Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 166

Random Friday

First a warning for you social network users… careful when you share your location. Or you might find yourself in the same situation as this agent. I guess that author doesn’t read the same blogs that I read, LOL! Anyway, stalkers are everywhere, do not give away these things on Facebook or whatever…

There was some form of “statement” pasted on my Italian friends’ profiles last week that said if you copy/pasted it, nobody would breach your privacy. A statement in Italian. On an international (US-based) site. My comment was: there is no privacy online, do not post what you don’t want to be public – no matter how you set your privacy options!

I’m appalled at the kind of things people post on social networks thinking it’s safe. Sigh. Not to mention Facebook “rules” that apply only to some. See what happened to the Elfquest Official page and the New Yorker because of those vague rules… Glad I “censored” the SKYBAND gals when I posted their new tattoos on Facebook! Still, it’s kinda creepy…

Now, Mighty Jo has given me another blog award, yay! So, here are the rules:

I tell you 5 Fabulous moments, 5 things I love , 5 things I hate, and then I nominate 5 friends.

Now the hard part.

5 fabulous moments

I’ll let pics talk… I made a slideshow of five pics because they didn’t look good all lined up!

Click to view slideshow.

5 things I love (in no particular order):

1) Bollywood movies (can you tell?) and all kind of movies that have a story and don’t try to impress me with special effects or (worse, yikes!) 3D – Asian, American, European, I don’t care! Love movies!

2) reading blogs, mags, books, ebooks…

3) writing journals, blog posts, fiction, non-fiction, whatever…

4) drawing comics, cartoons, illustrations, graphic novels…

5) music – movie soundtracks, ethnic, celtic, classical, pop, rock, whatever, as long as there’s a melody and I can dance and shake my booty – well, my feet  more likely, LOL!

5 things I hate (same as above):

1) cockroaches. Call the Men in Black and get rid of them.

2) People who try to force their beliefs or ideals on someone else and/or who ridicule others for their beliefs. Just because you don’t agree, you don’t need to make fun of them.

3) OK, the first two were copied from Jo, so I’ll try to be original now. Traffic – and those drivers who drive only on Sunday or when it’s pouring rain and don’t know how to do it (can you tell last week and part of this one I had to drive to work?). Grrr.

4) screaming white monkeys… I mean high school kids on public buses (can you tell I’m back to using public transport and the schools have started?). Again, if their parents had been VHEMT, the world would be a much better place!

5) I’m trying very hard to be positive, so I can’t think of a fifth thing to hate at the moment…

and now the 5 friends… I don’t have 5 bloggers who accept awards I can think of, so if you – who are reading this – have a blog and want this neat award, just grab it and pass it on! I did all this only because 5 is my favorite number, LOL!

Now, to end more with randomness: I watched Karam, but I have two problems with that movie. 1) the subtitles are not synchronized, so often you have no idea of who is saying what. Guess I need to start learning Hindi after all. 2) too artsy for my tastes, reminding me of Rumble Fish (I loved Matt Dillon, but I hated F.F.Coppola for shooting in b&w). There’s even the colored fish on b&w background. It was meant to be shot all sepia, apparently, and there are part that are cartooned, and there are no songs or dance numbers, so I guess it’s for regular movie watchers who want the story of an assassin falling in love with all its tragic consequences.

Must have been Pryanka Chopra’s week, as she was also in Love Story 2050. Now, that’s pure Bollywood sci-fi, with time travel (from Australia 2008 to Mumbai 2050) and dance numbers. It reminded me of Fifth Element, Back to the Future part 2 and some Krrish as well (the fake butterflies and Pryanka add to that, LOL). And I loved the soundtrack as well, lyrics by the uncle of the Akhtar Twins (who, by the way, wrote the lyrics of my two favorite Bride&Prejudice songs, “A marriage has come to town” and “No life without wife”). So, lovely Pryanka and introducing who unfortunately is no Hritik. I mean, yes, he can dance, see?

But the original is something else! (And yes, DO watch also “Dil Laga Na Dil” from the same movie, Dhoom 2, as advertised on the video!)

So I joined the 2.3M (when I joined, yesterday they were 2.5M) fans on Facebook and voted Aryan as my favorite character – no Arsène Lupin (or Lupin III of anime memory) or Danny Ocean can compare to Mr.A a.k.a. Aryan, LOL! OK, I’ll stop drooling now.

