Iron Curse Update

Hello all! I have news!

The Iron Curse is back in business!

I'd been struggling with it for weeks. Every time I sat down to write on it I only got about a sentence added. The story just wasn't clicking for me. 

I consulted Minion 1 since she's my go to when I need plotting help. She knows basically nothing about the story though and just have me a blank look and a few "do what you wants." 

So I decided to play with it a little. I took a day and just word built on it. I'd known the gist of what the world was like to begin with, but I took the time to write it down and add more to it. And that really helped. I was starting to like the story again. I researched Whales, and Ireland, and London for weather and landscape because I wanted my world to be similar. 

Something still wasn't quite right though. I like Bellatrae a lot, but she's a very sensible girl and she gets dull when it's only her logical point of view. I wanted a fresh voice to balance her off. 

So I consulted my Pinterest board I've made for the story. What characters did I have at my disposal? Where could I add another? I considered a fiancé, a friend, but didn't like them. Then I came to the picture I'd pinned for the beast. 

And I had it.
The beast would get a point of view in this story. 

And so Carrick was created.

It took me a full day to find him a name. I scrolled through all manner of Welsh and Irish boy names...some of those names...poor little lads that had to live with them. 

Carrick isn't a bubbly sort of guy, but he's passionate. He's just as serious as Bellatrae, but he can fly into a fit of emotion at any time. He's unpredictable that way. He's energetic. He's also quite the tortured soul (he's under a curse after all, and the beast of the story, so he kind of has to be). I have absolutely fallen in love with him. 

I have several thousand words and several scenes worth of Bellatrae's side written already, so lately I've been filling in Carrick's scenes in between, and I'm certain that he is just the remedy for my lack of enthusiasm. I should be done playing catch up with him shortly and able to continue on with Bellatrae's portion alongside his, and I'm very excited. 

I'm sorry to say, I don't really have anything ultra fun to post in the way of snippets just yet, but fear not, they will come soon.

Here We Go Again

This is a poem that I whipped up about a week ago. I was sad when I wrote it, and it must have showed because someone told me the words worried them, so hopefully it doesn't worry you guys.

What the heck is wrong with you?

And here we go again

I don't want to play this game

I feel start to begin

I ignored the sign

Bought more time

You don't even speak

And it still robs my sleep

It's killing me

When you hear the call

I know you'll answer

Then take the fall

It makes me so tired

Pressure I can't withstand

Where are you now?

Watch my terrors expand

You know it doesn't affect just you

When you go out and do these things that you do?

Did you ever think about the rest of us

And all the times you've betrayed our trust?

Did you know that it hurts a heart

Who has known you from the start

To helpless' watch you every day

Voluntarily fade away?

What's killing you

Is killing me

Today I really wish you knew

All the things you've failed to see

I know how this will all end

'Cause here we go again

A Novel Idea

Hello guys! I've been neglecting Ashley's A Novel Idea lately because my Saturdays have been so busy. But this week I have time, so I'm going to be doing the awesome questions. Instead of playing catch up on the ones I've missed, I'm just going to stick to this week's questions. I am however, going to use several different characters this time.

 

#1. Bellatrae from The Iron Curse. (yup. She's back)

 

1.Have they started a family? If so, tell about them. If not, do they plan to?

She has not started a family of her own yet, though she comes from a large family herself. I think she does vaguely plan to, just because that's what girls do. They grow up and start a family. But she is more of the kind of person to live one day at a time, not in future plans.

 

2.Who would they turn to if they were in desperate need of help?

Her father, or else her brother Kiegan. She trusts both of them.

 

3.Do they mind being in the midst of a large group of people? 

She doesn't particularly mind, no. Back when her family had some social standing, they used to host large parties with lots of guests, and she enjoyed those. It's been a long time since she's attended anything like that though.

 

4.Are they more of a leader or a follower? 

If she thinks you're capable, and know what you're doing, she will follow. But if she even suspects that you're not doing things quite right she will take the lead.

 

5. Do they care what others think of them? Why or why not?

She's 50/50 on this one. She knows that people's opinions don't matter as long as you know who you are, but she also knows that things like social standing are very important too.

