MeiLin Miranda's Blog, page 40
December 30, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 7 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
Neya's Day flower buntings no longer arched above the streets of Arren, but a soft, flowery mood still hung over the town, weeks after the festival. The winter's coal smoke had finally blown away with the snow, leaving the air clear and the sky a fragile but unbroken blue. Mattie Dunley, now Mattie Ambleson, walked through the streets toward Arren's market square, and saw none of it.
December 29, 2011
Book Two: Major editing completed
I finished the major editing pass on book two. This is where I go in and tighten the writing, look for duplicate scenes (in a book this big, it's gonna happen) and so on. I got 10,000 words out of it that way! It's still 150,000 words, but hey. I write doorstops. We have already established this. Now you'll have stops for TWO doors, not just one. 
My urge is to compile it into a doc and throw it at Netta--"YOU deal with this thing!"--but that's a waste of her time. I'm going to compile it into a mobi book instead and throw it at my Kindle. When I've had a chance to recover some equilibrium, I'll read it and take notes.
I am obsessive when it comes to editing. When I'm editing a big project I can't sleep, I forget to eat, I forget to get dressed--waitaminnit...
...I guess I should go shower now...
Anyway, book two is fast approaching, folks.
December 26, 2011
"Dalston Junction," FREE today and tomorrow at Amazon Kindle Store
The Victorian science fiction story Dalston Junction is free through 12/27/11 at all Amazon Kindle stores (US, UK, DE, etc)! It even made the UK top 100 in science fiction. Yay!
Chapter 17 Part 6 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
In the days after his investiture, Temmin fetched and carried for Allis and Issak. To Temmin's relief, the bloom was creeping back into Allis's face, and Issak no longer looked as if someone had crumpled him up and thrown him away--though Someone had, thought Temmin.
Even so, Temmin saw little of them. He lived the unglamorous life of a Postulant. He got lost a lot. He joined a class of newly minted Postulants studying anatomy: not the obvious kind, but the kind in which one learned the names of the bones of the hand. He kissed an extraordinary number of people. Senik hadn't been joking: in the Temple, a kiss meant "Hello," "Goodbye," "Thank you," "You're welcome," and occasionally, "What are you doing after anatomy class?" He learned to sleep through Anda snuffling her tuneful little snore in the bed opposite, and, rarely, in his bed beside him.
Temmin did not miss the Keep, at all, but he did miss his mother and sisters, and especially Jenks. Temmin sent several messages to them and had given up ever hearing back, when one day Senik called Temmin to a receiving room. "A representative from your father, I believe," he said.
It was Winmer.
December 23, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 5 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
"You are growing more magically sensitive, the first Tremont in 358 years to do so," said Teacher.
"What do the sigils mean? Are they the same as Emmae's? They don't look exactly like hers, but very like."
December 20, 2011
Book Two: Where We're At
I just finished the first book two editing session with Annetta "Netta the Editta" Ribken and wow, I have WAY LESS work to do on this sucker than I thought. One area to expand on, several to condense, some character names to change (I overdo names starting with T and A...waaaaitaminnit...) some breaking up of mega chapters (chapter 10 is 50 PAGES LONG) and that's about it.
Let me repeat: THAT'S ABOUT IT. We're talking about weeks, not months, to put this baby to bed. What this means is, if you're planning on pre-saling, better step it up. Presales make a great Christmas present, if your friends or significant others are fans. (I know one of you is getting one for Christmas--no, I'm not telling.)
I usually close pre-sales about a week to two weeks before the book is done. This is so people get the manuscript asap, I have funds to pay everyone, and there's time to get all the right attributions in the acknowledgments. So...there you have it, folks!
Oh btw: Book one ends here on December 30th. Obviously there's going to be a gap until book two starts. Just FYI.
December 19, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 4 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
After a trip to the bath crowded with lethargic men and women, and a soak in the hot pool until they were all the color of well-done lobsters, Temmin and Anda helped put the twins to bed, each in their separate rooms with attendants nearby if needed. "Now what?" said Temmin.
"Now nothing," yawned Anda, plucking a candy off one of the huge piles of offering sweets distributed among the clergy. "I'm clean, I'm brushed, I've tucked the Holy Ones in, I'm done. No one who worked last night does anything today. The lay servants run the place, the petitioners' rooms are closed, and there's no real offering traffic the day after a Spectacle. I am going back to bed for a nap. Aren't you tired?" Temmin shook his head, still wet and shaggy from the bath. "Well, you may do whatever you like, but don't expect me to do it with you." She rose from the couch they were sharing, dropped into her bed, and was asleep in five minutes, her odd, musical snoring muffled in the crook of her arm.
December 16, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 3 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
Temmin woke up, unsure whether he'd been dreaming or if the lovemaking really had gone on all night after the visions. He remembered slipping into Neya over and over, holding Her in his arms as Nerr took Her, kisses that left him blind, breasts and hands and mouths and cocks, but a film overlayed it all, turning it indistinct and hallucinatory: a terrifying, ecstatic fever dream. Again, there were no windows in the room, and he couldn't gauge the time.
December 12, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 2 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
Nerr slipped behind Temmin and put His arms around him, stroking him until his head rolled back against His broad shoulder.
Neya pinched his nipple. "Pay attention." Temmin brought his head up with a start. "Better." She straddled his lap and brought his hands to her breasts. They were heavy and full, perfect as his hands had always known they would be. Every time he'd ever looked at Allis, he had imagined her breasts, just like this.
A knife cut through his arousal. This was not Allis. He touched Allis's body, but the Lady was not Allis. He had wanted his first to be her. "I am Allis," said Neya. "But then, I am every woman who desires a man. I know your thoughts. I am a Goddess. Allis is far away, but she feels this, and she will remember this. We are both your first, and you will have her many times before your service is through. Now, please Me."
December 9, 2011
Chapter 17 Part 1 | Lovers and Beloveds | IHGK Book 1
The chanting of Temmin's name glided under the Chambers' closed doors to the gardens; inside, it was still. Temmin floated lightheaded, as he had near the incense smoke. The idea that perhaps he'd been enchanted flitted through his mind until Neya took his hand and led him to the low, enormous bed in the middle of the room. His mind emptied into the shifting present of animals: no past, no future, only now, as it had been in that brief moment in the chapel, the now-wordless, soundless voice singing all around him, no longer small.
