End of the year post

I know this is a little bit early, but I could not help but to begin thinking back on this year. I must confess that I had no idea where this year would take me. My first year at an university is under my belt. Mistakes have been made and learned from as a new career began to sprout into a fruit bearing tree someday. Two new manuscripts to TGS are completed with a fourth yet the beginning of another series underway. Next year, more exciting things are coming that are currently in the works.

The first on the list is finding a home for TGS2. I have an idea where that will go, so we'll see what happens with it.

The second is graduation. Although the plan is to be finished in December of 2013, it will give me more experience in writing while obtaining an education.

Last but not least is completing my fourth manuscript by the end of the year and preparing it for future publication.

These are just three of many goals forthcoming and are in the works. Wish me luck!

Putting the past behind me and moving onward.

I am sooooooooooooo glad that school is finished for the semester. Now I can have somewhat of a life...sure, keep dreaming, Mill. Actually, I am excited that I have opportunity to work on some well overdue writing projects. Yes, those again...editing and rewrite and all those fun things to get completed.

In other news, I've decided to go ahead and create the beginning story to The Demon-Gods War. The current novels will still be a trilogy so not to worry. This new novel will be its own stand alone novel, but it can be included in with the box-set. Haven't really come up with a solid plot but working on it. All I can say is that the novel will flip any current thoughts on TGS and its continuation. Devious, yes, but it will be worth it in the end because:

School is almost finished and then more writing!!! Bonus scene from TGS2

Have a few more weeks...just a few more, so I need to hold on and finish strong. Last couple of papers and tests til the end of the semester. One more year until I am done with school and begin life. OK, so life has already began, but it will be nice to just have my writing to focus on. Maybe there will be a fresh wave of ideas. I'm down with that; I can use a few more good ideas from the muse. Speaking of muse, mine has been on vacation...at least one of us gets to have fun...until it returns, here is another piece from the current work in progress. Enjoy!

Father walked further away from the blade. “So she wakes,” he muttered. “And here I’d thought taking her would’ve been easy.” He shrugged, but his motions showed anxiety.

He’s afraid. What caused him so much angst? What did Aurora have to do anything?

“So you don’t know...” He mused over, relaxing. He walked behind me confidently, dragging his sword. Tauntingly, he picked it up. “What makes a warrior a warrior.” He whirled around, swinging the blade. Aurora rose to meet his and pushed him away. “The sword controls you. Thus, you have no skill.” He charged, bringing his weapon in from the right. My own slashed against, rubbing sparks between them. Father halted, spat on the floor, and adjusted himself. “You’ll never be your mother. She would’ve been disappointed in her child.”

He’s right.

I thrust Aurora forward, but he knocked her to the side.

“You have no discipline in your craft,” father announced. “Pathetic.” He glanced to his injured arm with disgust. “How you managed to scythed me, I’ll never know.”

Foolish girl, Aurora chastised. Don’t listen; I’ve seen your ability.

“By the way,” he added, raising a hand. He placed his thumb and middle finger together. “You might want to see this.” His fingers snapped, summoning a cloud. It dispersed, revealing Heng-O with her arms tied behind her.

My eyes widened.

“Think of it as a going away present.” He turned his blade downward. It hovered over her side like a pendulum. “Of course, there is the other option.”

“That is?”

“Surrender the armor to me, and I’ll spare her.”

“That’s it, isn’t it?”

He wasn’t just after the armor—I saw it in his eyes. He wanted me as Saain did with his own design in mind on what I should be. “That is all,” he lowered his guard.

I lowered mine and slid the armor on the floor. Heng-O widened her eyes. Fool... I know.

TGS2 Teaser

Raylene:

The air became unsettled.

They’re here somewhere. “Maybe we should go,” I said, looking around the airport. “I don’t like it here.” I looked to Luccas who was still trapped in his thoughts. His eyes shifted to me, looking lost and confused. He puzzled me as his gaze held mine. It slowly moved to a different shade of blue. What is he thinking? I walked closer into him and laid my hand on his shoulder. Worry, lost, fear, crawled onto my fingers. “Luccas, is something wrong?”

He touched my hand and patted it gently. “No,” he said as he walked past me.

The child shifted herself in my arms while we followed after him.

“Don’t give me that,” I said in a low whisper. “There is...”

He stopped abruptly and glared at me. “We’ll take the train to Darmstadt,” he said quickly. “No questions asked. From there, we’ll formulate a plan.”