Back to work! I better do some reading and writing and, dear Jo, the pencils of SKYBAND 12 are done, tomorrow I’ll have my cover artist check my anatomy… more naked people, sigh! Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

First, the links. I you have ONE book to market, you might want to try AskDavid – personally, I wouldn’t know which title to send him, LOL!

Now, in case you’ve been living under a rock (but in that case you’d have no internet access, therefore wouldn’t be able to read this blog, hehe!), this is the best time to be a writer. But it’s actually also the best time to be a filmmaker! And the answer to both is – DIY! Now anyone has the means to bring his/her work of art to the world, be it a book or a movie…

And again, writers have options. Which writer do you want to be? Here’s David Farland and Kris Rusch on the many career possibilities for writers today. And finally, Dean Wesley Smith has done the Pricing 2013 post – and check the comments as well. Personally, I’ll probably stick to the pricing I have now (based on wordcount), but we’ll see. I’m also very behind with the print version of this year’s novels, but as they’re shorter that the BoI, I plan on publishing two stories together in print. And I still have to finish one.

Except I plunged into my sci-fantasy project, so I dunno when I’ll finish the CVE, LOL! Anyway, a post on Goodreads made me think about my writing process. I consider myself fast and prolific – a draft is written in a month, and that’s for sure. Then I might forget about it to work on something else for months or years. So last year I published novels that had been completed in 2010, this year I slowed down because I’m actually rewriting stuff – and sometimes I get entangled in the changes, LOL!

I’ll try to summarize the time it took me to bring certain books to publication or the the state they are in at the moment.

BoI – Air (published April 2011): first draft (Italian) 2006. 3 more Italian drafts (one I tried to move it to the usual Medieval Europe setting, then I put it back in the India-inspired setting). First English draft 2008. More drafts with minor changes after each beta-read until 2010 when writer burnout hit. Final draft 2011.

CVE3 – The Enlightened Emperor (a.k.a. Lost&Oliver): first draft 1993 (part 1) 1994 (part 2). This is actually the only Italian novel that I submitted to an Italian trad.pub. in the 1990s and it was rejected (because they wanted it through an agent – and there are no agents for new writers in Italy, only for established authors who need to negotiate foreign rights or foreign authors who need to negotiate Italian rights). It had a couple of drafts and “another version” (where Lost and Oliver ended up together instead of with their respective girlfriends! ). I rewrote it this year, did a couple of drafts trying to figure out how to present it at its best and published it August 2012.

The Fern & The Cross (remember the historical novel I was working on?): screenplay drafts date from 2007-2008. First prose draft 2011. A second this year. The final draft sometimes in 2013, hopefully, and then I’ll decide what to do – query or self-pub? Next year’s decision!

Soul Stealers (published September 2011): first Italian draft 2003. Screenplay drafts 2007 (at least 2) and 2008. Prose version 2011. Mentions Technological Angel.

Technological Angel (sci-fantasy baby I’m currently working on):  first Italian draft 2002. Subsequent Italian drafts 2003 (3 with minor plot adjustments) and 2005. First English draft April 2012. Second English draft September 2012. Publication date – aiming for December 2012.

So, even if some of these stories were born a long time ago, I guess I’m still a fast writer. I outline, but also improvise, which means that I don’t know if the Technological Angel sequel is one or two books yet, but it is a series, so I have found a collective title, Star Minds. More about this as I proceed in the writing. Anyway, since the writer burnout I don’t do all those drafts anymore. I know I can’t please every reader, so I tend to give the same copy of the story to different people – if only one person points at something, I might ignore it, if two or more notice, I have a problem!

My other problem is still finding beta readers, as I live in a non-English speaking country and the few natives I meet every month at my offline writers group are not genre readers, so they’re the wrong target for my stories. Yes, their comments can be useful, but often they’re not really helpful. Anyway, enough rambling for today… I better go back to writing!

Happiness is…

Writer Wisdom Sunday

Every Sunday until December and unless I have a guest, I will share words of wisdom from writers on writing. Enjoy!

