Where There’s A Will There’s A Way

It’s the second last day of NaNo. I’m sitting around the 48,000 word mark as I type this, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to write 2,000 words in two days.

Last week was a definite challenge, I tell you what. Because of my wrenched shoulder, early in the week I couldn’t type on the lap top at my desk. I had to have it sitting on my lap because my arm wouldn’t stretch to reach it. Finally I thought to squish a pillow in the chair beside me and prop my arm up on that, but I could only type for a short while before my hand and arm were aching too much to keep going.

Thank goodness for my Neo! But even typing on the it I had to type for a bit, rest a bit, pop an Advil and repeat as necessary. I finally broke down and went to the walk-in clinic and they pretty much told me what I already knew – I pulled the muscles really bad in my upper arm/shoulder and I needed to rest them as much as possible. They even gave me a sling to keep my arm immobile . . . but did not show me how to tie it and even watching YouTube videos I couldn’t figure it out. But they also gave me some kick-ass anti-inflammatories. :-)

I’ve kind of written myself into a corner and I’m not sure how to get out of it again. Originally I was going to have Brand, my main character, acquire a special sword to rescue this female magic worker that he teams up with. However, he hasn’t met her yet and I have him paired up with a fellow mercenary – they’re like blood brothers. They’ve ticked off the religious fanatics and the sidekick is ripe for tangling with the bad guys, which will require Brand to get the sword to save him. But I still want him to face off the bad guys to save the girl, so I don’t know how I’m going to work that all in.

I do not want to turn this into a series, but I did originally have a couple of short stories using this character and I kind of wanted to incorporate some of the action from them into this book, but other than one of the fight scenes it doesn’t really work – my character has changed too much. *sigh*

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Wordage Report

I had a couple of 1,000 word days, and a couple of 700 word days, but thanks to the extra words I had accumulated earlier I never really fell behind. And yeah, my arm got achy from time to time but I just kept going anyway. I was not going to let a little thing like a wrenched shoulder keep me from my NaNo goal, especially since this year I was keeping up a steady pace.

The story is a real mess. I have so totally departed from my original idea that I don’t know if there’s any getting back to it. Believe it or not, I’m only now getting to the part where he meets his magical partner, so there’s plenty of story left to tell. But there are going to be a lot of kinks to work out first. Really not looking forward to editing this puppy.

Goals From Last Week

1. Edits on book flood stories – didn’t even look at the stories, but I did order myself a coil binder to make my book flood books.
2. Blog posts – despite my injury, I got them all up. And on time too!
3. More words on Firestorm – only 2,000 to go and I’m done!

Goals For This Week

1. Finish NaNo – but continue with the story.
2. Start getting the book flood stories organized.
3. Blog posts should be a given, but I’m putting them as a goal anyway.
4. Finish editing the story I plan to submit this week.

NaNo Week Four

I really should have knocked on wood last week when I made the comment about life having a habit of interfering when you least expect it.

I wrenched my left shoulder badly last Friday, and typing has become something of an issue. I think I’m getting better (*knock on wood*) but for a while there I wasn’t sure if I was going to make my NaNo goal.

But more about that on Sunday’s post. This is Fiction Friday and time for another excerpt from Firestorm. To set this one up . . . Last week Brand and his squire/friend Kel reached the home of Nairn and Therza, only to find them packing up to move. I figured I might as well continue on with that one because a lot of what I’ve been writing lately is all over the place.

The trip took more than a month and by the end they were all weary of it. But the weather had been fair and the trip uneventful, so from that perspective they could have done much worse.

Their destination was the town of Burnsen, a market centre for the surrounding farms. After making inquires, Nairn was directed to a newly vacated farm, to be had for what he deemed a very reasonable price. The holding agent suggested they camp there for the night to see if it would suit and Nairn agreed.

The farmhouse was larger than he expected, with a sound barn close by and pens that could be used for a variety of livestock. When asked what happened to the previous owners the agent shook his head sadly.

“What happens to most in these parts. A man and his wife raise their family here, and the sons grow up wanting something other than dirt under their nails. This is good, rich land, mind you, but it takes a will to make it work.”

Nairn nodded in agreement.

While Brand and Kel chased the boys around the farmyard to help them blow off some of their steam from being cooped up in the wagon so long, Nairn and Therza checked out the house.

It was two stories, built of wood and stone and looked to have had an addition added on at some point. The door opened into a large room with a stone fireplace. A door off one side led to a good sized bedroom with its own fireplace that Therza deemed would be perfect for the two of them.

