I'm sure other, more experienced authors have had this happen--about a third of the way into the story a character suddenly pops up and introduces him/herself. Well, it happened to me. This girl appeared in my head, said her name was Lucy; she wouldn't go away. when I found out more about her, I realized she needed to come into the story, one way or another, much earlier. So I have to go back to the beginning and bring her into the conversation--even if she doesn't put in a physical appearance then.
Is Lucy good or bad? How will she affect Sarah and Elijah? Just who is she? And, most important of all, what does she want and why.
This story feels like a piece of tapestry work--missed stitches earlier have to be inserted so as not to be an obvious alteration.
So, along with creating my Christmas cards for this year, and creating polished gem-stone jewelry for special gifts, I will be editing my previous chapters in order to weave in the presence of Lucy.
Keep Calm, Vivra--and Carry On.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Second disappearance--now, what is ahead?
Before Sarah and Elijah tackled the boat launch, the strange girl calling herself Branwen ran off and didn't return. This left the two of them "...putting out to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat..." (Sorry, I went back to a rhyme from my childhood--the story of the Owl and the Pussycat.) Actually, they launched the old and far from beautiful wooden craft onto the still dark waters of a mysterious lake.
Out in the middle of the water, with one oar and left up to whatever current there is, Sarah points out the lake seems to end up ahead, but there are no signs that it actually goes anywhere, "like an infinity pool", Sarah points out. It does look as if their boat, with them in it, will simply "fall off the end."
Elijah realizes he will have to get out of the boat and push it toward the bank, since the only oar isn't helping keep them on course. Sarah closes her eyes. She hears the splash as Elijah climbs out of the boat; but when she opens them, he has disappeared...
The apparent end of the lake is coming closer. What happens at the end--does the water end? Does the boat, with Sarah in it, simply drop, as a waterfall over a cliff? Why can't she see anything beyond? And how did the thick, white, fog envelope the boat so quickly--now she can't see anything at all.
Out in the middle of the water, with one oar and left up to whatever current there is, Sarah points out the lake seems to end up ahead, but there are no signs that it actually goes anywhere, "like an infinity pool", Sarah points out. It does look as if their boat, with them in it, will simply "fall off the end."
Elijah realizes he will have to get out of the boat and push it toward the bank, since the only oar isn't helping keep them on course. Sarah closes her eyes. She hears the splash as Elijah climbs out of the boat; but when she opens them, he has disappeared...
The apparent end of the lake is coming closer. What happens at the end--does the water end? Does the boat, with Sarah in it, simply drop, as a waterfall over a cliff? Why can't she see anything beyond? And how did the thick, white, fog envelope the boat so quickly--now she can't see anything at all.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Just who is writing this story?
I thought I had things organized--an outline of some sort to help me along with the story. Alas, not so. Sarah and Elijah seem to think it is funny to tell me bits and pieces of their adventures and leave me to sort out what is true, and when, in the story's timeline, the various scenes played out.
So with so many tales about so many strange things, I've had to make more plans than I wanted. I've tried to get them both "on the same page" (pun intended) but so far that hasn't happened, and I'm getting the strange feeling that I've lost control!
Their latest experience has left the two of them in an abandoned shack on a weird and mysterious body of water. A young woman they met earlier in this particular day, told them she was from "their world" and an evil mad doctor had kidnapped her toddler daughter, in order to force her by blackmail to hand over some object about which she has no knowledge. Apparently he is the cause of the mutants they've been told about.
Before the young woman can give them directions to where the mad doctor lives and conducts his experiments, she runs off, leaving Sarah and Elijah to figure out "where they go from here".
Abandoned shack. Photograph by Tony Marshall, LRPS
So with so many tales about so many strange things, I've had to make more plans than I wanted. I've tried to get them both "on the same page" (pun intended) but so far that hasn't happened, and I'm getting the strange feeling that I've lost control!
Their latest experience has left the two of them in an abandoned shack on a weird and mysterious body of water. A young woman they met earlier in this particular day, told them she was from "their world" and an evil mad doctor had kidnapped her toddler daughter, in order to force her by blackmail to hand over some object about which she has no knowledge. Apparently he is the cause of the mutants they've been told about.
Before the young woman can give them directions to where the mad doctor lives and conducts his experiments, she runs off, leaving Sarah and Elijah to figure out "where they go from here".
This falling-down house on the edge of a dark and mysterious lake, looks just like the one Sarah described to me. Imagine all the creepy-crawlies that have taken up residence since the abandonement...
Now I have to go and sort out which of the experiences they've told me about, happened next. Do they find out where the mysterious woman went to? Was she who she clained to be? Did the mad doctor really kidnap a child?
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Inhuman Experiments
When I talked with Elijah last, he promised to show me some of the pictures he'd taken with Sarah's mobile phone before the battery died completely, photographs Sarah refused to have anything to do with--she was so traumatized by the items Elijah had photographed.
Unfortunately Elijah discovered that Sarah had taken her phone back and had destroyed it. So Elijah and I surfed the Internet and found photographs that he said were so like the ones he took, it was uncanny. I have included a couple with this post.
