Category Archives: Aryneth

The Pacing of Plot.

As I plow forward in my desperate attempt to get this latest draft of Serpent in a Cage finished in time for a decent publication date, I find myself obsessing a little too much over certain details. I’ve been a trooper when it comes to pushing aside the doubts and striving forward, if only to finish the first draft and then worry about the details, but one of the issues has been weighing more prominently on my mind, and that is the topic of pace.

For me, especially with fantasy novels, the pacing of a book can make or break it. If a story moves too slow, I lose interest in it. Sometimes, though, a story throws so much at you so quickly that you never really feel a connection. It’s definitely the latter that I’m worried about in SiaC. I’m about four chapters into it, and, in the first three chapters, there’s an awful lot of encounters. Some of those encounters are about to swing back around and turn into bigger plot points, but I’m worried that it’s almost too much at once. Will readers find it irritating to have my characters encounter someone, move on, encounter something else, move on again for another encounter before some it starts to tie together? I hope not, and I’m thinking if it does feel like too much, I can always go back and slow the pace down in the revision, with some other perspectives or whatever else might seem fitting.

That’s just the thing, though, these encounters and how I have them set up all seem fitting. It’s hard to tell from my own perspective. I know a great deal of my inspiration and my wanting to write in the first place is based heavily in video games, mostly role-playing ones such as Final Fantasy and Baldur’s Gate, where encounters are basically imperative to moving the plot forward. But I know a common mistake a lot of authors make is to introduce too many players too quickly, and the wealth of personalities in SiaC has been a common criticism in previous drafts.

Do you find yourself distracted when an author has a fairly quick succession of events to throw at you? Do you wish they’d sometimes slow down? How often do you feel they slow down too much? Just some questions rolling around in my brain. I’m throwing in a chapter from a different perspective, happening in the other part of the book, before returning to the busier point-of-views, so maybe that will help. Although that could also just completely interrupt a perfectly good, steady pace with the others! It’s all such a balancing act and I hope I can just manage to get it right…

10 Characters Meme.

I was trying to think of something a little light, a little fun, to do on the blog today since I’m definitely out of practice with regular posting and thinking of things to write. With the reclamation of the previously missing draft of Serpent in a Cage, the book has been pretty strong on my mind, too, and I just want to babble about it. For the sake of my poor readers, I wanted to at least give my babbling a little bit of an interesting twist, and so that means a meme. Specifically, the 10 Characters meme.

I’ve seen this used a lot in fan communities and in role-playing games, but there’s no reason I can’t go and apply it to my current WIP. So, here’s how it works. Below, you’ll see a list of ten characters from Serpent in a Cage, and, below that, there are questions, that I have no looked at prior to composing the list, about those characters. It’s a cool exercise in putting them into situations or thoughts you wouldn’t normally conceive of, and…okay. It’s an excuse to let me talk about my characters. Shhh.

The fun with the meme is that you don’t know which characters are going to be thrown into which situations, so if you want to swipe it and do it yourself (which I very, very, very strongly encourage), do so before reading my answers, or at least randomly switch the numbers to prevent predictable results. I know I’d definitely love to see this pop up in a few other blogs for a few other WIPs out there…

Anyway, onto the Serpent in a Cage bunch…

1. Locke Mandrake Battarack
2. Gilferen Allok
3. Auferrix Ferrore
4. Tayahyla Ma’a'goric
5. Estialog Emereson
6. Taluin Sera Cohl
7. Knolan Rszbeki
8. Awngel Demarkus
9. Tenenshe’ean Madean
10. Jaxson Devoii

1) Describe the children of #3 and #7? Are they good parents?

While I find it pretty difficult to imagine Auferrix and Knolan having children together, we know for a fact that Knolan is a capable parent, having raised Gilferen and Locke from babies into adulthood by himself and with hardly any resources. Auferrix is not likely to be as strong a parent as the more experienced Knolan, but, since she did witness her own parents’ death at a young age, she is likely to be very protective and very caring toward whatever children she may have. If these two were to procreate, I don’t think it would be a one-time thing. They’d probably get involved, have at least a few children, who would all be strong-willed and stubborn, capable fighters and strategists, though they’ll probably always feel a little bit at odds with their place in the world. Both their parents would try to ensure that they certainly had a place, but both parents spent a majority of their lives outside of the box they were meant to be in, and I can see that rubbing off on whatever offspring they might have.

I have to admit, exploring a sort of romance developing between these two fascinates me a little more than I should, and I’m creating this whole crazy AU in my head at the moment, involving a father-complex and a love triangle pulling in her current father figure, Kadue. Yikes!

2) Describe #5 and #1′s first kiss.

…

Do you mean besides completely accidental? Although I am now imagining a scene where Estialog has Locke in a vulnerable position, and the best way to kill him is with a spell that could only be executed with a kiss. Because an old Majani trying to kill you isn’t enough; it has to be overlaid with blatant homoerotic sensuality, as well…

3) How would #2 react to if #6 is pregnant with #10′s baby?

Shocked, offended….and incredibly impressed, not to mention a little bit jealous. Up until Jaxson joined the Battaracks, Gilferen was easily the ladies’ man of the group, and he mostly is, but Jaxson has a certain ability that makes him jealous, whether it be with knives, women, or general charisma. He can’t understand it entirely…but in a way, it makes sense. So he’d have to mentally give Jaxson a high five for that one, although he’d be left also thinking that he thought Taluin would be smarter than to be seduced by Jaxson. Especially since Taluin so deftly managed to spurn all of Gilferen’s own attempts to seduce her…

4) How does #8 convince #7 to go with him/her on a date?

