Tag Archives: Fiction

NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 10

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Welcome to week two of this madness. Only twenty more days until the end. I don’t know if I can make it. I barely survived week one, and that’s only because I spent all weekend playing catch up. Eight-thousand words in two days: not too shabby!

Right now I’m about six-hundred words from actually being caught up. I hope to get ahead today to give myself a little bit of a buffer. Going overnight at work has really taken a toll on my ability to write. I seem to do best after the sun goes down. That’s when my creativity spikes distractions wane. For the rest of the month, however, I’ll be purging backstock to get ready for inventory.

That makes it hard to write. I’m busy during my peak time working at my job, and when I get home at 6:30 in the morning, I play on Facebook for a few minutes before setting my computer aside and falling asleep. By the time I get up, it’s between one and three in the afternoon, and I do my best to write, but distractions seem to get in the way.

Week two should be a little easier, at least that’s what I’m going to believe. I’m at sixteen-thousand words, and I have a clearer idea of what the story is turning into. I’m still trying to pin down Giada’s personality. In my first book, Giada was flirty with a mischievous personality. I haven’t quite got it right, yet. She also hasn’t met Israel, either. Maybe he’s the one that unlocks her true nature. We shall see.

At least my antagonist is developing nicely. He has a lust for power and an arrogance only those with no real abilities seem to possess. He’s scared of Giada, for some undisclosed reason. I’m ready to introduce the tension between the two and see how it escalates.

No point in procrastinating. I only have a few hours to write before I leave for work. I’d better make the best of them. I’ll check in later this week. Hopefully I can stay on track!

NaNoWrimo 2014: Day 5

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I hit a hiccup yesterday. Well, it was more of an impenetrable brick wall into which I slammed head first, then went careening over a cliff, only to die in a blaze of glory when I came to rest at the bottom, with no one to witness my unfortunate demise. Luckily, I got better and I’m back today.

The brick wall is still there, but instead of trying to break it down by brute force, I went around the damned wall and started the next chapter instead. I was utterly lost and had no idea what to do about my story so I decided to introduce a new character, the antagonist who will work to destroy my M.C.

Before I go on, I think it’s funny how the escort/prostitute is the hero in my story while the Cardinal is the villain. Shouldn’t the holy man be the good guy and the woman who sins for a living be the bad guy? Yeah, but then the story would not be what I want to write. I want it to be about what’s in a person’s heart rather than what they appear to be.

But back to my point….

My story was meandering. I couldn’t find a way to go forward. Giada was in Rome. She moved back to Rome. Look at how much Giada is in Rome, for the first time in ten years, back in Rome. Did I mention she’s back in Rome? For the first time in ten years? Here, let’s show her again in Rome, where she used to live ten years ago, but then moved. She’s back, and it only took her ten years!

I’ve never been that stuck before. One good thing is that I found her a love interest. I guess I should say I found someone who’s interested in her, but she doesn’t share his feelings. Too bad. He’s only in his early forties, tall, ruggedly handsome, and rich. He also accepts her for who she is and refuses to try to change her. He’s a good guy, but she doesn’t love him. She’s incapable of loving anyone, even him, and she feels bad for it.

But I couldn’t figure out how to write myself out of that corner. I didn’t know where to go, so I went to the opera. That didn’t help. Took her shopping then to dine where she ran into one of her clients. Still nothing. Frustrated, I lost control, hit the wall, went over the cliff and died. I think I only wrote 200 words yesterday.

I knew it would happen eventually, just not on day four. That’s okay. I’ll just skip ahead a bit and introduce someone new. I have to flesh him out a bit, discover his history and motivations. That’s what I’m doing now, and I’m up to 700 words for the day, and I’m just getting started. I should make my daily goal and make up for yesterday’s disastrous attempt. I hate being a day behind, but that’s not catastrophic. I just need to work harder so I don’t fall farther behind.

Book Review: Through Kestrel’s Eyes

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Kestrel

Through Kestrel’s Eyes © 2013 Yvonne Hertzberger

Through Kestrel’s Eyes is the second book of the Earth’s Pendulum Series by Yvonne Hertzberger. I reviewed the first book, Back from Chaos back in August. All the major characters are back, except in this book, the story is a first-person narrative as told by Klast and Bresna’s daughter, a seer named Liannis.

Liannis is a young woman, newly come into her responsibilities. Chief among her abilities include the gift of foresight, usually given to her in a series of dreams from Mother Earth, and the ability to truth-tell, which she uses if a prisoner needs to be interrogated, of if someone’s loyalty is called into question.

The seer works for Earth, a goddess personified, who uses Liannis as an intermediary to maintain balance. Earth’s ability to provide for her inhabitants is strained by man’s refusal to live in harmony with one another. War, and man’s desire to subjugate a defensless populace, causes Earth to suffer, which in turn leads to drought and famine.

The book is roughly a two year span, between Liannis’ taking up the mantle of seer from her mentor, and the trails Bargia, her home, faces with the neighboring demenses, (what we would think of as a kingdom.) Though she has pledged no allegiance to any lord, having grown up in Bargia, she works primarily with Lord Gaelen and his allies.

Trouble comes to Bargia on two fronts, first from Lieth, where a weak lord is disposed and a ruthless despot assumes power, abusing the populace for his own enjoyment. Then from Gharn, where the lord has also been deposed but Dugal, his heir, seeks to reclaim his birthright. Lord Gaelen must choose where to focus his attention, Bargia not strong enough to fight two separate battles, though both threaten not only Bargia’s safety, but Earth’s ability to provide.

