Project Report Eight: Water/Stone/Light

I took part in Forward Motion's March Madness this year and in one week I wrote 40k on Water/Stone/Light.  The book is now close to the end of the first draft.  I would not have been able to do this without the outline because of all the other work I had to do as well (DAZ newsletter, Vision: A Resource for Writers e-zine, updates for Forward Motion and a bit more work for DAZ3D.com, etc.)  Generally I save such writing sprints for NaNoWriMo, but part of my problem this year has just been writing and not get distracted by everything else I need to get done.

The challenge worked.  I came close to finishing it by the end of the dare, and then a couple days later, I wrote The End!

This will not be the end of the story.

The first draft is 97,016 right now.  Since my first drafts almost always grow in the editing, this means a hefty sized book when I'm completely done.  I also have several more incidents that I wanted to include, and started seeing even more possibilities the closer I got to 'the end' of the book.  So about 10k back I finally made the decision to write a set of books:  Tales of Tygen 1: Water/Stone/Light and Tales of Tygen 2: (Unknown). 

If I had decided to keep this at one book, I would have had something longer than I'm comfortable with (200k or more), or I would have started cutting some of the material.  It's possible I'll end up with either of those anyway by the time I get done with book 2.  However, by giving myself a second book option, I opened up possibilities.

Now I don't have to rush anything story-wise.  This allowed me to find a new traitor in the midst of the mess, and is going to give one set of MC's a chance to do more than merely spend some time on the run before the resolution of the story.  By spreading the storyline out over a few more months, my characters will have a chance to do more, especially the Prince Heir, who needs to grow up a bit before the end of the novels. 

I'm not sure I like where Book 1 ends, with all the characters in a state of flux, but I won't release book 1 until I have book 2 completed, so people shouldn't have too much trouble with it.

Let's talk a bit about outlines, though.  Someone I've known on Forward Motion for a long time had no idea that I don't follow my outlines religiously.  An outline is a potential path for the story, but the more of the story I write, the more divergence there's going to be from the original plan.  I've heard this from several other people who outline as well.  I usually stick to the basics; I know I want a, b, c and d to happen, but they may not happen in the same way as I first imagined.  Like above where I found a new traitor in the midst of the mess.  He actually makes the basic trouble more likely to have happened, even while sitting quietly in the background of the story.  I could work it with the others, but he gives it a bit more authority.  Also, as someone in a place of power, he had more connection with those who needed to help start things moving.

He was always there in the story.  It just came to the moment when I had to decide what he would do after the trouble started and I realized he wasn't going to do what I had always assumed.

This upped the stakes significantly and gave several other characters cascading problems.  It adds a complication to an earlier set of circumstances, too, which will be quite easy to work in at that point.  I can work in all kinds of things when I do the rewrite, but it won't significantly change what I've written since this has to remain in the background until I am ready for him to show his true colors.

I am happy with the first draft of the book.  I'm happy with the additional things I'm getting.  Now it's time to move on to the next story.

Project Report 7: Water/Stone/Light

 

I haven't written a proper a report on this novel lately, but I have been working on the story.  The first draft is almost up to 40k already (and probably will cross that line tonight -- yes, I was right.  Crossed the 40k mark).  The story revolves around the arrival of a new prince heir who is absolutely not suited to the position.  His grandmother, the queen, is desperate enough to call on unusual help, including her sister's son, Sefu.  Sefu left the palace four years earlier when the Queen threatened to exile him after he bloodied the former Prince in a fight.  Now she's going to put him back in the same position as Companion, and he's wondering just how far she wants him to go to get this spoiled prince in shape.

Meanwhile, far to the north at the Barbarian Gate, the king is dealing with the death of his son (the former prince heir), invasions, magic and thousand year old legends.

I started the novel on January 1, even though I didn't have the outline done.  In fact, I still don't have it completed, though I am close.  I have come to believe this book is really going to be at least two volumes, and there is a major change in direction right at the point where I've stopped outlining.  I was having trouble moving forward, and I realize now that the next step should be a major one in time and feel.  There are a few matters to cover here at the end, but the next part of the story would be better told if a few months pass and matters have well and truly changed.