“What?” I asked, blinking my eyes and holding the child closely.

“We’ll take the train heading towards Heidelberg to Darmstadt,” he went on. “A friend of mine has already picked up our bags and is on her way there.”

“You’re avoiding the question,” I said, accusing him. “You can’t do that with me. I need to know what the plan is to find out who this little girl is.” His eyes looked around, nodding his head to a far off stranger. I turned around to see who he knew, but no one was there. I turned to him, scowling in disapproval.

“C’mon,” he said, taking my hand and led me to wherever we were going. “Before we miss our train.”

Before I knew it, we were running. Everything went by quickly; therefore, I couldn’t see details in the buildings, but I knew they were modern. After World War Two, there were many cities destroyed. The people had rebuilt them although the memories were still fresh in their minds. I recalled their faces when the bombs came down and the aftermath. That was why I didn’t want to return; no one wished me to relive those memories.

My body shivered. Who knew if there would still be someone who remembered me? What would I say to them? Sorry for my stupidity?

I felt as though the higher powers took a breath from me as we ran past several people. Coming to a stop, my eyes rose to the ceiling as we went under a prodigious time schedule board. The train station was unbelievable and massive! Along where the trains stopped were signs that told when the departure time was. In the middle, there were various food stands set up. However, something about it didn’t feel right. It held eyes, which were hidden, in every place the demons could think of. I lifted my eyes to the overhead; the beams interweave in a horizontal crisscross. I imagined Cain holding onto one of them, looking down at us and waited until he could strike.

“We’ve made it with enough time to spare,” Luccas said happily. “Well, we could’ve taken the S-Bahn with no trouble.”

“S-Bahn?”

“Yeah,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “There’s a subway that goes to here.” He pointed to several people coming out of the ground. “There’s also a food court underneath but enough of that.” He moved his gaze to the girl. “We should probably get some food in us. McDonalds?”

“No thanks,” I said.

“I was talking to the little lady.” The girl shook her head to the offer. Figured as much, she probably wasn’t hungry. “You sure? We haven’t eaten since the plane, but if you insist...” With that, he left us alone.

I turned my head to the girl who stared at me and reached for my face. She touched my cheek. My eyes widened to many images flashing through my mind. The familiar smells of blood and metal entered my nose while traveling through Saain’s headquarters. My stomach twisted as though it would lose the matter in it. The white walls that I grew to adore suddenly became a past I hated. I walked along them until I came to a closed door.

“That’s where they keep us,” a small voice said behind me.

I turned to the little girl and knelt.

Her eyes greeted mine as she spoke quieter in an adult tone. “You remember...”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do I remember?”

She whispered, “Them.”

“Them?”

“Is anyone there?” A male voice asked suddenly.

I rose to see who it was and found Luccas walking towards us. His eyes were red, pulling his long white coat back. He drew a magnum from its holster and pointed it at us. Luccas with a gun? It was hard to imagine him with one. His face was hard as stone unlike the Luccas I knew and loved. I checked his hands for a ring. On his right, he wore the insignia of Saain.

My jaw tightened. No, that can’t be right...

“Come out,” he said, cocking his gun. “I know you’re here.”

I ducked behind the corner and waited until he passed us. Luccas wouldn’t fight with a mortal’s weapon. He normally had his sword on him.

“You’re quiet...”

“He needs to be watched,” the girl said.

“We need to be quiet,” I said in a low growl. “Before he hears us.”

“He can’t hear us.”

“What?”

“Watch.”

Luccas continued his patrol down the hall and stopped in front of us. His eyes darted to our hiding place but went on his way. I lifted slowly from the corner enough to see if anyone else came. The last thing I wanted was to run into someone who knew me. Luccas being there though confused me. Why was he there when he never told me that he was? The idea came unexpectedly. Was he also a member of Saain?

I placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. I became alarmed for her. That whatever it was, whoever she was, wouldn’t get caught with me. I couldn’t risk her.

“You love him,” she said, pointing out. “You want to abandon the idea, but you saw it.”

True, I wanted to, honestly I did. The thought gripped me and would distort every time I was with him. Anger emerged from whence the subconscious pool laid as I restrained myself from squeezing the girl’s shoulder.

Control yourself, Raye, I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Perhaps this is a mistake,” Yes, one that would be cleared with Luccas. I didn’t have to worry.

“No mistake,” she said. I stared at her speechless and widened my eyes. “That’s right, you heard me correctly.”

