Park City Lives Up To It's Name, But Mostly By Accident (NaNoWriMo 2014 - Two)

 Ah, this year is not going particularly well in terms of the old word count, I'm not going to lie to you.

 I'm going to keep it up and try to get to at least 25,000 words, if not more. In order to help accomplish this goal, I'm going to dedicate Fridays and Sundays to writing Herd.

 Speaking of, I have a little extract for you.

Enjoy.

Herd (Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:2380)

 Our journey ended when the coach entered a gated off street that had police guarding each end.
 
 There were a few in a fancier version of the same uniform standing in formation around the entrance to a particularly large and incredibly ornate building in the middle of the street.
 
 It was unlike most of the buildings I’d seen in the city so far, it bore no resemblance to Chinese architecture at all. In fact, it looked like a building from the Victorian period. The first one.
 
 It reminded me of home.

  A smiling man in some kind of traditional South East Asian dress and a heavy mayoral chain was standing on the steps leading into the building and smiling at us broadly.
 
 Like Doctor Bazan, it was hard to pin him down to just one ethnic group, at least, to any I was familiar with. He was rather a bit paler than her, with a broader nose and much curlier black hair, dotted with grey, that was pulled back into a plait.
 
 We were invited to leave the coach and we spilled out onto the street, the police were stationed near the fences at the ends of the street, trying to block off too much gawking from the people crowded on the other side. Although there were some photographers in the street taking photos at a respectful distance. They were smartly dressed, in suits and clothes much like the mayors.
 
 Peter and Calanthia tracked us down in the small crowd as we huddled together nervously, as the mayor cleared his throat and began his speech.
 
 “Gentlefolk of Vault Mingo, as Mayor of Park City is it my pleasure and honour to welcome you to our fair city on behalf of our founder Jason Park.”
 
 Oh. Well I felt daft.

Nine Over Five Writes Herd: Research, Research, Research

 Herd was supposed to be easy, you know.

 This is why it has a white protagonist despite being a science fiction book by me. There's no in universe reason for her to be white, unlike with the Berlin Project (code name), it was just for the sake of convenience.

 I worked on a diverse cast to make up for this shortfall, but it still wasn't meant to be a research heavy novel.

 But then I got into the world building.

 Which was always going to take a little research, but now it's more research than I was originally planning on.

 Hopefully it'll be worth it in the end...

 I'm not going to lie, I'm not very good at researching things. It was a miracle I managed to write such good essays in university.

 It's not research on a single subject either. I'm going to have to research a few different things in order to have this world be fleshed out in the way that I want.

 Ah, the price of accurate multiculturalism in fiction. Worthwhile, but time consuming.

 One of the areas of research is the Seneca-Cayuga.

 The reason I need to research them is that the vault is named after the Mingo tribe who once lived in the state of Ohio in the rough area I wanted to set the story. The Mingo were/are members of the Iroquois Nations and due to the moving around of native people by the American government they ended up down in Oklahoma as part of the Seneca-Cayuga tribe.

 Right now, this is more or less all I know.

 As I want a good chunk of Vault Mingo (at least one fifth) to be members of the Seneca-Cayuga and the planned culture of the Vault to be built around them, I need to know what the hell I'm doing.

 This is already incredibly important, and becomes more so because Kyle is a member of the Seneca-Cayuga, as is his guardian. (Let's face it, if one of Jane, Wilson and Kyle weren't, I'd rightfully be a laughing stock.)

 Right now I'm on the hunt for resources.

 I'd prefer books, but I'm willing to take whatever I can find.

 Well... I say that, but some of the books I've found are quite expensive, so I may need to dedicate a day at the Birmingham Central Library to find the kind of information that I'm looking for.

 An easier task will be the research of South Korean culture, which is relevant for the city in the story and will probably turn out useful for the Berlin Project too.

 There's some geographical stuff to look up and a few other things that will remain undivulged.

