Will The Last Person To Leave Please Turn Out The Sun

Hello all two (or maybe three) of my readers out there in the world of the interwebs.  Today I wanted to share with you a short story I wrote as a personal challenge to myself since I love to be long winded and write novel length material when I write fiction.  Part of the challenge was to see if I could properly convey the same message in under 2,000 words as I could in 10,000 words.  Also, this does, in a way, tie into my novel "Shadows of the Western Moon" in that it presents the reason that mankind left earth permanently thru the T.E.A.R.S. project.  Please take the time to read it and give me your feedback, I welcome it.  Also, I would like to state that this is my work and as such it is my intellectual property, please do not steal it but feel free to share it.

WILL THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE PLEASE TURN OUT THE SUN

by M. C. Rylee

Turning on the light to the small study, Aurora Farsinger looked around the room, her eyes stopping on the computer monitor which rested on a small desk.  On the monitor there was a small icon that would flash before being followed by an insistent beeping before flashing once again.  Sighing, she walked over to the monitor and touched icon on the screen.

            Establishing connection…

            Establishing connection…

            She waited patiently for the connection to be established, hating how slow interstellar travel made any kind of connection to the net.  While she waited, she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor for a few seconds before deciding to sit in the chair that rested in front of the computer.  As she sank into the chair she wondered who it was that was trying to call her since she hadn’t bothered to check the caller ID.  Her curiosity was rewarded a couple of seconds later (establishing the connection had only taken thirteen seconds) when an elderly face of a man filled the screen.  His features were deeply carved with the ravages of time and hard work. 

            “Poppa,” Aurora said, her face visibly brightening as she saw the face of her grandfather on the screen.  “I didn’t expect a call from you.  I was expecting you to come walking into our quarters any minuet.  Where are you?  Do I need to come and get you?  Are you having trouble navigating the ship?”

            “Hello to you too young lady,” The old man said with an odd smile on his face that was almost sad.  “To answer the questions that you bombarded me with… No, I am not having trouble navigating the ship and no, I don’t need you to come get me because I am not even on your ship.”

            “What?”  A look of disbelief crossed Aurora’s face.  “Which ship are you on?  How did you manage to get on the wrong ship?  I know you aren’t so old that you would wander onto the wrong ship Poppa, you aren’t senile yet.  Did you take too long packing?  Is that what it is?  I told David that we should have helped you pack your things…” 

On the screen the old man looked as if he was trying to say something but after several minutes of listing to her continue to prattle on, he just shut his mouth and waited patiently.

“… but don’t worry Poppa, when we to Casteal we will wait for your ship to arrive so that we can help you unload and settle in before moving on to our new home.”

Aurora paused for just a second and the old man, sensing an opportunity spoke up before she could catch her breath.

“Aurora,” He said a little sharper than he intended too.  “I am not on a ship heading to Casteal.”

“You not only got on the wrong ship but you got on one that was heading to the wrong planet?”

“No child, you misunderstand me.  I should have just come right out and said it before you ever left Earth but the fact of the matter is… I am not on a ship at all.”

“What?”

“I said I am not on a ship.  I am still on Earth.”

“What do you mean you’re still on Earth?  Did you not get to the port in time?”

“No child, I did not even try.”

“But we had made arrangement weeks in advance to for all of us to leave together and start a new life on Casteal considering the situation with Earth.”

“No, you and your husband decided that, I had no say in the matter.  I never wanted to leave, after all, this is where my dear sweet Lilly is and I don’t want to die on a planet far away from her.  Look around me…”

The camera shifted and the face disappeared from the screen as it panned around showing the area where the old man was at.  Everywhere the camera panned, Aurora could see gravestones jutting out of the dry dusty soil that held them.  The one closest to the old man was clearly meant to have two names etched upon it but only had one name that was carved into it on the right hand side of the stone.  The scene on the screen swung back, once again revealing the old man who had a sad look on his face.

“You see child,” The old man began.  “Here I am among many of the people that have left me behind, left me to grow old and withered, abandoned to the whims of my children who, instead of treating me like a person, treated me like a burden to be shucked off to someone else in the cheapest nursing home.

“Hush child,” he said sharply as Aurora opened her mouth to protest.  “I am not passing judgment on you, you just did what you thought was best, but you never really took my feelings into consideration.  Kind of like this migration to one of these new planets that they are supposed to have terra-formed and ready to be populated, you never asked me if I wanted to go, you just made plans for me without ever considering how I felt.”

“You should have talked with David and Me before doing a fool thing like this Poppa,” Aurora said, scolding the old man.

“Child,” the old man said sharply, “Don’t take that tone with me.  I have tried to talk to you and your husband about this repeatedly over the course of the years since your Nana died, you just never bothered to hear what I had to say.  You and David wrote me off after putting me in that home.  You figured that you could just dictate how my life without my say so because you thought you knew better than me when it came to my own life.”

The old man on the screen sighed and closed his eyes while taking a deep breath and holding it.  He sat there motionless for several minutes before opening his eyes and continuing.

