The Fang and the Bow

I'm a sucker... (kitty joins the household)

2013-12-05T04:23:38Z

I'm a sucker. My brother asked me last week, at Thanksgiving, if I wanted a couple of kittens--apparently a granddaughter had had to get rid of an excess of cats, and gave two kittens to him. I dithered and told him I'd think about it: I'd been considering getting a second cat again, or even going with a pair. I actually was thinking about a pair of older males who were showing up on Petfinder, but was still dithering. Then, today, I was thinking about it, and realized oh, c**p! The temperature is taking a nose-dive tonight, and the kitties are being kept outside (with a dog and a straw-bale shelter, but still) ... I called my brother and said I'd come look at them. Sadly, one of the pair had disappeared, but the other was still there. She led us a slow chase from the house to the barn before we caught her, but she didn't argue about being held on the way back--and she was shivering very noticeably. So, here I am back home, with a half-grown kitten sequestered in the craft room (she was going to stay in the bathroom, until I discovered that the door wouldn't stay shut!), and in the morning, she's going to the vet for boarding, until he has time to check her out, and undoubtedly give her a full set of shots and spaying... But, it looks like I've rejoined the two-black-cats club. (Tarika's actually a tuxedo, but this new one has no white patches at all.) Tentative name -- Kuro (Japanese for black.)

Meanwhile, on the bus this morning, I added a drabble to the "Growing Up Hanyo" collection. As in young Inuyasha shouldn't have been running around on the roof ...

Two updated (while waiting for the bus)

2013-12-04T01:58:22Z

To avoid a bit of driving to and fro between home and work, I occasionally take the bus that covers about 29 of the 35 mile commute. (Which means leaving the car in the city to cover the 5.5 miles between bus stop and workplacle... but I digress).

So, after a long, 10.5 hour work day, I'm waiting about 30 minutes for the bus, and decided it was time to quickly work through a couple of my LiveJournal story postings and get them up to Fanficion.net.

So, I have managed to get two - one each for These Old Bones and With One Eye. In the first, Inuyasha finally reveals what he's been carrying around with him for a very long time, while in the latter, young Kaede does something for her teacher.

Signing off -- bus should be pulling up any minute now...

62,015 words, one story, 30 days

2013-12-01T05:17:04Z

On the 24th of November, I reached the Nanowrimo challenge of writing at least 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days (or less). On November 29th, I reached 62,015 words, and the anticipated end of the plot. Today, I wrote nothing, save what I'm doing here.

This is my fourth year of participation, and my third win. The first win did eventually end up in a finished fanfiction serial, Blood Unbound. Last year's space opera takeoff on Inuyasha has languished untouched.

This one, I hope, will be different.

At the very least, I actually have some plans.

First, in December, I plan to work on world-building. This novel, now given the working title of "Crystals' Songs", is a fantasy with some science-fiction undertones. As such, there are a lot of background details to iron out--the history, the laws of magic, the maps, the cultures... my hope is to spend a bit of time each day in December writing on some aspect of the world in which the adventure will take place.

I will also, at some point, sign up to Leanpub--a website where you can incrementally publish your book.

Then, in January, I hope to start writing the first draft of the novel. At one of the meetings of the local NaNoWriMo group, a couple of people were talking about making January their 'novel editing month'. I like that idea, of having those of us who gathered in chat rooms and had writeins at the local library or grocery store, gather again to encourage each other to dive into the serious business of turning a NaNoWriMo novel into an actual book.

Hopefully, then, by the end of January, I will have the first couple of chapters up, and will be making steady progress.

It's time to get--and stay--passionate about writing!

First Day of NaNoWriMo

2013-11-02T04:09:21Z

And I'm off, slightly slow. I missed the Midnight kickoff with the local writer's group, as I had an important meeting this morning at work, and felt I could not afford the short night, of staying out well past midnight to get a start on writing 50,000 words in November. Lot of good that did me, as I then proceeded to have a night where I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, anyways. So, one thing and the other, I'm already behind the pace. Tomorrow won't be much better, because of goings on with two of my communities. But, look out Sunday!