On the other side of the main room was space for a table for dining, with a kitchen off of it. Therza surveyed the kitchen with her hands on her hips. There were plenty of shelves and counter space, a work table in the centre, and a large iron cook stove that would heat things up nicely in the winter months. To her delight, one of the doors off to the side led to a pantry. The other door led outside where there was a kitchen garden. It was somewhat overgrown but she could see several of her favourite herbs amongst the weeds. Just beyond that was a plot of land that had obviously once been used as a vegetable garden.

“It’s perfect!” she exclaimed to Nairn.

“You haven’t even seen the upstairs,” he said in amusement.

“As long as there’s enough room for the boys, it’s still perfect,” she assured him. “Just look at all these windows. When the storms come they can be shut, and when the heat is upon us they can be opened to let in a breeze.”

There was a proper set of stairs leading to the upstairs, which boasted four rooms of equal size.

“While they are young they might wish to share a room still,” Nairn said. “But when they grow a little older they’ll want a space of their own.”

Therza nodded in agreement. She turned to Nairn and wrapped her arms around him. “It is perfect here. But are you sure this is what you really want?”

“Yes,” Nairn said, kissing her soundly. “There comes a time in a man’s life when he needs to lay down his sword, and my time has come.”

Therza set to work at once, cleaning and setting the house to rights, drafting the men into helping her. They swept and scrubbed and polished. Therza washed the floors and walls and the glass in the windows. Even the little ones were given tasks, and threatened with dire results should they stray from the farm.

It took better than a week before she was satisfied and allowed the men to unpack the wagon. While the men saw to the actual heavy work of lifting, Therza saw to the placement of every stick of furniture, every pot and plate herself.

“I think I would rather face a hoard of tribesmen than face Therza when she is setting up house keeping,” Brand said with a heartfelt sigh of relief when she finally released them to see about dealing with the rest of the farm.

Kel grinned at him. “It was a definite change from cleaning armour.”

Superstitions V – Black Cats

The life giving rays of the sun rest in the cat’s eyes at night for safe keeping.
~ Egyptian superstition

Originally, the black cat represented good luck. This began in Egypt with Bast, the official deity of Egypt in the 22nd Dynasty. It was believed that by bringing a black cat into the household Bast would become part of the cat in spirit and bless the home with riches and prosperity.

A strange black cat on a porch is considered to bring prosperity.
~ Scottish superstition

In the 1600’s, Charles I of England owned a black cat. He was so attached to the it that he kept it under constant guard. When the cat fell ill and died, Charles proclaimed, “Alas, my luck is gone.” The next day he was arrested and charged with high treason. Ultimately he was put to death.

Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.
~ English Proverb

In the Yorkshires, a black cat was believed to bring fishermen home safely from the seas. During the height of the fishing industry in this village, black kittens were often catnapped and sold to the highest bidder. In other parts of Europe, if a black cat crosses your path, you are considered to have good fortune. If a black cat walks into your house or home, you are truly blessed.

While dreaming of white cats is considered lucky, seeing one in the night is bad luck.
~ American superstition

Many people believe that a black cat brings good fortune and also, that anyone who finds the one perfect, pure white hair in an all-black cat and plucks it out without being scratched, will find great wealth and good luck in love.

A black cat in the audience on opening night portends a successful play.

In the English Midlands, a black cat as a wedding present is thought to bring good luck to the bride.

Any one who hears a cat sneezing is considered to be blessed with good luck.
~ Italian superstition

Fear of cats, particularly black cats, first arose in Europe during the Middle Ages, mainly in England. The cat characterizes independence, willfulness, and stealth. Alley cats were often fed by poor, lonely old ladies, and when witch hysteria struck Europe, many of these harmless women were accused of practicing black magic. Their cat companions (especially black ones) were deemed guilty of witchery by association.

In the Netherlands, cats were considered to be evil and weren't allowed in a room where private conversations were taking place. It was believed that they could spread the gossip around.

The Pilgrims brought with them not only a devout faith in the Bible, but also a deep fear of anything considered to come from the devil. They were a very suspicious people. Black cats were viewed as a witch’s familiar. A black cat was considered to be part demon and part sorcery. Anyone caught with a black cat would be severely punished or even killed.

As the Christians gained a foothold in America, they perpetuated the belief that black cats were an integral part of witchcraft. Black cats were often sought after and killed. If a farmer believed his land had a spell cast on it, the only way to break that spell was to shoot a black cat with a silver bullet.

