A New Idea

There was a two or three year period where I had writer's block, not all that long ago. And I mean that as in absolutely, completely, one hundred percent blocked. No ideas. No ability to write anything--no fiction, no creative non-fiction, no poetry, nothing.

Apparently, this current period is to make up for that.

I was hanging around in the chat (which, for the purposes of here, will be the Undead Chat, or just Chat) which I frequent, and some members were posting a few lines here and there of some of their bits of writing, and a new idea just hit me. A wonderful writer was giving us some of the beginning of something they'd written and haven't yet finished, and one line of hers triggered a new idea for me. They would very, very generally be about something similar, but the actual plot would be completely different. The amount of similarity is more like "a story about a guy who has xxxxx". I know it's an idea that's been done before (I think I may even have seen it around the NaNoWriMo boards last year, in a couple of incarnations), but there's really not anything new under the sun, now, is there? It's all how you work it.

The nice thing about this new idea, which is tentatively "Novel #5", is that it came with a title. A one word title, and I like it. I like the connotations (reminds me of domestication, and my pets, and loads of other stuff). It's kind of snappy. And it fits the general bits of the story, but doesn't give anything away that won't be known right off. It also lets me play with the idea in my head some more... I'm still trying to nail down if the character is in his current situation (which is the title, actually) of his own volition, or someone else's. Also, if his condition is more scifi, or fantasy.

I still have #3 to finish (trying to wrap up chapter 4 right now, in between typing this and keeping an eye on the Chat). Er... and #2, which was put on hold a bit for the freight train that was/is novel #3. And there's still novel #4, which needs to be fleshed out a good deal before I can begin to write it. And I really should edit #1...

For once, lots and lots of ideas, not enough hours in the day to get it all done and still function. I'm thinking I will concentrate on the 3rd novel, and take occasional moments to finish up the last 20% or so of #2, for now. #4 might be my NaNoWriMo novel for this year... and if it's not, #5 will be.

With Apologies To My Spell Check

I have stumbled upon yet another indication that I am writing fantasy. MS Word popped up with the message that there are too many spelling errors in my document, and it will no longer automatically check them. It is true very few of my characters have "normal names". Heck, *I* don't have a name the spell check will recognize. To give you an example of why there are little red squigglies all over my document, here's a list of some of the common words that are currently underlined:

Characters:

• MAIN: Varin, Laz, Melia, Theron, Ruele, Aedan, Cyne.
• SECONDARY: Kallista (Lista), Thais, Mataan, Okara, Kyto, Faran, Eirene, Finna, Uriel, Tillia... and some others.

Races:

• Prismata. Also, the plain old humans, called the Pallidus by the Prismata
  
• Subsets of Prismata: Laaien, Littorine, Viridian, Argenteum, Crymysin, Pleione.
  

Locations:

• Cereto and Arforah, at the moment. More starting shortly.

I am currently wrapping up the last bit of chapter four. All of the main characters have been introduced, and we've gotten a good feel for four in particular: Varin (our hero), Laz (his best friend. Laz is a nickname, by the way, and he hates the actual name), Cyne (the sister of Varin's love interest/girlfriend; also widow of Thais), and Aedan (an outcast due to his breeding, the only person who sees him as an actual person is Cyne, and she has good reason for it).

The plan is to finish the 4th chapter tonight and immediately start the 5th, where the actual physical quest begins. This story's actually been *fun* to write. Kind of exciting, too.

A New Story Begins

I have begun the actual writing on that third novel. I have spent so much more time planning/researching/plotting and whatnot for this one than for any of the others (there was a decent amount of medical-related research for the second one, but this is different). It's the first time I've ever had to do true "worldbuilding". It can be fun, but it can also be...well, a pain in the arse.

So, here's the first section of the first chapter. I have more than that written, but it's a nice, complete scene. It's just over 5 pages, or about what an agent/editor would be likely to read before deciding whether or not to toss the whole thing into the bin, or keep reading. If anyone has any impressions or comments, I'd love to hear them (positive or negative, honestly). It is the first and roughest draft, and I haven't reworked it at all yet.

Varin caught himself slipping off the boulder just in time to keep from hitting the ground. He had a brief moment of confusion as he regained his position, then looked around to make sure no one had seen him. There was no one on this path into town—anyone coming in to Arforah had most likely taken the main road. That was part of the reason he and Lista liked to meet along this path. It was quieter, cooler, and there was little chance they’d be interrupted on their walk back into town, short as it was from this point. It was one of the best ways to unwind after a long day, and he was certainly feeling the strain after this one. Muscles he had forgotten he had were sore.

