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Character Building and Inspiration

Monument at Lady of the Snows Catholic Cemetery, Reno NV -Photo by R. Averett

A little under two weeks until the start of NaNoWriMo on November 1st and novel prep is underway.  I will be writing the first book in, what I plan to be a series, called Funeral Singer: A Song for Marielle.  It’s a paranormal mystery, think a Ghost Whisperer type of story.  I am so excited about writing this story and I have the plot worked out, although stories do tend to take side excursions on me as I am writing.

Character

This past week was spent with the characters more and getting the background for them worked out.  I am still adding to them, but most of them have names and histories and are beginning to “come to life” in my brain.  You know you’re succeeding when they start talking to you.  I think I am getting close to at least my main character speaking up.  That’s always a fun time in the writing process.

Even though my NaNo Reno group met on Friday to work on plot and characters, we didn’t really plot much or do much character building, but did get better acquainted and talked quite a bit about writing.  Two of us had signed up for the webinar on using Scrivener for NaNo that was presented by  author Joanna Penn and Joseph Michael, who offers training on the program.  I have been using the program about a month now and absolutely love it for any writing project.  But this webinar showed us quite a few tricks and learning how Joanna has used it during NaNoWriMo was a bonus.  So, we talked a little about the cool features in the program and how much more there is to learn about it.

Inspiration

Grave monument at Old Hillside Cemetery, Reno NV – Photo by R. Averett

Yesterday, I went out with the roomie looking for a little inspiration in, of all places, cemeteries.  I also wanted to get a renewed sense of the feeling in the mausoleums, chapels and along the rows of graves, new and old.  As I was taking a few photos, I had the feeling that I was intruding at times.  I found myself offering prayers and well wishes to any ghosts that might still haunt these areas.

I went to the Old Hillside Cemetery near the University of Nevada Reno campus.  Graves in it date back to the Civil War era, but it is a sad-looking place.  Fences surround the various sections of it to prevent vandalism.  Oddly, there were a few newer-looking gravestones for very old graves so the families of these people are trying to maintain those graves.  I’ve heard that there are some who wish to move the graves to a new location so that this area might be used for student housing.  Stories relate that there are at least two ghosts who haunt this graveyard and possibly more.  I am not prone to seeing ghosts, but there are times that I do feel a presence.  I also believe that moving the grave will not move the ghost with it.

One of the cemeteries was the Catholic one at the north of town. I stood among the graves of the innocents, the babies that had died, some not even one day old and yet offerings of flowers showed that they were still remembered and loved.  One grave of a 12-year-old girl, who died several years ago, had a freshly carved pumpkin and autumn flowers on it.  Very touching.  I want to remember all of this when I begin writing my book in November.

A “Legacy” Grows

I have been working on the new novel, O’Ceagan’s Legacy,  and it is coming along pretty well.  Not as fast as I’d like, but at least progressing.  It took its first deviation from my original plan yesterday, which is a good thing.  It means the characters are becoming real in my mind and making choices that I didn’t expect.  This is what makes writing fun!

What exactly is a legacy?  The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives two definitions for  it:

1) a gift by will especially of money or other personal property: bequest.

2) something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past: Example: the legacy of the ancient philosophers

In my novel, the “legacy” is acting on more than one level.  It also stretches those definitions to something more than what they might seem.  But, as food for thought, a legacy can consist of more than money that is inherited.  It can be a house or land or family jewelry.  The value may be intrinsic or for the history.   It can be practically worthless monetarily, yet worth a fortune in knowledge or sentimental value.  How will this play into O’Ceagan’s Legacy?  Quite interestingly, I believe.

So working on chapter 7 now and lots to go yet, but feeling that this tale will be a pretty good read down the road.  Not quite ready to put up a blurb about it, but it will be coming soon along with an excerpt from the prologue.   I will tell you that it has roots in Celtic mythology and it is set in the far future.  And there is a space freighter involved called “Mo Croidhe”, which is Irish for “my heart”.
Until next time…
Lily

About My Blog

My thoughts often flow with varied shades and nuances, much like the colors of the seasons flow in the breezes, or winds, that lift the leaves, the papers, the flower petals and other debris that litter the streets or the yards.  So it seems fitting that my blog should be called this and this is where those thoughts will flow.  I hope you will l enjoy reading some of them and will comment or ask questions; otherwise, they will simply blow away like the rest of the treasures – or debris –  in the wind.

Lily – May 8, 2014

So Easily Sidetracked…

It’s been months since my last post and I have to confess that I have been waylaid along the route. I started to tell you some about a new novel that I was starting to write in my last post. And that novel is still in the works, but it also is waylaid by a new project.

Sometimes an idea that you’ve been mulling around suddenly forms more completely in your mind and the whole story line begins to write itself. This is what has happened with the book I am now working on. It’s called O’Ceagan’s Legacy and it is a science fiction fantasy novel. So for the time being, the YA I was starting has been set aside so I can concentrate on this particular story. I think it’s going to be an entertaining read and I will be posting bits from it soon. (I promise!) This one is kind of flowing now and what will keep it flowing is some feedback from my readers, so you can have a part in helping me get this book done in record time.

Finally, back to writing…

Time flows faster than a river…

Part of it is that the new book is the first in a series and I’m trying to get the full picture in my brain before I get into full swing.  I know, it sounds like a great excuse.  But these characters are setting up housekeeping in my mind and they are kind of slow moving in and not as chatty as I would like, but I think they are starting to open up a little.  Let me introduce a couple of them to you.

First, there’s Darcy O’Hara, the plucky teenage heroine in this “finding your light” story.  Darcy has grown up under the dubious influence of “Bewitched” and “Charmed” and believes with all her heart that she’s a witch, but so far that magic has just not come through for her.

Then, there’s her younger brother Ryan, a fifteen year old soccer enthusiast, who scoffs unabashedly at his older sister’s “weird” notions.  Ryan is clever and very grounded, but mostly he enjoys teasing his sister.  In short, a typical smart-arse younger brother.

Our story begins when these two youngsters have been shipped off for the summer to visit their father’s brother and his family in Ireland.  For Darcy, it’s the opportunity to find her gifts in a place that surely has to be magical.  While basically a young adult novel, I like to think of it as a “young at heart” novel because it will appeal to all who enjoy a good fantasy story set in the heart of enchantment.  The book is titled “Dew Dropping Hour” and it’s the first in the Isles of Magic series.  I hope you’ll keep coming back for progress reports and little snippets.

We who are old, old and gay, O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:

Give to these children, new from the world,
Silence and love;
And the long dew-dropping hours of the night,
And the stars above:

Give to these children, new from the world,
Rest far from men.
Is anything better, anything better?
Tell us it then:

Us who are old, old and gay, O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told.

A Faery Song
William Butler Yeats