Nano and Balance

Oct31

As I step into my third Nanowrimo, I’ve been looking around and reading blog posts on “surviving nano,” “making it through/to 50K,” and so on, and I was struck that, if they mention your family at all, the general consensus is “your husband and children will not see you for the next thirty days.”

Combine this with advice to “remember to eat food, even if it’s Burger King and take-out pizza,” it occurred me that, not only is nano generally a younger person than mine’s game (oh, my, did I just say that? Hi, dad), but that it was sorely in need of a post on “balancing life, family, and nanowrimo.”

Then I wondered if I had done a sufficiently good job balancing those things in the past – my husband says no, but then he said I’d left him alone in the yard overnight and nobody had come to get him and he was so saaad, so I have to take it with a grain of salt (he’s also threatened to go feral).

So what I am going to do, gentle readers, is be mindful of balance over the next month of feverishly grinding out 2000 words a day in a setting I barely know. And I will report to you faithfully every Wednesday on my progress thereof. I might even get my husband to do a guest post (don’t hold your breath 😉

Stay tuned for the adventures of Balance and the Art of Nanoing.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/593681.html. You can comment here or there.

“I can Write 150 more words.” (Fluffy not-yet-porn)

Oct30

It wasn’t so much that there were a lot of pillows in the room; the room was pillows. Caron stared at it for a moment. He’d never seen so many pillows. He’d never seen such a plush room, such a…

“It’s fluffy.”

“Well, yeah.” Areta peeked at him through long eyelashes. “I’m not sure what you’d have expected from me that wasn’t.”

“Something elegant, I suppose.” The words tripped off his tongue before he could stop them. “I mean….”

“I’m not going to object to you calling me elegant.” She offered him her hand, fingers tipped downward. Caron took the reprieve and stepped into her… nest.

And was immediately pulled on to the floor with a yank he hadn’t expected out of elegant, delicate Areta.

He fell hard, but the floor caught him easily, enveloping him like a hug. She was grinning when he came up, already moving to straddle him.

“See? That’s why it’s fluffy.”

He stroked her hip through her robe. “I see.” Or he might soon see, at least.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/593463.html. You can comment here or there.

Worldbuilding SFWA Style: Reiassan

Oct30

From this link, from the sfwa.org

A. Basics

Nature, physics all work the same as in real life, although use of sira/aether can speed up/slow down/nudge these laws’ effects.

The world in which Reiassan is on is slightly smaller in diameter than Earth. It is a Class M planet, with an Earthlike water-to-land ratio. The flow of sira through the entire planet has led to some differences; i.e., the trench between Reiassan and the homeland continent has what could be called massive fire demons.

In Edaly Academy and Into Lanamer, we are only on one continent. The people there emigrated from another single continent, which originally had three major ethnic groups (often referred to as West Coast People, Blondies, and proto!Calenyena); two of those groups made up the majority of the immigrants.

Thus, the ethnic makeup on Reiassan is determined mostly by settlement patterns in the 1750 years since landfall on this continent. The Calenyena are short, wide-hipped, and dark of hair, skin and eyes; the Bitrani are taller, more squarely built, and pale of hair, skin, and eye. Many regions have mid-range mixes common, and the east coast has a small, genetically isolated population who have curly hair and copper eyes.

Undetermined, but there are at least about 3500 years of human history between homeland continent and Reiassan.

Good question!

o Where does magic power come from: the gods, the “mana” of the world (as in Larry Niven’s “Warlock” stories), the personal willpower or life force of the magician, somewhere else? Is magic an exhaustible resource? If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?

Magic comes from the sira within the earth, which theory holds it, is formed when two things rub together.

Magic is controlled in Into Lanamer mostly with willpower and stamina, and in Edally Academy with mechanisms and devices.

There are no nonhuman races yet determined.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/593217.html. You can comment here or there.

Pre-story: Tairikie a year earlier

Oct29

From dailyprompt, 2013-10-25: “getting dressed for a special occasion”

This is in the setting of my upcoming nano project, in timeline, the cold-season before school begins.

“Tair-tair, hurry up.”

It wasn’t so much that Tairiekie’s father was rushing her as that he’d called three times in the last half an hour, and that he kept using her baby-name. She was at least a little past being called that.

“Almost ready, father.” She tugged the sleeves of her under-shift straight.

It was new; the whole outfit was new. The festival of Tienaabaa¹ was about new creations. It was also many layers thick, because the festival of Teinaabaa took place on the shortest days of the year.

“Do you think that my project will win an award?” It was her last year competing in the children’s level. She had won an award every year before, but she’d only taken first place twice.

“I am sure you will do us proud. Are you dressed yet, Tair-tair?”

“Almost.” She had done the embroidery herself; she tugged her overvest to fit better over what was supposed to be a chest and wasn’t, quite, yet. The loose vest looked more like a child’s clothing than a grown woman’s, but all the decoration made it look loved and proper, at least.