He settled himself back on the rock, kicking his feet in time to a melody in his head. The shadows looked wrong, and it took a moment to realize why—if he’d been sitting there long enough to doze off, then she must be running late. But even if that were the case, there should still be more light. He looked up through the trees, figuring perhaps another spring storm was on the way, but the sky was perfectly clear. He’d give her another two minutes, and then head towards Cereto. In the meantime, he’d rest his eyes.

He heard Lista coming down the path at exactly the two minute mark. He slid off easily, waiting for her bright hair to make an appearance through the trees. Crouching behind the rock, he smiled to himself. As soon as she got close enough, he’d jump out and grab her. He could hear her yelp and easy laugh in his head, and the grin spread wider.

There was a scream as he pounced, but it wasn’t the one he expected. He’d barely registered the different sound and a blur of grey before a fist slammed into his bicep. “Ouch!” He rubbed his arm and took a step back. “Geez, I’m sorry, Eirene. I thought you’d be Kallista. Weren’t you two together?”

Eirene’s brow furrowed as she smoothed her silvery hair back from her face. “You mean she didn’t pass by here?”

“No.”

“That’s odd. Maybe she stopped to pick some of the sugarberries she saw on her way out this morning. She mentioned them when we set out.”

Varin shrugged. “I bet you’re right. I’m going to head east though, and look for her. We should have been back to town already. She probably lost track of time.”

“Probably.”

He could tell from the half-hearted echo that Eirene didn’t believe it entirely, either. Something gnawed at him in the center of his chest, but he pushed it aside. Lista knew these woods even better than he did. The odds of her getting lost along the path were nonexistent. “You should head back to your parents’ place. I know they’re all anxious to have you visit.”

Eirene bit her lip. “Soon. I’ll come with you, though. Unless you mind?”

He smiled, but it felt tight. “No, of course not.” They walked along, feet padding over the fresh blanket of leaves left strewn about after yesterday’s storm, each keeping an eye out for a glimpse of Lista’s figure through the trees. “Why did you and Lista separate?”

“I told her to go on ahead without me. I wasn’t feeling well, and she was worried about being late to meet you. She was worried about me, but I told her it was just the baby and she eventually picked up the pace while I sat for a bit.”

Varin just nodded. He’d forgotten Eirene was already expecting. He couldn’t see it. It had been a month since her wedding, but the ceremony had been in Cereto; it had been a fairly small affair, and he hadn’t gone. Lista had been involved, of course. It was hard to keep the two girls separated for long, though things might be changing now that the other girl lived in the Palladus city with her husband. Cereto was nearly four times the size of Arforah, and as nice as it was, Varin couldn’t quite see himself settling there. He hadn’t discussed it with Lista yet, but he was fairly certain she would be okay with staying where they had both grown up, with their people. The farther they walked, the more that unsettled feeling increased. “Where exactly did you two separate?”

“Just this side of the bridge.” Her hand went to her middle and rubbed briefly. “I couldn’t imagine she’d be too—”

Her voice was lost in a crash of thunder. Eirene jumped and grabbed onto Varin’s arm, and he let her hang on instead of shaking her off. His ears rang, and he shook his head to clear it. “What was—” His voice faltered as a scream drifted through the air. It wasn’t the startled, amused shriek he’d hoped to hear ten minutes ago. It was the same voice, that much he knew for certain, but the owner was either terrified, or in great amounts of pain. “Lista.”

He took off running towards the sound, which lingered for much longer than seemed possible. He could hear Eirene calling after him as he sprinted through the woods, dodging trees and logs hidden under moss, but he didn’t slow. The scream seemed to come from all around him, sustained by an infinite stream of breath behind it, and Varin had a hard time pinpointing the exact origin of the sound. It cut off suddenly, leaving behind a sharp silence, where not even the rustling of the leaves could be heard. Varin stood still, trying to survey everywhere at once, his heart thudding painfully beneath his ribs. Three-quarters of the way through his slow spin, he saw caught a glimpse of cinnamon colored hair among the damp leaves.

