Thoughtful Dreamer

Another year, another opportunity to write!

jamie@mccoard.net — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0500

I’ve been a sluggish, lately, when it comes to my aspirations to be a writer. The holiday season came and went as quickly as having my tires rotated. I did some writing, but nothing of value to add to the 2011 goal I set forth with this blog. Keeping it simple, my writing goal for 2012 is to finish two stories along with my continuance to write. The first story that I want to finish is a short I started last year. It is, at the time of this post, sitting at 20% complete. Secondly, I’d like to finish a draft of the novel I started for NaNoWriMo in November ‘11. I have 12 months to work on these two stories. As excited as I am to start, I have a few hang ups before I can make real progress.

Over the next three months I need to pull two A’s out of my college classes I’m taking this quarter. My husband and I promised our son we’d get him into Karate, which means I need more time to run him around. The last hang up is my house clean out task. We have been moving our things into storage to help prepare for selling/buying a new home (hopefully) this year.

What You Saw Last Year (2011)

A start to writing, the creation of this blog, which includes both technical posts and writer posts. Over the last six months my one SharePoint technical posting has received over 36% of the page views. It was followed by my character sheet template at 14.61%. Let just say I’m not very popular, yet. I’m sure when I sell my first book I will have people flocking to want more from me. You can probably subtract 10% from each value below due to my hits and initial publishing. I’m alright with it though, this isn’t about fans… it’s about writing.
16 Thoughtful Dreamer posts & 3 Thoughtful Tech posts. 9 of the dreamer posts are actual writing scenes from story concepts.
An attempt at NaNoWriMo—just wasn’t ready for the commitment yet. Here is my take away from NaNoWriMo. I did successfully start working on my largest novel idea, which is a great win for someone like me. I have just over 4 chapters written, including a prologue.

What’s Coming This Year (2012)

I threw out a challenge to my friend Maki on November 25, 2011 to help me create a one-page comic of my character Phoenix. He has committed to trying the task and I truly hope I get to show it to you when he is finished. I’m calling it a Clip Comic (the phrase one-page comic isn’t that flashy). The story within my Phoenix mess happens right before the First Appearance of Phoenix.
A short story, fan based fiction, on a major character in the world of The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballentine and Tee Morris. This is the short that is 20% done, but in my head I know where I want it to go.
More dream posts. I have a whole set of alien dreams that I haven’t told you about yet. I also started a new dream story line about an emotionally and physically scared female whose friends hire her dream man (a celebrity) to snap her out of her depression. It’s a Beauty and the Beast story, but with no magical physical transformation into a beautiful woman. The celebrity that is currently filling the role in my mind is Jason Hartley, aka Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), from WB’s Smallville. This is a dream and not even a lustful one, just a story about the impact of an idolized celebrities affect on another person’s depression. The power of a star. Is Jason Hartley my number one star? No, he was just in a recently watched episode of Chuck, so I had him on the brain. I actually haven’t determined who my top hottest celebrity is, probably because my husband is not a celebrity (LOOK OUT: Rare moment of affection).
For Christmas I received a game for writers called Storymatic from my friend and husband to my sister. I haven’t had time to play with it yet, but when I do I will post any writing products on the blog. I will also provide more details about this game in a later posting.

Best wishes for your 2012 goals!

FF: 1WEEK5WORDS #1

jamie@mccoard.net — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:00:00 -0500

This is our new Flash Fiction challenge, inspired by Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge. I encourage everyone to join me in creating flash fictions. In one week, Monday Noon EST to Monday Noon EST, we will write five 200 word (or less) short fictional story based on each of the five random words below. These words are created using a random word generator Creative Random Word Generator – 5 Random Words. This should only take about 10-15 minutes out of your day, but it will help kick start your creativity. I’m asking everyone to join in, even if you are very young or not interested in being a writer, you can still be creative. Try not to go over 200 words and keep the random word prominent in your story.

5 Random Words:

scaffold
necklace
briefcase
cactus
guide

My 200 word stories will be included in the body of this post throughout the week. Please add yours to the comments of this post. If you have a Twitter account then use the hash tag of #1Week5Words to signal that you’ve completed one short.

Unfortunately, there will be no prizes or winners for this challenge. Everyone who contributes the five stories is an automatic winner! Those who try, by creating one or two stories, are winners too. However, they are just not as cool as those who complete the challenge. No judgments here, just creativity and motivation to write.

Scaffold

Little Eleanor clung tightly to the scaffold outside their small China Town apartment in hopes that the consuming fires within the building wouldn’t force her to move. Her knuckles turned from yellow to white while holding onto her pole.

Boom!

Eleanor screeched and tried to move away from the window that had just exploded three feet away. The debris flew out across the scaffolding and onto the street below. A fiery splinter from the windows frame landed on the other end of her plank. It burned into the wooden beam and the fire started too crept towards her tauntingly. Eleanor moved as far as she could away from the heat and looked around for any hope of escape.

