Fantasy Romance
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.
Prince William sucked in a breath as he entered the training room and hefted his lance.
He was already strong, despite his youth. He would take after his father, the Great Unifier, in that.
His smile dimmed as he thought of how many had died during the wars. While their had been minor skirmishes and uprisings since, peace ruled most of Arendur.
Peace he had to be strong enough to maintain.
He tightened his grip on his lance.
As I had previously mentioned, it is that time of year where my day job gets insanely busy. I will be putting in long hours at work, trying to balance family life, and still attempting to put forth some fresh words on a page.
I have new characters flying through my head, new kingdoms within my world, and new villains.
I am trying to keep the creativity lit while still meeting my other demands, and some of these characters won’t shut up.
Not a bad fate, except I have two other first drafts already in the works that I need to finish before I get to them.
I am not complaining about the plethora of ideas coming my way. What I need is more time…
For now, these new characters have been giving me snippets of their life and backstory on my commute into work, in the shower, while I make dinner…you get the idea. Whether any of these character will ever get their own book, I don’t know. Even if they do, how much of their story will stay the same, I don’t know.
But I thought it would be fun to share them with you. Give you a little glimpse of the madness that is being a writer as your characters are talking in your head.
I have precious little time lately, and rather than fight these shots of creativity, I am going to embrace it. See where it leads.
With that in mind, my blog posts for a bit will be shorts of all that they are showing me and telling me as I let them take over.
As always, let me know what you think.
If any of them sound particularly interesting, I will listen to them a bit more.