Meanwhile, my other goal is to at least get back to posting my previously written Inuyasha stuff onto fanfiction.net. I've badly neglected that this year, so I can do one a night and probably still not get caught up. But, for tonight, I updated the "These Old Bones", my collection of stories about an old Inuyasha in modern Tokyo. He's living with the Higurashis, by this point, but there's a lot of questions that haven't been asked, and a lot of stories not told. In this piece, Grandpa Higurashi has been trying to get a question out for days...

Countdown to NaNoWriMo

2013-10-03T03:15:36Z

30 days to National Novel Writing Month!

This will be my third attempt. Last year, I had an idea, but not much plot, and nearly stalled out several times. This year, I'm hoping to have more plot and background done before November 1st. My goal is to spend at least half an hour every day writing down ideas for the plot and necessary background.

The novel is fantasy (of course), but this year will be more in the Young Adult genre, with a coming of age story. Here's a fragment I just finished writing, that takes place about five years before the main story. Mara, the main character, is about 13...

Worry

Mara walked out of the building, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the blazing sunlight. "There you are!" called Perrin. "Did old Snaggletooth decide to let you pass?"

The slighter girl gave her foster sister a sour look. "How would I know?" she asked. "Even for an oral exam, they don't tell you what the score was." She grimaced, hitching the bag--which was obviously too small to contain books, higher on her shoulder. "I wish I could read well enough to take the regular exams--I'll bet they were a lot easier than mine."

The laughter was general, mostly sympathetic, some of it not. "Ah, there goes little miss special, whining again," jeered one of the taller girls, standing in what little shadow was available at sun high. "Little teacher's pet whining because they didn't make it even easier for her..."

"I'm not whining!" snapped Mara, hands clenching, glaring at the girl. "I was just... just..." She whirled away, unable to come up with a good riposte. "And I'm not a 'teacher's pet!'"

"No, you're just the poor little, orphaned mountain-blood that everyone feels soooo sorry for," retorted the other. "Got to be nice to her, got to give her the benefit of the doubt, no matter how much she screws up--"

"That's enough, Carly." Perrin's voice was icy. "Just 'cause Mara has to learn differently from us, doesn't mean anyone's made it easy for her. Or that she's stupid. And if she screws up so much, then why did she trounce you in the debate contest three weeks ago?"

"The judges gave it--"

"Phooey on that!" interrupted one of the boys. "You lost fair and square, and everyone knows it!" A chorus of yeahs echoed him. Mara peered over her shoulder, and saw that it was Carly's turn to look embarrased, her face reddening and her eyes looking away.

"Anyway, school's over, so what are we doing standing around here?" demanded Perrin, bouncing on her toes a little, grinning, green eyes sparkling. Who wants to go to Donnie's to celebrate? Me and Mara are buying!"

Almost everyone broke into cheers and yelps of agreement. Mara could have sighed at her foster-sister's assumption, but she only nodded. Perrin was always generous with her allowance, and, after all, the extra bit her foster father had given them both that morning had been intended for celebrating after the end of their finals.

They trooped out to the street in a single mass. Mara tried not to mind that Carly and the girl's closes friends stayed with the group. After all, the sixteen girls and boys in their class had been together since primary schooling had begun seven years ago. Now, in only days, they would scattering to their respective apprenticeships, and would see less and less of each other.

Mara walked in silence as they moved downhill towards the neighborhood shopping square, feeling just a bit unhappy. She didn't want to think about what the next few days would bring. She didn't--

She started as a hand slipped into her own. "Hey, you're not worried about passing the finals, are you?" asked Amera.

Mara turned her head and smiled shyly at girl who was her best friend after Perrin. "Not really," she admitted. "You and Perrin spent so much time tutoring me … I think I did pretty well."

Amera grinned, her hazel eyes dancing behind her glasses. "What was the hardest question on the civics exam?"

Thinking a moment, Mara wrinkled her nose. "He asked me to recite the 12th amendment of the Settlement Constitution, and list three ways it impacts the city government."

