10-5-2011

Happy Autumn and Happy October. It's been raining for the past several days, and I love it! Went to Bishops today - it was enjoyable.
Now for the big surprise! I did some writing last night! Nope, I'm not lying; I really did. It was only a page, but definitely better than nothing. I've been doing a lotta thinking about what I'm going to do with story from here. My mind has been clouded for the past month (mostly since the kids have been gone - underneath a cornucopia of other thoughts). But now it's finally clear and I feel like writing again. So I'll hopefully be doing more writing tonight!

9-28-2011

Kittens died yesterday morning. I buried them by the pond at sunrise and stood there for half an hour crying. I was with Stuart when he died – cried the whole time. I know it’s silly, but it’s really hard to watch anything die like that. Good news is I did get a new kitten. His name is Alaric. He is a Maine Coon, and will grow to be quite large.

Got a terrible hair cut today. Almost everyone says I look awful…

9-25-2011

It’s been over a month since I’ve done any work and it is beginning to fall under the pitiful category. I really, really need to get back to work. To be honest, I haven’t even been thinking much about my work lately, which is extremely unordinary for me – it’s usually all I think about. But ever since Tom disappeared with the kids, I haven’t been very focused. I know I’ll see Brandy, Keith, and Lane soon, but chances of ever seeing Tiffany are starting to look thin. I don’t believe I could ever have the capacity to truly hate another human being, but I dislike Tom and Debbie on a very high degree.

                Anyhow, that’s not why I decided to write. The main reason is that I’m hoping this will give me an ounce of inspiration, or at least motivation. “The Phoenix of Azar” will be undergoing some serious changes soon. Nick came up with some very good ideas, which will help me incorporate The Source of Evil more and give Ixion believable motive. However, Cian is giving me quite a bit of difficulty these days, and to be truthful, I’m beginning to forget a lot of what I originally had planned. I’m going to blame it on the continuously changing plot. Lordie, I can’t even think straight right now…

                …Hooked on an amazing song called The Flame of Youth, by Dragonforce. Listening to it now in fact…

                …Sarah threw a party for the kids today. Was interesting – and worth the trouble, I’d say.

                Worst for last: Avery is dead. I can’t believe it’s true, and it’s just now starting to set in as I’m writing this. How can she have died? Didn’t the little idiot know how much I loved her? This is worse than when Arella died, and in the same ranks as when Circle died (Circle was Avery’s older sister from another litter – she looked just like Avery, but instead of having a lightning bolt on her brow, she had a circle, hence the name). Avery left behind two kittens: Stuart and Celina. They are much too young to be without their mother. They can’t even lap milk from a dish yet. I’ve been feeding them every two hours from a medicine syringe. As of this moment, they are both alive, but I’ve been worried for Celina. This morning she was quite sickly. She wasn’t eating well and couldn’t walk. She can walk now, and I’ve been forcing her to eat, but I won’t be surprised if she dies. Unfortunately, I told my little cousin Dani that she could have Celina when the kitten was old and strong enough. Now that the cat is sick, Dani is broken-hearted. I felt so guilty when she found out – she started crying, and I just didn’t know what to say. I can’t lie, then she’d be really disappointed if Celina doesn’t make it. I’m really trying to keep them alive, but I can’t do any more than I can do, right?

9-2-2011

Haven’t done any actual work on the actual novel itself, but I am working on a synopsis. Unlike the last one, this one is chapter by chapter, and a bit more detailed. It’s becoming quite useful, as I’m starting to see issues arise, that I hadn’t seen before, when jumbled in with the mass of text. I have a few things that need to be sorted out – most importantly why Cian wants the princess in book one. I mean, it used to have a purpose, but the more the story changes, the more the purpose becomes completely irrelevant. So now I have to decide why Argent is so important to the main story. Cian is really trying to get to Alexander. The only thing I could see working here, would be if it was his intention to wear Alexander down before making his attack on him. But would kidnapping his children really do the job? And why Argent? Why? Why? Why? I need serious help with this. Just more to think about, I guess.

