Raspberry or Rose?
Things grow mildly confusing; everyone is drinking tea, even my IMPlings.
I revived an old Edge story during the week where Thorne, George and the gorgeously piratical Blake Radcliffe are drinking Raspberry Rush while they play I know you know I know.
Raspberry Rush? I have enough for one pot left and I’m saving it. I drank the last of my Black Rose which had a big impact on Siren’s Gate, and I’m still trying to decide if I replace them or continue my sampling.
In the meantime, the IMPs are in on the tea action although it looks like they’re only pretending to drink the honey vanilla brew. As you do when the Queen of the Land of the Dead waylays you. She was supposed to be an Alice in Wonderland type but she morphed when I wasn’t paying attention into something part Greek, part Egyptian, who took over the role when Uncle H and Seph went on a protracted honeymoon. Interesting stuff, and ties in with some babbling I did with Kathleen a while back re her Persephone of Enna project.
But this bit with the Queen/patron goddess does clarify the Isolde/Arty story arc I have to knot with the other two by Episode 26. The Support/Twilight one is untangling slowly but the captain/crew is being elusive. So in the interests of plot development I shall have another cup of coffee and see what they’re up to. Will Morde wake Morgan? And where did Sher go?
On a slighly more sensible-sounding note, Wishbone was special featured over at the WMG blogazine. I still like parts of that story so much which makes going back to Pandora’s Edge for Welcome Home and all the other Out of The Box bits I have floating around more appealing.
beware: babble
My brain just clicked: cailean becomes a character, piratical of course, and is recognised by Dimity although not by his Dread Pirate name… something a little more embarrasingly mundane and he retaliates by reminding her she’s named after material. They probably played in sandpits together, squabbled over who got the red dump truck.
Stay with me, there will be a point soon. Fingers crossed.
Why are my Darklings enocuntering pirates? Because a certain sorceress has been seen in quiet conversation with the Dread Pirate! Okay, not sure yet why this is all so potentially dire but it adds to the notes I have for Lonely In Blue where I always wanted to bring in Damascena from Bright Steel. Looks like this episode will be one of the longer ones.
who is she?
Or maybe I should be asking, what is she?
I’m still not entirely sure but leaning towards succubus with reserves on vampire and some sorta rain spirit. She’s definitely not a character to mess with, my heroine from Lady’s Night … soon to be published in the June 2008 issue of Semaphore
She arrived thanks to a true story from Helen about walking home in the rain, a story that was both funny and scary. Think I got those qualities across. But something about the character itched. She had style, she had verve, she had an umbrella and a taste for the hunt. All of which meant she had potential to reappear in one of the series. Siren’s Gate was the most likely. Except. That umbrella… made me think she’d like Morningside more. She did, she definitely did, especially when she morphed into a Weather Girl, some supernatural type with a propensity for collecting men, and also a walking bad omen.
Morningside is still complicated with three big stories and so far two little “jabberwock” inspired shorties. One of those features a chanteuse type who would of course need backup singers like my Weather Girl.
Dearest…
Dear Diary, the third Siren’s Gate story, was written for a competition hosted by WitheringMoon aka Kelly of the generous heart and gothic eye. Her theme was “secret places” and the premise was simple: impress me, and even better if it’s a writing/image collaboration.
Little tricky.
But Paul Tupman found me via comments left on Kelly’s journal entry and offered up his stunningly lit Secrets Unfurled featuring a girl with a book in a cathedral. My first glimpse merged with an idea I’d been muttering about to anyone who listened, that of Lovers’ Lane being a corruption of Lover Slain. And perhaps I’d listened to Romeo & Juliet a few times, too. So. Angel lurking + love gone wrong + book … by 4pm I had my story and quite a few time zones away Paul was starting his day happily.
And we won!
I bounced gleefully for ages.
As a bonus, Dear Diary began the love/power of books which is a recurring Gate theme.
stretch those wings
Siren’s Gate the second story, the one that insisted on appearing despite my not wanting a new series. I still had bits of Wolf Hollow to finish! However, Learning to Fly snuck in and gave me a literal overview of the city. And named that city for the first time.
A bit dark, a bit funny, I wrote it in a day. “Sleek” is in there in honour of Helen. A few points will crop up in later episodes. The really fun thing from my perspective is Raven, the “he” in this story. Having him on stage, as it were, after at least 5 years of floating in the background was a delight. Why is he here? Well, it’s a family thing. That’s all I want to say at this point, except also to promise to write that story one day.
Hmmmm. There’s also a homage to Simon R Green even though he stomped all over a corner of my heart when he killed the only Owen I’ve ever appreciated (you should be amazed I can type the O-word; I certainly can’t say it). Okay, okay, I can understand why that section of the Deathstalker series had to happen that way, but… sniff. I am enjoying Nightside.
webs we weave
Epiphanies. The taste ranges from glee to bitter but this one falls into the rueful category. Now that I’m mostly serious abour reviving The Novel, I’m editing bits and the first bit I picked was the bathroom scene from about chapter 9. Also plotting some promo from Wishbone so I was reflecting on that too… oh.
The Novel (Welcome Home): chapter 9
Wishbone: part 2, Hanging Out To Dry
Wolf Hollow: Epsiode 24, Falling Over You
Okay, I have another signature, bath scenes. So how can I fit that into a scenario with an Angel? The wings could be a problem, especially as I’ve already been through the whole what do what do wet angel feathers smell like and collected “kitten armpits” and “wet hessian in the tropics” as responses… oh.
Siren’s Gate: Epsiode 9, The One That Gets Away
Oh. Oh. Uh oh. Pass me another alcholic lemon spider, please.
the other one
I’m a serial writer; they don’t start out that way but I keep falling for the characters and linking them to all the other works in progress … there are a lot of those. For 10 of their scheduled 26 epsiodes the IMPs have remained unlinked although I wouldn’t rely on them reminaing so.
And I know there’s going to be 26 episodes because each title contains a code phrase based on a letter of the alphabet. They’re a mercenary team; they have their own lingo. It’s full of Code L and Romeo Calling with a dash of Kasbah Rocking. Yes, there’s also a musical reference ’cause that’s fun for me. Fun until I’m stuck for a title anyway which I am on #13 (I’ve skipped a few). BUT last night I figured out the W episode! It’s simple, it’s cool … it’s Whoo Hoo.
Star bright
So. When Stars Fall grew out of a conversation with Shanina Conway re her Dark Angel image … a superheroine for the RB writers. Unlike many of Shan’s glam girls I couldn’t see Angel’s shoes. They had to be boots, just had to, preferably thigh-high and slightly piratical, which led to my next thought: what does an angel heroine wear under her boots?
Socks, of course. Just like me.
But Shan was of the opinion socks and superheroines just didn’t sit right. A slinky kevlar bodysuit perhaps…
Hmmm.
Not convinced. That was the germ of an idea that grew late one night.
