Archive | December 2014
Discoveries on the Colony, a ficlet of Space/Colonies (@Inventrix)
Written to ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inventrix‘s prompt as a warm-up for that other thing I’m working on for Ix.
“Mom! Uncle Toma! Aunt Jea! Come quick! The spear plants! They’re peeling!”
Bobeh and his sister came tearing across the central commons, skidding into the workshop where Branga and her family cooperative worked. She looked up, not particularly concerned; the kids were always finding something, and it was always a crisis. As long as it involved plants and not the local or imported fauna – or, all heavens forfend, the Renegades – there was probably not anything to be worried about.
In this case, her partner-wife Jea seemed to think differently. “The spear plants? The ones down by the clearwater pond?”
“Those! Seffie and I were going for water, we were being careful,but the plants, they’re all -” The six-year-old flailed his hands in some sort of dance. “Come on, come on, they were going one at a time but they’re probably doing more now!”
“Sorry, Branga.” Jea made a face. “I know we have to get this order out, but this could be important. The spear plants are on the list of Confusing Shit the Grandparents left us.”
Jea’s great-grandparents – as well as Branga’s, Toma’s, and every other adult’s on the planet, including the thrice-cursed Renegades – had been the survey-and-colonize team on this planet nearly a century ago. They had left detailed notes on everything – everything except the Renegades, who had systematically destroyed all references to themselves. And, for the most part, their notes were followed like job orders, or like the Word from On High.
Not that it made it any less sour to put down an order in the middle of the work, but it least it gave them a viable excuse. Branga followed her partner-spouses, who in turn were following their children, out to the clearwater pond.
The spear plants – 10-meter-tall spikes poking straight into the sky, which surrounded the north side of the pond and the north side of every other body of water they’d found – were, indeed, peeling.
“No.” Branga shook her head. The way the pieces were curling downwards, that wasn’t like bark peeling. It was more like a bud opening. “No. They’re flowering.”
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/861559.html. You can comment here or there.
December Meme Day Six – Fire, Fire Fire, Fire, Fire!
kelkyag‘s topic was: Fire.
I like this one! (I’ve liked all of ’em so far). But this one…
Okay, if you believe in Zodiac, Aries is a fire sign. And, whatever the birthday on the LJ/DW/Twitter says, I’m an Aries. (So’s my husband. We get along just fine, and yes, people have asked).
As a kid/teen, I thought that I was an earth sign inundated by water, or perhaps the other way around, and in the end, I think maybe I just like nature.
But fire, at the moment: fascinated by it. I grew up heating with wood, fire, and we heat with wood now, so I don’t have a lot of ~romance~ attached to fire: it involves buying or cutting down wood, hauling it, chopping it, hauling it some more, cussing at it, and then getting it going so you can enjoy it.
But when you’re done, you have this magical thing you can stare at. And that’s just hypnotic. Meditative, even (<.<).
Candles, too. I love candles. I love playing with the wax and the flame, lighting things on fire – I once lit a napkin on fire (mostly on accident) at a restaurant. I like the light. I like the warmth and the way it changes things around it.
I’m not particularly coherent about fire, I suppose. But I like it, a lot. And not just because it’s what’s keeping me warm right now.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/861406.html. You can comment here or there.
A Physical Detail
His wrists caught my attention first.
You wouldn’t think it would be wrists, but these were bony wrists, slender, so thin I could circle each wrist with my forefinger and thumb. He had nearly-hairless arms, and these bony wrists between lanky long arms and long-fingered skinny hands.
I think I fell in love with his wrists before I ever made it to his eyes
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/861023.html. You can comment here or there.
The Annual Sacrifice, a story of Dragons Next Door (or at least a teaser)(@anke)
As the title said, this came out more as a teaser than a story.
But I can always be enticed to write more! (Commission, sweet-talking, reviews…)
I asked for Non-Addergoole Prompts here; this is to clare_dragonfly‘s question and anke‘s request.
Dragons Next Door has a landing page here.
“I see you are participating in the annual sacrifice of a tree.” Zizny puffed smoke at me over the wall between our properties.
It might have been unusual to some to have a dragon talking over the fence at one, as it were, but after the last neighbors – the ogres – I was more than willing to take the far-more-polite and far-less-smelly Smiths.
But I confess, as used to Zizny and thez* ways as I was, I still stiffened. “We don’t use dryad trees.” It had been done, once upon a time, sometimes by the ignorant and sometimes by the cruel. But this pine tree had never been anything but a pine tree. “We’re not really… Christian, hard to be. But with Junie’s friends, it’s easier to just celebrate the holiday…”
The dragon next door puffed another harmless steam-cloud at me. “You are, I believe, under a great deal of stress right now.”
