Year-long NaNo discussion

A sister series for My Time in Amar, this is the first book in the series Return to Amar.

Here's an excerpt of the beginning...

My story always begins with, “Once upon a time there was a girl torn between worlds.”
Even though I had heard this for years, from before I could understand words. Despite the fact that I probably knew this tale better than my ABC’s, I would lean forward, watching my mother’s face with rapt attention.
She would smile. I was too young to see the sadness to it. “There was the world she had always lived in. The one she where she would always be safe in But that was not the world she was destined for. That was not the world she was from. This world was a fantastic land, rife with magic and creatures. Oh such magnificent creatures you could never dream to behold, my dear Alicia. And the very magic that is so prevalent in this land runs through her veins. With it she could choose to return to this world- Amar- her world.”
At this moment my mother would pause in the tale and regard me sternly, “But you mustn't ever choose to return, Alicia, never. For that very magic, is what would be your undoing.”
I would gasp, feeling the thrill and terror of her words as if it was the first time I was hearing it. As if this was the first time she was revealing that the story was actually my story.
“You were fated for death,” my mother would always say. Then she would pause. Lick her lips, or fiddle with her broach, or run a hand through her hair. Finally, when I was about to burst from the suspense of not knowing, she would say, “But I didn’t care for that kind of fate for my little girl.”
She would lean forward and place her hands which always slightly trembled with her nervous energy, she would look at me with the clouded blue eyes- the same shade of my own- and she would rasp, “Never lose sight of who you are or who you are meant to be. So much more than this weak world, we must resign ourselves to, could ever understand.”
My story always ends with, Carolyn Hareton! What foolish nonsense are you filling that child’s head with?

2/20/18- 519 words.

2/21/18- 562 words.

2/22/18- 1,219 words.

Here's an excerpt...

“What is a callig- a callphon-”
“Calligrapher.”
“Yes that, what is it that a calligrapherer does anyway?”
“Why madam,” I say looking up at her and smiling. “I am so pleased that you asked. Because I am very proud of my profession.”
“And what is that?” the woman asks regarding me as if I was from another world. Which, of course, I am.
I take a deep breath and raise my chin, placing the hand holding my notebook against my hip. “Why, I write stuff down.”

I love it! :)

Lena wrote: "I love it! :)"

I'm so glad that you do! :D

2/23/18- 1,275 words.

Here's an excerpt...

Good heavens. My dream is about to shoot a deer. What if she is some poor fawn’s mother? Trauma from my childhood of depressing cartoons resurfaces and I glance around for something to use to stop the boy from shooting the dear.
I find a large rock lying near my foot. I stoop over and pick it up. I weigh it in my hand for a second before letting it loose. As soon as the rock leaves my hand it occurs to me that I could have thrown the rock into a tree or a bush to startle the deer. Instead the rock sails through the air and lands true, striking dream boy across the back of the head.

Oi.

Kendra wrote: "Oi."

Lol! Talk about first impressions, eh?

2/25/18- 1,545 words.

Here's an excerpt...

My eyes widen and move up to my imaginary friend’s eyes which narrow. “What are you doing?” he asks.
I ignore his question, too enraptured with this strange new discovery. I hold up my hand turning it, trying to ascertain that it is, in fact my hand. I look back at my imaginary friend and place my hand on his stubbly cheek. Warm flesh meets my palm.
“That is amazing,” I whisper awed moving my thumb back and forth. The stubble on his cheek prickles my skin. “How did you manage that?”
My imaginary friend licks his lip, his eyes settling on mine. “Manage what? To have a face?”
“How did you make it so I can feel it?” I murmur, moving my hand away, only to press my finger into his cheek a second later.
He pulls away. “Okay, that’s it.”

Haha, I love it!

Lena wrote: "Haha, I love it!"

Thanks! I'm glad you do!

This sound really interesting, Nicki!

Catherine wrote: "This sound really interesting, Nicki!"

Thanks! I really love the idea. I just hope I can translate it correctly onto the page. But that's the problem every writer faces, eh?