They are a product of Windell H. Oskay, founder of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, and the site www.evilmadscientist.com, and if you're interested (and it is a great site) you will find the pictures in an archived post, about which I will say something at the end of this blog.
Because of Elijah's information about Sarah not telling me the absolute truth about their experiences in the parallel world, I will have--and have had--to go back almost to the beginning of this story; well, at least to the chapter prior to them falling down the hollow tree into Lostererth. I need to change quite a few things...but that's what writers do.
Now, about Windell Oskay's post in which the attached photographs are shown. First--believe it or not, the items in the specimen jars--yes, all of them--are edible (can I hear a 'yeuch'?) His archived article explains they are composed for Halloween, and it's amazing what you can do with simple food products. I hope you will explore the site for yourself, and check the archives for the post on October 19, 2011, 'Halloween Cuisine: Sweet or Savory Specimen Jars", it almost appears quite evil, the way he makes ordinary food look, well--inhuman!
Here's another of Windell Oskay's 'experiments'. Are they human fingers? Sure look like them. You will have to visit www.evilmadscientist.com to find out where they came from and how they got in the jar.
If what Sarah and Elijah saw in that freaky fun house room was anything like these photographs--no wonder Sarah doesn't want to remember!
More news about Ravenwood in a few days...
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON--and remember, Can't never Could.
Unfortunately Elijah discovered that Sarah had taken her phone back and had destroyed it. So Elijah and I surfed the Internet and found photographs that he said were so like the ones he took, it was uncanny. I have included a couple with this post.
They are a product of Windell H. Oskay, founder of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, and the site www.evilmadscientist.com, and if you're interested (and it is a great site) you will find the pictures in an archived post, about which I will say something at the end of this blog.
Because of Elijah's information about Sarah not telling me the absolute truth about their experiences in the parallel world, I will have--and have had--to go back almost to the beginning of this story; well, at least to the chapter prior to them falling down the hollow tree into Lostererth. I need to change quite a few things...but that's what writers do.
Now, about Windell Oskay's post in which the attached photographs are shown. First--believe it or not, the items in the specimen jars--yes, all of them--are edible (can I hear a 'yeuch'?) His archived article explains they are composed for Halloween, and it's amazing what you can do with simple food products. I hope you will explore the site for yourself, and check the archives for the post on October 19, 2011, 'Halloween Cuisine: Sweet or Savory Specimen Jars", it almost appears quite evil, the way he makes ordinary food look, well--inhuman!
Here's another of Windell Oskay's 'experiments'. Are they human fingers? Sure look like them. You will have to visit www.evilmadscientist.com to find out where they came from and how they got in the jar.
If what Sarah and Elijah saw in that freaky fun house room was anything like these photographs--no wonder Sarah doesn't want to remember!
More news about Ravenwood in a few days...
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON--and remember, Can't never Could.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Time has flown--hear me groan
It's been a while
I just checked the date of my last blog--four months ago. Well it has been s strange quarter year. Elijah told me confidentially that Sarah had not told me the truth about their stay in the parallel world. He told me she had toned it down very much, because her experience had somewhat traumatized her--she wanted to forget, and so made up some of the stories so that they were more like fairy tales. Hmm, a budding children's writer, possibly?
After Elijah told me more about the happenings in the world I now know is Lostererth I confronted Sarah. I put my limited knowledge of psychology to work and convinced her that talking about what really happened and the horrific things she saw would be cathartic; and so she opened up. The counselling sessions took a few weeks, and took a toll on her, as well as myself.
Her first unpleasant (to put it mildly) experience in the Freak Show area of what she originally described as merely an abandoned amusement park, left me wondering if I would be able to stomach hearing "the rest of the story"; and it is ongoing. So I will be back with more "teasers".
Please come back and set a spell (as my late mother-in-law used to say) and read more about Ravenwood in Lancashire (on Earth)--and Ravenholme (on Lostererth.)
I promise to be back soon. I will have one or two pictures--if I can wheedle them from Elijah. Sarah asked him not to let me have them, but I think I can get them--we'll see.
Keep Calm and Carry On (and Rule Britannia)
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
An interview with Sarah
I wanted to get Sarah to tell me about the first major predicament the intrepid three (Sarah, Elijah and White Raven Jane) had to face. I thought I'd soften her up first with some questions born of curiosity.
Me: Sarah, you mentioned to me that, in the beginning, you did not want to visit England, and certainly didn't want to stay there. Yet you lived there for the first 9 or 10 years of your life and were happy. What caused you to grow to dislike it after your mother took you back to Texas?
Sarah: My mother. Even though I hated her for taking me away from my home, and for her lifestyle (with which I did not agree), she was a very persuasive person. She told me in no uncertain terms, just what she thought of England and the English. She said it was a miserable, depressing, cold and wet place, always damp and smelled of mould. She described the English as a "nose-in-the-air" race, unfriendly and unkind to foreigners. Over the years I lived with her, I began to believe her description.
Me: Why didn't you want to have your boyfriend, Steven, accompany you?