Now, it may be when I get to that point, I'll just make the leap and continue in this same novel after all, but this depends on how long the book is by that point.  Right now it looks as though it could be longer than I would like in a single book.  100k to 120k seems long enough in most cases.  And, as I said, this one has a major change in storyline at that point, and starting new a few months into the next set of problems might be a lot of fun.

I am happy to report that the novel is now longer than the outline and world building material, at least.  The characters are working out very well with some lovely little quirks.

I don't know how long it will take me to write the novel . . . or novels.  If it keeps moving at the 2 to 3k a day it's been doing lately, I could be done with the first draft of the first book in a few more weeks.  I will then start the outline of the second book, which I would hope to write for NaNo this year.

We'll see.  Right now it looks as though the novel will move along nicely, but you never know what problems might suddenly leap up.

Oh, but that's part of the fun of writing, isn't it?  If everything went without any little twists and turns, it would be far too predictable.  People often think that those of us who do outlines write them to avoid those twists, but it's not true.  We do the outline to work out the big, major steps in the story so that when we do find something unusual, we can see how to fit it into the story we want to tell.

Welcome to March!

The big news this month is "Read an e-book week" which runs from March 4 through March 10.  Smashwords is doing a nice promo and I'll have my novels there on sale for $1.50 each (and some of the shorter pieces for free!)  This includes The Servant Girl which I hope to release on the 6th or so!

Eliza lived with Princess Sondra as her trusted companion until civil war tore her from her friend's side.  Now she must learn to live in a world filled with intrigue and danger, where the use of her magic might get her killed . . . and where it is getting increasingly difficult to tell friend from foe.

Last year I released Kat Among the Pigeons right around my birthday so I decided to do the same with this book.  It's a different sort of fantasy tale for me since there is very little magic in the book.  I'm looking forward to seeing what people think of the story and the characters. 

Water/Stone/Light is moving along at a slow but steady pace.  I think it's turning out well, too.  I like the characters and I'm going to have so much fun making their lives hell.  Writers are such odd people. 

I have started the outline for my Elves in Space story.  No, that won't be the title (I hope!), but I needed a placeholder while I got the idea moving.  I think it's going to be fun to write, and I will start that one on my birthday.  That's something I do every year -- start a new story as a present to me.  Normally I would be rushing to get the current one done first, but that's just not going to happen.  It's okay.  I often have more than one project going.  That really helps when the brain gets a little stuck.  It's really good when the projects aren't anything alike too, which makes it easy to move from one to another. 

I have also decided on my next edit project, which is the first Devlin book.  I've been over it a few times already and the plot is in place, but I'm still not happy with some of the wording.  That means I'll be really going over the pages, but I don't think this one will take too long.  The problem is getting the feel of Devlin into the book.  Her voice is harder to capture than I expected.  She's an interesting character, but it's hard to make that final contact with her sometimes. 

Devlin is a top agent for the Inner Worlds Council Security force -- a spy in common terms -- and she's not very happy with an assignment to the backwater world of Forest.  Settled by the Work for Man fanatics, the government has restricted not only the use of tech equipment but also regulate nearly every aspect of life for the small population.  The settlement is boring and the people don't like outsiders. 

There is one anomaly, though: The brutal show known as Bear Dancing pits a human against a native life form.  Devlin's work is to learn about the show and report what she can about the bears themselves because there is suddenly outside interest 

The people involved in the bear dance are secretive.  She's gathered all the information she thinks she can, and she's ready to move on.  However, when a top-ranking scientist arrives on world, Devlin thinks she might be able to pick up a little bit more information. 

And that's something the locals fear.

So there we are!  I have plenty to do for March.  I'm looking forward to the work!

Project Report 6: Water/Stone/Light -- The Legend (and other work)

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.

Project Report 5: Water/Stone/Light -- The Outline

First, let's talk about Write It Now, the program where I do most of my outline and background work.  That's the picture today.  I have actually put two different ways to work up at the same time.  I only use the story board view (the one with all the little boxes) when I have to move scenes around (rather than chapters).  With chapters, it's easier just to grab and move them around in the list view on the left and add scenes with the scene editor at each chapter.

I have also adopted the chapter list to show other things.  You'll see a basic timeline there with things called DAY 3 and such.  This makes it far easier to glance at the list and make calculations for when events (and news the events reaching other places) can happen.

