The Real Work

The fun of being a writer is getting it written. The old saying is absolutely true. Get it written, then, and only then, get it right. And that getting it right part is the work of being a writer. One of the dangers of self-publishing is that some authors are so excited to share their book, they don't really get it right before setting it loose on the world.
I've said many times how much I love my editor at City Owl Yelena Casale. She is a huge part of the equation for me in getting it right. For example, she never would have let me publish the excerpt that I posted in my last blog post in the state that it was. But that was playing around... I got it written, but it was a long way from right.
The new book, The Bard, still has a lot of work to get it right. But I'd like to show the difference between a rough draft and three solid editing passes later. (It will probably go through another five plus edits before I'm ready to publish.)

The name my mother gave me is Kiara. As a teenager, I earned the right to the title of Priestess of Testament. Most of those who know about me these days use fancier phrases, like Kiara, Guardian of the Sage’s Gate. If someone wants to make me blush or just doesn’t know any better, they refer to me as Kiara, Savior of the World. I’m not sure I deserve any of those honorifics and none of them is what I want to be called. I suppose the point of me saying all this is to let people decide for themselves what honor, if any, I really earned in life. My story, our story, has become so famous that a lot of myths have sprung up concerning myself and my compatriots. The hospital in Gatetown is constantly full to capacity with the afflicted. They seem to hope that proximity to me will be enough to cure the incurable. I wish everything they believed was true, but it isn’t. I’m a priestess, not a miracle worker, most definitely not a saint or savior.
I’ll tell the truth in this, but I know not everyone will believe me. People often prefer the pretty little lies that make them feel happy, secure, and wise. I don’t want to take that away from anyone: we all need what solace we can find. But I do want to make sure that if anyone ever needs to know what really happened when the Sage’s Gate opened, there was at least one accurate record in existence. It doesn’t help that the most outspoken member of our group had a very loose association with the truth under the best of circumstances. There were times it felt like every word Jadim ever spoke to me was a lie. Except for his last words to me… I choose to believe he finally told the truth in the end.
I’m getting ahead of myself by mentioning Jadim. He wasn’t there at the start. Speaking of the beginning, a little backstory may be in order. Not all the priestesses on Haven teach the same thing, so I should explain our world as it was taught to me. Many generations ago, the seven exalted dragons brought our ancestors from a place called Earth to their world, Haven. Why this happened is unclear, but it is generally believed that Earth was no longer livable due to a ravenous monster, Technologia, The Mother of All Terrors. The dragons could not defeat Technologia, but pitied the human race and wanted to spare them from their fate. Each dragon selected a handful of people with characteristics that particular dragon valued to bring home with them to Haven, for Technologia had not yet mastered planar travel.
Humanity thrived on Haven, for the other races that were here before us did not have our keen intellect and struggled with the deeper arcane arts. Each dragon taught those they choose magic as they saw fit and it did not take long before humanity began to twist what was learned to invent new magics. One of these applications was the rise of the priestesses, drawing strength from ancient human Earth myths to fuel potent magical effects. My particular line of priestess can trace its lineage back to one of the oldest goddesses of Earth, Testament. This particular deity was so ancient that its followers constantly felt the need to put Old in her name. Some claim there was a new god of Testament, but I am not aware of any priestesses who follow such a path.
Testament taught a number of things to its followers: Justice, Art, and Sages. Justice meant that we should do what was right, punish those who did wrong, and provide a clear law that everyone could tell the difference between good and evil. Art meant that we had a sacred duty to promote creative endeavors that built up others, especially writing, painting, and music. Sages meant that the wisdom of the dragons was to be treasured and should be enshrined in both law and creative acts. One of the most sacred duties to the priestesses of Testament was the protection of the Shrine of the Dragon Sages. Within that hallowed structure rested a mystic gem of fantastic power known as the Gem of the Dragon Sages. The priestesses of Testament were never particularly good at naming things.
By the time I was appointed to my turn to guard the Shrine of the Dragon Sages, I was already a renowned healer and accomplished priestess. Like the priestess I relieved, I did not know what the Gem of the Dragon Sages did. I knew it was important to make sure that it never fell into wrong hands, but I could not tell you why. And while it was an important job, it was also largely a ceremonial one, one last tour of duty before retirement to the Halls of Exodus. No one had ever tried to steal the Gem of the Dragon Sages and it was hard to imagine any wrong hands who might want to get hold of it.
I do not want anyone to think that I viewed the world through rose colored glasses. I was well aware that there were many humans and lesser races that voluntarily did bad things. A person can be nasty, brutish, and mean, even when they are trying to do what they perceive as the right thing. The seven dragon clans of mankind had grown exponentially since their arrival on Haven and war was not unknown to me. Worse, because of our proficiency in healing, priestesses often saw the worst of the carnage, the aftermath of violence. I knew there was evil… but I did not think that evil had any use for wisdom. A thing named the Gem of the Dragon Sages, had to be related to the quest for knowledge, right?
The other heroes employed by the kingdom of Exodus for guarding the temple were not as accomplished as me, perhaps, but they were not green amateurs, either. Xeros, the Banespear, leader of their band had distinguished himself in war against the Kingdom of Nirvana versus their elite Foo Fighter brigade. He had been the head guardian of the temple for five years before I ever arrived. He was brash, outspoken, and rude… but he was also unbeaten in the local arena for a record one hundred and seventy nine matches. His skill with the great spear was the stuff of legend and I saw it up close enough times to admit that his ability mirrored the myth. It is harder for me to admit that I was actually attracted to him for a time. I suppose I always had a thing for difficult men.


Lastly, hi to my Amazon followers, who should be seeing this blog for the first time. As always, your feedback is welcome! I want to keep getting better.