 

#2. Carrick (you'll find out who he is very soon)

 

1. Have they started a family? If so, tell about them. If not, do they plan to?

No, he has not started a family. He would love nothing more than to get married and have kids, but for some reasons I wont disclose just yet, he is unable to do so at this time. He's not sure if it will ever happen, truthfully.

 

2.Who would they turn to if they were in desperate need of help?

If it were desperate help that could wait the time it would take so send word (such as some sort of political or legal trouble) he would turn to his father, as he is quite capable of pulling any strings needed. If it was immediate help needed he would have to turn to his servants, though I'm not sure they'd be much help to him.

 

3.Do they mind being in the midst of a large group of people? 

No. He craves being with people very much. He used to be around mobs of people all the time, and now that he's not he wants desperately to get back to it.

 

4.Are they more of a leader or a follower? 

He is a born leader. Except for when he's dealing with his parents, what he says goes.

 

5.Do they care what others think of them? Why or why not?

He cares very much what people think of him. He wants very much to be accepted and included. You could say his whole life hangs in the balance of what people (one person in particular) thinks of him.

 

#3. Creed from still unnamed fantasy story.

 

1.Have they started a family? If so, tell about them. If not, do they plan to?

Not yet- Wait till book two ;) At this point in the story he does not plan to ever have a family, but he's just being a naïve teenage boy, and I'll get that cleared up with him soon enough.  

 

2.Who would they turn to if they were in desperate need of help?

He would turn to his 'uncle' King Urijah. Or else his magic instructor Master Adekin.

 

3.Do they mind being in the midst of a large group of people? 

If it is a large group of men, or older ladies he is perfectly comfortable. Large groups of girls his own age (or heaven forbid a one on one interaction with only one girl) he is very much out of his comfort zone, whether or not he shows it.

 

4.Are they more of a leader or a follower? 

He likes to think he's a leader, but if a person knows what buttons to press on him he becomes a follower without even noticing.

 

5.Do they care what others think of them? Why or why not?

A bit, but not too much. He doesn't want people to hate him, but he tries not to change himself to fit people's molds.

 

 

There you are! I hope you enjoyed them! I'll be back next week. The Huskers are going to play soon and I've got a cheese cake in the oven for the church potluck tomorrow.

Go Big Red!!

 

Contemplating

Nope.

This isn't going to be some deep, meaningful post.

You thought it was going to be, didn't you?

 

It's actually me talking about NaNoWriMo

(my mom would say whaa?? so that translates to National Novel Writing Month).

 Basically you take the month of November and try to write a 50,000 word novel.

It's pretty insane.

This year I participated in Camp Nano for the first time. It was great.

But I got to choose my word count.

(A much more manageable 20,000)

That 50,000 word goal just looks so daunting.

 But.

 

I am Dauntless.

The test in the back of Divergent said so.

So I'm contemplating doing NaNo...I've actually signed up for it, and created a pinterest board for the idea. (It's a secret board, so none of you guys can go snooping around and tell me to write it)

Are any of you doing NaNo? Do tell.

Convince me.

 

 

Horror Story - part 2

And here's the second part of my horror story, since I've got to leave in a few minutes to go help some  ladies deep clean the church. If you missed (or can't remember) the first part, you can find it here.
I'll try to get some regular posts up soon.
 

 

 