Boy, so far, Knolan’s getting quite a bit of attention in this meme! However, Awngel’s got a pretty good job with this one…All she’d have to do is bat her eyelashes, twirl her parasol and smile at him and she’d pretty much be able to get him to do whatever she’d want. Historically, Knolan really is mush when it comes to pretty women…and Awngel is very good at using her feminine wiles to get what she wants out of a Battarack…

5) Where would #9 and #6 go for their honeymoon? How is #4 going to sabotage their honeymoon?

So, Taluin’s getting some action, too, it seems. This is a good meme for the old-school Battaracks! Well, if you can call marrying Tenenshe’ean a good thing, which I probably wouldn’t. There was probably a lot of manipulation going on there…if anyone other than Tayahyla was trying to stop it, it would probably be because Taluin was being swayed into an evil trap! The fact that Tayahyla wants to stop it, though, is probably because she’d be the one wanting to go on a tour of ancient Kassirian ruins with Tenenshe’ean. And she’d probably sabotage it fairly well, considering she was raised in the deserts and could track them better than anyone else. She’d probably wind up snagging Taluin and threatening to kill Taluin, which Tenenshe’ean would allow unless he hadn’t gotten whatever it was he wanted out of Taluin yet.

…So maybe not so good for old-school Battaracks after all…

6) #6 is in love with #1. #3 confesses his/her love to #6. Whom would #6 pick? Does #8 think s/he made the right choice?

That needs to be broken down a little. Taluin is in love with her dead best friend’s son. That alone is enough to pause. Then Auferrix confesses her love for Taluin (I could be down with that…). Taluin most definitely chooses Auferrix, because she’s smart enough to know that it’s weird being in love with Locke, especially since she’s constantly thinking about how much Locke looks like his father, which then makes her wonder if she just really has a thing for her dead best friend’s dead husband who she thought she hated…Auferrix, meanwhile, is the first Asyentai who she has sworn to bring into power, and that’s a pretty great way to be at her side to make sure that happens. As far as Awngel’s opinion in all of this…she’d easily support Taluin’s choice, because she’s had enough drama in her own life to want the people in her life to be without drama as well.

7) #5 and #2 must pretend to be a married couple. Why?

I have no idea, but I bet it has something to do with with when Gilferen gets to the Majani Tower and wants to fend off the advances of another young male Majani. “See, we can’t date, I’m already married.” “…To who?” *Estialog hobbles by* “..uhh…Majani Emereson! ..wait…crap. Ahaha, hey, honey!”

Meanwhile, Tayahyla cannot stop laughing to save her life.

8) #10 is moving in with #9. What do they fight about the most?

Which one of them has the best wardrobe…

9) How will #4 prove his/her love to #1?

Tayahyla would most likely prove her supposed love to Locke by not killing Gilferen, as much as she would very much like to. After all, what says “I love you” better than “I won’t murder your best friend”?

10) #7 and #4. Love at first sight?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. …no. At first sight, Knolan finds Tayahyla to be an immature, petulant savage that he’d rather never have to deal with ever. And, although Tayahyla probably wouldn’t mind getting with Knolan if she had the chance, it would be more likely in an attempt to get under Estialog’s skin than out of actual attraction.

11) What would #2 give #9 for Valentine’s Day?

A sword in the belly and a swift kick to the head…Happy Valentine’s Day, Douchebag Trying to Take Over the World by Kidnapping, Torturing, and Raping Young Women!

12) Under what circumstances could #3 and #5 have a happy end?

Ooooh, now this is a great idea for an AU! The whole focal point of Serpent in a Cage balances on which group gets to help Auferrix first. Depending on who you ask, if Estialog and Tayahyla were to prove victorious, the happy ending for Auferrix could also easily happen, it’s just that she’s helped by different people and another faction is the one that wins. My whole over-arching theme in the Aryneth books is that the lines between good and evil are actually quite blurred, and the idea that the Black Majani aren’t the evil ones, that DiraSkyria truly is the Savior of the World rather than the destroyer of it, that the people trying to stop her are really the evil ones is fascinating, and the point is, if Estialog truly was the one to save Auferrix and she raised up the kingdom of A’aefar with him, it would still be a happy ending for the both of them…though not for the people who were trying to save her first.

Writing the book with the other side winning could be a very interesting exercise…

11) What would #8 like to change about #10? Does number #10 approve?

I’m actually tempted not to answer this one because it might ruin a surprise within some future volumes, so I’ll just leave it at mentioning that Awngel would like to change quite a bit of Jaxson’s past, which she’ll make quite clear to him in the future, once she figures out who he is and how they’re connected to each other. And he makes it quite clear that he doesn’t approve of her disapproval; he has no remorse for his past. Sorry ’bout it, Awngel.

12) #2 and #7 are together. Who is more protective of the other?

Well, this one’s a little easy, since Gilferen and Knolan have spent their whole life together. The idea of that turning into something romantic, as I’m sure the question is implying, is a little weird for me and treads on some pretty twisted psychological territory, but Knolan is definitely the more protective one. Their whole relationship is centered on the fact that Knolan has spent his whole life protecting Gilferen.