This is a picture of the character area.  You can see all kinds of different tabs there like description, personality, etc. This is such a fun program to work with that it makes me want to go back and play with it more.

http://www.ravensheadservices.com/index.php

Okay, so what am I doing with it?

Putting together the steps of a storyline is fascinating work for me.  If I want this incident to happen in the future, then what do I need to do at some earlier point?  How will character a react to actions of character b?  How can things be misunderstood and so get worse before they get better?\

What can go wrong?

Oh yes, it's always important to find out what can go wrong, isn't it? 

I am in the midst of plotting out a public event for one of the MCs during which things go very wrong.  It's the new prince's first real public appearance.  He's figured out that he has to do well or he'll not like what happens later because the Queen (his grandmother) is not happy with his behavior.  He's going to do his best, but that doesn't mean other things are not going to go wrong.  Others want him to fail in small and big ways.

Prince Zuki is about to learn that life is not all adoration and fun for a prince.  He's been raised away from court by a doting (slightly, well, blonde) mother who is not heir because she's just too self-absorbed.  Her brother died in battle without any children of his own.  The queen has to either make this prince work or start looking outside her own blood line to those related to the king.  She's not happy with that idea.  Zuki is going to work, whether he wants it or not.

Zuki has another problem, but it's not apparent at first. There are hints, but it'll be a long ways in before that one's fully revealed.

I love plotting books.  Really.  Sitting here and going 'okay, little hint here' is good.  Then working along and coming up with something else . . . oh, go back about three or four chapters and make a note to mention X.  Start the buildup.

This story is complex.  All the different POV characters mean multiple timelines, too.  Where is X when this happens?  How long will it take Fatim to get to Kish from the temple?  What sort of understanding can he and Sefu come to with their sudden positions as companions to the Prince?

How are they going to get the prince to work with them when the boy (who is younger than either Sefu or Fatim) is resistant to be told he has to do anything at all.  The Queen can threaten him, but they have little they can hold over him . . . except, they can make him feel very much alone, even in their company.  Oh, now that might work.  If he wants to pull rank and give orders, they can get to the point where they ignore him.

And the Queen wants them to get the boy in hand.  Unless they really mistreat the boy, she's not going to give in to any complaints from the prince.  He had better figure out very fast who he wants for his friends.

There, have a nice little emotional subplot going about trust.  I think this might mean the chapter I am working on with the public appearance and problems needs more of a buildup as well.  That's okay, actually.  I have been thinking Fatim and Sefu don't have enough chapters yet.  Now I can build some around this emotional trust situation and bring in more information about the servants who arrived with the prince, since they are problems all in their own right.

So there I am, building up depth, intricate problems, a little piece at a time.  For each 'I can add this in' there is often a 'go back and start it earlier' bit to work in as well. This is why outlines work so well for me and why, quite honestly, it can take me far longer to write the outline than the entire book.

This is also why I didn't get enough of the Water/Stone/Light outline done to write the book for NaNo in November.  That's okay since I had plenty of other things to write during that time, and it worked out well.  This has given me more time to look at the storyline and make some important decisions.

For one thing, I realized I needed a storyline that takes place on the front lines of the battle.  Otherwise the ending was not going to work at all, coming as a sort of deus ex machina.  Even if some of the characters ended up at the battle scene, it would be far into the novel and with too little buildup of what is happening there.

So three chapters out of the first fifteen are now devoted to two characters involved in the battle.  I don't want a lot covering that area of the story, but enough to remind people of why the king is not at the palace and why this is important.  It's working so far, but I have to remove myself from the main storyline in order to do it, which is a bit more difficult since I am enjoying that part so much.  And yes, that means I need to find reasons to 'enjoy' this part as well, even though the type of storyline is different.  I've done that by introducing a new character.  He's a young, but highly placed, priest of water, who has just volunteered for a dangerous job. 

The only link between the two sections of the story will be in messages arriving, some pointing out what appears to be a minor annoying problem back at the palace.  It is, of course, far more than it first appears to be, but by the time word gets here to the battle . . . well, things will have changed drastically.  In fact, things will have changed drastically for both sides.

I have a larger than usual number of POV characters, some making only a couple appearances.  I don't usually write that way, but in this case, it is important to spread the story out so little clues can be brought in for the bigger picture -- without having someone tell someone else about some little, inconsequential (by itself) piece.  Later, after the first draft, I might find that I can combine some pieces.  We'll see.

