S.M. Pace's Blog, page 5

Patreon Launch Countdown – 4 Days

The end is getting closer.  If you’re just joining us, check out the first two parts of the story in the links below.

“Mortal Wounds” Part 1

“Mortal Wounds” Part 2

“Mortal Wounds” Part 3

 

Jali contemplated.  She had tracked the creature for three days before he caused the rock slide.  She had not realized anything was amiss.  What had changed?

She stared down at her right foot, and pressed her lips together.  She some strange magic in her that protected her.  And she had his magic in her that healed her.

The creature wanted to be chased.  Jali had something she could use against him.

With deliberate movements, Jali set down her things.  She undid the ties on her pack, and went about setting up camp.  Every few minutes, flashes of white or gold caught her eye.  She ignored them.

The flashes grew at first more frequent, almost insistent, then less so.  Eventually they stopped all together.  Jali’s stomach twisted at the thought that she had lost her chance.  That the orne had slipped away.

He wants to be hunted, and only you can hunt him.  Be patient.

She built a fire, and prepared to roast a rabbit she had brought down that morning.  As she skinned the animal, her true quarry reappeared.

At the corner of Jali’s eye, the orne crept out of the trees.  He wore his human-like form, spindly legs bent so his knees pointed out.  His sharp-nailed fingers twitched as he approached her.

Though she trembled inside, Jali laid aside her rabbit skin, and carried on with her butchering.

“We had a deal,” an edge tinged the creature’s soft voice.  “You were to hunt me.  Not laze about beside a fire.”

Jali strove to keep her voice level.  “I did hunt you.  But I had to stop to rest and eat.”

“I do not care about your human frailty.  You will hunt me until I tire.  Now!”

Strange magic hummed through Jali, and jerked her upright.  She dropped her rabbit as she came clumsily to her feet.  She managed to keep hold of her knife, though she imagined that was only because it was a hunting weapon.

The orne hissed at her.  “No fun to force you.”  He tilted his head in a thoughtful manner.  “You let me heal you, so I own your life now.  Perhaps when I am done being hunted by you, I shall try to eat you again.”  He took a few leaping steps back, cackling at Jali from among the trees.  “Come little hunter.  Perhaps you can catch me before I decide to eat you up.  Or maybe I’ll go back to your village and take another villager.”

Hanni.  Jali resisted the orne’s pull, the muscles in her legs screaming in protest.  One awkward step, than another.  Her feet crunched over the uneven ground.  The orne watched her struggles with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

With a gasp, Jali made one last effort to pull herself back.  Her right leg, as if with a mind of its own, jerked forward, and stamped down.  Her foot landed on a root and slipped off, ankle twisting awkwardly.  Sharp pain lanced up her leg.

Her limbs loosened for a few precious seconds, enough for Jali to take several steps back.  The orne made an odd squeaking sound in his throat.

Pain loosens his hold.  Tightening her grip on the knife, Jali sliced it across her other palm before the orne could take control of her again.

The creature shrieked, a sound not of defeat, but of pain.

****

Come back tomorrow for Part 4.  See you then.  

Patreon Launch Countdown – 6 days

Let’s get right in to it.  When we left Jali yesterday, the orne was about devour her essence!  Click the link below to check it out.

“Mortal Wounds” Part 1

“Mortal Wounds” Part 2

The orne jerked back with a hiss, then slithered away from her in a bizarre tangle of limbs.  “Cannot feed from you,” he shouted, as though Jali had done something.  “Wasteful, stinking magic inside you.”  He spat, as if to rid himself of a bad taste.

Jali braced her arms behind her, mind racing, discarding the question of what magic he spoke of for another time.  She seized on her last chance at survival.  “Set me free, and I will hunt you again.  If I cannot be good for food, I can be good for amusement.”  Her voice cracked as a fresh wave of pain rolled up her leg, and she shuddered.

