Sunday Snippet - Beauty and the Beast

Here's a little snip from my rewrite of the tale of Beauty and the Beast.

Rosalyn made it into the castle. She could hear screams and moans, heavy furniture being moved to blockade a door to prevent Arkadiy’s entry. Over it all she heard his chanting. She made her way to the great hall. A scene of terrible slaughter met her as she pushed open the heavy double door.

The young lord sat on the chair that had been his father’s, his face white with terror. All around him, his advisors were screaming in agony as their bodies were slowly ripped to shreds by Arkadiy’s magic. “Arkadiy, stop,” Rosalyn cried. “What are you doing?”

“He was preparing to send his soldiers to our house, Rosalyn,” Arkadiy said. “Their orders were to kill all seven of us. He was getting ready to order the deaths of our children, all because these men flattered him and called him a prince.”

“I wouldn't have done it,” the boy on the dais said. “It was them that were giving the orders, not me. I didn't want anyone to hurt your children.”

“But you would have stolen us from them, just like your parents were taken from you,” Rosalyn said softly, seeing a copy of the orders lying on the floor. “Why? We served and protected you for your whole life. Why have you abandoned everything your parents taught you?”

“It was because of you and your ideas that my parents died,” the boy said. “They would never have tried to help the peasants if you’d just left well enough alone. But they did and they caught the plague and died from it.”

“It was because of us and our ideas that so few ended up dying,” Arkadiy said. He finished dispatching the men who’d been trying to facilitate the murder of his children. He turned his cold, burning eyes on the young lord. “Now, for you.”

Saturday Story Building - Creating your world

What is the hardest part of being a fantasy/sci fi author? To me, and this is my opinion only, I think the hardest part is building the world you want your characters to inhabit. There is so much detail to work out, and you never put all of that detail into your books. At least, I would hope you didn't put all of that into your books.

The most comprehensive version of world building put into a print form comes from David and Leigh Eddings in the publication of their The Rivan Codex. Into this book they put all the details they came up with for the world that the characters of the Belgariad and the Mallorean series inhabited. Not all the details were used in the books, but enough of them were there to establish that this was a populated world and each race was unique.

The grandest scope of world building, from what I've read, is a toss up between J.R.R. Tolkien and his Middle Earth and George R.R. Martin and his Westeros. The details needed to create the rich tapestries that make up those worlds is astounding.

I'm discovering this as I work to build Aleran. There are so many details to work out, details that will probably never end up in the story but are still essential for me to know. Races, lands, laws, coinage, mannerisms, costumes. All of these things need to be worked out. Thankfully I'm able to do so with a little help from Himself, who has built many worlds for his D&D campaigns.

What world building tips do you have? Mine is keep a spreadsheet of ideas that you're using. The more you expand on them, the better you'll do.

Frivolous Friday - I have no clue what I'm doing here

Okay, so I really don't know what I want to do with my Friday posts. I don't know if I'm going to keep up the recipes or try something new. So...this week we're trying something new.

Word association.

Here's how it works. I post a word. You post the first word that comes to mind in the comment. The next person goes based off of your word. So on and so forth until we have a long list of words connected with each other in some way.

So, the first word for this is...SPOON!

Thursday Thoughts - DOMA is dead

As many of you are no doubt aware, on Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and violated the civil rights of those who were recognized as married by the states they lived in.

All I can say is it's about damn time.

According to Wikipedia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington —as well as the District of Columbia and five Native American tribes—have legalized same-sex marriage. There are states out there working to legalize same sex marriage now. With DOMA ruled unconstitutional, those couples in these states can now receive the federal benefits due to married couples.

What does this mean to me?

I have friends living in New York and Connecticut who are legally married. They have long been denied the benefits of marriage because of the fact that their spouses are the same sex as them. With this ruling, they'll be granted all the rights that I have since I am in a heterosexual relationship and legally married to my husband.

There are going to be religious groups who scream that now they have to perform same sex marriages against their religious beliefs. My answer to that is no they don't. They are protected under the First Amendment with the proviso that they follow the laws of the land. Nowhere in the law does it say they have to perform these marriages. They don't even have to approve of them. All it means is the federal government is now forced to recognize same sex marriages and legal and legitimate marriages.

What I would like to see is the allowance of a redefinition of family. I vote we let same sex couples adopt children. Let them work through surrogates to have children. Give them the same rights to have a family, a life, to fulfill their dreams that a heterosexual couple has. End the discrimination and hate towards those who do not fit in with the classic definition of "normal".

