Archive | October 29, 2013

Pre-story: Tairikie a year earlier

Oct29

From [community profile] dailyprompt, 2013-10-25: “getting dressed for a special occasion”

This is in the setting of my upcoming nano project, in timeline, the cold-season before school begins.

“Tair-tair, hurry up.”

It wasn’t so much that Tairiekie’s father was rushing her as that he’d called three times in the last half an hour, and that he kept using her baby-name. She was at least a little past being called that.

“Almost ready, father.” She tugged the sleeves of her under-shift straight.

It was new; the whole outfit was new. The festival of Tienaabaa1 was about new creations. It was also many layers thick, because the festival of Teinaabaa took place on the shortest days of the year.

“Do you think that my project will win an award?” It was her last year competing in the children’s level. She had won an award every year before, but she’d only taken first place twice.

“I am sure you will do us proud. Are you dressed yet, Tair-tair?”

“Almost.” She had done the embroidery herself; she tugged her overvest to fit better over what was supposed to be a chest and wasn’t, quite, yet. The loose vest looked more like a child’s clothing than a grown woman’s, but all the decoration made it look loved and proper, at least.

Four layers of blue swished back at her in the silvered mirror in her parents’ room. Blue, for Tienaabaa. Blue for winter. Blue for the engineers, her mother, her father… and likely her as well.

She clattered down the stairs in her dyed-blue boots. “I’m ready.” Everyone at the festival would know she was loved and cherished. Everyone was going to know how brilliant her festival demonstration was, too.

Her father kissed the top of her head. “You will make your parents proud, Tairiekie.”

  1. . Tienaabaa (TEEN-ah-bah) is the deity of the wind and the water, the mind and creation. Formerly Tienebrah, (Tee-EN-eh-brah), the word was Calenyenized in the mid 1200’s.

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On this Date: Addergoole Drabbles of Kailani

Oct29

October 29, 2004

“I’m not a big fan of Hallowe’en.” Kai frowned at Conrad, but he had is back to her and thus was unmoved.

“I’m not surprised, but that doesn’t mean the kids shouldn’t have their fun. They’re kids, Kaia.”

“They’re…” She couldn’t really argue. “Fine. Captain America and Wonder Woman it is.”

October 29, 2013
“Mom.” Audra dropped the costume on Kailani’s lap. “Mom.” She added a needle and thread and a pair of scissors. “Mom. Dean Storm!“

“You can’t call her that.” Her twin Alistair hissed it at her.

“I can if she doesn’t answer to anything else. Mom!”

Kai blinked at her children. “Right.” The world had ended, but Hallowe’en, damn it, had to go on. “Hem, right?”

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On Nano, a rambling summary

Oct29

I was reading – technically, having read to me, as Ri lives in my attic – Rion’s blog post on NaNoWriMo, which made me think about my own (far shorter) experiences with it.

I can remember hearing about Nano probably a decade ago, but my first strong memory of it is my friend Qlipoth’s “why I hate nano” blog post, which is only from 2009, so I could be wrong. Either way, it “wasn’t for me.”

I can’t remember why. I really, can’t. I just didn’t think it was my thing.

I do know that in 2010, when I played along without picking a project (Just aimed to get 50K words in a month), part of my excuse is “my other projects won’t wait that long.”

What I learned that year was that 50,000 words is a totally do-able goal.

2011 I did it for real. I took a short story I’d been playing with and used it as the jumping-off point for a novel. That was The Deep Inks.

I learned that I could, indeed, write a novel, but my idea of plotting was pretty haphazard and three chapters of architectural detail was probably not a great idea.

I won. I really don’t remember much about it, but I won. The stats say I won with 50,289 on the 27th. I was inches from the climax. Still haven’t finished that thing… <.<

2012: The states say I finished on the 29th with 50,511 words (I do not like this trend!) I’m not sure how much I learned, but I did it.

The one that really got me was this summer’s Camp Nano. My goal was 43,500, and I made it on the last day of the month. But what I learned…

…I learned, gentle readers, that I like outlining. I really like writing to an outline. I like plotting ahead of time. It makes a more coherent novel. It’s just more fun.

And now we come to 2013. I’m outlining a whole new sub-setting and a new type of story. I’m pre-prepping my novel out the wazoo.

What will I learn? We’ll have to see. But I hope to have fun along the way.

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The Cup, Part IX

Oct29


After The Cup and The Cup, Part II, and The Cup Part III, and The Cup, Part IV, and The Cup, Part V, The Cup, Part VI, and
The Cup, Part VII, and The Cup, Part VII, in that Order

Cynara was… walking straight up a vertical road.

Pellinore stared at his former Keeper for a moment. This was impossible.

Part of his brain kicked the rest of it. He was looking at a woman who could bend minds and bodies, in a world where gods had destroyed almost everything. Impossible had really lost a great deal of meaning somewhere along the way, and all mere mortals could do was hold on for improbable.

“This is improbable.” JohnWayne had grabbed his hand, though, and he was being dragged onto the strange road along with the two of them.

“So’re you.” His son spared him an exasperated glance. “You complain a lot.”

“It’s my lot in life.” Stepping onto the road felt like getting off a carnival ride; his sinuses tried to fall out of his body for a moment, and then the new gravity of the road asserted itself.

It wasn’t a long walk, as such things went, and it was fine until you looked down. Pellinore caught Cya doing it first, twisting to look and then freezing, her face turning ashen, until she could force her feet to move again. Then JohnWayne. Pellinore held off as long as he could, but when he did, the world was a long, long way down.

“Can we survive that? If we fell?” JohnWayne’s voice was rather small.

“Yes.” Cya’s was clipped, and pitched to carry without her having to turn around again. Pellinore just nodded, though neither of them could see him. “But in that ‘that’s going to suck for a couple centuries’ sort of way. Less chit-chat now. We’re almost there.”

“There,” it appeared, was a cottage a mile above the ground, where the road bent back to “flat” to serve as a driveway.

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