The Lies We Tell

We’re a society of liars. Don’t believe me? We tell lies on a daily basis. Your preschooler shows the picture he drew at school and you tell him it’s beautiful, even though you’re not sure what it is. Your friend shows off her new hair style and you tell her it looks great, even though it doesn’t.

They’re polite lies, perhaps, but lies nonetheless. But they’re not the only lies we tell. Ready for some more?

A bald-faced, or barefaced lie is a shameless lie that is undisguised. It can be so audacious that a person might actually believe it to be true.

A big lie is one that tries to trick the victim into believing something, well, big. If common sense is used this lie doesn’t usually hold water, but if it’s of sufficient magnitude it may succeed.

A black lie is callous and selfish. The worst are harmful to others and the sole purpose is gain something we want at someone else’s expense.

A gray lie is reciprocal lie. It’s told partly to help others and partly to help ourselves. The idea is for you to lie for a friend to help them out of a tight spot, and they’ll do the same for you.

An honest lie isn’t meant to misinform, the person telling it doesn’t realize their information is false. Technically, it’s not really a lie because there’s no intent to deceive.

A jocose lie is intended to be taken as a joke. It’s considered to be humorous, as in storytelling where the narrator insists the story is the absolute truth.

Lying by omission is when important information is left out of an explanation. The person tells most of the truth, but leaves out a few pertinent facts.

A noble lie is told to maintain law, order, and safety. While it might cause friction if discovered, it’s meant to be beneficial to all.

A pathological liar tells compulsive lies without a clear motive. It’s often a symptom of an underlying mental health condition. The person may be aware they’re lying, but more often believe they’re telling the truth, unaware they’re relating fantasies.

A red lie is driven by the motive to harm others even if it means harming yourself. It’s about spite and revenge. When we are angry at others, when we feel a sense of betrayal, we may tell a red lie to seek what we perceive as justice.

Which brings us back to polite lies:
“Oh, I love that band!” – when you don’t.
“I don’t mind.” – when you do.
“I can’t help it…” – when you can.
“It’s okay!” — when it’s not.

A polite lie, or white lie, is very common in our society and is often praised as an essential tool in communication. Of all the lies we tell, it’s the most harmless and often told in order to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. Sometimes people can be upset by the truth, especially when it’s something they don’t want to hear.

So … how many different kinds of lies have you told today?

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Wordage Report

New Words:

Driving Into Forever – 0 words
Blog Posts – 995+0+580+1180= 2,755
Total = 2,755

It was not a good week, writing wise. I had some personal stuff going on that kind of over-rode everything else. It’s not going to go away, but I’m dealing.

Editing:

No editing, for much the same reason as above.

What I’m Reading:

After finishing Shelter in Place, I seemed to have slid back into a Nora Roberts mood reading the Obsession, the Liar, and Under Currents one right after the other.

I tried to pace myself with White Wolf Mate, by Anastasia Wilde, but I kinda zipped through it and I’ve started Tiger Mate, which is the third of the Silverlake Shifters boxed set.

Goals

Obviously meeting my goals was kind of a bust last week; hopefully I’ll do better this week.

This Week’s Goals

1. Finish the edits on Blood Ties.
2. Finish the index cards for DIF or find a new way to outline.
3. Come up with a new non-fiction series for Wednesday.
4. Crochet or read as needed for breaks.

Let’s hope this week is better than the last.

The Eros Portal

I don’t know why I skipped the 2015 NaNo, but I’ve regretted it ever since because it broke my streak. But in 2016 I was back with a vengeance with the Eros Portal. This was one of those stories that just seemed to write itself, and it’s only missing one scene to make it completely finished.

It’s a fun, science fiction romance about a scientist on a distant world that uses a person's DNA to open a portal close to wherever their perfect mate can be found. But on the test run of the machine, unbeknownst to the scientist, the machine is activated by not one, but two sets of DNA. The woman who steps through the portal may not be the mate that's expected.

This excerpt is from the beginning where the woman in question stumbles across the portal while looking for the cat she was looking after for a friend, and who escaped out into the snow.

Makayla trudged on for another twenty minutes or so before she could no longer see where she was going. Had she been able to, she would have seen how the tracks circled back towards her house about fifteen of those twenty minutes ago. What she thought were tracks were really just the indentations made when small clumps of snow fell off of the tree branches in the faint wind that had sprung up.

“Damn it!” She looked around and realized the sun had set. With no clear idea of how far she had come, she could be in serious trouble here. She’d always wanted to live out in the country, so the surrounding woods had been a big selling point of her house. And while it was great in the summer to have the privacy and few neighbours, in the winter it felt very isolated.

Everything looked the same in the dark. If she was lucky, she’d be able to retrace her steps. If not, she’d be as lost as Mittens.

“Stupid damn cat,” she muttered under her breath.

A flash of blue light off to the right caught her attention. It flickered, like the light bulb was about to burn out. It couldn’t be from the highway, could it? She’d been walking for a while but she didn’t think she’d walked that far. And she hadn’t been going in that direction, unless she got turned around somehow.

Didn’t most people walk in circles when they walked without something to guide them? But that didn’t really make sense either, she didn’t have a blue light in her house. Shrugging, she made for the light anyway. Light meant people, so even if it wasn’t her house it was bound to be one of her neighbors, not that she had many of those.

The light was further away than she thought and she was getting dangerously chilled. Her fingers were totally numb. What kind of an idiot took off in the dark in nothing but a sweater? No hat, no gloves ... But the sweater had been right there and she would have lost precious time going back through the house to the back door for her coat. This is what came of being in such a rush. She was probably going to end up frozen to death while Mittens was curled up on her porch having a nap.

The light was still ahead of her, and the woods were growing denser. Had the trees been this close together on her way in? She pushed through some shrubbery that still had a few dead leaves attached to it and stopped to stare. A doorway of iridescent blue light filled the space between two slender trees.

