You get a two-fer today.
Before I dive into the ROW80 portion of things, I wanted to talk about talking to the muse (or, subconscious, or writer-brain, or whatever label you give it). My muse is a unicorn who sits on my shelf and whispers twisty plots and intriguing characters in my ear. Holly Lisle says you can learn how to listen to your muse, work with it, and ultimately become a better, more efficient writer. Cool, huh?
I know this from experience. My muse, 95% of time, is murmuring in the background, telling me all kinds of fun, twisted things. Or dialogue. Or actual images (which I call “movie flashes” because they remind me of the previews at the theater). Or a cool new way to work something out with a project…
Which leads me to my point (long-winded am I!). I was on the bus this morning, tired as all hell, and had literally nothing to do. Could have read, but didn’t feel up to it (read: sleepy). Sooooo with nothing to occupy my thoughts, they turned to Ever Touched, book 3 of the Fey Touched series, and my current problem child.
I had an idea early on but scrapped it. Then I had another, more promising idea. But it was horribly lacking a villain (or antagonist in writer-speak). BEWARE POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR EVER TOUCHED. SERIOUSLY. I MAY USE THESE IDEAS OR SOME VERSION THEREOF. BACK AWAY SLOWLY. THAT’S IT. JUST, SKIP DOWN TO THE ROW80 PART IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILERED.
OKAY.
OKAY.
So yesterday (backing up a bit here), I did a little musing and came up with: First Fey/holographic wings/angels/old but new.
I let that kinda simmer until this morning. Here’s how it went:
ME: I love the idea of First Fey and…holographic wings?
MUSE: What about actual fairies?
ME: Eh…kinda weakens the whole genetic engineered Fey premise. Try again.
MUSE: Okay, what if they were the first Fey Touched?
ME: Eh, I think they need to be more powerful than current Fey Touched. Getting warmer.
MUSE: *sighs* Okaaaay. How about beings made of pure energy who are trapped in cybernetic bodies?
ME: *does a double take* *almost falls over* Wut. Is. That.
MUSE: Say these evil people trapped the all powerful First Fey, who are so ascended (angels!) that they no longer have a physical form and they were tricked into it somehow. Fits your idea of the Fey and Fey Touched joining together against a common enemy.
ME: *blinks* Yeeaaahhhh. But who’d be stupid enough to do something like that?
MUSE: A scientist. A brilliant one. One who wants to rule the Fey world, that’s who.
ME: But how? They are energy. No form.
MUSE: I’m not quite sure, but it sounds promising, right?
ME: Awesome. Let’s go get our souls sucked out, shall we? (Work. Day job)
Annnd that was how the idea was born. Still noodling, naturally, and I’m sure I’ll tweak it some, but I am fascinated by a race of beings made of energy who somehow allowed themselves to be trapped. And cybernetics? Sign me the eff up.
Okay, now ROW80.
I’ve had to take a little break from typing due to wrists of suck. I have the Grave Touched edits hitting my inbox on Sunday, and there may be some serious rewriting happening. So, since they are already twinge-y, I don’t want to push my luck. So I’m probably done on Fireborn until edits are done on Grave Touched. I am *thisclose* to 15k, so I may slip in a bit here and there, and my deadline on the edits is March 1st, so Fireborn will definitely get my attention then. (I’d like to release it sometime before Grave Touched release on May 1st, but we’ll see).
I finally broke down and ordered a Bluetooth headset, for HALF the price of what Amazon is charging. WIN.
Stats!
Fireborn
Words written since last check-in: 1,850 words (14,339 total!)
Words remaining: 661 words, so CLOSE!
What’s happening: Leliel and Rick are putting the pieces together.
What’s next: A red herring.
Ever Touched
As above. Getting close to something I can use. Most of it has been mental, naturally.
Survivor
Nothing on paper but the wheels are turning. I might be ready to start drafting again soon.
Feeling: Stressed out with several things.
Eye report: Very minor twinges.
Back report: Still not happy. Need to do more stretching.
Chocolate consumption since last check-in: chocolate zucchini bread, WW snacks, hot chocolate.
Soundtrack: Nightwish and Queensryche
Weaver of Words 