Through the conflicts, drought plagues the lands, putting further hardships on the land, making achieving a lasting peace all the more important. Liannis works tirelessly, even putting not only herself in danger, but also her loved ones, all for the sake of Mother Earth. At risk is not only her home demense of Bargia and her allies, but the survival of all mankind.

First let me say that trying to summarize the book is almost an impossible task, as there’s so much going on, with a cast of characters that come together to create a rich and complicated story. At its heart is our seer, Liannis, aided by a young man Merriest, who had the misfortune of losing a leg in his first battle.

There’s also the added dynamic of the seer and her parents, her father Klast, Gaelen’s most trusted adviser and spy, and Bresna, Lady’s Marja’s best friend. Woven into is her familiarity with the ruling family, and her duty to remain impartial for the service of Earth.

The story is much more about about the necessary evils a country must fight in order to achieve a lasting peace. It’s about the suffering her people endure, and how dependent the population is to her leadership for their survival.

But for me, the crux of the book is the Liannis’ personal relationships, not only with family and friends, but all those she serves. There’s a depth of warmth that is at once real and moving. She cares, and through her made me care. She loves, and I came to love her and the rest of the characters as well. The added friction of a potential romantic attachment, one that she believes to be taboo, is familiar and should resonate with everyone.

Through Kestrel’s Eyes is a well-written novel, as is the rest of the series. It moved me to laughter and to tears. I loved it so much that I immediately read the third -though you have to wait for my review – and I immediately wrote the author to tell her how much I loved her books.

It should be no wonder that I should rate this book highly, 5 out of 5 stars. Even after reading it for a second time, I couldn’t contain my emotions, my eyes tearing up from Liannis trials, that I had to stop often to dry them. It isn’t to often that a book does that to me. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Yvonne Hertzberger
Back from Chaos

List of Book Reviews
Next review –  Ensnared
Previous Review – Dark the Night Descending

My NaNoWriMo Synopsis

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Here’s the synopsis of my story. You can find me on the NaNoWriMo website at Joe Hinojosa.

Having survived a tumultuous childhood, Giada wanted to escape the life of poverty that had defined her young life. Seduced by the promise of easy money, she began to cater to the rich and powerful of Rome, never imagining the depraved appetites of the elites. To her surprise, she found that she enjoyed every moment of hedonistic bliss.

Now in her mid-twenties, she had given up on the notion of love, especially after witnessing the loveless marriage of her deceased mother and the man who dared call himself her father. Instead, she embraced each new client, allowing herself to be used to gratify whatever desire her client would want, satisfying her own lust for life.

That is until he came came along….

Fearing for her life, Giada turned to the one organization that she had rejected after her mother’s tragic death. Repulsed by the hypocrisy of the eunuchs running the sacred institution, she is forced to make her peace with the church, finding safety in the most unlikely of people, a humble priest from America. Through him, she is confronted with her past and the ghosts that threaten to consume one of the hingemen of the church.

With the priest, she finds that she has to make a choice, one that will either lead to salvation, or to eternal damnation.

In search for a plot

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Participant-2014-Web-BannerFellow Wrimos, we’re going on less than thirty-six hours before NaNoWriMo 2014 kicks off, and I can’t be more excited! And terrified. I just realized that though I know who I want to write about, and I have a general idea of where I need to end up, I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to get there. It’s a little like taking a trip from my house to Maine without consulting a map. Nope, I’m going to be my usual pantser self and drive, hoping I get there in one piece.

At least in the car, I know the general direction I need to take, and I can read road signs. Maybe it wouldn’t be the most efficient way, but I’d certainly get there. But with this story, I need to figure out a plot, even a loose idea, that can move me along. I have part of her history down, and I think I know why she choose to become an escort, but how did she get there?

What I know about my main character, Giada, is that she’s extremely intelligent, with an appreciation for literature, art, music, and working knowledge of politics. What scares me is that I’m not so intelligent, and I have a very limited knowledge of the list above. Also, I know nothing about escorts, pornstars, and the interactions between them and the clients that hire them.

What am I to do?

As with everything, I’ll just fake it and hope it makes sense. I know more than I’ll admit to myself, and I’ll research what I need as I go along. I have a feeling that there will be some nefarious character, a Cardinal working in the Vatican, that will incite the troubles against Giada, forcing her to ally herself with the very institution that she turned her back on, the Catholic Church. As a bonus, I’ll get to meet Israel Mendoza, the main character in my first NaNo novel, as a young priest.

But why is a Cardinal, one of the hingemen of the church, so interested in a mere prostitute? I have an idea, but I don’t think I’ll share that reason, at least not yet. All I know is that when I wrote her into my story back in 2011, she was just a throwaway character, a bit of revenge against someone who did me wrong. Naturally, I fell in love with her. She’s broken and jaded, but I understand her brokenness. Also there’s a joy and an innocence in her that belies her worldliness. I can relate to that, too.

As with everything I write, there’s a personal reason for my telling. I think with her, my reason is that she’s ultimately what I created, a throwaway character. That’s what I feel I am to those around me. She’s used and discarded, with no one to love or to be loved. That, too, is how I feel at times.

But she’s the hero in her story. She may live a sinful life, but she’s not beyond the call of redemption. She may sell her body for earthy pleasure, but in her soul there’s still a place unblemished by the touch of man. No matter how worthless she feels about herself, she will find that she does matter to someone who prizes her above everything and everyone else.

Too bad I don’t know how the hell I’m going to do it!