This quote aptly sums up my feelings on this matter. It is a quote from a Unitarian Universalist minister. The UU church is one of the few churches that recognizes same sex pairings as legitimate and is openly welcome of the LGBTQI community.

"As we celebrate today's historic decisions, I think of the hundreds of thousands of people--some no longer walking among us--who took the actions that made today happen. Courageous, specific, undramatic, often repetitive, actions that always lead to the big moments. For all of the actors, known and unknown, my heart swells with gratitude." - Rev. Meg Riley, CLFUU.

Writing Wednesday - Multiple points of view

How many of us are not in at least some way familiar with George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series? (Game of Thrones and it's subsequent sequels, for those not familiar with the series name.) I'm still trying to plow my way through the first book, mostly because I get confused by the constantly switching POVs from one character to the next.

That got me thinking about my own stories. I tend to switch POVs between two people. I don't think I've got a full length novel written or planned out that doesn't switch POVs from one person to the next, though I do limit it to two people to avoid extreme confusion. (I hope.)

But what drives me to write it from multiple POVs? What gave G.R.R. Martin the idea to write his epic series from multiple POVs to the extent he did? I think both of us have the same situation: there's a lot of story to tell and we need to have more than one person telling their part of it. Martin's series would be a whole lot longer if he told the same events from different perspectives, repeating things in a book based on each character. We'd get bored. The same problem occurs with my stories. If I told the same events twice, once for each character in separate novels, I'd have an exceptionally long series with a lot of boring repetition.

A story with multiple POVs isn't easy to write. You have to maintain a balance that I'm still learning about. You have to give each person as close to equal screen time as the other so as to keep the audience informed about what's going on. Time lapses have to be explained or referenced at some point to keep people up to date on when in the continuity the events are happening.

Why would anyone put themselves through the trouble of trying to write a story with multiple personalities taking the lead? I'm doing it because I think it'll make my stories better. Or I'm out to torture myself and possibly my readers. I don't know which it is, but I'll figure it out eventually.

Tuesday Travel - Kuna, ID

Kuna, Idaho.

Kuna is a small town. As of 2010 the census has it standing at 15,210. It is only 17 miles from Boise, so most of the residents commute into town to work. There are some wonderful small businesses in Kuna, and the people who live there are rather proud of their small town.

One of Kuna's main attractions is actually south of the city, the Kuna Caves. The Kuna Caves are an underground lava flow cave. People explore them on a regular basis. Indian Creek runs right through town. It's a great seasonal waterway and is a favorite with locals for swimming.

Kuna originated as a railroad stop with coach transport to Boise. It is popularly believed, as cited by the Kuna Chamber of Commerce, that the translation of the name "Kuna" means "the end of the trail", but Charles S. Walgamott cites the origin of the name as a Shoshone Indian word meaning "green leaf, good to smoke".

Kuna has a large park and is not far off from the Snake River Birds of Prey Wildlife Preserve. You go just a little ways out side the city and you get to a sheer drop off and a magnificent view of the Snake River.

Monday Maundering - Marriage Equality

Image courtesy of George Takei, Facebook

Today I'm getting my soapbox out because of the landmark decision the SCOTUS is having to deal with. That is the ruling on marriage equality.

I'm for it. 100%. I believe that everyone who is over the age of consent should be allowed to marry the partner of their choice, assuming that partner is also over the age of consent, regardless of gender. I believe that every person over the age of consent who wants to be a parent should be allowed that opportunity whether it's through natural child birth, IVF, surrogacy, or adoption. Everyone should have the right to be a family as they define it.

Not everyone defines love, marriage, and family the same way. The government needs to stay out of our definitions and allow those of us over the age of consent to choose the way we live our lives. If a child is under the age of consent, but knows that he/she is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender we need to support them in that too. It's not a phase they'll grow out of. It's who they are.

Children should be brought up recognizing that it doesn't matter if who they love is black, white, purple with green polka dots, or the same gender as they are. They have the right and the privilege of loving that person and hopefully being loved back. A boy who wants to wear a dress to prom should be allowed, just as a girl wanting to wear a tux should be allowed. A woman who believes she should have been born a man should be given the same rights and protections as a real man would be. The same goes for a man who thinks he should have been born a woman.

Relationships need to be open and honest, and how can they be if you're forcing one person to deny a part of who they are? Society's fear and hatred of those who follow the LGBT path needs to end. All those who follow the LGBT path are not sinners, not freaks, and sure as hell are not evil. They have the basic human right to love who they wish and they should be encouraged and welcomed. We need to open our eyes and our hearts and bring about equality for all.