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Give ‘Em an Apocalypse, a story of Fae Apoc

Nov14

Written to jeriendhal‘s prompt and set very early in the Faerie Apocalypse, maybe late 2012.

“Seriously, Ann?” Ted let his eyes trail over the concoction of leather and rags in front of him and the corresponding leather and rags set in two piles in front of him. “There was a major war. That’s all.” He picked up the shirt-like item, which looked like it had been mistakenly rescued from the rag bin, or possibly from a mechanic’s back pocket. “Sure, things fell to crap. That doesn’t mean we have to dress like extras from a Mad Max movie.”

“Hear me out.”

Ann and Ladry had been Ted’s crewmates back in Addergoole. They’d shared a room – and a few other things – for a couple years, but once they’d graduated, they’d split.

He’d woken up a week ago to find Landry on his doorstep, and this morning Ann had appeared, carrying duffle bags in which, it appeared, she’d stashed the entire costume department of several post-apoaclyptic movies.

Some part of Ted, some part of him that didn’t want to think too hard about this whole thing, acknowledged that in an outfit that was more straps than shirt, Ann looked really good. Better than she had in school. Better than she had when they’d first met, on the plane, back when there were planes. Better than she’d looked that one time he saw her in college.

The rest of him wondered how long she’d been insane, and how he’d missed it. And how she’d flipped, when they’d all always figured it would be Landry. Landry, who had been almost done with a doctorate when the colleges stopped holding classes and had, to all appearances, stabilized completely.

Whereas Ann..

“No, really, hear me out.” She sat down, the stiff leather of her pants moving far more easily than it ought to. “I know the world didn’t really end, right? There’s been a few problems, there’s some supply line issues right now. It can all be straightened out. But everyone’s panicking. Everyone’s completely and utterly out of their element. But I thought, well, what if we gave them something they understood?”

She gestured outside, where she had what looked like an ancient RV with armor riveted all over it. “So I figured, let’s make it like the end of the world everyone grew up expecting, right?”

Ted picked up the rags of his T-shirt again. “Complete with costuming.” He glanced over at Landry, who had been studying the “clothes” rather too intently for his liking.

Landry looked up, looked out at the RV, and looked back at both of them again. The smile, that smile, that had been the look on Landry’s face the day they’d all gotten free of their Keepers, the day Landry took over their crew.

“Cool.”

Ted sighed. He’d never been able to win when the two of them had agreed. “I’ll go dig out my hair gel.”

Want more? I’m open for commissions!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1009925.html. You can comment here or there.

Gimme something to write, no promises

Nov13

Something I’ll enjoy.
Established setting or new setting
Est. characters or new characters.
I’ll see what I can do.
/sleepy/

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1009319.html. You can comment here or there.

Into Lannamer First and Last lines, 5th day of nano (yesterday)

Nov6

First line of yesterday, Into Lannamer:
He sat back and glared at her. “You want to disguise me.”

Last line of yesterday, Into Lannamer:
He’d have to pay closer attention if he didn’t want to get caught in the middle of escaping.

290 words yesterday on Into Lannamer, bringing the total to 3582

Total of 2673 words yesterday, bringing the total to 10,258.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1006388.html. You can comment here or there.

Distributing Self-Pub books via Little Free Libraries and the like?

Nov5

I was thinking the other day (while passing the Friends of the Library book sale building), that many people advise getting your book out there by donating it to libraries, which is problematic – library donations often just end up at book sales like that (and then sometimes in dumpsters from there); libraries have limited space and the books they keep on their shelves are curated, and so on. There is a five-post guest article on this in my archives – http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/tag/info:+library and scroll down a couple posts – by eseme.

But!

Little Free Libraries have none of that, including a budget. If you had a map of their libraries in your area and a stack of your books, you could seed them throughout the area. Road trip and slide ’em in on the way. Like very map-based suburban/urban geocaching? “Oh, we’re going to be in boston, let’s check out their little free libraries while we’re there.”

…I need a book to drop off at the local LFL.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1005124.html. You can comment here or there.