The orne cackled.  In another movement that seemed all at once graceful and awkward, it flipped to land beside her.  With the ease of a child lifting a ball, he tossed the boulder aside.

Jali stuffed her fist into her mouth to hold back her rising gorge.  Her ankle was a mangle of blood, bone and flesh.  She could wrap it, and make the journey home.  But the orne would continue to stalk and feed off her village, because he had no reason not to.

The creature stared with fascination at her ruined foot.  “You cannot walk on that.”  It cocked its oddly shaped head at her, so that the point of one horn pressed into the meat of her calf.  “I wonder if my healing magic would work on you.”  His lips twisted and eyes brightened with mirth.  “Would you like me to heal you.”

Jali stiffened.  Dangerous to ask, or even accept help from an orne.  To owe any of the Fair Folk a debt would always demand far too high a price.  Jali swallowed down her fear.  “If you did, it would be for yourself, so I will hunt you again.”  She bit her lip.  Too risky to say she could make it home.  “I am mortal, and accepting of my death.”  Those words might prove equally risky.

The orne laughed out loud and clapped its hands.  “Clever girl.  Oh, so clever.  Yes, I shall heal you and we shall have our chase.”

His horns glowed, and seemed to writhe like a collection of snakes.  He tilted his head again, and the horn point stabbed into Jali’s wounded leg.

She cried out, and watched, heart pounding, as pearly liquid dribbled down the length of the horn.  It flowed over her skin, more like a breath of cool air then liquid.  Jali’s leg burned.  She squeezed her eyes shut against the rising pain until she could no longer bare it.

She opened her eyes with a gasp.  And found her foot and ankle whole and unbroken.  She looked up.

The orne did a standing flip, and landed several yards away in the form of a massive white stag.  With a bellow, he galloped away.

Jali stood.  Though her mind protested the movement, her leg gave no twinge, not even the slightest suggestion she’d been injured.  She snatched up her bow, arrows and pack and gave chase.

As she had before, she pursued the beast.  Often it looked like a stag, but sometimes she glimpsed it as a man-like creature, spindly legs leaping and twisting in utterly inhuman ways.  Never, in all her pursuit, did Jali gain enough to draw her bow.

After some time, she realized with a sinking heart, she was not tracking the creature.  Any moment it occurred to her to look for trail signs of his passage, he would appear, a flash of white through the trees.

Jali stopped running.

There, a flash of antler.  Jali waited, eyes roving the trees.

A glimpse of hoof and tail, to her right.

All a trick.  The orne trailed her along, and would keep doing so until she collapsed from exhaustion.

****

See you all Thursday for part 3.  

Patreon Launch Countdown – 7 Days

Woo hoo!  Everything is finally ready.  A week from today, Monday, September 5th, my Patreon goes live.  And two weeks after that comes the release of my first piece of serial fiction, “Wilde Borne.”

I am super excited guys!

And here’s how I’m celebrating.  Because I’m a writer, and I love not only writing my stories, but also sharing them.  Over the next week, I will be releasing a mini-serial, building up to Patreon Live Day!

Jali, a young hunter, was charged to bring down the orne, the magical creature that has plagued her village for months, because she appeared to be immune to his magic.  Now several injured, Jali must make a deal with a monster to save no only herself, but those she loves.  

“Mortal Wounds” Part 1

A whimper escaped Jali’s ragged throat, sore from screaming for so long.  Through blurry vision she stared at the massive boulder that crushed her foot.  She would never walk normally again; would never attend the village hunts.

Would never bring down the orne, the creature that had plagued her village for months.

Bitter tears ran down her cheeks.  Her brother, Evam, and amata, and half a dozen villagers all dead.  Gone by the curse of orne, and more would die because she had failed.

Only Jali remained immune to the creature’s magic.  Only she so far had seen the orne and not fallen ill and wasted away.  So the village had elected her, a young, untried hunter, to bring down the beast.

She had failed.