2/26/18- 1,113 words.

Here's an excerpt...

I clutch my hands to my chest and move so I’m standing in front of him. “How do they prefer to eat you? Raw and wriggling, or do they cook you with their fire before eating you, or… does no one know?”
My imaginary friend furrows his brows and tilts his head. “You seriously want to know how dragons eat their helpless victim?”
I press my lips together and nod emphatically. “Do you think I would be asking if I didn’t want to know?”
“There is something deeply wrong with you. And it is more than a morbid curiosity.” He heaves a great sigh (he seems to sigh a lot, like its a chore to speak to me). “If you really must know it’s the last option. No one knows because no one returns and no one has ever followed any of the beasts to their lair.” He shrugged. “Or if they have. They never lived to tell the tale.”
“Oh,” I say, my eyes moving as I take in the leaves, glinting in the dimming sunlight. “That’s fantastic!”
“It really isn’t.”

2/27/18- 1,088 words.

Here's an excerpt...

“My imagination is really very thorough,” I state pulling the light gray wool cloth further from his forearm. I lean down and peer at the sun filtering through the cloth.
He pulls his hand out of my grip, but I hurriedly grab it and hold I up for closer inspection. Small scars crisscross over his fingers. I press my finger against his short fingernails. “This really is… I just don’t have words for it.”
My imaginary friend pulls his hand out of my hold again. “How about goodbye?”
I press my index finger to my lips. “Maybe I somehow imagined you into being, because you don’t seem like a figment of my imagination.”
My imaginary friend holds up a finger that just minutes ago I had been inspecting. “That is because I am not.”
I blink and tilt my head. “But if you’re not a figment of my imagination then who are you?”
He sighs and crosses his arms. “I’m someone who is quickly running out of patience.”

AHHH I'M SO INTRIGUED

Faith/Florid Sword wrote: "AHHH I'M SO INTRIGUED"

Haha! I'm glad that you are! So far this book has been so fun to write. It's surprisingly easy to write from the POV of a slightly insane character (is that telling??)

But seriously. Thanks!

2/28/18- 660 words.

Here's an excerpt...

I wrinkle my nose. “What are you-”
“Stay here,” he commands, leveling me a hard look with those piercing black eyes. I wonder if he knows how much like a puddle of ink they look.
The dragon roars, followed by a flash of fire and screams of the villagers rushing home. “I wish I could have left when I had the chance,” he mumbles to himself as he moves to the edge of the barrel.
I crawl after him. “Where are you going?”
He pulls his hood up higher and adjusts his hold on his bow. “Somebody’s got to be a hero today,” he growls.
Well, he could sound a little more excited about it.

3/1/18- 1,077 words.

Here's an excerpt...

His words from earlier resurface in my mind like a haunting melody. “Looks like someone needs to be the hero.”
“Looks like someone needs to save the hero’s bum,” I mutter to myself as I shove my hair behind my ears.

3/2/18- 1,212 words.

Here's an excerpt...

With my next step, Dante rushes past, snagging my wrist and yanking me along behind him. I stumble across the dirt road, nearly losing my balance as I try to keep up with his long legs.
“Oi!” I cry. “Let go, I’ve got this.”
“Those would be rather ironic last words I think,” he shoots over his shoulder as he drags me toward the nearest building.
I dig my heels into the dirt road. “You need to let me go!”
“What do you think you are doing?” Dante asks, yanking behind the building. His dark eyes smolder with anger. I don’t know what his problem is, he’s never been this angry in my dreams. “Are you actually trying to get yourself killed?”
I place my free hand on my hip. “I can stop the dragon.”
“You really are insane,” he says narrowing his eyes. His eyes travel down my body then back up to me, his eyes narrowing further. “You don’t even have a weapon or even a dagger. What do you plan to do? Glare the dragon to death?”
“And you’re slow minded,” I say yanking my arm out of his grip. “Didn’t you see what I’ve done already. I can stop the dragon and I don’t need any paltry weapons to do it.”
“Oh, I definitely saw what you did,” he says. I open my mouth to demand why then he doesn’t think I can handle myself against the dragon, but he cuts me off by holding up his finger. “And we are certainly going to discuss that when this is all over. But whatever it is you are doing. You’re only making it angry.” As if to punctuate my imaginary friend’s words, the dragon roars, shaking the earth with its ferocity.

