beheading

What is wrong with people? Is beheading the new fad? I just read about some poor woman in the US who was beheaded by a “deranged co-worker.” O M G
Flashbacks of 18th Century France anyone?
And then those Islamic State people..15 beheaded in Afganastan.
I should know better than to look at the news.
Sigh.

Friday

And here we are again.
Writers Digest writing prompt
The wizard’s terror bolt lances overhead. You shout back to your party that you’re going in. Dagger held high and ice shard at the ready you tear towards the dastardly spell caster. How does your fight play out?

Okay. Why would you hold your dagger high? I did a search and found Talhoffer Dagger Class It looks like the typical attack is overhanded, striking downward. But I never fought like that. My dagger fighting (limited) was thrusting, like my rapier/foil fighting. Anyway, this is a spell caster. I don’t think I’m going to rush him with a dagger in my hand. I think a ranged attack would more appropriate.
Which brings me to the ice shard. Why am I carrying an ice shard? I assume that it is actually an icicle. I guess that means the party is in an ice cave of some sort – or in the frozen north – or in winter? Something to examine later. But I’m going to throw my ice shard at the wizard and hope to disrupt his concentration and mess up his spell. And if I’m lucky and roll the right die, maybe I’ll do damage.
And rolling…

writing notes

Last night I re-read Write Your Novel From the Middle by James Scott Bell. His idea is that you have the middle point moment (the “mirror” moment) of your story, plus backstory psychology and the transformation scene (ending) and that will make the actual writing of the story easier. Once you have one point of the triangle, then you can make the other points.
He listed 14 helpful “must have” (for him) scenes.
Let’s say the average 90K story has 50 to 60 scenes, you have a list of the 14 must have scenes – and the rest of the scenes are connecting lines.
It sounds doable.
Of course you need a main character (Mr. Bell calls it the Lead) to tell the story from who is going to have that ‘mirror’ moment in the middle of the book. That Lead needs to have a problem to solve (internal – which is reflected in the ‘mirror’ moment) and ‘death stakes,’ meaning that the character has to be in danger of dying some sort of death – physical, professional, or psychological. I think psychological would be the hardest one to show but would bring the most drama. Drama! If the character doesn’t gain his objective, his life will be incurably damaged. What came to mind with that is some child throwing a hissy fit about not getting to go somewhere, or a hormonal teen who is going to ‘just die’ if she can’t get to the dance or go to the concert or whatever teens want to do these days.
I’m sure I have wanted something that badly. I just don’t remember what exactly I wanted that badly. Those dramatic flareups seem to pass with age, which is probably why main characters are seldom over the age of 40.
Okay okay, Frodo and Bilbo were older when they went on their adventures. But they’re hobbits. As if that solves the universal aging problem. Just head off into the west – all will be better. Go with the elves on the mysterious boat and get to heaven. Drink the Cool-aid while you’re at it.

Colossal Cave

Yesterday Dulcinea and I went to Colossal Cave to take the regular tour. She had never been there, and I had not been there since I was a teen. It is now a part of a park, with 22000 acres and a museum/ranch house. Evidently the ranch house had been a part of the cave attraction the entire time, but I didn’t remember it.
We got there early and were the only ones on our tour, which was nice because we got to chat with the tour guide – a college freshman (I think) who had been working at the cave since the beginning of summer. She had her story down, which was cool. She didn’t tell us the story that I’d heard about the daring train robbers who had stolen the gold and hidden in the cave. The story from my first trip(s) was that the gold had been lost and the robbers had gotten away. It turns out that they sheriff knew of the exit from the cave, and found the robbers and the gold at a local bar. There was a map in the gift shop showing the cave system and various tours – and the route the robbers took to get to the back door, which is now closed off.
In my earlier days, the cave only had one path – that which the CCC made. Now they have a ladder tour (a little less accessible to the general public), and two wild cave tours – which require gloves and a hard hat. According to our tour guide, there wasn’t much climbing, but a lot of bouldering (climbing over boulders). I think my brother would enjoy it, and Dulcinea though her son would like it. So – maybe we’ll go at some future date.
Colossal is a dry cave – that is, no longer growing and not the least bit damp. which is too bad. Kartchner Caverns, near Sierra Vista, is a wet cave system that has a door that seals. Colossal’s door is a barred gate – where critters can come and go as they please. We saw several bats.
The ranch house/museum was about two miles away (so we drove) and was not terribly impressive. The museum had an exhibit about the Arkenstone cave, also in the park – which is not accessible to the public and used only for research. It is a wet cave that has a lot of crystal formations. Its location is kept secret. There is an additional cave, not mentioned at either the Colossal cave site or the museum, which is also a research cave. I don’t remember the name. The tour guide at the cave said that the bottom of Colossal still had puddles, so it could be living again some year (if the climate changes drastically).
Also at the ranch house/museum was a sad petting zoo – with ponies, goats, and a mini brahma bull. All of which were standing around in mud/muck and not very happy seeming. There is also a stable, with trail rides available. The lady at the museum asked if we were going for a ride (I got the impression that she was bored out of her mind as she came to see how we were doing several times), and we said no (being in shorts). It was hot out also. She suggested that we come back at 8am to ride. Which I might do. I haven’t poked around that part of the city yet, so why not? A good trail ride can do wonders for the soul (equine therapy).
A good adventure. I’d be happy to do it again.

