Tuesday’s Society Thoughts #urbanfiction #fiction #fantasy #amwriting #edit

I’m going to keep this rather short this week.  Due to a change in my work hours, trying to write a normal post takes more effort than I can give.  I may go in to work later, but that also means I don’t get home until later which makes everything else done later.  These posts come too close to bedtime for the time being.

Yes, I know I can write them as soon as I log in, but I have my habit set and changing that will take time.  So will adjusting to these later hours.

I need to make SoNL my obsession if I am to get anything at all done with the editing and revising process.  It needs to be the only thing I think about when I’m not thinking about my son and the bills I need to pay.

Thanks to a friend of mine over on FA, I have a way to bring more clarity to my characters.  Not just in Society of Night and Lies, but in all my stories.  This includes my cliché ridden novel in progress, Way of the Comet.  It’s quite simple, too.

What I found is one of those meme things you see traveling around the internet.  In the furry fandom, they do a lot of traveling; some more than others.  This one is a bit long, but it asks for details to give someone a good picture of what their personality is like.  The characters I’ll be using it on first will be in SoNL.  They need the most clarification; most especially Sabrina and Jason.

Though it isn’t seen now, they will build a relationship that goes beyond friendship, but not before they see it ripped to shreds in book two, and built back up and flourishing in book three once Jason realizes a few things.  There is a lot of time passing between the three books in which I’ll be doing all of this.

Between book one and book two, there will be a year or two.  Between book two and three, about eight years or so and things have changed as far as their personal relationship goes and how she is seen by her boss (Mindy’s husband) and others.

With this meme, I’ll interview each character.  I may post Sabrina, Jason, and Mindy’s completed memes.  But then again, you all may get to see each of these characters.  Dean, the main antagonist, you’ll love to hate as much as I so.  With Gerin, the man who took Sabrina in, gave her an education and encouraged her to do her best in everything, including killing, you may feel some pity for him, but then again, you may dislike him for the same reasons Sabrina does.

Have you found ways to make your characters seem more real?

Black Friday on Sunday #amwriting #fiction #fantasy

I’ve started plotting out a few things which will be happening to the current group of therians Karina has to watch over now that they’ve finally found shelter.  Yes, I did say plotting out.  I do plan things once in a while, but usually when I need to have a clear idea of what is to happen when and how in a particular time frame.

As I’ve said before, they now have shelter.  There’s a problem.  This shelter has been abandoned for a while.  Say a couple of years while the owners wait for someone to buy it.  Perhaps the previous owners forgot about it or in the shuffle of papers, the inheritors never found out they have a nice little mountain resort to sell or fix up.  Either way, the place is in disrepair.

This means that Marcus and Nick have to scrounge up wood or other materials to cover holes in the roof, the walls, create some kind of bedding for them to curl up on at night, as well as someone finding food.  After their long trek, everyone is hungry.

This is what I imagine the main building Karina and company found to take shelter from the impending blizzard. I could not find the person who took this photo or I’d give proper credit.

In this group of 15 or 20 therians, they have a decent mix of skills to use if they need it.  The question is, which ones were injured due to falls along the trail or fights among the rest of the group.  All of them will have to do something to make sure they are comfortable.

I do have one little dilemma to consider.  Would the previous owners of this resort have left behind things like sheets, blankets and other things, or would they have all been gathered up and sold or put into storage someplace?

That also brings up the question, was this resort closed before the spring re-opening, before being closed for the season, or after winter was over?  Those questions would help decide how much and what kind of stuff was left behind for this poor ragtag group to use until they can move on in warmer weather.

It is a possibility that they could live there for several years as others come to join them.  Eventually, Karina and her core crew will leave to bring in others and to make awareness of their kind less shocking to the bible thumpers and the rednecks and crazy people who think they are abominations.  I need to study more about the civil rights movement to get a better feel of what they’ll be encountering in the coming future.

Talk about a lot of work to do for just one book.  I have an idea how the elitist church goers will react.  I meet plenty of them every day at work.

Sunday Excerpt #fiction #fantasy #amwriting #excerpt

Tonight, I decided to blend two posts into one.  Since I post an excerpt of random stories on Sundays and this is also the day I talk a little about Black Friday and/or Black Friday 2, I figure I may as well make them the same post this time.  Makes sense and I can sit back to watch Food Network or maybe get a quick role-play in before bedtime.  Either way, it’s much easier for me.  Don’t expect this to happen every week.  I don’t want to give away too much of the story.

With this being my last day of vacation, I thought I would make things simpler for you, my readers and friends.

Today’s excerpt comes from the last half what I’ve written for chapter nine in book 2 of Black Friday.  They have just found the place both Karina and others have seen in dreams and visions.  As tired as what they are, there is still work to do and Karina, her husband, adopted son, and their group’s ‘healer’, they prepare to weather out the coming storm.

Marcus’ look of surprised couldn’t be hidden. He stared at me, swallowed then started to ask, but I stopped him with a nod. “Yes, she did. Let’s go, now.”

“Okay everybody!” He clapped his hands together as he turned to face the group of weary shifters. “I need you to bear with us. Shelter has been found and it is a short distance from here. We can all rest there and avoid any other weather that is heading for us.” He then motioned to the building clouds then motioned to me. “Lead the way, my love. You know where this shelter is.”