All Hallows Eve is believed to be the time when an opening is created to the Otherworld and the black cat is considered the catalyst for that driving force.

A black cat crossing one's path by moonlight means death in an epidemic. However, killing a cat brings 17 years of bad luck.
~Irish superstition

The belief that a black cat crossing your path is unlucky depends largely upon what country you’re in. In Japan it is believed to be good luck. So the next time a black cat crosses your path, just say “Konichiwa” and turn your luck around.

Too Good to be True

As I type this, I’m two days ahead on NaNo, which is a very good thing because there’s only a week left and for the first time I’m thinking I might not finish.

I believe I mentioned in the first NaNo post I did that one of my handicaps this year is the kitchen renovation we were planning on. The renovation has gone as far as it can without the counters, but at least I’m able to start putting stuff back into the cupboards. And surprisingly it hasn’t really interfered with my NaNo word count . . . until now.

After a shaky Wednesday (words wise) I had a stellar Thursday (4,000 words!) so Friday I figured I figured I could phone my sister to wish her a happy birthday and maybe work on getting rid of some of the bins in the dining room so the hubby could start installing the new floor.

One of the sets of dishes we have for every day use is stoneware. Guess what? Turns out stoneware is as heavy as … well, stone. I tried to pick up the bin of dishes to move it into the kitchen to put them away and wrenched something in my shoulder. Pulled a muscle? Pinched a nerve? I have no idea. But it hurts to type. Even doing this post hurts.

So the home stretch of NaNo is going to be an interesting. I knew my steady progress was too good to be true.

One of the common pieces of advice for doing NaNo is “Don’t stop to edit.” This year I’ve had no problem following this piece of advice. In fact, a couple of times the story wandered off into parts unknown and I just stopped and started the scene over again. And I’m making notes as I go along, which should make editing easier.

I’m putting a lot of effort into my character’s training as a mercenary, which I thought was just going to get cut during the edits, but now I think it could stay if I scale it down. Right now it’s like a Hogwarts for mercenaries, but that makes it way too big. For now I’ll just get on with the story.

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Wordage Report

My best day last week was 4,068 words, the worst day was 720 words. But I had enough extra words built up that even on the 720 day I did not fall behind of where I should have been. Thanks to the 4,068 day, even if I can manage 1,000 a day until my shoulder’s better I shouldn’t fall behind. Guess we’ll just have to see how motivated I am.

Goals From Last Week

1. Book flood stories – I picked out 14 flash stories for this year’s book flood.
2. Blog posts – got them all done, but not on time (unless you count this one).
3. Firestorm – this book is probably going to be my longest book yet, when it’s done.

Goals For This Week

1. Start edits (if necessary) to the book flood stories.
2. Keep up the good work with the blog posts.
3. Push through the pain for more words on Firestorm.

NaNo Week Three

A lot’s happened to Brand since he escaped from his uncle’s lecherous clutches. He’s turning out to be a much nicer character than I thought he’d be when I first envisioned him, but that might work out in his favour later on.

The story is changing too, and I think it’s for the better. I was going to skip over his training to become a mercenary, but he’s making some important friends and it’s going to help the story later on.

I’m well over halfway done, and there’s a ton more story to tell. My plan is to keep working on it after NaNo is over, but the road to hell is paved by good intentions and life has a habit of interfering when you least expect it.

The scene I have for you today is more about Nairn and Therza, who raised Brand after his mother died, and took him to Witch Hills to be with his mother’s family after his father died.

Nairn and Therza had settled in the town of Boven on the Witch Hill border. Therza plied her trade as herb wife, something she was not able to do when they were living in Alandria, while Nairn became weapons master to the local lord, teaching his young sons the way of the sword.

Their life together was happy enough, though they both worried about Brand. Therza worried about the possibility of him picking up the more undesirable customs of the Witchers, while Nairn worried that he hadn’t been more straight forward in his warnings in regards to Orin.

The letters that passed between Brand and Therza were reassuring, however. Nairn had had half suspected that Brand would be moved to quarters outside of the palace – though his royal status entitled him to Sharina’s quarters, his half-blood status was frowned upon. But thankfully they left him where he was. King Theron himself had taken an interest in Brand’s education, and as long as he kept his interest Brand would be safe from any interest Orin might have in him.

A year after they settled in Bovan they had a son, and two years later a second one. Though comfortable enough, they wanted something better for their sons. They talked often of migrating northward to the farmlands, to try their hand at a more pastoral life.

