Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 29

Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday

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We’re continuing on from last week’s snippet from my wip, To Target the Heart.

For those of you catching up… Darshan is a prince and ambassador from the ginormous Udynea Empire sent to negotiate trade relations with Tirglas. Whereas Hamish is the third eldest child of the Tirglasian queen.

 

The prior sentence was: Hamish remained silent, but his brow twitched briefly in puzzlement. But we’re skipping just a touch ahead.

 

Darshan cleared his throat. He’d never had to explain this to someone before, they’d just known. “The current scientific theory is that strong magical bloodlines tend to also come with a heightened libido that lends itself to a greater chance of thinking with the loins rather than the head in certain situations.”

“I didnae say—” Hamish trailed off, his gaze distant as he stroked his beard. “I thought the Udynean court was full of strong spellsters? It must be interesting having them all in one place.”

Only during the soirees. There was that one orgy in Madaara’s temple that had gotten quite out of hand during the yearly blessing of the Goddess of Wine’s bounty, although the unexpected potency of the alcohol imbibed at the festival could also be attributed to such hedonistic acts. He certainly hadn’t meant to unleash his magic when he’d braced himself on Madaara’s statue, much less reduce twenty feet of carved marble and gilding to rubble.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts at Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday or Rainbow Snippets.

 

Having staved off the idea of marrying a woman for years, Prince Hamish finds himself forced to face its realities when he becomes the prize in a contest of arms. But one contestant promises a way out. Can they win against all the odds?

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The Spellster Timeline

I’ve never been one for entirely rigid timelines when I’m in the middle of writing, but when I do make them, I’m generally going forward with the odd trip back for important points in the past.

Not so with the spellster series. To Target the Heart starts months before In Pain and Blood and a few others begin earlier still. I’m largely writing a series in reverse order.

But they’ve all got to intersect. People are popping up in one story who are in others and they have to logically get from one place to another. “A wizard did it” is not an option here, despite all the magic.

I’ve several facts scattered through In Pain and Blood. Dylan’s birth date is pinned to midsummer, something that was a few months prior to him mentioning it in the story. That also means In Pain and Blood was set in autumn. Not that Demarn’s climate shows much of a difference in the seasons. Less heat and more rain in winter is about it. But all the points were right where I needed them to be for certain statements made in the epilogue to be true. I’m not surprised. I did work all that out years ago, after all.

But it’s never helped much with the other novels beyond a few vague “this before that” settings. So, I settled down to work it out.

I’d a starting base of the years with Tracker’s birthdate (spring baby). And his age let me figure out In Pain and Blood is set in this world’s 1902nd year after the arrival of the elven refuge ships. From there, I could work back the 37 years to Hamish’s midwinter birth, and Darshan’s as well.

Figuring out just where their story intersects with In Pain and Blood was a little trickier.

I have two points to hit. To Target the Heart‘s story starts in the early spring. There’s also a major character in In Pain and Blood that pops up in To Target the Heart. That’s around about the Nulshar visit, so not terribly far away in comparison but she’ll have some travelling to get to her starting point in IPaB.

As the dates stand, barring the epilogue, To Target the Heart finishes a few days before In Pain and Blood begins. Which is surprising. I was certain it continued in the background whilst IPaB‘s story ran on.

The timelines are certainly going to get interesting once I slot in Spectre of the Golden Voice and Through Smoke and Fire. I’m quite glad in my decision to wait for TTtH to be done before tackling either one.

 

 

Do you bother with timelines? Have you ever had to backtrack?

Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday

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We’re continuing on from last week’s snippet from my wip, To Target the Heart, where Hamish wasn’t at all convinced Darshan could be discreet after snogging him in the middle of a pub.

The prior sentence was:

“All right, that was not one of my finest moments, but I was drunk and… curious.”

 

The confusion-etched wrinkles around those brilliant, aquamarine eyes deepened as amusement took over. “And horny?”

Laughter bubbled through Darshan’s throat. “That, too.” Not that he’d much hope of completely quashing the feeling once it dug its claws in, one of the barbs of being born into a strong magical bloodline.