“What the hell?”

Makayla took a single step forward and stopped again. Then she took a couple of steps to the side and the door seemed to disappear. Moving back to her original position, the door shimmered into view again.

As curious as the cat she’d been looking for, Makayla moved forward, one step at a time. A ripple went through the shimmering blue and she paused for a second. The light settled back into a staticky glow, like the snow on the TV when the cable went out.

Another step closer and the snow turned blue again and seemed to clear a bit. It was almost translucent. One more step and she could see vague images in it. It wasn’t the woods in behind it, it was something else altogether. Some place else.

Maybe it was some kid’s science project - holograms or something like that. His parents probably made him set it up out in the woods in case of accidents. Like, if something shorted out and set fire to something. It was pretty advanced looking, if that’s what it was.

One more step and she was able to reach out and touch it. It tingled on her fingertips, a ripple effect spreading out where she touched. It wasn’t until she tried to pull her hand away that she realized what a stupid thing it had been to do. She appeared to be stuck fast.

Makayla yanked her arm back but her fingers remained glued to the shimmer. In fact, it actually seemed like the shimmer was pulling her hand further in.

“Oh, no no no!” She twisted and turned her hand and her fingers turned easily, but they wouldn’t let go. “Hello? Is anybody out here?” What kind of person set something like this up in the middle of the woods and then just abandoned it?

“Hey! I could use some help here,” she yelled. Surely whoever made this couldn’t be too far away. Wouldn’t they need to monitor it or something? “Look, I’m sorry I touched your experiment or whatever, but I need you to shut it off.”

There was no answer. Millimetre by millimetre her hand was being enveloped in the glowing light. No matter how much she pulled it refused to let go of her again. Digging her heels in she tried to wrench free, but slipped on the damp ground and only succeeded in causing her whole arm to become enveloped.

Panting from the effort, she glanced around but she was surrounded by darkness. It was getting really cold out. It was starting to hurt to breathe. She didn’t bother calling out again, if there really was someone out there it was obvious they were only going to watch, not help.

While the point of contact with the light tingled, the rest of her arm didn’t seem to be affected at all. She tried wiggling her fingers, but the rippling effect made it impossible to see through the door. Looking at the ground where the light made it easier to see, she looked for an electrical cord or whatever was powering the thing. There was nothing that she could see.

There weren’t many options here. Maybe she should just get it over with. Steeling herself, Makayla took a deep breath and then stepped through the doorway. She was aware of light and heat and then nothing at all.

Seven Wonders Part VII the Lighthouse of Alexandria

Ptolemy Soter commissioned the construction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which was also known as Pharos Lighthouse, so named for the island it was built on. Architect Sostratos of Knidos started construction of it in 270 B.C. The lighthouse was not completed until after Soter’s death, when his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus came to power.

The cost of its erection was eight hundred talents, they say; and, not to omit the magnanimity that was shown by King Ptolemæus on this occasion, he gave permission to the architect, Sostratus of Cnidos, to inscribe his name upon the edifice itself. The object of it is, by the light of its fires at night, to give warning to ships, of the neighbouring shoals, and to point out to them the entrance of the harbour. — Pliny the Elder

Constructed from large blocks of light-coloured stone, the tower was made up of three sections: a lower square section with a central core, a middle octagonal section, and, at the top, a circular section. The Pharos' masonry blocks were interlocked, sealed together using molten lead, to withstand the pounding of the waves.

The lowest, square part was almost 200 feet high. It is believed this section had 364 rooms measuring from ten to twenty cubits square. The rooms were designed with vents and windows in order to absorb gusts of wind against the Lighthouse reducing the risk of collapse. These rooms were covered with beams of teakwood and an arch of stones, cemented and decorated. There were also a series of 72 wide ramps creating access to the top of the Lighthouse. Viewing galleries were constructed on the second and third levels of the structure where visitors could experience a view from nearly 400 feet high.

The interior of the upper two sections had a shaft with a dumbwaiter that was used to transport fuel up to the fire. Wood was scarce in Egypt and the fire for the beacon was most likely fuelled by bundles of papyrus roots, which was often used as firewood. Whatever the source, the light from it would have been greatly increased by the mirror.

There are many legends and myths surrounding the mirror. Some say that the mirror was used as a weapon to concentrate the rays of the sun to set enemy ships on fire as they approached the harbour. Other myths refer to the use of a powerful telescope which was located at the top of the Lighthouse which used refracting mirrors to magnify objects.

The Lighthouse stood for 1,500 years. As happened to so many ancient buildings, earthquakes eventually brought it down. The first one, in 1303, shook up the entire area; the second one, 20 years later, did significant structural damage. By this time, the Lighthouse had fallen into disrepair. In 1480, Sultan Qaitbay used the stone and marble that had once made up the Lighthouse to build a fort on the very spot where the Lighthouse once stood.

In 1994 archaeologists found large blocks underwater that they believe to have been part of the Pharos Lighthouse. In 2016, the Ministry of State of Antiquities in Egypt made a plan to turn submerged ruins of ancient Alexandria, including those of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, into an underwater museum. In a few years visitors may be able to rent scuba gear and dive in the bay among the remains of the great Pharos Lighthouse.

Socially Inept

Anyone remember ICQ? I miss ICQ. I miss logging on with a made-up name and talking with people from all over the world who are also using made-up names. It was fun and harmless. It was the first social media I ever experienced and I remember it fondly.

I have to admit, I find a lot of the social media for this day and age a little intimidating. Okay, make that a lot intimidating.

Chat rooms don’t seem to be much of a thing anymore, but I found them a little scary. It’s like going to a party where you don’t know anyone and by the time you work up the nerve to join the conversation everyone has moved on to a different topic.

Twitter is worse. It’s like a chat room the whole world is using all at once. Sure the messages are short, only 140 characters, but the speed with which those messages stream by is insane. By the time you type a reply to one message, another 100 have appeared.

