How to make writing look easy

Elizabeth Moon had a little writing contest recently.  That I failed to take advantage of, silly me.  The challenge was to write something about a dark winter night as Torre's Necklace rose in the sky.  The winners would receive Advanced Reader Copies for Crown of Renewal.  Three lucky people seem destined to to hold such precious items in their hands unless Gitres and his lawyers get invovled.

One person commented about sending orcs over to Elizabeth's domicile to express their displeasure at not winning.  Tongue in cheek of course.  And Elizabeth rose to the challenge of fending off three orcs very humorously and easily.

Jonathan: Poor orcs. They are not prepared for what they will find. Like the Lost Boys, they haven’t had a proper mother, have they?

“You can’t come in the house with dirty feet like that. There’s a hose–wash them off and I’ll bring you a towel to wipe them dry. Now wash your hands–right there, the laundry sink. Now straight through to the kitchen. You’ll sit here, and you’ll sit there, and you over there…Of course the knives are blunt. They’re for the table, not the stable. Hands in your laps, please, until I have the food on the table. No one knows how to say grace? Bow your head, then and I’ll teach you…no, I’m not going to cut your heads off while they’re bowed in prayer. I’m not that kind of person.

“Here’s some for you, and you, and you. Chew with your mouth closed, please. By the way, I know a dentist who could do something about those teeth. No, don’t wipe your mouth on your dirty arm. Use the napkin; that’s what it’s for. Yes, I know you like your meat rotten, but try *this*–it’s got some good spices in it–see? ELBOWS OFF THE TABLE and sit up straight. Never mind showing off your cusswords to me, sonny…that isn’t a patch on Master Gunnery Sergeant [redcated]. He could make the paint peel off the wall in paisley patterns. All you did was blacken the tablecloth–which I expect you to wash, bleach, and iron, by the way. Why yes, didn’t your writer tell you I spend three years active duty in the Marines? You’ll get dessert when you’ve finished your vegetables–and you, if you throw food on the floor again, you’ll be eating off it. Without dessert.

“That’s better. Now, who wants apple crumble and who wants pumpkin pie? Two pumpkin pie, one apple crumble…there you are. Yes, of course these forks are smaller, they’re dessert forks. No, you may NOT pick up the whole pie and shove it in your face. Where were you raised, in a…oh, sorry. Of course, you were raised in a lair. Well, in this house, we do not pick up whole pies and shove them in our faces. Use your fork properly, or you won’t get a second slice. And you–a fork is not a toothpick.

“Finished? Excellent. You–start the hot water in the sink. This one, here. You, stack the silverware here–no, you’re not taking it home, that was my grandmother’s. Bigger than I am and twice as mean. And you, scrape the leftover–oh, there isn’t any–well, then you stack the plates GENTLY on the counter. Let’s see those hands. Good heavens–I didn’t realize–Well, the hot water and soap will get the dirt out from under even those nails. You wash–GENTLY, any breakage will come out of your allowance–and you rinse, and you…no, wait, we need to work on your nails a little more. I think the hoof nippers should about deal with them, or maybe the wire cutters…”

Poor, poor orcs. And that’s before they meet my husband.

As I said she makes it seem so easy.  And I enjoyed every word of it.

While the Muse is Pleased

Since I have now become a money making author, I have been struck by increased motivation and creativity.  Of which I am thankful even as my imagination goes stomping down another path of 'what if' to run down a new story.

On top of creating a new edition of the zombie book at a lower price.  I have another novel being worked on.  So far just over 2,100 words on what is basically a spy thriller.  Do hope there is plenty of action.  Not sure if we will see any under the cover actions but the environment is a bit chilly.  So stay tuned.

Christmas Surprise

Devil Hunter Yohko

Got some good news in my email this morning from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.  It seems my zombie book has managed to make some sales.  $1.40 worth.

Not bad for something I put together on a whim in 2012 to get experience.  I guess I may have to issue a special edition now.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Fushimi Inari Shrine Kyoto

This is the entrance to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.  It is here at this shrine that the old white foxes and their five kits swore their service to Inari.