“I know you were just doing what you thought was best, I do, but you never took how I felt into consideration.  I never asked to go to that Home.  I was perfectly fine in the Apartment that I had shared with your Nana before she died.  When you took that away from me, it not only felt like you were casting me aside, it felt like you were trying to strip me of all that I had left to tie me to Lilly. 

“My dear, sweet Lilly, how I miss you,” the old man said as he looked over his shoulder at the gravestone beside him.  A tear shimmered on his cheek as he turned back toward the screen.

“Child… No.  Aurora, I know that life hasn’t been easy for you, especially since your parents died and you had to come live with us.  Making that transition was not easy for anyone, Lilly and I suddenly had a child to care for again while you had to live in a stuffy antiquated apartment with your grandparents while mourning the loss of your parents.  Your Nana and I did our best to make sure you were provided for and had everything that a growing girl needed.  We struggled to make sure that you had the best life you could and over all I think we did rather well.  You grew up to be a beautiful woman who married a kind and intelligent man.  You have your own family to take care of and for some reason you thought you needed to take care of me as well even though I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

“Ever since the T.E.A.R.S. project was announced over ninety years ago to the public, I knew it was something that my children and my children’s children would benefit from.  Honestly, I never expected to see Casteal or any of the other  planets that they have prepared for the human race since I figured at the time that I would be dead long before the ships meant to take mankind to that distant planet were ready.  Now that the time has come to leave this beautiful planet that I have called home all of my life, I don’t want to leave.  I have so many fond memories here, all of my life is here, and the woman that I dedicated myself to is here.  I’m too old to go make a life on another planet and I want to die here, on the planet that I call home.  Chances are, I wouldn’t even survive the journey to Casteal anyway due to how many years that is going to take.”

“Aurora, I waited to call you like this because I knew that you needed to be well on your way to your new home before you knew where I was.  I know that you would have tried to find some way to rescue me,” he said, making air quotes as he said the word rescue.  “I couldn’t have you potentially jeopardizing your life or the lives of others over me.  I have had a full life and remaining here is my decision.  Please, you can be angry with me but don’t mourn me, I am happy and content.”

“Poppa, I am angry at you,” Aurora said, her face a mask of fury.  “How could you do this… this… this selfish act?  I can’t believe you would just abandon me like this.  You telling me that I never took how you felt into consideration, well I did.  I didn’t like having to put you in that Home, Poppa, but we did it because we couldn’t be there all the time to make sure nothing happened.  You were alone in that apartment and there was no telling what might have happened to you at your age.  You could have fallen and broken something then not been able to call for help.  We placed you in that Home for your safety and you will never know the financial sacrifices we had to make to keep you there.  We were only looking out for you.

“Now you just up and decide that you are going to stay behind on Earth after we spent the money that we earned to make sure that you have a place on one of the ships evacuating the system so that you wouldn’t die when the sun…”  Aurora’s voice trailed off as the angry dropped from her face and tears began to well up in her eyes.  She turned away from the monitor, shoulders shaking as she cried softly to herself, not wanting her grandfather to see her tears.

“Aurora, I know that this decision has hurt you and for that I truly am sorry.  I am.  If I could make it up to you I would but we both know that is impossible.  I love you and I only want the best for you, I hope that one day you will see that.”

The old man grew silent and Aurora turned back toward the monitor where the old man was now looking up at the sky.

“It’s so beau-“  He said as a brilliant flash of white filled the screen and his words were cut off.  Static followed a brief second later before switching to a black screen with the flashing message…

Connection Lost

The End

Writing Is The Key, Write, Write, Write... Then Write Some More.

Hello Readers, just letting y’all know what is going on with me.  I have submitted my short story “Will the Last Person to Leave Please Turn Out the Sun” to the Jim Baen Memorial writing contest.  Honestly, I don’t expect to win nor do I expect to get second or third place, but I consider this a big step for me because I am putting my writing out there.  The reason that this is a big step is because of a fear of rejection that is absolutely crippling at times for me.  The way I look at it, and the way that helps me to overcome this, is that the worst thing they can say to me is please don’t send us any more of your work and, since this is a contest, the likelihood of that is slim.  I should know whether or not I won by March 15^th at the latest and if I don’t win then I have other plans for this short story.  For instance, I plan on submitting it to Lightspeed magazine and Strange Horizons magazine if I don’t win the contest.  I don’t know if they will buy my story, but I won’t know if I don’t try right?

As for my novel “Tears of the Western Moon” which I have been working on off and on since I killed off… well my favorite character, who shall remain nameless for the time being since I don’t want to give away the surprise, I am back working on it.  As I told you in the last post, I felt the need to delete around 6k words and I am pleased to say that I have almost gained all of that lost ground back and am must happier with the result.  Now I know that you aren’t supposed to edit as you are writing, but that was a case of me writing myself into a pit that I couldn’t work my way out of reasonably and to be honest, I was forcing myself to write that segment and it sucked.  All is right now though as the corrections have been made and the mysteriously androgynous Lord Aramon has finally made his… err, her... ummm, let’s just go with the masculine pronouns for now since the character has revealed that information to me yet, semi-permanent presence known.  Currently, he seems to be trying to weasel his way into my little band of travelers in his quest to gain immortality by possessing the Moonstones but will our heroes will for it?  Let’s hope not.