“Hold on to me.”

She looked around to see a masked woman dressed in black, floating in the sky, with her hands stretched out.

“It’s going to be alright.”

Eleanor nodded and released her death grip on the scaffolding. The stranger carefully picked her up and took her slowly to safety.

“My parents are still in there.” The little girl pointed up to the burning building. “Can you help them?”

“I will try.”

Briefcase (a little dark)

Movies frequently showcase explosive devices within briefcases. Looking at it I guess it is really about mobility. The other three bombs were wrapped in brown delivery boxes that I had carefully planted around Central Park. The park officials had installed several new camera in attempt to catch me. Just yesterday they announced to the public that the park was officially closed, not that anyone was actually visiting anymore. I had made sure of that when I killing four people. They didn’t understand. I had no choice, the area needed to be cleared out for tonight’s visitors. The alien aircraft should be entering the atmosphere soon. I just needed to delay the SWAT team that now surrounded me. The thumb trigger should keep them from shooting, but to bad I didn’t bring ear plugs to protect myself from their shouting. It was the typical words. “Get down on the ground.” “Put your hands behind your head.”

Crack…

They’re here. I looked up to see a large cloud cover over our heads. It was filled with glowing lights of red and yellow. It’s time for my last explosive.

“Goodbye, you torturous animals!”

Click.

Take Away From NaNoWriMo 2011

jamie@mccoard.net — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

I am (not) a winner of this year’s NaNoWriMo 30 day 50k words challenge. I don’t get the awesome badge on my site that says Winner, but I do get the Participant badge. The final count for the month is 15,753 words.

Why I Didn’t Make It

Writing is a new push for me this year. I didn’t know what I was capable of as I headed into NaNo. I was just hoping it was something productive. My lazy habits were difficult to break. I’m sure that it doesn’t help that my office desk is crammed in my bedroom with the laundry and donation bags of old kids clothes that I haven’t sent off yet. We flooded in late September and had to clean out the basement, repairs are still underway. I didn’t help that my daughter hadn’t been doing her homework at daycare (playing with friends instead). We would spend hours helping her through it. I didn’t help that we had Lice to deal with at the beginning of the month; it takes a long time to pull out all the nits every night. It didn’t help that Skyrim turned out to be an awesome RPG, which I have been waiting on Diablo III to fill that role. My gamer addiction spoiled the last half of NaNoWriMo. In Daniel Swensen’s blog post on No Go NaNoWriMo: Should you feel bad about not finishing, he expresses that the reason I feel so bad about losing is because I wanted to write. I think my statistic log shows that I wanted to write, because I took the time to track my progress publicly. In the end, I didn’t want to write badly enough to get farther than I did, I could have done better (we all know that).

What Did I Take Away

I learned that I can write. My husband calls it the creative switch and doesn’t know how I can turn it on and off so quickly. I tell him, I never turn it off. I can spit out words from my brain onto paper (the computer), but I do get hung up on the dialog sometimes. Looking back at the 15,753 words I did write, I find that my writing is terrible. The story is good and there is a lot of room for details and descriptions, but the words read like an 8th grader. I know I can do better, but I felt that I had to rush at the words and get them out even if they were ugly.

Will I Try Again Next Year

Unless I can improve my writing routine, free up time with my job, and have a crisis free month, I probably will not participate again. You may see this as sad and that I shouldn’t give up. This isn’t giving up. This is me hating the fact that it’s in November and my old habits got in the way. I’ll answer this question again next October, but for now I probably will not go for NaNoWriMo 2012.

What Is In Store for My Novel

I’m not going to stop writing. Although, I will most likely switch over to my short story that I was working on before my NaNoWriMo novel and then come back to it. I read a blog post from Chuck Wendig, he is a writer and a great resource for those who want to write, and loved what he said about not finishing.

The NaNoWriMo Epilogue “Miles to go before you sleep”

“If you didn’t finish, c’mon. C’mon. Did you really think that November was the only month you’re allowed to write a novel? Do you believe that come November, all us novelists are let out of our hermetically-sealed mountain cottages and we bound down the snowy expanse, our fingers eager to taste keyboards and Bic pens for the 30 days we’re allowed to tell proper stories? November is but one month out of 12, and if you’re a true-blue writer you’ll wish you had 13 of those (removed explicative for my younger readers) in which to keep boot-stomping your novels into the clay. On December 1st, you know what you can do? Keep writing.

Yes, I will definitely continue to work on my Novel, but I also need to work on improving my schedule to include consistent writing time.