If you’re writing good books that fans enjoy, they’ll seek out more of your work. The more of your work you have available, the more chances you’ll have to discover new fans. It’s like constantly making your fishing net bigger. The bigger the net, the more fish you’ll snare.

For those writers who are wondering why they haven’t had decent sales, my answer is: write more.

In fact, that’s always been the answer for writers, no matter what their goals are.

- J.A. Konrath

Self-publishing is NOT is the easy way out. If you simply want to be published, and do not care if everyone reads or enjoys your work, then yes, self-publishing is easy. If you want to be sucessful and make a living as a writer, then it is hard work. In a lot of ways, I suspect it is harder than being traditionally published.

I’m just under the impression that a lot of people are now looking at this as a Get Rich Quick scheme, and this is no such thing. 

- Amanda Hocking, writer

A year ago I would have told you that you should stick with the traditional publishing route. Right now, as we move into a new age, I’m still going to tell you to stick with the traditional route. But here’s the thing: self-publishing electronically looks like a better alternative every day, even to someone like me who is a New York Times bestseller.

- David Farland

It takes six million grains of pollen to seed one peony, and salmon need a lifetime of swimming to find their way home, so we mustn’t be alarmed or discouraged when it takes us years to find love or years to understand our calling in life. Everything in nature is given some form of resilience by which it can rehearse finding its way, so that, when it does, it is practiced and ready to seize the moment.

- Mark Nepo

Real writers don’t care what anyone else thinks. They don’t write scripts to chase the hot trends. They write what they want to (or have to) write. And they don’t fit it into the popular story paradigms and formulas. They write it their way, in their voice. Which means that their scripts are unlike anyone else’s scripts. That’s the key.

- Corey Mandell, playwright and screenwriter

Random Friday

Oh, boy, another post due and approaching the 1000th! Not until January, don’t worry, unless I clutter this blog with extra posts in December, LOL! And a Blogoversary is also fast approaching, so I might have a giveaway AFTER the blog enters its 4th (gosh!) year… can you believe it started way back in October 2010 and it’s still here? OK, you might have enough of my ramblings – or maybe not, as last August I was begging to reach 40 followers and now I have 130!

Not precise numbers, no. Well, WordPress keeps count of how many posts I have, so that’s a real number, Wednesday was post #930. About the subscribers, I haven’t checked the exact number, so I might be cheating! Anyway, it’s random Friday, so let’s random. Non-writerly things – more about New York Ren Faire (which is still on until Sept 23, in case you’re in the area). I go for the live joust, although this year it wasn’t as good as ten years ago (jaded already? Can’t believe it! ). The novelty was this guy, though.

I bought two CDs, and he’s really exceptional. Have a look at his site. About other entertainment listed here, I went to Stewart & Arnold Knife Throwing and Wolgemut! And I saw the Belly Dancers, but didn’t stop to watch the whole thing (after Bollywood, belly dance is boring, LOL!).

I started watching the DVD pile – not every night because I better be off writing, LOL! Or drawing – and ended up starting with what I call “new Bollywood”. I wanted to start with Amitabh Bachchan’s youth, but I’m afraid they went down at the end of the pile instead. So I picked up the one with the smaller box, New York – another version of “My Name is Khan”, with the consequences of 9/11 on non-Americans (and basically Muslims) in the US on and after that day. Dealing with terrorism and some misdeeds of the American government – sorry, guys, but Bush made a lot of damage in world politics/peace, and obviously even at home. Arresting people based on their religion is NOT a nice thing to do.

And then I watched Kabul Express which was on my list since I saw the trailer on the KANK DVD because it still has John Abraham (I ended up with 3 John Abraham, 4 Shah Rukh and 4 Hritik movies…) AND it happens to be by the same producer and writer/director of “New York.” Obviously these guys are obsessed with 9/11, but in this case it’s shot in Afganistan and it shows another face of that ugly war. Two Indian journalists try to interview a Taleban – and there’s also the American reporter gal to give you another POV. And a Pakistani – another government that wsn’t too nice in that ugly mess. Anyway, it’s more of a comedy than the previous movie and check the making of as well if you get the DVD. First movie shot in Afganistan after the fall of the Talebans (2005)! Oh, and there are no songs whatsoever, doesn’t sound like a Bollywood movie at all!