Anyway, that’s about it for now, I will try to post a bit more regularly since life seems to have calmed back down a bit for me.  Oh and if anyone else wishes to enter the Jim Baen Memorial writing contest, this is where you can find the info… 

http://www.williamledbetter.com/contest.htm

Till next time…

Just an update

Hello, I know it has been a while since I have posted on here last and I just want to let you few readers that I have know I haven't forgotten about you.  Life, unfortunately, gets in the way sometimes and I can't keep up with my blogs of my writing the way that I would like too.  Currently, I have a short story that I have completed called "Will the Last Person to Leave Please Turn Out the Sun".  I wrote this story partially as an exercise and partially because I needed a short break from "Tears of the Western Moon" after killing off one of my favorite characters as well as a sub-character. 

The way that this short story was an exercise for me was that I  find it very easy to tell a story as long as it has a large word count.  So in light of that, I set the restriction of 2k words for this short story.  One I finished it it came out to around 1850 words which is well within my limit that I set and I am happy with the results, now I just wait for initial reactions from my first draft reader before I start edits...

As for work on "Tears of the Western Moon"  I had gotten up to a word count of 39k words but needed to go back and delete 6k of that 39k.... very discouraging.  But I have since added 1k back to it and am now at 34k words.  I find myself struggling to continue this novel because the death of... the character who I killed off still depresses me and now I have to face the fact that she is dead  and move on with the story.  I will finish this book.  Then I will edit as I did with "Shadows of the Western Moon" and after edits are finished I will move on to the third novel in the trilogy. 

Anyway, just wanted to post an update for anyone that was interested.

The Dreams of the Young

Hello there my few readers that I have, I want to talk to you today about dreams. No, not the type that you get when you close your eyes and go to sleep, instead I want to talk about the kind that you have when you are growing up.  Yes, those dreams like being a firefighter or astronaut. 

When I was growing up I had dreams, big dreams, small dream and average dreams just like I imagine every kid has.   I wanted to grow up to be a multitude of things ranging from policeman to ballerina to gymnast to archeologist to musician to published author… The list could go on and on.  Of those dreams I have accomplished some, though not necessarily to the degree that I desired, but the point is I have accomplished them.   I have been an officer of the law.   I have been a musician.  I have even been published twice with my poetry, though sadly no novels have been published yet. 

The point I guess that I am getting at is that there are dreams that were and/or are obtainable as long as I worked toward them.  Now obviously, some of the dreams I had when growing up were clearly impossible short of the existence of magic or extreme advances in science.  Those dreams I have had to come to terms with at they will never be anything more than just dreams but, the dreams I have that can be achieved I still work and strive toward.  One of those dreams, to become a published author or rather novelist, is very achievable as long as I keep at it. 

Now when I was young the dream was simply to write a novel and get it published.  Now I didn’t know about self-publishing when I was young and therefor that didn’t work into the dream.  Now that dream has expanded and grown as I have gotten older, now I know exactly by how and by who I want to be published.  Not to knock people who self-publish, but I do not think that self-publishing is for me, at least not at this point in my life.  I still want to sell the rights to my novels and be published by professional publishing companies, in particular Baen, Pyr or Tor. 

I hold this dream close to my heart and hope that one day I make it a reality…  That is all, that is all that this post is about.  Sorry if you found it disappointing but I just wanted to share that piece of me with you, my very few yet regular readers.  I hope that life finds you well and that many of your dreams will become reality for you too.

Sanguine Whispers

Just wanted to put this out there, this is a snippit from the novel "Sanguine Whispers" that I was working on before I started the Moonstones Trilogy novels.  Part of this novel is writen from the perspective of the serial killer while the other part is writen third person, following the privite detective that is trying to help the police catch him.  Tell me what you think. (btw, this is a VERY rough first draft.)

Slowly I trail a finger down her breast, passing it gently over her nipple causing her to shiver with pleasure beneath my touch.  Looking into her eyes I see the desire she has wanting me, needing me as I tease her body building the anticipation.  She wants me, she craves me, I can see it in the wild look in her eyes, she needs me.  Gently I kiss her, lips trailing her body, I feel her nerves racing, wondering where my lips will touch next.  I push her to the brink . . . before pulling back to admire my handy work.

            I look at her, examining her limp, loose body as it lies on the bed, waiting, waiting, waiting for me.  Months of preparation had led up to this point, this moment, where I will soon claim my prize.  My father once said, “Patience is a virtue my son, and as it is with any virtue, it will reward you in the end.”  Indeed, it was moments like this that prove that to be true, a perfect moment in time, one that will always be cherished. 

            As I look at her on the bed, my mind slips back, rolling over every delectable detail leading to the now.  I first spotted her while leaving the apartment of my last girlfriend, Jessica.  To be honest, it was the sound of her shoes that drew my attention with the little click, click, click, they made on the concrete of the sidewalk as she walked away from where I was standing.  She wore four inch black stiletto heels on her pretty little feet, dark stockings with the seam that ran up the back of her long, supple legs.  Her pinstripe skirt of the business suit she wore was tight fitting and displayed her tight butt quite well.  She had a tiny waist, shown by the tightness the matching pinstripe jacket she wore.  Her golden hair was pulled up into a tight french twist allowing me to see the soft skin of her neck and the perfect curve of her jawline.  I couldn't help it, I had to follow this vision of perfection that had caught my eye so suddenly. 