the day after the day after

So I didn’t log back in yesterday to write more. Bad writer – no cookie.
This writing prompt makes me laugh:
At his wedding, Samwise Gamgee’s PTSD is triggered by the sight of the wedding rings. (writing prompts).

A statue comes to life and tells a story. What’s the story?

Once upon a time, I was free. Once upon a time, I was a god who held dominion over all of the oceans. The sea creatures did my bidding. Then came the fisherman’s wife. What a lovely human. She had flowing yellow hair that streamed like kelp in the tide. She had grace and curves like the waves above.
One day, I was visiting my favorite garden, speaking with my friend Octopus Prime, when a fishing boat went over. It stopped just over the south end of the garden, and dropped an anchor right into the sea roses. Octopus Prime was less than amused. I said I’d take care of it, and wandered over to unhook the anchor. I heard a commotion above – which only I could hear. Mostly, sound does not travel in my realm as it does in the human air-filled realm. There seemed to be some sort of domestic dispute going on, which reminded me of the sea gulls fighting over a piece of left-over shark meal. The argument came to some sort of solution and a form came off of the boat. It sank down into the water.
It was the girl and she appeared to be unconscious, and would drown as most mortals do, within moments. Octopus Prime found this to be very offensive. It was one thing to drop an anchor into his sea roses, but quite another to dump a body. But what a pretty body. I decided, on a whim, that whatever the argument had been about, she didn’t deserve to drown. So I put a bubble of air around her so that she could breathe, unhooked the anchor, and sent out a wave to wash the boat away.
Octopus Prime and I went back to our tea, and we watched the girl in the bubble. When she awoke, she looked around and then, surprisingly, didn’t scream. She rubbed her head and then looked out at us. She smiled.
Captivated by both her smile and her bravery, I took my leave of Octopus Prime and took the girl in her bubble away to my summer house – which is off the east coast of America.
“Where are we going?” she asked, showing more curiosity than fear.
I explained and proceeded to show her around once we arrived. She was impressed and asked all sorts of intelligent questions, like what was my favorite sea creature? Her favorite was the blue whale. I agreed that was a wonderful creature. Did I ever get to the surface? Did I ever watch the sunset from near the beach? Did I ever ride dolphins?
Of course I had done all of those things and was happy to tell her about them. Perhaps I even boasted a little about riding the waves of a hurricane.
She sighed at one point, and wished to see the sunset from the beach, just one more time.
We hadn’t spoken of her future, but I was beginning to think it would be lovely to have such a companion at my summer home. Someone who loved the sea animals as I did.
So I granted her wish. We rose out of the waves and settled on the beach. I released her bubble. She took a deep breath and blessed me with a blinding smile. And then she turned me into a statue.

The first day after

Odile was a bust for Tucson, but the radar seemed to show that it hit the parent’s ranch. Haven’t heard from them yet. I am sure the weather channel is sad that the storm decided to go directly east instead of hitting Tucson.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the day
hegemony \hih-JEM-uh-nee\
DEFINITION noun
1: dominant influence or authority over others
2: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group
Dictonary.com’s word of the day

quotha\ KWOH-thuh \ , interjection;
1.Archaic . indeed! (used ironically or contemptuously in quoting another).

Word Think’s word of the day:
Fractious adj. (1) Easily irritated; bad-tempered: “they fight and squabble like fractious kids.” (2) (of an organization) Difficult to control; unruly.

The leadership told us that, quotha !, the fractious natives had done it. Their hegemony was what made the natives that way in the first place.

I’m not sure I understand “quotha !” The exclamation point was included in both examples.

As I am having trouble coming up with inspiration to write this morning – being lazy and whiny, here’s some writing tips from the masters: Neil Gaiman says

1. Write. 2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.

Got it?
Yep. I’ll write another entry later today to make up for this sparse entry.