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

I was supposed to put a new story out, but I’m postponing to next week. Still fucked up sleep, sigh. It was fucked up by the heat before I went on vacation, and now jet-lag. Or maybe I’m just getting old, LOL!

Anyhow, a few more things. First the mighty Espresso Book Machine – the lady kindly allowed me to take a pic of it.

Here you see the book coming out bound and everything.

This brings your books directly to a New York (Manhattan) bookstore. For more infos go to their site. They have different packages for different uses.

Chicon panels! Besides mine (which were SF in Europe, SF and border science in Italy and GLBT characters in SF/F), I attended to various things. Designing pro covers, Write what you don’t know, Science in SF (which is something that eludes me, but apparently, a writer can invent any science as long as nobody can prove it wrong.  I try to base my science and technology on something I have researched), Space: when do we go (not in this life, not out of the Earth’s orbit at least), Sex in SFF (that was a fun one!),  Medical myths & errors perpetuated by genre writers (so hopefully I’ll write more realistic injuries *says the Sadist Author*),  China’s and India’s fast rising SF market (where I discovered in India it’s all under the Fiction umbrella, fantasy, SF, literary fiction, whatever – which also led to Samit Basu’s Indian SFF project).

But then – the Indian Kindle store isn’t the real deal… yet. David Gaughran explains it quite well as usual. Dunno if my Hindustani friends have comments on that.

I know many of you have heard of the “scandal” of paid/fake reviews. Here’s Joe Konrath‘s take on the whole story and subsequent (silly) petition – I even commented on his blog for the first time, answering his questionnaire, if you have time to scroll down to comment 150, that is! – and my opinion is the very same of Bookalicio: you don’t have to pay for reviews. I never paid, but gave away free copies to reviewers (who sometimes didn’t deliver, but that’s another story).

And I love Joe Konrath’s code of ethics and Dean Wesley Smith’s definitions of various publishing ventures. I’m indie. And happy to be indie. For now. Maybe one day I’ll have a project I’ll try to send to a trad pub. I’m just giving them time to adjust to the new world of publishing! And finally Kris Rusch’s warning about scammers for everyone – yep, that includes me, if I weren’t willing to do it all by myself…

Now I’d like to thank whoever did me a late b-day present on Smashwords with a bulk purchase of many of my titles and also the UK fan who bought CVE2 on Kindle UK back in August and came back in September to buy everything else. Hope you both enjoy Silvery Earth and the other related titles.

After this last paragraph, I better go back to writing, I’m late with my latest title! Yikes! AND, because this week DayJob graced me with a wonderful place where there isn’t much to do all morning, I’m starting on S.K.Y.B.A.N.D. 12… here’s the cover…

Looking forward to drawing that part! *locks Sadist Writer back in the closet*.

Now, I’d love a volunteer or two to go through my 11k next Silvery Earth story because I feel it’s too long to publish it without someone else going through it checking for typos and inconsistencies… anyone? You don’t need to have read the rest, as it’s supposed to stand on its own. Should be a quick read (printed manuscript is around 27 pages) and I need it by the weekend… leave a comment or e-mail me, thank you… Have a great week!

Happiness is…

Writer Wisdom Sunday

Every Sunday until December and unless I have a guest, I will share words of wisdom from writers on writing. Enjoy!

But to me, the best thing about the ebook revolution isn’t the money. It’s the unlimited creative potential. No more asking permission to write the book you’re dying to write. No more constraints on form (welcome back the novella!). And collaborative possibilities are endless.

- Blake Crouch

 

I still have no idea why some books sell more than others. The only advice I can offer is to keep writing, and hope something will click with an audience. Eventually. Maybe.

- J.A.Konrath

 

The reality of this whole writing thing is that no book is perfect.  I don’t care how it’s published or how much it is.  I don’t care who wrote it or who published it.  I don’t care what genre it is or how many years the author spent polishing it up.  Perfection is impossible because people aren’t perfect. 

- Ruth Ann Nordin, writer and blogger

 

Which brings me to a point: sometimes you’re not the best judge of your own work. Many times the book that an author thinks is his finest work might strike me as a reader as rather tepid. Meanwhile, a book that the author feels is weak might have a powerful effect upon the audience.

- David Farland

 

If you only write one book every few years, keep your focus solidly on traditional publishing.