Bill felt sick with worry as he turned to see Precious looking up at him with large, questioning eyes. “Did he say it was okay for you to play?”
He nodded slightly. “He said it would be fine.”
“Then why do you look so angry?”
He searched for an excuse. “Uh, they got my food wrong. I don’t like soft eggs.”
“Do you want mine instead?”
He shook his head firmly. “No. My mom taught me not to be picky.”
She laughed. “That’s good. So are we going to play?”
He bit his lip and nodded slightly. “Sure. But why don’t we eat first?”
She glanced down at the plates and then grabbed it, settling down with it and her doll, occasionally offering the inanimate character a bite. 
Bill ate his food as slowly as possible, trying to stretch out the time before she would ask to play that game. That game he wasn’t supposed to play with her.
She finished quickly and waited with obvious impatience. He didn’t know if that was more dangerous than playing. Eventually he finished and she hopped up. “I’ll be it first.”
He held in a sigh of relief, glad that he could at least put off having to close his eyes on the child again.
“Okay.” He stood and set his empty plate on the floor.
Precious and Dolly settled on the bed and she covered her eyes like most children. 
“Okay, go. One…two…three.”
Bill looked around for a place that he could at least excuse as a hiding spot. There just wasn’t anywhere. 
“Four…five.”
He frowned and slid under the bed, tugging the blanket down slightly, but not so much he couldn’t see the little girl.
“Six…seven.” She shifted, her hands still covering her eyes, then itched her nose before continuing. 
“Eight…nine.” 
She was such a child.
“Ten…eleven…” She frowned suddenly. “Bill, don’t answer, because I’ll know where you are, but what comes after eleven?”
Bill hesitated as she sat there in silence. She said not to answer…After a moment she shrugged. “Ready or not, here I come.” She uncovered her eyes and hopped up, scooping up the doll. She looked around quick and her eyes rested on him. 
“Bill! You have to hide better than that.” She laughed. She ran to the bed and knelt down, sticking a pudgy hand in his face. “I got you!”
He forced a laugh out. “Yeah you did.”
“Your turn!” She sang. 
He pulled himself out and settled on her bed hesitantly. “Okay. Do you want me to count to eleven too?”
“No.” She shook her head firmly. “Count to fifty.”
He tried to hide worry. Why did she need so long? To dig out her butcher knife from the wall? “Okay.”
He closed his eyes and started counting, eyeing her through his lashes. She looked around then glanced at the doll, then up at him. “Bill! No peeking!”
“Sorry!” He assured.
She shook her head. “Boys always peek.” 
He clamped his eyes shut, forcing down his terror and resumed counting. He listened for some kind of sound but there was none. What was she doing? Sweat ran down him in rivers, soaking his clothes and making his skin crawl even worse. 
“Fifty.” He said slowly. “Ready or not. Here I come.” He opened his eyes to an empty room and frowned. He stood slowly and turned a circle. She bent slightly to see under the bed, not wanting to get close so she could stab his eyeballs out. He didn’t see her. Slowly he knelt down and glanced under. No. Maybe at the back…He stretched onto his stomach and looked under, all the way to the wall behind it. No Precious under the bed. He checked the other one but found only hollow space under it. She wasn’t bunched under the covers and even she couldn’t fit behind the toilet. 
“Precious?” He frowned and looked around. The door was still locked. He checked, twice. There were no winders. Not even a little one on the door. 
A shiver ran through him and he tried to think like a child. “Alright. You win. I give up.”
There was a giggle and Bill found himself drove to the floor as she came down on his shoulders in a heap of limbs. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he crashed to the floor and he cried out frantically. “No!”
She laughed hysterically and he realized she wasn’t trying to strangle him, more like hug him. “I win!” She laughed.
He relaxed a little as she let go and stood on her own feet. “That was funny. You couldn’t find me.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Where were you?”
She crinkled her nose at him. “Oh Bill, I can’t tell. I’ll use that spot next time.”
“Oh, right.” He nodded and looked around. “Do they ever let us out? I’m kind of sweaty. I need a shower or I’ll stink.”
“You already do.” She nodded. “I wish you’d wear cologne.” She twirled a whispy brown curl around her finger. “They let me out for my birthdays, and to shower, and read, and stuff like that sometimes.”
He tried to act interested. “How long have you been in here?”
“Two years. Like your old sentence.”
“So you’ve had two birthdays.”
“Yeah. I got parties. They gave me presents.”
Bill glanced around the room but there was only her doll and small pink backpack. As if reading his thoughts she continued. “I got to go outside and touch the grass a whole hour. Talk to other inmates. Watch a cartoon.” She grinned. “All kinds of stuff. All the other guys came to see me.”
