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. 

"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

"The Moonstones Trilogy" Information part 2

I have gotten the first three cities outlined and am placing them for your viewing pleasure.  I would have waited till I completed all ot the locations but as you can see, there is quite a bit of info in the three that are complete.  I will add more upon finishing them.
                     2.      Places

2.1  New Cardeth

2.1.1        Description – New Cardeth is located on the northern portion of the Illos landmass.  It is a huge city state that is run by a supposedly Democratic government but in truth it is ruled by The Authority.  The city covers many miles of land with many districts that fill its walls.  In general the city is fairly flat with only a few tall buildings.  It is surrounded on all four sides with natural barriers.  To the east are the Wastelands, a large and desolate land where few creatures live.  To the south there are the massive Revel Mountains which stretch far to the south, almost toward New Babylon.  To the East lies the great Ismouth Sea that is rumored to have a mysterious landmass on the other side of it.  To the north is the looming Landrie Cliff, which stretches high about the city.

2.1.2        Districts – The city is composed of several key districts.  Each one of these have sub-districts in them, but those are not considered as important as the key district itself.  To the eastern portion of the city lies the Merchant district which also houses the docks.  This district is full of color and sound as shops offer everything from the mundane to the bizarre.  To the north is the Whitehall district only the very wealthy and the politicians live.  In the center of the Whitehall district lies the capitol building where the politicians make a spectacle of running things.  Set into the cliff that lines the northern part of the district is a structure that The Authority uses as its base of operations.  The reason that the Whitehall district gets its name is because of the large white archways that line the streets, giving the illusion that you are inside a hallway when you are on street level.  This is one of the few areas that have gas lamps to light the streets and pathways.  To the west is Low-Town, a massive sprawl where the poorer citizens live.  The streets in Low-Town tend to be muddy and worn while the buildings are rundown shacks that are constantly having random pieces of junk and scraps of metal added in order to keep them from falling apart. Low-town is also one of the few parts of New Cardeth that actually has a wall that forms a barrier against the outside world. On the other side of the wall are the fields that supply a large amount of the produce that New Cardeth citizens consume.  To the south is the Mining district where all of the ore that is mined from the mines in the Revel Mountains.  This ore and metal production is the lifeblood of New Cardeth’s economy when it comes to trade with the rest of the world.

2.1.3        The People – The people of New Cardeth come in all varieties and all walks of life.  The wealthiest tend to stay in the Whitehall district where they indulge themselves with the newest technological advances in clockwork, steam power and gas power technologies.  The poorest of the population tends to stick to the Low-Town and Mining districts because that is closest to the areas that they tend to labor.  The people of these districts are some of the happiest and most fulfilled people in New Cardeth.  They tend to be inventive, creating new gadgets that they then use to improve their lives.  The merchants in the Merchant district tend to stick to the areas where they set up their shops.  Merchants come from all over the world to trade in New Cardeth and because of their presence the city is booming economically.

2.2  Ib

2.2.1        Description – Ib is a massive metallic city that is located in the center of the Wastelands, to the west of New Cardeth, far across the Thane River.  It has massive wall of blackened metal that surround the city to protect its citizens from the dangers of the Wastelands.  All along the wall are towers where the Ibians can keep watch, looking for miles out into the wastes.  The only way into the city it through one of four massive metal gates that are several feet thick and require a complex mechanical system to open.  Once inside an observer would find the streets lined with black and grey cobblestones while all the buildings are made out of the same type of metal as the wall and gates.  The odd thing about the metal that the structures are built out of is that the metal seems to be seamless.  There is no evidence of any kind of cutting or wielding on any of the metal.  The city has no discernible districts within its walls and all the buildings, home and businesses seem to be evenly placed around the city as if no one really had a plan when working on the layout of the city.  The only area that really differs from the rest of the city is in the heart of the city.  It is a huge court yard that is about a mile across and has only one key feature in its center, a massive monolith that is carved with murals depicting the Yggdrasil and the story of Sephira.  The main feature of this monolith is a depiction of Sephira in which the original Moonstone is mounted in.