I do spend a fair amount of time on Facebook, it’s more my speed. Admittedly most of what I do is scroll down my newsfeed, occasionally post, and sometimes comment on something a friend has posted. It’s a great way to kill an afternoon or evening.

I have not yet signed up for Instagram, but I know a lot of people who have. From what I understand it’s owned by Facebook and used mostly for sharing photos and videos. So why wouldn’t you just post them on Facebook?

I have yet to be sucked into the Pinterest universe either. Many have tried, but I have remained steadfast in my resistance. I actually know very little about it, other than you can “pin” interesting ideas or images or whatever to “boards” and then put them in categories to keep them organized. Sounds like an amazing time suck, and I already waste enough time on the internet.

I don’t know much about TikTok either, other than it’s Chinese in origin and seems to be geared more to the younger crowd.

I admit to being a little envious of those people on TV who use their tablets like video phones – I’d love to be able to do that. The camera in my lap top doesn’t work (something about the drivers that I can’t seem to resolve) so I have not Facetimed or video chatted and to be honest Zoom seems too much like a chatroom, only worse because you can see who you're talking to and they can see you.

Jeez, I don’t even think I was this socially inept in high school!

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

New Words:

Driving Into Forever – 0 words
Blog Posts – 1056+581+526+1290=3,453
Total = 3,453

Still working on the index cards for Driving Into Forever. I think this might take forever.

While I managed to do Monday’s post last week, I probably won’t this week. Once again there’s been nothing interesting going on and we’re not expecting the final delivery from the cabinet people until Tuesday, so there won’t be any kitchen progress to report until after that.

Editing:

I slacked off last week, according to TraxTime – only 8 ½ hours of editing. In my defense, we had several grey and dismal days in a row and I spent more time crocheting.

What I’m Reading:

I finished Window on the Bay, by Debbie Macomber, and then there was a gap in the reading until Friday when I started Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts, finishing it Saturday.

I was sad to have finished Captured & Seduced, book three of Alien Shenanigans by Shelley Munro because I really enjoyed it. Actually, I loved the whole Shenanigans series. It didn’t take long, however, to find another series on my Kindle, this one the boxed set of the Silverlake Shifters by Anastasia Wilde. I started Fugitive Mate on Friday and, um, couldn’t resist finishing it Saturday. I started White Wolf Mate this morning and I can’t promise to make it last. ;-)

Goals

I met most of my goals from last week, which isn’t too shabby (in my opinion).

The editing on Blood Ties is progressing nicely – I only have about 60 pages or so to go before the first round is done. I solved the guilt feelings about the deletions I was making by starting a new document to copy/paste the deletions into. That way they’re gone but not forgotten.

The index cards for Driving Into Forever are going slowly. It’s a process, I tell you what. I don’t know if it’s because I’m working with a story that’s already been written, or if I’m missing something, but I’ve really been struggling with this. I still think it’s a good idea, but if I haven’t made any headway with it by the end of this week I’m going to abandon it.

Okay, I might be doing a little too well on the crocheting now. I got my yarn delivery early last week, and I’m on ball four already. I think I said I was only going to work on it while I was watching Netflix or Prime, but that’s not the way it’s happening. And I paid for and downloaded a new afghan pattern last week - maybe it’ll be my Netflix/Prime afghan.

This Week’s Goals

1. Continue, maybe even finish the edits on Blood Ties.
2. Finish the index cards for DIF or find a new way to outline.
3. Continue with my balanced reading time.
4. Ease back on the crocheting a little.

So. What have you been up to.

Guardian of the Sea

NaNo 2014 was another of my older ideas, and another of my ideas that did not stand alone. I have two, maybe three other ideas for the series. This is the blurb I wrote on my NaNo page for it:

When Octavia Winston was 15 years old, she and her mother were in a terrible car accident that left Octavia without her memory, and her mother confined to a wheelchair, unable to talk. She dreams of a house on the edge of a cliff, a house was filled with love and secrets. But the more she tries to remember, the more things seemed to slip away.

Ten years later, her mother dies, and the truth begins to come out, starting with the house on the cliff, a house that used to belong to her grandfather and now belongs to Octavia. Secrets upon secrets are revealed, including the secret of the shadowy figure from her dreams, Tiamat, the boy she once made a pledge of eternal love to. But with the secrets comes danger. Someone is trying to kill Octavia and Tiamat, the Guardian of the Sea, is the only one who can keep her safe.

When I opened the document for this novel I got the distinct feeling I already posted the beginning of this story. I couldn’t find it in my archive, but I couldn’t shake the feeling so I decided to use a scene a little further on.

This takes place shortly after the death of Octavia’s mother. She has just learned she inherited a house on the coast from her grandfather, and her control freak father had been keeping this information from her. She also overheard her father and her fiancé, Roger, saying a few unflattering things about her. Her father has gone away on business, giving her some breathing room.

Octavia sipped her coffee absently, dark blue eyes riveted on the raging lake in front of her. The wind buffeted her Chevy Cavalier but she seemed oblivious to it. The water surged against the shore, splashing the windshield of her car and that of the three other cars that were parked beside her on the pier.

Stormy weather often found her parked on the pier. The angry lake drew her like a magnet. Something about the violence of the waves, something familiar, comforting. It was also one of her favorite places to think, to work things out in her mind. There was a lot she needed to work out in her mind before she went home to Roger.

The raging water was mesmerizing. Suddenly there was a flash, a sliver of memory. In her mind she could hear her Grandfather’s voice. “Next summer when you come to visit, I judge you’ll be ready to learn the most important secret the sea has to offer.”

Shaken, Octavia placed the takeout cup into the cup holder. Her grandfather hadn’t lived long enough to show her that secret. But just before he died he mentioned it again, as had her mother. A family secret, something to do with the sea….

More flashes of memory came. Her mother and father arguing, something to do with a secret. And another, her father questioning her about her grandfather when her mother wasn’t around to stop him. She clenched the steering wheel in frustration.

