Tears — a WIPpet and ROW80 post

WIPpet 6/19/13

Welcome again to another installment of the WIPpet (and a special, End of ROWnd ROW80 post found down here.)
Well, I did a bit a creative WIPpet math again with this post since it seemed pretty rude to keep adding paragraph after paragraph on to these posts just because the calendar says it’s later in the month.  So I’m giving you 25 sentences (19 for the day, 6 more for the month) and six small paragraphs for the numbers 2,0,1 and 3 of the year.

This WIPpet mostly follows directly after the piece I posted last week.  For the first time since they were very young children (before Vissellii was sent to foster at their aunt’s home at age six), ‘Ssellii has heard her brother ‘Listii speak and act as if he’s aware of the world they live in.  She wants to know how their uncle’s DesertWalker maid, Uunsa, was able to make this happen when no one else had been able to reach Valistii in over fifteen years.

‘Ssellii has sent the maid out, not wanting Uunsa’s presence to interfere with her talking to her brother:

Instead, ‘Listii glanced at the floor this time to the place he’d crouched only just before.  Then he shrugged.  “Maybe.”

‘Ssellii didn’t pursue the matter.  It was an answer—probably the only answer he had.  And it was only a distraction anyway.  She wanted to ask what those strange words were before the maid returned.  She nodded then cleared her throat…softly, drawing his attention from his own distress as best as she could. “‘Listii, what does ‘Vesmai luu itau‘ mean?”

Again, the man’s gaze focused on her. The same intensity, the same fierce attention… She again found herself staggered by his reaction, and this time she’d even somewhat expected it.

This time she was able to speak, though it wasn’t at all easy. “Please, ‘Listii, what does it mean?”

He blinked.  Once, then twice.  A small frown covered his lips as he pursed them thoughtfully. “I don’t know.  It’s important.  She told me to never forget.”

“Uunsa,” she said grimly.  She was already dreading that conversation when it came.

“No.”  There was no hesitation in ‘Listii’s voice. Another touch of petulance filled it, this time tinged with disbelief and even anger.  “Uunsa shouldn’t say it.”  His raven-eyed gaze flashed at her.  He continued, scolding. “Not you either.  She said it was for us and no one else.  Just us…”

The petulance, if that’s what it was, collapsed then.  A mournfulness overtook him.  He looked at the floor.  Some kind of murmur overtook his voice, but he couldn’t hear enough to understand what he said.

“What ‘Listii? I didn’t hear—” she stopped short as he looked back up at her.

Tears flowed in rivers down his face.

She blinked. “‘Listii?” Despite her desire to maintain a calm presence she rose and went over to his side. “‘Listii, what’s wrong?  Why are you—don’t cry.  I won’t say that anymore if it makes you sad.”  She dabbed his check with her lap scarf.  “Please don’t cry.  There’s no need to cry.”

Instead of reducing his tears, her words of comfort seemed only to add to his distress, and soon he wasn’t only crying softly but weeping in full torrents.  Weeping, howling, whimpering… tears of something long lost, long destroyed but unforgettable.

And so very much like a child, she thought, a child who felt the world had ended.

Tears (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There it is.  I hope you’ve enjoyed your introduction to Valistii and Vissellii.  Next week I will be moving on to two other major players in the Swan Song series.

Creation of K.L. Schwengel at My Random Muse, #WIPpet writers post pieces of a draft (Work In Progress) that somehow relate with the date for commentary and consideration.  Feel free to comment and visit other #WIPpeteers.   We love the company.

ROW80 Check-in

For those of you in the ROW80, you probably are doing something similar to me–that is:

• looking over your original goals for this ROWnd (mine are here)
• figuring out places where I met my goals and didn’t
• planning my course of action for the next ROWnd (no post on that yet)

I have to be honest.  The reassessment that comes at then end of each Round of Words in 80 Days just feels strange.  Perhaps it’s because I’m constantly reassessing my  efforts from check-in to check-in, or perhaps it is because I realize how far my goals have traveled from their original declaration … every time.

quill (Photo credit: Terry Freedman)

At least this time, I can say that I didn’t lose sight so  much as I normally do.  Granted, I’m still somewhat behind, but I’ve made consistent progress on my goals.  I’ve been writing daily, about 2000 words because of the JuNoWriMo, but I also have found a pace again in my 750word.com writing.  Swan Song is coming along wonderfully.  I haven’t dealt much with The Singer, but Courting and Refrain (name??) are both gaining well.  My ROW80 Fitness goals (even rest goals and pursuit of passions) are going extremely well.  I’ve even managed a consistent blogging schedule.