But if you love to write, love to finish stories, and love to have readers get to your stories quickly after you finish them, indie publishing is for you.

There is no need for those of us who love to write and love to finish a lot of products to even think of slowing down ever again.

- Dean Wesley Smith

Random Friday

Oh, boy, I trashed Fiction Wednesday part 2… recovered it yesterday, sorry it’s late… If I hadn’t been so jet-lagged, I’d have noticed on Wednesday the new post wasn’t live, sigh!

OK, Chicon report! I reached Chicago on the 29th and met my Roomie almost straight away. I went to grab my registration pack, but there was nobody at the participants check-in, so I went back Thursday morning to grab my participant’s envelope. I found the green room, but had no idea of what my co-panelists looked like, so I soon gave up hanging in there (AC anyone? Glad we turned it off in the room, LOL!).

I met Mike Resnick, Luigi and Debora right before the panel, and the moderator gentleman immediately put me on the spot, LOL! Anyway, I survived, managed to say something (including “Something” when he asked me to say something, ha not-very-ha), then wandered until my next panel. As the new room was by the art show, I had a look at Rowena’s paintings – sorry she couldn’t be present, but I got her artbook in the dealer’s room, so I’m happy anyway.

The second panel was in a smaller, cozy room, so it was funnier and smoother. I didn’t attend any party because I’m your usual writer hermit and I don’t find parties funny. I also felt kind of lost among all those people, even if I could find a few friendly faces every now and then. I got to meet blogger Madison Woods and author Lynda Williams (who invited me on the Clarion blog last year) in person after blog correspondence. I saw Mark Stolaroff at a panel – I used to be subscribed to his Indie Filmaking list which made me discover Disfigured (highly recommended indie movie). And I went to the John Scalzi & Story Musgrave “show” but the AC gave me such a migraine I missed most of it.

Anyway, Friday I went to the reading of my next moderator, Mary Ann Mohanraj, so that I’d know what she looked like. Missed most panels to rewrite some parts of Technological Angel, then went to wait for my last panel – and that’s when Michael kept me awake with a chat. I hope I’ve found a new reader and fan, LOL! I wondered what I was doing on that last panel, mostly because I’m a straight author writing LGBTQ characters (well, mostly G and some L or B), and they were mentioning other authors I’ve never heard of and dealing with issues I don’t have to deal with – my very own minority is quite invisible, and I will not discuss it.

That done, I chatted with my Roomie about Technological Angel (see, I can’t stop thinking about writing even when I’m on vacation, LOL!) and on Saturday I finally started to enjoy the con. I went to a few panels (will tell more next Wednesday – if I don’t forget) and Sunday night I missed the Hugos to dine with my friend-from-the-area Dirk. I did get a glimpse of Neil Gaiman, thought, both Sunday and Monday. And as we drove back to the hotel with Dirk, we saw a movie set – and then I discovered it was probably Dhoom 3, which is being shot in Chicago this week (which gives me an incentive to watch it – as if I needed more, LOL).

Monday my last panel was canceled/moved, so I took the Red Line and walked 20 blocks (from 1200 to 2600 how many blocks is that? Bus takes 15 minutes, I probably did it in 30 or 40 under the sun…) to Chicago’s Little India (Devon Ave), drooling over clothes in windows and finding 4 more DVDs to tick off my Bollywood list. So now I have 18 to watch (almost 50 in total).

Courtesy of KLM, I watched Vicky Donor and Men in Black 3 on the way to Amsterdam, but caught a sore-throat on the Amsterdam-Rome flight, sigh. Yesterday, before starting the Bollywod pile, I decided to watch the Chinese movie I got at Wallmart in NY – Blade of Kings with Jackie Chan’s son (not the cutest Chinese of the lot, LOL. And dad is guest-starring). It’s Chinese fantasy, lots of fighting, but it has two or three warrior women, so it’s different. And quite funny, actually. I wanted to see it to compare those Chinese Amazons to mine – not the same, no! Anyway, recommended to fantasy fans and lovers of martial arts movies.

I’ll end with a series of pics – slideshow of Chicon 7. Have a great weekend!

Click to view slideshow.

Fiction Wednesday

Records of the Varian Empire

A new emperor

continues from last week

“What?” Moonstar exploded. “We should tolerate Human inhabitants?”