Dropping to the ground, he rolled Kallista onto her back. Her eyes were half-lidded, and for a sickening moment, he was sure she was dead. Pressing his ear to her chest, he could hear a faint rhythm, slower than the blood pounding through his body. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and called her name, his voice sharp, and getting sharper with each repetition. He kept waiting for her to stir, but she continued to lie face turned to the sky, taking breaths small enough or slow enough that he couldn’t see them.

“Is she…?” came weakly from his elbow and he almost pitched forward, startled by the noise.

“No. She’s alive. But we’ve got to get her back to Arforah.”

“What happened to her? Is she hurt? I don’t see any blood—”

“Your guess is as good as mine. It doesn’t matter at the moment. We’ll get her back home and the Pleiones can take care of her. Grab her things.”

“Can you carry her on your own?”

Varin didn’t answer. He doubted Eirene would be able to help if he’d needed her to, but he knew it wasn’t going to be a problem. Lista was a year older than he was, but she was quite petite, and he’d carried her on his back while they’d taken walks through the forest before. Carrying her in his arms shouldn’t be that much harder.

He realized how wrong he’d been before they even made it into the village. She was still light enough to carry, but now she was all dead weight (he refused to think of that term literally, and shoved it roughly out of his mind), and his muscles had been fatigued even before he’d scooped her up against him. By the time he stepped into Arforah, he wasn’t sure he could move her much further. “Quick. Get somebody. Find a Pleione. Any one you can. I’m going to try to get her home.” His throat burned raw, but it only registered at the back of his consciousness. He’d take care of himself after he got her help. He didn’t hear Eirene reply, but he could sense her move away from behind him.

Her house was on this side of the village, but he hadn’t gotten more than a half track into Arforah before someone had spotted him. “Varin? Is that Kallista?” Too sapped to speak again, he nodded. Ruele approached him at a run. “Here, let me help. What happened to her?”

He swallowed, ignoring the strain, and forced his voice to work. “Don’t know. I sent your sister to find a Pleione.”

“Eirene’s okay?”

Varin nodded, letting Ruele take Lista from his arms. She moaned low and long, and the fire in his throat and in his muscles dipped to make room for the pain in his chest again. It was the first sound she’d made since he’d found her.

As big as he was, Ruele moved a lot faster than Varin had. Once they passed the threshold of the stone cottage, Varin lost track of everything. He saw everything in little stops and starts—seeing Lista laid upon a bed, her parents moving back and forth, and three separate Pleiones flying in and past him, like he meant nothing. Eventually, Ruele came out holding a glass of water, making him drink it before he answered any of the questions Varin threw at him. It didn’t matter much; Ruele had few answers to give.

“What do you mean, they don’t know what’s wrong with her? That’s half of what they do! What good are healers if they can’t do anything for her?”

Ruele ran his hands through his hair. It was lighter than his sister’s. This was one of the few times Varin had ever seen him without it secured at the base of his neck, wrapped with a small bit of leather. “They’re trying. They just… haven’t seen anything like this before. The only thing that’s even come close was what happened to Thais.”

Varin jumped up from his chair. The room spun around and he gripped the edge of the small table in front of him, knocking over the empty glass. Ruele set the glass upright, not looking directly at him. “But this can’t be the same thing. He was in a bar fight. Lista said there was blood everywhere when they brought him in. She doesn’t have a scratch on her.”

“I didn’t say it was the same thing. I just said it’s something new to them, and so was that. The Pleiones would like to speak to you about what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened.”

“I know. I told them that. But they still want to speak to you. They think maybe there’s some detail they don’t know that might help. Will you go over what happened with them?”

Eyes squeezed shut, Varin nodded. Anything that might help. He sat down again as Ruele left the room and took a breath as he opened his eyes and dropped his gaze to his feet. “Rue?”

“Yes?”

“Has anyone told Cyne what you told me? About it maybe being like Thais?”

Ruele paused. “No.” Without another word, he ducked back inside the bedroom.

Book Review: The Demon's Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I was able to attain a copy of The Demon's Lexicon before I thought I would (read: someone was awesome and bought it for me). So, as I have now read the whole thing, I can adequately review it.

In something of a rarity, you'll find two different reviews below. The first is one I wrote for a few different communities on Livejournal. The second I wrote after a reread. My average rating still stands at a 4.5/5.