Every doctor she’d consulted told her the same thing. There was nothing physical impeding her memory. The trauma of the accident ten years ago was causing her subconscious to block her memory. But there was more to it than that. She knew it in her gut.

Octavia came to an abrupt decision. Gravel spun under the wheels of the car as she put it in reverse and headed for home. She was in luck, Roger’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Quickly, she packed an overnight case and left Roger a brief note explaining she’d be out of town for several days.

She flipped open her cell phone and pressed number one on the speed dial.

“Vanessa? Remember how you’re always saying we should get out of the city and visit the countryside? What are you doing for the next couple of days?”

A weight seemed to lift from her spirit as she pointed her car towards the coast and started driving.

When her cell phone began to beep insistently at her, Octavia’s grip tightened on the steering wheel as she sped through the twilight. She glanced at where it lay on the passenger seat, then quickly concentrated on the road in front of her again. It might be her father, but more likely it was Roger – the same person who’d been calling for the last fifty miles.

She didn’t want to talk to either of them right now, they’d only try to talk her into coming home, or worse, they’d insist on coming with her. She didn’t want to see either of them and after what she’d overheard she definitely didn’t want them knowing where she was headed.

The beeping stopped and she breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t blame them really, she was never this impulsive, this independent. Good old biddable Octavia.

“Biddable!” she snorted.

Consulting a map, she turned off the highway onto a narrow road that wound its way towards the coast. This is where her grandfather’s property started, he had held title to almost the entire peninsula. He left a considerable portion of it to the wildlife conservation society to use as a sanctuary, but the rest of it, including the large house on a cliff, belonged to her. She still had trouble believing it.

She drove for twenty minutes through the dense forest broken up by out-croppings of sandstone. Then the trees began to thin and the landscape flattened out into a plateau. In the distance, drawing closer, was a large stone and timber house with a lighthouse like tower.

The road petered out about a hundred yards from the house. A red sports car was parked off to the side and at the sound of Octavia’s car the figure standing at the cliff side turned. She was backlit by the setting sun, but there was no doubt in Octavia's mind who it was.

Vanessa's bright red hair flamed even brighter than usual and she tucked a strand behind her ear as she picked her way over to where Octavia parked. Octavia always thought her friend looked more like a photographer’s model than the photographer she was; today was no different.

“Well, I must admit. I doubt you can get much further away from the city than this.”

“I'm so glad you were able to make it, Vanessa,” Octavia said, getting out of her car.

“So, let me guess. You’ve decided to give up accounting and write that novel you’ve always talked about. It’s going to be a gothic horror and this is the setting.”

Octavia smiled. “Have you been waiting long?”

“Bout fifteen minutes or so. Wanna tell me what we’re doing here? What is this place?”

Looking up at the house, Octavia felt like her mind had been wrapped in a fog and it was slowly lifting away. The seasoned timbers, the stone, the smell of the sea in the air. They were all so familiar to her she wondered how she had ever forgotten. “Remember that dream I told you about, the recurring one about the house on the coast?”

Vanessa nodded.

“This is it. This is the house.”

Seven Wonders Part VI The Colossus at Rhodes

The island of Rhodes was an important economic centre in the ancient world. In 357 B.C. it was conquered by Mausolus of Halicarnassus, fell into Persian hands in 340 B.C., and was finally captured by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.

When Alexander died his vast kingdom was divided between three of his generals: Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigous. The Rhodians supported Ptolemy (who wound up ruling Egypt) in this struggle which angered Antigous. He sent his son Demetrius to capture and punish the city of Rhodes.

The war was long, and ended when a fleet of ships from Egypt arrived to aid the city. To celebrate their victory and freedom, the people of Rhodes decided to build a giant statue of their patron god Helios. They melted down bronze from the many war machines Demetrius left behind for the exterior of the figure, and the siege tower he left behind became the scaffolding for the project.

The statue was one hundred and ten feet high and stood on a fifty-foot pedestal near the harbour mouth. Although the statue has been popularly depicted with its legs spanning the harbour entrance so that ships could pass beneath, it was actually posed in a more traditional Greek manner: nude, wearing a spiked crown, shading its eyes from the rising sun with its right hand, while holding a cloak over its left.

The architect of this great construction was Chares of Lindos, a Rhodian sculptor. The statue was constructed of bronze plates over an iron framework. Ancient accounts tell us that inside the statue were several stone columns which acted as the main support. Iron beams were driven into the stone and connected with the bronze outer skin. Each bronze plate had to be carefully cast then hammered into the right shape for its location in the figure, then hoisted into position and riveted to the surrounding plates and the iron frame.

The Colossus stood at the harbour entrance for some fifty-six years. Then an earthquake hit Rhodes and the statue collapsed. Huge pieces of the figure lay along the harbour for centuries.

But that which is by far the most worthy of our admiration, is the colossal statue of the Sun, which stood formerly at Rhodes, and was the work of Chares the Lindian, a pupil of the above-named Lysippus; no less than seventy cubits in height. This statue fifty-six years after it was erected, was thrown down by an earthquake; but even as it lies, it excites our wonder and admiration.
— Pliny the Elder

It is said that Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt offered to pay for its reconstruction, but the Rhodians refused. They feared that somehow the statue had offended the god Helios, who used the earthquake to throw it down.

In the seventh century A.D. the Arabs conquered Rhodes and broke the remains of the Colossus up into smaller pieces and sold it as scrap metal. Legend says it took 900 camels to carry away the statue. Another sad ending for what was once one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Indexing

As much as it’s difficult for this die-hard pantser to admit, there might be something to the whole plotting thing after all.

While attempting my eleventy-billionth rewrite of Driving Into Forever, it’s come to my attention that there’s a lot more going on in this story than I realized. There is a lot of stuff that should have been included that I skipped over or only alluded to. Stuff that really needs to be included now.