“That’s the Emperor’s command.” Governor Skydreamer looked exhausted. His daughter’s temper wasn’t really easing an already hard situation. “You will have to look after Isabel Blackmore, Sunray will spend his time with Dickon Blackmore.”

Beth’s siblings, Blondsun thought. Luckily Moonstar doesn’t know who Beth really is.

Moonstar had met Beth when she passed herself off as squire Benedetto Black. She knew Beth was a woman and a noble maiden who had run away from her father’s house, but she didn’t know the actual household – the Blackmore Dukes of Havenstock, who were now sending their off-springs to keep an eye on Jinxie on behalf of the young Emperor.

Moonstar had never liked Humans and hated spending time with them. Blondsun tried to appease her, telling her the positive side of Humans, but Moonstar wouldn’t listen.

“I know you and Sunray love those ignorant barbarians, but you’ll never convince me they’re good!” she repeated every time Blondsun tried to talk some sense into her.

Even his brother Silverstar had hated Humans – until Penny had walked into his life. Moonstar’s aversion seemed even more deeply rooted, although Blondsun couldn’t figure out why.

“You should forget my sister,” Sunray suggested at last. “She doesn’t love you. You’re not animkunulo, Blondsun, try to find someone else.”

“Why does she sleep with me, then?” Blondsun asked, depressed.

“You remind her of her first love,” Sunray answered.

Startled, Blondsun stared at him. Moonstar had never mentioned a first love.

“Joystorm was eighteen,” Sunray explained. “He was killed by the Hunter. He was my best friend. He was young, handsome and in love with her, much like you are. When I first met you, you felt familiar, and when you ended up with Moonstar, I realized why. But they were animkunulo, you could only be a surrogate. It’s not really her fault, but you better forget her.”

Blondsun lowered his eyes and sighed. “You mean I’ve been living a four years illusion?”

“I mean you deserve better, Blondsun. You left your family to be with us, I want you to be happy with your choice. Find someone who truly loves you.”

Sunray was right. Moonstar didn’t love him. His first love was unrequited and it was crumbling down.

 ***

Blondsun closed his eyes and went into a trance. His astral being left his body and reached Xendaria in a heartbeat. Invisible, he followed Kurt and his family live a normal Human day.

He watched Kurt open the shop with Penny on his heels as Beth breastfed baby Sarah. He listened to their laughter and their chats. He observed the parents and the children, envious of the happy Human family. They’d soon grow old, but they had each other.

Blondsun’s astral body went back as the sun set on Xendaria. The young Genn opened his eyes and sighed, still a little dazed by the trance. He slowly moved his numbed limbs and got to his feet in time to join dinner at the Governor’s table.

The noble Humans had just arrived. Isabel was eighteen and looked haughtily unhappy – much like Moonstar. Dickon Blackmore was different. Brown hair and blue eyes like Beth, he was twenty-one and introverted, so he didn’t talk much – more out of shyness than anything else. He was already married and his wife and firstborn, James, were with him.

Blondsun waited until the end of the dinner when the Humans retired for bed and the Governor’s off-springs took refuge in their apartment. Sunray pretended to be very tired when he saw him, and went to his bedroom. Moonstar glared at her brother as Blondsun sat near her. She closed her book with a snort.

“What do you want?” she snapped. “I had a very bad day!”

“I’m Genn, not Human,” he reminded her, sick of her tantrums. “Don’t lash out at me only because you’re mad at them!”

“I never liked Humans – unlike you,” she retorted.

“Which didn’t prevent you from using them when you thought it appropriate,” he replied. “Much like Vario X did with the Genn.”

“Please, spare me such comparison,” she said, disgusted.

“It’s appropriate,” he said, sarcastic. “You used Kurt to go to Agharek, where otherwise you would have never set foot. You used his sister Penelope as your substitute while you were away, but openly shun her as soon as you came back. That was only four years ago, Moonstar, nobody has forgotten.”

Moonstar’s eyes narrowed. “What’s your point, Blondsun?”

“I’m trying to figure out if you’re just a selfish and manipulative person who used me as well,” he said. “I guess so, as you never told me anything about spending our lives together.”