She jabbed her knuckles into the rock, and clenched her teeth against the scream that longed to break lose.  More screaming would do her no good.  With all her strength, she pushed the boulder.  Her muscles burned, her arms shook.  Sweat poured down her face.

The boulder budged the tiniest fraction.  Just the smallest brush of air on Jali’s foot sent fire through her leg.  She fell back with a sob.

A chuckle drifted down from above.

A few yards up the slope sat the orne.  Naked, male, veins starkly visible beneath bone white skin.  Stag horns rose from his head, a crown that looked far too heavy for such a skeletal creature to bare.

He wore a human-like face, impossibly wide mouth peeled back in a rictus grin.  “Little, wounded hunter.  You gave me a merry chase.  The best I’ve had in a long while.”  He craned his neck at an unnatural angle and stared into Jali’s eyes as if he could see right into her soul.  “Now I shall feast from you.  Drain away your life.”

Jali stiffened, hand going for the knife at her belt.  The creature leapt, spun in midair, and landed beside her with a soft thump all before Jali could unsheathe her weapon.  A long fingered hand closed over her wrist, holding her with a strength she would not have imagined.

The orne leaned closer and caught her again with his sky blue eyes.  Magic prickled Jali’s skin.

****

Let me know what you think in the comments.  Cheers and Jali and I will see you tomorrow.  

 

Wewriwa – Hawk is finally done

Weekend Writing Warriors, baby!  Welcome to the hop where writers share their 8-10 sentence snippets, hosted by Wewriwa.  Click the link to check out the rules, visited some blogs on the linky and sign up to share your writing.

Draft 1 of Cry of the Hawk is finished!  It’s a mess, with characters randomly appearing and disappearing, plot threads left unraveled and some rather pointless scenes that contribute little to nothing.  But it’s done.

Here’s my favorite snippet from the first draft, the scene where I discovered what will be the true conflict in this novel.  I have a strong feeling this snippet won’t change very much.

“Why do Sana and her magickers still want war, with anyone?” Toby demanded.  “She could stop the fighting and allow her people to have peace.” 

Effami stared into the snapping fire, eyes growing hard.  “The Lady does not simply want peace, not even for her people.  She is so full of rage, it drives her hunger.  She feeds on life and magic, and is never satisfied.  The Lady wants the entire world at her feet to feast on at her pleasure.” 

“She was my friend.”  Ora’s protest rang hollow.

 “She is a monster.” 

Let me know what you think in the comments, while I go celebrate finishing a first draft.

 

 

Do you Have Goals – Goodbye Summer!

Summer, you will be missed, but I’m looking forward to some cool autumn weather, hopefully just enough snow to play in, but not to cause any problems, and some winter holiday fun.  And, with any luck, achieving some goals.

It’s the last Friday of the month, and that means it’s time for Misha and Beth’s Do You Have a Goal Blog Hop, where bloggers share their monthly goals.  The hop is hosted by Misha Gericke and Beth Fred.  Click the links and you’ll find an awesome blog hop to join and some great people to follow.

Let’s see how I did for August –

Launch my Patreon – It’s actually happening.  My Patreon Launch begins next Monday, August 29th.  I’ll be releasing snippets of a short story, along with pictures and other goodies, over the course of several days, all building up to my Patreon Launch!  Yay!

Post at least four times a week – Well, the official goal was 16 and I made it to twelve.  However, if I count my launch posts, I’m actually square with this one.  So, two out two so far!

Complete the revision on Cats at Midnight – Ugh, this one is dragging.  I’m typing up the revision now, but I made so many changes it’s like I’m writing a completely new story.

Complete the first draft of Cry of the Hawk – It’s done!  Yes.  I’ve been hemming and hawing over this draft for a good year.  So glad to have it finished.

