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7/31/2012

The Next Best Thing Blog Challenge

Thank you Karen de Lange for tagging me for this fun challenge. Fellow blog travelers take a look at Karen's blog and let yourself be immersed in her world!  
Boy, I admit, this challenge took much longer than I anticipated, especially the one-sentence synopsis. I wrote it, rewrote it, changed it back.. I panted like a mad person. Still not happy with it, especially after reading other brilliant synopses, such as Mel's. Anyways, I decided to calm myself down with a sandwich. Still waiting for the muse to hit me. This challenge has been a blast, nevertheless! :)

 

1. What is the title of your book/WIP?
The working title of my WIP is Spellbloom, but I'm unsure as though to use it as the title to the whole series/book cycle.

2. Where did the idea for the book come from?
After years of serious fandom for the fantasy genre and writing bits and pieces of fantasy shorts, even longer shorts, and short long stories, one day last summer, as I was sitting on my balcony, drinking a cup of coffee with two sugar cubes: boom. Out of nowhere, there it was. I do remember minutes earlier, thinking about my dislike for Hogwarts (seriously) as the epitome for elitist principles of magic in contemporary fantasy; it may have led up to it. Then there was some sort of mental ignition.

3. What genre would your book fall under?
Contemporary fantasy.

4. How long did it take you to write it?
So far, a year, but I haven't finished yet. The storyline is lined up and ready in my head, it pretty much was from the beginning. I'm still thinking, systemic thoughts, how to make the "magic" part as logical and comprehensive as humanly possible, as for how the system works and what costs there are. And there will be costs in using magic.

5. What other books in your genre would you compare it to?
Definitely Lois McMaster Bujold's Beguilement, in the sense that there is a romantic story underneath a fantasy epos. What I especially like about Lois' fantasy books is that the use of magic is never a gimmicky placeholder for a lack of explanation... unlike "Hi, my name is Nicolas Cage, and as of now and for no good reason, you will be my wizard's apprentice. Here, let me distract you with this flaming fireball, tards!" 

6. What is the plot synopsis in one sentence?
In a world where magic is dangerous and needs to be tightly controlled, Guardian-trainee Kaley and Mage Nian are sent on a secretive, high-priority mission across the country by order of the Regent himself - unaware that the obstacles they will face, and the reason for the quest itself is more entwined with their own lives than they suspected.

7. What actors would you choose for your characters to play in a movie rendition?
My favorite question!



The fantastic Tom Hughes as Nian Thalur. I only saw him once in this movie called Cemetery Junction, but I was immediately smitten. He brings the right amount of rebel-emo-aggressiveness to personify a Destruction Mage.







Ellen Page epitomizes Kaley Evans, Nian's new Guardian. She is the voice of reason, smart, and a natural leader-figure. Maybe we'll have to cut her hair a little plus lighten it a nuance or two for this role.







Stanley Tucci - boy was he scary in The Lovely Bones, but I need exactly his kind of ambiguity and versatility for my character Aeron, Nian's former Guardian. He left his protégée for personal reasons.







Laura Linney or Mrs. John Adams as I like to call her is Morgen, a well-trained Guardian from the Academy, who can teach Kaley a lesson or two in leadership. They meet on the journey.






Eric Bana. I assured my husband that he doesn't need to worry, I won't run away with Eric in case I meet him during the movie production - but dear God I hope he never asks me to.
I thought he was fantastic in Munich - which is one of my favorite cities as well as one of Señor Spielbergo's top if not-so-famous movies. In my story Bana stars as Pador, the King Regent of Indova.




His name is Storm. He once was a powerful Mage. Now, he lives in a care home for elderly Mages outside the City. He suffers from dementia, but at times he still has good insight - and is quite the character. Since Storm has wild hair, Gene Hackman will need grey extensions for that role. I hope he's OK with it.