And I've written the synopsis for A Certain Sort of Madness. Here it is!


Insanity is catching…

Alicia Hareton is crazy. But that’s nothing new. Her insanity is hereditary, something inherited from her mother, just like her magical abilities and her blood ties to the strange and alluring world of Amar. She’s spent her life on Earth and yet Amar has always called to her, an intoxicating melody that she cannot ignore. Returning to Amar would put her life in danger, but Alicia has never let such technicalities stop her before.

However, when her mother is captured due to her reckless actions, Alicia will do anything to rescue her. That includes trusting her grumpy, sarcastic imaginary friend, who claims he doesn’t know her and doesn’t seem that imaginary anymore. Or that trustworthy. It also includes teaming up with a band of vagabonds including a petty thief, an illusionist, an acrobat, and a strong man to preform an extremely ill-advised heist on the faerie court. And in order to save her mother she must take on the most powerful mage in all Amar, who also happens to be her grandfather.

In a world of madness and magic, the lines between lies and loyalty are blurred and sometimes the only option you have left is to let the insanity loose.

NICKI! THIS BOOK! I NEEDS!!!!!!!!!

(Also: I just want you to know that if you ever need an alpha/beta reader: LET ME KNOW. I WILL DO IT. XD)

Awesome! Your stories always sound amazing!

Faith/Florid Sword wrote: "NICKI! THIS BOOK! I NEEDS!!!!!!!!!

(Also: I just want you to know that if you ever need an alpha/beta reader: LET ME KNOW. I WILL DO IT. XD)"

YAY! I'm so glad you like it :D :D I actually plan on publishing this book this fall, so I'd better get writing, eh?)

(And thanks! I will definitely need some alpha/beta readers. When the times comes I'll e sure to contact you :D)

Lena wrote: "Awesome! Your stories always sound amazing!"

Thanks so much, Lena! That's so sweet! I'm glad you think it sounds interesting :D This plot was particularly hard to come up with, so I'm glad to have finally found it.

3/5/18- 1,411 words.

Here's an excerpt...

“You’ve certainly made my life that much more complicated,” I murmur to her as the maid comes back, carrying a pitcher of water. Alicia doesn’t respond and I accept the pitcher.
By now a large crowd has begun to gather around me. They are murmuring, sharing stories of what they saw. None sound like the truth.
If they start calling me a dragon slayer I will be most put out.

3/6/18- 1,140 words

Here's an excerpt...

“What are you doing!” the maid cries surging forward. “T’isn’t safe to move. You’ll bleed out all the faster. The huntsman is fetching a healer, he’ll return to patch you right up.”
“No time,” I manage to push past my clenched teeth. “I’m very terribly late.”
“For what?” the maid cries wringing her hands. “What is so important that you would risk death in order to get there on time?”
“Tea time,” I gasp. “I’m late for tea.”

3/7/18- 1,126 words.

Nicki wrote: "And I've written the synopsis for A Certain Sort of Madness. Here it is!


Insanity is catching…

Alicia Hareton is crazy. But that’s nothing new. Her insanity is hereditary, something inherited fr..."
Nicki,
Oh my goodness girl !! Your book sounds amazing ! Its right up my alley !! ❤☺
Im so looking forward to reading this ,
I wish you the best in finishing it ...and you just reminded me that i need to get my lazy bum up and get back to writing my story . 😉😂
Makayla ❤

Mike (Makayla ) wrote: "Nicki wrote: "And I've written the synopsis for A Certain Sort of Madness. Here it is!


Insanity is catching…

Alicia Hareton is crazy. But that’s nothing new. Her insanity is hereditary, somethin..."

