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So I left Atlanta this morning and wrote 2700+ words on the train, mostly about poor (ummph, you don’t know him yet. Let’s just say that he’s young and was brash, but reality has laid some clue-bats on him lately. I didn’t expect he’d ever become a POV character, as he wasn’t my favorite of the available young-and-brash stock, but sometimes they simply o’er leap all obstacles to find themselves on center stage with very important lines to say–and say them with panache. Or some word of that type.
(Yes, I’m tired; I’m in a hotel in New Orleans after a very long day on the train.)
So, the snippet, from Book III, now officially not the last book of this group but somewhere in the middle, probably of 5. Keep in mind this is very rough draft of III, and may or may not make it into the final in recognizable form.
……………………..
Heart hammering, [ummph] went down the narrow stairs and found himself facing a ring of swords. Including his father’s. His mouth went dry. Had he been condemned? Was he to die here, in this remote place? Had this morning’s porridge been his last meal? He had never, he realized, believed that he would be killed, not if he did what he was told. The drawn swords told a different tale.
…………………………………..
Three hundred more words and I’ll have a 3000 word day. I need to make up the days I didn’t get anything done.
Comment by APJ — September 8, 2010 @ 6:45 am
It is great to hear that the story will continue!! Thank you Mrs Moon for sharing this story with the world, i pray for your continued inspiration!!
Comment by tuppenny — September 8, 2010 @ 7:57 am
all I can say is ‘ulp’ or possibly “eep”
That’s a teaser if ever I saw one. And how many years before we find out what happened. (Do I hear the Honored Author chortling in a sinister fashion off stage left)
Comment by AMMBD — September 8, 2010 @ 11:18 am
excellent tease of a snippet. can’t wait to meet the young mr. ummph & see who he matures into 🙂
Comment by Jim DeWitt — September 8, 2010 @ 11:58 am
Officially FIVE books? Yikes and hooray.
They say money is the sincerest form of flattery. So here’s a compliment: unlike other authors, who don’t get my money until the series is complete, on account of letting me down (George R.R. Martin, Sterling Lanier, Alexei Panshin, James Rigney – the list goes on and on), you write so well that the journey is rewarding in itself. I’ll buy your books as they are published, instead of waiting for the series to be completed.
The list of authors writing series who get my money as the books are published is short: Steven Brust, Rosemarie Kirstein and you. So I can honestly say I’m looking forward to each of as many Paks’ world books as you choose to write.
Comment by Gillian A — September 8, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
Hooray for official extension of the series! So glad to hear it since you’re on a roll with this series. It would have been a shame to have to cut it short.
Comment by Jenn — September 10, 2010 @ 7:18 am
Okay as much as I am very happy that the story will be that much longer mostly because I could see no way you would be able to adequately tell your fantastic tale in 3 I am already dying to read 2 and the thought of having to wait until 5 is putting me into a hard anticipation attack.
Does any one know how to build a time machine?
Comment by elizabeth — September 10, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
Ummph is still having an interesting time of it. Ummph would like to wallow in guilt the same way he frothed with indignation and effervesced with pride…I hope it’s just being an adolescent and not a permanent character trait. I should have named him for the drama queen horse (yes, I have named characters for horses, though not in fantasy….though come to think of it, I could give him Bananaface’s other nickname…hmmm…)
Editorial chat this morning about some problems with the page proofs (how did I miss those five things???) which are now resolved in the simplest way. At this stage of production, you want easy, quick fixes.
Spent time today undoing the formatting stuff that Word 2010, even in “compatibility mode” imposed on the stuff I’d written while traveling. UNsmart quotes, collapsed ellipses, collapsed em dashes. It’s a nonproportional font–NOTHING should collapse. And any “smart quotes” that don’t recognize a bit of dialogue ending in a dash or ellipsis are not smart enough. You don’t have open-quote and then another open-quote without a close-quote.
So the further adventures of Ummph didn’t get very far and tomorrow I’d better make serious progress.
Comment by RichardB — September 12, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
Belated yay for FIVE books!
Comment by elizabeth — September 14, 2010 @ 1:09 pm
Thanks, Richard! Now if Book III will just agree to come to a nice finish and give itself a title…
Comment by peter — September 15, 2010 @ 3:03 am
Well … you’ve had ‘Oath of Fealty’; how about naming young sprout ‘Oafty’ then you could title the book ‘(The) Feelings of Oafty’! 😀 :D.
How’s the choir doing? Ours is doing an Elgar concert in a few days time and including the first ever football anthem (yes, by Elgar: 1898) entitled ‘He Banged the Leather for Goal’.
Comment by elizabeth — September 15, 2010 @ 8:19 am
The difficulty in titling can’t be solved that easily, alas. Though what you suggested led to (also not going to be used) “The Trials of Young Squires.”
The choir will be starting rehearsals soon for Durufle’s “Requiem”. I find it just as uninspiring as I did last time (already listening to the CD and looking at the score) but our director loves it, and so do many other. It has a few beautiful moments, but on the whole is just not my cup of tea.
Comment by peter — September 15, 2010 @ 3:11 pm
Even the Rutter is better than that! I like the Bach B Minor best. That great swing to the Sancus: like an enormous clock ticking.