 Including a Miss Marple book I've bought for research purposes.

 I have a lot to look up.

 Wish me luck.

 And if you happen to know of any good resources on the Seneca-Cayuga, please, please tell me about them.

Nine Over Five Writes... My Name is Medea

While I was trying to think of something to write for today's post, I went through some of my old writing projects. This included my NaNoWriMo project from last year, and I was surprised to see how much I actually had of it.

The project currently stands at nearly thirty eight thousand words, which surprised me, because it's been a long time since I looked at this.

I'm also looking at it thinking it may be a good idea to hop between Herd and MNiM, because I'm having a hard time with Herd right now.

Anyway, here's an extract from My Name is Medea. Enjoy.

My Name is Medea

 The one eyed man sat at his desk expecting a phone call containing grave news. If you asked him what the grave news was, he couldn’t tell you. If you asked him how he knew it would be so grave, he wouldn’t tell you.

He stared at a contract that he’d been given just minutes before by his secretary blindly. He couldn’t look like he was expecting this phone call when Frau Junker walked in and told him Lenore had called with some kind of emergency. She was sharp and was already suspicious that he was far more than he seemed.

It was part of the reason she was still working for him, a mind that sharp didn’t work into your life every day of the week.

To say ‘think of the devil’ would be a cruel thing to say about such a devout woman, but she did appear as though summoned.

There was a gentle knock on the door and she walked in like a controlled, yet severe, gale.

“Herr Emmerich, I’m sorry to disturb you, but Frau Allen has called. She insists on speaking with you, she says it relates to Fraulein Eviala.”

The one eyed man nodded.

“Put her through, please.”

Frau Junker nodded and turned to leave but the man called her back briefly.

“Frau Junker, please ensure that I am not disturbed during this phone call.”

She nodded and left the room.

The one eyed man sighed and reached up to his left eye with an idle hand as his other hovered over the receiver. He gently removed his false eye as the phone began to ring.

“Tell me the bad news, Lenore.”

There was a short pause before she spoke.

“We’re looking at a worst case scenario here. Not only has he shown up, he’s actively seeking her out. Someone is orchestrating this.”

The man nodded.

“What precautions have you taken?”

“I’ve warned her to stay away from him.”

The one eyed man placed the eye on the desk and drummed his fingers.

“For the moment, that will have to do. Keep me updated.”

“Of course.”

They said their goodbyes and he hung up the phone before resting his chin on his hands. He glanced at his calendar. It would take time to clear his schedule, and as he replaced his eye he knew that it would take too long and he would be too late.

But there was still one thing he could do.

He picked up the phone again.

Camp NaNoWriMo Update - Part One

 It's not going super great.

 I've been ill, as you all know from the lack of proper posts for the last few days.

 However, I have got some done, and what I've got, I'm happy with.

 So have an extract of what I've written.

Herd

Peter was waiting outside, gathering stares from the Park City people. He did cut an imposing figure, tall, dark and handsome with his hair cropped close to his skull.

Compared to them, he was an almost defiantly masculine individual.

Some of them whispered about us once we joined him.

"She clear then?"

"She's clear. The picture of good health, as predicted."

"Told you, she's a tough girl."

Dr Jones laughed, "I never doubted that for a moment, Mr Howe."

He gave me an affectionate pat on the shoulder as he said it.

I couldn't help but smile.

"So, follow me and I'll take you to Miss Wilson and Master Stoppard."

He walked ahead and Peter and I shared a mildly amused look as we followed him.

The foyer started to have more and more members of the vault in it, we nodded in greeting to people as we passed.

Dr Jones stopped to talk to one of the people in white coats, this one had a blunt cut fringe and streaks of pink in her hair. She told him where to find Wilson and Kyle and he took us to a cubicle.

"Miss Wilson is in here, I'll go and fetch Master Stoppard for you."

True to his word, just after Dr Jones left, Wilson emerged from the cubicle.