However, letting those emotions command his actions was inexcusable. The tales they would’ve told at court. Not that he’d lived his life back home in any way free of scandal. “Do let me know if I get a bit much, I cannot always tell.”

Hamish remained silent, but his brow twitched briefly in puzzlement.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts at Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday or Rainbow Snippets.

 

Having staved off the idea of marrying a woman for years, Prince Hamish finds himself forced to face its realities when he becomes the prize in a contest of arms. But one contestant promises a way out. Can they win against all the odds?

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Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday

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It’s been a very long time since I’ve participated in any of the weekend snippets, be they Weekend Writing Warriors, Snippet Sunday and Rainbow Snippets.

So, hello to new and old members!

 

This piece comes from my wip To Target the Heart and happens the next day after their somewhat botched first attempt at intimacy.

 

Hamish stared at him as if he’d suddenly sprouted extra eyeballs. “Have you got rocks in your head? I just said we cannae do it.”

“I heard you, but what if we are discreet?”

The man’s fiery-red brows twisted with disbelief.

“I can do discreet.”

“You snogged me in the middle of a pub,” Hamish pointed out. “Forgive me if I find the idea of you being discreet a little hard to swallow.”

Yes, some years had passed since it’d been required of him, but that was hardly a basis for his abilities. “All right, that was not one of my finest moments, but I was drunk and… curious.”

 

Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts!

 

Having staved off the idea of marrying a woman for years, Prince Hamish finds himself forced to face its realities when he becomes the prize in a contest of arms. But one contestant promises a way out. Can they win against all the odds?

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Just Stop It!

When I first started the spellster series, I was pretty adamant that each couple’s story would be confined to one book, with maybe the odd novella appearing here and there to expand on things.

But the events that will transpire (or rather, unknowingly have transpired, depending on how you look at the timeline) made it pretty clear to me that a continent-wide war is brewing.

That war is going to affect a number of couples.

 

In the north, there’s Dylan and Tracker. They’re going to be right in the line of fire, so to speak. Along with them are Emma and Rónio. They’ll all be forced either south, right into Udynea. Two of those people are elves, one of them is a damn Nulled One, he’s gonna wind up with his ass being shipped off to the Mhanek if he’s not careful.

Even in Udynea, my couples aren’t safe. We’ve Adya and Kaheran still likely licking their wounds from Through Smoke and Fire. There’s poor Krissi and her Ghost, they’ve uprooted their family once already. And as for Darshan and Hamish… those two are definitely gonna have to get involved.

Further from there, and well out of the way of the approaching threat, is Niholia. Now, Galina and Kallen will no doubt have their say, but I can’t see it being much. Stamekia will likely come to the fore, as Rami will have some guilt over his father’s part in all of it and Tahu is likely to follow.

Just what are they up against?

Map.

It’s an innocent enough sounding name. She’s the daughter of one of the original elves to land on the continent and a slave to a noble who has been dead for centuries… which is kind of how she’s meant to be. Dead. But she was brought back by the God-Emperor Sharik (yes, the bad guy in Extinguishing the Sun. Is it any wonder he thinks of himself as a god when he can bring centuries-dead people back to life?) who wished to use her knowledge to find the Doom of the World.

Well, she found it.

Are you happy now, Sharik? Are you bloody happy to have started the end of days with the elves at the fore? I hope you fecking are!

[image error]Very rough cover with the prospective title

 

ffs… Finish one story and get another… *grumble*

Cover Contest

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In Pain and Blood is entered into We Love Indie Books’ Cover of the Month contest.

Please vote if you’ve the time.

2019 Goals

Happy 2019, everyone!

Last year I set myself a few writing goals in the New Year. About half of them got done, with a number of upheavals I couldn’t possibly have accounted for. My goals for this year are a little modest in amount, but will require more from me.