            I locked the door to Jessica's apartment quickly, left the key in the lock, and took off after her, removing my gloves as I followed.  She led me to a parking garage that was just around the corner.  Upon showing her pass to the attendant she was let in, I walked on in order not to draw attention to myself.  Just down the street there was a bench with a newspaper dispenser next to it.  I grabbed a paper and sat down, pretending to read while waiting for the next car to pull out of the garage.  I didn't have to wait long.  After a few minutes a black Mustang pulled out onto the street and, lucky for me, turned to head in the direction I had gone.  That is when I was given my first glimpse of her face and I knew at once, this angel was to be my next companion.

            Softly she calls my name, pulling me out of my revelry.  I lean in to hear what she has to say.  She is talking softly, so softly I must strain to hear her. 

            She is telling a story, a story of two young lovers who met by chance at a party shortly after the Civil War had ended.  They were so smitten by one another upon their first meeting that they almost immediately fell into the others arms.  That would have a scandalous affair though, had that occurred.  Instead they agreed after much dancing and time spent in each other’s company to meet later that night down by the banks of the Warrior River.  Soon the hour of truth came, and the maiden was sneaking out of her bedroom window to meet the young man who had wooed her that night.  He was waiting there for her and for the first time, they embraced.  After some time spent enjoying each other’s company they soon parted ways with the agreement to return the next night.  Not that many nights passed before they made love for the first time, it was a magical experience, making the world seem more alive in their eyes.  Soon, they got married, had several children and lived happily ever after till the day they died. 

            She asks me if I think that we will be that way.  I smile and simply tell her that it shall be so.  I resume the kisses I had been doing and soon she is ready. 

            She lets me know, in between the soft little pants that signal her arousal, that the time is right.  I work my way slowly back up her body, priming it for the gift to come.  As I make my way to her neck, caressing her skin with my lips, she opens for me and I enter. 

            My mind flashes back to the moment we met earlier tonight.  I had been watching the doors to the club her and her friends had gone too for some time, knowing that it was customary for them to leave before her.  The reason for this was that all her girlfriends were married and had families to get back too while she had just an empty house waiting for her.  She would hang around; usually about another two hours to see if she could find a nice young man to “hook up” with so that the night wouldn't be as lonely.  Sometimes she found one, but most times she didn't.

            Tonight, I had thought to myself as I watched her friends leave, tonight you will not leave empty handed.  Tonight you leave with me.

            Quietly I slipped into the club and made my way to the bar where I knew she would be sitting.  As I approached, I caught her eye immediately though I pretended not to notice.  I had dressed in a nice white polo and a pair freshly pressed khakis, “Dressed to impress,” as my father would say.  I sat down six seats to her left and ordered a beer before I gave notice of her presence.  I flashed a polite smile in her direction and turned to my beer.  As soon as I knew she wasn't watching me, I turned to watch her and whenever she would turn to look at me I would quickly look away blushing.  The eye flirting continued for a while before she finally approached me as I knew she would, having watched her perform this little game with several different men over the four month period I had spent observing her and learning about her.  She sat down beside me, eying me so intently I could swear there was a hunger lurking behind her eyes.

            “Hello there,” she said, smiling as she sat. “I’m Clarissa, and you are?”

            I smiled and gave her my name, telling her I was pleased to make her acquaintance.  She offered to buy me a drink, which I politely declined, telling her that it is only polite that I buy the drinks for her, not the other way around.  She accepted my kind offer and soon we were chatting it up, time was passing so quickly that before we knew it last call had come and gone.  She was more than a little drunk at that point and asked me if I would like to come back to her place where the setting would be a bit more intimate.  I, of course, agreed.

            She led me to her car and asked where my car was, I told her that I lived near the club so I had walked.  She nodded, accepting that explanation easily enough, then got into her car and unlocked the passenger side door for me.  The interior smelled heavily of the leather it was covered in, mixed with the intoxicating scent of her perfume.  I very nearly couldn't help myself as I leaned over to kiss her lightly on the cheek.  She murmured something I couldn't quite make out, then turned, kissed me deeply and smiled as she pulled away. 

            After a short drive we were at her building, and I helped her up the stairs to her to her apartment, which luckily was on the first floor.  As she unlocked her door I silently slipped out the syringe I had been hiding in my pocket the entire night.

            She stumbled inside, flicking the lights on, never looking back at me as I followed her and shut the door gently.  I slowly approached her from behind, kissing her shoulder gently before spinning her around and allowing my mouth to seek hers, it isn't hard to find.  She kissed me eagerly and I responded in kind, she didn't even feel the needle as I slid her skirt up, slipping it into the firm muscle of her buttock.

            We made our way to her bedroom, stripping off clothing as we go.  We were almost to the bed before her legs gave out.  I picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.  I lay her gently on the bed and one thing turns into another, past and present merge as her voice calls my name in the throes of passion.