I have 16 chapters outlined and notes on a few more.  I have the first third of the novel in place, more or less, so no matter what I can begin this on January 1, even if I am still writing the rest of the outline.  Again, not how I normally work, but we'll see how it goes.  I might surprise myself and get the rest of the work outlined before then.

However long the work takes doesn't bother me.  The time is not as important as getting what you want, both from the outline and from the story itself when it's written.  This will go well.

Project Report 4: Water/Stone/Light -- The Pantheon and magic

 

Creating the gods and magic for this setting has taken a lot of trial and error work, and will likely require fine tuning once I start the novel.  I do not want specific spells, but I do want ritual objects, each of which has to be transported in a special blessed container to avoid contamination.

Obviously, in my mind, it is the magic associated with the gods that is more important than the gods themselves, at least at this point.  I want magic tied specifically to practitioners of specific groups.

The main Gods of Tygen are grouped in three sets of four each and are linked to the title I've been using: Water/Stone/Light.

The Gods influence, but rarely control, the different forms of magic.  They are all nature gods and powerful to those who can call upon the magic linked to them.  The magics listed here are in order of easiest to hardest, which makes them (in most cases) the least powerful to the most powerful.  Someone who can do River magic must then learn Ocean magic, and so on up the list.

There is an Outer (public) magic and an Inner (temple) magic for each group.  Outer is, obviously, most often used for public purposes.  Temple magic is something more closely guarded, but still used when needed.

Each magic also has a personal an a worldly component. 

Gods of Water -- River, Ocean, Spring, Storm

These four represent the power of water. 

Outer: Many things can be done with water, from fog to rain and including diverting water to other places.  This is a popular set of Gods and priests with the farmers along the river.

Temple: The magic system is The Water of Life, and this is regarded as a creative force and can rejuvenate so some can heal wounds.  Myth says that the highest level of priest can achieve immortality.

Personal - prolong life 

Worldly -- create life

Components needed for each type of magic:

River -- a specific type and shape of river stone. 

Ocean -- a special type of shell 

Springs -- water fresh from the mother earth, untouched by anything of the world. 

Storm magic needs a storm with lightning. 

Gods of Stone -- Earth, Metal, Sand, Quakes

These four represent the power of the stone in all its forms.   

Public: This is a particularly good magic for building and is more popular in the city than out of it.  Most important buildings use this magic for the foundations, if not more.  It is also good for people working in pottery or jewelry making.  Many potters learn Earth magic, and jewelers go on to Metal magic as well.  However, there is far more to the power -- like moving stone at will, which can create walls or caverns.

Temple: This is the Stone of Strength magic.  Obviously this is physical strength but some can also call on creatures of stone?  The legends say the highest level priests are invulnerable to any form of physical attack.

Personal - strength of body 

Worldly -- control stone

Components needed for each type of magic:

Earth: Fresh ground, never tiled by man 

Metal: Any of the three prime metals, unshaped by human hands.  Copper is the weakest, then Silver, then Gold.

Sand: White sand from a special place in the far desert 

Quakes:  The practitioner must be standing on or near a fault line, making this dangerous magic to perform.

Gods of Light -- Sun, Moon, Stars, Fire

Outer: This represents the most esoteric of the magic systems.  Calling of light can have various connotations -- like the light of truth, which is a difficult and powerful magic.  The simple sun magic is good for storing light in an object for later use, while moon magic can illuminate a trail in the night.

Temple: The final magic is the Light of Knowledge.  Priests have the ability to understand anything -- foreign languages, books they merely touch, and even animals.  Some, however, go insane.  The legend for  this one says the highest priests can learn everything from the other magics, which would make the person immortal, invulnerable and all wise . . . transforming them into a god.

Personal - Understanding (like languages)

Worldly -- Visions, Prophecy

Components needed for each type of magic:

Sun:  Noon is the best time for this type of magic 

Moon: Midnight is best for this type.  Full moon is best, moonless night no magic 

Stars: a moonless night is best.   

(It is possible to combine Moon and Star magic, but far more powerful is Sun and Moon magic, created when the two are equidistant in the sky at moments of sunset and sunrise.) 

Fire is one of the easier magics to call.  All you need is something to burn.  However, you can have a fire creature if you use a piece of wood from the sacred hearth at the temple of Winds.  Since the temple was disbanded this is very difficult.

