Moon Shadows Prologue

So, as is my custom I am posting the prologue to the book I am currently working on here.

Enjoy.

They came from the cities, the fields, the forests, the mountains. They did not follow the moon or the sun. They did navigate the stars, would not have if they knew how. They used roads only as long as the roads were moving in the same direction they were travelling. They did not know where they were going, but they walked in the direction they were called.
The journey would take some of them weeks to complete, as they came from farther away. Even the closest took days to reach the journey’s end. They did not stop to eat or to drink or to sleep. They were sustained by something beyond them so that they were not troubled by bodily concerns.
In the moment, they could not say why they were doing travelling. Afterwards, they would not remember doing so. They gathered because they had to gather.
A small trickle of individuals became a stream, which eventually joined other streams, until these joined together to form a nation; they arrived at the same time in the same place.
They gathered together away from the eyes of the world in a place that history had forgotten.
Under the light of day they told the history of their people in a dead language. Under the light of the moon they sang songs forgotten by the rest of the world. They celebrated their lives. They danced and became themselves. Then they became more than themselves. They became the essence of their people. They became free. They became shadows in front of the moon.

First post of 2010!

Well, I'm not sure why I am writing this blog post. This blog should have died with 2009, but I find myself unable to resist updating here occasionally.

Let's start with November and the Nanowrimo challenge. I failed! 10,000 words and then life caught up with me. It might have helped to have a computer at home, but I don't know for sure. November was a busy month. I did learn that I didn't like writing as fast as I was writing (I was putting out 2000 words a day). I wouldn't mind putting out that many words a day, if I had all day to do it. That is, if writing was my day job.

We got a new computer for Christmas, which makes it much easier for me to maintain my writing habit. I tried on several attempts to revitalize my work in progress "Soul Mating" (formerly known as Progression). However, the multiple starts and stops have made me unenthusiastic about the project. I don't remember what I've written so I have to reread each time I go back to it, and the inertia is gone. I've officially placed it in a coma (it's not dead yet) and moved on to a new book.

This book has the working title "Moon Shadows." Trina's not a fan of the title. Neither am I, but it gives me something to refer to the project by, and it makes me laugh at the same time. I have no idea what this book is about. Well, correction. I have an idea, but it's a small one. And it's got me excited. I can't go into the details here, but it was an idea I've had since high school. However, the idea is just a background. A puzzle to be solved. I have no idea who my characters are, my world, or how to solve the problem. I'm just writing it, and letting these things show up as they become necessary. I'm sure the first draft will be ridiculously bad, but I'm enjoying the writing again.

And that's what I'm writing.

NaNoWriMo

It is November, which means National Novel Writing Month. 30 days to write 50,000 words. Considering all of my other obligations, it is a near impossible challenge. And I look forward to it. It also means that my other writings will be put on hold for the entire month. I'll try and keep you updated on my progress.

Basein Draft 2 Finished

The title says it all. I finished editing Basein. It got cut down a little so that it is about 290 pages, and 90,000 words.

I am happy with it. Of course, it still needs a lot of work, but I don't have it in me to go over it again...and I don't think I really have anything else to give it. Not without feedback. So it's feedback time.

Who wants to read it?

Basein Revision Update

It's been a big push over the last week and I have spent a lot of time revising Basein (while not neglecting work or home in my opinion). I pat myself on the back because I have reached the halfway point. This means the end is a long way off, but I have less to do than I've already done. That's exciting.

Basein Revision Update

Well, lack of a computer does horrible things to someone who wants to write every day. I've been limited to 2 options: 1) Write by hand or 2) Don't write. Guess which one I have been doing?

On the bright side, I now have a computer at home. It is only on a temporary basis, but it has done wonders for my book revision, if not my actual new writing. I hope to work up to that. I have a fairly busy load, and it is cutting out the unnecessary things like television that will allow me to get everything in. So far television is winning. When Anna watches Spongebob I can't help but get sucked in.

Anyway, it has been good for my revision process. I had hoped to be done by the beginning of September. Obviously that didn't happen. I am now setting myself a much more conservative goal of Christmas. It will be my Christmas present to all of you loyal fans (read: Cheapskate).

For actual details though, I am now 1/3 of the way through the revision process and the novel has grown to over 300 pages. I have seen a lot of areas where it needs fleshing out, and have grown to notice my repetitive word choice, and how often I slip in to passive voice. I have also noticed that the characters really exist in my mind. There have been little to know visual descriptions of the characters...a fact driven home to me as I create character profiles along with my revisions and most of them are fairly scarce. I might take a few days to flesh out the profiles alone and then add them back into the story. That will most likely happen between draft two and three though.

How does this affect you? I am going to ask readers for what they thought characters looked like, sounded like, etc. Based on their language and actions, what did you envision? If I get a lot of similar responses I will mold my characters in that direction.

Vacation and Moving

I recently went to a family reunion where I had limited computer access (read 'none'). That was followed by returning to Utah with my absent family. We returned with no place to live, but I had my office. So there was computer access, but limited.

Needless to say, with these two events new writing and revising took an instant back seat. It was always on my mind, but with no good way to remedy the lack. Today I took control again. I won't be up to daily for a while, but I can make good progress.

The first novel is now 1/4th of the way through its first minor revision. You won't be seeing it by September 1st, but you will see it before the year is out. Look for it.