            I collapse beside her, as my body gives out from exertion.  I look at her and can tell it was as good for her as it was for me.  Lounging beside her, as I catch my breath while she whispers sweet nothings in my ear, time ticks slowly away.  As minuets pass I gather my thoughts, knowing what is yet to come, anticipating the ritual that will make her mine for good.

            Climbing out of the bed after that seemed like hours, though was just mere minuets, I stand and gather her in my arms.  I carry her into the bathroom and am pleasantly surprised by the sight of a rather large spa styled bathtub.  Sitting her in the tub, I spot a bottle of scented bubble bath.  I turn on the water and make sure it is not too hot or cold, then add the scented bubble bath to the water, making lilac scented fluffiness on the water’s surface.  Bending down, I kiss her on the forehead and inform her I will be right back.

            I move back into the bed room, looking around for fresh sheets, I find some on the top shelf in her closet.  Stripping the dirty sheets off the bed and replacing them with the clean sheets, I make up the bed.  Then I move on to the kitchen, looking for garbage bags.  I find what I am looking for and return to the bedroom.  Bagging the old sheets up takes only seconds and I almost forget to grab the condom I had used. 

            With the basic clean up done in the bedroom, I return to the bathroom to check on the water.  The tub is nearly full.  I turn off the water and begin to bath Clarissa gently, washing her entire body, cleansing away anything that might sully her perfect skin.  Before long her skin begins to glisten like morning dew in the first rays of a rising sun.  Seeing that she is sufficiently clean, I turn my attention to her golden hair.
            I grab a nearby bottle of shampoo and gently begin to work her hair into a lather, taking steps to avoid tangling her lovely hair.  Upon finishing with her hair, I lift her gently out and towel her body off, making sure I get every last drop of water I can. 

            With her body now dry, I sit her down in a chair and begin to dress myself.  I look at her damp mass of hair when I finish and begin to search for a hairdryer, it doesn't take me long to find one.  Soon her hair is dry and brushed with a gently tousled look that I soon correct, fixing it into loose curls using a curling iron that I found with the hairdryer.  Her hair is soon a vision of perfection, like that of a doll, so perfect it almost seem surreal.

            I search some more in the bathroom and coming up with plenty of options for her makeup and nails.  I apply the makeup expertly and step back to admire my work, the doll comes to life.  I paint her well-manicured nails a crimson red to match the lipstick I had picked for her.  I tell her I will return shortly, then leave locking up behind myself. 

            I walk down the street to the parking lot I had stashed my car earlier that night before catching a cab to the club.  Driving myself home, I look back at what a success tonight has been so far.  It is not often things go so smoothly, but tonight has been nothing but smooth sailing. 

Into The Fray, A New Character Appears

Figured I would post an update for everyone on how the new novel is going.  So far I am only a little over 18k words into “Tears of the Western Moon” which, considering I am not writing on the weekends (which believe me is kind of hard because I do want to write) and only aiming for the tiny goal of 1k words per day of writing, I think I am doing well.  I am maintaining my pace and not rushing the novel which was the way I wanted to do this one to see if I could avoid a lot of the errors that I caught when editing “Shadow of the Western Moon”.  

So far, when it comes to the journal entries I mentioned in my last post, I have added only one more journal entry.  Right now I am planning in there being about 6 to 12 total, but right now I am still working out exactly where to place each one.  So far I have let the placement come naturally, but I suspect that when I get down to editing this novel I will have to rearrange where they fall, but so far that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Also, I am considering, due to the length of the first novel and the projected length of the second novel, that I may end up combining the two novels into one novel, making them part 1 and part 2.  As for the third book, with what I have planned, I think it will fall around to about 100k words so the current plan is for it to stay a novel in its own right.

Also, as a slight update on my characters.  I have had a new character added to the story, though I still don’t know if he is a main character or not.  His name is Jackson Lee and at first he appeared to be the crazy eyed, foul smelling hobo type (Though he does clean up quite nicely) who no one would want to keep around, but, as it turned out, due to events that transpire, Sephira is able to see Jackson’s true nature and warms up to him as a friend.  She even went so far as to invite him to join the group as they travel southward since Jackson has not seen any of the outside world (he is from the Underground of New Babylon) and was very intent on learning what he could from her.  As a result, I now have five characters traveling together which consists of the main three, Jonah, Alissa and Sephira, as well as two sub-characters that may or may not be main characters in the end consisting of Doctor Sliss and Jackson Lee.  On top of that, there is a mysterious Ibian that keeps popping up from time to time that appears to be following the group as well.

In other news, I have officially sent out my query letter to the first agency that I am considering using.  Considering that this was my first time ever writing a query letter, I hope that I did a semi-professional job with it.  It took me around 6 hours to write it as well as double and triple checking it before mailing it off.  I am extremely nervous about it and want to hear good news back, but I also realize that this is my first query, so as optimistic as I want to seem, I realize the chances of rejection, before even getting the chance to send part of my novel to them, is high.  But, as I like to say, I’m crossing my fingers but not holding my breath. 