“Great.” He glanced at the door. Was this like other prisons where at a certain time the doors all opened and people could walk around? He hoped so. It should be coming soon. 
Precious smiled. “Want to play another game?”
He shook his head. “I was thinking about a nap. I didn’t get much rest last night.” He wanted her inactive for a while. 
“We can nap in the afternoon. It’s still morning.”
He shrugged. “I’m tired.”
She studied him then nodded. “Okay, Bill.” She climbed onto the bed and actually fell asleep. Bill leaned on the door and listened for some activity outside. He wasn’t sure how long it took, but there was a sudden sharp click, and when the door opened he bailed out. It swung shut almost as fast and he turned to see the ever terrified guard. 
“I hoped you’d get out fast. I wasn’t going to open it again.”
“I was waiting.”
The guard looked him up and down. “Figured you might want a shower, and some sane company.”
“She’s insane?” Bill latched onto the thread of clues. “Shouldn’t she be in an asylum then?”
The guard shook his head. “She’s smart as a whip, and the asylums won’t take her anymore. She knows exactly what she’s doing.”
“What is she doing?” Bill pried as he followed the guard up the hall. 
“Bad stuff man.”
“Like?”
The guard didn’t answer and Bill decided to try another route. “I want a new cellmate. It’s not right. I’m a man. She’s a six year old girl. That’s got to be illegal to stick us together, doesn’t it?”
“We don’t exactly have lots of prisoners her age to bunk her up with.”
“What about a woman?”
The guard glanced back at him “Bad things happen when we let women near her.”
Bill frowned. “Then can she just have a different cell mate then? Like a gigantic gang lord or something?”
The guard shook his head. “You’re her cell mate. Bad things happen when we put big bad’s in there.”
“Solitary confinement sounds great to me.”
“That’s even worse.”
Bill rolled his eyes at the useless information. The guard stopped at a door and waved her hand. “There you go. I’ll be back later to take you back.”
“Thanks.” Bill grumbled and walked in. The room was steamy from the line of shower stalls, and it smelled of shaving cream and cologne. Several men looked up at him from shaving and hair cuts. Bill shifted nervously, but they weren’t nearly as creepy as what he’d left behind. 
A giant man of about six foot seven with tattoos and piercings everywhere stepped toward him. “You the guy from down the hall?” 
Bill nodded. “Way in the back.”
The guy looked downright nervous. It was almost comical on someone who looked like him. “With the kid?” 
Bill nodded. The whole room seemed to take in a breath. “What’s her deal?” He asked slowly. 
The guy shook his head. “Bad things happen with her man. Everyone they put in with her dies.”
“So why put people in with her?” He hoped he didn’t sound panicked.
“Because it gets worse when she’s alone.”
Ben shook his head slightly. 
The guy frowned. “You played hide and seek yet?”
Bill nodded. “Two rounds, this morning.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You must be something special, if you survived that.”
“I just want to know what’s going on.”
“Don’t know man. Bad stuff.” The guy paused. “Better get in the shower while you can.”
Bill sighed but went ahead and took advantage of the hot water, washing until his skin felt raw. He changed into clothes that weren’t stiff with terror induced sweat and then shaved. Most of the guys were still there, done with their grooming, but just watching him. He started to ask a question but the guard came back.
“Come on Bill. Time to go back.”
Bill reluctantly followed him back down the dim corridor to the tiny dark room he shared with a psycho path. The guard went through his routine of barely opening the door and slamming it as fast as possible and Bill found himself back inside with the grinning child. “You put on cologne. You’re sure great Bill.”
“Thanks.” He nodded a bit and sat on the doll’s bed. 
“Are you okay Bill?”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“Do you want to play a game?”
He shook his head quickly. “Not right now. Mind if I take that nap?”
She pouted but shook her head. “Go ahead. We can play when you wake up.”
“Thanks kid.”
She frowned and sat up and he braced. “I’m not a kid. I’m a child. Grammar, Bill.”
“Sorry.” He swallowed. “I wasn’t very good at grammar in school.”
“I can teach you. I love to play school.” She grinned. “I only went to preschool, but I’ve saw it on tv.”
He didn’t bother correcting her that it was seen not saw. “That’s neat.”
She smiled. “That’s what we’ll play when you wake up. I’ll be the teacher.”
Bill nodded slightly, glad it at least wasn’t hide and seek. “Will Dolly mind if I borrow this?”
Precious glanced at the doll then shook her head. “No, you’ll be fine for now.”
For now. Great. He stretched out and forced himself to close his eyes. Apparently he’d gotten lucky with the ‘child’ so far. Maybe he would be lucky enough to survive a nap. 