***

Published Poet and update on being an Author

Hey all!

So recently I have published my very own book of poetry, and although it is small, there are some powerful words written on it's pages. I am excited that things such as my first novel and poetry have broken through. Currently, I am looking into another publisher for TGS2. Hopefully, everything will go a lot smoother than the last now that I have learned a hard lesson and matured in writing.

Wow, there is a lot of things on my mind, so I guess they should be written. The first is what is already stated in the beginning paragraph. Oh yes, that's it. I have decided that after my contract is over with this particular publisher, I am going to re-release all of the novels dealing with the Demon-Gods War Trilogy. My reason for that is to have all of them in softback. The beginning novel is only in hardback. Sadly, the company will not release it on kindle unless I pay them too. That is fine; I have no problem waiting. By then I will have a better understanding in the world of publishing and perhaps begin my own publishing company. No, none of my books will be published through it. There is another place that will do the work for me.

Something that is interesting.

Education has played a vital part in Victorian society. From early ages, boys and girls, traditionally, mothers educated them unless the family can afford a governess to teach the children the required, appropriate attire of living in a Victorian lifestyle. Soon as, the boys were old enough, their parents sent to school or a private tutor taught them. Girls were taught either by their mothers or a governess if the women were of the higher class. The parents would then seek for someone who could teach the “genteel accomplishments which were the aims of female education” to their daughters (Peterson, 9).

When George Elliot wrote Middlemarch, a college known as the Anglican Queen's College was open. Girls and women, beginning from age of twelve, could enter the doors as the college become as “a very fine public school” to teach these women how to become governesses (Web). Another college opened later in 1849. Bedford College was established through a woman named Elizabeth Jesser Reid. Mrs. Reid gathered her educated friends to provide opportunities for women’s higher education. Women came from many parts of England with a foundation of a governess’s education. As the college became successful, more degrees were given, and women had earned the privilege to attend a college strictly for them. Among the many women who attended the college, whether it was one year or many years, was George Elliot.

Before Elliot’s time, there were very few occupations a woman could enter if she were single. The first, women could employ themselves as a governess. The role of a governess was considered an honor. Interest of having went “beyond that of entertainment or economic analysis” to the Victorians (1), since the position demanded energy and many hours of spending time with children.

The second, a woman could become a school teacher. As seen in Jane Eyre, young girls were also sent from their homes to an unknown place. Jane, upon her aunt’s insistence, went to Lowood and became one of the teachers. As the novel progressed, Jane found herself as not only a teacher, but she became a governess to a gentleman named Edward Rochester.

In Middlemarch, Rosamond Vincy had been taught at Mrs. Lennon’s School. While Rosamond engaged herself into conversation with Lydgate, she spoke about knowing two men who could sing. She said that within Middlemarch, “you will find” the town to be “tuneless” (Eliot, 159). Rosamond furthered to explain she had studied under the organist at St. Peter’s. Mr. Lydgate answered, “An accomplished woman almost always knows more than we men, though her knowledge is of a different sort” (160). Having women educated, at least in Lydgate’s eyes, is seen as a good thing, and Rosamond can teach him “a thousand things” (16).

Compared to Dorothea, “Rosy,” as she is called by the family, is used for a foil against Dorothea. Dorothea’s mother is not in the novel. When introduced, the younger sister, Celia goes to Dorothea and asks her to divide the jewels their mother left them. Dorothea learned to be accomplished in horseback. Although Dorothea loves riding, she gives it up for what she thinks is a good cause. Rosamond’s education consisted of the arts whereas Dorothea enjoyed learning from books and developing plans to build cottages.

Banerjee, Jacqueline, Ph.D. Contributing Editor, The University of London and Women Students, Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/education/ulondon/3.html

Peterson, M. Jeanne, Victorian Studies, Indiana University Press, Vol. 14, No. 1, The Victorian Woman (Sep., 1970)

Thoughts on Poetry

I LOVE being a writer, but I also love being a poet. Granted, there are a few more rules to learn and a few more experiments using words and such to try. Poetry, though, is a different art that is, what I think, easier to grasp onto in order to put feelings, experiences, expressions, and thoughts into an art many enjoy. Through the eyes of a poet, life is a gift or a curse depending on the poet. Love, heartache, joy, fear, and doubt are weaved into a blanket full of memories both good and bad. The poet has courage to stand for things that are wrong. The poet is also a storyteller so be careful when confronted with poets. They may tell a story about you. Ta-Ta!