Also, while I wait on a reply, I am thinking about sending my novel off to a professional editing agency to do a quick edit and possible critique.  Not sure if I should or not, but it is something that I am considering.

Anyway, thank you for your time today and I hope that you found this little post interesting.  Sorry I haven’t included any more excerpts, but I hope that you will understand if I want to keep the remainder of the excerpts off the blog until I have finished the novel and gone through the editing process like I did with the first one.  Till next time then, take care.

"Tears of the Western Moon" Update with Expanded Prologue Preview

I have added to the Prologue since my last post and wanted to update it for all who are interested.  This is probably the last time I will throw a preview of the prologue up since it will probably be edited and added to again once I start the editing process.  The reason I added what I did is I initially felt that the prologue was too short, indeed it is still a bit short for my tastes now, but I was also struggling with how to tell some backstory that would explain how thing came to be the way that they are.

This edit is my attempt to fix that and so far I am pleased with the results.  The journal entries that tell the now ancient history of the planet as well as the history of the moon, Sila, will be scattered throughout the novel.  The main concern I have with doing this is creating a jarring experience for the reader, but fixing problems like that is what editing is all about.

So far I am over 10k words into the novel and while I am shooting for just 50k to start off, I am hoping I surprise myself and take it all the way to 100k or more.  Also, in case you were wondering about the format in which this is written…  I am writing this way for multiple reasons, one, it will make the manuscript easier to get ready for publishing if it is already in this format and font, and two, I like the way it looks in general. 

Prologue

          They watched and they waited as time slowly passed them by.  The Watchers watched as they had done now for thousands of years, waiting for the sign, the sign that would tell them it was time to awaken the Sleepers.  They knew that the time was drawing near, they could hear the pulse.  The pulse, the rhythm of life, they could hear it slowly fading. High in their orbital position above the planet’s surface they watched, they waited, they listened. 

All of the Organics were now gone from the station, their dreams though still living on within the Watchers and the Sleepers.  The Organics had built them well, made them to last.  Their programming was infallible.  If necessary, the Watchers would wait till eternity, though they knew that that would not be the case, for the pulse was slowing, fading and soon the sign would come.  Then great machines would them spring into action, fulfilling their purpose once more. 

In the vacuum of space there was little to cause damage to the great machines as they watched and waited, indeed, the biggest threat that they had experienced was a loss of power that occurred in the early days, before the Organics had all vanished.  Thanks to the Organics that had made them, the machines had an unlimited source of power which had aided them over the many years of their vigil.  Strategically placed mirrors that reflected light from the sun when it was on the opposing side of the planet below, kept the solar panels on the back side of the station fed, preventing another outage like that one in the early days.  This prevented to station and the machines within from running out of power which was important to the task that the Watchers were charged with. 

Electricity sparked as the Watchers summoned the records of the past from deep within their circuitry.  They didn’t know why they did this, but it seemed whenever they reflected back to the past in anyway, the records would come to fill the void of memory.  Perhaps it was just their programming but whenever the records would com they could not help but turn their attention slightly inward toward the record to view it, as if there was some hidden message within for them to glean despite that fact that they had watched these records thousands of times before throughout the centuries.

#

Journal Entry #1282

Date – 06/12/2234

Project - Sila

Status – 23.4 percent complete

We have completed the framework of the space station Sila and have started installation on the power stations that will power the station once it is complete.  So far everything is running smoothly and we have had no complications to report.  Once the power stations are complete we will then get the solar panels installed and once we have confirmation that everything is in working order we will start building that machines that will be assigned to run that station once it is complete.  They should be able to aid in the construction and speed the project up. 

As project manager, I feel that that is the best course of action since we received word that the first of the immigrant ships will be arriving from Earth in roughly ten years’ time.  That severely limits our time tables on this project but I have faith that we will pull through and have everything ready before they get here.  My family should be on that ship and I can’t wait to see them once again.  Maybe this new planet will be the perfect new home for us to start over so that our children and our children’s children will have a chance to enjoy a world that is pure and free of the corruption we wrought on Earth.

The Yggdrasil project has been completed on the planet’s surface for some time and is awaiting our completion with the station.  Once Sila is complete we will unleash the Tears and pray that our calculations were correct and this planet can indeed be suitable for life.  I hope against all hope that we were correct.  If we were, then the Tears working with the Yggdrasil should bring this planet to life, like a virgin Earth, that has been unspoiled by our hands.  I hope that we learn from our mistakes on Earth.  

All of us here on the Sila project are hoping that we succeed in time and that all of this will not be in vain.  Reports from Earth indicate that the situation there is deteriorating rapidly and all their eyes are turned to us in this faraway planet tucked into the corner of our galaxy. 

We here at the Sila project realize the weight of our burden and hope that we are strong enough to see it through.  The Tears will be ready on time, even if we have to die to make it so. 

End Journal Entry #1282

#

Soon, soon, the Watches whispered among their circuits as the record came to a close. The signal will be shown to us once again.  Soon, we shall awaken the Sleepers.  Soon it will be time once again, time to unleash the Tears of Sila once more. 

