MeiLin Miranda's Blog, page 28
July 9, 2012
Chapter 5 Part 7 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
Temmin left the book uneasy. "They never leave you alone, do they?"
"Elaborate, please," said Teacher.
"Well, plots and plots and more plots. Is any king ever safe?" He ran his hands through his hair to scratch his scalp; his queue's fastening fell to the floor again. "Pagg damn it, and this thing takes forever to tie. I'm still not used to it, I like my hair shorter."
"The Temples are conservative in all things, sir. And to answer your question, no king is ever completely safe. There are always those vying for power, especially in the days when the Tremontine kings wielded magic directly. Now one might say the competition is for me, as strange as it sounds."
July 6, 2012
Alpha writing access for patrons?
I want to get words out faster. So I'm thinking about posting the alpha writing of book three as I go along, for patrons only. I may do it first with The Machine God and see how it goes.
What is alpha writing? It's the sausage-making that is writing.
Two things:
--Would you patron types like it?
--Would the rest of you be more likely to buy a patronage? $5/month, gets you perks including access to the old drafts and every short story and novella I write, free, in ebook form.
Chapter 5 Part 6 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
In the end, she and an ecstatic Tennoc returned to Gwyrfal. Though Gwynna had rejected a borrowed mother the year before, now she clung to Lassa if not as mother then as a beloved aunt; Kenver, nearly ten years old and his tow hair darkening, held himself a little more aloof but not for long. Lassa was soon a part of the royal family to all its members but Dunnoc, through no fault of his.
Dunnoc made a respectful, determined assault on her. Her favorite dishes appeared on every menu. Music and dancing reappeared now that public mourning for Hallia had ended, and Lassa's favored musicians appeared at Gwyrfal. To Dunnoc's dismay, she kept herself from merriment, preferring to live quietly near the children. This was so unlike her, for while Hallia lived Lassa was the merriest of ladies imaginable, much given to dancing and laughter. That was the Lassa he wanted, and the Lassa he missed.
July 2, 2012
Chapter 5 Part 5 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
Return to Gwyrfal? She wanted nothing more! Lassa's heart expanded, but past experience stayed her immediate answer. "At the risk of presumption, may I ask in what role, Your Majesty?"
June 29, 2012
Chapter 5 Part 4 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
Kenver-and-Tennoc became Kenver. The boy retreated into himself, leaving Tennoc sitting in the garden alone with Gwynna most days. "What did I do? How come he doesn't like me any more?"
"You've thtill got a mama and we don't." Gwynna's lisp had worsened. "I want my mama, Tennoc!"
"Oh, Gwynna, don't cry!" He threw his arms around the little girl. "Look, you can borrow my mama. She can't have any more children, and I don't have a father anyway to give me a brother or sister, so there's lots of her left over and I'm sure she'd like a daughter, so please don't cry!"
"I want my mama!" she sobbed. Further persuasion made her cry harder. Tennoc finally took her to her grandmother the Dowager Queen and went in search of his mother.
June 28, 2012
How to make my fizzy drink
On twitter some of you have asked how I make this lightly fermented drink I go on about that we call fruit fizzy. Fermentation expert Sandor Katz calls it country wine, but it doesn't have much of a kick the way we drink it. One day I may let a bottle go all the way to wine, but not now; it dowsn't last long enough, even the kids drink it (less than 3% alcohol if my system is any judge and I'm a cheap date). Watch it here (it's not embedding for some reason). If you leave a comment, be kind. :)June 25, 2012
Chapter 5 Part 3 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
"So, bread, where's butter?"
Seven-year-old Tennoc squinted up into the sudden shadow over the rose bed where he was digging; the King towered over him, blocking the sun. "Ken? He's lookin' for good rocks--um, h'lo, Your Majesty." Tennoc always tried to remember the formalities, but here in the nursery and its attendant gardens he could not imagine the King as anyone other than the father of Kenver and Gwynna.
June 22, 2012
Your first snippet of Book Three
So I actually put the first real strung-together words of book three together, as opposed to outlining. I count the book process as beginning with the outlining, and that started earlier this week, but here are the very first words I've written of what will eventually become book three.
Temmin sighted down his saber, its point aimed at a man standing some thirty feet away: Lord Crecient, the youngest son of the Duke of Alzeh. He lowered the blade, whipping it through the air, and his opponent's face blanched beneath his olive skin. Temmin handed the blade to the violently red-haired servant standing beside him. "It will suffice," said Temmin. He wished it were a cavalry saber, but he didn't have the right; he hadn't entered formal training yet. The cavalry must wait until the Queen had been dead for a year. Her bones might even be clean and ready to be moved to the royal chapel by then.
Temmin stripped off his gray half-mourning gloves and coat, piling them into Wallek's arms. Would that he could strip his grief away so easily, but if he gave himself time to think on it, he clung to it more than it clung to him. Consequently, he didn't give himself much time to think on it.
"Your Highness, is this necesssary?" murmured Wallek. "You're both drunk--"
"I am as sober as Pagg," said Temmin.
"I'm just sayin this whole thing seems pointless! He said…well, he said somethin I really don' wanna repeat."
So there's that.
Keep in mind that this is the draftiest of drafts. This scene mightn't even remain in the book. But those are the first official words I've written, and I wanted to share them with you.
Chapter 5 Part 2 | Son in Sorrow | IHGK Book 2
Lassanna and Yellow Hanni arrived at Brunsial, the seat of her mother's clan, after many days' travel; her uncle, his wife, their two sons and their daughter welcomed her as their own. "I will never understand the Tremontines," said Lord Williard ar Sial. "I told my sister not to marry that man. We should have gone into Whitehorse and fetched her back. Threatening to kill you--how is that honorable? Here you are an exile from home, and what of the child's father? I doubt any so-called dishonor has devolved upon him. No, you are welcome here, my dear."
June 21, 2012
Me, Answering Questions, on Your Internet Machine
I asked a bit ago for questions from y'all, and li'l chu just pinged me: when was I going to answer them? I'd said I was going to do it on video. So now the questions are for YOU:
1. Live streaming or static? If I do it live, I can take questions in one long chat. If I do it static, I could do it one question at a time and make them short clips on YouTube. If I do it live, I'd archive it so if you missed it you could still see it.
2. If live, what's your favorite way to do it--Google Hangout, Livestream, Ustream...?
Enquiring authors want to know.