Review #1:
I have been a fan of Sarah Rees Brennan's for a while (for the rest of this post, I'll be referring to the author as SRB, as Rees Brennan is her last name, and that's a little long). As I said in the previous post about TDL, I read her fan fiction and was pleasantly surprised to find that not ALL fanfiction is... well, painful to read. One of the reasons I was so looking forward to her novel was the amazing job she did with her characters--making them well-rounded and deep, and quite believable. I had hopes that the characters (main and supporting) in TDL would have these same properties.

And I was not disappointed. SRB took the staple of so many fantasy stories, the dark, brooding hero, who mysteriously knows all about the magic that is confounding the other characters and has way more in the way of weaponry than should be allowed, and did something different with it--instead of pulling him out of shadowy corners for other characters to fawn over and fear, she's turned him into her hero, who in turn looks at all the other characters and wonders what on earth is up with them. It works. She's taken Nick Ryves and more or less deconstructed that sterotype quite well. He is very much not your typical hero, but it's done in a way that's believable. He's intriguing, and not predictable, which is quite refreshing. He goes through life with really only his big brother, Alan, for support. They do have a mother, Olivia, but she's no one's idea of a good mother. Nick feels no attachment to her, and she avoids him at all costs, or screams and pitches fits if she can't. It's always been this way, and Nick has learned to live with it. Unfortunately for Alan, he has a mother who is mad, and a brother who doesn't exactly deal well with emotions. He tries to hold his family together, but it's no easy task. Especially not when you spend your life running from a group of magicians who want you dead.

Intruding into the personal hell Alan and Nick try to hide from the world are a brother-sister team, who desperately need the help of the Ryves brothers. Mae (like Mae West) and Jamie seek them out and plead for help in dealing with their "occult problem", help that Alan feels compelled to give, though Nick sees the siblings as merely a complication in their lives. The dynamic between sets of siblings is nothing alike, but both sets of relationships seem real, and it's great to read supporting characters who are three-dimensional. Mae is tough and eager to learn and do whatever she can to help with their little problem, while Jamie tries hard, but is...well, a wuss. A likeable wuss, though. Mae's toughness and Jamie's vulnerability contrast nicely with Nick's stoicism and Alan's dual nature (he's a fighter, but not quite as strong physically as Nick is, due to an injury that has left him crippled). In fact, Alan might be one of the most intriguing characters I've read in a long time. He and Nick keep a lot of secrets, but Alan has more than anyone else suspects--his brother included. He's spent most of his life keeping some of them, and when they come out, they're quite shocking.

Besides the characters, one of the other things that kept the story so enjoyable was the consistent strength of SRB's plot. It flowed well, with few slow moments, and the balance between plot, action sequences, and character development was enough to keep it consistently moving forward. The bits of foreshadowing are done with a light touch; no heavy-handed hints to smash you over the head with a mallet. They're there, and though you might catch them as you read, they don't trip up the flow, and they don't ruin the climax of the book.

There is, of course, a plot twist. And it's a doozy. While some readers might see the gist of it coming (I did, after a while), the execution is wonderfully done. It's not completely out of nowhere, but it's not so predictable that even if you suspect the twist, you're bored with it. Really, the execution is nearly everything. There are a few big reveals in the last third of the book, but the climax is tight, and dwarfs the others. Also consistent is the use of humor--SRB has a knack for it, and it comes out fluidly in the narration, and especially the dialogue. Jamie and Nick have a lot of great lines, in particular. So many of them are randomly quoteable, and humor is often used to balance the tension.

Since this is the first in a planned trilogy (The Demon's Covenant comes out in June or July of 2010), the ending is left so a good bit of the conflict is resolved--the main premise the characters are preparing for and working toward is completed, but with that huge plot twist towards the end, so many more possibilities are opened, and the book leaves you wondering where on earth the characters will go from here, with this new information, but not in that outraged way (you know, like the outrage people felt after the finale of The Sopranos).

Yes, I know I appear to have a bias because I had a lot of prior love for SRB, but I can see books objectively. I've read books by authors I *love* and have been disappointed, and have read amazing books by people I don't know anything else about. I've read books that are wonderfully written, but don't do much for me, and ones that I find entertaining, but are absolutely awful, as far as the actual writing goes (one particular series comes to mind on that last). I think part of why I enjoyed TDL so much as a whole is because of the interpersonal dynamics, and the concept of how words play into this story (it is the Demon's LEXICON, after all, though the way that plays out is quite good and subtle for the most part).