2.2.2        Districts – Ib has no real discernible districts because all of the citizens are considered as equals and when the city was formed the leader at the time felt that creating districts would separate and divide the citizens of Ib.  Because of this, everything seems to be scattered out, with no truly discernible order to the layout.  

2.2.3        The People – The citizens of Ib are a strange lizard like race that are extremely technologically advanced though knowledge of how to use most of the technology has been lost over the years.  Only over the last two hundred years have the citizens started to try to learn about the technology that they possess in an effort to regain their past.  This has given them an edge on the rest of the world technologically which is not a bad thing for them considering how the Ibians are viewed in most places.  The Ibians also have a strange form of speaking which confuses most humans due to the way that they twist and rearrange words when speaking.  It is difficult for humans to tell the difference between male and female Ibians, therefor the Ibians tend to wear clothing that matches their gender at the time.  Ibians are also able to swap their gender as a method for keeping population levels at the correct level. The Ibians reproduce by laying eggs and their young are born able to eat solid foods.  Ibians come in a large variety of color combinations that make it easy to distinguish between individual Ibians.

2.3  New Babylon

2.3.1        Description – New Babylon is a towering city comprised of an intricate mix of stone and wood.  It is located far to the southwest of New Cardeth and southeast of Ib on the southern side of the Revel Mountains.  The city sits on the edge of the Great Manid Plateau, where it borders the Ismouth Sea.  The City itself is an impressive sight to see as it stands so tall that the top levels are sometimes hidden from view on the ground by clouds.  All along the inner and outer walls of the city are colorful hanging gardens that fill the air with the light delicate scent of flowers.  Once inside the city, there is an impressive system steam powered pulleys that operate hundreds of elevators that allow for travel between the different levels of the city.  All throughout the city all of the wood and stone that is not covered by plant life is instead covered by intricate geometric carvings.  On the side of the city that faces the Ismouth Sea, there is a dock for seafaring merchants.  From the dock it can be seen that the city extends far below the surface at the top of the Great Manid Plateau since a portion of the city is exposed at the base of the huge cliff formed where the plateau meets the sea.

2.3.2        Districts – The way that New Babylon is set up when it comes to districts is actually the way that most people would think that it would be set up.  The lower the tier of the towering city that you lived on, the lower your station in life.  The lowest of these tiers being the subterranean portion of the city.  This underground section of city houses all of the steam machines that power the city and all of its workings as well as provides heating during the cooler seasons.  The tier above that, the one that is on the ground level as well as a few levels above, are home to a massive market area where the merchants and traders from all over come to sell their goods.  Above that is the first tier that is considered for civilized use.  The higher you go up the towering city the larger and more extravagant the housing units become until you reach the very top which sits high above the clouds.  This tier is reserved only for what are considered the best of the best, with the very top level belonging to the royal family.  It is here that the royal castle sits high above the earth.

2.3.3        The People – The citizens of New Babylon are very focused on class.  What tier a citizen was born on can dictate their entire life.  There is no moving up in New Babylon no matter what, where a citizen is born is they have cast their lot in life, with one exception.  If a citizen commits a crime and is found guilty, they can be shifted down to a lower tier.  If this were to happen, that individual can expect to have everyone who they have ever known on the tier that they were in to treat them as if they had never existed.  This would mean that they would lose all family and friends that they had known their entire life.  Each citizen that lives on each tier look at the people on the tiers below them as little more than animals.  The one exception to this is the ground level where the merchants and traders are.  They are always treated as equals to all tiers due to that fact that they are the life blood of the economic machine that keeps New Babylon running.  The people on the subterranean tier are treated the worst of all.  They live their lives for the sole purpose of keeping the giant steam engines hot so that they can utilize the sea waters to power the city.  They slave in the heat of the engines for twelve hour shifts so that those above them can live in comfort.  The lowest tier is run like a prison and in order to be sent there a citizen would have to of committed an especially heinous crime, otherwise they are the people who were just unfortunate to have been born on the lowest level.  As for the upper tiers, little is known about what exactly they are like as the people who live on them feel that it is beneath them to socialize with those from a lowers station in life.  There rumors from the lower citizens that the citizens on the upper tiers have been working on a massive ship that is said to sail the skies.