Seeing as it was my first NaNo (and I was pretty clueless), I looked around at all these people who spent the month of October making character sheets and detailed outlines and I figured I should probably do something similar. So what I did was, I made a list of everything I wanted to have happen in my book – that’s as good as it got, a point form list.

When it came down to the actual writing, I cherry picked from this list, writing a scene for each point. I thought I was being so smart when in fact I was being incredibly stupid. I did not do them in order and I was left with a series of scenes that were in no way connected with each other. If I ever do a piece on how not to write a novel, it will be all about that.

Anyway, I realized to make Driving Into Forever work, at the very least I need a good outline so I can flesh the story out properly. And the way I’m going to do it is by using index cards, which I should have done from the very beginning, and would have if I’d known this method existed.

For those of you unfamiliar with this method, the idea is to take a stack of index cards and write a sentence or two on each one that describes a single scene. Once you run out of scenes/ideas, you can lay them out and put them in order before you start writing.

This is especially handy if you have more than one story line going on. It has the advantage of allowing you to make sure everything is balanced. This would have come in handy with Blood Ties. It has three, sometimes four, story lines going on at the same time and it would be nice to be able to see at a glance if I was spending too much time on one at the expense of the others.

To make it easier to see what card belongs to what story line in Driving Into Forever, I’m going to use coloured cards – one colour for Hannah’s scenes, a different colour for the scientists, a third for the bad guy, and a fourth for the good guy. I’ve only got four colours, so if there’s anything else I’ll have to use coloured pens on plain white ones.

Once I’m done with the cards, it should be easy enough to weave the story lines together in a logical manner and then I can go to town on the writing. I should mention that I’m keeping the very beginning, where Hannah is driving in the fog and ends up in the Myste, but then I’m going to get rid of all previous versions including the hard copies so I can write fresh.

God help me.

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Wordage Report

New Words:

Driving Into Forever – 0 words
Blog Posts – 867+0+651+1190=2,708
Total = 2,708

Progress on Driving Into Forever ground to a halt while I work on the index cards. Hopefully next week will show a jump in words.

And once again I didn’t do Monday’s post – I really had nothing to say. It’s still the pandemic and I’m still not going anywhere or doing anything.

Editing:

If you believe TraxTime, I spent 14 hours and 20 minutes editing Blood Ties last week – best editing week so far!

What I’m Reading:

I was moderate in my reading last week – I spent more time on it than the week before, but I’m not binging. I started with Unfinished Business, by Nora Roberts. I didn’t care much for the heroine at first, and I still think she should have woken up to smell the coffee about her father, but I did enjoy the story overall. This was followed by Cottage By the Sea by Debbie Macomber, which I really enjoyed, and I’m over halfway through Window on the Bay, also by Debbie Macomber.

I didn’t do any extra reading on the e-books, so I’m still working on Captured & Seduced, book three of Alien Shenanigans by Shelley Munro. I shouldn’t have any trouble finishing it this week, and then I’m done with the shenanigans and I’ll be looking for something new to read.

Goals

Technically I met all my goals last week. Blog posts are not on my goals list, so missing Monday’s post doesn’t count.

The editing on Blood Ties is going really well, but I gotta tell you every time I delete more than a single sentence I start second guessing myself. I’m working on the only copy of the draft I have, so anything I delete is gone forever. Scary stuff.

Realizing that there was more going on in Driving Into Forever than I realized was kind of an epiphany for me. No wonder I was having so much trouble with the previous versions. Hopefully the index card outline with get me back on track and keep me there.

It was easier to buy new yarn than to search the craft closet for my yarn stash, so I did, and I started working on a granny stitch ripple crochet afghan. To be honest, I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed crocheting and it’s a much better use of my time than gaming.

This Week’s Goals

1. Keep up the good work editing.
2. Finish the index cards for DIF and get writing.
3. Continue with my balanced reading time.
4. Continue with the crocheting instead of gaming.

Looks like I’m getting there, eh?

Wandering Wizards

My 2013 NaNo was the third instalment of the Moonstone Chronicles, which I am currently editing. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the truth was I hadn’t finished Lucky Dog yet so figuring out what was happening in the next book was a little problematic. All I knew for sure was, it was going to wrap the series up, save for maybe a short story or two later.

In a nutshell, it continues the adventures of Jessica as she stumbles her way through the magical realm her best friend Howard accidentally teleported her to. She’s on her way to the southlands where Jessica hopes to find a pair of wizards to send her home. The wizards who just happen to be related to her.

Meanwhile, Howard is sent an amulet and uses it to travel to the magickal realm himself. Unfortunately, Jessica's roommate Ellen stops in just as he sets the spell in motion and she's caught up in it as well. Much adventuring ensues before they all hook up again, and then more adventuring on the way to the final battle with the evil wizard.

This excerpt takes place while Ellen and Howard, accompanied by Sebastian the bard and Kaelan the elf, are on their way to meet up with Jessica and Dominic.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Howard asked with a frown.

Sebastian sighed. “I will prove it to you. Let me get my lute and I’ll play a tune or two.”

“I can’t believe you fell for that,” Ellen said to Sebastian.

“Fell for what?”

“Howard’s been dying to hear you play since we got to this world. He was just too chicken to ask.”

Sebastian grinned. “Is this true?”

Howard reddened and ducked his head. “Maybe. Just a little. I have heard you play, just never in person.”

The bard went over to the pile of gear and returned with his lute. Sitting down where he’d been sitting to eat his dinner, he plucked a few notes, gave a couple of the tuning pegs a turn, and turned to the three expectant faces.

“If you’ve travelled much in the human realms,” he said to Kaelan, “You will perhaps be familiar with this song. It is popular in the taverns, especially at festival time.”

The song was like an Irish reel - fast-paced and spritely. It lifted their spirits just to hear it and they had to suppress the urge to get up and dance. It was quite infectious and left them all smiling when he finished.

