Itās been a while since Iāve posted about my progress, or lack thereof, on my writing.
Initiate of Stone
Iāve been struggling to rewrite my first chapter.Ā Iāve now made progress, after writing, and rewriting it several times.Ā I really had to go back and decide what it was necessary to accomplish in my opening chapter.
A short list:
- Introduce my protagonist ā Ferathainn, or Fer, is fifteen, and her coming of age is in two moons, at the next goddess festival, Sestaya.Ā She wants to become an Agrothe mage, and will be the first girl to do so in a very long time, but she chafes under the tutelage of her master, Aeldred.Ā Fer has been studying from the moment she wakes to the moment she sleeps (except festival days) with Master Aeldred for 12 turnings of the sun through the seasons, but itās all been mundane. Heās forbidden her from using her innate talent, to speak with the spirits, or souls, of animals, plants, elements, and perhaps even people, like he controls who the spirits speak to …Ā Fer desperately wants to be initiated so she can start using her talent and learning ārealā magick.Ā She knows sheās capable of more than what Master Aeldred permits her to do.Ā The process is long and demanding, though, and she will have to make sacrifices.Ā She loves Leaf, the eleph finiris, or song master, and will marry him on Sestaya as well.Ā She sees her astara, or soul-lights, in his eyes, something that only the eleph are supposed to see.Ā Sheās not so sure about children, though they seem to be the natural consequence of marriage.Ā Sheās just been so long separated from other girls her age by her studies that she wants something that everyone else takes for granted.Ā Fer worries that love, marriage, and family will be the sacrifices that she will have to make to become a mage.Ā Sheās determined to have at least love in addition to the solitary life of a mage.
- The ānormalā world ā Hartsgrove, Ferās village, is a āfree townā and the eleph and people of Tellurin live side-by-side in relative peace.Ā Itās an agrarian village that sends tributes to the surrounding, larger, towns and cities to show fealty and secure support in times of need. Ā The predominant religion is worship of the Goddess Auraya, creatrix of Tellurin.Ā Every year the season of Vedranya brings deadly storms to besiege the land.Ā This has been the way of things since the Cataclysm, two centuries before, changed the face of Tellurin and reduced much of Tellurin civilization to rubble.Ā Fer lives in a small, but sturdy cottage, with her mother and father, Selene and Devlin, a seer and a bard respectively, and her younger half-sister, Aislinn.Ā She has never left Hartsgrove.
- Hook the reader ā Whatās the root cause of Ferās resentment of her master, the man who could grant her wish to become a mage?Ā Why does he want to keep her from using her talent?
- Ask a question (that needs to be answered by the end of the novel) ā What is the secret Master Aeldred feared so much he magickally bound Ferās friends and family to silence?
- Foreshadow the inciting event ā An earth elemental, or nomi, tells Fer the secret is a potentially deadly one though it cannot more than hint at the nature of the secret; she must be strong to face the trials to come.
So Iām slowly working my way through the list without dumping too much backstory or world building on the reader.Ā Beginnings, why are you so hard?
Some links about beginnings:
On a whim, Iāve signed up for Margie Lawsonās course, A Deep Editing Guide to Making Your Openings Pop, starting May 6, 2013.Ā She focuses on psycho-linguistic and rhetorical techniques to improve your writing.Ā My undergrad was focused on rhetoric and I love psychology, linguistics, and brain science, so this looks like itās right up my alley.Ā Will let you know how it goes.
I might do the crazy and send my beginning (when Iām more or less happy with it) to Ray Rhameyās Flogging the Quill to see if it passes his test.Ā Stay tuned.
Short Stories and poetry
Well, so far, Iāve kept up with Kasie Whitenerās Just Write short story challenge.Ā Iāve written a completely new short story for each of January, February, and March.Ā Iām a little behind in April, and may opt for flash fiction to make up the short fall.
The short story that I revised and sent to On Spec in January has been accepted (!)Ā I am very (like !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) excited about this, even though I know that it wonāt be in print until sometime next year.Ā Iām looking forward to working with their editorial team to whip āDowntimeā into shape.
āBeneath the Foundations (original story #2),ā my attempt at medieval Cthulian for Sword and Mythos was rejected.
āA Terrible Thingā was rejected by the editors of Tesseracts 17.
Itās too early to have heard back from either Writers of the Future, to whom I sent āThe Gabriel,ā or In Places Between, to which I submitted āMolly Finder (original short story #3).ā
There wasnāt room for my poem āperegrineā on the League of Canadian Poets National Poetry Month blog, but I have subsequently submitted that poem plus two more, ācontain youā and āinfant crawls,ā to Sulphur.
From last yearās submissions, I learned that my submission to Mark Leslieās Spooky Sudbury will be included in the publication, and my poem, ānorth of thuleā was included in the fabulous Sopphey Vanceās Enhance no. 11.Ā It’s been a good month (and a bit) for happy dancing!
Iām going to work on something flashy this week to round out Aprilās short story quota, and set to work on another original for May in hopes of garnering some attention in the Rannu Fund competition.
Iāve joined Khara Houseās May submit-o-rama and have committed to 1 submission per week in the Choose Your Own Challenge category.Ā Rannu will make up only one of those, so Iāll have to get my arse moving on identifying other submission opportunities (!)
Critiquing
Actually finished the BIG critique for my online group and am working on a review of the first 100 pages of another online critique buddy.
Have only three people left to critique for the Sudbury Writersā Guild before Iām caught up with them.Ā Weāre trying to get our stories and poetry together for an anthology.Ā I put forward āA Terrible Thingā and āOld Crow,ā another short story of mine that was rejected by Tyche Books last year (Masked Mosaic anthology).Ā It looks like āOld Crowā might be salvageable as a short story, but that āA Terrible Thing,ā as editors have saidāand Iāve thoughtāin the past, is really a novel in the making.
Conferences
A local effort, Wordstock, will be happening June 7 and 8 at the Sudbury Theatre Centre.Ā This is the first year for the event, and the organizers are hoping to build on what they hope to be this yearās success.Ā The SWG has a block of time for readings.
Iāve registered for the Canadian Authors Association CanWrite! conference in Orillia, June 12-16, and booked my room in the Orillia campus of Lakehead University.
Iām still waffling about When Worlds Collide August 9-11.Ā The registration fee is reasonable in the extreme, but I still have to bear the cost of the flight and accommodation.
One reason Iām waffling is because I want to go to the Surrey International Writersā Conference this year (Oct 25-27).Ā Domestic flights are sooooo expensive.Ā Right now, a return to either Calgary or Vancouver for the conference dates is showing as over $1000.Ā It may be an either/or kind of thing for me.Ā Or I might just cash in my Avion or Aeroplan points for one or the other flight.Ā Thatās an idea!Ā Thanks for letting me suss that one out online š
I think thatās all the conferencing I can take for this year.Ā Next year, I hope to add some fancons like Ad Astra.Ā Weāll see how the financial situation sits.Ā And my various air rewards plan balances š
Other stuff
Taxes done and refund received š
Am still putting off the decision to move to WordPress.org.Ā I think I just need some dedicated time to devote to research and reflection.
Hope all is well with you and your writing lives.
Iād love to hear from you about your latest literary adventures!
Tonightās viewing line-up: Doctor Who and Orphan Black!
Tomorrow, Iāll share my thoughts on happiness and how my experiences have influenced my writing in the final instalment of a life sentence with mortal punctuation.
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