2.4  Charne

2.5  Westerfield

2.6  Yggdrasil

2.7  Sila

2.8  Illsa

2.9  The Wastelands

3.      Key Events (coming soon)

3.1

“The Moonstones Trilogy” Information Part 1

I have decided that before I start writing on my second novel I should probably make an outline of details and information about the first book so that I don't forget anything when writing the second book.  I figured I would share this outline with the people who are interested in reading my book, so I have kept it a spoiler free as I could.  I have only completed the People of Interests section so far, but will be adding to this soon, which I will then post.  Enjoy.

“The Moonstones Trilogy” information

A.    “Shadow of the Western Moon” book 1

1.      People of Interest

1.1  Jonah Jacobson

1.1.1        Age – 23

1.1.2        Description – Purposely vague in an attempt to inspire the reader to create their own individual image of him.

1.1.3        History – Jonah’s parents were slaughtered while working the fields of New Cardeth when he was the age of 6.  He was taken in by Father Mallory after 2 years of living on the streets of New Cardeth, when Father Mallory caught him trying to steal from the church.  Jonah met Alissa and her family for the first time when he was 15 in the marketplace of New Cardeth. 

1.1.4        Personality – Roguish Rogue

1.2  Alissa Zasheer

1.2.1        Age – 20

1.2.2        Description – Alissa is a beautiful young woman who appears to be about the age of 18 with long jet black hair that is full of natural loose curls.  Her skin is a light caramel color and her almond shaped eyes are emerald green.  She has a thin yet shapely figure with long legs.  She is about 5 foot 6 inches tall and has long full eyelashes.

1.2.3        History – Alissa is the oldest child of Rasheed and Lilly Zasheer.  Alissa met Jonah when she was 12 and developed an immediate crush on him that grew over the years into love.  The feelings were reciprocated though the two of them have never really taken it past the point of flirting and teasing until the events of the novel.

1.2.4        Personality – Flirty Tease

1.3  Rasheed Zasheer

1.3.1        Age – 41

1.3.2        Description – Rasheed is a short heavy set man who stands about 5 foot 3 inches and looks to be perpetually happy.  He has darkly tanned skin, short black hair and dark brown eyes.  His face is smooth shaved and prone to smile lines at the corners of his mouth.

1.3.3        History – Rasheed comes from a merchant family.  Because of this he grew up in the business of trading and has seen much of the world over the 41 years of his life.  When he was 20 he married his wife Lilly, who was 18 at the time.  One year later they had a daughter. Alissa, then ten years later Rasheed and Lilly had a second child, a son they named Basheer.  Never one to pass up a potentially good deal to made he has traveled to places like Ib where only a few merchants go due to fear and distrust of the Ibian people.

1.3.4        Personality – Traveling Merchant Extraordinaire

1.4  Lilly Zasheer

1.4.1        Age – 38

1.4.2        Description – Lilly is a beautiful woman with pale skin and long, straight blond hair that she keeps in a tight bun.  Her eyes are green and she is about 5 foot 8 inches tall with a thin, shapely build.  Looking at Lilly you would be able to see where Alissa got most of her looks from.

1.4.3        History – Lilly was born to a merchant family, the Lockheart family, which was a rival to Rasheed’s family.  After years of rivalry the two families set down together to try to find a way to overcome their differences.  The rumors as to why the two families decided to do this vary depending on who you ask.  Regardless, at the meeting, then 16 year old Lilly met then 18 year old Rasheed for the first time.  The two families decided after much debate (6 months of it) that the best course of action for them to take would be to divide up what trade routes each family would use in order to avoid the fierce competition that they had been having with one another.  During the time that the families were working out what to do, Rasheed and Lilly had started meeting in secret and a budding romance started to grow.  When the families reached a consensus on the proper course of action to take, it looked like Lilly and Rasheed would never see each other again.  Together they decided to bring their romance out into the open in an effort to be able to stay together.  The families came together over the relationship and insisted on a marriage.  Once the couple was married two years later, they were granted the ability to travel all of the trade routes that were divided between the two families as long as they supported each family equally in their endeavors.