Sarah: I wanted to tackle the reunion with my childhood on my own, in the privacy of my own mind. I remembered being happy and remembered my Aunt Emma as being sweet and caring. My father was stern, but he doted on me, and I was genuinely sorry that he died. I also wanted to find out, by myself, how he died--an accident, Aunt Emma said in her letter. But was it? I also wanted to discover my roots, and why my mother kept telling me I was a witch.
Besides, Steven is NOT my boyfriend. He was just a friend, a very good friend, but I was definitely not attracted to him in a romantic way.
Me: You said Steven 'was just a friend'--was? What happened--is he no longer a friend?
Sarah: Aha, you'll have to wait and see!
Me: So, tell me about the predicament you, Elijah, and Jane found yourselves in.
Sarah: Okay, I'll tell you just a little--for now. You see, we were on the track of the woman who's toddler had been kidnapped by an evil person. She (the mother) supposedly possessed something the evil person--the Mad Scientist, I suppose you could call him--wanted. He held the child for
ransom--the item he wanted in exchange for the child. The mother set off without knowing what she was getting into, to save her child. She had to be found before she got to the land of the Mad Scientist, where she would surely die (gasp!)
Anyway, Jane and Elijah came up with a rough map of the route to the Mad Scientist's lair, along with the obstacles they would encounter. The first was an innocent-looking lake that housed mutated dragons. The had to get across the lake. Elijah was all for swimming, but I'm deathly scared of water and can't swim--so I suggested a boat. The problem was--we didn't have one.
I knew where we could get one--and that was our first obstacle, getting it from where I'd seen it. To find out more, you'll have to wait until I recount the adventure...
Me: Oh boy, I can't wait to write about that.
And so the interview ended. Now I'm off to my draft to see how much of the story Sarah has left for me and about the boat--did they acquire it? How? What happened? Did it get them across the lake? Did they fall afoul of dragons? Mutated dragons--are they any more dangerous than normal fire-breathing dragons?
All for now, readers.
KEEP CALM AND RULE BRITANNIA
Me: Sarah, you mentioned to me that, in the beginning, you did not want to visit England, and certainly didn't want to stay there. Yet you lived there for the first 9 or 10 years of your life and were happy. What caused you to grow to dislike it after your mother took you back to Texas?
Sarah: My mother. Even though I hated her for taking me away from my home, and for her lifestyle (with which I did not agree), she was a very persuasive person. She told me in no uncertain terms, just what she thought of England and the English. She said it was a miserable, depressing, cold and wet place, always damp and smelled of mould. She described the English as a "nose-in-the-air" race, unfriendly and unkind to foreigners. Over the years I lived with her, I began to believe her description.
Me: Why didn't you want to have your boyfriend, Steven, accompany you?
Sarah: I wanted to tackle the reunion with my childhood on my own, in the privacy of my own mind. I remembered being happy and remembered my Aunt Emma as being sweet and caring. My father was stern, but he doted on me, and I was genuinely sorry that he died. I also wanted to find out, by myself, how he died--an accident, Aunt Emma said in her letter. But was it? I also wanted to discover my roots, and why my mother kept telling me I was a witch.
Besides, Steven is NOT my boyfriend. He was just a friend, a very good friend, but I was definitely not attracted to him in a romantic way.
Me: You said Steven 'was just a friend'--was? What happened--is he no longer a friend?
Sarah: Aha, you'll have to wait and see!
Me: So, tell me about the predicament you, Elijah, and Jane found yourselves in.
Sarah: Okay, I'll tell you just a little--for now. You see, we were on the track of the woman who's toddler had been kidnapped by an evil person. She (the mother) supposedly possessed something the evil person--the Mad Scientist, I suppose you could call him--wanted. He held the child for
ransom--the item he wanted in exchange for the child. The mother set off without knowing what she was getting into, to save her child. She had to be found before she got to the land of the Mad Scientist, where she would surely die (gasp!)
Anyway, Jane and Elijah came up with a rough map of the route to the Mad Scientist's lair, along with the obstacles they would encounter. The first was an innocent-looking lake that housed mutated dragons. The had to get across the lake. Elijah was all for swimming, but I'm deathly scared of water and can't swim--so I suggested a boat. The problem was--we didn't have one.
I knew where we could get one--and that was our first obstacle, getting it from where I'd seen it. To find out more, you'll have to wait until I recount the adventure...
Me: Oh boy, I can't wait to write about that.
And so the interview ended. Now I'm off to my draft to see how much of the story Sarah has left for me and about the boat--did they acquire it? How? What happened? Did it get them across the lake? Did they fall afoul of dragons? Mutated dragons--are they any more dangerous than normal fire-breathing dragons?
All for now, readers.
KEEP CALM AND RULE BRITANNIA
Friday, March 18, 2016
All in one place (I hope)
I'm very fond of my Blogspot blog, and now I find I can include it on my WiX web pages. that will be good, because then everyone I want to see them can see both together. At least that what I understand. I'm not going to add more to this today. When I see what and how it's all happening, they I can work wonders!
See y'all soon.
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON
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