8. Is your book published or represented?
No and no.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Weeeeeell.... in short: everyone who ever made me feel welcome in his or her fantastic storyworld, across all genres and media. I never expected storydriven RPGs to have such a massive influence on me but they did, although books, movies and television do have the more prominent impact. There are of course some authors who left a more distinct imprint than others. I am referring to Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, Lois McMaster Bujold, Michael Ende, Piers Anthony, Frank Herbert, George R. R. Martin, Philip José Farmer and Douglas Adams.

 

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.
I can't believe I'd use this as a selling point, but it is not a medieval setting. I repeat - is not. No one will die of rotten teeth in their mid 30s. And while I do understand the fuzzy Tolkienien feeling we all get when we see swords and messenger birds and horse-travelling, I didn't want any of that in my story. There will be other problems and restrictions my characters face, I think, more interesting ones. The limitations in my world don't have anything to do with the setting, but everything with the plot.


~Thank you for reading, and consider yourself tagged!~

Lucky 7 Meme - Consider Yourself Tagged

Last week I got tagged for the Lucky 7 meme by my dear friend Teresa Cypher, a wonderful writer and my beacon of light and guidance in the uncharted Land of Blogz - hop over to take a look at her Blog - you won't regret it. :)

So, as far as this challenge goes, here are the rules:

1. Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript.                       
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next seven lines or sentences as they are – no cheating.
4. Tag 7 other authors.*


*If this tagging works anything like a droplet infection, everyone I know should be tagged by now. So, I want to work the exclusion principle instead. If you read this, and you haven't already been part of this challenge  - consider yourself tagged as of now!

My current WIP is titled Spellbloom.


She wanted to stop herself from staring, but the exotic bronze complexion made it hard not to - and the one short glimpse of Indian red eyes made her head twist and turn after him like a magnet. The Indoviens actually looked the part of the Magi by nature, but Kaley was surprised to see so few people wearing the signature royal blue cloaks in the vast number of colorful garments. 

As soon as she reached the information booth, Kaley let her suitcase drop with a clumsy bang.
"Hi..hello..can you tell me where the Academy is?" 
The woman behind the glass looked at her with a bland face, then reached for the paper on top of the large pile neatly arranged in front of her. She put it through the small slit on the counter, a folded piece of paper, not larger than a notepad. "Is this supposed to be..?" a map, Kaley wanted to ask, but the previously mute woman didn't wait for her to finish. "Neeeeext," she yelled, at the person standing in line behind her.

7/28/2012

Six-Sentence-Sunday 7/29



http://sixsunday.com/

Sunday, Sunday, gonna get down on Sunday...oh wait, that was Friday.. Anyways, last weekend I slacked off, but today I'm back full speed ahead- like that nasty STD you just can't seem to get rid of.. oh well, enough already. My story is called The Days Adrift and -->this is what happened earlier.
This Sunday is the day, you actually get to take a closer look into the boating experience with our girl-fugitives running from their crime towards the open sea. Sail ahoy.


We three share a small space in Brita's boat, a cockleshell too tiny even to lie down all at once. Two of us have to sit upright, close behind one another while the third may catch some Z's in the shade of the sail. Ever since I drew the long straw for the navigational post, Brita has decided to be pissed. I feel her venomous little eyes in the back of my head every time I give directions. 
"I like it better when you sleep and she's awake with me," she hisses, in between my turns and hoists. "Likewise," I say with a snarl, but a sudden boom of waves against the wood drowns out my voice. 


7/23/2012

For a Minor Reflection

As of late, one question seems to haunt me more than I care to admit.
In writing, this keeps me up at night. It is a question that arises out of nowhere, usually before I even put one finger on the blank sheet: Is this the best I can do?  
It feels more like a reproach than an actual question.

Is this story that just fell into my lap one morning the best it could possibly be, at least, the best I am able to come up with? I am talking about Spellbloom, the fantasy story I have been working on for almost a year. In writing, everything is possible, yet sometimes I feel strange limitations weighing down on me. 

