Two weeks in a row with the blog posts. Can you stand it? LOL
So ... a funny thing happened on the way to making progress with An Elemental Spirit, and I'm not talking about the increase of day job work either. Quite frankly, that doesn't really interfere with the writing time at all. It just killed my mindless gaming time. Which is a good thing, trust me. :-)
No, what's interfering with An Elemental Spirit is ideas. Lots and lots of ideas. *sigh*
It's my own fault really. I have the base of operations for my heroes of the Ardraci series set aboard the firefighter class starship Valkyrie, which is a ship that's going to have its own trilogy eventually (one of which is written) and a couple of stand alone books (another one of which is written). Anyway, I started Spirit aboard the Valkyrie and before I knew what was happening I started writing a bunch of back story about the whole freaking history of the universe.
Now that in itself isn't a bad thing, but I checked a couple of facts in the trilogy, which takes place before the Ardraci series, and things don't quite line up. And the real problem is, the facts I came up for Spirit are better than the facts I had in the first Valkyrie book. So now I'm having to re-think the beginning of Spirit, and figuring out how to re-write the Valkyrie book to include these new ideas.
So while I'm pondering all these new ideas and what to do with them, I've gone back to work on Wishing Star 1. See, I'd left it temporarily 'cause I couldn't figure out how to keep my heroine, Eva, from finding out that that lion she's traveling with is a shapeshifter and yet still have them develop a relationship.
And then I got an idea.
They could meet in dreams. A dream like this one:
Eva was walking slowly along a beach. It was night and the moon was full, its light sparkling on the water lapping at the shore. The sand was cool, tickling her toes, which made her smile. A warm breeze played with her hair and there was a scent of flowers in the air.
The moonlight picked out another figure on the beach, some distance ahead. Though too far away to be more than just a vague shape, she knew instinctively that it was a man, just as she knew she had nothing to fear from him. He was waiting for her.
As she drew nearer she could see he was tall and lean, but gave the impression of great strength. His skin was sun bronzed and his hair was long and dark. There was some kind of tribal tattoo on his left pectoral, disappearing over his shoulder but the moonlight was behind him and it was indistinct. He wore nothing but a loin cloth and it was at that moment she realized she was dressed in a sarong that fell to mid-thigh.
She stopped walking when she reached him. He was unfamiliar, and yet she knew him. "Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Aiden."
His voice was deep and smooth, and sent a shiver right through her.
"Is this a dream?"
"Of course it is."
"I know you ... somehow I know you. How is this possible?"
"Perhaps we knew each other in another lifetime, or another dream."
Eva reached up and touched his face. "You're my jungle lord."
"Yes," he said.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a kiss that coursed through her like fire, leaving no part of her unscorched. She pressed closer, needing ... needing something but she couldn't say what.
Not bad for a first encounter, eh?
"To sleep, perchance to dream ..."
Through dreams Aiden can give her important information, like what plants are safe to eat, he can show her how to use the flint and steel she was given 'cause she has no clue what they're for, and, of course, they can grow closer. Which will make it all the more shocking when they meet in person.
Ideas.
You gotta love them. Even if they do interfere once in awhile. ;-)
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Saturday Update
"Saturday
in the park
I think it was the 4th of July ..."
Anybody remember that song? Anybody?
Jeez, I'm getting old. :-D
Of course it's Saturday, June 6, not July 4th (at least it is as I type this), but I figured it was time for an update.
As you know - well, some of you know - I'm a woman of many talents. I'm not just a writer and editor, I also have a home-based business that includes audio transcription. And I just picked up a whopping big project. Which means a drastic reorganization of my time.
For those of you who don't know what audio transcription is, it's where you listen to a recording, usually notes or interviews, and type down what's being said. Sounds pretty cushy, doesn't it? Well it's not. Your ability to work quickly depends on the quality of the audio recordings, and let me tell you, there's a lot of poorly recorded audio out there. The best you can hope for is 3 to 1 - three hours of typing to one hour of audio. And that's what transcribers charge for. But the reality is it takes much longer than that.
So in other words, if my writing progress slows down for the next while, you'll know why. :-D
I've been plugging away at the first book in the Wishing Star series and seeing some progress. My heroine has met up with a friendly lion in the jungle and they've been wandering around, looking for a place to set up house. She hasn't met her jungle lord yet, there are . . . complications. All the better to make things interesting. ;-)
And I've started An Elemental Spirit, the last in the Elementals series. I sort of know what's going to happen but I'm still really vague on the details. Of course I was vague on the details with the other four, but serializing them kind of forced me to move forward. However, don't expect me to serialize this one. At least not right away, anyway.