Other notes

You will notice that I haven't given the 'price' it takes from the person performing the magic.  My basic feeling is that it takes energy -- plain, human energy.  For every minute of spell performed becomes the equivalent of running a mile.  The second minute is like running a mile uphill -- and so on, taking more strength from the body.  The strength and duration of something created this way sometimes depends on how much power the person put into it.  A fog might only last a couple minutes with a quick spell, for instance. 

Obviously, this drain on the body limits the amount a person can do.  Someone in good physical shape will do better than one not.  A person who has performed magic recently is not going to have as much power left to try again.

Learning to use power comes only from schooling in the various temples.  The types of magic are not combinable in one person, though people from different temples can work together.  This doesn't happen often.

There are also lesser gods.  Every city, town and village has a local 'power' which is more a protection than something from which anyone can draw magic.  There are also spirits of special locations, like an ancient tree (rare in the southern lands), a spring, a rock formation, etc.  Sometimes a priest can call up such a spirit, depending on the magic affiliation he or she has), and the spirit might be very powerful in its own location.

Marriage is usually a civil matter, with contracts written up and filed with the proper authority (the headman of the village a magistrate in towns and cities).  Divorce is relatively simple, going before headman or magistrate who will assign property and parental rights. Decisions can be appealed to the temple, local lords, governors or traveling judges.

Only nobles and royalty are bound by sacred oaths, first at betrothal and later in final vows.  Betrothal includes a psychic link that allows the two to become aware and comfortable with each other in the long years of betrothal, which often starts when the children are ten or so.

The links are formed by Priests of Light, most often the high priest when dealing with royalty.  The betrothal bonds can be dangerous for various reasons: incompatibility, one side dies, etc.  

The 13th God

One more major god exists. This is the God of the Path who leads the dead to the next world.  No magic is associated with him.

The temples of the Gate (the 13th God), are found at every cemetery, and even a lone grave in the wastelands will often have a crude model of the temple.  They are all based on the one true temple which is near, but not in, the capital.  Located slightly to the north and near the escarpment, this temple starts with a simple (1) gate into a dirt hall, symbolic of grave.   (2)Second is water, (3) then stone, then finally the (4) light gate with the sacred hearth, where families come on the holy days and burn effigies of their loved ones to assure they're passage to the next world.

There is a 5th gate beyond the hearth.  No one knows where it goes.  None who go through ever come back, though it is rumored it leads to paradise.  Royalty found guilty of a crime, or overthrown, are often given the choice of walking through the gate or dying.  Nobles are given the choice in some cases, and entire families might go.  Anyone can go through of their own choice, no matter what their station.

Project Report 3 Water/Stone/Light: Places to go

The map is going to change as I expand my idea of the story.

Work on this story is going very well. The little pieces are starting to fall together into larger, more coherent sections. The land itself (as you can see from the map) is taking shape. Things may still change on the map, though. I'm not quite done with it. For instance, all the city names are borrowed from Assyria right now. They are likely to change or at least mutate a bit (just as Tygen mutated from Egypt).

By putting in the major cities and indicating a few of the smaller villages, stockades, towers, etc., I now know how things have to work. Arratta is not only in the north, but also in a climate and terrain much different from the rest of the land. There is the great water fall where the river begins, a lake, and even trees, which are lacking in the lowlands.

This makes Arrata a rather powerful local power, and under less control by the lowland capital of Kish. They are cooperative, though. Lower Tygen supplies food and stands between them and the sea. Traders want Arrata wood. They need to maintain friendly conditions with the lowlands to keep the river open and navigable for them.

Or else they need to take over.

The people of Arrata are not of the same stock as those of the lowlands, though over the last 1000 years, they have intermarried -- especially in the nobility. Lady Nahid, the King's younger sister, married the Lord of Arrata. He died in battle. She's ambitious.

This area is strongly associated with the Temple of Water and tends toward matriarch households.


The lowlands has a number of large cities and several villages. The cities -- moving north to South -- are Isin, Lagash, Kish (Capital), Eshnanna, and Tibira. Tibira had been on the bay, but over a thousand years much of that land has filled in and now the city sits several miles from the coast.