And now, my goals for September –

Start publishing my serial fiction on my blog and possibly Wattpad.  Patreon supporters will get their chapters two weeks early, along with some other fun things.
Publish 16 posts for the month
Add at least five more pages of content to my website, specifically to the Worlds Section.  Worldbuilding is my favorite thing.
Add at least five more flash fiction pieces to my website, alongside my serial fiction.
Start taking and using my own pictures for the blog

The last one is probably a pipe dream, but we shall see.  If you’re popping around, and you notice my photography, let me know what you think.

If you’ve been living through summer the last few months I hope it was a blast, and that you’re looking forward to fall.  If it’s the other way around in your neck of the woods, I still hope the same for you just sub fall for summer and vice versa.

Good luck to my fellow Goal Blog Hoppers, and to everyone striving to meet their goals this month.  Sound off in the comments and share you own goals.  

Top Ten Tuesday and Novels You Still Haven’t Read Yet

Hello all, and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – hosted by the wonderful bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Follow the link in the badge or click here so check out Top Ten Tuesday, and consider signing up.

This one is going to be painful.  Today’s theme is books sitting on your shelf that you still haven’t read.

There’s quite a few of those.  In keeping with the theme, these are books that have been on my shelves for over five years.  Wow!

Lirael by Garth Nix

What’s sad is that I’ve actually read the third novel in this trilogy.  For some reason, despite the fact that I own the second novel, I still haven’t read it.  *sigh*  I did attempt to read it and made it about halfway through, but it didn’t capture me the way the first novel, Sabriel did.  But I really should get around to reading it.

 

The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

After reader the Darren Shan series, I was on a bit of a haunted circus/sideshow kick, so that’s how I ended up with this one.  However, I’ve never even opened it up.  It definitely skews to horror, which I was into for a while, but less so now.  But I might still try it.

 

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I bought this one after I finished The Divine Secrets novels, because Amazon seemed to feel the two were similar.  They might be, but I have no idea.  I haven’t even managed to open this one up.

 

 

Leave Your Language Alone by Robert A. Hall, JR.

People often assume I must be a grammar nazi because I’m a former English teacher.  Far from it.  I actually have to bite my tongue when friends or family members post things on Facebook about how much hearing “bad” grammar annoys them.  I very much subscribe to the belief that if you are a native speaker of a language, and you aren’t intoxicated, tired, or suffering from any other neurological problem, you are speaking you’re language perfectly fine.  I was actually quite happy to discover that there are books explaining this to people from as far back as the fifties.  But evidently I wasn’t excited enough to actually read the thing.

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

I can pretend I read this one, because I watched the discovery channel special he did a while back.  Then again that probably doesn’t count.  I actually purchased this one from a library sale to add to my historical research collection.  I probably should read it, because the information would come in very handy.

 

Ancient Inventions by Peter James and Nick Thorpe

Someone suggested this as a great book for historical research.  I have read a few sections of it, and it’s amazing the things we think of as completely modern, that were actually around thousands of years ago.  I would like to read the full book one day.

 

The Difference Engine by William Gibson

I was in a big steam punk phase for a while, and this one came recommended as a very unique entry in that genre.  I tried, but I couldn’t get in to it.  Maybe I’ll try again around the holidays.

 

 

A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer

I bought this back when I would snatch any novel that mentioned the word magic right off the shelf.  While it didn’t have quite the spectacular magical feats of say the Harry Potter novels early on, the narrative intrigued me.  Unfortunately, it was one of those instances where I came to the end of a chapter, put the book down, and never got around to picking it back up.  It remains on my list.

 

So that’s my confession today  What books do you have sitting around, either on your shelves or on you e-reader.  Sound off in the comments.  

Monday Update – August 22

My Patreon Launch starts in one week.  Hope to see you all there.  In the meantime, I accomplished some thing last week, and I have a truck load of things to get done this week.

Writing

Cry of the Hawk –

Achieved:  Another 1489 added to the story, and I’m right in the thick of the climax.  That puts me at (28,971) 27,482, and (13,992) 12,503 toward my #hotandsticky count.  I suppose I can put my plot bunny toward my hot and sticky count, but I’m not sure that adheres to the rules.
Goal:  Always 3K, until I decide otherwise.