1.4.4        Personality – Loving Mother and Wife

1.5  Basheer Zasheer

1.5.1        Age – 10

1.5.2        Description – Basheer closely resembles his father in completion and hair color but his eyes are the same color as his sister and mother’s eye color.  He is very slim in his build and stands as 4 foot 2 inches tall.

1.5.3        History – Basheer doesn’t have much of a history that is of any significance due to his age.

1.5.4        Personality – Happy Go Lucky

1.6  Doctor Sliss

1.6.1        Age – Unknown

1.6.2        Description – Doctor Sliss is an Ibian female.  She stands around 4 feet tall and has dark red (almost crimson) scales that have lavender colored speckles.  She always has a clip board out that she is constantly taking notes on and has an obsession with human anatomy.  Her eyes, like all Ibian eyes are large and black. They take up a large portion of her face as they do on all Ibians.  Her teeth are small and sharply pointed, inside a thin lipped mouth, which is also typical of all Ibians.  The one distinguishing feature that marks her as female to outsiders is the clothing that she wears which, once again is typical of Ibians.

1.6.3        History – Little is known about Doctor Sliss or her past.

1.6.4        Personality – Quirky Scientist

1.7  Father Frances Mallory

1.7.1        Age – 78

1.7.2        Description – Father Mallory is an elderly gentleman who is around 6 foot tall with stark white hair and a weathered face.  His right leg is missing just below the thigh due to an injury sustained in the attack that killed Jonah’s parents.  He has a clockwork replacement that Jonah had crafted for him as a token of thanks for taking him in.

1.7.3        History – Not much of importance that hasn’t been covered in Father Mallory’s description of Jonah’s history.

1.7.4        Personality – Shepard of his Flock

1.8  Sephira

1.8.1        Age – Exact age unknown.  Best estimates put her at around 1200 years old.

1.8.2        Description – Sephira appears to be a gorgeous young woman of around 16 years old.  She has long straight silver hair and silver eyes.  She stands about 5 foot 4 inches tall and has a petite build.  In her the center of her stomach there is a large silvery gemstone that glows softly most of the time but can glow brighter under the right situations.

1.8.3        History – Much of her true history is not known other than the legends that the Ibians tell about her.  She was born after her mother was kissed on the womb by a tear from the western moon, Sila, on the night that the moon’s tears revived the great tree, Yggdrasil.  When Sephira was growing up she fell in love a young man named Cain.  After her mother died, Sephira and Cain (whom she married) started to wander the earth, trying to find a place of their own to call home.  Eventually they settled in a tiny village call Charne which in time grew up to be a massive city.  Eventually, Cain died of old age while Sephira lived on, eternally young.  She remained in Charne until the day the Ibian people (Who were normal humans at the time) came seeking the power of the stone that was in her belly.  She was raped by the soldiers of Ib before the stone was cut from her belly and she was left to die.  The few remaining living people in Charne buried her in the same tomb that her husband Cain was buried in.  The Stone was taken to Ib and displayed in a statue where it fell dormant and the people of Ib were slowly transformed for their evil act into the lizard like creatures they are today.

1.8.4        Personality – Tragic Lover

1.9  Lord Aramon

1.9.1        Age – Unknown

1.9.2        Description – No one knows what Lord Aramon truly looks like.

1.9.3        History – No one knows anything about Lord Aramon’s history though, it is speculated that he has ties to The Authority.

1.9.4        Personality – Evil Overlord

2.      Places (coming soon)

2.1  New Cardeth

2.2  Ib

2.3  New Babylon

2.4  Charne

2.5  Westerfield

2.6  Yggdrasil

2.7  Sila

2.8  Illsa

3.      Key Events (coming soon)

3.1