“I…” I realized Zizny was, in a draconic manner, laughing at me. “Yeah. Yes, I have been. You were teasing me. I admit, I did not know that dragons teased.”
“You are very clever about races not your own, Audrey. But you do not know everything.” Zizny dropped-jaw in a way I had learned was the draconic version of a human smile.
I smiled back, cautiously. “Well, then. What do dragons do for the winter holidays?”
* http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/181376.html#cutid2
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/860798.html. You can comment here or there.
Does anyone know…
…where I established Draconic pronouns, if at all?
http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/181376.html#cutid2
Thanks, Inventrix!
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/860448.html. You can comment here or there.
December Meme – Day Five
lilfluff‘s topic was: Plotting methods that have worked for you, or that have intrigued you.
Plotting methods that have worked for you, or that have intrigued you.(12)
Okay, so you may have noticed my two favorite formats are “serial that just keeps going” and “500-words-or-less.” Neither one of these rely heavily on plotting, the flash fic even less so than the serial.
Needless to say, plotting is something I’m working on.
When I work on serials and long stories (that would mostly be Rin & Girey), I tend to outline chapters on four (Steno-book-sized) lines each, and then draw plot arcs along the side. “This is Shahin’s recovery.” “This is someone chasing Girey.” It works… okay. Writing to the outline is another skill I’m working on <.<
For “Monster Godmother,” I found that if I put the story in 100-to-500-word chunks, it made a lot more sense to me. So the outline looked like
[intro:250]
[flashback: 100]
[First scene:250]
and so on.
When I did Nano, inventrix had just introduced me to beat sheets: here. I’m still pondering them, but they don’t work well with my flow and tend to throw me off. “Wait, what, they’re supposed to be having a defining moment here? But I’ve got that scheduled as a dramatic pause!”
(I like dramatic pauses.)
And on the “intrigues:” I’m contemplating this: The Snowflake Method, recommended by clare_dragonfly.
So, what about everyone else? How do YOU plot?
Bonus link: 25 Ways To Plot, Plan And Prep Your Story
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/860375.html. You can comment here or there.
The Cat’s Paw, a story continuation of the Aunt Family
I asked for Non-Addergoole Prompts here; this is to kiarrith‘s request for More Cat.
Aunt Family has a landing page here.
This comes after Family Secrets & Cat Secrets, which itself is after Cats & Grannies. and Cat’s in the Attic.
Beryl had the book now.
Radar found himself pacing, which was not common Radar behaviour, and possibly (he was no longer really certain) not really cat behaviour either. The family needed a strong, knowledgeable witch – Aunt, whatever – again. Eva did not want to be steered, which was good. But it meant that Radar was going to have to work sideways around things.
Radar was not good at working sideways, and he wasn’t really certain if it was the best idea. But, while he had been instilled with certain values, he had not been given precognizance, which he felt showed a lack of foresight on his creators’ parts. So he had to guess.
Guessing meant he’d put the most important book in the family’s history in the hands of a teenager – not even definitely the next Aunt, no matter what the family thought, although she was definitely already a witch – and hoped that she wouldn’t spill her soda on it or, possibly worse, spill the beans to all and sundry.
Beryl was proving good at keeping secrets so far. If he’d had fingers to cross, Radar would have crossed them.
Instead, he paced, while nearby, Beryl sat with the book, a laptop, a family dictionary, and a notebook open, taking precise notes on everything she read.
Finally, content that she was far too engrossed to notice him, Radar hopped up on the dresser and slid her cursed necklace over his own neck.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/859841.html. You can comment here or there.
What Follows is available in Print! Books make great holiday gifts!
What Follows is an anthology of post-apocalyptic stories, answering the question “how would an immortal handle the end times?” It features “Monster Godmother,” a story of the Faerie Apocalypse written by yours truly, as well as stories by jolantru, K Orion Fray, and many more!
Want it in electrons format? Check here for sources.
Cheers!
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/859470.html. You can comment here or there.
Inner Circle is Up! Chapter 12 – Valran – Choose
“Choose.”
“Choose, ma’am?” Valran blinked at the ancient, terrifying woman who owned him. The car had gone quiet for a little while, almost entirely silent, as they wended their way into the heart of New Indapala. And then… that.
“I’m sorry, I got lost in my own thoughts…” Read on…
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/859385.html. You can comment here or there.