New Goal

I realized in order to get into a habit of writing I need to start with a very small goal and not always on the same story. My mind jumps topics like a frog jumping from a 5 year old boy. I enjoyed Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction and think that it would be great to set myself a goal of writing a 200 word flash fiction five times a week based on 5 random words. This is a link to my flash fiction words from his challenge ‘Intro to Flash Fiction,’ I did not win (the winners), but I had a lot of fun. Look for a future blog post with my flash fiction challenge. I am also going to be committing myself to 5 hours of writing each week for the rest of December. I know it’s a small amount, but it’s the minimum of what I think I can do for the holidays. Next year I will be setting some New Year writing goals. Perhaps, one of them will be to complete Enderlace and have it ready to submit to publishers.

My Introduction to Flash Fiction

jamie@mccoard.net — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: “FROG POWDER SEAGULL TOWER SCISSORS”

Being new to NaNoWriMo means I’m also new to the fans, other writers, and motivational resources. In my social interaction I came across a website titled Terribleminds. This guy tells it like he sees it and doesn’t hold back the profanity. I like him and will most likely check in on his blog for years to come. He recently put out a challenge for a 100 word flash fictions with a focus on the writers choice of using one of these five words; frog, powder, seagull, tower, and scissors. I thought, why not, and gave it a try. I quickly picked a word and went to town. I’ve never written flash fiction before, but doing this challenge enlightened my day, so I did more the next day and then the day after that. I did this until all five words were used; the last entry was Black Friday morning. Mr. Chuck Wendig, author of terribleminds.com, offered up a winning prize for what he believes is the best one. I would be thrilled if one of my five made it, but I wouldn’t be a bit sad if they didn’t. I enjoy every second I spent on these little stories, that was my ultimate reward.

This Flash Fiction has inspired me to consider adding a weekly flash fiction to my blog. Once NaNoWriMo finishes up I will figure out how I’m going to do this and how you can contribute (writer or not, just have fun).

Here are my entries:

(First entry) – Scissors

Denna looked at the forbidden scissors in her right hand. Her mother banished all of the dangerous cutting blades from the house four years ago. Denna could remember that day clearly now with the weapon in her hand, right down to the rotting smell.

She found her mother rocking back and forth curled in a ball on the floor, with scissors in her right hand. Lying on the floor, next to her was Denna’s father. His body frozen and yet he was still creating a mess on the carpet.

Denna clinched the scissors tightly and grinned. “The bastard deserved it.”

(Second entry) – Tower

Andrew gazed up at the tall dark brick wall before him. He believed in his cause whole-heartedly as he reached out to find a sturdy ledge to hold his weight. At about twenty-two feet up he began feeling the pain rising in his arms and thighs, but he pushed himself further up with thoughts of victory and freedom for his people. In thirty feet he could have climbed over the rail to release the down weight for the front gate, but instead pain entered his left shoulder blade and his world faded into the darkness that is the Black Tower.

(Third entry) – Seagull

Two Seagulls, a Cricket, and a Planted Idea.

The cricket threw up his thin arms and scream with urgency “WAIT! Don’t eat me.”

The first seagull flapped his wings in protest “Now, why can’t I eat you?”

The cricket responded “Haven’t you heard of ‘Mad Cricket Disease’?”

“No, what is that?” another frustrated flap and then he tucked his wing in to get closer.

“It causes stiff joints, makes your brain numb, you do strange things, and…”

The second seagull asked “Why did you eat him, you’ll get sick?”

“That’s just stupid.” The first seagull searched for more dinner.

(Fourth entry) – Powder

The grey powder left behind in the dragons passing had blurred his vision. He tried to focus his eyes on the aftermath. His band of misfits had been caught inside the tavern while celebrating their successful raid on the dragon’s den. He quickly searched for Shawna. Everyone looked the same, their bodies covered by powder.

“Looks like you’ll have a few new scars.” She called from behind him.

Relief flashed through him as he turned towards her. The combination of her presence and his near death experience made her irresistible. He pulled her closer and gave her a passionate kiss.

(Last entry) – Frog

The frog who wasn’t a prince
sat on the log outside
as a lost girl approached and winced
he had no place to hide.

He stared at her with big eyes
as she knelt down to cry
she let loose a jumble of flies
and he caught with his tongue one fly.

His time was running out
and he would soon change form
as he watched her pout
he felt the rising storm.

The frog grew and shifted
into exactly what was required
for he was one of the gifted
a puppy that was inspired.

The lost girl was happy.

Last Sane Day

jamie@mccoard.net — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:30:00 -0500

I wanted to post a goodbye to my family, friends, and readers as I venture into NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow. Feel free to express your support and encouragement, but don’t be sad if my response is delayed. And lets have a party in 31 days.

Tracking

You can keep an eye on my progress at my NaNoWriMo Stats 2011 page.

My NaNoWriMo participant page is at http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/tevyn.

