the deep moans round with many voices

( Ashes, part 13 )

1) So that's Riam's secret -- I don't think it's as bad as he thinks it is, though he has cultural reasons for being hypersensitive, which will be revealed as I tell you more about the taint-house. I will tell you Zalir's secret later.

2) The long gap between updates? Partially due to lack of sleep, partially to the sudden presence of guests, and partially to getting halfway into this scene and suffering an attack of "oh god, my story is so stupid" insecurity... but mostly to computer troubles. *hates computer* I suspect it will fail again tomorrow, so goodness only knows when I will next get a chance to type up longhand sections and post them.

3) 1,150 words today, 17,700 total.

( Ashes, part 11 )

1) That would be the end of chapter one. \o/

2) I actually had this mostly written longhand as of Tuesday night -- I lost Sunday and Monday to continuing computer troubles and a recurrence of my on-again off-again cold -- but I couldn't get it typed and posted until tonight -- computer troubles again. Now I am off to write Morgalen's actual story and explanation, after which we move on to the next day, the proper introduction of the taint-house and Kivarunanga Gydra, and the plot gimmick that will force Riam and Zalir to join Morgalen's quest.

3) I am infodumping so badly in this section and the previous one. Sorry about that. I will smooth those passages out in December.

4) 900 words today, 14,750 total.

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On an unrelated note, my digestive system hates me today. I cordially hate it back. Ow, ow, ow, and ick. Fortunately, the troubles did not kick in until this afternoon, several hours after I returned home from my dentist appointment. That would have been awkward.

( Ashes, part 9 )

1) ...I would say something intelligent about this section, but I am tired and kind of brain-dead right now. Oh well. Or no, wait -- this would be the part where I remembered that they're not just talking while eating (which I did make a token gesture or two toward acknowledging in the previous section), but that they're in a big room with lots of other people potentially listening in. In December, I must go back and take that into account earlier in the scene.

2) Apparently, Morgalen's people are devotees of Sun Tzu. Who knew?

3) I think this may be the first time that I said anything about what magicians are -- and how they get their power -- on page. More on that later. Also, note that while everyone in Zerlon says Morgalen is bound to fire, she says she's bound to the principle of heat. Her version is more accurate, though still not necessarily correct.

This world doesn't have the disciplines that we would call physics, chemistry, and so on, but before the Gate and the miasma, they were making some progress along those lines, and magicians, in particular, have made some further advances in the next two centuries. In other words, they do know a bit about matter, energy, elements, and the idea of natural laws, though the fact that their data mostly comes from contact with other universes where natural laws work a bit differently -- manipulation of those differences being the entire point of the magician's art -- means their results are understandably inconsistent, and also often kept secret.

4) I have been doing a bunch of writing for this story at work. I then come home and add more writing on the computer, after I've transfered the handwritten parts. Usually the handwritten stuff gets a bit augmented as I type it up -- I can't keep up with my thoughts via pen, whereas I can generally keep up with myself via typing, so I add in the little tidbits I know I left out. Sometimes, though, I go off on entirely different tangents. This section, for example, had only two handwritten paragraphs between Morgalen's statement that people will always fight and Riam's abrupt change of subject back to binding. You will note that there is a LOT MORE between those dialogue passages now.

5) 1,650 words today, 12,825 total.

( Ashes, part 7 )

1) Oh, the hell with it; I don't feel like writing today. I am going to go drink a glass of hard cider, read Nalini Singh's latest Psy-Changeling paranormal romance novel, and cheerfully turn my brain off for an hour or so until I go to bed.

2) Morgalen's story about Zerlon and the discovery of binding is more or less true, allowing for the omission of quite a lot of details.

3) 800 words today, 9,325 total.

( Ashes, part 5 )

1) Okay, so basically I lost Friday and Saturday to a combination of my mom visiting, my computer pitching screaming fits -- i.e., crashing a lot and refusing to restart properly -- and an incipient cold tipping over the edge into an actual cold (which, yes, means I am a bit stoned on NyQuil at the moment). Therefore, this is the sum total of my progress on both days and I am going back to bed, word count targets be damned.

2) 1,250 words today, 6,800 total.

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Mom's visit went fairly well. I got off work shortly after 5pm on Friday, whereupon I walked home, finished tidying up a bit, and vacuumed my floors. Mom arrived shortly after 6pm, brought in some stuff, and fed and walked her dog. Then we went out to dinner at the East Shore Cafe, which was oddly underpatronized for a Friday night. Mom had penne pasta with chicken, bacon, and mushrooms in alfredo sauce. I had salmon with spinach and vegetables in wasabi sauce, plus mashed potatoes on the side. Both dishes were lovely.

Mom slept in my computer room on my inflatable air mattress. Today we got up between 7 and 8am, had breakfast at Friendly's, and went grocery shopping (I took shameless advantage to buy several heavy items that I usually ration out one or two per trip, because I only have so much arm strength). Then we went to the Farmer's Market, followed by a trip to GreenStar and lunch at New Delhi Diamond, the Indian restaurant kittycorner from the public library. Then we drove up the west side of the lake to Bellweather Cidery and Hosmer Winery, where we bought some alcoholic beverages. (We also bought some wine at the Farmer's Market, since we plan to do a blind tasting of three Rieslings at Thanksgiving; that has been fun in the past.)

We bought ice cream at Cayuga Creamery on our way back to Ithaca -- Mom had rum raisin and I had pistachio. They're way too far out of the way to visit on a whim, but as part of a vineyard trip? I definitely recommend them.

Mom left around 4pm and reached NJ safely. I, meanwhile, took a nap, and am now about to return to bed after dinner and a successful transcription of my handwritten NaNo progress.

That is all.