MeiLin Miranda's Blog, page 67

"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 1.5 is live

"Temmy, are you listening?" said Ellika, whacking his knee with her fan. He started, and glanced out the window; they had crossed the Feather at Kingsbridge, and were approaching the great gates leading to the parklands around the base of the cliff that held Tremont Keep.

"We're having a ball for your birthday," said Sedra.

"A ball? Who wants a ball?"

"You do," said the King.

"Me? I hate balls, they're boring!" He'd been dragged to many a small dance, filled with pimply cousins and dowdy girls from the local gentry who couldn't do more than giggle, but then Ibbit arrived and the dances stopped--one of the few benefits of the Sister's presence.

"I did tell you about it, Temmy," murmured his mother.

"You will not be bored," said Harsin. "You will smile, you will dance, and you will celebrate your coming of age with your people. We will not discuss this." His father had not changed. "You will enjoy yourself more than you suspect, son," Harsin amended. "I know you're used to doing as you please, mucking about with the stable hands--" here he gave his wife a sharp look-- "but you're an adult now. I expect you to take up your studies in all seriousness. My own tutor will be taking you in hand. Your childhood is over, son."

The gates closed with a thunk. The carriage rolled down the long drive, toward the ancient fortress castle on the cliff.

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And while I'm writing, take a look at the two trailers I made this weekend, one for the Gulch and one for the History. I'm not a pro--and it shows--but they turned out well enough.

"Lovers and Beloveds" chapter 1.4 is live

To Temmin's dismay, his mother's religious advisor joined the royal party at dinner. At Whithorse, Sister Ibbit lived at the Temple of Venna in Reggiston and never dined with them, but tonight Ansella seated the priestess to her left and Temmin to her right. Looking up from the soup, he caught Ibbit staring at him in contempt, and wondered if he'd have to endure her half-hearted religious instruction at the Keep. He'd managed to out-and-out skip most of it, with Ibbit's approval; her open hostility led him to avoid her as much from personal dislike as boredom, and she seemed to share his feeling.

After dinner, he and his mother were to play cards in the salon car, but before he could follow her there, Ibbit blocked his way. "A word with you," she said. "We will not be taking up our lessons in the City, Your Highness. I am sure you will have too many other demands on your time."

"Oh," said Temmin, trying to contain his glee. "I shall be very...sorry...to miss our times together."

She examined him down the length of her forbidding nose, and cocked her head. "Our understanding cannot be continued at the Keep. You will be watched too closely for that comfortable relationship to continue."

Temmin thought to himself there had never been anything comfortable about their relationship, but said nothing.

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Scryer's Gulch episode 28 is live

A Demonstration of Skill:

Annabelle knelt down and opened the leather case.

Inside were a pair of etheric pistols, the first John had ever seen apart from engravings. "Are those really...? Where did you get them? They cost a small fortune! And you can't possibly shoot with them!"

"You try first," she said, handing one over grip-first. She pointed downrange. "The wine bottle to the right, mid-height."

John nodded. "All right, then. I've never worked with one before, though." He aimed at the bottle and reached into the pistol with his mind, as he would to wind his clock or spark his firestarter. He found the hermetauxite hidden in the gun, concentrated on a clear picture of the bottle, and poured all his ability into the ore. He pulled the trigger.

Scryer's Gulch has undergone something of a small explosion of interest; Smashwords downloads of the free ebook of episodes 1-10 went from 925 on Saturday to 3400 as of this morning. I have no idea why. But if you want to find out, come by the site and catch up. Scryer's is a quick, fun read, and it updates every Wednesday.

"Lovers and Beloveds" Chapter 1 Part 3

A pause, and she turned serious. "You will be around women a great deal in the City, many of them...notorious," she forced out. "I want you to be careful."

"Notorious women?" he said hopefully. This was not the first time his mother had gone on about notorious women, to the point that Temmin was extremely curious to meet one and find out what made them so notorious.

"You'll be tempted to make...make wrong decisions. I don't want you falling into some hussy's clutches, or worse, led into spending time at...oh, at houses of ill-repute!"Temmin had no idea what a house of ill-repute was, and said so.

"This is your father's office, but he would never give you good advice!" murmured his mother in agitation. "It's a house where women sell themselves, a horrible, horrible place! Nothing more infamous!"

"I'm sorry, Mama, but d'you mean a whorehouse?"

His mother winced. "It pains me to hear the word."

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"Lovers and Beloveds" is the 100% crowdfunded first novel in the series "An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom." For more, go to MeiLinMiranda.com.

"Lovers and Beloveds" Chapter 1 Part 2

"Would you listen!" Alvo crouched down on the ground before Temmin and put his hands on his friend's knees. Tears streamed down his broad face. "I love you! I don't love anyone else in this world like I love you! You're all I've ever thought about, since we were ten! I feel like I'm gonna die when you go, you understand? I love you!"

