in case anyone's clocking me...

The book is aliiiiiiive and kicking. We've had some wonderful angst thus far. And themes are starting to develop - the nature as balance, love as sacrifice that I expected would emerge.

As discussed with dear friend, fellow author and official buttkicker Angelia Sparrow:

ME: This book is becoming very matriarchal.
ANGEL: Is that good or bad?
ME: I'm noticing that the lizardfolk are led by a shapeshifting queen, the elves are led by a woman, at times Alesia leads the questers... it's time for a male leader, but the next group we meet is evil... Tam and Kance are both blinded by romantic love. Angiss is weak when he's not casting spells. Ruebel is a dumbass and possibly monster fodder. Creeplow has been sulking for over a century... My women kick ass and my men are romantic weaklings.

(cuts)

ME: I wrote this last night, though I don't know where it goes yet, but it's quintessential Kance: "A paladin does not let a woman die for him. This he knew, without ever having been told. A paladin is a protector, the one who stands between the people and danger. Everything he was meant nothing if he allowed this woman's death. This woman above all. He had to make it right."
ANGEL: Oh yeah, paladin. That explains EVERYTHING.
ME: He's not one. But his father was, and he wanted to be. Earlier he tells Alesia, all his life he wanted to love a woman the way his father loved his mother. All together now: awww.

(cuts)

ANGEL: It's not the love thing, it's the whole hero's journey/having daddy issues thing.
ME: Oh well, that's classic.
ANGEL: Yep. "I'm going to be a paladin/knight/jedi just like my father!" And the more you can keep a classic, and yet mess with it, the better.

Tam, Alesia, Angiss and especially Kancethedrus have now turned into real people. The secondary characters are still just sketches, but it's wonderful to be dealing with real people again. I'm not happy with the dialogue and I think there are whole stretches in the first couple of chapters that are dull, but when we're rolling, by Mersapan we're ROLLING.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
30,560 / 50,000
(61.1%)

Comments

  1. Anonymous4:26 PM

    Oooh... Yay! Now I'm all excited... :)

    ReplyDelete

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