13) Who is first going to say “I love you”, #1 or #9?

I’m pretty sure Tenenshe’ean would cut out his own tongue before saying “I love you” to anyone, so I’d have to go with Locke on this one. We all know he’s actually a real softie inside.

14) Describe #10 and #4′s perfect romantic outing.

The two people on the list with possibly the most skewed ideas of ‘romantic,’ other than Tenenshe’ean, of course. It involves finding a bar…a nice one, a classy one, not some shitty hole in the wall…starting a game of poker, drinking a lot of alcohol, winning some money, and then going and frexing until they pass out. Not a bad evening, really…

15) Who suffers from pre-wedding jitters, #3 or #8? How does bridesmaid/best man #10 soothe them?

That’s an easy one; Auferrix is general unconcerned with matters of the heart, while Awngel has jitters about everything tied into relationships. Considering who Awngel ends up marrying, the idea of Jaxson as a best man makes me laugh, but his method of soothing the jittery bride is likely booze-involved, a release of sexual tension, or a threat with a knife…Yeah. Jaxson’s more likely to increase Awngel’s anxiety, not soothe it…

16) #6 is a secret admirer. What presents will they make the wo/man of their dreams?

Taluin would more than likely find some rare old book of poetry, dress it up with a ribbon, and pass it along. It’s a true sign of affection when a bibliophile willingly hands over something they’d love to just keep to themselves!

And there you have it! A lot of these situations were pretty absurd for this cast; Serpent in a Cage is hardly a romantic book, but that’s part of what makes it so much fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go ahead and get back to finishing the book so that you can all read it and see what I mean by these answers.

Art Nouveau and Aryneth.

One of the most notable after-effects of a trip to the Art Institute is that it never fails to inspire me to try my hand at art again. Now, writing has always been an obvious choice for me. I love it, I’m fairly good at it, I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life. However, I’ve also dabbled a little bit in other artistic forays, including drawing and such…nothing much, but I like to think I have a decent enough hand.

Decent enough to produce my own cover art? Probably not. Then again, I’ve been wondering about that recently, in light of seeing some covers out there that easily make me think, “I could do that/better than that,” if I may be so bold. While I’ll most likely turn all my cover art to friends more capable, the thought of at least sketching a draft for them to go off of has crossed my mind, and, heck, maybe with a little work, I could make it good enough myself.

In considering the potential covers for Serpent in a Cage and subsequent Aryneth novels, an interesting thought came to mind. I want something a little unique and different, and, to this point, I had been considering just a really simple, stark design, much like the designs for the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. But that wouldn’t be very different, would it? I got to thinking that I’ve never really seen Art Nouveau style covers for much of anything, much less fantasy novels, and thought that would be such a cool design.

What do you think? I’m a huge fan of art nouveau, though I’ve never tried the style myself. Last night, after my foray into the Art Institute, I got out my pencils and papers, pulled up some reference images on my Kindle, and started to sketch a few potential designs for SiaC. The one I really took to still needs a lot of work, but I’m really stoked about this approach, the cover to SiaC featuring a stunning design with Auferrix and a serpent in a sweeping art nouveau style, not dissimilar from this image.

Do you think this design is a good move? Would you be intrigued by a fantasy cover in this style, or turned off? I know it’s becoming pretty popular to see all sorts of characters done up in art nouveau style (I even own a nouveau Samus Aran shirt). Is it too much of a fad, or is the style classic enough that it can rise above the current popularity? Any thoughts would be welcome. I thought of taking a picture of the sketch so far, but it’s no where near completion enough, I’m afraid.

The Second Asyentai: Let’s Get Political.

Last night, I realized that I’ve been reading an awful lot of political fantasy lately. I’ve got Melanie Rawn’s The Ruins of Ambrai for one, Terry Pratchett’s The Truth for another, and, most influential of all, George R. R. Martin’s A Feast for Crows, which is easily the most political of the Song of Ice and Fire books so far, as the game is changing and everyone’s rearranging their pieces, so to speak. Naturally, being the little writerly magpie that I am, my brain shifted gears and I seized the chance to start up my own political fantasy that I have been developing for a while but have yet to really attempt to put into paper.

Of course, my current Aryneth WIP, Serpent in a Cage, is a little bit political, but that series doesn’t really get to the level of ASoIaF until the later books. I wanted something with conflicting factions and convultuted internal plotting now, so I stepped a little further back in Arynethian history to the Second Asyentai (Locke and Auferrix and crew are the Third Asyentai). These are the unsuspecting chosen ones that were lead on a fate that caused them to bring about the Sealing of the Gods from the world, thus creating a period of turmoil and chaos until we pick things back up a couple thousand years later in SiaC. Sweet Bianca, revolutionary Launce, fierce Katarina, playful Tigaren, serene Seo, and an admittedly unnamed Apylo who we’ll just call mysterious wind up being thrown together as the worlds they knew dissolves around them and they change the entire fate of the planet in the meantime. Much like a ASoIaF book, the narratives will switch between these six strangers as their stories mesh and meld in a big net of intrigue, religion, and maybe even a little romance.

