Changes have occured in Chapter 2 of Aquila and the 4th chapter has also been added! Go read and please comment!

This is your last chapter for 2 months as the author will be gone with no capabilities to get to computer until March 24th. Thank you for your patience!

A Rumor, a Memory, and a Vision

Latest chapter of Zoe is up! Come check it out for some history on Zoe and her twin. ;)

Chapters 2 and 3!

Aquila has added two more chapters!

A glimpse

“What is your name, girl?”

“Daelia Romany.” She jumped aside as a horse-drawn cart almost ran her over. The wheels hit a deep puddle as it passed, splashing mud up the front of her clothes and over the cloak she carried over one arm.

“Don’t fear,” Callian remarked as she tried in vain to brush the sludge off her tunic, “A little mud cannot hurt them anymore.”

She determined to watch her surroundings more carefully; one could be killed by drivers like that one. Keeping one eye on Callian as not to get separated, she scanned the area around her.
Suddenly, through a brief break in the people moving swiftly through the market, she caught sight of a familiar face. A face she would have recognized anywhere.

“Wren!”

*****
Read and comment on Daelia's new chapter here!

something's happening in the northern swamp

The sentence has become a paragraph, and the paragraph a scene: birth of a character with requisite new ideas festooning every line, a hunt for zoological references while "As the dawn was breaking the sambhur belled/Once, twice, and again!" repeated itself in my mind, evening spent sniffling over the unexpected sadness of my own imagination.

I do love to write :). More Taerith shall appear by the end of this week, I hope.

I hope to start posting Writing Tips on Inklings again shortly. The new semester has begun and I am teaching 55 students: lots of material for Tips!

New changes!

Changes have occured in Aquila's life that has led her to delete all previous chapters excluding the prologue! So please check back in with her as she has a NEW chapter 1 posted!

fruitful

"The earth beneath Taerith's feet sank as he crept over it, the boggy reek of the mud rising to meet the close darkness of branches that hung down from old, spindle-rooted, thick-trunked trees; dripping long strands of black leaves."

One and one-half hours.

One complete sentence.

It's either writer's block or shocking procrastination.


http://taerith-romany.blogspot.com

- Rachel Starr Thomson

Writing Sample on Writing

I had to do a writing sample for someone about a favorite hobby and this is what I wrote:

The sound and form of words and thoughts captivated me at a very young age. At first it was the illusion and drama of a story well told. Then, as I grew and matured, it became the turn of phrase. Now, I strive to capture the magic and power of the written word on my page. My pen, or in this case my keyboard, attempts to represent not just reality, but a heightened, noble perception of reality. A world where characters are understandable; life is always exciting on some level; one can escape from the dull or mundane into the fantasy. I don’t always succeed at this. There are times that I struggle to find the right words or powerful image, but still I find I cannot give in to despair. Though it is possible that no one will read my prose, love my characters, or applaud my plots, I still must try. I grasp at the great tales of those who have gone on before me. I attempt to pull from within something worthwhile and original. Using words that speak to my soul and I hope to others’ souls as well, I shall continue to write. It is like a drug that I can never purge from my system. The desire haunts me even when I know I shall fail. I look at the worn dialogue, fragmented, and limp. I see the flaws and I can predict the hardship ahead. But despite the long moments of dragging each word letter by letter to the page that lies before me, I cannot turn away. The words call to me, the story sings in my head, and the characters clamor for life. I must go onward. I cannot stop. I write.

© Rachel Rossano
Author of Wren Romany

Ilara is lured by curiosity...

"Tucking her hair behind her ears, she looked up briefly as if in hopes of seeing Elsu again, but she knew it would be weeks if not months before she received the first reply. What she saw instead was interesting, but not wholly unexpected; lapping streams of smoke rising faintly over the tree tops higher up the mountain...

People."



Ilara Chapter Four is up! Come meet some strangers.
<3Libby

Confrontation

Arthus

The village appeared like any other village I had encountered on my ramblings. A scattering of farms around the outskirts filled with men hard at work, a cluster of hovels at the village center, the ringing sound of the blacksmith working at his forge and women gossiping by the village well in the cool morning air all supported the impression.

However, one glance in Katraina’s direction changed my assessment. The young woman hunched behind Wren. From their perch on Brone, there was little chance that she was going to make herself less conspicuous and Wren, being smaller, made a difficult hiding place, but Katraina was trying. Wren on the other hand was sitting in the saddle as though she was preparing to face a legion of men.

“What is wrong with you two?” I demanded. “Is there something I should know?”

I was addressing Wren, but Katraina answered. “I am…”

Chapter Six of Wren Romany's Tale

A Choice

As he spoke, Daelia felt time stop and the trader’s voice fade away. A familiar sensation washed over her as she saw a picture in the back of her mind. The picture was not of a person or an event, but of a feeling; a sense of peace and assurance, but also of urgency and warning.

Something important was going to happen; something that hinged on the decision she was being asked to make at that very moment. Suddenly the picture changed, and she now saw a young woman, herself, wandering up and down a street that seemed never to end. After what she new to be an eternity, the young woman collapsed and lay motionless.

Then as quickly as it had come, the feeling vanished, and the market noise picked up where it had left off. The trader was waiting for her to answer.

Chapter 7 of Daelia is up!

Chosen

"Did you come here to celebrate Annar's wedding feast?" Taerith asked.

"No," Joachim said. "Annar's affairs are not so important to the neighbouring kingdoms that they would send an emissary--even one as poor as I. I came to deliver a message. And you?"

"I hardly know," Taerith said. "My wandering brought me here, and I believe I am to stay here... I confess I understand little of the path that has led to today."

Joachim smiled. "We are both men sent by God," he said. "I knew you had the mark of Deus on you the first time I saw you, standing as the queen's defender."

The memory came back to Taerith in a rush: Joachim had been the priest with Borden when the prince had come with his guard to escort Lilia to the castle.

"I don't know what you saw," Taerith said. "If Deus has touched me--and I believe perhaps he has--it was not so long ago as that."

"That was hardly long ago," Joachim said, chuckling. "But Deus chooses a man long before the man knows he is chosen."

"Chosen for what?" Taerith asked.

"Only you can answer that," Joachim replied.

* * *

Chapter Seven of Taerith by Rachel Starr Thomson has been posted! Come, read, and comment.

Tancred's Point of View

It being the first day of the new year, I decided to bestow the extraordinary gift of another chapter of Zoe to you all. ;) Hope you enjoy it. You'll get to see a little bit of what goes on in the Hunter's head. Don't you DARE forget to comment, either, you hear! :-D

~ Em

(Here's the handy dandy link if you want to get there really fast.)