The lowland cities are in a state of constant mistrust and defense against each other. Control of the river (and the canals that water the crops), is a continual battle. Isin, in the northern section, has extensive orchards and tends to want more of the water than they might really need, sometimes creating dams and small lakes and ponds. In most years, this isn't a big problem, but if there is less snowmelt, then the lowlands can experience drought. If that goes on for many years, the orchards die out and the desert encroaches from the west.

It's a precarious balance, all centered on the river and water.

Lagash is in constant disagreement with Isin over boundary lines. Isin claims all the orchards, but Lagash has held on to as section in the south, and there are often skirmishes at this point. Lagash has also taken over the control of a smaller village on the other side of the river which has its own small orchard. The villagers are ambivalent about this control. It does give them protection from river marauders (which many believe are from Isin). However, Lagash controls their government and they are no longer allowed to sell crops on their own.

Kish is the largest city in Tygen and the only one with extensive building on both sides of the river. It became the capital about two hundred years ago and has held control, even though the royal family has changed. When the battle between Kish and Tibira took place over control of Tygen, many villages between Lagash and Kish sided with Tibira. When the war was finished, Kish destroyed all the villages (except the one on the far bank that sided with them), leveled the land and planted crops. Many of the disposed went to live in Kish, which is one of the reasons the city is so large.

Between Kish and Tibira is Eshnunna, the ancient holy city. The three priesthoods rule here, and no one would ever try to attack the city. They are tolerant of outside aggression, but they have been known to step in. Even the king is careful not to cross the line with them.

The last major town to the south is Tibira, the former capital. Once a graceful, huge city, it is dying back to little more than a fish port town, though the statues, temples and other signs of the former glory still draw a number of people. Tourism, in fact, may soon outstrip the fish market -- for which everyone in town will be very happy.

The land between Tibira and the bay is swampy, snake and rat infested and dangerous. However, it is also a good source for waterfowl, which is mostly shipped to the palace in Kish and goes for a good price at the docks.

There are other dangerous creatures in the swamps. It is also a hideout for criminals hoping to escape to foreign lands. They float down stream and if they survive, they hide out in the swamp until a chance comes to reach the outer bay and perhaps find transport to the Island kingdom not far away.

Only the really desperate will try this.

At the mouth of the bay are two military posts, one on each side of the opening to the river. The bay itself is a dangerous place of rocks, changing currents and tangled plants. Some say there is a sea monster that dwells there and helps guard the secret entrance to the river. Whether true or not, no one reaches that opening without guides.

There are a few fishing villages along the shore line. A ship comes out from the river entrance once a day and collects the fish at the nearest small village. From there, it is transported up to Eshnunna where it is sorted. Some are dried. Others are sent on to the other cities, mostly Kish.


The largest section of Tygen is actually the Eastern desert. This is a higher plateau rising above the river valley and the lowlands along the coasts. The plateau rises some 3000 feet (about half a mile) above the lowlands with a steep escarpment all along the edges until it melds into the highlands in the north. There are few really easy places to climb

This is a Hamada type desert -- high plateau, rocky outcroppings and very little sand. There are areas of artesian springs, mostly in the northern area where they are fed by snow melt. There are also some areas where enough dirt has accumulated to get a bit of scrub brush growth, which the nomads (who tend to live around the wells and the outskirts of the area) have started using for feeding stock.

None of the river people know much about the Eastern Desert. The only time they traverse it is through The Way, a wide path cut into the desert that leads from the area of Kish all the way to The Barbarian Gate, which was the only pass from the north into Tygen before magic pulled down the mountains and sealed it shut 1000 years ago. There are three towers guarding The Way and ten wells dug into the path.


To the west of the river valley is a wide expanse of badlands -- a maze of stone cut by wind and erosion. Beyond that is the seemingly endless golden sands of the Western Wastes. There are rumors of treasure hidden in the badlands, but few people who go in ever come out.

Project Report 2 Water/Stone/Light: The shape of their world

A talented writer with a gift for world building...
C J Cherryh

When she wrote that blurb for one of my short publications from Yard Dog Press (no longer in print, though the blurb also appears on Farstep Station), I felt both overjoyed and worried. I had been an ardent fan of Cherryh's work for decades. The mere thought that she would write the blurb had me dancing around the house for days. (Much to the consternation of the cats.) I still get that surge of joy when I read it.