1 Flash story

Achieved – A sad nope to this one.  Those flash pieces are just out of luck.
Goal:  I’ll try again next week.

Everwood Novella –

Everwood is the setting of my short story “Mist Mad” that I released in three parts in July.  Check it out here.  Something ugly is going on in the Everwood, and I’m about to find out what.

Goal:  1200 words

Revising

Cats at Midnight –

Achieved:
Goal:

Seer –

Achieved:
Goal:

Flash story –

Achieved: I finished Amber Soul, so you’ll be seeing that pop up on Friday Flash fiction, some time next month.
Goal:  Despite having not written a flash piece in a while, I do have some drafts in limbo.  I’ll work on one of those.

Website

Maintenance stuff for now, and just playing around with layouts, and widgets, especially on the blog.  In a couple of weeks those big changes I mentioned will appear, and I’m super excited.  Can’t wait to see how they look.

Personal Goals

Dedicate a half hour, three nights a week to sewing –

Achieved:  I actually managed to a get a page done, I think mostly because Bear was out of town a couple nights, leaving me at lose ends.
Goal:  Hopefully I can get the next page done this week

Exercise for at least 10 minutes every day (I know that doesn’t sound like much, but baby steps, and all that)

Achieved: Walks have been hard to get started since Bear and I are on very different schedules.  I did manage a few with Bunny and one on my own.  Hopefully, when Bear’s work schedule calms down, we can walk as a family.
Goal:  Trying for at least a good twenty minute walk each day.

Read 10% each (I’m all about the ebooks) from:

Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads

Achieved: Page 53, and I’m knee deep in 1930s cooking techniques.  I actually found a couple of recipes that sound worth trying.
Goal:  Shooting for page 80 this week.

Carpe Jugulum

Achieved:  On page 35.  Diving into a Pratchett novel really is an adventure, as you try to figure out how all the different characters and their stories are going to come together.

Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you.  Sound off in the comments, and share your goals for the week. 

Wewriwa – Things are steaming up in Hawk

Welcome back to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop where bloggers post their 8-10 line writing snippets.

 

Today I have a bit of romance for you.  I don’t write a whole of romance into my stories, because my characters tend to be dealing with a lot of war and death.  So, today here’s a little snippet from Hawk featuring Ora and Cor, two characters who’s names I would have rethought, had I realized they may well end up together.  To avoid confusion, Ora has magic that allows her to sense emotions.

 

 

She ached to touch him, but clasped her hands instead. “Cor, I’m sorry, about …”

He shook his head. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault if you don’t feel the same way.” His voice was soft, but Ora heard no censure, no accusation. Somehow, that made it hurt worse.

“That’s not it, I do-” She stopped.

Cor stared at her. “You do, what?” It was hard to read his expression in the near dark, but his emotions were in a riot.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think.

Top Ten Tuesday! Books set in Truly Alien Fantasy Worlds

 

Hello all, and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – hosted by the wonderful bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Follow the link in the badge or click here so check out Top Ten Tuesday, and consider signing up.

 

Today’s Topic is Top Novels Set in X location.  Being the rebel and hyper fantasy lover I am, I chose Extreme Alien Fantasy Setting.  Bit of a mouthful, yes.  I also decided to stay with just five, so I could truly focus on the really bizarre fantasy worlds.

Mainspring (Clockwork Earth book 1) by Jay Lake

Imagine, if you will, the ultimate in steampunk settings.  An entire planet Earth AND solar system as a clockwork mechanism.  For me it was an insane premise and I fell in love with the first novel within just a few pages of reading about clockwork angels, the gears of heaven, and the lantern of the sun.  Love it, so much.  If you’re into steampunk, give this series a try.