I'll leave you with your ear worm of the day, just because I can. :-)
Happy writing!
in the park
I think it was the 4th of July ..."
Anybody remember that song? Anybody?
Jeez, I'm getting old. :-D
Of course it's Saturday, June 6, not July 4th (at least it is as I type this), but I figured it was time for an update.
As you know - well, some of you know - I'm a woman of many talents. I'm not just a writer and editor, I also have a home-based business that includes audio transcription. And I just picked up a whopping big project. Which means a drastic reorganization of my time.
For those of you who don't know what audio transcription is, it's where you listen to a recording, usually notes or interviews, and type down what's being said. Sounds pretty cushy, doesn't it? Well it's not. Your ability to work quickly depends on the quality of the audio recordings, and let me tell you, there's a lot of poorly recorded audio out there. The best you can hope for is 3 to 1 - three hours of typing to one hour of audio. And that's what transcribers charge for. But the reality is it takes much longer than that.
So in other words, if my writing progress slows down for the next while, you'll know why. :-D
I've been plugging away at the first book in the Wishing Star series and seeing some progress. My heroine has met up with a friendly lion in the jungle and they've been wandering around, looking for a place to set up house. She hasn't met her jungle lord yet, there are . . . complications. All the better to make things interesting. ;-)
And I've started An Elemental Spirit, the last in the Elementals series. I sort of know what's going to happen but I'm still really vague on the details. Of course I was vague on the details with the other four, but serializing them kind of forced me to move forward. However, don't expect me to serialize this one. At least not right away, anyway.
I'll leave you with your ear worm of the day, just because I can. :-)
Happy writing!
Sunday, May 24, 2015
A Whole New Hell
Wow, this will make three, count 'em, THREE blog entries this month! Can you stand the excitement? LOL
Well, the good news is I've finished the last round of edits on Lucky Dog and it is even now in the hands of my editor. I'd make some flippant remark about all the different ways she could tell me how bad the book is, but I don't want to give her any idea. ;-)
So while I'm waiting to get my book back, I thought it might be a good idea to start working on the cover. When I wrote the first half of the book during NaNo I came up with a mock-up cover for it, but I've since been informed that the picture I wanted to use is unavailable. It's too bad, really, because it would have been perfect.
So now I'm perusing the stock photos for a new cover dog. Have you any idea how many dog photos there are? Thousands. And that's just on the site (Dreamstime) I'm using.
It's a tricky thing, searching for a particular picture. You can't be too specific - black dog in woods - or the search will come up empty. But 'black dog' leaves you wide open to 311 pages of dog photos.
You gotta wonder about some of these filters though. While I can understand the inclusion of puppies and poodles and dogs that only have a smidgeon of black on them, I have to wonder about the inclusion of the woman posing with a china dog. Okay, she's dressed in black and the china dog is black, but what about the guy in the hoodie holding the Pomeranian? The only thing black in that picture is the background. And although I've met a few dogs that were the size of small horses, I'm a little surprised when a horse shows up in my search for a dog. Ditto for the red rose and the cat.
But this is how I've spent my Sunday afternoon, and I've narrowed it down to two possible candidates. There's gotta be a better way of doing this, right?
Of course there is! If I had any money I could pay someone to do it for me. But I don't, so I can't.
And the solution for that is quite simple. I just need all of you out there, and your friends, to buy my books. :-D
Well, the good news is I've finished the last round of edits on Lucky Dog and it is even now in the hands of my editor. I'd make some flippant remark about all the different ways she could tell me how bad the book is, but I don't want to give her any idea. ;-)
So while I'm waiting to get my book back, I thought it might be a good idea to start working on the cover. When I wrote the first half of the book during NaNo I came up with a mock-up cover for it, but I've since been informed that the picture I wanted to use is unavailable. It's too bad, really, because it would have been perfect.
So now I'm perusing the stock photos for a new cover dog. Have you any idea how many dog photos there are? Thousands. And that's just on the site (Dreamstime) I'm using.
It's a tricky thing, searching for a particular picture. You can't be too specific - black dog in woods - or the search will come up empty. But 'black dog' leaves you wide open to 311 pages of dog photos.