2019 Goals

Get Dark One’s Bride, edited and published. I was close to the finishing the final chapter last year and spent the first hour of 2019 finishing it. So it’s complete at just under 91k! Now that the first draft is done, we’ll see how soon I can get it ready for public consumption.
Write more of To Target the Heart. I’ve been doing this off and on when inspiration has struck. Got a few extra things to add, which means more chapters and whatnot.
Outline Dark One’s Wife. Like DOB, this was partially written, but larger chunks no longer fit. So… this’ll need to stew for a bit whilst I reconsider the direction to take.
Read, for the love of… JUST READ! At this point, I’d be happy with just a handful. It’s been so long with some of those I’ve left half read that I’m going to have to go back and re-read the first parts.

What goals do you have for 2019?

Goodbye 2018

At the beginning of the year, I set myself a few goals to complete by the end. Of course, none of those goals factored in the destruction that was our kitchen (which is still missing details but is also now fully functional) or the two funerals on my partner’s side of the family (both his grandmother, then mother).

 

Get An Unexpected Gift edited and published.

This was probably the goal I was the most confident in achieving. Completed in March. Yes!

 

Finish Dark One’s Bride.

Eh… Finished? No. It is, however, a lot closer. Only the final three chapters need to be finished. It’s actually a little annoying being so close. You can bet I’ll be spending the last few hours of this year clawing my way closer to the glittering sign of “The End”.

 

Start on To Target the Heart.

Heh… this currently has 151k to its name and is staring down the barrel of at least another 150k. So, yup, whilst it’s on hiatus until the last three chapters of Dark One’s Bride are complete, it’s definitely started.

 

Figure out what I’m going to do with what I’ve for-now titled Extinguishing the Sun.

Not only do I know, this story has settled itself into the timeline.

 

Read more, as always. I’ve perhaps doubled my reading pile since the beginning of last year and only read a handful of books.

This, sadly, fell even further by the wayside. I think I might’ve read just a single book to completion.

 

In other news, I’ve been systematically going through my old covers and updating them. The last cover to receive this treatment?

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I’ll likely turn my attention to the rest of the older covers come next year (especially those in the Rogue King series).

Darshan vris Mhanek – A Long and Involved Backstory

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Typically when I write the backstory of a character, it’s somewhat uncomplicated and in the background. The whole reason for starting a story at a particular moment is in that this point is the moment where an irreversible change occurs. A dull life is shaken up. The left fork in the road is taken instead of the right. That sort of thing.

 

With Darshan… being who he is… his life couldn’t possibly be described as “dull”. He’s been the first character that I’ve had to form a timeline to keep everything neat and correct for some time. Even Tracker wasn’t this hard to keep straight without a timeline.

 

Things start off a little bumpy for him, but not entirely abnormal. He’s the eldest of twins, with his mother dying whilst giving birth to his sister, Anjali. From there, the pair were gifted the elven slave Daama from the mother’s family (all perfectly standard for Udynea) who becomes their wet nurse.

At two years old, the twin’s governess makes an assassination attempt on Darshan’s life. He’s spared thanks to Daama’s intervention. This is where things veer a little to the left as their father has Daama tutor them, often learning things just before having to teach the twins.

Things go swimmingly for a bit, until around his fifth year. That’s when his magic blossoms and he accidentally sets fire to the bed after a nightmare. Daama is forbidden to use magic (she’s leashed anyway and has little experience in using her own power) so different tutors are brought in, under the watchful eye of both Daama and the nulled ones who are owned by the Mhanek.

Between the ages of six and seven, Darshan starts to join the Crystal Court and meets Lady Rashmika, who is of similar age and is being groomed as Anjali’s handmaiden. Whilst they become close friends, her father forms a plan to have her wind up as Darshan’s wife.

On his seventh birthday, Darshan begins private healing lessons and excels in this disciple. It also serves to have him survive being shot in the gut by his half-sister, Onella, during a vacation to their summer estate about a year later.

At nine years, he learns he’s expected to sire children and that the general line of thought is for him to marry Rashmika. This is where he informs his father that he’s gay. Not much fuss is made over the announcement, but the expectation of marriage and siring children still looms.

