I’m pausing the poetry for a week. How often do you get to make a Leap Year post? Yes, I know it’s once every four years. That’s not my point. I think. Eh, I just wanted an excuse to post some funnies for it. Also:
Yup. It’s National Pancake Day. Supposedly since I seem to remember it showing up more than once last year. Anyway, I always enjoy pancakes even though I shouldn’t eat them very often. Carbs are really heavy in my stomach. It’s also busy right now, so I figure a holiday post is better than trying to phone in something deeper. Enjoy.
This book is when the champions storyline finally came to light. Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsieshad a lot of changes happen to the heroes, including a few power upgrades. I felt that this story was easier to write than the others, but it came with a bunch of issues. Most notably, the introduction of Sari and her affect on Luke’s relationship with Kira. More on that later since that was a major sticking point for people. Anyway, this book had some challenges that I feel I handled rather well.
The biggest challenge was that this was stepping into the main story. There were hints and clues about it in the previous volumes, but now the heroes were aware of what they were getting involved with. It had an impact on everything because the weight of the adventure was heavier. Windemere was now at stake or at least the continent they were on. The gods were getting as involved as they could and Luke Callindor was being forced to face his past. It sounds chaotic when smashed together like that, but I took my time fleshing out all of the plot points. This is why Allure of the Gypsiesended up being longer than its predecessors. I had a lot of closure, foreshadowing, new paths, and character development to put into the story. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew, but I always have an issue with ‘Act 3’ sections. Not sure why any chapters or books that are a multiple 3 give me headaches.
This book also got me my first really negative reviews and a few personal attacks. I’ve mentioned before that Kira Grasdon and Luke Callindor were never supposed to have a relationship, but they clicked so well in Beginning of a Hero. Originally, Luke and Sari were supposed to have a simple, clean, unchallenged relationship, which was incredibly boring. It also didn’t seem to fit Sari when she showed up since she was heavily traumatized and I never got the feeling that she was going to settle down out of fear of getting hurt again. This is why I had Kira come from a culture where a person has multiple partners (dating and sexual) until they are married. It’s to make sure they find the right person since her culture was nearly destroyed by rampant cheating and the ensuing divorces. This was always supposed to be something that Luke was uncomfortable with and agreeing to since he wants to make Kira happy. I made this clear in the second book, including how she wasn’t thrilled with it either since they couldn’t follow the introduction of partners protocol. Felt like I had all of my bases covered to explain what was happening without admitting that they are supposed to have a tragic love triangle.
I was wrong because I didn’t expect Kira’s ‘lover’ causing such a stir. Forgot the idiot’s name, but he was supposed to be the opposite of Luke. Brash, insulting, and an unrepentant asshole. He was chosen by Kira’s father and he supposedly slept with her at some point. Looking back, the timeline doesn’t even make sense for how this guy and Kira could have hooked up. Funny thing is that some readers believed this guy and demanded that Luke murder him in cold blood. I had always been toying with the idea that this guy was lying after she rejected his advances, but so many people turned on Kira (who never showed up in the book) that I felt like that option would come off as desperate. I’m still amazed at how some people turned on Kira, Sari, and Nyx within this scenario, but nobody actually hated this male character for gloating about his conquest. Not openly. Sadly, Kira never recovered from this book she was never physically in and I got a lot of hateful comments and messages over the whole thing. Keep in mind that this was a romantic subplot that was just starting and one of the characters did not appear to add their side to the story. This is why I won’t go near complicated love triangles again.
Yeah, that debacle is what I remember most from Allure of the Gypsies and it nearly made me want to quit publishing. I’m thankful to the people who gave me positive feedback even with some criticism. Would I do things differently? Long term, I would probably not try to repair Kira’s image and continue with my original plan. You have three characters (Kira, Luke, and Sari) who are immature and learning making mistakes like a normal person. I should have held to that a lot more. This book certainly taught me that I can’t please everyone and bowing to those who are enraged won’t help because they’ve already made up their minds.
Questions 3:
Do you think characters should be allowed to make childish mistakes in fiction?
What would you say to someone who has suffered a major trauma?
If you were a ghost, what’s the first thing you would do?