“We are living together,” she shrugged. “What do you want, a Human wedding?”

“No, I want an animkunulo,” he answered. “And you’re not mine. You like sex, and me or another doesn’t make any difference to you.”

She frowned and averted her eyes, not denying what was now plain obvious even for Blondsun.

“Very well, Moonstar.” He rose, taking in a deep breath. “Find someone else to spend your nights with.”

He turned his back on her and headed for Sunray’s room. He had often crashed on his friend’s spare bed in the past – except now it would be a permanent solution. Unless he moved out of the palace and went to live on his own.

He hoped to hear her voice calling him, but she didn’t. He was alone.

***

“Hello, Blondsun.” Beth carefully closed the shop door to avoid customers could see the Genn’s glorious beauty. He had materialized in the room with a spell, obviously aware she was alone – how he could see them from Jinxie still baffled Beth, but she was only Human and he was a Genn magic user. “Kurt is upstairs with the girls.”

“I know.” Blondsun stared at her with his sapphire eyes.

“So you’re here for me?” she asked, puzzled. She had stopped wearing male clothes after the wedding and felt more feminine now – but envied Blondsun’s unchanging features.

“Your family…” Blondsun hesitated. “Do you hate them?”

“No, even if they made my life hard,” she smiled. “Sometimes I miss them, especially my brother Dickon.”

“Dickon is very sweet.” Blondsun pondered. “Unlike Isabel who is a brainless and haugthy maiden.”

“How do you know?” she asked, amused.

“Dickon moved to Jinxie,” he answered with a smile. “Emperor’s orders. He brought his wife and his son. Isabel is there too. You can imagine how happy Moonstar is with all those Humans around.”

Beth chuckled. “I can imagine!” She stared at him. “She must be making your life impossible.”

“I live on my own, now,” he said, lowering his eyes. “She never loved me anyway.”

“Poor Blondie.” She hugged him. “Go to Kurt and tell him. And when you go back to Jinxie say hello to Dickon from me.”

 ***

The Blackmore Duke had five children that had survived into adulthood. The firstborn and heir, Dafydd, now twenty-five. The second born and hopefully dead – as she had brought mostly shame to the family – Elisabeth, who had vanished years ago. Dickon, twenty-one, and Isabel, eighteen, who were now living in Jinxie by the Emperor’s order – mostly because Isabel had failed to impress him, so until her father found her a proper husband, she would be exiled among the Genn. And James, twenty, the spiritual one who would some day enter a monastery, not interested in his father’s estate.

Dickon was glad to be out of the Blackmore Palace of Havenstock. He had called his son James like his younger brother because he preferred him to the haughty eldest. He was very close to Elisabeth and James, while Isabel adored Dafydd and the Blackmore pride. She was a true Blackmore, but Dickon often wondered if he wouldn’t have been better off if he had been born to a less noble family. Sometimes he had considered running away like Elisabeth had done.

Then he had met Abigail and fallen in love. He had married her and settled, forgetting his escape plans. He had volunteered to follow Isabel to Jinxie, as it was improper for his unmarried sister to go there on her own. Abigail was happy to get out of the Blackmore Palace too, so they had packed with a smile – unlike brooding Isabel.

Dickon liked Jinxie, although all those Genn awed him with their beauty and their many talents. Especially Blondsun, who looked – and was – so young but already a very good magic user, made him feel worthless. Blondsun was four years older than him but looked ten years younger.

Dickon was startled when the Genn magic user went to talk to him.

“Can you keep a secret?” Blondsun asked, dragging him aside with a mysterious smile after a brief introduction.

“Sure,” he answered, puzzled.

“I bring the greetings of your sister Beth.”

“Elisabeth is alive?” he asked, incredulous. “How is she?”

“She’s married, two beautiful daughters and sends her love. If she’ll have a boy, she’ll call him Dickon.”

“I would have called my first daughter Elisabeth.” Dickon beamed. “Where is she, who did she marry?”

“The left-handed warrior twice champion of the Gladius Games,” Blondsun sounded amused. “They live in Xendaria now.”

“May I write to her?”

“Sure. I’ll let her have your letters…”

END

This short story (and all the other Records) follows CVE2 – The Left-handed Warrior that tells the story of Kurt and Blondsun dealing with Vario X.