He segued into another and then a third before he took a break.

“Wow, you really can play,” Ellen teased.

“You play beautifully,” Howard added.

“Do you sing as well,” Ellen asked. “Or do bards only play?”

Sebastian smiled. “I have some small talent with my voice as well,” he said, with a wink towards Howard. “What would you have, a ballad? a dirge?”

“Do you know ‘The Price of a Kiss?’” Kaelan asked suddenly. His glance slid involuntarily towards Ellen before he caught himself.

The bard’s smile widened. “Indeed, a most fitting song before we retire for the night.”

From the opening cords he held them spellbound, and when the first notes of the ballade spilled from his throat they hardly dared to breathe. The song was the story of a lord who had been separated from his hunting party and came upon a fair maid who was bathing in a secluded pond.

Her beauty was so great he was instantly smitten. She showed no fear when she turned to leave the water and saw him standing on the bank. He questioned the wisdom of her bathing in alone in such a secluded place and she questioned his morals in spying on defenceless women. He gallantly turned his back while she dressed, but suggested he be rewarded with a kiss. There was no answer from her and when he turned again she was gone.

He searched for her but could find no trace. His friends, when he told them of her, told him that he’d fallen asleep by the pond and she was but a dream. Either that or a ghost. But he knew in his heart she was real, and he was determined to make her his bride. He haunted the area around the pond, offering rewards for any information of her. Finally, an old woman came to him and told him he had seen the Lady of the Forest. When he asked her where he could find this lady, he was told he could not. She would have to come to him.

He began bringing gifts to the pond - fine silks and jewellery, wines and offerings of exotic food - and always they would disappear when his back was turned. And the day came that he came to the pond, his hands empty. He told her he had one last gift to give, a song he had composed himself. Closing his eyes, he sang of his great love for her, of his regret for offending her with earthly possessions, and how although his heart would be forever hers, he would leave her in peace. When he opened his eyes, she was standing before him.

But before they could tell each other what was in their hearts, they were attacked by a band of ruffians. Telling the maid to flee, the lord faced them with his sword in hand. He fought valiantly, but although he drove them off, he was sorely wounded. As he lay near the pond, close to death, his lady came to him. She held him and cleansed his wounds with her tears, telling him she loved him as well but she’d been afraid of having to leave her forest behind. And she told him she would regret to her dying day that she had not paid him the price of a kiss.

There were tears on Ellen’s face as Sebastian finished the song, and even Howard was dabbing at the corner of his eyes.

“That was so beautiful, but so sad!” Ellen said.

“It is based on a tale my grandmother used to tell me,” Kaelan told them. “Only in the end, the lady finally kissed her lord’s cold lips and he was brought back to life. She went gladly with him to his kingdom where they spent the rest of their days together as man and wife, raising seven children to carry on their legacy of true love.”

“I think I’d like your grandmother,” Ellen said. “I definitely like the way she ends stories.” Kaelan laughed. “I hope that you will have the chance to meet her in the Wild Woods Realm,” he said. “My thanks, master bard. Though I have heard the song many times, I have never heard it so well done as by you.”

Seven Wonders Part V the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus

The city of Halicarnassus (present day Bodrum, Turkey) was the capitol of Caria, a small kingdom along the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor. From 377 B.C. to 350 B.C. it was ruled by Mausolus and his queen Artemisia (who was also his sister).

When Mausolus died in 353 B.C., his body was entombed in what became known as the Maussolleion or Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. It is from the name Mausolus itself that the term mausoleum was created and associated with all tombs.

The tomb, planned by the ruler for himself was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythius of Priene. After the death of Mausolus, Artemisia had work on the tomb continue. She, too, died before it was completed and was interred there as well.

The Mausoleum was made up of three parts: a square base on the bottom, 36 columns (9 on each side) in the middle, and topped by a stepped pyramid that had 24 steps. All of this was covered in ornate carvings and embellished with life-size and larger-than-life statues. At the very top was a 25-foot-high marble sculpture consisted of standing statues of both Mausolus and Artemisia riding in a chariot pulled by four horses.

Much of the Mausoleum was made out of marble and the entire structure reached 140 feet high. It was built on a hill that overlooked the city and sat on a stone platform in the center of a courtyard. Although large, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was known more for its ornate sculptures and carvings, most of which were painted in vibrant colors.

Five famous sculptors worked on the ornamentation of the tomb. Each sculptor had a section that they were responsible for – Bryaxis (north side), Scopas (east side), Timotheus (south side), and Leochares (west side). The chariot on top was created by Pythias. A staircase, flanked by stone lions, led to the top of the platform and statues of gods and goddesses adorned the outer wall.

Even when the city fell to Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. the Mausoleum remained undisturbed. In fact, it endured for almost 1,800 years before being destroyed by a series of earthquakes. By 1404 A.D. only the base of the Mausoleum survived.

After that much of the marble was recycled by the Crusaders, who occupied the city by then. It was used to build other buildings and reinforce the walls of the fortress they were using. In 1522 the crypt itself was raided and over time the Mausoleum was forgotten and houses were built on the site.

In the 1950s, Charles Newton, a British archaeologist, was the first to recognize that some of the decorations at Bodrum Castle (the former Crusader fortress) could have come from the Mausoleum. After extensive research and excavating, he found the site of the Mausoleum. This led to the recovery of many sections of the reliefs that had once decorated the walls and several statues, which can now be found in the British Museum in London.

The ruins are still visible today, as a protected site, in the center of the city of Bodrum. There is not much to be seen, however, as little is left but an earth pit with a few stones and column drums. A sad fate for what was once a wonder of the world.

Write It Down!

If I don't write down a thought - or an image or a line of poetry - the instant it comes to mind, it vanishes, which explains why I have pens and notebooks in my pants and coat pockets, the car, the bicycle basket, on one or two desks in every room including bathrooms and the kitchen.
— Floyd Skloot

Early Saturday afternoon I had a great idea for the title of today’s blog post, but by the time I got around to working on it I couldn’t remember what it was. It was like three words long and I couldn’t remember a single one.