She was wearing her standard tracksuit bottoms and pastel pink top with a big bow on her shoulder, but she still managed to look radiant.

I got a little anxious about my own appearance. My hair wasn't cropped close to my head like hers was, so it was probably a tangled mess.

I tried to subtly run my hand through it as she practically rugby tackled Peter into a hug.

"Peter! Jane!" She squealed, "you're okay!" She pulled away from Peter and turned to me, "girl, you look fine," she scolded as she dragged me into a hug. "We can do something about those shorts later."

I smiled and hugged her back.

"What happened to you two?" She asked as we separated, "some of these guys were saying there was a fight?"

“Jane punched one of the doctors in the face when she woke up,” Peter explained.

“How hard?” she asked.

“He looks like he’ll get a black eye.”

Wilson gave me a friendly punch in the arm, “‘atta girl.”

If you want to be an absolute darling and help me out, you could leave a comment telling me what you think of the characters and setting in the extract.

Also, regular posts will recommence on Tuesday as planned. I'm finishing up one tonight so it's ready to go.
So make sure to check back for that.

Picture drafting and a new Silver Crosses extract

 True to my word, I had a break from working on Jon Snow. I also checked him out in daylight and he looks pretty good.

 I also started drafting my next big piece, a picture of Derren Brown. I'm planning to use the same paper as I'm using for Jon Snow, so all I can do is studies and tests.

 Here's a sneak peak:

 And here's that extract I promised. In this one, you get to meet Carl.

Carl had a cool car. It was one of the cooler cars she’d seen in real life, some real Bond type of stuff going on. A 2013 BMW S-series gran coupe, if she wasn’t mistaken.

 Mel was enjoying the ride to Soto’s house way more than she should, given the circumstances.

 “You’ve got to let me try this thing out one day,” Mel said, admiring the mod cons, “I bet it corners like a dream.”

 “It does,” he beamed, “I’ve been really looking forward to winter so I can spend more time driving. It’s a great car to drive through the snow.”

 Mel nodded and perused the file again.

 “So, what do you know about this residential area?”

 “It’s pretty popular among the young and affluent undead, I’ve got a place there. It’s mostly where people live when they settle down, it’s a great place to raise kids, I hear.”

 “Are you anywhere near Soto’s place?” she asked.

 He shook his head as they got off the main road.

 “I’m on the other side, it’s a bit far from the office, so I don’t usually have time to get there between realising it’s late and the sun rising. So I sleep in my office a lot.”

 “You should be more careful,” Mel noted as they turned the corner to get onto Soto’s road.

 “I know I- whoa!”

 Carl screeched the car to a halt as a wheelie bin landed directly in front of the car.

 Mel looked out of the windscreen and gaped.

 “What the hell?”

 Everything that Mel assumed had been on the lawn of the Soto and Ferris household was floating in mid-air. Plants, garden decorations, the hose and one very confused black cat.

 “Shit. If it’s like this out here, what the hell is it like inside?” she said, eyeing the situation through the passenger window. She could see the next door neighbours twitching their curtains and peering at the goings on in the garden.

 “If they’re still having mirrors broken, then it could be even worse,” Carl noted, watching the cat circle, “hell, if it’s in the kitchen...”

 They looked at each other.

 “We need to get them out of there,” Mel noted, slipping off her kitten heels.

 Carl’s grip on the steering wheel as he stared through the windscreen.

 Mel peered over her shoulder, thankfully there were seats in the back. She turned to back to Carl, his knuckles were slowly turning white and he was starting to shake.

 “Carl!”

 He jumped.

 “Come on.”

 He looked at her with scared eyes as he bit his lip.

 She sighed and put her hand on his, “you wanna help right?”

 He nodded.

 “Then let’s go, you’re a tough guy, we’ll be fine.”

 “You sure?” he asked.

 She nodded, “we’ll be fine. Besides, I ain’t afraid of no ghost, and neither should you be.”