                I finally decided to change the name if The Shadow Kingdom. From this day forth, it will be called Abaddon, which is the biblical place of destruction.

                …wondering if Leaf becomes too OOC in his confession scene… 

9-1-2011

Happy September! I love this month – it has such a lovely name. It reminds me of the colour green and spices. Before I say anything else, I must announce that Avery has had her kittens (about three days ago). She led me to an opening that went under the house, so I’m guessing that’s where her kittens are hidden. I haven’t seen them yet, but she has evidently been nursing, so that is certainly a good sign!

                I haven’t really done any work at all on XV. Been too stressed out. But I have been able to think a bit more clearly lately, and have been thinking about my writing. Mostly trying to work out issues that already exist, rather than trying to tackle the plot further by pushing forward. I know I’ll have to get there eventually, but I want to make sure I’m completely into what I’m doing when I get there.

                I lost a friend the other day. He said that he couldn’t be my friend unless I agreed to go out with him, or find him a girlfriend. It’s sad, because we were really good friends, but in the end, it was his decision, not mine. And I hope he remembers that.

                On a brighter note, I bought a cd by these two men who call themselves 2Cellos. They are amazing! I’ve never heard such beautiful cello in my life. I’m totally addicted to their music now (and they aren’t too bad looking, either – but men who play cello are sexy. That’s a fact). Before, I really wanted to learn violin, but now I’m considering learning cello. I’m probably too dumb to learn either, anyway. And lessons cost like…way, way, way out of my budget. So maybe I’ll learn the flute instead… 

8-13-2011

Just finished Chapter XIV at fourteen pages, interestingly enough. I’m now at 86,418 words. I’m a bit nervous at the rising word count. I’m now certain that the finished draft will be over 100,000 words. A huge difference from the 71,000 words of the first draft. I’m just hoping to keep it under 112,000 now. I’ll just have to wait and see. And I’m really glad to have gotten the chapter finished! November will be the two year mark for the start of the book.

                I decided to change the name of the realm from The Realm Beyond to Royaume-delà, the French term that translates to The Realm Beyond, but means afterlife kingdom. I’m still in awe over that. But I really like the sound of Royaume-delà. Now I just have to learn how to pronounce the word.

                School starts in two days! Well it’s 10:30 pm right now, so in an hour and a half I can say that school starts tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it, but I hope that I can get the FA situation figured out. If I don’t get the money, I’ll have to drop out for the semester, and I’ll lose my Medi-Cal. Don’t want that to happen!

8-12-2011

Did a bit of work on some previous chapters tonight. I’ve decided to make Argent and Whisker meet Ixion instead of Pothandas in the portal. I also cut out Pothandas from the prologue. I figured he was in on the action too soon after being kidnapped by The Shadow Kingdom. I still have a long way to go, including moving forth from where I am now, and going back again for more tweaking.

                I’ve been doing some plotting for the final battle. Haven’t worked it all out yet, though. I am really thinking about bringing Juanita into the action. I think it would add a bit of humor (at least, what I have planned certainly would). My idea is to make her pose as a soothsayer in order to distract either Ixion or Jeremiah. Not sure which, yet. Or maybe it will be a good portion of the army.

                Also thinking more about how to involve Tanner more into the storyline. I’ll think of something eventually.

                Thinking about it, it’s funny how many names other people have helped me come up with. Tanner was one of them, chosen by an old classmate. Sarah came up with a lot of them, including Alevus, Airmid’s last child, and Pothandas. And a few others have thrown some in. Well, at least I can take the glory for most of them. I love coming up with names – but not nearly as much as I love writing about the characters! If I ever get this finished, it will be the first novel that I have completed through and through (because single drafts of other works don’t really count). I’m more enthused about this one than I have ever been about any others.

                Oh, yeah! Avery is pregnant! I was hoping she’d hold out until I got her spayed, but Oliver just never could let her be. I hope she takes care of them – our cats have a tendency to abandon their kittens (but that’s usually the grey ones who do that). I hope she gets through the pregnancy and birthing okay. She is a runt, so she’s awfully small. Best of luck to my baby.