Edally Academy Chapter 10A: Gather Round Now Children, Hear My Song

Nov5

Saydrie looked at Taikie and Enrie with a look so worried and so desperate, it made Enrie’s chest clench and her throat tighten. She nodded slowly. “We trust you, Sayrie. I promise I won’t doubt you.”

“I – I trust you.” Taikie sounded less certain, but she had been the one following Saydrie

Read on:
http://www.edallyacademy.com/2015/11/04/10agather/

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1004339.html. You can comment here or there.

Into Lannamer First and Last lines, 4th day of nano

Nov4

First line of today, Into Lannamer:
He gaped at her. “I want to go home. I’m the-”

Last line of today, Into Lannamer:
“It’s like throwing a blanket over a goat and pretending it’s a table. But if you add enough blankets, even a goat-herder might be fooled.”

628 words today, 3292 words running total on Into Lannamer.

A grand total of 1,283 words today, bringing the total to 7,585.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1004847.html. You can comment here or there.

Into Lannamer First and Last lines, 3rd day of nano

Nov4

First line of yesterday, Into Lannamer:
It was a good choice

Last line of yesterday, Into Lannamer:
She settled cross-legged with her knees nearly touching his, so that she, at least, didn’t need to raise her voice.

808 words yesterday, 2664 words running total on Into Lannamer.

A grand total of 1,655 words yesterday, bringing the total to 6,302. Whee!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1004059.html. You can comment here or there.

Into Lannamer First and Last lines, 2nd day of nano

Nov3

First line of today, Into Lannamer:
“The remaining army will need translators and, mm, cultural interpreters.”

Last line of today, Into Lannamer:
… or risk his own life by starting to complain again.

803 words yesterday, 1856 words running total on Into Lannamer.

A grand total of 1531 words yesterday, bringing the total to 4647. Whee!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1003711.html. You can comment here or there.

A Tale of the Circled Plain (beginning): Meeting

Nov3

The woman who bought Saffron had sat behind a screen for the questioning and auction process. She had insisted Saffron be blindfolded once purchased and bound, wrists to thighs, so there was no chance of messing with the blindfold as she led Saffron by the arm to her home.

Thus, Saffron had very little to go on. Her voice was smooth and sweet, her laughter easy and not so unkind as some. Her diction was easy to understand, her words simple, not the convoluted mess many inner circle people spoke. And she lived close enough to the auction center to walk home, which meant she was either in the Second circle or very close of the walls in either First or Third.

Most importantly, she owned Saffron now. She’d bought the contract, and for the next ten years, Saffron would be her Servitor, to do whatever she wished, whatever she commanded.

“Stairs,” she murmured. They were the first words she’d spoken since leaving the auction hall. Saffron let a shin hit the first stair and climbed up carefully, trying not to lean on the woman. “Just a couple more. There.”

Was she going to leave the blindfold on forever? The inner circles had some odd habits, Saffron had heard. The Flow changed them, the way it changed everyone, but some people said that the Inner circles were more twisted, far further from normal than the outer circles. Was she afraid he would freak out? Afraid he couldn’t handle her? It was far too late for any of that now.

“And here. And a few steps.” She steered Saffron down a hallway, or what could be assumed to be a hallway at least. A door opened. “Here, sit.”

Saffron sat. There was a chair there, soft and cozy. From the sounds of things, the woman sat as well.

“Saffron Techon. Normally by the time people get to four syllables, they’ve picked a gender for at least one of them.”

Saffron coughed. “Hadn’t decided yet.”

“Well, I suppose that’s a sort of decision in itself. Tell me, Saffron, why did you decide to become a Servus?”

Saffron’s gesture was cut short by the chains. “Like this, I wouldn’t survive long out on the Tenth Circle. Too skinny, too weak.”

“Mmm.” Her tone of voice suggested she agreed with that assessment. “And do you think, then, that the Second Circle will be that much safer for you?” There was danger in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

The blindfold was suddenly a shield, suddenly all that stood between Saffron and terror. A swallow did nothing to clear the lump in Saffron’s throat. “Ma’am?”

If only running was an option.

The Circled Plain has a landing page here

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1003442.html. You can comment here or there.