Talking to my imaginary friends

Pardon me, Crickets, while I see to a few points of order with a few representatives of my cast of thousands.

Arthur and Tristan, thank you for coming to the point and helping get me back on track. Chapter 12 can now happen. Furthermore, Arthur, my darling boy, this little introduction to your unique personage and relationships has planted the seed for just what I didn't need - another God damned book. So, no thanks. But thanks. Er... yeah. That. And as a side note: Lance, since when are you such a douche bag? Really, now. You're surprising me. Maybe you and Tristan just didn't hit it off well? Or maybe it was like Arthur said, and you're just protective and don't understand this political stuff. I don't know, but you'd better shape up, buddy. I'd hate to dislike you. You're supposed to be a flawed hero. Heroes aren't normally jerks (Tobyn notwithstanding).

And here endeth the letter to the people in my head.

Yes, Crickets, work on Knight of Sorrows continues apace. Now it's going to be one awkward conversation in Tintagel (or Aravon), then onward to the legend. Appropriately enough, I think the legend will be properly rejoined in Chapter 13, a suitably ill-starred number to associate with the moment when an ill-starred young man encounters his fate.

Fasten your seatbelts, Crickets. It's all high-speed from here.

We narrowly averted disaster last night, Crickets. I was steaming along in Knight of Shadows and went to save Chapter 11 so I could take a potty break. Unfortunately, I saved it as Chapter 10 and wiped all 9 pages I'd already written! My squawk of horror alarmed the cats, let me tell you. Thank God for back-up drives. After a few moments of panic and another moment of combing through my external F: drive, I found those 9 pages and brought them back. Whew! I did not want to go through Chapter 10 again. It was hard, and made me grind to a halt, and anyway, there were a few turns of phrase in there that I was pretty proud of. I'm so grateful for technology today!

Chapter 11 features an encounter with a certain High King and his loyal if adulterous knightly BFF. Yes, Tristan has met up with Arthur and Lancelot. I still haven't gotten to the meat and potatoes of the Tristan and Iseult myth, but hey, Tristan was a Knight of the Round Table, so he had to have met old Artie at some point, right? Now is as good a time as any, before he gets all distracted by Irish princesses and such.

Also, there is now a dragon in Ireland. Almost all of the chess pieces are in place.

The one thing that I'm not understanding (and trust me, even though I'm writing, I'm certainly not the one piloting this boat) is why Merlin seems intent on playing the part of Greek Chorus. Maybe he'll reveal his (always ulterior) motives in time.

Meanwhile, back to our Camelot-ish confab in Kaer Gradawc...

Success!

After a lot of re-thinking and mental squirming, I have finally gotten Catherine's Wheel back on track. I'm back up in the middle of chapter three, and about to really kick this puppy into high gear.

I'm going to take a break for some food and to take care of some business, then it's back to Berlin...

Progress!

The ISBN numbers and SAN have arrived, meaning that this website and on-line venture is that much closer to becoming a reality. Soon, I hope, the first collection of short stories, the first collection of poetry, and Sacrifice will be available for download. This is so exciting! Now all I have to do is round up people who want to read it...

back chat

I worked on Catherine's Wheel last night, more or less finishing chapter 3. I chose to quit just before receiving a visit from the Exposition Fairy disguised as an 1800-year old RomanoCeltic vampire. There'll be time enough tomorrow (or the next day) to get to Teh Storee.

I've got the Wheel itself mapped out, and all of the dramatis personae are more or less in place. Now I just have to push the button and run the movie in my head.

I used to do this thing that is essentially a synopsis of the work, which I used to call "back chat". I found the back chat that I originally wrote for this book WAAAAY back when, and basically, it has no bearing on the story I'm actually writing... and believe me, that's a good thing. That edition of back chat has been relegated to the trash bin where it belongs.

I've got glimpses of the threads of this story and how they'll play out over several books to come. I just hope I have the time and the stamina to get all of it written.