 

 

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (and all the Discworld novels)

You can’t have a list like this without the creator of the Discworld.  Hogfather was the first Pratchett novel I ever read and is still near and dear to my heart.  It painted out the possibilities and limits of the worlds magic.  Even though Great A’Tuin and the elephants don’t feature much, it still shows a world utterly different from out own, but oddly familiar.

Updraft by Fran Wilde

 Set in a world where bone buildings grow from ground long since abandoned and characters travel on gliders, Updraft is definitely a unique experience in worldbuilding.  I also love how carefully Wilde delivers information about Bone Universe.  I can wait for Cloudbound to come out.

 

 

 

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

I first read this one while working my first job at a local bookstore.  I fell in love with the worldbuilding immediately, along with the Lina and Doon, who felt very unique and realistic. You won’t truly learn how strange Ember is until you read the end of the novel, and I won’t spoil it for you.  If you like dystopias, give this one a look.

 

 

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

I loved Gulliver’s Travels growing up, though much of the social and political commentary sailed right over my head at that age.  Now, I can really appreciate the messages Swift wanted to get across.  I still enjoy how much thought he put into the idiosyncrasies of each world, and the characters raised in them.

 

 

Those are my Top Five Novels Set in Truly Alien Fantasy Worlds, but I’ sure there are more that I missed.  Let me know in the comments which is your favorite, bizarre fantasy setting.

 

Monday Update – August 15

 

And we’re halfway through August.  How did the summer completely pass me by?  Oh well.

Last week was productive.  I got snagged by another wild plot bunny and ended up with another 10k short story that now needs to sit on a backburner until I can figure out what to do with it.

Writing

Cry of the Hawk –

Achieved:  Another 1489 added to the story, and I’m right in the thick of the climax.  That puts me at 29,420, and 13,992 toward my #hotandsticky count.  I suppose I can put my plot bunny toward my hot and sticky count, but I’m not sure that adheres to the rules.
Goal:  Always 3K, until I decide otherwise.

1 Flash story

Achieved – A sad nope to this one.  Those flash pieces are just out of luck.
Goal:  I’ll try again next week.

Everwood Novella –

Everwood is the setting of my short story “Mist Mad” that I released in three parts in July.  Check it out here.  Something ugly is going on in the Everwood, and I’m about to find out what.

Goal:  1200 words

Revising

Cats at Midnight –

Achieved:
Goal:

Seer –

Achieved:
Goal:

Flash story –

Achieved: I finished Amber Soul, so you’ll be seeing that pop up on Friday Flash fiction, some time next month.
Goal:  Despite having not written a flash piece in a while, I do have some drafts in limbo.  I’ll work on one of those.

Website

Maintenance stuff for now, and just playing around with layouts, and widgets, especially on the blog.  In a couple of weeks those big changes I mentioned will appear, and I’m super excited.  Can’t wait to see how they look.

Personal Goals

Dedicate a half hour, three nights a week to sewing –

Achieved:  I actually managed to a get a page done, I think mostly because Bear was out of town a couple nights, leaving me at lose ends.
Goal:  Hopefully I can get the next page done this week

Exercise for at least 10 minutes every day (I know that doesn’t sound like much, but baby steps, and all that)

Achieved: Walks have been hard to get started since Bear and I are on very different schedules.  I did manage a few with Bunny and one on my own.  Hopefully, when Bear’s work schedule calms down, we can walk as a family.
Goal:  Trying for at least a good twenty minute walk each day.

Read 10% each (I’m all about the ebooks) from:

Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads

Achieved: Page 53, and I’m knee deep in 1930s cooking techniques.  I actually found a couple of recipes that sound worth trying.
Goal:  Shooting for page 80 this week.

Carpe Jugulum

Achieved:  On page 35.  Diving into a Pratchett novel really is an adventure, as you try to figure out how all the different characters and their stories are going to come together.

Wish me luck, and good luck to all of you.  Sound off in the comments, and share your goals for the week.