Aww, thanks! Yeah, madness, other worlds, imaginary friends. What's not to like ;P

And you're completely right, you need to get writing, cause that book ain't going to write itself XD

Nicki wrote: "Mike (Makayla ) wrote: "Nicki wrote: "And I've written the synopsis for A Certain Sort of Madness. Here it is!


Insanity is catching…

Alicia Hareton is crazy. But that’s nothing new. Her insanity..."
Lol it aint 😂❤

Mike (Makayla ) wrote: "Nicki wrote: "Mike (Makayla ) wrote: "Nicki wrote: "And I've written the synopsis for A Certain Sort of Madness. Here it is!


Insanity is catching…

Alicia Hareton is crazy. But that’s nothing new..."

And ain't that the truth? XD

3/8/18- 1,502 words.

Here's an excerpt...

I step away, nearly twisting my ankle in my haste. “I fell into the mud.”
Her eyes stray down to my side. She arches a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “And fell on a frog?”
“What?”
“That’s where the blood came from? You crushed a frog?”
“I- uh, sliced myself on a twig. It’s nothing really. Just a scratch.”
“That’s an awful lot of blood for a scratch, but...” she heaves a sigh and shrugs. “Keep your secrets. It will only make it more interesting when I learn all of them.”
I tighten my arms around myself. The likelihood of Olivia even coming up with an idea remotely similar to the truth in the next million years is very slim. The likelihood of any sane person figuring out what was going on is very slim. “Really, Olivia, what do you want?”
Olivia eyes travel down to my feet and then back up to my face, her expression smug. “I don’t know yet.” She smirked and heads toward the door. “But never fear, cuz, I will keep you posted.”

3/9/18- 1,373 words.

And with that I've made it to 15,610 words! Woohoo!

Here's an excerpt...

She looks up as I walk in and smiles brightly. “Oh, sweetie, your father said you were safe. I wanted to go make certain for myself but I was...” she glances down at her desk and licks her lips as she returns to rearranging the petals on her paper.
“Busy?” I supply, stepping forward.
She looks up slightly startled and blinks. Finally she seems to remember what she was talking about before she grew distracted. Her face eases into a smile. “Yes. How kind of you to come let me know that you are all right in person.” She returns her attention back to her paper.
I shift my feet. “I wasn’t.”
She blinks slowly and looks up, it looks like it’s painful for her to pull her mind from her work. “You weren’t what, Alicia?”
“All right. I wasn’t all right earlier.”
“But you are now?” she prompts.
I nod stiffly. “I am now.”
“Well...” Mother releases a breath and smiles, it’s only slightly strained. She looks down at her hands. “That’s good to know.”

3/12/18- 1,074 words.

Here's an excerpt...

“I was never supposed to exist,” Mother whispered her eyes glassing over. “Father has made it his life goal to remedy that mistake.” She looks at me and lifts one delicate shoulder. “And since you would never exist if I hadn’t been born that means you cannot exist either.”
I rub my temples with renewed vigor. “Right. And is grandmother all right with this?”
“Oh, I assume she wouldn’t be, but she doesn’t get much of a say in the matter.” Mother rubs her lips together and taps a rhythm on her desk. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye and shrugs when she sees my expectant expression. “She’s rather dead.”
That steals the breath from my lungs. “Did he- did he kill her?”
Mother barks a laugh. “What an idea! Of course he killed her! What would make you think he hadn’t?”
I blink. “I have a messed up family,” I say. I don’t know if I’m saying it to Mother or simply trying to get the weight of what had just been said off my lungs.
Mother reaches out and pats my cheek. “Only the best for you dear.”

3/13/18- 1,078 words.

Here's an excerpt...