This is marketed as Young Adult urban fantasy, much like the Harry Potter series was, and I'd say the main target audience would be readers in high school, though younger and older readers can certainly enjoy the story. There are moments of violence (as one might expect in a story that deals with demons, swords, and death curses), and a few moments of sexual tension, but nothing too extreme--just enough to be believeable, in context. This is one novel I feel very comfortable recommending to pretty much everyone I know.

Review #2 (written after a second read-through):
As I have seen other people mention, it was refreshing to read a YA novel where romance does not factor heavily. There is lots of love, but it's familial love--brotherly (and sisterly) and devoted. Mae could be considered the love interest, but the touch is fairly light in this regard.

Sarah Rees Brennan has a knack for humor. It's apparent in her blog and her fanfiction. It shone a little less brightly in this book, but it was still present. Nick and Jamie have most of the good lines, and while Mae was spunky and opinionated, I felt a little more could have been done with her. She and her brother crash in on the secret life Nick and older brother Alan try to keep hidden, pleading for help with Jamie's predicament. The relationship between brother and sister is believable, but I wanted just the slightest bit more. The dynamic between Nick and Alan took some getting used to, but as the story goes on, it works well in context.

While the protagonist is undoubtedly Nick, the dark brooding hero who has all this knowledge of swords and demons and evil magicians (Sarah Rees Brennan has attempted to deconstruct this stereotype, and it works well enough, especially as the story goes on), it is Alan who is perhaps the most intriguing throughout. Both Ryves brothers keep secrets, but Alan keeps more than anyone else suspects--even Nick. And when Nick glimpses something Alan's been keeping from him, he becomes obsessed with uncovering it fully.

There are a few twists in the last third of the book or so, and one huge one toward the very end. There are clues layered throughout the story, but the foreshadowing is done with a light touch, and even if you see the gist of the twist coming, the full reveal is still a bit shocking, though it makes the rest of the novel make more sense. The title of the book doesn't seem to have much to do with the story, but once the book is finished, it makes a good deal of sense, and is powerful enough. By the end, the main "goal" of the characters has been accomplished, but enough new questions are opened by the final plot twist to lend themselves well enough to the sequel (The Demon's Covenant) that will be released (and followed by the final bit in the trilogy).

There is violence, though most of it isn't too graphic. There's no sex (but there is a small amount of sexual tension). The book is YA, but I'd put it on the higher end of that spectrum--more high school than late elementary/middle school, though some younger readers might also appreciate it. For comparison purposes, I'd say in that regard, it's like the last few Harry Potter novels--the ones that were darker and had more violence and moral ambiguity in places.

A Quick Reading Recommendation

This isn't a book review, exactly, as technically, it's just been released a few minutes ago, but I wanted to take the time to recommend The Demon's Lexicon, 25 year-old Sarah Rees Brennan's debut novel. Yes, as I've said, I haven't read it, so you may be wondering why I'd recommend something by an author without any other published works--isn't that risky?

In short, no. Not in this case. I have been able to read the first chapter of the book (they're relatively short chapters), as well as a few random scenes from throughout the novel. I have also had the pleasure of reading a short story she's published, and her blog (which, sadly, was hacked last week. Thanks to the help of other fans, it's slowly being rebuilt, which is quite a task, as there were nine (!) years worth of posts to recover). Sarah's been around the internet for a while (as a "big name fan"), and she's been writing since she was a wee child, growing up in Ireland. She has a mastery of the language, and an amazing command of her characters, making them believable and very well rounded and deep. She has a decent fan following online, as she began writing Harry Potter fan fiction years ago, and though she no longer does that (and has since removed those stories from any online access), she does still give in and write occasional movie parodies (see her website for those. They are unbelievably worth it). Hers was the first fan fiction I'd experienced that didn't border on dreadful--it was amazing--heart-wrenching at times, hysterical at others).

The Demon's Lexicon is the first in a planned trilogy, being put out by Simon & Schuster. She's currently working on editing the second in the series (The Demon's Covenant). Now that I've gone on about how you should read it, I suppose you'd like to know what on earth the story is ABOUT, hm? I'll let the description from Simon & Schuster's site do the explaining (this is from the US version. The UK version--and all the other languages--are a little different in what they reveal):

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.

Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

So, there you go. It's marketed as Young Adult Urban Fantasy, but hey, so was Harry Potter, so there certainly isn't an upper age limit. And yes, I will be reviewing the book myself once I get my hot little hands on a copy (this will probably happen in August).