 He cracked a smile.

 “Right.”

 “We need to go on three, ready?”

 He nodded again, more determined than scared this time.

 “One.”

 She undid her seat belt.

 “Two.”

 She unlocked the door and looked at Carl, he was following suit.

 “Three.”

 They opened their doors and ducked out of the car keeping their heads down.

 Mel led the way, ducking into the emptiest area of the garden cyclone of doom. Carl followed her, keeping his head down and running low.

 She stopped and put her hand up. Carl stopped behind her. The space they’d gone through just closed up behind them. In the eye of the storm they waited for another gap to open.

 Mel eyed the swirling maelstrom warily.

 Suddenly, Carl pushed at her shoulders.

 “Get down!”

 She let her self be pushed to the ground and looked up to see a deckchair fly over them.

 “You okay?” he asked.

 She got to her knees and caught the barbecue grill that was about to fall on them.

 “Go!” she shouted as the grill pushed down.

 Carl swallowed and nodded, scrambling to his feet as he dodged his way to the front door.

 Mel shoved back and threw the grill away from her, it flew across the garden and landed in the middle of the road. She scrambled to her feet and followed Carl to the door.

 She kicked it open without ceremony and pushed Carl inside, turning around to catch the cat as it flew straight into her chest, knocking her backwards off her feet. She put a hand on it and scrambled backwards.

 Carl slammed the door shut and dragged a shoe rack in front of it, wedging it shut.

 He crouched on the ground next to Mel.

 “Are you okay?” he asked scanning her for injuries and looking concerned.

 “Yeah,” she groaned, “I’m- Ow!”

 “What’s wrong?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

 “It’s this bloody cat!” she pushed at the purring creature, “get off!”

 It jumped off indignantly and stalked over to the wall, sitting down and cleaning itself.

 “Stupid thing was clawing me,” she complained, sitting up.

 Carl held out a hand and helped her up.

 “That’s good,” he smiled in relief, “I was worried.”

 “Yeah well, you don’t need to worry about me, I’m made of tough stuff.”

 Carl nodded but pulled her into a hug anyway.

 Mel swallowed and blinked in surprise for a moment but hugged back anyway.

 “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said as they separated.

 She smiled at him before something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Day eleven, a quickie update and a love affair with Pokemon

 Damnit, I meant twelfth.

 The black dog has reared its head again.

 No, not Faiz. If it was her, obviously I would have said she ;-)

 By the black dog I mean depression and that I'm a little pretentious for referencing Churchill.

 My word count has plummeted, and right now I am five thousand words behind the projected target for today, and it's just going to get worse tomorrow.

 I feel like the most I can write in any given day is 2,000 words, and that's not terribly consistent.

 -sigh-

 Right now I'm just playing Pokemon and trying to cheer myself up.

 I feel as though my stress is ninjaing its way into ruining my life again, as it's easy to miss until I feel absolutely awful and am contemplating something particularly stupid.

 It's my birthday on the 14th and I don't feel like I want a birthday, like I don't deserve it.

 Anyway, some cheerful news.

 I've drawn in adult Joker on my fan art and I am planning an extra special Game of Thrones fanart. It's going to be amazing.

 I'm also really loving Pokemon Black 2. I think it's rapidly over taking Soul Silver as my favourite Pokemon game. For the last eleven years I have maintained that Gold and Silver (and then HG and SS as improved versions) were the best Pokemon games, but now I think they have at the very least an equal, if they haven't been surpassed.

 I found White something of a bore, but Black 2 took most, if not all of my issues and fixed them. Apart from triple battles, I still hate those; although they have less diverse triple battle teams so it's more manageable and I do absolutely love rotation battles.

 I also found something pretty funny that I want to share with you. I'll get to showing it to you all tomorrow, for now, Genny, Tarka, Thorny, Misty, Nosey and Steve are calling me and Liza's keen to get back in the action (Misty's in training so she'll evolve).