Pumping her free hand, Amara crowed in delight. "I knew it! Mr. Walker has to come up with different questions for the regular exams every year, but I just knew he'd go back through the old exams to find the hardest questions for you! I told you he would, didn't I?"

"Mm hmm."

"That old meanie. Well, at least we're done with him." Amara squeezed her hand, then looked a bit more serious. "So, why were you looking so--glum? I mean, we're through with primary school, I know everyone passed, it's time to celebrate!"

Mara sighed. "I was--just thinking...we --all of us--we won't be together much, any more. You're obviously going to University, Perrin's certain she'll get into the Mage Guild, and me …"

"So where do you think you're going?"

Mara looked down at the sidewalk. "I think … I'll probably apply to Forestry, and maybe Enforcement. I like being outside … "

"But, could you qualify for Enforcement? I mean, your dad's pretty high up in that Guild, but you're so short…"

"I know. But, papa's been training me in unarmed fighting almost since I was adopted," Mara said. "And Sargeant de Delca, she thinks I could get in--not everything needs big people."

"Well, I hope you get what you want--whoops--hey, we need to catch up! We don't want to be the last into Donnie's, or we'll end up with the worst seats at the table! Come on!"

Mara looked and saw that the rest of the group were ahead of them, and picked up her pace to match Amara. They merged with their classmates, and Mara tried to smile, to chatter--and tried not to think about the looming decision that would decide her future.

Which guilds would offer her an apprenticeship?

"Blood Unbound" Completed

2013-01-27T05:17:40Z

Finally, I can say it.

The third serial in the alternate timeline story of Inuyasha and Kikyo is finished! The epilog has just been posted to fanfiction.net. 42 chapters, over 140,000 words, and far too many years, but it's done!

But, of course, the sweep of the story is hardly finished. Will Kikyo and Inuyasha make a life together, or will events tear them apart? Inuyasha has Tessaiga and the first two attacks, but what new challenges will appear? Where is this saga going?

In truth, I know in general terms where the story ends up. But, there's a lot of gaps to fill, before the next story can be told. Just as importantly, there are other stories which will now move center stage. On the fanfiction side, I want to get White To Black--another Kikyo-centric, alt-u serial, this time with the Inu no Taisho playing opposite her, in an alternate reality, where he failed to save Inuyasha and Izayoi, while surviving himself--completed. And I've also made it a goal to get a space-opera-type novel finished in 2013 (and, oh heck, the first 1/12th of the year is almost gone!!) So the sequel to 'Blood Unbound' is sadly going to have to wait awhile.

Bound to Tomorrow collection updated

2013-01-25T03:42:46Z

More pieces were missing from the Bound To Tomorrow collection than I realized. Added two more from July 2012 this evening: Basket Weaver and Great-Granddaughter. The first one, Basket Weaver, takes place sometime in the first few months after Kagome returned, and there is still a lot that she and Inuyasha do not know about each other. Sometimes about simple things--like crafts ....

The second piece involves their first child, taking place some years later. Great-Granddaughter Aimiko does something that makes Kaede very happy....

"Bound to Tomorrow" and "Little Bits" updated

2013-01-20T01:34:46Z

Two more short pieces uploaded to fanfiction.net. The first one shows what happens when Sesshomaru comes bearing gifts for a member of Inuyasha's family in Uncle's Gifts, an addition to the Bound to Tomorrow collection. In an addition to the catch-all collection Little Bits, Shippo takes center stage, hoping to successfully prank a snoozing Inuyasha...

"These Old Bones", "Bound to Tomorrow" updated

2013-01-19T03:05:03Z

Two more drabbles from 2012 have reached their ultimate destination on fanfiction.net this evening.

Heat In All the Right Places has Kagome bound and determined to get intimate with Inuyasha, on the night with a full moon.

In the second, an elderly Inuyasha, now living with the Higurashis, makes an apology to Grandpa Higurashi for an incident in his careless youth in the drabble The Bonsai Tree, part of the collection of These Old Bones.