I smiled at him then licked his cheek before giving my attention to everyone. “It’s only a couple of miles from here. If we support each other, we get there in no time. It’s all downhill, into a valley, and the path looks reasonably clear from what I can tell. Just stick close and don’t wander off without telling someone. If you get lost, we may not be able to find you before the storm gets here.”

There was a lot of grumbling and moaning as tired therians got to their feet. They only had a short rest and that didn’t do much for them. But, knowing they were going to be in a decent shelter, not some cold cave, they didn’t gripe too much.

Getting everyone moving, even the injured on their stretchers, wasn’t easy. Finding the path down into the valley wasn’t easy. It was an overgrown trail almost completely hidden by new growth from the years of neglect, but a few markers showed us the way.

The path wound about, seeming to go nowhere except to give glimpses of the compound below and how close we were getting. With skeletal branches intertwining over us, we could barely see the gray clouds blotting out the paler clouds above and what little sunlight we were getting. It felt like the trek down was taking forever and everyone was starting to mutter and growl their displeasure until at long last, we found the end of the trail leading out into the wide pasture.

It was open land, no trees to take cover in or to break the wind that was starting to whistle through the trees. Anything would be able to see us as we traversed the wide space of snow.

Marcus, Nahana, and I went first to make sure it was all clear. We kept low to the ground, moving on all fours as we were meant to be and keeping our bellies close to the ground. We split up to sniff the air and see if anyone was around before we stood and beckoned the rest to follow. The place was abandoned, not a sound or scent to be found that was recent except for wild creatures stopping by to make use of the pasture or the shelter of the buildings.

I kept an eye on the line of tired wolves, deer, and other therians behind us; making sure no one fell behind. Those that did fall, I rushed back to help Nahana get them back on their feet and offer words of encouragement. They didn’t have much further to go. They can rest inside and we’ll have a fire roaring to keep us warm.

Worry for them filled my heart as they all stumbled toward the building. It seemed so very far away at that point. But, I had to stay strong for them and keep them moving.

As I turned my attention to the building clouds, snow started to fall and the wind became colder. The shiver than ran down my spine raised fur and set my teeth to chattering against my will. Not wanting to leave anyone behind, I plunged through the snow to get the last two, both deer-kin, and helped them get to our new home. The last several feet, I was carrying them, both too exhausted to take another step.

Inside, it was cold. We could feel drafts coming from under the door and around the windows. There was debris all over the place that blew in from a storm sometime in the past. As cold as what it was, it was better than being out in the cold.

“Marcus, Nahana, Nick, we need to gather up wood for a fire and try to fix those drafts.” I looked from one to the other as I rested my hands on their shoulders. “Nahana, you and Nick go gather some firewood and kindling. Marcus and I will start working on plugging the drafts.”

“What about Takesha, Karina?” Nick looked, his eyes questioning and filled with worry for this rag-tag group of therians.

I shook my head and offered a little smile. “She’s tired. Let her rest for now and help tend to the injured. If she needs help, Marcus and I can lend a hand. Don’t worry about her, or anyone else. Just get us that wood and quickly. It’s already started to snow.”

Nick sighed then nodded. “Okay. We won’t be long.”

As I grasped his shoulder, I smiled at him, showing my approval. “Just hurry, son. We’re all tired and we need you to help lead.”

He hugged me; something he hadn’t done since we left First Home, then gave Nahana a gentle shove toward the door. It’ll warm up with all the bodies in there, but a fire will help keep the rest of the cold at bay.

Progress on Society

No, not today’s society.  No one wants to listen to my opinions on the atrocious degradation of today’s society.  We’ll save that for a very special post on another blog that few will ever see.  Nah, the society in question tonight is Society of Night and Lies.  (Honestly, I still need to come up with a book title. That’s the trilogy title.)

Since the weekend I have pondered how I should re-write chapter eight.  This chapter is Sabrina tells her past to Jason.  For a while I have asked myself ‘Why would she be telling anyone that much about her past?  That wasn’t what he was wanting to know.’  Then, last night, while I am letting my mind relax by playing a few rounds of Jewels Legend in bed and the idea comes to me.  Instead of totally re-writing this chapter, change it so there are internal thoughts which will tell the reader the how and why, but have her only give the more pertinent information in the dialog of their conversation.

Sabrina has kept her past a secret for a while.  There’s no real need to blab about it to someone she’s only known part of that time.  Sure, she trusts Jason, but she isn’t sure where his allegiances lie because the Claw and Fang want him dead and they want her to do the deed.  For all she knows, he could be working for another, similar, group and she has been targeted by them.  While possible, nothing has been said about it in the past and he’s acting pretty secretive as well.

There’s a twist to add into the story.  I’ll have to think about that while I go over chapter eight.

Which brings me to something else.  I need to download and re-read the short stories the creator of this world and owner/player of the character Jason Foxworth (who is a totally awesome guy, good looking and very talented).   He will be getting the main mention when it comes time to publish.  This is his world and I’m only borrowing it for this trilogy.  I’m just glad he’s allowing me to use it and publish.

Back to the original topic…

This will definitely work this chapter, but I’ll have to see if it’ll work for the others where she’s going on about her past.  Only this one has any real information that useful. The rest, I think, can be cut down to a paragraph or two and worked into the ongoing story.

Be honest, does this sound like a workable solution to prevent a lot of re-writing?

On a side note, tomorrow, the 9th, is my 41st birthday.  It’s amazing I managed to live this long without something going horribly wrong considering the accidents I’ve had in youth.  So, if there’s no post tomorrow, you now know why.