 Also, I need to work on getting Flopsy to stop hating me. Seriously, she actively hates my guts. I have no idea why, as I haven't done anything to her at all since catching her, and other Pokemon I've stored right after catching don't actively hate me.

 Ugh, it's all gotten so wonderfully complicated.

 NaNoWriMo word count: 15,282

 Novel count: 20,943

Day seven, and I love to suffer

 So, I'm staying up to watch the presidential election results.

 Fun fact, the last time I prayed was in the year 2000 because I really didn't want Bush to win. I'm not saying I'm psychic, it's more that I was grew up in the Clinton administration and had a somewhat starstruck view of Al Gore.

 Anyway, you didn't come here for my life story. Well, you probably are interested if you came here through Twitter, but Tumblr or Google+, I know you're here for the word count.

 So, after an abysmal day yesterday, I've managed to keep up to par.

 Yes, after days of being ahead due to writing at least the minimum everyday and having that lead I managed to get in the first two days, I crashed.

 Yesterday was not a good day, so I only managed four hundred words.

 However! Today I managed 1700 words, so I'm back on form, people.

 That means I'm up to 10,490.

 It also means that I'm growing frustrated with NaNoWriMo.org because I instinctively put a comma into any number over a thousand and it doesn't like me doing that.

 Curses.

 In other news, I also did some work on a piece of Batman fan art yesterday, here's a poorly photographed preview photo:

It's a babby Joker!

It's a not-to-be used character design for Arkham High. People may call me a fool, but Arkham High does not involve a teenage Joker.

 It did in a previous incarnation, a picture of which inspired me to start this picture, but I decided to take him and a bunch of other characters out, mostly because it was becoming a bit too 'much'. Also, that original incarnation/draft was awful.

 I did, however, include some new characters, all of whom are going to be a lot of fun. Especially the Principal, I love this guy, he's amazing.

 Anyway, as a final note, at this moment in the election, Romney is ahead 163-157. I'm very depressed.

 NaNoWriMo word count: 10,490

 Overall Silver Crosses word count: 17,016

Day three and progress on NaNoWriMo

 So far, so good.

 After my horrible dip, I couldn't get the first chapter finished in time for the first.

 But, I did get it finished on the first day of NaNoWriMo!

 And now I'm about half to two thirds of the way through chapter two and getting a good start on NaNoWriMo in case I have another dip during the month. Which is entirely likely, because guess who has to deal with Atos?

 Yes, I have to deal with Atos. I'm just going to have to hope that they won't conflate writing for fun, which I can't always do, with being able to cope with being made to search for work in an increasingly depressing economy. Before I was put on ESA, applying for a job and not even getting a rejection email did not help improve my mood.

 Anyway, in other news, my doctor says he's going to push for me to get counselling, which is a huge help. The sooner I get into counselling, the sooner I can start to gain the confidence to get on with my life and not be overwhelmed by my family situation.

 Current Word Count: 4,671

One day to go, a day in the life of a depressive

 As you well know, I didn't write a post yesterday. That is because nothing got done. At all.

 After writing the post the day before yesterday, my depression got triggered, and regardless of the fact that the trigger is no longer a concern, I'm still feeling the effects.

 In the hours after the trigger happened, I was so distressed that I couldn't sleep, and only watching videos of cats, rabbits and octopuses combined with 'Icanhascheezeburger' was I able to sleep.

 Yesterday, I suffered fatigue and the muscles in my back kept seizing up as well as feeling like I was going to cry all day. This is not mentioning the feelings of self harm.

 Today was better, but I'm still feeling down, a bit cry-ey and my back muscles are still playing up.

 So not much done in the way of writing and planning.

 Right now, my priorities are down to finishing this chapter and getting twiglets on that 2 for 1 deal at Tescos, because I love twiglets and yeast extract has a bunch of b vitamins in, which I think are meant to help with mood. Also, it has folic acid, which is supposed to help fend off anaemia. It's apparently really good during pregnancy, so that's good, if completely inapplicable in this situation.