So, please to enjoy the following excerpt, the first page of the new project written last night. I’m really enjoying the tone and the approach so far, so thought on what you think and if you’re eager to see more would be appreciated:

         With her heart heavy and her shoulders sagging, the princess laid the rose down on the glossy surface of the closed casket. Her rose was to be the first of many, and she drew her hand back slowly, wishing to let her fingers linger but for the thorns. She dropped her hand, as well as her head, and sniffled back her tears. Another hand fell on her shoulder and squeeze.
         “Bianca.”
         Startled, she jumped, blinking into the realization that she was not standing over her father’s corpse but was sitting in a rumbling carriage with squeaking wheels instead. The hand on her shoulder belonged to her cousin, Ewyn, who leaned forward to smile at her and pointed her attention out the window. “Look. What a beautiful sunset.”
         The transition from dreams and memory to stark reality was jarring, causing her to stare blankly at Ewyn’s handsome face before she could turn her head away. A deep, angry blush heated her skin, and she hoped no one could notice it in the darkening cabin. It was little wonder they all thought her to be slow and a little bit stupid; they couldn’t truly understand how her thoughts plagued and distracted her constantly. She stared out the window without seeing anything, tightening a fist in her lap.
         “Sunset,” she noted mildly, frowning, the expression knotting in her eyebrows. “So soon? It will be practically midnight by the time we arrive.”
         “The innkeepers will still be most receptive all the same,” Ewyn assured her complacently, “have no worries. The road to Cenmich is long and the proprietors of the Golden Light are accustomed to welcoming their important guests at strange hours due to the journey. They will be pleased to welcome us, Birdie.”
         “I would be pleased not to trouble them,” Bianca stated, frowning at her cousin now in a light attempt to convince him. But she knew that she had lost all respect and conviction the moment someone called her by that little pet name. “If we keep on, we can reach Cenmich by morning all the same.”
         “Wouldn’t it be better to let the horses rest a while?” In the red twilight, Ewyn’s smile was condescending and, she thought, perhaps a little predatory. “That way, everyone will arrive in the village refreshed and ready. It would leave a dismal impression should we present ourselves road-worn and weary, Birdie.”

Not much, as I said, about a page, but I’m intending to compose much more today. I’ve got a good feeling about this one, so here’s to hoping for a steady drive as I continue it! Wish me luck!

Question Time!

So, I’ve seen this on a few blogs. No one tagged me for this, but I wanted to do it anyway. So there. It’s a collection of questions about you as a writer and your latest work in progress, so I thought I’d spend a little idle time and answer there, whether anyone’s interested or not. Because I love these things. Here we go!

What is the working title of your book?
Serpent in a Cage (potentially with The Asyentai Chronicles or The Age of Return involved in there, too)

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Sometimes, when you’ve been working on a book for as long as I’ve been working on Serpent in a Cage, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when inspiration struck. The first draft, which was completely and entirely different and nothing like the current incarnation except for the presence of I think two characters (out of a very large cast!), was written when I was in sixth grade, but it was such a different tale then that I don’t even know if I could count it. But, in my mind, the world that SiaC opens up to the world started when I was ten years old, in a memory that’s as vivid with meaning as it is hazy with detail. I hold in my mind traipsing around Mission Creek Woodland Park in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, pretending to be characters from the DragonLance book series, when all of a sudden, the characters started to change a little and become slightly different, and they grew from there into the vast world of Aryneth…A world of my own, a world yet unknown, a world that has stuck with me ever since and hopefully will for a very, very long time.

What genre does your book fall under?
Serpent in a Cage is definitely a fantasy novel, which is still hard for me to unabashedly admit since college tried to get it through my head that genre fiction is bad. I’m tempted to talk about how it’s more character driven with fantastical elements, and that’s true, but, I’m going to put down my foot, toss back my head, and proclaim, “Yup. It’s fantasy. Deal with it.”

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Since the cast of Serpent in a Cage is so large, it would be hard to cast most of them, so I’ll stick with the three main ones. I know, visually, the only ones I have in mind for Locke Mandrake Battarack and Gilferen Allok are models who have questionable acting skills, though one of the Phelps twins could do a good run as Gilferen. For Auferrix Ferrore, I can’t help thinking Frida Pinto would be glorious if it turned out that we can rough her up a bit and make her more bad-ass.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A plot to save a captured princess should be easy enough, but the Battaracks are about to discover a world that goes much, much deeper than they would have ever expected.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self-published, baby! I always imagined myself trying to traditionally publish the Aryneth series, but now the thought is almost anathema, unless any publishers just happened to want to take it over because it’s doing so awesomely, lol, /dreaming.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The ‘first draft’ in its completed form took me probably about four years to write, from the time I sat down with the new approach and dedicated myself to finishing it. I believe it was completed sometime in 2009 or 2010, and I started to revise it in 2011, only to discover I wanted to completely rewrite it. I’m still working on the second draft, though it’s going quite well. These dates are mostly just guesses; I’m feeling too lazy to look into the actualities of it.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Oof. That’s a tough one, since I try my best to keep myself from being comparable to other tales in this genre. I want it to be more like A Song of Ice and Fire, a big sweeping epic, but it’s not (yet). I suppose I could compare it to The Wheel of Time in that there’s the unlikely hero, the big prophesies, etc, etc, but again, I wanted to break the mold with Serpent in a Cage in that the first book is really a pretty simple tale, and it’s not a sweeping epic, though it will be…eventually. In that respect, I’d almost compare it to The Hobbit, in that it’s the little bit that starts up a much bigger thing later on. The style and the structure, though, I think, still lends an awful lot to the DragonLance books that originally inspired it so many years ago.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
You can tell that there have been a great many books to inspire me along this path, and that this book is a long time in the making. But if I had to attribute this book to any one source of inspiration, I would have to say my father. It was through his own love of books, passed down to his eager, starry-eyed daughter, that I was able to discover and embrace this incredible power to create. Thanks, Dad.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Besides the fact that it’s awesome? Aryneth to me is a complete world, fully realized and exceptionally detailed, and I should like to think that it’s a world people will enjoy getting lost in. The characters are all unique, but relateable, on several levels. They’re regular people, in a fantastical world, in an extraordinary situation. To me, that’s what fantasy is all about, and I really hope I’m able to accomplish that feeling of wonder and relateability through Serpent in a Cage and the subsequent epic to follow.