I hope to have time to tweet about it too from @Tevyn and I’ll include the tag #enderlace, as that is my book title.

Going Expectations

While researching and preparing myself for NaNo I’ve found motivational websites, helpful techniques, and a basic understanding of what it means to commit to the National Novel Writing Month. From this research I’ve decided that it would be impractical of me to consider achieving the gold. I am not psyching myself out, I’m just being realistic. (1) This is my first year. (2) I am just beginning the craft of writing. (3) I have 2 little kids, fulltime job, 1.8 hour daily commute, a house to clean, guests to entertain at Thanksgiving, and a husband to keep. I also have little faith that what I write will actually be any good, after all I’m pretty much just puking out my novel in 30 days. I don’t have a PhD in English Literature, heck I don’t even have a Bachelors degree. What I write is going to be 85% crap. I’m not going to be a writer in 30 days, but I may turn out to be a better writer when it’s over.

What I want to get out of NaNoWriMo is a giant lesson on getting my stories from my head on to paper. Crafting writing skills takes time, in fact, it could take several years before I actually write a somewhat successful novel in a month. NaNo is just my “GET YOUR BUTT MOVING!” push.

Departing with a Tiny Gem

--- Before I drop everything I wanted to share with you an excerpt from the fan fiction I’ve been working on lately. It is now on hold until after November.

Looking up to clear her thoughts she admired the cooling fan in the parasol over her table. The device was connected by a steel pipe that ran down the central poll to the base. At the base there is an extended circular pipe around it that propelled the fan through foot pressure. If you press the pedal to the floor the speed of the fan would increase, as you lighted the pressure the speed would decrease. She had the same type of mechanics in her hand held parasol, however it used a gripping mechanism to modulate the speed.

Silvia glanced towards her parasol a the nearby entrance that lead out from the cafe, but her eyes didn't make it there. Her eyes caught sight on a gentleman pacing several feet away along the walkway just outside of the Lynda’s Cafe gate. He looked confused and determined as he glanced at his pocket watch.

Phoenix Builds a Cover

jamie@mccoard.net — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:30:00 -0500

I haven't written this out as a story because I don't have time. I'm working on a fan fiction short story right now and preparing for NaNoWriMo. The fan fiction is from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences world and I'm only at 2000+ words. My goal is 7.5k by the 30th (small for practice). However, I didn't want to forget last night’s dream, so I'm writing the summarized version today. It's just another plot line for Phoenix that provides the opportunity for supporting characters.

----

She selects a new brother from the hard streets of LA strung up on cocaine, to support her new cover. Phoenix takes him to a rehab clinic and visits during the weekends. They work on their relationship as brother and sister (playing scrabble and chess). She prepares identification paperwork for him and changes his history to that of a healthy good student. Phoenix moves them to a place where they can reinvent themselves and enrolls them to the local school (college/high school). He becomes her identity cover, a brother, a friend, and a side kick. He has a second chance at a rich life on a platter because of her. She informs him that she has secrets and only trust and time will reveal them. He suspects her ability to read minds early on as she busts him before he falls off the wagon. As their relationship grows he learns of her healing capabilities and that she can manipulate air (telekinesis).

----

In reality I think I miss my family and my unofficially adopted brother Chris. I truly hope everyone is doing well.

Lunch with Philippa Ballentine and (MIA Tee Morris)

jamie@mccoard.net — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:25:00 -0500

Meet a published writer: Check!

About a couple months ago I started to follow the blazing trail of Philippa Ballentine and Tee Morris across the Internet. I picked up the trail when I caught wind of the name “Phoenix” in my Twitter stream. Those that I follow is mostly made up of technology and design geeks. If you’ve been reading my previous post I’ve designated one of my characters with that name.

It is the original re-tweet from Pip to Tee then by Joel Cochran (BlendSig founder) as a follower of Tee:

I hit the link and found a rabbit whole worth exploring. I purchased Pip’s Geist first, because out of her books I thought this would fit right in my spectrum. I read it in 2 days and posted a review. It fit my mold, but then it did something else exciting. It opened my eyes to an array of explosive creativity. Pip’s world, in A Book of the Order series, re-organized my book collection (so to speak, as I read a lot on Kindle now) and pointed me at a new direction of fantasy novels. She also expanded my reading range and introduced me to Steampunk. I knew of it, but had a wan interest. I equate it to be like when someone mentions LARP (live action role play) and considered it a nerdy fad. To answer your question, yes, I realize that I am a geek, but not a nerd. Over the last two months I have become very excited about learning more on Steampunk.

Back to the topic, today I had lunch at Bungalow Alehouse in Gainesville, VA (one of their favorites) with Pip Ballentine. Unfortunately, Tee Morris was unable to attend. He was needed at work to provide business justifications to his IT department on why he should have a Mac (tell them you need to test the company sites from a Mac for accessibility).

