting better with each story. Plus, Snow White is the next retelling and I’m curious to see if the author keeps the seven dwarves in the story or not.

Need to finish another one today and then decide what to review next. I also have to finish the scene that I left hanging before the kids got sick. I don't want to fall out of the habit of writing every day or I'll lose my rhythm!

Happy writing everyone!