For one, so many stories have already been done, told and written, and well at that. I know I won't re-invent the wheel with mine. So what is it, I hope to achieve with my story? Write a mediocre one and hope to find an audience who doesn't know any better? I know it shouldn't be like that, I do loathe the idea of advantageous writing like that. As a reader it makes me angry. Sometimes though, I find myself hoping that no one may notice my amateurism.

Or do I find the strength to see writing as my personal agenda, my inner calling. At times I find it ridiculous, but on the other hand, artists are a ridiculous and self-absorbed bunch. I have Bukowski's quote in my mind. Don't ever write a novel unless it hurts like a hot turd coming out. - And sometimes it does hurt. Other times however, I feel as though I am looking for the easy route, not the complicated one, avoiding the one that would make the story more intense and less predictable. I feel limited by my own inability to "torture" my characters. I know that I must do it, in order that the reader may see what those characters are made of

George R. R. Martin said in an interview that one particular part of Book 3 was the hardest thing he ever had to write, so he put it off until the rest of the book was written. When I read A Storm of Swords, I suffered through that part with him. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments. In hindsight, it was one of the best moments. So, I know I have to overcome this. My inner voice may be right to remind me of that. 

Mieze likes...

7/20/2012

Writer's Diarrhea

I for the life of me can't decipher my own scribblings. Not because of bad handwriting, but unclear phrasing. Really not helpful to leave a comment such as "Nian's Magic!!!!" there without any further explanation, but at least four exclamation points. It is supposed to be important, but I can't remember what it was about Nian's Magic that needed tweaking or editing...? Must stop using post-its as source of memory. Brain needs more than two words to actually remember stuff. Another one says "Declining Health" and I don't know what that means either. Not even a vague idea. Was I, by any chance, talking about myself? Is there any way to trigger my memory? Mnemonic devices to re-remember stuff? Any ideas?

7/14/2012

Six-Sentence-Sunday 15/7


http://sixsunday.com/


No matter how good or bad a week may have been so far, it always ends up with a wonderful pick-me-up called the Six Sentence Sunday! Today, because of the stupid solar storm, I have this piercing headache. No, the three glasses of wine I had yesterday had nothing to do with it... of course not. Wine is my friend, Gale is not. How are all your heads today? Better, I hope! Anyways, let's dive back in where we left off. --->That's what went down last week in The Days Adrift. 3 girls 1 boat, and not much room to spare...



Brita is a pretty girl, small and slender, with dark raven hair and a facial expression that wavers between aloof and helpless countless times a day. Boys liked to look after her whenever she strolled along the streets, sometimes they would walk up to her and ask her things. Tams is not nearly as pretty, if the label 'pretty' even applies at all. She has beefy arms and legs, and frizzy hair, faintly reminiscent of dried up briarwood just before the storm. Tams has the dog smarts thing going for her, and a keen nose to sniff out all kinds of opportunities and people. 
Her nose, however, was green enough to let her get involved in murder.


7/11/2012

The Birthday Curse

It's that time of year again. 39. Poor hubby. He hasn't done anything to deserve this upgrade. I don't know how to cheer him up - since the time I turned 18 and was officially and legally uncaged I'm not too fond of them birthdays myself, so how can I congratulate him on this with a straight face? Birthdays have started to feel like Christmas, reversed, from an emotional point of view. Happy birthday, you old fart. Emphasis on happy and fart. Why would anyone be happy about a yearly reminder of mortality? It's not 39 out of a million, you know. 39, goddamned. Is it that late already?