You gotta wonder about some of these filters though. While I can understand the inclusion of puppies and poodles and dogs that only have a smidgeon of black on them, I have to wonder about the inclusion of the woman posing with a china dog. Okay, she's dressed in black and the china dog is black, but what about the guy in the hoodie holding the Pomeranian? The only thing black in that picture is the background. And although I've met a few dogs that were the size of small horses, I'm a little surprised when a horse shows up in my search for a dog. Ditto for the red rose and the cat.
But this is how I've spent my Sunday afternoon, and I've narrowed it down to two possible candidates. There's gotta be a better way of doing this, right?
Of course there is! If I had any money I could pay someone to do it for me. But I don't, so I can't.
And the solution for that is quite simple. I just need all of you out there, and your friends, to buy my books. :-D
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Editing Hell
Yes, my friends, I am in editing hell. I spent the better part of last week editing a single scene. Bearing in mind that I'm trying to reduce the word count of Lucky Dog, this scene was originally 14,600 words but I ruthlessly pared it down to a mere 3,000 words. Then I read it over and added 1,600 words back in. LOL
The scene itself involved Dominic (formerly known as Bandit the dog) and Sebastian (his friend the bard) rescuing the fair Jessica (the heroine of our tale) from the nasty witch guards. Their original plan was an intricate plot that involved a lot of window dressing and the addition of several extra characters who, once they played their part, would never be heard from again.
There was nothing wrong with the five chapter scene per se, but five chapters for a single rescue? Their plan was unnecessarily complicated and involved too many extra people. The one I came up with to replace it with was more succinct and involved only Dominic and Sebastian. And quite honestly, it made more sense too. There was some detail I regret losing, like showing how the new king's rule was affecting the land, but the important stuff can be worked back in as needed.
But the good news is, I'm over the halfway mark now with only about 100 pages left to go.
In the meantime, I've been neglecting pretty much everything else. I really want this book finished, like yesterday. So I will continue to neglect pretty much everything else until it's done. :-D
Don't forget to catch up on your serial reading, courtesy of Jamie DeBree:
Live With Me
- career girl Candace falls prey to a plot that forces her and her old high school crush to live under the same roof while he recuperates from a sports injury. Sparks are about to fly!
Dry Rain
- a seriously creepy story about a moth infestation that decimates the Earth.
And Double Blind
- a spicy tale of a woman being presented by an offer she's going to find it hard to refuse - spending a weekend on a yacht with two men, and spending the entire time blind-folded.
Happy reading!
The scene itself involved Dominic (formerly known as Bandit the dog) and Sebastian (his friend the bard) rescuing the fair Jessica (the heroine of our tale) from the nasty witch guards. Their original plan was an intricate plot that involved a lot of window dressing and the addition of several extra characters who, once they played their part, would never be heard from again.
There was nothing wrong with the five chapter scene per se, but five chapters for a single rescue? Their plan was unnecessarily complicated and involved too many extra people. The one I came up with to replace it with was more succinct and involved only Dominic and Sebastian. And quite honestly, it made more sense too. There was some detail I regret losing, like showing how the new king's rule was affecting the land, but the important stuff can be worked back in as needed.
But the good news is, I'm over the halfway mark now with only about 100 pages left to go.
In the meantime, I've been neglecting pretty much everything else. I really want this book finished, like yesterday. So I will continue to neglect pretty much everything else until it's done. :-D
Don't forget to catch up on your serial reading, courtesy of Jamie DeBree:
Live With Me
- career girl Candace falls prey to a plot that forces her and her old high school crush to live under the same roof while he recuperates from a sports injury. Sparks are about to fly!
Dry Rain
- a seriously creepy story about a moth infestation that decimates the Earth.
And Double Blind
- a spicy tale of a woman being presented by an offer she's going to find it hard to refuse - spending a weekend on a yacht with two men, and spending the entire time blind-folded.
Happy reading!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Man, It's May?
Funny thing about time, it stands still for no one. Least of all for struggling authors.
Given my lack of posts here, one might get the impression that I've been slacking off on the writing or something, but that's not true at all. I've actually been doing okay in the writing department, it's the editing I've been slacking off on. My own editing that is. Give me someone else's book to work on and I'm a happy camper. My own, well . . . not so much. :-D
I will admit that I've been a little low on motivation these last few weeks, but I take heart in the fact that I'm not alone. Several other authors I keep tabs on through their blogs or Facebook are also rather unmotivated. Maybe it's something in the air, like pollen?