I went into this luncheon with the mind set of zero expectations and no in-depth questions. Mainly, I just wanted to be friends with these awesome folk who I have a lot of commonalities with. This is the first time I’ve ever reached out to a celeb personality, although Pip doesn’t admit to it. For as outspoken as they are, I would expect that the sky is the limit, as far as media popularity is concerned.

The first thing she did when we meet was gave me a hug. All of my friends who read this now know exactly why I like her. We talked about Tee and Boom (yeah, you know it), books and stories, tips and support for writing, NaNoWriMo, writing music, traveling, parents, dragons, and laundry. It was a wonderful 1+ hour of friendly conversation. I had no reason to be nervous, especially, as we easily jump into our conversations. It was an enriching experience and I hope that we can do it again.

Thanks Pip for your entertainment on the paper, internet, radio, and in person! Congratulations to Pip and Tee for their wedding on Saturday 10/8/2011!

Getting Serious About Writing

jamie@mccoard.net — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:45:00 -0500

This year’s goal to write has been progressing as expected--slowly. As a fulltime employee, mother of two young ones, once a quarter student, wife, and home owner, writing hasn’t been near the top of my to do list. I have been writing as often as I can and soon I hope that NaNoWriMo will show me that I can make more time for writing. I don’t have unreal expectations like I’m going to be the next J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, or Patrick Rothfuss. I don’t have a literature degree and I don’t intend to get one at this time. I just want to get the stories in my head written down and anything beyond that is just a bonus. I’ve shared stories with a few of my friends and family and they all agree that they have potential. Err, that I have potential. I want to put their support at my back in order to push me forward.

I’m not following a well-developed and documented set of steps to reach my goal. It is my own creations. I’m committed to many responsibilities that are outside of the world of writing that I can’t drop. I need to be realistic with what I can do. I’m not a miracle worker and I’m in no rush to meet a deadline. The goal is very general--to write. I am not pushing myself to publish a book, short story, or flash fiction, just to write.

Step Number 1: I started committing to my writing quest publically by creating a blog full of stories. This blog helps me reach fans, get feedback, grow connections, and build confidence in my skills. What I love most about blogging is that I’ve got a way to get the small scenes out of my head and into a shareable location.

Step Number 2: I began paying attention to my favorite writer’s blogs and researching on how to write fiction. A great resource that I’ve found has been from Joel Friedlander at The Book Designer.

Lately, I’ve been internet following (not stalking) a pair of writers that have similar tastes and I believe they can offer me guidance in these early days of writing. They also live nearby, which I thought, was an added awesomeness. Philippa Balantine and Tee Morris are the creative force behind a truly enriched world of what I’d like to call writer awareness. I’m not sure if they realize the mentoring power they have provided new writers with. Their internet presence is an example to me of how to be a successful tech-savvy writer.

I haven’t read all of their books, all their posts, or listened to all of their podcast variations. I have read the epic tale of Books and Braun’s first adventures in the Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by both authors. I’ve read Geist (A Book of the Order) and Spectyr (A Book of the Order) by Philippa (looking forward to the next two). I am a fan and subscriber of The Shared Desk podcast, a hodgepodge of writer genius in an entertainingly crazed bundle of music to my ears. I’ve been following them on Twitter (@PhilippaJane and @TeeMonster) and Facebook to pick up on their latest writer delights (congratulations on NY Comic Con).

Step Number 3: Learn about what it takes to finish a book. Pip and Tee’s The Shared Desk #002 podcast included an interview with literary agent Laurie McLean (@AgentSavant). She spoke in details about the steps of getting published from an agent, a publisher, and a do it yourself perspective. Laurie was so open, kind, and honest that you had to like her. I’ve always thought of publishing as a darkly guarded secret, similar to what’s behind the wizards’ curtain. I decided to send her a few questions regarding new writers and genres. As my readers know my dreams drive my stories and those dreams range all over the different fictional categories. I wanted to know, as I start out in my campaign to write, if this type of range from an adult mystery to science fiction could be problematic. I received the below response the same day I wrote her (impressed, I am).

Me: Is crossing genres for a writer a bad idea?
Laurie McLean: YES. Until you’re better established. And it takes at least 5 books or more to grow a significant fan base.
Me: Is it very bad specially if writing erotica and young adult?
Laurie McLean: YOU’D NEED A PEN NAME TO DIFFERENTIATE THESE TWO GENRES.
Me: Would publisher/agents refuse to publish if it’s not in the same category (even if it’s just as good or better)?
Laurie McLean: YOU’RE GETTING WAY AHEAD OF YOURSELF. YOU NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON IMPROVING YOUR WRITING CRAFT BEFORE YOU WORRY ABOUT THESE SIDELINE ISSUES. JUST WRITE EVERY DAY. THE REST WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
Me: As an aspiring writer, should I be sticking with one category?
Laurie McLean: YES

Step Number 4: What I took from her email is that I need to get serious about writing and stick with a targeted category. I am attached to my many stories, but mostly to the science fiction and fantasy tales. For the next several nights (perhaps weeks) I’ll be working to narrow my creative wing span into a targeted dive. I am also changing up this blog and will no longer include my technical thoughts. It’s now 100% writer related. Although, I feel sad because my posts on Sharepoint is 90% of my hits right now.