Four layers of blue swished back at her in the silvered mirror in her parents’ room. Blue, for Tienaabaa. Blue for winter. Blue for the engineers, her mother, her father… and likely her as well.

She clattered down the stairs in her dyed-blue boots. “I’m ready.” Everyone at the festival would know she was loved and cherished. Everyone was going to know how brilliant her festival demonstration was, too.

Her father kissed the top of her head. “You will make your parents proud, Tairiekie.”

. Tienaabaa (TEEN-ah-bah) is the deity of the wind and the water, the mind and creation. Formerly Tienebrah, (Tee-EN-eh-brah), the word was Calenyenized in the mid 1200’s.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/592959.html. You can comment here or there.

On this Date: Addergoole Drabbles of Kailani

Oct29

October 29, 2004

“I’m not a big fan of Hallowe’en.” Kai frowned at Conrad, but he had is back to her and thus was unmoved.

“I’m not surprised, but that doesn’t mean the kids shouldn’t have their fun. They’re kids, Kaia.”

“They’re…” She couldn’t really argue. “Fine. Captain America and Wonder Woman it is.”

October 29, 2013
“Mom.” Audra dropped the costume on Kailani’s lap. “Mom.” She added a needle and thread and a pair of scissors. “Mom. Dean Storm!“

“You can’t call her that.” Her twin Alistair hissed it at her.

“I can if she doesn’t answer to anything else. Mom!”

Kai blinked at her children. “Right.” The world had ended, but Hallowe’en, damn it, had to go on. “Hem, right?”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/592742.html. You can comment here or there.

On Nano, a rambling summary

Oct29

I was reading – technically, having read to me, as Ri lives in my attic – Rion’s blog post on NaNoWriMo, which made me think about my own (far shorter) experiences with it.

I can remember hearing about Nano probably a decade ago, but my first strong memory of it is my friend Qlipoth’s “why I hate nano” blog post, which is only from 2009, so I could be wrong. Either way, it “wasn’t for me.”

I can’t remember why. I really, can’t. I just didn’t think it was my thing.

I do know that in 2010, when I played along without picking a project (Just aimed to get 50K words in a month), part of my excuse is “my other projects won’t wait that long.”

What I learned that year was that 50,000 words is a totally do-able goal.

2011 I did it for real. I took a short story I’d been playing with and used it as the jumping-off point for a novel. That was The Deep Inks.

I learned that I could, indeed, write a novel, but my idea of plotting was pretty haphazard and three chapters of architectural detail was probably not a great idea.

I won. I really don’t remember much about it, but I won. The stats say I won with 50,289 on the 27th. I was inches from the climax. Still haven’t finished that thing… <.<

2012: The states say I finished on the 29th with 50,511 words (I do not like this trend!) I’m not sure how much I learned, but I did it.

The one that really got me was this summer’s Camp Nano. My goal was 43,500, and I made it on the last day of the month. But what I learned…

…I learned, gentle readers, that I like outlining. I really like writing to an outline. I like plotting ahead of time. It makes a more coherent novel. It’s just more fun.

And now we come to 2013. I’m outlining a whole new sub-setting and a new type of story. I’m pre-prepping my novel out the wazoo.

What will I learn? We’ll have to see. But I hope to have fun along the way.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/592499.html. You can comment here or there.

The Cup, Part IX

Oct29

After The Cup and The Cup, Part II, and The Cup Part III, and The Cup, Part IV, and The Cup, Part V, The Cup, Part VI, and
The Cup, Part VII, and The Cup, Part VII, in that Order

Cynara was… walking straight up a vertical road.

Pellinore stared at his former Keeper for a moment. This was impossible.

Part of his brain kicked the rest of it. He was looking at a woman who could bend minds and bodies, in a world where gods had destroyed almost everything. Impossible had really lost a great deal of meaning somewhere along the way, and all mere mortals could do was hold on for improbable.

“This is improbable.” JohnWayne had grabbed his hand, though, and he was being dragged onto the strange road along with the two of them.

“So’re you.” His son spared him an exasperated glance. “You complain a lot.”

“It’s my lot in life.” Stepping onto the road felt like getting off a carnival ride; his sinuses tried to fall out of his body for a moment, and then the new gravity of the road asserted itself.

It wasn’t a long walk, as such things went, and it was fine until you looked down. Pellinore caught Cya doing it first, twisting to look and then freezing, her face turning ashen, until she could force her feet to move again. Then JohnWayne. Pellinore held off as long as he could, but when he did, the world was a long, long way down.

“Can we survive that? If we fell?” JohnWayne’s voice was rather small.

“Yes.” Cya’s was clipped, and pitched to carry without her having to turn around again. Pellinore just nodded, though neither of them could see him. “But in that ‘that’s going to suck for a couple centuries’ sort of way. Less chit-chat now. We’re almost there.”

“There,” it appeared, was a cottage a mile above the ground, where the road bent back to “flat” to serve as a driveway.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/592328.html. You can comment here or there.