 Success on NaNoWriMo seems unlikely at this point, but I'm still going to attempt it. Because even if I fail, I'll have done something.

Third day to go, and lack of progress

 How are my key areas going? Not great.

 A. Still haven't finished the first chapter yet, but on the plus side, Carl has finally shown up. So that's something. It's currently up to 6,326 and I haven't worked on it yet today, so it should be finished tomorrow or the day after.

 B. More plot has been written up! Also, the third main character has shown up, and is getting a few scenes with Mel by himself.

 C. Completed!

 E. Have tidied kitchen table as much as I can. Everything on it is important stuff my parents need to deal with.

 Progress on my room is yet to be made.

 F. Still need to get around to this.

 G. Made the decision for Mel and Zach to investigate second incident during the day, so no Carl unfortunately.


 I ran out of twiglets today, and am upset, as I love twiglets and need something to munch on.

 On the other hand, though, in good news, I'm getting a haircut tomorrow, so I'll make sure to show you my snazzy new do when I get it.

 Back to plotting and writing for me!

The fourth day to go and a change of plan

So, how am I doing on my seven key areas? Well...

 A. I'm still working on the end of this first chapter, but it's getting very close to being done. It's currently up to 5,742, so it looks like my prediction will be accurate.

 B. Currently up to seven index cards with plot lined out on them. This doesn't include the post-it notes annotating important factors that need to be taken into consideration. It also doesn't include the work already done on chapter two, which adds up to five index cards.

 C. I have gotten the new index cards and super special awesome NaNoWriMo specific pen! Unfortunately, the index cards are not the same size as the ones I already had, so I copied my notes out onto the new ones. I know that sounds unnecessary, but it would have ruined everything if my cards didn't match. I'm just that way about things like this, I need them a certain way.

 I've also abandoned the wall of plot and opted for the book of plot. Which has the advantage of portability. I'm sticking the cards in with masking tape, so they can still be moved around.

It's genius. Genius I tell you!

 D. Still need to codify character traits. Will be dedicating part of tomorrow afternoon to it.

 E. Slowly working on tidying kitchen table and will dedicate part of tomorrow to tidying my room.

 F. Have not yet looked into how to write effective action/fight scenes. Will make sure to do so some time in the next few days.

 G. I have started to make some decisions, such as Josh's attitude towards business people and how Mel and Carl obtain an important phone number.

 I've also decided my snack for NaNoWriMo. Thank the over commercialisation of Christmas, because mini twiglets are on offer! I love me some twiglets.

 I also love Neuro Bliss, so it's likely to turn out to be one of my beverages of NaNoWriMo.

This particular drum won't be for NaNoWriMo, because it won't last until the first.

 There's more snackage to be planned, and my NaNo playlists need to be created, but I think I'm making good headway on that.

 Huzzah!

The end of the fifth day to go and my NaNo to do list

 So, here I am, taking a break from one of the most important parts of my preparation for NaNoWriMo to tell you all about my preparation for NaNoWriMo.

 Now, since I already know what I'm writing, I've spared myself that first important step. I've also already signed up to NaNoWriMo.org so I can post on the forums for help and moral support.

 So, the things that are really key for me are:

 A. Finishing this redraft of chapter one

 B. Noting down what scenes I need for my story on individual index cards

 C. Going to Tescos to get more index cards and a super special awesome NaNoWriMo specific pen

 D. Writing up the traits of my characters and making it easy to add more traits as and when they make themselves clear

 E. Setting up my writing spaces which are:

My Bedroom

The Dining Room Table

The Craft Room

 This includes creating the wall of plot, so I'm also going to need blu-tack from Tescos and possibly some string.