Because author cannot live by editing alone, I've started a new story, the first of a trilogy. I'm not quite sure how to categorize them, they start out contemporary and then kind of segue into fantasy/paranormal. They're connected by a common prologue, but each should be able to stand alone as well.
My focus for the month of May is going to be to finish up with Lucky Dog. I've really been dragging my heals with this one, and there's no good reason for it. I had the draft finished before Christmas, so it should have been released into the wilds by now. My only excuse is that I'm intimidated by its sheer length - 300 pages and over 100,000 words. I would really like to pare it down to a respectable 80,000 words, but . . .
I've had my mind set on getting it out there first, not just because I finished the draft in November, but because I've had so many people asking about it. Give the people what they want, eh? However, I have to admit that it would have been smarter to do the edits on An Elemental Earth first, because it's a cleaner draft to work with and if I'd timed it right, I could have released it on Earth Day. Now wouldn't that have been cool?
Yes, it would have been the smarter thing to do, but no one's ever accused me of being overly smart. :-D
So here's the plan, such as it is:
Finish up the edits Lucky Dog so I can get it to my betas this month and hopefully publish it in June
Edit and publish An Elemental Earth by July
Finish writing Wandering Wizards, the third in the Moonstone Chronicles
Start writing An Elemental Spirit, the fifth, and final book in the Ardraci Elementals series
And at the same time I'll also be working on the first in my Wishing Star trilogy, simply because I've already started the first book. Yes, I can write more than one book at a time. ;-)
You notice Guardian isn't on the list? While I'm glad I took the time to actually finish one of my NaNo novels, I'm not in a big hurry to get it out there. It's the start of a new series and I already have two series on the go. Three if you count the Wishing Star. So no rush for it.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Anybody out there like serials? Personally, I love them. I read so fast normally that sometimes it's refreshing to read a story that stretches out for a long period of time.
My bestie Jamie has started not one, not two, but THREE new on-line stories that will be updated each Friday. Now the installments are only up for a week and they started last week, but if you email her nicely, she send you the installment you missed.
On The Variety Pages we have Live With Me the sequel to Sleep With Me
Her alter-ego Alex Westhaven has a story guaranteed to make your skin crawl called Dry Rain. Having been plagued by a moth problem in the past, this is really hitting home for me.
And her alter-ego Trinity Marlow has started a story called Sailing Blind that is sure to heat things up on those chilly spring nights. ;-)
And if that weren't enough, you can also sign up for newsletters from Jamie and her alter-egos and have installments from three entirely different stories sent to your inbox each month. Romance, thrilling suspense, steam - there's something for everyone. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that!
Given my lack of posts here, one might get the impression that I've been slacking off on the writing or something, but that's not true at all. I've actually been doing okay in the writing department, it's the editing I've been slacking off on. My own editing that is. Give me someone else's book to work on and I'm a happy camper. My own, well . . . not so much. :-D
I will admit that I've been a little low on motivation these last few weeks, but I take heart in the fact that I'm not alone. Several other authors I keep tabs on through their blogs or Facebook are also rather unmotivated. Maybe it's something in the air, like pollen?
Because author cannot live by editing alone, I've started a new story, the first of a trilogy. I'm not quite sure how to categorize them, they start out contemporary and then kind of segue into fantasy/paranormal. They're connected by a common prologue, but each should be able to stand alone as well.
My focus for the month of May is going to be to finish up with Lucky Dog. I've really been dragging my heals with this one, and there's no good reason for it. I had the draft finished before Christmas, so it should have been released into the wilds by now. My only excuse is that I'm intimidated by its sheer length - 300 pages and over 100,000 words. I would really like to pare it down to a respectable 80,000 words, but . . .
I've had my mind set on getting it out there first, not just because I finished the draft in November, but because I've had so many people asking about it. Give the people what they want, eh? However, I have to admit that it would have been smarter to do the edits on An Elemental Earth first, because it's a cleaner draft to work with and if I'd timed it right, I could have released it on Earth Day. Now wouldn't that have been cool?