“What’s the matter?” I ask, rising cautiously from my bed. Normally Mother is the one I need to be careful around but at this moment, Father looks like the breakable one. Like the caged one. Like the one who hung onto his sanity by a thread waiting for the scissors to snip, snip, snip and leave him plunging forever downward into eternal madness.
At this moment Father looks exactly like I always feel.
And it worries me. “What’s the matter?” I ask again. I wrap my arms around my silk pajama shirt and resist the urge to shudder.
“Alicia, have you seen your mother?” Father asks slowly, not even bothering to come up with a nickname for me. This worries me. The only time Father calls me Alicia is when he’s angry or disappointed in me. He looks neither angry nor disappointed. He looks scared.

3/16/18- don't have an exact word count since my computer is acting up, but I think I got around 750 or so words in.

Here's an excerpt...

All I wanted was to find some answers. Now I fear that due to my rashness, I may have lost everything.

3/17/18- 500 words.

3/20/18- 662 words.

Yay, Nicki! Good work!

Lena wrote: "Yay, Nicki! Good work!"

Thank you! :) I've been in a bit of a writing slump so it's ridiculously hard to get writing so I'm glad I've gotten at least a little bit done of late :P

3/22/18- 570 words

3/26/18- 1,283 words

Here's an excerpt...

“Unbelievable,” Olivia mutters I drag her along. “I’ve been kidnapped by my own cousin.”
“I didn’t kidnap you,” I say, but my voice dies before I can protest further when I realize that I kind of did. I mean I didn’t kidnap her in the traditional sense of the word, but I did open up a portal and drag her into Amar behind me. And I hadn’t exactly asked her permission to do so.
“That foreign feeling would be guilt,” Olivia says after my long silence. “You’ll get used to it after a while because I’m definitely going to keep reminding you of it.
I shake my head, shaking away that unfamiliar heavy feeling that Olivia calls guilt. I think it might just be exhaustion from pulling two people into Amar. “Look, help me find Mother and I will take you home.”
Olivia snorts. “This just keeps getting worse. Now you’re holding me hostage?”

Nicki wrote: "3/26/18- 1,283 words

Here's an excerpt...

“Unbelievable,” Olivia mutters I drag her along. “I’ve been kidnapped by my own cousin.”
“I didn’t kidnap you,” I say, but my voice dies before I can pro..."

Hee hee....this sounds great....Love it.

Faith/Florid Sword wrote: "Nicki wrote: "3/26/18- 1,283 words

Here's an excerpt...

“Unbelievable,” Olivia mutters I drag her along. “I’ve been kidnapped by my own cousin.”
“I didn’t kidnap you,” I say, but my voice dies be..."

Thank you! It'll be interesting doing the female relationships since my heroines (Evona and Chelsea) have only ever had brothers XD

3/27/18- 695 words.

Nice!

Faith/Florid Sword wrote: "Nice!"

Thank you :P

3/28/18- 1,223 words. Finally, after about three and a half chapters the imaginary friend is back into the scene. YAY! It was getting boring without him. I only had crazy characters and snarky cousins to entertain me XD I missed my sarcastic imaginary friend!

Here's an excerpt...

We need to find a deer,” I reply curtly.
“A what?!” Olivia cries.
“Since he likes to kill deer, perhaps if we find a deer we might be able to find him in the process of trying to kill it. I mean that’s how I found him in the first place.”
“What are you talking about?!” Olivia demands, drawing to a halt and crossing her arms. “Who do you want to find?”
“My imaginary friend,” I reply, tugging on her arm. “Come on, we need to find him. Firstly because we need his help, secondly because we may be able to save a defenseless deer’s life.”
“Licia, you really have lost it. Now you’re trying to find your imaginary friend? The one you had when you were a kid?”
I lean closer. “He’s still my imaginary friend, that wasn’t an incident isolated to my childhood.” Olivia begins to give me the ‘you’re crazy look” again so I hurriedly add, “Though I’m beginning doubt if he’s imaginary anymore. Maybe he was just a guy who somehow managed to climb into my head at night.”

Nicki wrote: "3/28/18- 1,223 words. Finally, after about three and a half chapters the imaginary friend is back into the scene. YAY! It was getting boring without him. I only had crazy characters and snarky cous..."

Ahhhh, imaginary friends......*grins*