What's Your Ending?

Let's give thanks to the Irish

the post-Roman Irish who copied every book they could find so

ancient knowledge didn't end when the Romans imploded.

Without them, we wouldn't be writing what we write.

(Thanks to a New York Times opinion piece by Thomas Cahill for reminding me.)

  
The Read:  The ending didn't disappoint me, actually ... but Cinda Williams Chima's The Warrior Heir finished just about like I expected.  The great battle happens and the rules of the Wier change to treat the modalities -- wizards, sorcerors, enchanters, and warriors -- more equally.  The fact that the wizards killed off most of the warriors in the tournaments (the event which supplied the climax) added a little poignancy.  The MC opponent in the tournament was also telegraphed, but the writing overall carried the predictability forward to the end.

The next book in the series is The Wizard Heir, I think.  (I'm not going downstairs to check.)  I'm debating whether or not I'll read it even though the first chapter develops an intriguing character.  I have a Diana Wynn Jones waiting to be read.  Then, I discovered that Karen Marie Moning's Faefever is out in paperback.  While the series is called "delectably dark and sexy", I'm glued to the development of the MC from sunny Southern belle (a Georgia peach?) to a hero who can give the Unseelie court headaches.  As much as I admire Moning's writing, I missed this when it came out in mass paperback last year.

Blog Comments:  Discovered a wonderful resource ... for romance writers, The Passionate Pen from reading The Turning Point today.  [Jenna Petersen's website which she updates about once a month: http://www.passionatepen.com/]  Lists of publishers, lists of agents, the experiences of published writers -- what's there not to like even if you don't have a romantic bone in your body.  [Like me.]  I'm green with envy.  There may be such a site for fantasy writers, but as far as I can tell, the same info is scattered over many sites.

If you're interested in fantasy writer blogs, you can check AW Water Cooler's Fantasy and Science Fiction section for a list.  Read all the postings since people are listing their blogs there.  (Yes, they included mine, thank you.)

Progress:  I think I've muddled my way out of the first three chapters of Maren.  They've gone from an outline ... to a chapter ... to actually several chapters where I tried to decide where to start.  While I'm a "seat-of-my-pants" writer, I have to know where my characters are starting from and who they are.  All sorts of people are starting to pop out of the woodwork.  --  Some I never guessed at when Maren nagged me to get on with her story.

Biggest revelation:  I needed a reasonable way to allow Maren, as a pseudo-American teen, to travel all over the county she landed in.  Guess what?  Her guardian/foster mother decided to run for county commissioner (in a backward county).  All I have to do is not be too specific about election law, and I've got it made.  I used to be active in politics.  Don't know a pinch about police procedure, but I know something about people and the stupidities of politics.

Trivia:  It's Saint Patrick's Day, and I'm not wearing green.

Increasing the Pace

The Read:  Slow starts can pick up speed, thank goodness.  Am halfway through the current read, and Cinda Williams Chima's The Warriors Heir has finally picked up steam with the two factions vying for power trying to capture our hero -- plus his relocation from his US hiding spot to England.  Liked his encounters with the ghosts of previous knights/ warriors who died in the continuation of  the War of the Roses which continues down to the present day for the Weir.

Interesting thing.   I think there was more description in describing London and the "evil doctor's" office than in the first part I thought so slow.  I need to go back and check if that comment holds, but that's my impression as I write.

Blog Comments:  Hooks have reared their snaggy heads.  Think I've reached some sort of critical mass on the blogs I follow.  I find I'm skipping some of them if the topic revealed in the notice doesn't catch my interest.  I suggest a review of your openings.  Example:  This blog first started with "halfway".  I don't know if the first sentence snags any better, but I thought it an improvement.

Progress:  Maren plods along.  My first chapter is now three.  Am thinking I need some more description.  In short, I write s...l...o...w.

Trivia:  Still savoring Susan Wechsler's mosaics in my head.  They're worth the time to Goggle her.

When Is "Slow" Good?

The Read:  Slow food has become a popular cause among "foodies".  (Turns out I've been a practitioner for my life since I'm too cheap to buy the packaged stuff.)  However, Cinda Williams Chima's book, Warrior's Heir, had me squirming in my seat  -- sort of wanting her to get on with it or wondering if I should go read another book.  (Four wonderful prospects are sitting at my elbow as I read.)