The Words Continue Of Bone And Sinew

It is official.  I have started my second novel.  As you all should know by now, my first novel “Shadows of the Western Moon” is currently going through its first proofread.  I was going to wait until that proof read was done and I had started finished my second edit before starting the second novel.  Well, long story short, I got tired of waiting to write it and wanted to start it while the ideas were still fresh in my head, so I have started it.

The name of the second novel is going to be “Tears of the Western Moon” and it starts off just a couple of weeks after the events of “Shadows of the Western Moon”.  I am hoping with this one to not only expand upon the 2 main characters from the first novel, Jonah and Alissa, but also to really develop the two characters Sephira and Doctor Sliss, since they play a much larger role in this novel.  As I am finding out as I write this second novel, the first one was just the prelude to the real journey that these four characters experiencing. 

Currently I am only little over 6,000 words into the new novel and like the first; my goal is 50,000 just like it was for NaNoWriMo.  The main difference between now and NaNoWriMo is that I am taking a much more relaxed pace this time around when writing.  When I was participating in NaNoWriMo I had to have a daily goal of 1,667 words in order to hit my 30 day goal of 50,000 words.  Even though I was able to hit my goal of 50,000 words in 25 days instead of thirty, it was rather stressful at times, so this time around I am removing the 30 day limit from the equation.  My goal is to write 1,000 words per day with the exception of Saturday and Sunday.  On those two days I am not going to write anything. 

The second novel will be completed when it gets completed and I am not going to rush it.  I am hoping that by doing this, it will make the first time I edit it go a lot smoother then the first novel did.  I had to completely rework sections of the first novel because of grammatical errors that could have been avoided the first time around if I had not been in such a hurry.

But anyway, here is a little taste of what the new book has in store for you.  This is the prologue which isn’t very long but sets things up quite nicely.  This is the very first rough draft of this which has not yet been edited in any way.  I hope you enjoy.

Prologue

          They watched and they waited as time slowly passed them by.  The Watchers watched as they had done now for thousands of years, waiting for the sign, the sign that would tell them it was time to awaken the Sleepers.  They knew that the time was drawing near, they could hear the pulse.  The pulse, the rhythm of life, they could hear it slowly fading. High in their orbital position above the planet’s surface they watched, they waited, they listened. 

All of the Organics were now gone from the station, their dreams though still living on within the Watchers and the Sleepers.  The Organics had built them well, made them to last.  Their programming was infallible.  If necessary, the Watchers would wait till eternity, though they knew that that would not be the case, for the pulse was slowing, fading and soon the sign would come.  Then great machines would them spring into action, fulfilling their purpose once more. 

In the vacuum of space there was little to cause damage to the great machines as they watched and waited, indeed, the biggest threat that they had experienced was a loss of power.  Thanks to the Organics that had made them, the machines had an unlimited source of power which had aided them over the many years of their vigil.  Strategically placed mirrors that reflected light from the sun when it was on the opposing side of the planet below, kept the solar panels on the back side of the station fed.  This prevented to station and the machines within from running out of power which was important to the task that the Watchers were charged with. 

Soon, soon, the Watches whispered among their circuits. The signal will be shown to us once again.  Soon, we shall awaken the Sleepers.  Soon it will be time once again, time to unleash the Tears of Sila once more. 

"The Moonstones Trilogy" Information part 3

Ok, I have finish my first (rough) outline at least, that is to say, I have finished all that I am going to post.  I don't want to spoil the book for anyone which is why I am leaving third section empty for when it comes to public veiwing.  If someone I know really wants to read that part of the outline I will let them upon request.  But anyway, here is that last little bit, once again, spoiler free.              
                        2.4  Charne

2.4.1        Description – Charne is a massive ruin that once used to be a bustling city that was located in the middle of the Tulk Valley which is in the middle of the Sarphine Jungle and to the west of the Mindas Rift.  It is also located far to the west of Ib.  The ruined city is made mainly of dark grey stone that resembles marble.  All of the buildings are craved from this stone as well as all of the giant cobblestones that make the streets.  The only structure that is not made of this marble like stone is the huge pyramid that sits at the heart of the city.  Whereas most of the buildings in Charne are relatively short with flat roofs, the pyramid stands out because if it’s height.  It towers over the rest of the city with a lone temple that sits at the very top of it.  The pyramid and the buildings within a few blocks of it are the only structures that have not been claimed by the jungle.  The rest of the city has been slowly taken over by the plant life of the jungle.  Some of the structures on the outer edge of Charne are little more than piles of rubble due to the jungles encroachment.  The ruins have been long since picked over by looter and nothing of value remains.