It was well they started to save as well as talk, for the choice was forced upon them. Nairn had a falling out with the lord – his sons complained of their lessons. They found them too difficult but the truth as Nairn saw it was the boys were lazy and unmotivated. The novelty of having a true Witcher instructing his sons had long since worn off, so the lord dismissed Nairn, evicting him from the house he and his family had been living in all this time. They had two weeks to gather their belongings and be gone.

Brand and Kel arrived three days before the family was to depart. One of the boys had become ill and Therza needed to watch over him so she was unable to help Nairn pack up their things. As a result, they had three days left and half a household to dismantle.

Brand was a little nervous as he stood outside the door he was told belonged to “the Witcher and his wife,” a little unsure of his welcome. It had been six years since he’d seen the man and woman who’d raised him, who were more kin to him than his own blood. The journey here had taken the better part of six months, and it had been two months before that since he’d last written to Therza. He had not thought, nor had he had time, to send a message to them, telling them he was leaving Witch Hills.

“Are we just going to stand here until the sun sets, or are we going in? Or have you changed your mind?” Kel asked.

Shooting him a dark look, Brand squared his shoulders and then rapped sharply on the door. He relaxed somewhat when there was no answer. Perhaps they were not home.

“Try again,” Kel urged.

With a sigh, he rapped again.

This time there was the sound of footsteps and the door opened. A weary looking Therza greeted them.

“Yes?” she asked. Nairn was looking after the boys while she started to dismantle the kitchen.

She had put out the word that her services as an herb wife were no longer available, but there was still the odd customer or two who sought her skills. But usually they ones familiar with her work, the two at her door were strangers.

Brand took in the sight of her. Therza did not look much older than she had when she left, although she was looking tired. He hoped he was not disturbing her.

“You wish something?” she asked, a little impatiently.

Brand reached up and slowly removed his face covering.

“Oh!” she said. “Oh!” Laughing and crying, she enfolded Brand in her arms.

He hugged her back, lifting her off her feet.

“You’ve grown so tall!” she exclaimed. “Oh, it is so good to see you,” she said when he set her down again. “Come in, come in. No sense giving the neighbours something to gossip about.”

“What is all this commotion? I just got the boys to sleep,” Nairn said, entering the main room of their small house. “Brand!” he exclaimed. In two strides they met in the middle of the room where Brand was once again pulled into a bone jarring hug.

Superstitions IV – Breaking Mirrors

The first reflections man had of himself were found gazing into pools, ponds, or lakes. If the image became distorted in any way, it was a mark of impending disaster or a corruption of his soul. When he became more civilized he used polished stone, such as obsidian, to reflect his images. Then came mirrors of polished metal, but they were small and heavy and used mostly for decoration.

The Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Africans, and Indian cultures, believed that a mirror had the power to confiscate part of the user's soul. If the user should break a mirror it would mean his or her soul would be trapped inside the world the mirror represented. Essentially, a broken mirror created a broken soul, which in turn lead to the broken health of the unfortunate user.

The origin of the ‘seven years of bad luck for breaking a mirror’ superstition can be traced back to the Romans, who were the first to create glass mirrors. They believed that a person's physical body renewed itself every seven years, which meant it would take seven years before the user's soul would be fully restored. Until the seven years passed, life for a mirror breaker would be one long string of unfortunate events, since he or she no longer had a healthy soul to ward off spiritual evil-doers.

There are several different ways of warding off the ill luck caused by breaking a mirror:

* Throw salt over your shoulder.
* Directly after breaking the mirror, turn around three times counterclockwise.
* Since the pieces can still reflect the corrupted soul, grind the shards into a fine powder.
* Gather the broken mirror pieces and submerge them in the waters of a south-running stream.
This will wash away the bad luck after only seven hours rather than seven days.
* Burn the mirror, or at least blacken its shards in the flames of a fire. Save the fragments for a year and then bury them, and the curse will be counteracted.
* On the first night after breaking the mirror, light seven white candles and blow them out at midnight in one breath.
* Touch a tombstone with a piece of the mirror and the hex will be lifted.
* Bury the pieces under a tree during a full moon.

Other Mirror Superstitions:

John Dee, alchemist and court magician of Queen Elizabeth I, used a mirror for scrying. He has been credited with prophesying the plot to kill King James in 1605.

It is said that having a large number of mirrors in the home is lucky because of the mirror's ability to deflect evil and attract good.