The Khutani ceremony (a rite of passage into manhood involving circumcision) is performed on his twelfth birthday. Both Anjali and Darshan are given direct control over the slaves they were gifted throughout their childhood. Nanny Daama is elevated to the overseer of these slaves.

At seventeen, he has his first sexual encounter and is horrified to learn afterwards that the charming elven man had also been a slave. Around this time, he also discovers that Rashmika’s father beats her for not being able to procure Darshan’s hand. Upon hearing this, Darshan steels himself to go through with marrying his childhood friend only so she can be free of her father. At the time he’s looking to announce it, a distant cousin of Darshans arrives at Minamist on vacation and becomes enamoured with Rashmika, who is likewise charmed by the cousin’s gentle nature.

By the time Darshan’s eighteen, he’s helped arrange a marriage between said cousin and Rashmika. Sadly, Rashmika’s father still punishes her because the cousin’s family has a far lower status and the father was looking to get closer to the throne, not further. Darshan signs the order to have Rashmika’s father assassinated as a wedding gift, leaving the estate and title free for her to claim.

He spends a lot of time between his late teens and early twenties flitting through the Crystal Court, causing scandals and minor upsets as he bounces from one self-serving partner to another, much to his father’s dismay. During this time, he meets Vihaan, a trans man who is a few years younger than him. They grow close, not enough to be lovers but with that possibility blooming, only to have Vihaan back out of Darshan’s life when the Mhanek pushes the idea of siring children with Vihaan. This germinates the seed of resentment Darshan has towards his father.

His relationship with his father crumbles further when Darshan finds two women in his bed, having been sent there by his father in an effort to at least get a child out of Darshan. In a fit of rage, he ignites the bed (once the women had evacuated the room), then goes on to order having his bedchamber set alight and storms right into a meeting with the imperial senate to scold his father.

Darshan continues his downward spiral into hedonism, indulging in whatever and whomever he fancies without a care to the consequences. This culminates during his thirty-third year when he’s caught sleeping with an engaged man and winds up causing a feud between two powerful houses. His father, knowing there’s no threat he can give within Udynea that’d have Darshan actually behave as he should, sends him to the kingdom of Tirglas as punishment to be an ambassador and negotiate trade relations (because everybody knows there are no gays in Tirglas).

Enter Hamish, the quiet giant of a man who could’ve walked out of Darshan’s dreams.

The End of the Month Update

I hit my 15k goal for this month, despite taking quite a few days off. I probably hit it several times without knowing, considering everything I’ve cut. But we don’t count new on top of old over here. If the goal is five hundred words and two hundred are deleted along the way, write seven.

So how goes Dark One’s Bride? Well, of the 24 chapters, 23 are complete. Sounds fabulous, right? That’s like almost done.

Yeah, nah.

Of those chapters, only the first 15 are the ones I plan on keeping as they stand. I may have to go over the earlier chapters to ensure I’m not repeating myself and everything meshes character-wise, but those 15 are done done.

I’m chuffed that I managed to get as far as I have, seeing that Chapter 10 was where I originally left the story to pursue In Pain and Blood and, even after An Unexpected Gift was written, my muse preferred to dabble in the rest of the spellster series. That I’ve held off Darshan’s insistent “ahem, you left my story half done” is a feat in itself.

Now the last 9 chapters of DOB… Well, they used to be 10, but I’d already planned to chop one out in favour of another path. Chapter 16 needs to be written in full because that’s from the new plotline, so that’s where I’m at.

Whilst the rest…

I’m basically making a patchwork with everything from chapter 17 onwards, stripping all the conversations I want and stitching them into the new storyline. Some pieces will survive more or less as is, like the wedding scene, other pieces will be torn to shreds (the problem chapters of 17, 18 & 19 are to undergo this to the extreme with the first two possibly merging).

I also can’t believe day two of this whole story took seven chapters. No, that’s a lie. I can. They cover the whole day whereas the rest of the days are touched on here and there.