What is Shadowplay?

In Part 2 of Yamini's story, we are presented with a rogue's game called Shadowplay. Inspired by ideas of the Battle Room from Ender's Game and Drizzt's melee tournaments in Homeland, Shadowplay is a quarterly guild event wherein combatants enter a large arena with sparring weapons. The arena is sealed and all lights are turned off, creating an area of complete darkness. Combatants must navigate the arena floor, which consists of several pillars, obstacles and fall-throughs, whilst avoiding--or dispatching--other rogues. Dispatching another rogue requires striking a vital area with the sparring weapon of choice, resulting in a temporary stun state until the end of the match. Wound points are taken into account during the final round for placing purposes, but whomever is left standing is named the ultimate victor regardless of point accumulation.

The philosophy behind Shadowplay, in Soliessen's eyes, is to train the students to rely on instincts as well as other senses besides sight. For years, rogues train to manipulate their surroundings and use cover of darkness as their primary advantage. By turning that advantage against them, essentially leveling the playing field between combatants, Shadowplay forces the students to become even more creative, adaptive and resourceful. It also forces them to become more conniving. Alliances and betrayals saturate the playing field. As Soliessen has stated, the only trustworthy rogue is oneself.

Fortunately for Yamini, sometimes the best partner is a specter from another plane...

Elementals' Spells and Abilities list

So this list is...wow, almost a year old. But I thought it would be pertinent to repost it here.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=293159501&blogId=450886573

A complete but ongoing list of the six main elementals and their respective abilities from Of Avatars. Of course, the same abilities will be apparent in future novels as well (we follow Yamini as she learns most of her tricks in Of Shadow), and there's a good chance that additional abilities will be added in the future as they are discovered. Happy reading, gamers and readers.

At the behest of my fans...

Okay. I should say fan. Singular.

I realize it has been some time since I've updated. This is due partly to life having gotten a bit busy recently, and partly due to there being very little to report. Work on Of Shadow has slowed considerably. Continuity issues. Fears and uncertainties. Nothing out of the usual for me. First drafts aren't easy, and they aren't quick. Couple those things with one of the world's most adept procrastinators and you'll have quite a wait for a piece of literature.

Thankfully, you can be assured that it ends up pretty good. =)

With weekends being the only time I can sit down and focus, and these past several weekends being loaded with weddings and festivals and everything else keeping me away from the keyboard, I've gotten a bit lazy. Sorry to report, I still haven't applied my edits to Of Avatars. That goes without saying, no query letters have been crafted, no agents or agencies submitted to--basically, no progress other than that of the new book. Maybe this is good enough, maybe it isn't. For me, it signifies failure and inadequate motivation.

I'm torn between perfecting my first piece and finishing the second. For being this late in the game, that's kind of bad. Especially since I have to literally wait for Yamini to finish telling the story. I don't know everything that is going to happen, and neither does she. I know where she ends up...just not how she gets there exactly. That is the fun part about writing these stories. It is as much an adventure for me as it is for the characters. They never fail to surprise, never disappoint.

I, on the other hand...

*sighs* Back to work.

Young Assassin's Poem

So I was feeling in a poetic mood again last week and this is what came out of me. My mind has been deep into creating book two and familiarizing myself with the characters. This poem is written from Yamini's perspective after she is given her first journal and expresses her apprehension for following Soliessen's leadership in the rogue's guild. In order to comply with her assignments, she learns to dissociate from herself and forms a vicious, cold alter-ego. Yamini has yet to name the piece.

A tangled web we weave indeed

From blades of steel so crass,

Withdrawn in part a once warm heart

To my dismay, alas.

We fight for those without a cause

And those who lack the skill,

But darkness hides behind those eyes;

She does it for the thrill.

I must get free from their decree,

From hatred and despair...

Find haven safe within this state,

I fear I know not where.

For there must be another way

To circumvent the lie,

To rescue those who'd flee in droves.

How can they? How can I?

"I am Not Reckless"

To celebrate my motivated progress with OSaD I thought I'd share an excerpt of a future chapter with you, dear reader. I thought this bit would be suitable for showing off the main character, Yamini, in her natural setting (and spunk!) three years after her story begins. For a fourteen-year-old, I'd say she's a pretty cool kid! Then again, I am biased...

