Fantasy Romance
As she stepped back and offered him her hand, a voice cut through the training room. “Onyx Mercedes Aldarius!”
The girl froze.
William pushed himself back to his feet as Sir Godfrey, the Duke of Aldarius’s oldest son and one of Prince William’s personal knights, stormed into the room. William stared at the girl, then the knight, and realization swamped the prince.
He was sparring partner was duke Aldarius’s youngest child and only daughter.
I will not be doing NaNoWriMo again this year.
To those that are doing it, I will once again cheer for you from the sidelines.
I set my goals last January, and I am trying to stick to them as well as I can.
At the moment, I am working on my February 2020 goal because that is what has me inspired right now and because I managed to finish my October goal earl. Which happened to be the first draft of Thomas of Claudia. So maybe that means I already finished Nano?
Okay, so not really.
I just can’t complete so much in a month, especially not a month when I am already so busy at work.
Thomas and Claudia’s story is currently only fifty-five thousand words, but it has a beginning, middle and end. I like the characters, but clearly the novel needs more robustness.
Not surprising as that is how I write.
I have given up on trying to do what I am “supposed to” do. I don’t outline. Yes, it means more rewriting. So be it. In my defense, my editor says my first draft is like a very chunky outline. All the pieces are there, but they are stripped down to their bare bones. Not that she has ever seen a first draft, but she has seen how my revisions work. And she knows how spare the third draft she receives from me is. So, instead of paring down and killing my darlings, I tend to start by writing a skeleton draft and layering on from there.
This is what works for me. It may not be the best thing, but it works.
To everyone out there taking on Nano, I wish you well!
I will be writing this year along with you instead of revising as these new characters just won’t hush, but it will be at a much slower pace.
My family thanks you, especially as I need to keep that day job!
And so does my cat.
Prince William was less skilled with swords than he was with lances, but he still selected a sword.
“Choose a lance. I want it to be a fair fight.”
“But I am taller, with longer reach-”
“So are those I will face on the battlefield. Take the lance.”
He set aside his misgivings. He’d beat her with the lance first, then practice his sword work with her.
Microsoft bought Wunderlist. Of course they did. Wunderlist was awesome, and Microsoft’s offerings…were not. Wunderlist was voted best product, Microsoft wasn’t. So, as is the case these days, the giant consumed the little guy.
I have been using Wunderlist for almost two years to help keep me on track with writing goals, and this year especially, I have used it as a motivating tool. I have even shared progress reports to help keep myself accountable.
Of course, I have no idea what Microsoft will do with it. For the moment, I can still access my stuff. Not sure how long.
But I can see the changes coming.
One of the things I loved about Wunderlist was that it was platform neutral because it was all on the web. I could access it from my android phone, my iPad, my laptop, or my MacBook. It was always the same exact screen.
The very first thing the new Microsoft platform wanted was for me to download the app for my specific device.
Uh, yeah, no.
Looks like it still has a web component. For now.
Maybe it will be as easy to use, maybe not.
I get progress, I really do, but I am not sure this is progress. The original program was terrific, met all my needs, and was easy to use. I don’t really want to spend brain power re-learning how to use something I understood before. I just want the darn thing to work.
Of course, I can’t tell you how well the new program works. Because I have to go back and figure out all of the passwords I had simply saved as part of my keychain.
Yeah, I know.
I am the weakest link. But I figured if someone really wanted to steal my To Do list, they could have it. Maybe they’ll even do it for me.
“I did not mean to startle you,” Prince William said.
She glanced at the sun. “The fault is mine. I have exceeded my time.”
“Exceeded your time…but surely you could practice with me?”
A whisper of a frown furrowed her brow. Then she nodded once.
Everyone else had fled the training area except Prince William’s guards and a small boy dressed in too-big hand-me-downs.
His dark head was bent in concentration as he flew through a series of katas that should have been far too advanced for his age.
Prince William approached, and faster than a bolting horse, the boy spun around and knocked the lance from William’s hands.
William stared in awe, first at his empty hands, then at the child in front of him.
She was a girl.