In Shadows

I’m attemting to increase the angst for Ursula. She’s intmately aquainted with Azrael’s brutal side as well as the passion. In the original manuscript, I didn’t play this up as much as I could. On the flip side, there’s another issue from Azrael’s point of view – that of royalty falling in love with slaves. [...]

Whew! As I stated before, I’ve been editing this chapter to include two separate points of view instead of the mass of confused ‘she felt / she felt.’ Since I felt the scene was more powerful from Ursula’s point of view, that’s where it predominantly sits. But I didn’t want to lose so much of [...]

About halfway through chapter nine. Slept all morning after graveyard, piddled about on my website, took a shower, and ran some errands. After dinner, the wife and I watched Gothika. It was pretty cool though I don’t see how Halle Berry escaped a prison sentence, regardless of what her old man was up to. I [...]

Finished chapter 8. I work graveyard tonight and have tomorrow off. I’ll have a go at slogging through chapter 9 then. Ursula has weathered the slave auction and now must deal with the emotions involved. Here I’m attempting to beef up her confusion as well as the negative emotions she has toward Azrael. “Are you [...]

Chapter seven is complete. Boosted a bit of Azrael's point of view. Azrael woke before dawn. She lay on her side with Midia cuddled in her protective embrace, a blonde head tucked under her chin. It would be an easy thing to drift back to sleep, to await her slave’s early morning chores, to slake [...]

Chapter six is finished: The next four days were the same for Ursula – up before dawn, pack Azrael’s belongings, travel for hours in the wounded wagon and set up camp at night. While Midia prepared Azrael’s bed, Ursula was required to attend their mistress, taking care of armor and food, and lounging in her [...]

Still working on chapter six. My vacation editing ends in this chapter, and what needs to be rewritten or added must be done from scratch now. About all I have written on the manuscript is 'Beef this up' and 'Show more.' The army is now encamped at Provey. I'm writing a sparring scene because Steph [...]

Beginning of chapter five: The following day was spent packing for the upcoming journey. When all was ready, the Third Army had three dozen wagons of supplies and bounty. Fortunately for Idonatra, the arms master did indeed have space for many of the weapons, lightening the load considerably from the smithy. Not many changes, again [...]

Beginning of chapter four: For the remainder of the morning Azrael checked guard posts. She scared the stuffing out of a number of Atol’s men on the perimeter, each wondering if she’d heard rumor of further laxity in their cohort. Voices trembled slightly as they gave challenge and received the password, chins thrust out in [...]

Opening of chapter three: Azrael felt Midia slip out of bed well before dawn. Accustomed to these early morning disappearances, she drifted back to sleep, ignoring the soft whispers and rustling cloth. Had there been an emergency, she would be instantly alert, weapon in hand. Instead, her body slaves utilized the pre-dawn hour to prepare [...]

First paragraph of chapter two: Azrael wore clean black breeches, her sword belted over a sleeveless ivory tunic. She braided her thick hair, using a strip of leather to tie it off. Pausing to inspect her bracers, she frowned at the blood still caking the leather. Rather than wear them, she slid the knives usually [...]

It's been a long time since I've done any writing. Damned if I know why exactly. It's possible that I bit off more than I could chew with this year's goals. Small wonder considering how much I completed last year. Riding on the high of success, I took too much onto my plate for 2004. [...]

…is going like gangbusters. 1009 words. Of course, as the music below attests to, I've got Margaurethe's song looping over and over the last hour. Set up – Jenna has been proclaimed vasilissa by the ruling council, the Symbouhera. She had to basically buy a vote to make it unanimous. Both Margaurethe and Father Castillo [...]

So far, 1031 words. Finished the chapter I was stuck on. The house is clean. I’m off to run errands, and get more writing done before a party at work later tonight. Last night, I met an online friend for the first time in RL. We had dinner and lots of fun. She’s a writer, [...]

1466 total. Beginning of chapter 8, scene 9. Jenna's attending her first official function, despite the fact that the Symbouhera hasn't yet agreed to her royal claims. This is the first time she's been face to face with any of them after forcing them to relocate from Europe to Portland, Oregon. She's standing on the [...]