However, with a line like that came the knowledge I could never again 'wing it' on the longer works. I'd always done some world building, but now I became even more interested in creating the worlds. And I found that I love it even more.

Characters are what draw me to a story. My first vision of a story is almost always a character in trouble. I then unravel the who and why, and along the way I start building the where.

In the case of Water/Stone/Light the characters came in a sort of odd way, but there they were, a group facing an as yet undefined problem. I'm starting to see the trouble more clearly. The truth is that while I am writing these out as separate things for the posts (characters, world building, plot), they all tend to happen at the same time, with a touch of this here and a little of that there. I always make certain I have paper to do notes.

I have barely started the world building part. My current reading material, Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 1 Part 2, influenced a great deal of my basic considerations. This volume covers a great deal of early middle-eastern history, and has a huge section on Egyptian history.

I do not intend for this to be Egypt, but there are some basics I can borrow from that land (and from nearly any other river-based civilization of ancient times). The first thing is that I want Tygen to be secluded but not cut off entirely (note some Egyptian letters in the name-- easy for me to remember the basics, though I may later change the name later).

Everything I create at this point is subject to change. Once I get farther into both world building and plotting, I may find that some aspects of my world need to change to better work in the story I want to tell. This is not a real world. I control it.

A very high mountain range lies to the north. There was a pass through it, but a thousand years ago, mages and gods pulled the mountains down to save Tygen from something dangerous on the other side. This also destroyed the source of a second river in Tygen and left a considerable part of the eastern lands in desert. (And this means there are cities buried beneath the sands with treasures -- some of them dangerous. Think about those mages and the mountains.)

The western lands are akin to the Badlands of South Dakota. Once ocean it is now areas of carved sandstone in a maze where a person can easily get lost . Lots of places to hide things there. If you can get through, you will find youself at a narrow, inland sea and straight into the ocean with more desert across the shore. Not a lot of reason to go there.

The south border is the sea proper, with scrublands and marginal areas for herds to the east near the shores (but given to violent weather). The river ends in a delta and marsh, which stretches for miles and hides the entrance to the river. This has purposely been kept wild, both for the abundant waterfowl and other creatures, but also to keep the aggressive islanders not far from the coast from invading.

The shoreline is dangerous. The destruction of the pass had repercussions all along the area, with parts of the land dropping into the sea leaving dangerous rocks and currents and no good harbors at all.

The ships of this time are not very sturdy and anyone who does sea voyages hugs the coast -- and avoids the marsh heading into Tygen where they can get mired and lost. The people of Tygen patrol the marsh and there are very few craft they let through to the river entrance, which is also guarded by magic. There is a rumor of a sea monster at their call living in the delta. The people of Tygen do not take to the sea, but they do import a few luxuries. Foreign trade is the prerogative of the royalty.

The river craft are either made of reeds (in the lowlands) or wood (the northern highlands).

The river itself is called Life. A newborn child, no matter what the gender or station, is cleaned in the river of Life. When you die, you go to the desert and death. (Being Exiled to the desert is a death sentence with only a slim chance of survival, though there are a few nomadic tribes, mostly along the edges of the scrublands and the coast.

The few people who leave Tygen always take a sealed and blessed vial of water with them.

And that's it for today. I have some things worked up on the basics of the pantheon and just a whisper of work on the magic systems.

Project Report 1 Water/Stone/Light: Genre and Characters

I thought I might make a few posts chronicling the passage from idea to novel for a new work I just started. With luck, I will have all the pre-work done before NaNo. It's hard to say if I will get there. The more I work on this one, the more I see that I need to do. If I don't get all the pre-work done in time, then this might hold over to be my first novel of 2012.

Let's start with 'Where do ideas come from?'

In many cases, they just grow out of an amalgamation of things that meld together over time and suddenly hit me over the head. This is not quite the case for the new fantasy novel, Water/Stone/Light (titles are apt to change). I can trace this one directly to C.J. Cherryh's blog (http://www.cherryh.com/WaveWithoutAShore/)and talk about their two new kitty friends along with the older, more sedate cat. The first new kitten needed a playmate so he would leave the older cat alone. They brought in a one year old from a cattery.