Updates to "Little Bits", "Waiting for Kagome"

2013-01-16T01:23:04Z

I've posted a couple more pieces from last year onto fanfiction.net.The first one is a side piece, as it were, that is stored in the Little Bits serial called Night Fears, even though it belongs to the Waiting for Kagome storyline. (POV is Sango, night after the well returns.)

The second upload is the next chapter in Waiting for Kagome, wherein a flock of youkai attack the village just before dawn. It's still part of the ongoing theme of the relationship between Inuyasha and Rin.

"Ice & Steel", "Little Bits" updated

2013-01-12T05:18:15Z

The scanning through last year's list of prompts and responses still continues. Two short pieces, one each for the two inu brothers, have been added to two collection. Dissatisfaction looks at Sesshomaru's reaction to the end of the quest, and a certain action taken by his half-brother. Standoff takes place the next fall, wherein Inuyasha is playing his role of village protector.

For this weekend, I have competing desires. I would like to add to a current story followup to Home Invasion, writing a oneshot for the prompt "Winter Sky" for the At First Tweak community. I would also like to write the last chapter (save for an epilog) for Blood Unbound. I also need to do some serious house-cleaning, and have a meeting on Sunday afternoon. Will I get either of them finished?

I better not spend any time web surfing the rest of the weekend!

"These Old Bones" updated

2013-01-05T03:17:54Z

It's not the same room that it was. Old!Inuyasha, retreating from the tension and pain as Kagome's family is forced to grapple with the reality that she has been dead for centuries, realizes that the room isn't as familiar as he might have expected...

This is another belated upload to fanfiction.net, to the These Old Bones collection, and a reminder that I have several serials/collections that are sadly overdue for some fresh words...

"Bound to Tomorrow" updated

2013-01-05T02:45:59Z

Here's another belated update, this time to the collection Bound to Tomorrow, the post-canon bits and pieces about Inuyasha and Kagome after her permanent return. In this piece, which takes place in the first year (and not too long after her arrival), Inuyasha takes Kagome to a place that is very special to him...

"Taiyoukai's Butterfly" updated

2013-01-05T02:15:38Z

Call this one a 'near escape.' This piece was originally posted last March; discovered it hadn't been reposted to fanfiction.net until I was scanning my tracker spreadsheet this evening.

Though it was written before most of the "Izayoi's Return" short story, it fits in a few days after it. Had rather forgotten what it was about, so it was nice to re-read it.

Part III of 'Battle', for "Blood Unbound" is up!

2013-01-01T04:16:13Z

The third part of the battle between the panthers and the two dog youkai and their 'army' has been posted to the serial Blood Unbound on fanfiction.net. The battle is at its height. Inuyasha has lost control of his daiyoukai blood! What will Sesshomaru do? What can anyone do, to bring Inuyasha back to sanity?

I was hoping to post this chapter last night, and then write and post the concluding chapter tonight. Alas, I had some problems with the flow in the first part, and then my long-ill kitty unintentionally blew up my stress factors and upset me badly enough (okay, my mood is on edge the last few months from stress in general), that I didn't get to sleep until 3 this morning. So , at least this chapter is done, but my goal to get this story completed in 2012 will not happen. I guess my new goal will be to finish by Sunday, January 5th (I have to go back to work on Wednesday... )

Hope everyone is enjoying the last of the winter holidays!

Next time: Sacrifice

"Blood Unbound" updated - Panthers and Dogs at war

2012-12-30T06:42:32Z

I just added the second part of the battle between the panthers and Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, for the serial Blood Unbound.. The first part is the start of the battle, with Sesshomaru confronting the four siblings. And Inuyasha ... well, you can guess. The second part is the beginning of the climax I've been working toward all this time ... nope, can't say any more about it, except to say go read it!

The third part of 'Battle' will, if all goes well, be out late Sunday night. Don't know yet if it will go to part 4, or start the concluding chapter(s).

Hope everyone has been having a good holiday season!