Everything is moving at a steady pace, and I’m not sure where I would change much at this point.

Well, except for Release…  I really need to figure out something to do with Release.

It doesn’t seem to have a home anyplace these days.

It frustrates me.  Release was the very first manuscript I was ever able to put the words “The End” on.  It does need work to even it out (things like starting in the right place, etc.), but it is a good story.

It just no longer fits in the world of these characters.  And beyond a complete rewrite, it never will.  Am I being silly for wishing I didn’t need to go through it with the editorial version of napalm?

Have you been in this place before?  And if so, what did you do?

The ROW80 Writing Challenge is the brainchild of author Kait Nolan who felt that, in a world of WriMos and FastDrafts, people who want become authors  need something that promoted the daily habit of the writing life.  Feel free to visit some of our other members here.

Meeting — a WIPpet/ROW80 post

THE WIPpet

What? Another WIPpet Wednesday?

Cool!

So here we are–the 12th of June.  What do post, what to post….

How about 12 (fairly small) lines where ‘Ssellii finally gets to meet her brother?

‘Ssellii tried to remain calm. “That’s not what I meant, Uunsa. What magick is ‘Vesmai luu itau’? What does it—?” She stopped, realizing the words had once again worked their power, and this time her brother’s attention was for her, not the maid.

She realized in that moment that ‘Listii’s intense gaze was far more unnerving than she’d thought. Unlike Val, ‘Listii’s focus was direct, demanding answers…almost predatory in its determination. She felt her voice catch in her throat and swallowed.

And whatever ill thoughts she may have had toward the maid were banished as Uunsa broke the impasse and drew her brother’s attention from her to the state he was in.

‘Ssellii watched as the man looked at himself, where he was kneeling on the floor, and the disarray he was in. His eyes widened. Though he stayed silent, his gaze passed between both she and Uunsa accusingly. Then he made a rough, hurried attempt to rise and clean off his clothes and face with the cloth Uunsa held out for him.

If ‘Ssellii hadn’t known better, she would have said he looked exactly like a boy at the dinner table, one who had just been told he was still covered in stableyard debris and was now embarrassed and sullen.

Once standing, he didn’t leave the mess he’d made untouched, but slapped dashed the crumbs into a pile and scooped them on the plate. His cheeks were bright pink under the tan and grime. ‘Ssellii understood that this time ‘Listii  recognized the state he had allowed himself to come to in his flight from the world. This time he wasn’t going to simply feel like this visit was an inconvenience solely for him.

‘Ssellii smiled. This time her brother got to see what he really was, not the suave gentleman he might play for Uunsa. And he couldn’t simply hide in some daydream from the truth.

Taking her direction from the way Uunsa had diverted his accusing gaze from her to his own predicament, she rose. “Thank you, ‘Listii. That is so much better.” She motioned to the seat next to her. “Would you please sit down now and talk with me? We really do have a lot to discuss before we start back on the road, don’t you think?”

Later, she figured, she would have to ask the servant what those words meant again. For now she did not intend to lose the attention ‘Listii was giving her as she’d lost it the last time.

So, while it grated that she could not simply tear into him for playing this game he was dragging her into, she considered Uunsa’s tone earlier. It had been questioning, curious more than anything, as if the woman had asked her brother where he’d been, what he’d been doing there…how the weather was perhaps!

She decided to start simple. “Do you know who I am?”

Those raven eyes flicked in her direction. Though he answered softly, she could feel his disdain in his very posture. “Vissellii Marea, my sister.”

So there you go…  Hope you enjoyed it.