He didn’t know how long he slept but when he woke up Precious was leaning over the bed inches from his face. He gasped and yanked away and she laughed. “Did I scare you?”
He tried to slow his heart down. “Yeah. Yeah you did.”
She giggled and danced to the other end of the room. “Silly. It’s only me.”
He laughed a little. “Yeah, silly me.”
“Come on, lets play.”
He spent the good part of the afternoon answering basic questions about numbers, colors, words, and shapes. All the preschool knowledge Precious had gained before she came to the big house.
When night came he couldn’t quite let himself rest totally. Precious went through her routine again of wandering around the cell and talking to the doll. He kept his eyes closed through it this time so she didn’t speak to him. It was just as traumatizing though. 
The next morning when breakfast came he didn’t force himself out. He would wait until he got his free time again. He wondered if they were going to let Precious out for some soon. How would people act then when she could get out into their hallways?
He didn’t want to think about that. When she went out, he wanted to be in. Precious asked to play hide and seek, but he managed to talk her into tick tack toe. And then she wanted to play house. He was the daddy, and she was the mommy and Dolly was the baby. Mostly he just had to nod and say yes to everything she said. She did all the rest, running around, dressing the doll, feeding it, punishing it, putting it to bed. It was disturbing in and of itself. 
Finally the door opened again and he dashed out. The guard sighed in relief. “Good.” 
“Do I only get to shower?” Bill questioned, wanting to make the most of his time.
He shook his head. “You can do whatever you want. Just so long as it’s under an hour.”
Bill nodded. “Where is everything?”
The guard waved a hand. “I’ll take you to the main hall. There’s a weight room, library, showers, lounge. You can find your way around on your own.”
“Good enough.” Bill nodded and quickened his step. 
The guard led him to the big open hallway that branched off into the other rooms and left him. Bill didn’t go to the shower room, but found the lounge. Lots of guys sat there, watching movies, talking, reading. They all stilled a little when he walked in. He looked around and moved to one of the far couches. The two guys nearby got up and walked away. Bill frowned a little. How was he supposed to get answers when no one would sit within talking distance? 
He watched as the men looked at him uneasily and talked low amongst themselves. Word must have spread fast who he was. Slowly, a tall, slim blond guy stood and walked over. He sat down stiffly and looked over. “Hi. It’s Bill, right?”
Bill nodded.
“I’m Jason.” He extended his hand and Bill shook it firmly.
He waited but when Jason said nothing he searched for something to say. “So, you’re not scared to be around me, like the others?”
Jason shook his head. “No reason to be afraid of you.”
“They seem to have one.” Bill tipped his head to indicate the inmates in the room.
Jason nodded a bit and looked around. “They think something’s up with you too, since she hasn’t killed you yet.”
“Are you guys hoping I die, just to prove I’m normal?”
“No.” Jason assured. “It’s just odd that you’re not…”
“Dead.”
“Yeah.” He shrugged.  Bill frowned a little. “so why are you over here then? See if I’m normal?”
Jason shook his head. “I’m sure you are. Anyway, I thought I’d let you know that if you need help, I’ll do whatever I can.”
Bill laughed dryly. “How’s about get me out of the concrete cell with the little murderer?”
“Can’t do that. But I can be your friend when you’re out here. Does the kid want anything? Maybe you could bring her presents?”
“As long as she can’t kill me with it.”
“She doesn’t need much.”
Bill frowned. “Thanks for that.”
Jason shrugged. “I’m just being honest.”
“So what can you tell me about her?” Bill quizzed, hoping this guy might give him something useful.
“Not much. I don’t know much more than the next guy. Just that the only murders they’ve ever been able to pin on her were the first two that landed her here in the first place. And even there it wasn’t rock solid evidence, but she had such a record of being a little creep, and no one else could handle her so the state sent her here. People die when they’re around her for very long, but no ones totally sure why. She doesn’t have anything remotely like a weapon. Blunt plastic silverware. That doll. Not exactly lethal. But people die all the time. In her cell. Alone.”
Bill frowned. “How long do they usually last?”
“The quickest ones are usually within a day. That’s most of them, mind you. Some have lasted up to a week, but that was without playing games with her. Something about the games gets people terrified.”
“Because you can’t find her.”
Jason gave him an odd look. 
Bill shrugged. “It’s true. I don’t know where she hid.”
He saw a shiver go through his newfound ally. “It’s scary, huh?”
“Yeah.” Jason nodded. “I’d go in with you, if I could.”
“What?” Bill nearly snapped his neck to look at him fully. “You’d go in there? Aren’t you scared stupid?”
“Oh, I’d be scared. But I’ve got a secret weapon, so to speak.”
Bill looked at him quizzically. “Please share. Because, in about forty minutes I DO have to go in there with her.”
Jason shrugged. “Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” 
Bill tipped his head. “Is that a…Bible verse?”
Jason nodded. “I believe it.”
“You’re in prison. For a reason.” Bill pointed out .
“Prison ministry convert.” Jason countered. “I’m just serving the rest of my time.”
Bill shook his head. “Whatever. Not sure that will work for me.”
“It could.”
He shrugged and leaned back on the sofa, tiredness dragging at his eyes. “I don’t want to go back there.”
“I don’t blame ya.” 