Bound to Tomorrow collection updated

2012-12-27T01:13:35Z

Two more pieces belatedly being copied from LiveJournal to the Bound To Tomorrow collection. "Remembrance" ties in to earlier pieces, Sousobe and Spider Silk, as the events of the first trigger memories about Kikyo. The second piece, "It's Different Now," is Inuyasha's reaction to discovering his first-born is openly playing with human children...

"With One Eye" updated

2012-12-26T19:36:10Z

Six pieces have been written for the serial With One Eye since the last update, and they have all been posted to the collection site on fanfiction.net. When last updated, Kaede had visited Kikyo's grave with some bellflowers. Several weeks have passed since then, and in the interim, she's learned several lessons and gained a second teacher. Where will the serial be going? I haven't set down and sketched out ideas, but I hope to do so in the next week (though Blood Unbound still comes first!). There's the question Hajime (who is a very nasty character in 'White To Black', but who may or may not be redeemable in this storyline). And there's the question of where I want to take this serial, and where I want to end it. Unfortunately, a cold is not helping my progression in writing!

Six more days no no work...

And in the cut, the banners created for these chapters...

"Blood Unbound" Updated

2012-12-23T23:49:05Z

The final scenes before the 2nd war of the Panthers begins! Inuyasha has learned to use the Windscar, but Sesshomaru is ... displeased with the results. (Much more displeased than I thought he would be!) A little more of Cheiriyo's background is revealed (note, he is not 100% original character--he appears once, nameless, in both anime and manga), and the panthers gain an interesting little piece of information ...

Next time--battle! Will Sesshomaru and Inuyasha really fight side by side? Will Inuyasha be able to wield Tessaiga, and actually use the Windscar against the panthers? What are Toran's plans?

Thirty-five chapters (plus prolog), and finally getting towards the end...

Second Nano Win, and Blood Unbound updated

2012-12-01T03:52:27Z

Make that two out of three. I actually got to 50,000 Sunday night, after three days of fairly productive writing. It was just as well that I finished when I did, as by Tuesday, I was starting to feel under the weather, and I'm sitting here with a sore throat for the third straight day. :(

I haven't done any work on the potential novel since Sunday until this evening. I'm starting to copy bits and pieces over to new project in Scrivener, a writer's product which is designed to keep everything in one place, and then 'compile' all the scenes (ideally, one folder per chapter, and an individual text file for each scene). It seemed to work out okay during Nanowrimo, so I'll see if it helps me actually finish it. It will be considerably longer than 50,000 words -- I only got the main characters out of the first danger by the end of 50K, and that is with a certain amount of outlining.

While I have felt fairly yuckly the last few days, I did manage to write up the next chapter in Blood Unbound this week. Chapter 34: The Scar of the Wind is one of the key chapters, where Sesshomaru is attempting to teach Inuyasha to use Tessaiga's primary attack. How is he doing it, and will he succeed?

BTW, does anyone else find the 'new' version of LiveJournal utterly irritating? The 'friends' page uses a default formatting instead of the journal's format, and the editing page seems to want to go into never-never land when adding a URL in the **old** version! (Let's not talk about it's going into never-never land in the 'new version' when attempting to swap userpics!) Sheesh!

And geez, almost December ... and Yule .... and Chrismas... and a new year...

Galloping to the finish line?

2012-11-25T04:20:00Z

I've been absent from LiveJournal since the first of November, working on writing a (potentially publishable) novel in the sprint mode for the National Novel Writing Month. I've just hit the 45,000 mark, and if all goes well tomorrow, I can probably hit the 50,000 goal. If I do so, I may then spend some time on Monday and Tuesday (vacation days, yeah!) working on some Inuyasha fanfiction. Here's an excerpt from today's writing, that pretty much clarifies what is at stake. (Both characters are psychic, and are communicating telepathically):

Emmelin? Emmelin!

The Lady Seft opened her eyes, sweat-drenched, shaking and exhausted. Redrin? She felt as if she could barely reach beyond her skull.

Emmelin! His contact flooded with relief. I was about to try and call the Guardian. Did you have a premonition? What did you see?

