Meme: The Lucky 7 Meme for Writers

I just got tagged in The Lucky7 Meme by Heidi Ruby Miller.

Since I can't play along with my current WIP (it doesn't have a page 77...yet), I've had to use the other WIP just completed, Bengaria's War.

To play along, here are THE RULES:
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms.
2. Go to sentence 7.
3. Copy and post the next 7 sentences as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims, er, authors.

 

(Bengaria's War - page 77, line 7):

It didn’t help she now knew his true feelings.  Nor the fact that he’d now realized why the King kept insisting he spend more time than was necessary with Ryn.  If he didn’t know better, it seemed Greycer had been playing matchmaker for some time. 

She had no friends she could turn to but him, and Greycer had known this.  Til missed the days when he was simply her weapons master.  How he could bask in her presence, without worrying about it being inappropriate to touch her.  The simple pleasures of watching her learn, mastering the art of defence, knowing her weapons, learning the art of wielding a tadra.

TAGGING:

T.M. Hunter

Ashley Barnard

Diana Ilinca

Cary Caffrey

Patrick Stutzman

Laurel Kriegler

Pauline Baird Jones

 

Between WIPs

The Grosjean Chronicles or To Catch A Marlin...

Decisions, decisions.

Now that Bengaria's War is "complete" and in the hands of betas, I find myself flitting from one WIP to the next.  To be honest, I've got two on-going stories, both set in the same world as the Lancaster world (to make things easier) and both competing for my attention.

Last week, after resurrecting The Grosjean Chronicles, and then this week, To Catch A Marlin, I realized that both were becoming too similar.  Ack!  We can't have that happening!!  Then it got me wondering if that was the reason I couldn't get past a certain point and ended up writing Bengaria's War -- which is set in a completely different world, and so, fresh.

Yesterday, I spent most of my supposedly-allotted-for-day-job-time reviewing what I'd written so far in To Catch A Marlin.  Of course, I couldn't help but fiddle with a few paragraphs and tweak a few chapters, mostly to disguise the fact that it was once again set in the Lancaster world.  I think I managed it, but kept enough similarities to make you wonder.  The fact that both Grosjean and Marlin end up at the same place (okay, a space station) right now is irrelevant.  There will be plenty of time later to fix things up and give each a little distance.

But, I'm still in a quandary...I want to continue writing, both of them, at the same time.  Which one, I'm not sure.  I've also reviewed all my notes on both stories (making adjustments along the way...of course), and still haven't come any closer to a decision.

I'm thinking I should let both have another little rest.  I've also been asked to beta the sequel to a really cool SFR story, the first in the series to be released shortly (this month, I think).  So my mind is tugged in that direction as well.

I wonder, maybe to solve the problem I'll just have to flip a coin and let it rest at that.

Oh well, cheers!

Tropical Storms and Brain Waves

So, I've been watching the weather lately, as one does when you live in the tropics, and taking note of the numerous tropical storms popping up like measles.  With the convenience of WIFI, and devices like the iPods and Pads, even the trusty Blackberry, I can feed my addiction of checking out the weather.  We'll not get into the other addiction I have, which is 'screen-addiction.'  That's a whole other story!

This year, like the last, we've quickly run through the alphabet with naming the storms and hurricanes.  We're all the way to the Ms with Maria breathing down our neck this very minute.  This time last year, we were closer to the Ps, and ran into Tomas at the end of October.  Ouch!

Anyways, so yeh, that's us in the middle where that angry little knot of red is glowering at us.  We got a precursor of it late last night, with cracking thunder and rain.  The only reason I knew this, was because I thought the AC unit was about to fall on my head.  So, after being rudely awakened by Maria's bellow, my brains weren't quite ready to go back into a coma.  What does it do?  Come up with a strange and quirky story which I ended up dreaming about.

I'm still not quite sure how I want to write this new story...it may very well end up as a short story, which is kinda new to me, since I'm not very good at short stories at all.  As for the genre, it's not going to be SF!!  What, you say?  Yeh, really...I'm thinking more along the lines of fantasy...like paranormal fantasy, maybe?  I took some notes earlier this morning, and had a read through.  You could say it's a sort of fairy tale gone wrong, in a good way, of course.  Then again, as I start writing it, it may just end up better as a storm-induced dream.  I'll know in a few days when I give it a tackle.  Funny, last year, when Tomas blew through and we were out of power for five days, I had a similar brain wave passing through my head.  I must drag out those notes and see what I can do with it.  I'm beginning to think that storms agree with my creative process.

Until then, my weather-addiction is fed hourly, and as I glance out the window, its a blustery and dark view with wind (thankfully) and spurts of fine rain.  I think it's time to stir up a nice cocktail and watch the rains commence...oh, wait, it's only 9am... I suppose I could wait a few more hours...

Cheers!