I’m not going to tag anyone for the questions because no one tagged me. I’ll just leave it to whoever wants to talk about their upcoming works to tackle if they so desire!

I am going to take a moment, though, to thank my newest subscribers, Chris Martin and Patti Niehoff! Thanks so much for following!

Character Interview: Locke Mandrake Battarack.

A little while ago, I proposed an idea that would spark up some interest in what’s intended to be my next WIP, Serpent in a Cage. Already, I’ve done a post talking about the geography of the world that SiaC kicks off, but I had mentioned character interviews on the blog where readers can also ask questions and learn more about the story and the world of Aryneth through them. The response was pretty good; a lot of people seemed interested, so this Friday, we’re giving it a shot. We’re starting out with one of the three main characters of Serpent in a Cage, Locke Mandrake Battarack. But before we get to Locke, let me tell you a little bit about him.


Is Marc-André Grondin dark and broody and (most importantly) cheek-bony enough for Locke Mandrake Battarack? I think so! All he lacks is the piercing blue eyes….

So, if you’re a certain age, you’ve probably heard of the Battaracks. If you’re a little younger, maybe you haven’t. In some opinions, the Battaracks were the scourge of Kyano; others found them to be heroes like from the tales of old, marauders traversing the continent from one end to the other, fighting the battles that others would not. Through the years, though, the numbers of the nomadic tribe of warriors began to dwindle; they still remained a significant force, but no where near the legends they were since their inception in the Age of Legend. Always contending with the forces of Gynnocota, Kyano’s largest city-state, one fateful night, the armies of Gynnocota slipped into the nearby Battarack camp and completely massacred what little was left of their factions.

Well, almost completely.

Through a deft maneuver, Lady Serene Battarack was able to entrust her young infant son, Locke, to Knolan Rszbeki, her husband’s right-hand man. Knolan was able to steal into the night with the child safely, as well as with another, Gilferen Allok, whose dying mother requested the man take her son as well. With everyone they knew dead from the bloody massacre, Knolan struggled to bring up two boys in the wilderness and rebuild a life for himself and the all but destroyed Battaracks.

It wasn’t an easy life, but Locke and Gilferen grew up to be quick and resourceful young men, creating a much diminished group of marauders in the spirit of their deceased forefathers. They traveled Kyano, scavenging for jobs and heists, making a meager living for themselves. Now that Locke is a full grown man, though, he’s turning his attention to calling up the glory of the Battaracks of old, to move beyond being mere theives and mercenaries, and rebuilding an empire. It will be a difficult task, though, and, with the addition of a new member, a mysterious Analisian by the name of Jaxson Devoii, the Battaracks are just about to embark on a truly new experience: traveling to the desert continent of Kassir in the hopes to garner prestige in a whole new land. We caught up with Locke the day before their ship was to sail toward this exciting new journey.

Hello, Locke! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us a little. You must be incredibly busy for such a big trip!

L: (he smiles tightly) Busy’s one word for it, I guess. It’s not that we have a whole lot of stuff to pack, though. Most of it’s just the cargo that we’re transporting, and preparing ourselves for how different Kassir will be. I’m not looking forward to the heat. Or the insects. Or the jungles. Or any of it, really.

Yikes. Isn’t there anything you are looking forward to?

L: (he shrugs, avoiding my eyes) Not really. I mean, the whole thing is Jaxson’s idea; if I had the choice, I’d have never taken a job like this, but Knolan insists that it will be good for us. I’m the leader of this group, so what I say should be paramount, but he’s so insistent on it! I guess we can try it and when it doesn’t work, I can reinstate at least a little bit of authority. He acts as though I’m still a boy no bigger than his hip, and that Jaxson is just the thing we need to turn the Battaracks around. But we don’t need Jaxson. We need to be heading toward Gynnocota, figure a way to strike at them in a way that’ll shake this whole continent.

Revenge?

L: (he shrugs again) Something like that. All I know is that the Battaracks have been a part of Kyanese history for longer than most people can remember. What in Hadesari’s Realm are we going to do in Kassir, besides fry our brains and contract some torturous tropical disease? It’s insane, but Knolan, as usual, won’t listen. I guess I’ll have to wait for the stubborn old goat to see it with his own eyes.

Now I feel odd wishing you luck, but I do hope it goes well for you, whatever the outcome. You never know. You could surprise yourself and be very successful in Kassir.