She shuddered. Disaster. Worlds ruined, Shibaka and Kakokora at each others throats, if he has his way. He is darkness, evil, hating, wanting revenge on all who tried to stop his evil before. Trained to darkness, he knows no softness, no love, no caring. Only if Shibakan and Kakokoran stand together, can they stop him. They must retrieve the great crystal and gather the yang to the crystal’s yin. Black and white, they must be part of each, working together…

Great crystal? Redrin sounded worried. What great crystal? Emmelin … the Guardian has her crystal with her, surely?

She gasped as memory returned. Cassandra’s hope—oh, no. Redrin, it was on the ship. Kira says it is not destroyed, but our searchers haven’t found it. Staring up at the ceiling, she felt realization and horror sweeping through her.

Emmelin?

It’s Kira, she replied. Kira—and the half-Shibakan. They’re the keystone. They have to face this—this foe, and defeat him. If they don’t…

If they don’t?

War. Ruin.

NaNoWriMo 2012!

2012-11-02T04:17:34Z

I'm participating in the National Novel Writing Month for the third year. This time,I've gotten involved with the local NaNoWriMo group.We met last night, starting around 10, and started writing at the stroke of midnight. I barely lasted until 1 am, but I managed about 800 words then, and have added another 1100 this evening, for a total of of 1959 words.

I'm not doing fanfic this year, though I did seriously consider working on White To Black. This will be an original piece of fiction, genre space opera. It does, however, have some roots within Inuyasha. Some years back, I wrote an alternate universe of a restart of the Inuyasha saga, set in a far flung future, where humans have moved out into the universe and changed. I'm taking Second Chance and shifting it further away from the universe of Inuyasha. I don't really have much plot yet, so we'll see what happens...

Canning before Writing...

2012-10-09T04:19:38Z

I think I may have overdone the picking.

Last Saturday night was the big signal that fall is here -- the first freeze. Even before I knew the weather prediction, I had already planned to drive out to a local orchard to pick apples. I was there for several hours, filling three of reusable grocery bags, or about 60 pounds. Then, it was a stop at my brother's pumpkin patch, to say 'hi' and check out the various chilis for the chili cookoff. Then back home, to pick as many ripe, semi-ripe and green tomatoes as long as I still had energy left. (And wouldn't you know, that the larger varieties were just really starting to produce. Only the cherry tomatoes kept going through that heatwave earlier...)

So, for the last two days--and several more to come--my time not committed to work, sleep, or community, has been and will be involved in canning. Several batches of green tomato relish (chow chow variant), which require chopping and salting down at one point of the day, (e.g. dawn), and then cooking and canning at the opposite end of the day. And washing, coring, seeding, cooking, and pureeing apples to make applesauce, and--maybe--apple butter. I admit that I'm very happy to have a food processor to do the chopping for me! But it's still a lot of work (in part, because the apples are distinctly smaller than they should be, thanks to the drought).

So, I don't know if I'm going to get any writing done this week. About all I've accomplished the last three days is to upload two more chapters in the Waiting for Kagome saga. That leaves just one chapter still to post--for that serial.

Sigh. Such is life...

Updates!

2012-10-04T02:08:39Z

Several updates tonight:

The next chapter in the Waiting For Kagome. I'm going to keep updating this one the rest of the week (one chapter per night). The latest update is another confrontation between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru...

The second takes place within the three year timeframe of the above, but it doesn't fit timewise, and probably won't fit in storywise, when the serial gets to the point of time when the story occurs. So, into the Little Bits collection, describing Inuyasha's attempts to write a love letter to Kagome...

The third piece is for the mostly-neglected collection "Solo", containing bits and pieces of Kagome's three years in high school in the modern era. In this piece, Kagome's friends want her to spend more time with them...

Waiting for Kagome, White To Black updated

2012-10-03T00:12:05Z

Two updates this evening. Chapter 32 (of current count 34) of Waiting for Kagome is now up on fanfiction.net. And, not this evening, but several days ago, the alternate timeline White To Black serial was also updated.