Step Number 5: Write every day, as Laurie stated in her email. With all my responsibilities you may think that this is the hardest step for me to do, but I say to you “writing is in everything.” I have alarms set on my phone at 0900 AM and 2030 PM (after kids go to bed) encouraging me to write every day. I am writing every day, but it isn’t always creative writing. For example, I consider this blog post as writing, because I have to organize the content to make sense to my readers, check sentence structure, spelling, and grammar. At work I’m writing ‘How To’ documents that I also consider a way to fulfill my daily goal.

Step Number 6: Push myself to pull out 80% of the stories in my head. The NaNoWriMo challenge is going to help me a lot with achieving this goal. As for the rest of my stories I’ve been using this blog as a way to get them out.

This is a very small advancement towards being a writer. If all goes as planned then next year will be a tougher commitment (maybe as far as book submission). I’m actually looking forward to that.

Special thanks to…

…my family, Tim Good, Scott Hawks, Philippa Balantine, Tee Morris, and Laurie McLean! Look for me in about 5 years from now and then remember this day and how you’ve helped me grow.

What is a Thoughtful Dreamer?

jamie@mccoard.net — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:02:00 -0500

My friend, whom I call Maki, recently posted on lucid dreaming: Even In My Dreams. When I read this post I couldn’t help but think that this is exactly how I dream every night. He wrote “The thing I've always seen about lucid dreaming is that the key is planting some sort of idea in your subconscious that will, when it appears in your dream, clue you in to the fact that you're dreaming.” When I’m going to sleep at night I always start by focusing on a story or an idea. I concentrate on it so hard that I don’t fall asleep right away, but I do start to daydream. I have a very active brain. It often gets to the point where I ask my good husband to take a frying pan to my head to make it stop thinking. By concentrating on one idea/story it helps me to calm my random thoughts and achieve ‘peace of mind’.

When I read over this next sentence from his blog I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “For my part, what I've found to be the surest indicator that I'm dreaming is that somehow everything is even more of a pain in the ass than it is in the waking world.” I find this very true, but even more so with stories. I keep repeating the scenes over and over to make minor adjustments, but I never finish them. It’s only in the waking world that I can actually fill in plots and adventures. I start thinking of other scenes to the story and that becomes the next evenings calming entertainment.

This is what I call a thoughtful dreamer. My thoughts encourage and somewhat control my dreams.

Many Stories in a Different Telling

jamie@mccoard.net — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Rating: Young Adult and safe for all.

Genre: classical fantasy.

When I awoke from the following dream I couldn’t help but find similarities to other fantasy references. I thought of Arthur and Merlin, Harry Potter, Dragonheart, the The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, Book 1), By Christopher Paolini: Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1), and more.

After I finished my draft post I knew there was too much missing and so I took it to my 10 year old nephew (who is also a creative story teller). His first comment to me was “if this is the beginning you need to write a pre-story or something to inform the people of the characters.” Children have a way of putting things into perspective. He was right. After a wonderful conversation with him, I finished the scenes I’m sharing with you. I do admit that what I’ve written below isn’t generating a “strong feeling” about the situations and I apologize for the lack there of. I also apologize for the flash backs verses telling the story at those times, I wanted to get this out quickly and still provide enough details for anyone to follow. I didn’t want this story line to be in my thoughts when I move into NaNoWriMo mode in November with an entirely different story (a Sci-Fi).

If you like it or hate it, you need to tell me, so please leave comments. I’m not learning if you don’t shout out.

If you are an Agent or an Editor—yes, I have more. Email me at jamie at mccoard dot net or find me on Twitter @Tevyn.

---------------- The story jumps in near the beginning ------------------

He’d been following the dark hunters for four weeks now in hopes that they would lead him to the prophesied champion or at least others holding the gift. Since his master had revealed the prophecy five moon cycles ago, Lanue has been searching for Terian’s savior. This was the second time in his life his world had shifted upside down because of the gift of Chara.

The first time was when he received a letter requesting his presence in court to test as a gifted and as Meera’s next apprentice to the Master Charee. Master Teir Charee had not had an apprentice in over seven ages. His last one fell to an accident while working with fire. The fire took out one of the eight internal defense towers in Meera.

