I'm starting to feel like an actor in a Monty Python
piece: Not dead yet! It's not been
the best start to a year for me. Russ
surprised me by coming home a day early (Christmas Day) and spent 8 days at
home. And I was miserably ill for most
of them and could barely get out of bed most days. Still, it was good to have him here to take
care of the cats and stuff. I was better
when he left, but still not well. Almost
a week later, I am finally able to spend more than an hour or two sitting up.
While last year's total words were not adversely affected by
that last week when I fought out 500 words a day (1,034,393 for the year), this
has been the worst start to a year that I ever remember. I am still barely getting 500 words a day.
That is going to end today.
I started Water/Stone/Light on January 1 and I've been
working a bit at it every day since then.
I wrote a short 'legend' to go with the story, which may or may not become
part of the book itself when I'm done.
It was a way for me to deal with events far in the past and start the
feel for the story itself:
A thousand years ago. . .
.
. . . And over the high
pass, though the place even then called The Barbarian Gate, came ten thousand invaders,
and ten times as many following, intent on conquering the wide green lands of
Tygen. The king and the army stood their
ground at the headwaters of the Habur River, knowing they could not win against
such odds as came at them from the cold northern lands.
The messengers sent by
the barbarian king laughed to see them so unsettled. The king grew enraged and the four Prelates
of the temples grew angry. The Prelates
lifted their magic and created out of the messengers dog-like things, and those
went yipping back to their master.
The king could see no
hope of survival except in the power of the Prelates, little though he trusted
magic and would never deal with it until now.
He went too late to beseech their help and they could not turn back the
army.
That night, while the
others slept, the Prelate of the temple of Change reached forth and did the unthinkable;
she spread her power against the mountain itself and brought it down, stone
upon stone, burying the barbarian army and sealing the pass in stone and magic.
But it also sealed the
headwaters of the Habur River and death spread as sand and dust from the destruction
of the mountain swallowed the great cities along the river, so that in the win
there was great loss. Thousands died,
unwitting sacrifice to the unnatural victory.
Overnight the land turned to wasteland, wide fertile plains lost forever
to the desert.
The king retreated to his
palace on the River of Life, and there he grew sore afraid of such magic
power. He ordered the Temple of Change
destroyed; every priest and priestess killed, every temple and altar torn down
and the power of The Temple of Change forgotten in all of Tygen. The other three Prelates, as fearful of the
power of Change as the king, retired to their temples, and lingered there,
quiet through many generations.
Tygen remained safe, the
only pass into the land destroyed, and no enemy came upon them again,
generation upon generation, while the people thrived along the River of Life.
But legends never tell
the whole story . . . and eventually all rock erodes and every magic fades. . .
.
The story itself is moving slowly, but I don't care. I have no reason to rush through the tale. Now that I feel as though I have half a brain
back to work with, I might have a better chance writing more, but that's not
important. I want it done right. The
outline is wonderful -- the story should be as good, at least.
I have the final edits for Waiting for the Last Dance a contemporary YA mystery. I started on them a few days ago . . . but I
don't like the opening. It needs cut
back and more power in the first few lines.
I think it lacks the MC's 'voice' in that opening, too. So, I'm picking at it, changing this and that
until I get the feel I want.
I could not decide which book I wanted to work on for
publication -- Xenation: Draw the Line
(science fiction) or The Servant Girl
(epic fantasy). I have them both pulled
out and I'll do the final edits on them a bit at a time and see which one
finally takes off first.
No hurry. That's what
I have to keep reminding myself. Having been
so ill, I feel as though I need to rush to catch up. That's not true. Except for a few things I owe to other people
(ACOA work and FM work), there is nothing I must do or do quickly.
(And there, moving away from Waiting for the Last Dance already helped. I had a thought and redid the opening
paragraph again. Much better.)
What really makes me want to work faster is that I have so
many things I want to share this year.
My sales are starting to pick up and I want to take advantage of that by
putting out new items -- but not rush them.
No. There is no hurry. (Yes, I do have to keep reminding myself.)
So, welcome to 2012.
I'm a bit late with that, but here is hoping that we all find the
stories we want to tell this year. I
think it's going to be an excellent writing year . . . well, once I really get
moving with it.
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