It just reinforces the idea that you should keep a notebook and pen beside you at all times to write stuff down in. No matter how good you think your memory is, it’s never good enough.

The really sad part is, I was sitting in the living room when I had this brilliant idea, and I had easy access to both pens and papers, and I didn’t use any of them. It was such a short, simple idea that I figured I could easily remember it when I opened my laptop to work on my post, only I got distracted and by the time I sat down at my lap top I only vaguely remembered I even had an idea.

Honestly, with me it’s not enough to have notebooks and pens all over the house, I have to actually use them. How many brilliant ideas have been lost because I didn’t take the time to write them down?

It happens most often with blog posts. I have a bad habit of “writing” them in my head – I think about them, work out the details, and then when it comes time to sit down and physically write them my brain is an empty void of despair.

I think the worst are dreams. Dreams are such a great source of ideas, but you have to get into the habit of writing them down as soon as you wake up or they’re gone forever. Sometimes it’s like getting an idea in the shower. You just have to keep repeating it in your head until you can get to some writing materials.

I can still recall one dream I had where I was explaining to my father this idea I had for a story. It was such a good idea that when I woke up I didn’t bother writing it down. To this day I can remember my father telling me what a great idea it was for a book, but I can’t remember the idea itself.

I read an article once that said while it’s good to think about ideas and talk about them, the process of writing them down is what really lets you develop them. Once an idea is written down you can step back and look at it objectively, see ways you could develop it that weren’t obvious when it was just stuck in your head. Or you might see that it wasn’t such a great idea after all.

But you’ll never know . . . until you write it down.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

New Words:

Driving Into Forever (rewrite) – 1,815
Blog Posts – 1,062+496+711+1,253=3,522
Total = 5,337

DIF words were down, but I did all my blog posts so those words were up. Unfortunately, the overall total of words was down.

Editing:

TraxTime tells me I spent 7 hours and 47 minutes editing Blood Ties last week – about an hour less than the week before.

What I’m Reading:

I’ve gone from one extreme to the other with my reading. I wasn’t as close to the end of Cordina’s Crown Jewel, by Nora Roberts as I thought, and other than finishing it, I read no other tree books.

As for e-books, I finished Janaya, book two of Alien Shenanigans by Shelley Munro and have started book three, Captured & Seduced. I’m enjoying these so much I’m even sneaking in a little e-book time when I’m not on the bike.

Goals

Once again I met all my goals last week. You’d almost think I need some more challenging goals. Almost. ;-)

I had a couple of really good days editing Blood Ties, but then I got all caught up in getting those last couple of bins of kitchen stuff emptied. But the kitchen is pretty much done now, so I won't be able to use that as an excuse anymore.

It’s a good thing I like Driving Into Forever so much, otherwise I’d give up. Which would be a real shame considering I have the sequel already written. And no, I couldn’t have the sequel as a stand alone because it uses secondary characters from the first one.

This Week’s Goals

1. Keep up the good work editing
2. Work harder on Driving Into Forever
3. Keep limiting my reading time.
4. Switch up some of my gaming time to crafting instead.

Sounds like a plan to me!

Lucky Dog

My NaNo for 2012 was Lucky Dog, the second book in the Moonstone Chronicles. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and although I did reach the 50,000 word goal with it, it was a couple of years before the book was finished.

This actually started out as a series of three, connected stories about Jessica and Bandit, and I thought it might be kind of fun to take today’s excerpt from one of those stories. It’s pretty self explanatory.

The big black dog slunk forward a few steps, then crouched down, belly to the ground. He wriggled forward a few more steps and stopped. Suddenly, he burst from the underbrush, barking wildly.

"God damn it, Bandit!" Jessica struggled to get the mare she was riding under control as a flock of birds took wing almost under their noses. She turned in the saddle to glare at the dog, who hung his head, panting.

Jessica was not fooled by his abject attitude. "Look, you moron. If you pull another stunt like that I'm going to take you to the nearest dog pound and leave you there."

The dog was not much worried. He'd only been travelling with the sorceress a short time, but it was long enough for him to understand that, despite her short temper, she wouldn't abandon him casually.

Little more than two weeks ago he'd been human. For reasons that no longer seemed to matter, one dark night he set out to steal an amulet and Jessica, knowing only that some creature was disturbing her sleep, accidentally turned him into a dog.

Now they travelled together as they waited for the month it would take to pass until Jessica's magic allowed her to change him back into a man. The spell would have to be powerful. To that end they travelled to one of the many Wells that marked the land, reservoirs of vast magical power.

Jessica halted the mare on the bank of yet another river. "This must be the River Ells. I don't suppose you know a place to cross it?" She looked at the dog.

He trotted a few steps along the bank, stopped to look back over his shoulder, barked, and continued on. With a sigh Jessica turned the mare and followed.

For once she was in luck. Not only did Bandit lead her to an easy ford, but a short distance further lay an inn on the edge of a small town. It was a shabby inn, but Jessica wasn't in a mood to be picky. A ragged urchin met her in the courtyard.

"Rub her down good, and give her an extra measure of grain. I'll be in later to see the job's done right. You hear me?"

The young boy nodded and led the mare away. Jessica shook her head and sighed. Carrying the saddle-bags she entered the Inn, the dog at her heels.

The tap-room was empty. Jessica called out but there was no answer. It looked as though there had been a brawl here recently. Tables and chairs were overturned, a sword had been stuck into the ceiling, a pile of wood near the fireplace gave the impression of once being furniture and, if she was not mistaken, that dark pool beside it was blood.

"Looks like a real fun place," Jessica commented. "Hello? Anyone here?"

"Keep yer shirt on, I'm comin'." The surly voice seemed to come from a back room.