Hey, I don't mean that the book is bad; it's ... just ... slow.  I'm only 150 pages into it, and the main plot about the serious conflict with the Weir (ware, for aware?) establishment is now rolling along.  The first 100 pages mainly set up the situation and the high school characters.  Grounding in a real world is important so your story is believable.  While Chima does a good job of setting up a former girlfriend choosing the bully who picks on the MC (and others) as a subplot (and I assume it will come into play later in the book), the ... book ... is ... slow.  --  Actually, I think having conflict in two parts of a hero's life a nice idea.

Guess I'm not much for appetizers, but I'll keep reading.

Realms of Fantasy:  Found a copy at the B&N yesterday.  So, Chima has more than normal competition for my time.

Blogs of Note:  On Saturdays, I take it easy ... catch up on dangling ends ... have a little fun.  Then, Justine Musk comes along with another blog that makes me think:  http://tribalwriter.com/2010/03/13.  It's all about 5 ways to use minor characters to add depth and clarity to your protagonist.  Not only do I like her books, but she's very generous in sharing her craft skills.

One benefit for doing a blog:  I find I'm finding my typos faster.

Progress:  Emma is printed and shelved until I can figure out what I want to do with the query.  The old query is still out to most of the agents I sent the trial balloon too.  

One of whom I believe doesn't respond if it's a rejection.  (In such cases, I think the agency should have one of those automatic responder thingies that tell you they got the query.  Then, if you don't hear from them, you just write it off as another rejection.)

Maren.  I'm struggling to get out of the first two chapters.  Problem?  I know what I want it to read like, and it doesn't.  --  Yeah, I know I should just go ahead and write the next chapters even if they sound/feel/read like outlines.

Trivia:  We have another good day before the storm:  "Springtime in the Rockies".  We're going to a regional museum today ... and out for lunch again.  (I'll do anything to avoid the polenta in the fridge.) --  Lunch:  the restaurant had their Spring Fest so the German genes not only got a cabbage fix but more than enough umm-pah-pah.)

The museum exhibit in Loveland (for those of you in Northern Colorado) blew my mind, especially Susan Wechsler's mosaics.   (Yes, we visited the bookstores too ... and I bought.) 

Slowly Changes the WIP

The Read:  Am getting into the new read:  Cinda Williams Chima's The Warrior Heir -- after stumbling through the prologue.  (Hey, the science magazines are coming in so the books have more competition than usual.)  I'm far enough into the book to see where the back story is important, but I think this is a case where bits and pieces inserted into the text would have served just as well.  --  But who am I to say anything.  I'm not the published writer.

For a change, this is a young adult fantasy with the premise that secret magic workers live among us -- only to be sacrificed by rival factions seeking political dominance.  (I think.)  An interesting concept as far as it goes.  I haven't determined who're the good guys yet, only the potential victims.

Locus (the "journal" of science fiction and fantasy) came today bearing good news.  Three writers I drool over are coming out with new books which hooked good reviews:  Patricia Briggs (Silver Bourne), Jim Butcher (Changes), and Kim Harrison (Black Magic Sanction).  The bad news for cheapskates like me --  they're hardbacks.

Progress:   Emma is slowly filling a binder of her own so she can be filed away.  Printing is taking a long time because of the slipping roller in the printer.  (Guess who's too cheap to buy a new one.  "Wasn't a monitor enough?", she whines.)

Maren.  The scenes in the first chapter are starting to make sense.  I may have two chapters done by Saturday.  --  Don't get impressed.  I prefer short chapters.  So far, the YA chapters are only slightly longer than the MG ones.

Blog.  I guess regularly posting a new blog up is progress of a kind.  So, I'll take the credit.  ;-)

Trivia:  I martyred myself and made some polenta stuff since the old man kept asking about the three unopened packages in the pantry.  Slimey.  Or, have I insulted you because you like the stuff?  Better yet, do you have an edible recipe for it.  No?  Scrambled egg sandwiches, here I come.