Yes, it would have been the smarter thing to do, but no one's ever accused me of being overly smart. :-D
So here's the plan, such as it is:
Finish up the edits Lucky Dog so I can get it to my betas this month and hopefully publish it in June
Edit and publish An Elemental Earth by July
Finish writing Wandering Wizards, the third in the Moonstone Chronicles
Start writing An Elemental Spirit, the fifth, and final book in the Ardraci Elementals series
And at the same time I'll also be working on the first in my Wishing Star trilogy, simply because I've already started the first book. Yes, I can write more than one book at a time. ;-)
You notice Guardian isn't on the list? While I'm glad I took the time to actually finish one of my NaNo novels, I'm not in a big hurry to get it out there. It's the start of a new series and I already have two series on the go. Three if you count the Wishing Star. So no rush for it.
Anybody out there like serials? Personally, I love them. I read so fast normally that sometimes it's refreshing to read a story that stretches out for a long period of time.
My bestie Jamie has started not one, not two, but THREE new on-line stories that will be updated each Friday. Now the installments are only up for a week and they started last week, but if you email her nicely, she send you the installment you missed.
On The Variety Pages we have Live With Me the sequel to Sleep With Me
Her alter-ego Alex Westhaven has a story guaranteed to make your skin crawl called Dry Rain. Having been plagued by a moth problem in the past, this is really hitting home for me.
And her alter-ego Trinity Marlow has started a story called Sailing Blind that is sure to heat things up on those chilly spring nights. ;-)
And if that weren't enough, you can also sign up for newsletters from Jamie and her alter-egos and have installments from three entirely different stories sent to your inbox each month. Romance, thrilling suspense, steam - there's something for everyone. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than that!
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
I posted this story a few years ago on a different blog, but I thought it would be fun to post it again to help celebrate St. Paddy's Day. Hope you enjoy!
What the Leprechaun Said
Fiona sat in her favourite spot under the whitethorn tree, her back resting against its gnarled trunk. The tree grew from the center of what her Gran considered the wild garden, the part of the garden reserved for the wee folk.
It was going to break her heart to have to say goodbye to the place. The letter from the bank had been a total shock; this property had been in the family for generations. She was just glad Gran wasn't around to see it come to this.
"Fee? You out here?"
"Over here," she called back, hastily wiping away her tears.
She was joined by her friends Tammy and Gillian, who sat down, one on either side of her. They'd been friends forever. Even after they grew up and went their separate ways in college - Gillian into finance, Tammy into teaching, and Fiona into art - they'd stayed close.
"I don't know why you love this old tree so much," Tammy said. "It's so scraggly looking."
"Gran's Gran planted this tree the day she arrived from the old country. Gran told me she used to meet the wee man under this tree."
"Your Gran met him, or your Gran's Gran?"
"Both of them," Fiona said with a ghost of a smile. "The 'sight' skips every other generation. Apparently you need the 'sight' to see them."
Tammy and Gillian looked at each other over her head.
Nobody spoke for a few moments until Fiona couldn't stand it any longer. "Well?"
"I'm sorry, hon," Gillian said, voice laced with regret. "It looks like your Uncle Sean started siphoning off funds from the trust account about ten years before he died. Between the falling interest rates and the rising taxes, the trust fund just couldn't keep up."
"So that's it," Fiona said duly. "I'm broke."
"Maybe Gillian and I--"
"No. Absolutely not." Fiona was adamant. "I'm not taking money from my friends to pay the back taxes. There's got to be another way."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
That night, Fiona dreamed of her Gran in the garden. "Remember the wee man," she said, and then walked right into the whitethorn tree. Fiona woke with a start.
From her bedroom window she could see the whitethorn tree bathed in moonlight. Tammy was right, it did look a little scraggly. She was really going to miss that tree, and the garden. She remembered that Gran used to keep Guinness around to water the tree with once a month. And didn't she leave oat cakes or soda bread or something like that as well? For the wee man who lived there, she'd said.
Before Fiona could stop to think about it, she'd pulled on her jeans and a sweat shirt and was checking the cupboard under the stairs where Gran used to keep her liquor. There was no Guinness, but she found a bottle of Jameson's that was three-quarters full. Shrugging, she carried it into the kitchen and snagged a box of oatmeal cookies on her way out the back door.
Midnight found her sitting under the whitethorn tree, the moonlight streaming down on her.
"Here's to you, Gran," she said, waving the bottle in the air before taking a sip. She choked and coughed as the liquor burned its way down. "And here's to your wee man - I hope whoever ends up living here next will treat him right."