 F. Looking into how to write effective action/fight scenes

 G. Make decisions in relation to various plot points and character traits

 Right now, I'm working on A, which is currently up to 5,251 words and is outstripping the original draft (5,176) and is still in progress. Thankfully, though, I am already on the final scene of that chapter, so I should be able to get it finished by then, I'm estimating that it will end up at 6,000 to 6,500 words long. Especially when it's taken into account that the final scene of the chapter is 966 words long in the first draft.

 So far today I've only written 142 words, but that's because I was distracted reading a friend's NaNoWriMo from last year. I'll be typing my little heart out after this is posted, so don't you worry.

 Over the next few days, I'll be updating my progress in each of these key areas, so make sure to check back and see how I'm doing!

 I'll also make sure to post an extract in this time to sweeten the pill for you ;-)

November is coming.

 Ah, November. The month of sad days to mourn the war dead, complaining about how commercialised Christmas is getting and how it seems to start earlier every year and, the month of my birth.

 It's all these things, and more.

 One of the things that happens in November is the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

 It's pretty much what it sounds like, and it has one simple goal:

 Write 50,000 words in 30 days.

 The goal may be simple, but the road is long and hard. So I thought that I'd share some of my preparations for NaNoWriMo with you over the next seven days.

 Our countdown to NaNo starts here, with the 26th of October, so join me as I get ready for the tough ride ahead.

Character sketches, and the Buddleia fiasco

 In our back garden we have this massive buddleia plant. Buddleias grow pretty tall anyway, but ours was also right next to the compost heap, so it was massive.

 It was in need of a pruning for a fair while, but my dad never got around to it.

 Well, the wind decided to do it for him.

 Part of the plant cracked right near the root and fell over onto the fence, only because it's so tall, it was hanging into the neighbour's garden. This was not allowed to stand.

 My sister Anna and I spent three hours chopping the damn thing up, and by the time we were done, you couldn't tell what had happened. It was amazing.

 I also got some awesome pics of a very leggy spider, but I'm tired and it's late, so I'm going to put pictures of my adventures up in a supplementary post tomorrow.

 Anyway, now to the sketches.

Top- Lucretia, Julie, Melissa
Bottom- Joshua, Sebastian, Zachariah

 Lucretia is modelled after an Italian supermodel, who's name completely escapes me (crap). Julie is modelled after Emilie de Ravin, only she's much taller than Miss de Ravin as she's a air hostess. Zachariah is based on Francis York Morgan from Deadly Premonition (which you all know I love). Sebastian is based on a Lucius Malfoy-ey type look, even though I screwed up his eyebrows.

 Melissa and Joshua aren't particularly based on anyone.

 So the lesson here is, Haz needs to get back into drawing, because she's sorely out of practice.

Second bake and character sketches

 Rarity has had her second bake! Woo!

 Now that's done, I can safely stow her away and take a break. I'll probably dismantle newplast rarity to get the plasticine back, since I don't really need her any more.

A photo

 I had planned to scan the character sketches, but by the time they were done, my parents had gone to bed and my printer is in the next room. Of course, the volume of a printer/scanner when you want it to be quiet is second only to Krakatoa, so here's a photo instead!

 I'm a bit out of practice with the old watercolour pencils, so the skin colours are a bit crap. Oh well, practice will sort out that problem!

 Anyway, I'll do three more characters tomorrow and scan the whole sheet in for you guys. I'll also explain who is meant to look like who in that post too.

 See you tomorrow!

Another Silver Crosses preview!

 I have worked on Rarity a little more, but I think I'm going to give her another bake and have a break for a while. Work on something else for a little while.

 In the meantime, however, here's a short extract from Silver Crosses (which is at 4,267 words, at the moment):

 Mel has finally gotten out of the wheelchair and is being taken to meet the Lycan and Vampire council in her new home, she's a little unsteady on her feet.

  “I’ve got an idea. Sit down for a sec.” He steered her to a chair and sat her down.