And this is what happened on my end:

July 25th, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I came awake this morning with an odd idea for a story. Something about an elderly queen saddled with an untamed, unruly young heir. In a fit of desperation, she orders that a noble house send him a companion. One house has a young man they’d just as soon be rid of — timid, scholarly, and useless (so they think) in a land where they’re guarding the dangerous borderland. So off he goes to live at the High Court.

Intimidated by the queen and worried that he might overstep the line with the heir, he finds he must call on the military training forced on him in previous years to take command and on his love of all things scholarly to draw the attention of the boy.

And then what? Does the young heir, tired of the life he never wanted, take off and the companion has to find him? Is the boy kidnapped? Is it all part of a plot and the prelude to an invasion? Are they the two who must go back to rescue the queen?

AAAAIIIIEEEE. I really don’t need a new plot bunny. But there it is, staring me in the face. I wonder if I could twist this around into an sf story, despite the fantasy feel. I am overrun with fantasy right now.

Hmmm. Or an Urban fantasy of some sort?

Still. AAAAIIIIEEEEE.

So, there is the basic core moment of inspiration. What has happened since then shows how stories grow, morph and change.

The first point was to settle on a genre. While I felt I had a lot of fantasy ideas lately, this one just called out for epic fantasy. I tried it out with a couple other genres, but every idea I got to add to this story went right back to fantasy, so I took that as a sign.

Next was to look closer at the main characters, the queen, the prince heir and the companion. It was with the companion where I started making drastic changes from my original idea. I kept the companion who came from 'seclusion' to take on the heir. But the Queen isn't stupid -- she can see the boy is going to need a firmer hand. So she sends for the Queen's Spy (oh? And who is this?) and tells him to get her sister's illegitimate son who is known for being able to take care of himself. I think she has word that something drastic is going wrong, and she wants the boy to have the sort of companions who can help him.

So now I had a triad . . . and I decided I really wanted a female character to offset them. I have some servants to deal with and a few are female, but they are going to have a special role. I wanted . . .

Ah. The Prince Heir needs to be betrothed. And the first ties of betrothal are done with magic so they can get a slight 'feel' for each other without being intrusive. This means the betrothed is aware when the three plan to escape the castle.

No, I'm not entirely certain why they are escaping yet. I have a vague idea of the trouble, but right now I'm looking at the very basic little steps of character creation.

Okay. So I have:

Queen Omi -- In her 40's, married the King when she was quite young and he was older. The King has been fighting a border war for a number of years, and she has her hands full with the running the kingdom. Their son died in battle and she had to call in her daughter's son as the new heir. (Does this mean no female can rule? No. I decided the boy's mother isn't suited to rule.)

Prince Zuki -- Spoiled, sixteen year old who has no respect for women (based on his bubble-headed mother and a domineering grandmother on his father's side). He has moments when he can be reasonable and even likeable before something else sets him off. He is untrained in anything resembling court etiquette and he does not want to be at court.

Fatim (Companion 1) -- Son of border lord and not suited to the kind of warrior life that the lord and his sons face. He's been secluded in one of the temples. (Start of world building and magic began here, but I'll show that in another post.)

Kontor (Companion 2) -- Son of the Queen Oni's younger sister and an unknown man (Though the father is believed to be a foreign envoy. The rumor is wrong, of course.) He's a rogue, troublemaker and can take care of himself. And does he owe the queen some service? A favor?

Amira (Betrothed) -- One of the Queen's Ladies in Waiting. The Queen needs to get the Prince Betrothed immediately. He's already over the age where it should have happened, and she chooses Amira because she is headstrong and can, hopefully, handle him. She is also from the mountainous northlands and she's used to hiking, hunting, etc. She is not going to be a wilting court flower when they are out on their own.

There are a number of other characters I need to work up, just so I have an idea of who is around and how they influence things, even if they are not present. Oh yes, this means King Sefu, of course. My big question (and one I have not yet answered) is why the Queen feels she must have this done right now, with the heir in place and so many decisions made immediately (like the betrothed). That will come with the plot. I work with characters first then look around and ask 'why are you doing that? What's the problem?

The Queen's Spy, the Vizier, Fatim's father and brothers, a number of servants, court officials (and a battle there between her people and the Vizier's people, as they rival each other for power within the court structure) . . . There can be very many lesser characters here.

And I have not moved out of the court yet. However, in order to do that, I had to start world building, which I adore. I'll cover the basics of that in the next post on this project.