Inari has a few different hats.  Chiefly he is known as the god of rice which in Japan makes him a very important deity.  He is also the god of business and success in worldly affairs. 

A brief digression; not only does Inari wear multiple hats, Inari can be referred to as he and also as she.  God and goddess in one.  Inari is not only found in the native religion of Japan Shintoism but also in Buddhism.

Each of these orange and black gates has been donated by a family or a business.  This tradition of donating a torii goes back to Edo times.  There is said to be a thousand torii gates.

So what is a torii?  A torii is a wooden structure that acts to mark the gateway to a temple.  A single torii is supposed to ward that temple, thus making what is inside a sacred place.

From the JR Kyoto train station this is the main torii gate to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. 

Who is Akomachi?

If we turn to Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery in Chapter Two we find the story of Akomachi.

Roughly 800AD near Kyoto lived two old white foxes.  A he-fox and a she-fox with five kits.  All journeyed to the Inari shrine.  There they prayed to Inari with heartfelt sincerity wanting to use their wisdom to help.  So moved was the god the temple shook as if from an earthquake and the shrine spoke to the foxes.

The he-fox, of the bristling fur, was charged with the Upper Temple or upper gateway and he was named Osusuki.  While the she-fox was charged with the Lower Temple and was named Akomachi.  They and their five kits swore ten oaths.  From that day forward they would act as messengers of Inari and to help the faithful followers of Inari.

There was another duty given to the two white foxes and their kits.  They were charged with trying to control their wild fox spirit cousins, the ones most often causing trouble for humans.  The darker colored fox spirits are these wild ones and are usually called nogitsune.  While the white foxes of the Inari shrines are most times called myobu.

And that is how Akomachi got her name and why white foxes are associated with the temples of Inari.

Inspiration By Driving

So as I was driving to have a lunch meeting with other people in the Mississippi Writers Guild, the creative gears were churning away on this story.  Working on areas I had not considered.

For example Kikka's father.  Which lead to a different concept of the ending of the first book which makes more sense.  And this alteration will impact the third book's ending.

So progress!  That I now must write down before I forget it all.

Kitsune in Pop Culture

Wagaya no Oinari-sama is a bit of a light hearted anime TV series.  A blond nine-tail, Kuu, is released to protect a young boy with strong magic who has come to the notice of other greedy spirits.  The boy and his older brother have lost their mother who had befriended Kuu during the fox spirit's confinement. So it is a mixture of magical creatures meeting or colliding with regular humans.

Interim Cover Art

My friend James Dawsey drew this image for me in 2001 at Project A-kon in Dallas, TX.  Until I get official cover art done, with James' gracious permission, this will suffice in the mean time.  I hope you like it.

If you want to see what James has been doing recently, he can be found over at Vigilance Press having a lot of fun with lots of different things.

The Story Begins

Akomachi's Children started out as this simple little musing of what would happen if a Japanese fox spirit, a kitsune, got sucked into having to confront a European vampire.  What has spawned from that simple idea is something far greater than I had planned.

I started writing what I now call the third book first.  And then as I worked out the backgrounds and characters, their stories begged to be told more fully.  Which lead to me deciding to try and tackle, the fool hardy for a tyro novice writer, writing a trilogy.  Not because it seems the rage now but due to these characters wanting their story more fully told.

So now the first book recounts how a certain young, youth being relative to kitsune, came to be where she has to deal with the vampire.  The second book will tell the story of a Scottish lad who thought he was besotted by a beauty and instead he becomes a vampire and outcast, wandering the world.  And of course the penultimate third book where kitsune and vampire cross paths.

Kitsune's Honor is the title of the first book.  It was my project for the 2013 National Novel Writing Month, 50,000 words in 30 days.  To which I did reach that milestone and then some.  So all that is left, - insert laughter -, is to go through it for polishing, expanding, and tweaking.  Before I find a good editor who will probably hand back to me a bleeding wreck of a story with commands to fix it.

Akomachi's Children now becomes the title to cover these three books.  And who knows if the muse or Akomachi herself is pleased there might be more stories.