One Year Ago/The Unicorn’s Gift

Oct28

After The Black Unicorns of Cardenborn, from about a year ago.

This is a bit darker than even normal Unicorn/Factory things.

However: while it contains mention of pregnancy, there is no rape.

Masha watched the child grow up.

She had grown up in Cardenborn, and she had known, early, what sort of woman their unicorns liked. Unlike her age-mates, she’d gone down to the river when it was her time, the way girls did in other towns, not because she was a virgin, but because she was no longer anything close to that.

She’d asked the right questions – and lots of wrong questions – of the working girls that came to Cardenborn and took their money to go down to the river. She’d asked different questions of the butcher, the baker, the candlestick dipper, her friends’ brothers and sometimes her friends’ fathers.

And when she had told the grannies that she would be going down to the river in her due time, they had not naysayed her. They had warned her, of course. “The unicorns are fickle, even ours. This could end in pain. It could end in death.”

Masha had wanted the mark, the small scar the unicorns left just under the ribs, that some places called the Unicorn’s kiss. The working girls who passed through had taken to wearing their skirts low and their shirts high, to show that off. Misha wanted to wear her shirt just under her breasts and her skirt down on her hips. She wanted the kiss.

She had not truly figured on the child, although she understood that one followed after the other. Her belly, unicorn-kissed, had swollen, and she had birthed the changeling child.

Watching him grow up was difficult, but it was only the start of her troubles.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/591994.html. You can comment here or there.

Character notes for Steam!Reiassan – Iesovyenyie

Oct28

Iesovyenyie
Age 15
Taikie’s roommate

Iesovyenyie is a tall girl, 5’5″, with solid black hair and golden eyes. Her skin is likewise golden, and her chin pointed and stubborn; she’s a bit broader in the hip and shoulder than is common, and a bit more voluptuous than many of the girls her age. She has very full lips.

Her parents named her with an initial vowel, as her mother’s parents had done for her, and the palace office stamped approval of the royal lineage, but she is one of those who has so little royal blood, so diluted, that the initial vowel is a little silly, and seen as putting on airs. Many people where she grew up called her Sovnyie; the less kind called her almost-royal Ienyie.

She can get in quite a snit over that on occasion, and when she does, she’s no fun at all to be around. She is royal, damnit, even if her distance from the throne is measured in hundreds or thousands.

She prefers non-conventional shortenings of her name – Iesovya is her favorite – in part because of the stigma of “almost-royal Ienyie,” and in part because a tyienyie is a noxious lizard.

Iesovyenyie grew up in Lanamer, the capital city, and received her schooling not in a royal-household school but in that of affluent merchants’ children. When you come down to it, airs or not, her father is an artisan crafter of wool goods and her mother a beader and dyer. If they could avoid putting on airs, they could gain much renown in their own fields.

Iesovyenyie has quite a bit of skill in the fiber arts, but went into Mechanics and Engineering to learn how to work with the new mechanical looms, among other reasons (for one, Art House was full but Mech/E had two slots open when she applied).

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/591701.html. You can comment here or there.

Character notes for Steam!Reiassan – Gaikvya

Oct28

Gaikvya
Age 15
Taikie’s roommate

Gaikvya comes from the east coast, an area which, even in 1750 R, is fairly isolated from the rest of Calenta. The spine of mountains on the east of the continent serves as a difficult-to-pass barrier most of the time, impossible in the wintertime; the boat travel down around the southern tip of the continent is prohibitively long and the icebergs make travel around the northern end impossible.

The people on the east coast have ended up generally shorter than the rest of the country, with chestnut-brown hair that has a tendency to wave and sometimes even curl, skin darker brown than even most of the ‘pure Calenyena,’ and copper-hued eyed.

Gaikya has that look, as well as a more slender build than most of the rest of the continent, almost boyish; her people mature late and slow. They are sometimes called “sira-touched” by the superstitious.

She stands just under 5′ tall, and wears her hair in thin complicated braids. Her hair is curly, although she almost never lets it out of the braids. She speaks with a lilt to her voice, has a very hard time with s and v sounds, and clips her k sounds harder than is now the fashion.

She is uncertain about coming to school and will spend much of the year homesick; her people are fishers, have been fishers for centuries, and she is very much a fish out of water on the other coast, with no fishing nets to knot and no lobster cages to repair.

She will lose herself in her mechanics classes – the reason she, alone of her entire settlement, was chosen for the Academy – spending time trying to invent a better lobster trap, a better boat.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/591445.html. You can comment here or there.

Alder's Grove Fiction

The Worlds of Lyn Thorne-Alder

Nano and Balance

“I can Write 150 more words.” (Fluffy not-yet-porn)

Worldbuilding SFWA Style: Reiassan

Pre-story: Tairikie a year earlier

On this Date: Addergoole Drabbles of Kailani

On Nano, a rambling summary

The Cup, Part IX

One Year Ago/The Unicorn’s Gift

Character notes for Steam!Reiassan – Iesovyenyie

Character notes for Steam!Reiassan – Gaikvya