Today is National Fairy Tale Day! I was going to do a bunch of memes, but I thought it would be more fun to let people comment on the subject. Most of us grew up with some fairy tales. They aren’t always the same ones, but we know of them. Fairy tales span cultures to teach children lessons and entertain. Many adults love them too since it reminds them of younger days. So, let’s get to the questions.
What is your favorite fairy tale from childhood or adulthood?
What do you think makes a great fairy tale?
If you could have any item from a fairy tale, what would it be?
I actually finished these sets during the 2023 Holiday Break. Some people may have seen them on Instagram. I already had a bunch of ideas for Sunday posts, so I kept these for a day when I didn’t have any ideas. They weren’t challenging, but they were relaxing and I needed that. Rumor has it that this summer will see the release of a ‘Barad Dur’ set, which is from Lord of the Rings. That’s the tower with Sauron’s eye on top. Going to save up for that one while trying to figure out where I can put it. Enjoy these pictures though.
I’m writing this from a desk that is more cluttered than expected. Guess the plus side of that is it means I got some work done. Not just errands, laundry, and cleaning up around the house too. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough sleep to be ready for Monday.
Writing-wise, I finally managed to finish the edits of Darwin & the Fate Bracelet. It was all by hand though, so now I’m working on typing it all in. Enough things happened to make me come up short before I got time with my son. So, I still have 8 chapters to go, which I should be able to tackle throughout next week and weekend. Then, I’ll dive into the printed copy of Darwin & the Halfling Hunt. Made a bunch of continuity notes that I put into my editing folder too, so I’m prepared. A few things got dropped after the first book, so I need to explain why they disappeared. Really it’s just cosmetic stuff about Darwin’s magic, which I’m locking in as far as colors and effect. Then again, would an easily distracted mind have spells that don’t always have the same range of effect or be slightly different every time in terms of visual effects?
Another event was going with a friend to a Korean BBQ and Hot Pot restaurant, which I’ve never done before. My friend did one of them long ago, but he didn’t remember how things worked. You get 2 hours to order food to cook and get charged $13.99 for every pound you waste. So, we showed the greatest restraint . . . No, we had no idea what we were doing. Ordered a lot of meat to cook in the hot pot and not as much as we thought for the BBQ. Everything tasted great and we finished everything except a few of these long, white mushrooms. Then, it was off to some video games at Dave & Busters, but we were definitely stuffed. Surprised I could sleep at all with my stomach feeling like it was three times its normal size. Glad I biked for 20 minutes and ate a small lunch too. A very good time.
Only other thing that happened was a trip to the zoo with my son. We do this every time we have a long break and the weather is good. Kind of chilly, so it wasn’t that crowded. A bunch of areas were closed for maintenance since the big season is coming up. So, we were out after 3.5 hours instead of the usual 5 hours. Not a bad thing since we took our time and got to see a few animals that aren’t normally active. Forgot to get the pictures of those off my camera, but I have these from my phone:
Tree Kangaroo
Burrowing Owls
Gibbon
Only two more days of break. Big Pokemon Go event happening all weekend, so I’ll be out at the park a lot. Family is coming over this afternoon too, including my 3-year-old niece. So, my son and I are going to have to balance stuff. Hopefully, it won’t be so exhausting that I’m dead on my feet for Monday.
I’m not going to make any big plans for the week though. Doing more blog posts for April and putting in the last 8 chapters of edits for Darwin & the Fate Bracelet will be enough. If I can do more then that’s a bonus. Work is going to be crazy with the kids coming back from a long break. My son probably has a test or two coming as well, so home life won’t be calm. So, I’m going to focus on just getting to the next weekend and finishing up the one project.
Oh, I’m not sure what to watch on the streaming services. I have 3 episodes left of ‘The Dresden Files’, which I’ve always wanted to finish. After that, I don’t really know what I want to put on. Hate it when I hit a point where nothing appeals to me, but I can’t stand to be in a room without either music or television on. Maybe I’ll just grab another older series and start watching again. Highlander Season 2 is a possibility. Is there any new fantasy or science fiction out there worth my time? Everything seems like a reboot, remake, or bland.
Legends of Windemere 