7/07/2012

Six-Sentence-Sunday 7/8


http://sixsunday.com/

Huzzah, and it's another round of Six Sentence Sunday marvellousness with you, me and everyone we know. Hah! I want to start right were we left off last week, with The Days Adrift, the infamous WIP that keeps me up late. You'll find the =>prologue and =>part one both here on my blog. Link-color questionable, that's why I need the flashy arrows...
Anyways, since I hold all of your comments and criticisms in such high regard, I really want to encourage you to always crit as you see fit. I can handle it, and it's the only chance for me to improve. If something sounds strange or plain wrong to you, please don't hold back, kay? :)


That's usually how I get to know people; I have yet to see Brita in such a moment. Tams, however, has - in that other guy's kitchen back when we were still on dry land. She told me that first, 
it started out harmless with Brita, talking to the older one with her fawn eyes, constantly nodding her little head, so sweet, so fragile. 
Then, out of nowhere, she lunged at him in a ferocious blur, and struck. She went directly for his head. Tams says that if it hadn't been for the repugnant crushing sound, she would never even have noticed anything else but Brita's fingernails at play.

7/05/2012

#Friday Fictioneers



Decay

It’s another morning and the wind keeps swirling across the plains. He ruptures the fibers of earth and tells a tale of adamant goodbyes. I am a branch and I lie broken. The world is waste as the soil, turning fallow beneath my soles. Everything I touch turns grey. I am a pitiful creature, I should have warned you, my friend. I can never be unbroken. It’s another morning, and the wind cuts through the sea of bones. The darkness subsides, yet not in my heart.

7/02/2012

3 Things I learned from Cesar Millan


There is a show I love and watch religiously on National Geographic called The Dog Whisperer. It's a program about problem dogs being trained and rehabilitated by dog expert Cesar Millan. Although at the moment, I don't have my own special canine friend (but two free-spirited felines roaming about), this is as good a time as any to practice my newfound canine ways in life, on humans. And here's the theory.


Lesson 1/  Anyone can be the leader of the pack

Seriously, anyone, even super-anxious types, such as myself. It's all about the level of commitment. Being in charge is a state of mind - not a promotion you get from someone else. It's about your decision to lead and follow through with it. Anyone can do that, if he wants, and anyone will do it, if he must. Naturally, there is a much higher density in followers than there is in leaders, but leaders rise when the situation demands it. We are social beings looking for leadership. If we have instated one and trust him with our lives, we tend to do the things he wants us to do unquestioned, because we rely on the hierarchy, we trust that he knows what's right. We'll happily be willing to overlook certain "costs" if we feel well-led. We assume the leader knows what's best, and we don't want to look too closely ourselves. That would actually mean challenging the leadership. A certain Adolf H. knew that blind spot in following, and utilized it to his advantage. Just saying.


Lesson 2/  It's all about the energy

People are mirror neuron machines, dancing the dance of synchronicity with their kind. If someone's in pain, we feel it, and mirror it back, if someone is happy we feel that, and mirror it back. A smile is infectious, much as a virus. Stories as well are a powerful tool to play with our emphatic neediness. Mirroring emotion is what we naturally do, but it's not something a leader does. He wants to control the masses, rather than being one of the ants reacting. His goal is to bring about the feeling he wants others to feel. If a dog or a person, or any socially receptive being is overexcited, the right way to calm them down is not to chime in with hysteria, but to relax yourself, and exude an aura of calm. (I find this hard!) Mothers learn to do that naturally with their children. Childless hags such as myself have to go elsewhere to exercise. Again, just saying.


Lesson 3/  Exercise, Discipline and Affection

Exercise calms us down naturally and makes us more receptive to submission. Don't look at me like that. I'm not talking about the dirty kind. Anyhoo, too much energy is always a problem, in dogs same as in people, especially little people. That's why we go for walks with them, and engage them in activity, dogs and people. They surrender more easily to our leadership when they are a bit worn out. That's the right time to apply some discipline. Exercise - Repeat. Positive reinforcement does the trick here. Reward only wanted behavior, and those you lead will preferably show that very behavior. That's the reason you shouldn't pet a nervous dog or reward him in that anxious state of mind, because it would reinforce the unwanted behavior in the long run.

Simple, uhmmm, sure, in theory, but I can't say that a mouthful of pointy choppers would leave me that unfazed.

Witness Cesar uncaging the "beast" and claiming his territory :)