While working in his father’s shop, the highest praised blacksmith in the gates of Meera, Lanue received the summoning letter. It was sent to all boys and girls within and nearby the town when they come of age. Only four passed the test last year and 1 within the last quarters’ testing cycle.

Lanue wanted nothing more than to finish the test and return back to the forge to work the fires with his father. While taking the test, he was watched closely by Teir Charee. The old man’s stares were surprisingly soft and excited. Lanue passed the test and Master Teir Charee selected him as his new apprentice. The reality, for our would-be blacksmith, was shifted on its heels. Teir Charee told him that he has potential for great power, but that his control was blocking his Chara.

For the last four ages Lanue has been the Meera’s Charee apprentice and devoted in his new craft. They were in service to the King of Terian, who sits on the throne in castle Meera. On a quite day of mixing potions in their work room is when the second shift in his life occurred. Master Tier dropped a vial of green liquid onto the ground. On its impact with the ground it shattered and spread on the marbled floor. Lanue gave a rather loud jump, but Tier was unmovable.

“Are you alright?” Lanue said as he moved to investigate the damage. He noticed that Master Teir eyes were glazed over. Teir began mumbling quietly at first. Lanue asked him again and placed his hands on the old man’s shoulders preparing to give him a shake. Teir’s voice grew louder as he repeated a chant.

“The time of the dark rider’s comes with the sign of old.

The gift is at its end and all will unfold.

Darkness clouds the heart and mind.

The gift is fear and it is under a bind.

A new gift champion not yet known, with a beast, comes to the dark king.

Together they free the people from suffering.

Abath Deon Syth.”

Lanue quickly grabbed at the scribe and wrote down the Master Teir’s words. This had happened once before on the day of his test, it is another prophecy. After writing it down he reached back out to Teir and used the awaken spell to bring him out of the trance.

“Terithica Dar.”

Master Teir stumbled, but regained his feet as any old man would. He had help from Lanue’s strong and steady hands. He gave Lanue a knowing look and they began discussing what it could mean.

---------------- Sometime later: another scene ------------------

Lanue watched from the side as Master Teir addressed the court and recited the prophecy to King Felleyion. The grand hall went awkwardly silent when the Master informed them of his seeing. Information, to the nobles, was as important as sweets to a child.

“What does it mean?” the King broke the silence.

A wave of many discussions came from those in court and the sounds began to echo in a choirs throughout the grand hall. Lord Devern stepped forward and said loudly “This is a false prophecy, with no indication of when it will occur and how it will come true. Chara will never end.”

“Hold your tongue.” An elderly woman’s voice rose from the back. Moving out from the crowd Lanue could make out the round shape of Lady Serra of the Trinity estate. “Prophecies are not false and should never be disregarded.”

She cleared her throat and spoke with the air from her vast lungs “I think we can all agree that this is referring to the downfall of magic, by an invading land.”

Several nods and affirmative mummers ran threw the crowd. Then Lord Devern, a tall and lean man, stepped towards Lady Serra. Their closeness made for an uncomfortable balance in the hall.

“Chara is born in us, there is no way to ‘unfold’ it. That is impossible.” Lord Devern facial expression was committed to his words.

“Master Teir Charee, what do you believe it means?” the King commanded.

The old man returned his gaze to his King and began explaining each line and their possible meanings. This took sometime as the court listened carefully to prophecy. Lanue could see their interested expressions on their faces and that made him begin to fidget with his apprentices’ tablet. When the Master and he were working on the list of meanings one of them became a priority. They needed the King to take action on it, but they didn’t know how. Lanue heard his master approach the topic and perked his ears to hear every intake of breath to every mummer of sound.

“’A new champion not yet known, with a beast, comes to the dark king.’ If the prophecy is correct in the downfall of our Kingdom then finding the champion becomes imperative to restoring our glory. I recommend a campaign in search of the champion.”

As expected that brought on an interruption of comments and then Lady Serra’s voice sounded out above all others. “In all of Terian how are we to find a single champion?”

“It’s a fouls quest your majesty. If any part of this prophecy is true then fortifying the country should be the highest priority.” Lord Devern stared down at the Lady Serra. There families have always been struggling for the Kings favor and they’ve made no secret of it. They both played their parts perfectly, but Lanue always thought of it as acting whenever they bickered. His mind began to imagine them in court jester’s costumes and he released a slight giggle that got him an glare from Master Teir.

---------------- Sometime Much Later: another scene ------------------

As Lanue sat on the mountain edge, he looked down into the valley towards the campsite of the dark hunters and their riders. He could barely make it out from his distance, but they appeared to be sitting by a fire. Deciding that they are eating, he began nibbling on a small slice of bread himself. He pulled his cloak tighter as a cool breeze tickled his ears. He started thinking about his last moments with Master Teir.