Jessica leaned against the counter, the dog sat close to her feet. After a few minutes a woman came out. Jessica couldn't help staring at her. She had to be well over six feet tall, and at least 250 pounds. She had long greasy hair held back by a leather cord and she was holding a meat cleaver.

"What'd ya want?"

"A room, if there's one habitable," Jessica replied, eyeing the meat cleaver.

"There be a common room, if yer travellin' alone."

"A private one," Jessica said firmly. "And a tub filled with hot water, and whatever you've got to eat that's hot." She waved a gold piece under the woman's nose.

The sight of money transformed the woman. "O course. Our very best Right away," she turned. "Ginny! Git out here!"

A thinner, younger version of the first woman came hurrying out, obviously a daughter.

"You get Thomas 'n move the brass tub to the first room. Clean it and fill it with water Mind it's hot now. Move girl!"

"Yes'm," Ginny replied. Without looking at Jessica she scurried away.

"This way M'Lady."

The room was small and smelled of dust and old sweat. Still, the bed looked soft and inviting. Jessica hoped it wasn't too badly infested with bugs. The woman bustled through the room, brushing imaginary wrinkles from the coverlet, giving the top of the wash stand a quick dusting off and opening the small window to let in a fresh, albeit cool, breeze.

"Will ye be wantin' the critter taken to the stable?"

"What?" Jessica had forgotten the dog. "No, you can leave him here, for now."

"I'll see to yer meal then. And if there's anything ye be needin', ye've only to ask for Hanah," she indicated herself with a jerk of her thumb.

"What do you think?" Jessica asked, after Hanah left.

The dog looked at the door and growled.

"I don't trust her either. But there's a good bolt on the door and one on the window. And it doesn't take much power to make them impenetrable."

"Just don't forget to make an allowance for you and your friend," said a disembodied voice.

Bandit yelped, then snarled. Jessica pulled a milk-white amulet free of her blouse.

"What's up, Howard?"

"I haven't heard from you all day. I got worried," replied the voice belonging to Howard. The rest of him resided on another plane of existence. It was his power surge that accidentally sent Jessica to this plane. The amulet was their link, allowing Howard to offer his assistance to Jessica until a way could be found to bring her home.

"You worry too much," Jessica told him. "We crossed a river and found an inn. I'm just this side of my first real bath since I left Castle Ghren. End of story."

"No need to get testy," said Howard in a tone of mild reproof.

A knock on the door ended the conversation abruptly. Thomas, who also looked like Hanah, brought the brass tub in, closely followed by Ginny, who was carrying two steaming buckets from a shoulder yolk. They stared oddly at Jessica, she wondered how long they'd been listening at the door.

It took four trips to fill the tub. Jessica's chestnut hair was pinned up on her head, her boots off and she was just starting on the buttons to her blouse when she remembered the dog.

Too big to fit under the bed he was sitting as unobtrusively as possible in a corner by the door.

"Out, right now," she told him. "And don't get into any trouble or you're on your own." The dog sulked his way out of the room. Jessica waited until the door was closed behind him then grinned. He was, after all, only human.

Seven Wonders Part IV – the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade.
— Philon of Byzantium

Artemis was the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity. She was the twin sister of Apollo. Though she was worshipped widely throughout Greece, it seemed she had some trouble keeping a place of worship.

The first shrine to the goddess Artemis was probably built around 800 B.C. on a marshy strip near the river at Ephesus. The shrine was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the next few hundred years. By 600 B.C., the city of Ephesus had become a major port of trade and an architect named Chersiphron was engaged to build a new, large, temple.

This temple didn't last long. In 550 B.C. King Croesus of Lydia conquered Ephesus. During the fighting, the temple was destroyed. Croesus proved himself a gracious winner though, by contributing generously to the building of a new temple.

The new temple was the pride of Ephesus until 356 B.C. when it was burned to the ground by Herostratus, who did this so that his name would go down in history. Shortly after this infamous deed, a new temple was commissioned.

The architect was Scopas of Paros, one of the most famous sculptors of his day. Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in Asia Minor at this point and no expense was spared in the construction. The temple was built in the same marshy place as before. To prepare the ground, Piny recorded that "layers of trodden charcoal were placed beneath, with fleeces covered with wool upon the top of them."

The building is thought to be the first completely constructed with marble and one of its most unusual features were 36 columns whose lower portions were carved with figures in high-relief.

The temple also housed many works of art including four bronze statues of Amazon women. Piny recorded the length of this new temple at 425 feet and the width at 225 feet. Some 127 columns, 60 feet in height, supported the roof. In comparison the Parthenon, the remains of which stand on the acropolis in Athens today, was only 230 feet long, 100 feet wide and had 58 columns. According to Piny, construction took 120 years, though some experts suspect it may have only taken half that time.

This Temple of Artemis was destroyed in A.D. 262 during a raid by the Goths. By this time both the religion of Artemis and the city of Ephesus were in decline. The bay where trading ships docked disappeared as silt from the river filled it. Many of the inhabitants of the city moved away to the surrounding hills; those that remained used the ruins of the temple as a source of building materials.

In 1863 the British Museum sent John Turtle Wood, an architect, to search for the temple. He searched for six years. Each year the British Museum threatened to cut off his funding unless he found something significant, and each year he convinced them to fund him for just one more season.

Finally in 1869, at the bottom of a muddy twenty-foot deep test pit, his crew struck the base of the great temple. Wood then excavated the whole foundation removing 132,000 cubic yards of the swamp to leave a hole some 300 feet wide and 500 feet long. The remains of some of the sculptured portions were found and shipped to the British Museum.

In 1904 another British Museum expedition, under the leadership of D.G. Hograth, continued the excavation. Hograth found evidence of five temples on the site, each constructed on top of the other.

Today the site of the temple is a marshy field. A single column is erect to remind visitors that once there stood in that place one of the wonders of the ancient world.