2.4.2        History – The city of Charne wasn’t always a huge city.  It started out as a small village.  It wasn’t until Sephira and her husband Cain settled there that the village began to grow where it eventually became the city that it was.  When Sephira and Cain came to settle in the village, the natives of the village saw a massive population bloom as birthrates jumped and the abundance of food seemed to mysteriously increase.  This led to not only the city growing because of natives multiplying, but also growing because of many people immigrating to the area to take advantage of the seemingly supernatural life bloom.  Charne grew rapidly until it became the huge city that it was.  When her husband died of old age, Sephira became one of the main draws from both near and far to the city since she seemed to have the mysterious ability to cure any ailment short of death and old age.  She set herself up as a healing woman in order to support herself, never demanding money or wealth, all she asked was that the people that she helped would help her with her basic needs, food, clothing, and repairs to the home that she and her husband had shared.  As her reputation grew in not only the region, but the world as well, everyone wanted her help.  This led to the ruler of Charne, a paranoid man, to make decisions behind Sephira’s back by blocking requests for her to travel to other cities to help the people there.  The ruler was afraid that if she were told about any of the cases that could not be brought to her that she would leave to go to them and not come back because the people that she would travel to go see would prevent her from returning.  This is what led to the Ibians eventually taking up arms against the city of Charne since their requests for the healer had been denied several times.  Ib’s king was deathly ill and the Ibians were just wanting Sephiras aid so that their king could live.  When the final denial came back to them from Charne, they decided that is she would not come to them, they would go and get her or, if possible, her source of power.  Ib brought the full force of it technological might against the city of Charne, slaughtering all that stood in their path.  The few survivors of the attack buried their dead and then mysteriously vanished into the fog of history.

2.5  Westerfield

2.5.1        Description – Westerfield is a medium sized city that has not grown much over the many years that it has been around.  It is one of about two dozen cities of equal size that make up the Republic of Bethel.  Bethel rests far to the south of New Babylon across the southern Andronicus Sea.  Westerfield is the oldest city of the state and because of this is the capitol of Bethel.  The city itself is not what most would expect of a capitol city.  It has a very “wild west” feel to it with how open the city is.  There are no real walls around the city which is customary of all the cities of Bethel, instead they have fencing that surrounds the cities with short watch towers scattered along the perimeter.  Westerfield is surrounded by many acres of developed farm land that fills the gaps between it and the other cities that form the state.  The farmlands all have housing and barns that are close together inside a fenced in area similar to the cities.

2.5.2        Districts – Westerfield, like all the cities of Bethel, has no discernible districts other than a marketplace that is set aside for shops, skilled tradesmen, farmers and traveling merchants.  Everyone is seen as an equal as long as they pull their fair share of the work to keep things running smoothly.

2.5.3        The People – The People in Westerfield, indeed all the people of Bethel, are a hardy and rugged folk.  They believe that hard work and good strong moral principles make a man (or woman) respectable.  Everyone is seen as an equal in the Republic of Bethel and as such, every man has a vote with which they can use to choose a representative who will take a place for two years in that capitol to help create and uphold the laws of the land.  There are very few criminals among the people; this is mainly due to the harshness of the punishments for committing crimes in Bethel.   The people of Bethel have been tempered over the years from not only hard work but also dealing with the undead plague that comes from the west.

2.6  Yggdrasil

2.6.1        Description – Yggdrasil, also known as “The World Tree” or “The Tree of Life”, stands to the far west of the Republic of Bethel.  Its branches once stretched high into the sky reaching higher anyone could have thought possible.  The great tree was once green and full of life, supplying and abundance of life-force to the planet.  Its massive roots once provided shelter for weary travelers and were large enough that people were known to settle under where they rose up forming a natural shelter.  It would take days to walk around the trunk of the great tree, not because of the obstacles caused by the root system, but because the tree itself was just that massive.  But all of that is in the past.  The great tree is slowly dying.  It has been dying for hundreds of years, ever since Sephira was murdered at the hands of the Ibians.  Somehow her life-force was tied into the life of the great tree and once she was killed, Yggdrasil started to wilt for the first time since the tears of Sila fell upon it.  Now the tree is a pitiful sight to behold.  Its limbs are almost completely bear and what few leaves remain are all wilted and blackened with rot.  The wood of the tree itself crumbles to the touch as decay has taken its toll.   As the great tree withers the life of the planet slowly dies.  What was once a lush place full of life is now filled with death.  It is believed that the great tree can be restored but, as each day passes and the tree decays a little more, hope is turning to despair.

2.7  Sila

2.7.1        Description – Sila is the silvery western moon.  It rises in the northwest traveling to the southeast as it trails across the sky.  When it is full, Sila is bright enough for people to see clearly at night, even seeming to break through the clouds to illuminate the earth below.

2.8  Illsa

2.8.1        Description – Illsa is the golden eastern moon.  It rises in the northeast and sets in the south west.  Illsa is slightly smaller than its sister satellite Sila and instead of putting off a bright silvery glow as Sila does, Illsa appears to be a faint golden glow as it travels the sky.  The light from Sila always outshines Illsa with the exception of when Sila is eclipsed by Illsa.

2.9  The Wastelands

2.9.1        Description – The Wastelands surround the city of Ib and are a result of the curse that was placed upon the Ibian people as a result of the horrific nature by which they received the Moonstone.  The lands are blackened and filled with twisted coniferous plant life that makes travels though the wastes a dangerous task.  Not only do travels in the wastes have to deal with the plant life, but they also have to deal with the strange metamorphic creatures that inhabit the wastes.  No one knows where these monsters came from or what they used to be before the Wastelands twisted everything within them.  Over all, the wastes look fairly barren as it is not suitable to sustain life for most forms of life in the world.

3.      Key Events (not for public eyes due to spoilers)

3.1