Temmin leaned forward in alarm. "What are you talking about?"

Alvo put one calloused hand up to Temmin's face. "I just love you." He came up off his heels, and kissed Temmin on the mouth. "I love you."

Temmin moved his friend's hand away from his cheek, but kept hold of it. "Alvo..."

"I know you don't feel the same way, I know you like girls more than boys, I know all that! Can't you pretend, just for now? Can't you let me have this little bit? Please. Tomorrow you'll be gone, and you'll get a new best friend, and you'll get married, and become King some day, and forget about me." Alvo's voice broke. "Please, Tem. Please."

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Posting twice a week (Mondays and Fridays), "Lovers and Beloveds" will finish some time in October 2011. If you'd rather read the whole thing now, buy the ebook! Only $3.99 at Smashwords.

Scryer's Gulch Ep 27: No Offense Intended

"I suppose we'd better sit down if I'm going to tell you why I'm really here," said Annabelle, taking the chair in front of John's desk. "Where do you want me to start?"

John kept his seat on the corner of his desk, bracing himself on the desk edge with both hands. "Well, we've squared away your fatherless childhood."

Motherless, too, if it matters, she said to herself; aloud, she said, "I was thinking of a more recent beginning to my life, if it's all the same, though I'm expecting you won't believe me."

"I'm listening."

She straightened in her seat, raising her chin to a proud angle. "I'm a Treasury Agent." John's already intent gaze sharpened further, finally resolving into the incredulity she'd anticipated. "I said you wouldn't believe me."

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Scryer's Gulch is a fantasy western that updates every Wednesday. Usually.

"Lovers and Beloveds" starts tonight!

I'm excited and nervous: IHGK is returning after more than a year's hiatus, with the opening of the new book, "Lovers and Beloveds." It goes live at midnight Pacific. That's 3 am Eastern, -7 GMT. Here's a tiny taste:

Whithorse Estate, Whithorse Province
Ammaday, the 5th Day of Spring’s Beginning, 990 KY

In the stable yards of Whithorse Estate, two lanterns burned. They shone up at their owners, who sat on a straw bale against a brick wall. The low light transformed the rangy, blue-eyed one’s fair hair into a burnished bronze, and turned the shorter, stockier one’s eyes near-black. Both wore battered old tweed caps, and coats just heavy enough for the early spring night. The shorter one held a flask of wuisc, full at the start of the evening, and as its level dropped, they listed into one another more and more. ...

This is the book forty-seven of my readers gave me $2500 to produce. I've worked really hard to justify their trust in me. They're telling me they like it; I'm hoping you guys here give it a try.

"Lovers and Beloveds" is also available for pre-order: $14.95 paperback for October delivery. The ebook is forthcoming: $3.99.

Done!

Mark the time: 9:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time, Monday, August 30th, 2010.

I'm done. I've finished book one.
I've compiled the appendix and the acknowledgments, and just finished sending out the raw manuscript to the pre-salers. If you're a pre-saler and haven't gotten one by end of day, ping me.

I'm exhausted, nervous, and somewhat in shock. Time for tea and a warm blanket. I'm shivering.

Final cover for "Lovers and Beloveds"

"Lovers and Beloveds: An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom Book One," a 100% crowdfunded novel, is due out in September.

Intimate History Book One is at the editor

Annetta Ribken, my long-suffering editor, finally has all 140,000 or so words of "The Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom: Curse of the Traveler Queen" (working title). It's 576 pages in manuscript, 373 estimated in paperback, and she's read the first 160 pages or so. She says it's a page-turner, and that as an editor she's ecstatic. I'm so relieved! Rewriting book one (which actually turned into tearing all three books apart and re-assembling them) was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I'm still not sure I have an ending. Now I have to figure out what happens between "year one" and "year ten," when Temmin becomes king, or at least in what order since I know a good deal about what happens already!

Anyway, I still don't know when the book will be ready. Netta is still reading, and then she'll have to go back through to give me notes. Then I have to take the notes and work with them. Then I send it out to my beta group. Then I make any necessary adjustments, and start working on publication. The people who've invested in the History get the finished manuscript before anyone else, even before it's been formatted into a book. (They'll get the ebook version in their preferred format as well, and a signed paperback copy.)

And I just had a great brainstorm about the final book of the History and the culmination of a planned arc. yay!

Thanks to everyone who's supported me emotionally, artistically and financially throughout these last two-plus years.

BY THE WAY! If you need an editor, and really, don't we all, HIRE NETTA! She is fabulous--kind, encouraging, bullying when necessary. She gets out and pushes. :D She understands genre as well as literary fiction, can handle nonfiction, and is an all-around best kept secret who shouldn't be secret any more. I couldn't have written this book without her, quite literally.