L: I could. But I doubt it. I think that’s something someone like Jaxson will never understand. I don’t even think Knolan understands it, either. But I feel connected to Kassir; I have a history here that runs deep in my blood, and whenever I think about the fact that I’m leaving it, I start to feel it. Right here. (his hand covers his chest) It aches. I just have a bad feeling about this, but I’ll see it through. I’m nearly positive that it’s going to fail, and, when it does, I’ll return and things can get back to the way they were. It isn’t as though I haven’t suffered through mishaps before.

Like what? What would you say was the most challenging thing you’ve faced in your life so far?

L: (he snorts) You mean besides the rigors of every day life? Of trying to ensure that you have food and shelter every day, when you’ve gone so many days without? Every single day is a challenge, L, but that doesn’t stop me. (he chuckles, a bit suddenly) Besides that, I guess the biggest challenge would just be that I’ve got to do it with Gilferen. I love the man as if he was my own brother, but he doesn’t make things easy. Do you realize how many villages we’re not allowed in anymore because of him? I’m pretty sure we could repopulate the Battaracks entirely just by going around and collecting all the bastards he’s put into the bellies of innkeeper’s daughters and milkmaids…

Your words say one thing, Locke, but your grin says something else entirely. I’m pretty sure Gilferen’s not the only one who’s had his hand in those sorts of dalliances.

L: Pretty sure, but you’d be wrong. That’s more Gilferen’s thing; I have other things on my mind.

Surely, there’s had to have been a few beauties to turn your head through all your years of traveling…

L: Of course. I’m not blind. But I’m afraid I lack the fervor in which Gilferen seems possessed. It doesn’t really bother me. There was one girl… (he drifts off, shakes his head) It doesn’t matter, though. I’ve yet to meet anyone that I’ve felt so strongly about to bring her into the Battarack fold. Maybe I’m too picky. If Gilferen had a say in it, we’d have a regular traveling harem. (a pause) If you talk to him, do not mention that. We don’t need to be giving him ideas of what we should be bringing back with us from Kassir.

Don’t worry, I won’t. But I will open up the questions to everyone else, if you don’t mind. Locke, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you’ve got a lot to do before you sail off into the Great Sea, but our audience might have a few questions of their own.

L: (he shrugs) Sure. Go ahead…

And so I open the floor to you, Dear Readers, if you’d like to ask our guest Locke Mandrake Battarack anything at all about himself, his life, and his world*. Before we get into that, I do have a new subscriber to mention, too! Thanks for joining us, Justin Zamora Rodriguez! Good to have you here!

*(General comments, as well as questions that Locke will answer directly, are welcome, too!)

Welcome to Aryneth.

For how absolutely essential and pivotal the world of Aryneth is to my writing and why I became a writer in the first place, it’s a little astonishing how little I talk about it here in this blog. I blame college for that; there was such a strong emphasis on avoiding genre fiction and embracing only hoity-toity contemporary prose that I started to shy away from the bright and vivid worlds I created in my youth to try a hand at more “serious” fiction. As a result, I abandoned too much talk about these fantastical worlds, though they were still held extremely close to my heart. Now that I’m working on finishing and publishing Serpent in a Cage, the book intended to launch the whole Aryneth sagas, it’s time to put on my hiking boots, strap on my backpack, and go journeying through this world again. And I’m bringing you with me.

This will be a series of posts exploring the world of Aryneth, and today’s post will take us through the rich geography of this world, which isn’t too dissimilar from that of our own. A large world, round in shape, made of mostly water and a few plops of land where a remarkable amount of life can blossom and grow. Depending on which lore you follow, some say that Aryneth was created in the image of Earth, even, as a sort of second Earth for a god who feared becoming obsolete and created his own haven. Six continents sit in the Great Ocean like jewels scattered, each with their own unique features, climates, cultures, and cities.

Glaceair: Pronounced Glah-see-air, the northernmost continent is a vast wilderness of ice and snow for most of the year; only the southernmost port cities are blessed to experience a thaw in the warmer summer months. Life in Glaceair is a hard one, and this makes the people who live there strong and durable. Travel between cities is rare, and most people live in walled fortresses and tightly knit communities, though there are large populations who have created civilizations beneath the tall, icy mountains that jut like shining spires from the frozen ground. It is said to be the land of the great tiger, a fierce and dexterous animal that can survive through the harsh winter months thanks to his cunning and his skill. Glaceair is said to be the land of the goddess Wintaer, the loving and nurturing soul with the ever cool and even temperament.

Kyano: Considered the westernmost of the middle continents, Kyano (KEE-ah-no) is a lush, vibrant land laced with rivers, lakes, and mountains. These waterways crisscross through the land like the very veins of the world. Despite the clear and evident borders these rivers and lakes can make, Kyano has always been a land ripe with war and contention. There are disputes for the possession of land and resources, as well as constant feuds between houses and alliances. There are many cities and villages peppering the countryside along the waterways, and Kyano is easily one of the most populated of the six continents. It is the land of the bat, who flies without seeing and works in the cover of night, much like the lords and ladies of Kyano work under the cover of their own machinations. The god most closely tied to this land is the goddess DiraSkyria, which reflects on the constant contention and destruction rippling throughout Kyano.

Laurasia: To the east of Kyano and the southeast of Glaceair lies Laurasia (Lore-ay-SHAH), called the Great Green Continent for its dense forests and wide grassy plains. Laurasia is considered to be one of the most peaceful lands of Aryneth, though some chalk that up to the mere fact that it isn’t as populated as some of the others and the cities are rather spread out. The Hall of the Majani is located in the great fields of Laurasia, and a great deal of farming villages are scattered throughout. It is the land of the hawk, a great, soaring bird that views everything from its lofty heights, descending only when necessary. The goddess associated with Laurasia is, of course, Aerella of the the wind, whose airy nature allows her to move with where the gusts take her.