Day 100

I mostly made it to 100 words in 100 days. I may have missed a few, so I’ll finish out this week (tomorrow and Friday) with some extra words. Did I accomplish my goal of writing every day? Yes. Did I learn something? Yes, I learned that I just have to make time to write and that people around me will let me write if I make it quick (no more than 30 minutes). I can write more than 100 words (which I knew) without much trouble. To get over writers block, just look for prompts and don’t get too wrapped up in making things perfect. Did I achieve everything I set out to do? No, the shark story flopped, but that’s okay. I might go back to it.
Now what?
My next step is to actually work on my writing – whatever stories that happen to come up. Corrisande is on my mind, so I guess that’s the one I’ll work on. I definitely want to learn how to plot out a story and then write it (instead of writing it and then wondering if I got everything in the correct spot), and learn how to envision the ending, and write that. I have work to do in writingland, and that’s okay.

It’s Wednesday and the local authorities are freaking out about the possible heavy rains coming our way from Odile. I have a faint hope that work will call and say “stay home and work” but I suspect that is not going to happen.
Rain

199 Tuesday

Found some notes on my Corrisande story. It turns out that the item that Corrisande and Gyles were looking for was a temple acolyte turned into a chalice. I didn’t read the entire section, but I suspect the girl was turned into a chalice by some evil sorcerer who lives in the city. The notes had a map and surprise! the map looked like most of my other maps – even with similar names. There must be some subconscious force that makes me want to draw a map like that. I wonder where the real coastline is and perhaps I should be there.
All of my imaginary coastlines have cliffs that are a mix between the Sunset Cliffs (San Diego) and the haystacks of the Oregon coast, and perhaps a touch of the Gothic New England coast described in various books. I suspect the cool multilevel house with the large deck and stairs leading down to the water makes it Gothic. Who lives in that spooky house on the cliff? Does the house have a cave underneath it where pirate treasure is hidden? The Corrisande story doesn’t have a house like that but it could.
House on the Hill LOL

198 Monday

Odile is a French name meaning “wealthy, fortunate.” Odile is a variant of the Old German name Odila, and its meaning is “fortunate or prosperous in battle”. St. Odile of Alsace, patron saint of the blind (she was born blind but received her sight when she was baptized).
Just an FYI there.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the day:
divarication \dye-vair-uh-KAY-shun\ DEFINITION
noun
1: the action, process, or fact of spreading apart
2: a divergence of opinion
Word Think’s word of the day:
Endemic adj.
Native to a specific region or environment and not occurring naturally anywhere else. “Malaria is endemic in tropical climates.” (n.) An endemic plant or animal.

Hurricane Odile is hitting the Baja peninsula of Mexico and heading north west. It is supposed to bring rain to the Southwest region of the U.S., which may or may not include San Diego and the rest of Southern California. That area needs rain desperately. Arizona does not need (amazing to say) the rain so much. But if it happens, I’d not turn it down (as if).
Wealthy, fortunate, or prosperous in battle; spreading apart; and native to a specific region.

Duke Horace noticed the diverication of his troops. He stood at the end of the hill out side of his tent, looking down through his spyglass at the army gathered there. It was doing a capture the flag exercise. Those endemic to this southern region with its hot and dry weather tended to be more prosperous in battle. He wondered how he could bring the northern troops more into line.
Perhaps send them out on a survival hike to the next oasis? Or into the mountains where the nighttime temperatures diverged from the daytime temperatures by a good 50 degrees? Or both? Maybe he could find an enterprising native trooper to give the northerners some tips?
Pondering this, he went back into his tent, not noticing the threatening clouds. There were always threatening clouds this time of year that brought almost daily brief showers. The rain came as expected, and he thought nothing of it.
When the wind tore the tent off its lines and sent it swirling off to the cacti, he looked. What had once been a dry gully where the army had camped was now a rushing river. Now all were on a survival trip, not just the northerners.

197 Sunday

Finished the book from yesterday. Left me kinda Meh. The rockstar asked the girl to marry him during a concert. The fans went wild!
Finished the Nora Roberts book I was reading before I got sucked into the rockstar book. It also ended with the tough guy asking the girl to marry him. Yipee.
Then I read a YA book about a girl who is pretending to be a psychic, but is actually a psychic. The home coming queen from the school is murdered, and comes to the psychic in a dream. Queen asks the psychic to tell the police and her parents that she’s dead and that she’s okay on the other side. Psychic tells the police, and is arrested for murdering the girl (because she had too many details). It was interesting. The psychic and the ghost proved the psychic wasn’t the murder and lead the police to the real murder, all while the psychic was in jail. It was a fast read.
Found a new writing book that I think I’ll purchase. Writer’s Little Helper, by Jim Smith. It actually talks about word usage, which is unusual in a writing book.
The other books mentioned were Maggie Rising, Rock Addiction, and Night Moves