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In the limbo of “book ms with editor” and while working to get the house in more order (it’s working; it’s not done yet) , I’ve now finished grooming two stories….and instead of working on another known-but-needing-to-be-recovered-mentally since the computer problems, a NEW one popped up yesterday. Totally knew. Strange. I told it “I’ll take notes, but you’re down the list. You’ll need to wait for a full treatment.” Story grabbed my brain and dragged it down the rabbit hole of Storyland.
So now “Flawed Swords” is a Thing. Not a finished Thing, but a Thing with a title and several pages and a lot of emotional Baggage.
It better cooperate and turn out to be a decent story, or I may institute a “whack-a-mole” policy for intrusive story ideas. (As if that would work!)
The finished stories, in the new folder of Paksworld stories, are “Bank Transfer” and “Destinies.” The latter follows “Consequences” in DEEDS OF YOUTH.
This coming weekend (3/22 to 3/24) I’ll be traveling to Dallas to meet with my sabre fencing coach to clear up some things I didn’t get solid during his workshop here on March 2. I have always been slow to learn footwork (in dance and in fencing) and got very mixed up that day. Russ said (in both video and person) that difficulties often do arise when previous training crosses current training, and definitely the rapier footwork keeps invading my brain while I’m trying to do the sabre footwork. Because the train schedule is what it is, the trip will take up 3 days, with two nights in a hotel. Kate, my tech and organizational person, is coming along, so it should be fun in more than one way. (Ten years ago, I could’ve driven up. But even then driving into Dallas and back from here was an exhausting trip…now it’s impossible. Vision, and the mental effects of concussion…can’t concentrate that long, at the level needed for driving on I-35.) So the train.
Comment by Jonathan Schor — March 16, 2024 @ 5:06 pm
Hello – have fun in Dallas and learn a lot. I can see the difficulty in having one sword style and trying to learn another – you have to train to use a sword automatically and it is hard to change. As for whacking moles, if you have one and it changes see your doctor. And it is better to whack scorpions. But write what you can – your slavering fans can slaver a little longer.
Stay safe and stay sane,
From up her in New Hampshire
Comment by Jim DeWitt — March 16, 2024 @ 8:09 pm
Excellent to hear from you. Thanks for the update and to hear of the possibilities of more stories. Safe travels and rewarding schooling.
Comment by Jazzlet — March 16, 2024 @ 9:08 pm
Glad to hear of new stories forcing their way up, even if they do disrupt the schedule.
Enjoy your foot work coaching. It’s very mild in comparison, but I recall a teacher had got the class standing doing the patting head and rubbing tummy thing, and once we’d all got it said “Now change hands”. Much laughing ensued, and then we were all wide awake to get on with the post lunch schooling.
Comment by elizabeth — March 16, 2024 @ 11:49 pm
I’ve been trying to practice the footwork from the videos of the blocks, but they don’t show the feet at the angle I need to see them.
The Flawed Swords story is growing. The swords aren’t flawed in the usual ways (loose hilt, brittle blade, bent blade, etc.) And nobody seems to be able to see the vendor’s eyes.
Comment by Richard Simpkin — March 17, 2024 @ 3:09 am
Oooh … Like the ones Arcolin found in OoF, then? (Don’t answer that now.)
Comment by Annabel — March 17, 2024 @ 2:34 pm
Lovely to hear of a new story, even if it wasn’t what you were expecting. Stories should definitely be nurtured, especially when written by someone as skilled in the art as you are!
Comment by Richard Simpkin — March 18, 2024 @ 1:06 am
Speaking of Dallas, you live to its south, near Temple, am I right? – under the path of totality for April’s eclipse without having to drive anywhere. A partial eclipse, even 95%, is a curiosity, but a total one is a spectacular experience – here’s wishing you a clear sky for it.
Comment by Daniel Glover — March 19, 2024 @ 6:30 am
In the way back when I was attempting to learn to swim my mother finally got fed up and enrolled me in two classes at the same time. One taught dog paddle (it was still allowed then) (that was at the lake), the other the crawl (at the pool). I had one arm doing the crawl the other the paddle. Finally both instructors told my mom it was better to choose one or the other.
That said, it’s like learning another language. But once you get this one down the third one should go quicker–more variety already stored. (Just saying, there’s always another sword style out there to learn. 😀 )
Daniel Glover
Comment by Jace — March 30, 2024 @ 7:16 am
Hello. Any news from other sites about the new book??
Comment by Linda — March 30, 2024 @ 6:41 pm
Glad I dropped in. Curious about the outcome of your trip to Dallas and the footwork lessons.
Footwork is also a “thing” in figure skating and the older I got (mid-fifties on) the less connection there seemed to be between my brain and my feet …. and the rest of the body too, because of course it is not just the feet, but all parts of the body which are shifting, even if is almost invisible to the observer.
Of course I didn’t come to that realization until I got much older, but at least it explains why I am not as afraid of falling as so many of my age. All that shifting one does as one trys to make one’s falls on the ice “safe” seems to still be part of my muscle memory.
A therapist suggested I study others who could do the moves right and then spend time visualizing what I would look like if I were doing the same thing. It was probably a good idea, but as I avoid mirrors and photos, visualizing myself didn’t really appeal to me.
Hope the new story is coming along and that the folks in the publisher’s offices realize how brilliant your work is. Joyous Easter.