Analisia: Considered the Jewel of Aryneth for all of its lush foliage and brilliant silks, Analisia (Ann-NAH-lis-see-ah) is the southeasternmost continent, a land of great mystery and beauty. The ancient race of the Reidvyn are said to have originated in Analisia, and this is one of the many reasons why a great spirituality has struck the hearts of most inhabitants of this land. Temples dot the landscape from the tall red cliffs of the eastern mountains to the lush valleys and lakes of the western slopes. It is a land that inspires in most people thoughts of meditation and calm, of brave warriors and an unbreakable code of honor among them. It is the land of art and beauty, home to the spider, who moves so deftly in spinning his web that one does not realize he is caught inside of it until he is already snared. It is also the land of the god Pryston, with his gift of the songs of nature and harmony.

Midacia: On the southwesternmost side of Aryneth lies another continent shrouded in mystery, but, while the mysteries of Analisia are of a great mystical nature, the veil over Midacia (Mid-AH-see-ah) is dark and chilling. Thick forests and dense swamps cover most of the land, while the southern tip is the rocky and inhospitable terrain of the Mekonese race. It is the sort of place that inspires a great deal of superstition and belief in powers well beyond our control. Some call it the Land of the Dead, and not merely because the god most closely associated with Midacia is Hadesari. The moods of its inhabitants are often mirrored in the morose mood of the place, hanging over it like a thick, dense fog. It is the land of the wolf, a restless, wandering creature that calls out to his kind in the night, always searching, always hungry.

Kassir: In the middle of the Great Sea between Midacia and Analisia lies Kassir (KAH-seer), the great Arynethian Desert continent. Though the land is ringed around the shoreline with thick, luscious jungles, the majority of Kassir exists in scorching sands and red rock mountains. Just because the sands are arid does not mean they are without life, especially for nomadic Ana’aek and Ssark tribes. The northern tip of Kassir is “cut off” by the great Red Divide, a wall of rock that opens in a single passage that divides the northern part with the southern, less civilized stretched of land. Considered strange and exotic by most of the other lands, Kassir is a harsh place where only the tough can survive. It is the land of the serpent, lithe and quick, easily hidden until it’s the right time to strike, and many attribute the fierce heat to Kassir’s association with the god Firae, all flames and fire.

Each Arynethian land has its good points and its downsides. Which one seems to call to you the most? Kassir is the setting of Serpent in a Cage, though two out of our three narrators are decidedly Kyanese. Their antagonism toward the land they’ve found themselves in and their desire to return home is one of the main driving points of the plot, while the third narrator decidedly has the heart of Kassir, and that’s the other driving force. The whole Asyentai Cycle is so heavily rooted in a sense of place and home: the Asyentai are supposed to be embodiments of the lands they are destined to rule, and so each of their characters are so inexplicably tied in to the various traits and cultures of their land, so a lot of love and care has been poured into developing this world into a rich, diverse planet of personalities and cultures. I hope it inspires my readers to want to pick up a book and stay in Aryneth for at least a little bit.

RoW80 Check-In: Back in Black.

In all honesty, I’m not wearing black right now; I merely wanted to get AC/DC stuck in your head. You’re welcome.

“      Suddenly, he cut himself off. He wanted to say more. He wanted to express how little he thought of destiny if this was the life destiny had chosen for him. He wanted to firmly deny the existence of anything that barred him from being in charge of his own fate. But he didn’t. He firmly set his mouth shut against the complaints, staring fiercely forward as he tried to sort through his thoughts.
      Realizing he had nothing more to say, Taluin lightly shook her head. ‘You truly are like your father,’ she mused, her voice marveling and soft.”

Today is Wednesday, which means it’s time for a Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, as well as an attempt to get back into gear after an unexpected little…we’ll say holiday from the writing world. It’s been an interesting, eventful few days, to be sure, which makes me feel a little bit better about the fact that it was so rubbish for writing. There are some possibilities opening up at work, and my social life took a dive on one facet while a reconnection with an old friend brought it skyrocketing up again. Life works in so many mysterious ways, it truly does, and I love when it happens with a bang. But it’s also nice to get back to something a little more regular and paced.

I’m still making some steady progress on Serpent in a Cage, but I’ve decided this morning that I want to turn my attention on getting some more short stories written and submitted to magazines. I usually go through a cycle where I feel motivated to write and submit, and then I quickly fall out of it and it falls to the wayside as I focus on novels more. So I don’t know how long this bout will last, but we shall see. I whipped up a little tale that’s been in the back of my mind yesterday, and today I’m trying a hand at whipping up something new. It’d be nice to aim for a new tale every day, but I’ve tried that before and I know how lofty a goal it is, so we shall see. The fact that I get two enjoy two consecutive days away from work has made me feel ambitious and optimistic.

I also want to turn my attention back to getting Bowlful of Bunnies on other platforms, including a potential print version. I keep intending to do this, but other projects and life events keep distracting me. Every so often, another sale comes in and tickles me pink, but I really feel like I just threw it out there in the wind and let it do its own thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I feel a little guilty that I should be cultivating it or guiding it a bit more.