Inspired by K.L. Schwengel at My Random Muse #WIPpet writers post pieces of a draft (Work In Progress) that somehow relate with the date for commentary and consideration.  Feel free to comment and visit other #WIPpeters.   We love the company.  (Update: regarding the origin of the WIPpet, KL Schwengel says she did not create them–she just resuscitated them.   She credits Krista Walsh over at The Raven’s Quill for her introduction to the style…  Hmm, internet mysteries.)

ROW80 Check-in

It’s been a pretty awesome couple of days.  For those of you who saw my Sunday check-in, you know what I mean when I say that.

And for the record, the Boodle is pretty much back to where he was.  Overnight is a bit hard at the moment (the age-old parenting dilemma of “do I let the child sleep knowing that they are going to wake up miserable because they should have been given something to reduce their pain, or do I wake the child, disturb their sleep and know they will wake up refreshed?”  Oh.. and yeah–can I wake up at 3:30 in the morning without disturbing everyone else in the house?), but each day seems better and better.

I’m really glad we caught this in time.  The doctors did end up diagnosing Lyme.

That news, has of course, been at the center of my mind these past few days.  I did take a day of pretty much non-internet, non-writing related time for most of  Sunday and Monday.  For a bit of catharsis, I did manage to keep up to date on my 750words.com monthly challenge.  And yesterday, I jumped right back into the swing of things with my JuNoWriMo writing sprints.  My internet situation wasn’t great, but at the end of the day, I’d pulled in another 4118 words.

On the topic of word counts…  Since the first of the month I have added over 30K to the Swan Song series, most of it on Courting.  And they’ve been good words too.  For example: I always had planned on including shapshifters in the story, and making one of my three main characters be one.  Alanii, specifically…  Thing was, I couldn’t think of a good spot to integrate that without making the story into something it wasn’t supposed to be.

Well, I found that spot, and Alanii now has discovered another part of who and what he is.

That’s all the good news.  The rest of the news is…  well, my social media presence has suffered.  I maintained some minimal contact on both Facebook and Google Plus.  I think I managed to visit everyone on the Sunday linky I was due to for my sponsor posts.  I did hit (hope it wasn’t too hard) eight ROWers’ blogs, but I didn’t even touch all the people I wanted to see.  I’m sorry I missed you guys.  Hopefully soon!

And that’s about all I have for you…

The ROW80 Writing Challenge is the brainchild of author Kait Nolan who felt that, in a world of WriMos and FastDrafts, people who want become authors  need something that promoted the daily habit of the writing life.  Feel free to visit some of our other members here.

No Some Words Sunday today

Poor Boodle

I’m sorry, but I’m too tired after a night of not sleeping and worrying for a full “Some Words Sunday”.

This morning, the first thing we did was take the Boodle to an Urgent Care facility because he has  been running a fever of well over a hundred (103.6 last night) and a two-inch wide  Erythema Migrans rash at his armpit.  He’s also been complaining of joint pains and is trying to sleep wherever he might be..  floor, chair, lap.

Adult deer tick, Ixodes scapularis (cred. Wikipedia Commons)

Those of you who’ve heard of Lyme Disease probably recognize all theses as classic symptoms of localized/acute stage of Lyme Disease.  (Yes, in the last few days, I’ve done a lot of reading on the problem.)  Normally I wouldn’t be worried, but the Boodle had been to the Pine Hollows Arboretum on Wednesday with his schoolmates, and infected deer ticks have been already found there this year.  We didn’t see any ticks on him, when he came home, but that’s not say there wasn’t one.

My husband just went down to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotic …  The healing process can now begin.  There will still be further doctor visits and blood tests in the next few weeks, but I already feel better.

It’s the waiting and wondering that always make things like this hard to bear.  At least for me.

You too?  I understand completely.

ROW80 check-in

Since I’m already writing something for this post (more than I planned…  I think I am overwriting because of JuNoWriMo), I might as well at least get this part done….

I’m writing. I’m writing a lot.  Today not so much obviously…  but yeah, my JuNoWriMo word count is up to 23K , and yesterday was only the first week.

I can afford to take a day off.

That said, I may be a little less active for a few days as the boy needs me more with him on the couch.  I’ll catch up with everyone on Tuesday at the latest.

Have a good Sunday!