The mirror is symbolic of, among other things, money. Hang one beside the table in the dining room or kitchen to attract wealth and food to the home.

Ideally, no mirror should be hung so low that it "cuts off" the tallest household member's head (doing so may cause headaches). However, mirrors shouldn't be hung too high either.

If you feel sad or troubled while home alone with no one to talk to and no apparent way to control your blue mood, stand before a mirror and gaze into your eyes. Your anxiety should disappear.

Any mirrors in a room where someone has recently died, must be covered so that the dead person's soul does not get trapped behind the glass. Superstition has it that the Devil invented mirrors for this very purpose.

To see an image of her future husband, a woman is told to eat an apple while sitting in front of a mirror and then brush her hair. An image of the man will appear behind her shoulder.

To see your reflection in a mirror is to see your own soul, which is why a vampire, who is without a soul, has no reflection.

If a couple first catch sight of each other in a mirror, they will have a happy marriage.

If a mirror falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will soon die.

It is bad luck to see your face in a mirror when sitting by candlelight.

Someone seeing their reflection in a room where someone has recently died will soon die themselves.

Actors believe that it is bad luck to see their reflection while looking over the shoulder of another person.

Babies should not look into a mirror for the first year of their lives.

Wait, It’s Sunday Already?

It’s a grey and miserable day out there, which makes me kind of grey and miserable, but there was nothing really to watch on TV this morning so when I found myself nodding off I figured it was time to relocate to my office. And if I hadn’t, it might have been quite some time before I realized I’d forgotten all about today’s post.

Sorry about that.

You can blame both tiredness and the kitchen renovation on that. Tiredness from eating too many unhealthy meals (and too much of them), brought about by not having access to a proper kitchen. I have a stove, and a TV tray with the toaster and coffee maker sitting on it. But I have no sink, no counters, no cupboards, and trying to find anything in the plastic bins in and around the dining room table is like searching for buried treasure.

I think the most annoying thing about the renovation is that I was just settling into a workable routine – editing in the morning, writing in the afternoon and evening – and it’s just not possible now. Everything’s a crowded mess. Even my office has an extra chair in it with a box of stuff on top. Not very inspiring.

Anyway, I know I had this great idea for a post today (instead of just whining about how chaotic my life has become) but if I wrote the idea down somewhere I can’t remember where.

That being said, the stars must be in the right alignment or something for this year’s NaNo, because my progress has been steady. I was actually ahead of the game a bit, but then last week I had to use up some of those precious words to make my daily quota. I was still on track though, and Friday I managed to pull ahead again which is good because yesterday I didn’t quite make my quota again.

So a little bit of the seesawing, but not the extremes of other years.

My main character has a name now, it’s Brand. His horse is named Raven. :-) And remember how I was starting this as a back story to lead into the real story? Well, I’ve done that in spades. Brand has had a lot of adventures in his short life, most of which will end up cut because despite all the detail it’s the results that are important, not how it happened. Even for a fantasy it takes too long to get to where the story actually starts, which is something that will happen in the next day or two.

That’s right, I’m at the halfway point in NaNo and my story is only now just starting. I’ve heard of others who just start writing and hope a story appears to them along the way, and it looks like that’s what I unintentionally did.

It’s not like I didn’t know what my story was going to be, I guess it was just how to get there that eluded me. There’s a lot of bad writing, and a lot of unnecessary writing. But this is NaNo, people. That’s the name of the game.

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Wordage Report

Today is the halfway point in NaNo and I am right on track – just over 25,000 words. How awesome is that? Normally this would be the point where I’d tell myself, “Oh, look. You’re halfway there, time to take a break.” But not this year. This year I want to keep going and, be still my heart, finish early.

Goals From Last Week
1. Blood Tie edits – didn’t really happen. And even if they had, I was kidding myself if I thought I was going to have the book ready for a Christmas release. I don’t even have a blurb or a cover yet.
2. Blog posts – again, this one is late, but I got them all done.
3. NaNo – ready to tip over the halfway point. It’s all uphill from here! LOL

Goals For This Week
1. Instead of edits on Blood Ties, maybe I should be gathering up stories for my flash anthology for my book flood.
2. Get all my blog posts done on time.
3. Keep up the good work on Firestorm.

Last week I talked about playlists for writing. Have you ever found a song that just seemed to fit your character perfectly? Well I did. Brand’s theme song is Rune, by Two Steps From Hell.