I’ve got a few Aryneth-themed posts in the works, and a few more book reviews coming, and hopefully no more big gaps in posts like these last few days. But, hey. Sometimes, you’ve just got to take those breaks.

So, not much of an update, just a typical L.S. Engler note of getting back in the saddle again and ready to ride. Yee-haw! If you get a chance, check out my fellow RoW-ers here!

I’ve also got some new followers to welcome and thank. So thanks for following the blog, Armand Rosamilia, Ellis Nelson, and Zac Egs! So cool to have you guys here!

RoW80 Check-In: On with the Adventure!

“‘You met crass fools in that Kassirian shop yesterday,’ Locke said, ‘but you hired professionals. Whatever happened there has passed. When you talked to Jaxson, I assume you talked to him about hiring capable hands for your cause. Well, you’ve got something better than that. You’ve hired Battaracks.’”

Making the decision to finish Serpent in a Cage (again) and publish it (once and for all) has been one of the most liberating decisions I have made for my writing. Granted, I understand that I may still be in the honeymoon stage of this idea. It’s still so new and fresh and exciting, but I wrote almost 10 pages of it on Friday, and I have spent the last few days at work wistfully waiting to get home to pick at it a little bit more. It’s wonderful, and the writing feels fairly solid, too (although editing will show how right I am in that). I chatted a little with a friend about cover design and helping me craft the Aryneth logo for the series, and I’m just feeling an outpouring of love and inspiration for the book. It’s really quite phenomenal, and I’m incredibly focused. Once I have a project on the right foot, my multitasking OCD slips away and I’m actually fairly driven on one thing. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s amazing.

Clearly, I’m excited. And I want to get others excited, too, and I know there’s a little thread of that out there for people who have been following the blog and know just how bloody important SiaC is to me. And a lot of my readers are authors themselves, so they understand how the excitement for a project just gets under your skin and bubbles in your blood down to your fingers, which can’t seem to stay still for the excitement of the story. So I was thinking: what can I do on the blog to get people interested in SiaC? I was thinking it could be fun to do some features on the characters, and open it up to dialogue and “interview questions” from the readers, but, on the same token, a line I read in another blog on how “no one knows these characters and so no one really cares, don’t bore them with your babbling by writing as or tweeting as your characters” keeps sticking out in my brain. Would anyone be interested in some SiaC-theme ‘character’ posts? The idea is still vague, and kind of pointless without participation, so I figured I’d just see what you guys thought.

So, I’m sticking with my goal of at least a page of Serpent in a Cage a day as my ultimate RoW80 goal right now. Eyes on the prize!

I’ll also, of course, be keeping up with my reading, and I actually have two books waiting in the wings to be reviewed, as well as two more books that are just about finished, so things are looking good for that goal, even if I’m still really far behind for the year. I just need to kick it up a little, and it’s never that difficult for me to find time to do more reading!

I’m also picking a little bit at my Western With Dragons piece (since a lot of people have expressed an interest in that one), and a short story for the next The First Line. And how are your goals going for you so far?

Be sure to check out my fellow RoWers here if you get the chance, and, above all, happy writing!

Brothers & Sisters.

As I was writing along in the first chapter of The Unknown Scourge yesterday, I realized something interesting. The story was originally conceived as a science fiction revolution type of story, heavily inspired by Final Fantasy VII, which I was playing heavily at the time I thought of the story. It was a tale about corruption in government, about the tragedy that can occur when we try to play gods and bastardize the potentials of science, and about the consequences of economic ruin and losing touch with the earth from which we sprang. Very typical post-apocalyptic sci fi themes. But I realized that underneath all that techno-sciencey-destruction babble, the story is really about family, especially brothers and sisters.

Spare with me for a little bit as I spend a post talking about characters you don’t know about yet (well, those of you who have read Bowlful of Bunnies might recognize a couple of these names). However, hopefully, this will make you want to know them.

So we have a lot of sets of siblings in The Unknown Scourge, both actual and from circumstance, and the first chapter actually has Tobias Gainswellow (you may know him from “Swing”) ruminating about how the relationship between twins Wolfe and Silver MacKlout (there’s another familiar one) reminds him of his brother, Trevor. Then I realized John Jacksonox was in that scene, too, and John also has a brother, but his relationship with Robb is estranged, and the two are actually working against each other. The next chapter introduces us to Maria, though we don’t discover that she’s the little sister of Vice President Redd Scarlett (she still hates me for that name) until a few chapters on, and theirs is another complex relationship between siblings.

And then there’s the more unconventional relationships: Adah (who is actually Wolfe and Silver’s sister) finding sisterhood with Aelah (the name thing was not intentional); Phantalia and the other creations of Dr. Yetomini’s laboratory, and the main focus around four individuals who wind up being genetically tied together and not even realizing it until a big secret is revealed. The more I thought about all these intricacies and relationships (especially when you start getting into how these groups interact with each other in a great big messy web), it really kind of blew my mind.

Maybe this was that key I was searching for to finally unlock the struggle between this book and myself since 1997, when I first started to develop it. Perhaps the sibling relationship, the idea of brothers and sisters and families, is that one theme that I’ve been waiting to realize to elevate beyond just a complex story about technology and science.

It should definitely be interesting to see if this really sparks things, having this new anchor of an angle to explore. Thanks for letting me muse.