Orphan's Song- Launch Contest

Guys! I have news of the most epic sort.

Orphans Song by Gillian Bronte Adams is officially releasing today!

I've had this book for a few weeks now, reading it so I can get a review up during the launch festivities, and it is amazing. Love the characters. Even the bad guys are cool. It's great.

And that's not the best part. Today marks the beginning of the huge contest   Gillian is hosting over at her blog. There are several awesome prizes, and tons of ways to get your name in the drawing.

As you can see, you get a whole month to work on entering, which is great if you're a procrastinator like me.

 

But procrastinating is bad, so you should just scurry over to her blog and check it out for yourself :)

Firstborn- Book Review

I'm doing a book review today on Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover.

I have mixed feelings about this book, but I'll try to give it a fair review.

Tiadone has been forced to live her entire life as a female accepted as male in her community in order to survive as a firstborn child. But when she needs to pass the rites of manhood, she finds the Creator may have use for her feminine traits after all.

(goodreads)

♥♥♥

There were several things I enjoyed about this book. The characters were likeable, and I was concerned for their welfare and where their stories would go. The idea of declaring a girl as male was intriguing, and I wanted to see how the whole arrangement would work out.

The religion system in the story was interesting, and I could see several parallels between it and Christianity, which is good, since it's published by Blink YA.

I did have some problems with the story though too. As far as mature content goes, there were a few descriptions of a female body as well as feminine desires toward a guy that got a little uncomfortable, but nothing too vulgar, so it didn't pose a huge issue for me.

The story moved very quickly though, with very little description or detail. If it weren't for the cover of the book I wouldn't have any clue what Tiadone looks like. It tended to jump from scene to scene with nothing to smooth the transitions. There were a few times where I was uncertain what was even happening in the scene.

While the storyworld was interesting, very little was explained about why it was the way it was.

My biggest problem was the ending though. If the ending had been done a little better I probably would overlook the other issues and read the story again. However, it happened so fast, and didn't tie up the story for me at all. Another chapter would have closed it down nicely, but as it is, it just seemed a bit rushed and sloppy.

I know I gave it kind of a rough score, but I am by no means writing off Grover as an author. I'm curious to see if she releases any more books, because she has very interesting plot and character ideas. I would just like them to be a little more fleshed out.