"Now ye would'na be thinking of pouring that good whiskey on the ground now, would ye?"
Fiona yelped, and almost dropped the bottle as a tiny man dressed in green appeared beside her. "You--where--what--"
"'Tis a good thing yer an artist instead of a writer. Now just pour a wee drop in here." He held out a tiny cup.
"You . . . you're a leprechaun!"
"Aye, it's observant she is." He tipped back the cup and then held it out again. "Did your Gran ne'er tell ye the story of how I came over on the boat with her Gran? 'Twas more than eighty years ago an' I been guarding her treasure ever since."
"What? Wait. What treasure?"
"Why the treasure the first Fiona O'Shea brought with her from the Green Isle," he said, polishing off another cupful of whiskey. "She saved me life, you know, from that flea bitten ship's cat. And in return I promised to guard her gold until she had need of it."
"Tell me more about my great-great-Grandmother and her gold." Fiona settled back against the tree. "And would you like a cookie to go with your whiskey?"
"Thank ye kindly," the leprechaun said. "But would ye happen to have any pipe tobacco on ye?"
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"I can't believe your great-Grandmother buried a fortune in gold in the garden," Gillian said as they sat on the patio enjoying a glass of wine. "And your Gran knew about it and never said a word?"
"It was my great-great-Grandmother, and Gran never said anything because as far as she knew there was no need, she had plenty of money already."
"Until your Uncle Sean got his hands on it," Tammy said darkly. "But how did you know exactly where to dig?"
Fiona smiled as she looked over to the base of the whitethorn tree where she'd left a pint of Guinness an ounce of the finest pipe tobacco she could find. "I just followed what the leprechaun said."
What the Leprechaun Said
Fiona sat in her favourite spot under the whitethorn tree, her back resting against its gnarled trunk. The tree grew from the center of what her Gran considered the wild garden, the part of the garden reserved for the wee folk.
It was going to break her heart to have to say goodbye to the place. The letter from the bank had been a total shock; this property had been in the family for generations. She was just glad Gran wasn't around to see it come to this.
"Fee? You out here?"
"Over here," she called back, hastily wiping away her tears.
She was joined by her friends Tammy and Gillian, who sat down, one on either side of her. They'd been friends forever. Even after they grew up and went their separate ways in college - Gillian into finance, Tammy into teaching, and Fiona into art - they'd stayed close.
"I don't know why you love this old tree so much," Tammy said. "It's so scraggly looking."
"Gran's Gran planted this tree the day she arrived from the old country. Gran told me she used to meet the wee man under this tree."
"Your Gran met him, or your Gran's Gran?"
"Both of them," Fiona said with a ghost of a smile. "The 'sight' skips every other generation. Apparently you need the 'sight' to see them."
Tammy and Gillian looked at each other over her head.
Nobody spoke for a few moments until Fiona couldn't stand it any longer. "Well?"
"I'm sorry, hon," Gillian said, voice laced with regret. "It looks like your Uncle Sean started siphoning off funds from the trust account about ten years before he died. Between the falling interest rates and the rising taxes, the trust fund just couldn't keep up."
"So that's it," Fiona said duly. "I'm broke."
"Maybe Gillian and I--"
"No. Absolutely not." Fiona was adamant. "I'm not taking money from my friends to pay the back taxes. There's got to be another way."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
That night, Fiona dreamed of her Gran in the garden. "Remember the wee man," she said, and then walked right into the whitethorn tree. Fiona woke with a start.
From her bedroom window she could see the whitethorn tree bathed in moonlight. Tammy was right, it did look a little scraggly. She was really going to miss that tree, and the garden. She remembered that Gran used to keep Guinness around to water the tree with once a month. And didn't she leave oat cakes or soda bread or something like that as well? For the wee man who lived there, she'd said.
Before Fiona could stop to think about it, she'd pulled on her jeans and a sweat shirt and was checking the cupboard under the stairs where Gran used to keep her liquor. There was no Guinness, but she found a bottle of Jameson's that was three-quarters full. Shrugging, she carried it into the kitchen and snagged a box of oatmeal cookies on her way out the back door.
Midnight found her sitting under the whitethorn tree, the moonlight streaming down on her.
"Here's to you, Gran," she said, waving the bottle in the air before taking a sip. She choked and coughed as the liquor burned its way down. "And here's to your wee man - I hope whoever ends up living here next will treat him right."