Teir had pulled out a long black cloak from his locked box, the box that Lanue was never allowed to open, and handed it to Lanue. “This will hide you and your gift. You must wear it always.” He reached back into the box and pulled out an amulet. “This will protect the wearer from magic and will not allow the wearer to perform magic. You must study this and use it as needed.” Reaching in the final time he pulled out a pair of arm bands. “These are for the champion.”

“What do they do?”

“I don’t know,” handing them over, the master pulled his hands back and shook them as if expelling dust “they were left to me by my master and the masters before. They hold no Chara, but yet they still vibrate in my soul when I hold them.”

“I don’t feel anything.” Lanue said.

“It was the same when I was younger, it will take time before you can sense it.”

Lanue looked over the pieces carefully. The black cloak looked very ordinary, no expensive stitching or material. However, it was sturdy and would make for a good traveling cloak. The amulet was probably the richest item he had ever handled. The chain was three gold ropes laced with a thin green silk cord. The center piece was an upside down triangle with four loops on the two short sides where the chains connected. The green silk cord connected on the second loop. The triangle plaice had a broken Chara symbol with the green silk holding it in an eyelet shape. Finally, the brown arm bands are made from ordinary leather and had pressed red flames circling them.

“Make sure you focus on children near the age of discovery as they do not have the gift yet. Don’t use your own gifts unless absolutely necessary. Use these.” he handed me a bag of gems and gold coin “... and when that runs out you’ll have to work or hunt. I wished this was different. I wish I could send you out there with an army of warriors. I wish the King didn’t disrespect the intensity of the prophecy. I wish I could go with you, but my duty is to the King and I will fight for his ignorance even if he doesn’t see the Dark men until they are slitting his throat. When you find the champion, take him to the Old one, he’ll know what to do. Now go. Take the tunnels, before they breach the castle.”

Lanue regretted that he left his Master, even to this day. “I hope this quest isn’t in vain Master Teir.” Lanue began to survey his surroundings and preparing for sleep. The dark hunters may not be able to sense him, but they could still see him if he wasn’t careful. It looked like both the hunters and Lanue would be sleeping soon.

---------------- Personal injection to clarify ------------------

My nephew wrote:

“so what im think is you need to put a background to the dark hunters like maybe they were a group of clerics or they were like a rebellion to this far away kingdom who over powered you know something the type of reader you think would read this book would like.”

This made me realize that I didn’t provide him any details on the dark hunters and riders, so here I am providing you with a description. Their first appearance happens shortly after the prophecy and before the scene above. I am not including the introduction scene because I need to save something for the book.

The Dark Hunters have skin that is black with the texture close to a cows hide. They are in-between the size of a horse and that of an elephant. They have wings, which are like a bats where they are flexible and thin. They have four paws and tall legs for there shape, but they look more like a panthers' legs than a horses. The tail reaches to the ground and is as long as a cats would be at their size, but it mostly stays down. The head is a little wide, round, and flat near the bridge of the nose. Now that I’m picturing them the “Dark Furry” from How to Train Your Dragon closely resembles what they look like. Their handicap is that they are not natural flyers and it requires that they touch the ground to rest frequently. Their sense of smell is also weakened when in the air. They can smell and track magic like a dog tracker. They are also trained in battle tactics. Their riders are humans trainers.

The next scene jumps to another character build in the same book.

----- Sometime later on the edge of the kingdom: another chapter starts ----------

On the far east side of Terian a small village begin to wake up and prepare for its Sol’Tin’Nire festival. Every year at the beginning of the day the town’s people would gather on the street with pots filled with dirt. The farmers planted seeds for this year’s harvest, the females of age plant flowers to show the boys they were ready to begin courtship, and the elder would plant tree seeds to symbolize strong life. The Charee would walk through the town and use Chara and water to help the plants grow. By the end of the day the plants and trees were ready to be placed in the ground and the flowers were ready to be picked for headdresses for the evening dance.

Next year Solvey would get to bring a pot of flowers on festival day, until then she helped the town’s people prepare for the day.

---------------- End For Now ------------------

I wanted to explain a little about Lanue’s character traits and Charee. Lanue isn’t a strong character at first. He is the type of boy who works very hard and likes the quiet. He isn’t herioc, he just does his job. By the end of this book he is going to be more of his own person with his own ideas, but he was raised as an apprentice in a blacksmith and then as an apprentice in Chara—living the first half of his life in the role of a student. Charee is another name for "Mage". It is a title that you attach at the end of a mage's name. So Tier Charee was Tier before he became a magic user. Lanue, after his apprenticeship would be Lanue Charee, but he didn't finish under Tier. Chara is the energy that the Charee's use (think of it as Mana).

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading on my most recent dreams. Remember let me know what you think, leave a comment!