YSABELLE II

YSABELLE

The caribou herds were gone when Fyodor took her in the grey predawn light to the field where before they had coursed in their endless thousands and tens of thousands. The field of snow was churned to slush and mud. A few packs of lean grey wolves feasted on unfortunate stragglers, ripping at meat already freezing in the bitter cold. Ysabelle stood on the roadside with her teacher, shivering in her fur-trimmed coat, woolen dress and fez. Winter is unkind, she thought.

Breakthrough!

Holy crap, guys. Holy. Crap.

Today I had a huge breakthrough with my writing.

Lightning struck. The clouds parted. Birds sang. All the cliches collided in one giant thunderclap of comprehension.

Things have been improving since last weekend anyway. I spent it with my parents etc up in New Hampshire just utterly relaxing for the first time in a long time. It was glorious. When I got home in MA, I started writing the first thing that I've been wanting to write without acknowledging it - my Stormwatch series (a.k.a. Mortal Coils witches). This went fairly well. I felt better. I knew a breakthrough was on my horizon.

And then yesterday I spent several hours reading and wandering around a bookstore. I've been toying with this idea of writing something memoir-ish for NaNo this year, so I perused the "Writing" section and found this book: Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg. Everything else was stuffy and stupid. But this book... as soon as I read the first paragraph it resonated with me. I flipped through it and saw a bunch of blank space where she practically yells at you to write - so I threw down a few bucks and bought it.

Today, I took that book with me to lunch. And while I was eating and slowly digesting the first five pages I suddenly realized... Holy shit. This woman is talking to me. She is me! I can hear her as though she's sitting across from me right now. She is in my head. And she's telling me how to get out of this funk I've been in and specifically how to get on with my life.

I went to Target and bought a notebook. I sat at a bench and wrote a page. I went back to the bookstore and read 80 pages of a novel. I wrote another page. I came home and made dinner. I picked up my computer and out flew 1500 words like it was nothing. A complete short story.

In conclusion, I have conquered that grumpy, grasping, glib monster that is writer's block in a most magnificent way. I'm going to go write another page before I fall asleep. And, you know what? I'm taking my notebook to work with me tomorrow to write on my breaks.

[As an explanatory aside: I am leaving Wings alone until it starts to beckon me back. I'm also going to embrace writing longhand for awhile. I miss it, and I've always felt more inspired and personal writing that way. I shall continue to update here on my progress, and hopefully will have some stuff for you guys to read from time to time. Also working on the backlog of reading your stuff too. OH, and we need to get together for a writer's weekend when we can make that work!]

The Metawars, edited Chapter 7

The beginning of this chapter is pretty much identical to the earlier version.  It's the second half that's different.  New characters include Senator Spencer Alan and Secretary Grant Chapman.

Not 100% happy with the chapter title, but not sure about what to change it to.

Chapter 7: The Plot Thickens

“Though not a well-known part of the Vietnam War, the Metahuman conflict was a crucial component. They represented China and the entire Soviet bloc's ambitions of a superhero program to match America's. The efforts of American superhero Nucleon is the primary reason the Vietnamese and Chinese superhero programs faltered and is often considered a significant factor in the ultimate fall of the Soviet Union.”

-Exert from “History of the Vietnam War,” by D.R. Murphy, PhD, 1998.

IRA IV

 Dead leaves and snow skirled through the open cellar door. It banged against its frame, caught helpless in the gusting wind. Ira dressed himself in the simple workman's clothes laid out for him. Felt cap, long pressed-wool overcoat, starched shirt and stained waistcoat. The shoes were cracked, the socks thick and knobbly. He rubbed his hands together, trying to chafe some warmth back into them. His stomach ached where Marius had opened it. Uncle, he thought, I owe you a favor.

The Metawars, Chapter 13

With the addition of Charles Ramanujan to the plot, the Omegamen are going to come in much later and thus this chapter probably won't happen.  Ignore for the most part the events and focus more on the characters, since the relationships are going to remain regardless of what the new Chapter 13 will be.

Chapter 13:

“Do you, John Morgan, codename Deluge, take Cora Conrad, codename Miss Amazing, to be your wife, through sickness and health, war and peace, to uphold justice and the tenets of the MPA, so long as you both may live?”

- Vows at the public wedding between Deluge and Miss Amazing, 2002.

ANORA II

Anora walked barefoot along the shore, beyond the reeking clamor of the dockside and the industrial riot of Leviathan Bay. Seagulls hopped ahead of her through the seaweed and melting snow, shrieking in their ugly, metallic voices. Concrete pipes large enough to swallow automobiles whole, their mouths crusted with icicles, belched runoff into trenches laid in the sand and small grey crabs scuttled in and out of the sluggish streams. Anora brought her foot down on one. Its shell broke beneath her weight and purplish ichor oozed out onto the sweep of the shore. It felt like stepping on an egg. The crab died, after a time, and Anora walked on.

Edited Chapter 10, The Metawars

As promised, the edited Chapter 10.  The biggest changes are Evermind's discussion with Captain Chicago and the inclusion of some of Evermind's backstory.  Feedback would be appreciated.

Chapter 10: Dysfunctional

“It will fall to the leader of each Metahuman team to provide orders in battles and organize the team as they see fit. A hierarchy of command is recommended. Leaders of each team will be chosen and set by the DMR. A team leader may put requests in to the DMR, which will be processed in 2-6 business days, depending (further details in Section 5.10).”

-Article 3, Section 5 of the Metahuman Police Act.