"Now ye would'na be thinking of pouring that good whiskey on the ground now, would ye?"
Fiona yelped, and almost dropped the bottle as a tiny man dressed in green appeared beside her. "You--where--what--"
"'Tis a good thing yer an artist instead of a writer. Now just pour a wee drop in here." He held out a tiny cup.
"You . . . you're a leprechaun!"
"Aye, it's observant she is." He tipped back the cup and then held it out again. "Did your Gran ne'er tell ye the story of how I came over on the boat with her Gran? 'Twas more than eighty years ago an' I been guarding her treasure ever since."
"What? Wait. What treasure?"
"Why the treasure the first Fiona O'Shea brought with her from the Green Isle," he said, polishing off another cupful of whiskey. "She saved me life, you know, from that flea bitten ship's cat. And in return I promised to guard her gold until she had need of it."
"Tell me more about my great-great-Grandmother and her gold." Fiona settled back against the tree. "And would you like a cookie to go with your whiskey?"
"Thank ye kindly," the leprechaun said. "But would ye happen to have any pipe tobacco on ye?"
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"I can't believe your great-Grandmother buried a fortune in gold in the garden," Gillian said as they sat on the patio enjoying a glass of wine. "And your Gran knew about it and never said a word?"
"It was my great-great-Grandmother, and Gran never said anything because as far as she knew there was no need, she had plenty of money already."
"Until your Uncle Sean got his hands on it," Tammy said darkly. "But how did you know exactly where to dig?"
Fiona smiled as she looked over to the base of the whitethorn tree where she'd left a pint of Guinness an ounce of the finest pipe tobacco she could find. "I just followed what the leprechaun said."
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Happy Pi Day!
Bless me readers for I have sinned. It's been many weeks since my last update . . .
If it's any consolation, I haven't been updating my regular journal either. After NaNo was finished I caught a series case of the winter blahs, and while I was able to get some writing done, I didn't have the energy left for anything else.
But here's the weird thing. Last weekend was the time change and I don't know if it's because I've gone back to drinking coffee in the afternoon or what, but it's like somebody turned a switch or something, I've suddenly starting to get things done.
Since we last spoke I have finished the draft of Lucky Dog, finished the draft for An Elemental Earth (which is still being serialized on my main blog), and finally finished Guardian of the Sea (my NaNo novel). As well, I've done some editing on a couple of books for other people, and written a 25 page (roughly 10,000 words) Valentine's Day story that was not finished in time for Valentine's day.
Now I have to buckle down and get to work on those second drafts. *sigh*
I think I have seconddraftitis. How else would you explain my avoidance of Lucky Dog, which was finished before NaNno started? I'm sure it has nothing to do with its length (over 100k), or the plot holes from it being a NaNo book originally so when I'd get stuck I'd just skip ahead, or the fact I got really, really wordy towards the end so there's a lot to be cut out. :-D
So the next couple of weeks will be all about the re-writing and editing, I think. These books aren't doing anyone any good just sitting on my hard drive, especially me.
Here's where the real work starts.
If it's any consolation, I haven't been updating my regular journal either. After NaNo was finished I caught a series case of the winter blahs, and while I was able to get some writing done, I didn't have the energy left for anything else.
But here's the weird thing. Last weekend was the time change and I don't know if it's because I've gone back to drinking coffee in the afternoon or what, but it's like somebody turned a switch or something, I've suddenly starting to get things done.
Since we last spoke I have finished the draft of Lucky Dog, finished the draft for An Elemental Earth (which is still being serialized on my main blog), and finally finished Guardian of the Sea (my NaNo novel). As well, I've done some editing on a couple of books for other people, and written a 25 page (roughly 10,000 words) Valentine's Day story that was not finished in time for Valentine's day.
Now I have to buckle down and get to work on those second drafts. *sigh*
I think I have seconddraftitis. How else would you explain my avoidance of Lucky Dog, which was finished before NaNno started? I'm sure it has nothing to do with its length (over 100k), or the plot holes from it being a NaNo book originally so when I'd get stuck I'd just skip ahead, or the fact I got really, really wordy towards the end so there's a lot to be cut out. :-D
So the next couple of weeks will be all about the re-writing and editing, I think. These books aren't doing anyone any good just sitting on my hard drive, especially me.
Here's where the real work starts.
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