"Wait, what are you doing?" Henrik asked, his face contorted with concern.

"Is it not obvious?" said Yamini. "I am going after him myself."

The two boys looked at each other and laughed. Then they realized she was serious. "You can't do that!" said Sebastian.

Yamini cocked an eyebrow. "Can is a matter of ability and ambition," she replied, "and I most certainly have both!"

Henrik watched with disbelief as Yamini unsheathed both daggers and concealed each blade behind her inner forearms. "It's bold enough that you've attempted to steal Master Soliessen's recruits--"

"She is no longer our master," Yamini spat, "and by being here you have proven my attempt successful."

"Breaking away from a former guild to forge your own is one thing," Sebastian argued, "but claiming Soliessen's marks is suicide, Yamini!" She ignored him as she stood and crept into the shadowed archway of the arena staircase. "There are codes to adhere to, principles to follow. You are nothing but a rogue, a brash vigilante with a taste for vengeance. Why should we follow you? Your impulsiveness would mean our deaths!"

Yamini glared at the boy. "I am not a vigilante," she breathed. "Vigilantes thrive on chaos. They are mindless seekers of blood and terror, aimless wanderers hoping to vent their discontent with the world on those who appear at first to have caused it. These individuals have become lost in their own corruption, their own greed, resorting to violence disguised as justice while they seek the definition of themselves. They do so recklessly and without planning. I am an assassin."

"And what's the difference between them and you?" said Henrik.

Her wicked smile was enough to make both boys step backward. "I am not reckless."

zOMG busy!

I've been so preoccupied going over edits and restarting Yamini's story that I didn't realize how long it has been since I've posted! My agent list is just about compiled, but after going over the manuscript with Sam I realize I still have quite a bit of revising to do, and that the query-perfecting and agent-spamming is still a little ways off. Nevertheless, I refuse to be discouraged. I've gotten this far, and I find myself still more than motivated to carry on.

Yamini's story, Of Shadow and Dissonance, is coming along nicely. With the confidence of having one novel under my belt already, I am sure that this next book won't take near as long to complete. Rather than give myself a nine-year deadline, I will aim to be done with the first draft come Christmas. Hey, it's a realistic goal, and that's a fairly trying goal for someone like me! *blushes* If I can manage to stay focused like I was with the last chapter of OAaE, I should be able to meet it...or possibly finish ahead of schedule! The revising should be a bit easier this go around also. Especially since I won't be trying to polish year-old writing, and I've learned a lot from going over edits this past week and a half.

That said, here's to editing. And to Yamini!

Anxiety and Reader Finish Lines

I am pleased that a few of my readers have already finished their first read throughs! (And I say first only because they've mentioned going through it again, not as an assumtion. That'd be silly!) I have yet to sit down and discuss the story at length with any of them, but I am hoping to get a few critiques and Q&A starting with the end of this week. Even if it takes me bribing people out of the house with coffee, I will siphon their thoughts one way or another! Ahem. Anyway, I am still every bit as excited about the progress everyone else is making. People stop in and say that they've been reading my book, even if they aren't close to halfway finished, and it makes me smile to know that my words are being read--and enjoyed. It's like...that first house party. You know there's a potential for mess...but you revel in the fact that others are sharing your space, your world, with you. This story is like, my universe, my escape from reality, and it finally is housing other live people exploring its mysteries and characters. My readers are, in effect, making my parallel world more alive to me. For that, I can not express enough gratitude and joy.

At the same time, I am still heavily researching the industry and agents...a task that is taking longer than I anticipated. I figure, if I'm going to put the time and effort into this, I might as well make sure I do it correctly from the beginning. The first book I bought on agents (I have my eye on two others) has quite a few useful articles about the industry in the beginning. I haven't even reached the listings pages yet. Nevertheless, I feel like I'm learning a lot all over again. What to do. What not to do. How to do both. Learning fills me with confidence, so naturally the more, the better. Just have to keep moving forward so I can progress to the query writing. And the rejection letters! <3

Or hopefully...an acceptance letter.