 “Mom always said I had magic hands, let’s see if I’ve still got it,” he winked before carefully started massaging some of the life back into her legs.

 “I’m not sure this is helping, but damn, you’ve still got it.”

 Josh just beamed as the door opened.

 “Joshua, really? The woman is only just out of a wheelchair.”

 Mel and Josh jumped.

 A tall woman (5’11”) in a figure hugging (curvy, 11 and a half stone) black dress watched them as she leaned in the doorway, one dark eyebrow raised.

 “Um, hey Lucy,” Josh smiled, looking innocent but not letting go of Mel’s leg.

 ‘Lucy’ rolled her eyes and walked over to them.

 Mel took a few deep breaths, for all the mental preparation she had done, she was still a little nervous being around vampires.

 “Hello,” she said with a warm smile and soft Italian accent, “and welcome to our community. I am Lucretia Orbel, I vice-chair the vampire council.”

 “Oh, nice to meet- oh!” Mel groaned as Josh massaged the sensitive spot at the back of her knee, “Josh!”

 “Come now, Joshua, we are trying to have a conversation. If you insist on seducing the poor woman, can you not do it now?” Lucretia asked with an exasperated tone.

 “I’m not trying to seduce her!”

 Lucretia put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow again, “please, do not try to fool me in these matters, especially since you know I am fully aware of your tactics when it comes to seducing somebody.”

 It was Mel’s turn to raise her eyebrow at Josh.

 He coughed and let go of Mel’s leg, standing up.

 I might try to do some character sketches tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have something to show you!

Still in Derbyshire, but novel extract!

 I'm returning to work on my novel, and today I wrote a new opening for it.

 In a terrible plan, I'm rewriting what I already have, mostly because I can barely stand to read what I have.

 So at the moment, the new draft is up to 2,274 words! Go me!

 Anyway, here's the new opening :)

   “Stop right there!”

The chase was on and Mel loved it. She was the hunter and this was her prey, she’d catch him and drag him back to the pack for a feast.

 She could smell the terror rising off him, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she started gaining.

 As she ran she saw herself from behind just as the smell changed from fear to something more like smug satisfaction.

 She watched in horror, this was going to end badly. She could see the kids with the pipes and planks of wood in the disused shopping centre. She saw herself run into a trap and saw the first hit from the kid in the knockoff Burberry cap.

 She woke up with a start and a yelp.

 “Constable Baker? Are you alright?”

 Julie the kindly air hostess ( blonde, 5’8” 9 stone) was hovering over her.

 Mel forced herself to relax.

 “I just had a nightmare, that’s all,” she explained with her best ‘brave face’.

 “Oh, okay. Would you like me to get you anything?”

 “Nah, I’m fine, just bored. That’s all.”

 Julie looked thoughtful for the moment.

 “Well, we could always watch Die Hard. John McClane always keeps me entertained,” she smiled conspiratorially.

 Mel looked at Julie for a moment before smiling.

 "Okay."

 In truth, this opening was partially inspired by my friend Kelly on tumblr and her awesome 'The Pack' fanfic series. It's going to serve as inspiration for a lot of the werewolf stuff in Silver Crosses, I can just tell.

Quick update

Since my last post had me bemoaning the difficult time I had on another blogpost, I reckoned it would be a good idead to post that I actually managed to post it. Here's a link if you want to read it, by any chance.

 In order to justify a blogpost, I'm going to expand it with talking about my novel.

 I haven't mentioned that yet.

 So, I decided to write a novel about a vampire and a werewolf falling in love at the suggestion of my hairdresser.

It's evolved into the story of a British werewolf in America with an American vampire keen to work together at a supernatural detective agency. They're also keen on a relationship.

 I'm hoping I might be able to make it a series of novels, and the first one has them defeating an evil ghost.

 Not much info, I'm afraid, but I'm more keen on selling this one, so I'm going to be a bit tight lipped about it.

 I'll keep you posted on progress, but not details.

 Sorry!