Month: November 2020

The State of the Writer: 11/29/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 11/15/20         The State of the Writer: 12/13/20–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener

Besides finding the perfect artwork of my protagonist I’ve been very productive.  It’s all worldbuilding shit right now, but I purchased the full version of Scrivener, and I’ve been working on it bit by bit every day.  I tend to come up with ideas as I’m working, which is a bit of a catch 22 since I’m a plotter, so I need to know what I’m writing before I write it.  This doesn’t mean I can’t change, but I have to have some kind of vague idea of where I’m going.  Granted, I completely changed the end of my first novel and had no clue how I was going to end Northern Lights when I wrote it, but I had all of the necessary elements to start.  With this one I have a similar issue where I’m not sure how the titular character’s major issue resolves, but as I mentioned I come up with my best ideas while writing, so yeah…

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The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

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Title: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Author: Leslye Walton
Date Added: August 2, 2016
Date Started: August 6, 2018
Date Finished: September 3, 2018
Reading Duration: 28 days
Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism, Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)

Cover of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye WaltonPages: 301
Publication Date: March 27, 2014
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Media: Paperback

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

Note: I’m going to split this into two sections: Review and Analysis.  The Analysis section will have spoilers whereas the Review will be just that.

Review

Foreseeing the future…means nothing if there is nothing to be done to prevent it.

Ava Lavender is a girl born with brown speckled bird wings in a world where magic might blend with the mundane but does nothing to mitigate grief.    Ava’s life is seeped with sorrow, and she came by it honestly.  The first part of the novel lays out the past to feature her French forebears with the apt surname of “Roux.”

Picture of Common Rue from Wikipedia

Pronunciation the same as the plant

All of them saddled with unlucky love and dying too young to reap the full sorrows.  Only her grandmother Emilienne survived to birth her mother Viviane who herself suffered love unreturned.

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The State of the Gamer: 11/19/20

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<–The State of the Gamer: 11/5/20           The State of the Gamer: 12/3/20–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

What I Purchased

  • Golf Peaks – $4.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Choices That Matter: And the Sun Went Out – $4.79 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Syberia Collection – $9.79 @ Nintendo eShop

What I’m Playing

Title: Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight
Series: Etrian Odyssey
System: Nintendo 3DS

Cover of Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir KnightDate Started: 9/7/20

Yikes…I haven’t played this in the past two weeks again.  I need to watch a video of someone beating Harpuia so I have an idea of what I need to do.

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The State of the Reader: 11/18/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 11/4/20         The State of the Reader: 12/2/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Purchased: 1

Currently Reading

Title: The Snow Queen
Series Title: The Snow Queen Cycle
Author: Joan D. Vinge
Date Added: December 11, 2014
Date Started: September 22, 2020

Cover of the Snow Queen by Joan D. VingeMedia: Hardback (Library)
Progress: 82%

Sparks is the most useless man ever like oh my god I’m so glad I’m reading this now and not when I was some moony teenager who would’ve been into that.  Dear god I hope Moon realizes he’s not worth her time.  I need to hurry up and finish this because it’s due December 9 and I don’t have any more renewals left.  I plan to buy the novel anyway as well as the sequel, though it’s a bit more expensive than most.  I thought this was one half of a duology with The Summer Queen (whom I’m assuming is going to be Moon), but there are apparently four novels in the Cycle.  According to the friend who put me onto this, they have more to do with the Blues aka space police that Moon and Sparks interact with, but I like those characters so I’m okay with that.

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The State of the Writer: 11/15/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 11/1/20         The State of the Writer: 11/29/20–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener

Holy shit…there’s a new story in the status lol.  I’ve talked about this one before I shelved it for a while, but I’m back at it now that The Broken Rose is finished.  This is the story I wanted to use TBR as a test run for.  I attempted to do it for NaNoWriMo a few years ago, but I wound up scrapping the whole thing and starting over.  The first chapter was boring, and I needed to do something else.

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The Broken Rose: Chapter 2 – Gentleness

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Update: The amazing artist Bethany Annie has completed another piece for this chapter.  I’m honestly thinking of replacing the current artworks with hers so they’re on the initial display, though I do like how they look closing out the chapter; however, I really want to showcase her work forefront since she’s so generous and talented.  For now, you will find her next piece at the end of the chapter.  Please make sure to follow her on Art Station and Deviant Art!

Update Addendum: I put Bethany’s picture at the beginning.

The Broken Rose Page

<–Chapter 1                                                                                                    Chapter 3–>

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Chapter Artwork Disclaimer: The source for the artwork featured below is located here.  The original picture has been slightly altered from the original.  All rights belong to the artist/photographer.

*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******

Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.

Aeris experiences gentleness, protection, and warmth for the first time in over a century from the man who once took her life.  She barely has words for these concepts and is terrified “her master” will take them away.

Warm…I’m so very warm.  I’ve never been warm before.  Where am I lying?  I’m on…a bed.  A great, soft, c-comfortable bed.   I’m covered.  What’s this?  She remembered.  A…blanket.  What’s under my head?  A…c-cushion?  N-No, that’s not right.  It’s called…something else…  Her head spun in the dark.  I’m…not being used.  I’m not…being beaten.  I…I don’t understand…

*

Softness.  It could never be softness encasing the terrified Cetra.  That was for people, those who mattered, never a wretched slave.  Yet she was so wonderfully warm enclosed in the opulent mattress.  A great leather coat free of pauldrons enveloped her battered body.  The substance that lined it caressed that bruised skin softer than a song.  Light slid through a crack in the drapes, laying a thin edge on the blanket.

I have to get up.  I can’t stay like this.  He’ll punish me-

Then the door opened.

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The State of the Gamer: 11/5/20

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<–The State of the Gamer: 10/22/20           The State of the Gamer: 11/19/20–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

What I Purchased

  • DanceDanceRevolution PS3 – $42.48 @ Amazon
  • My Girlfriend Is a Mermaid – $2.49 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Cattails – $1.99 @ Nintendo eShop

What I’m Playing

Title: Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight
Series: Etrian Odyssey
System: Nintendo 3DS

Cover of Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir KnightDate Started: 9/7/20

I don’t think I’ve played this these past two weeks.  I’ve felt stymied because I know I need to do a lot of leveling.  I might just try the boss fight to see how badly it goes.  At least I’ll get an idea of what to expect.

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The State of the Reader: 11/4/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/21/20         The State of the Reader: 11/18/20–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Purchased: 4

Title: The Snow Queen
Series Title: The Snow Queen Cycle
Author: Joan D. Vinge
Date Added: December 11, 2014
Date Started: September 22, 2020

Cover of the Snow Queen by Joan D. VingeMedia: Hardback (Library)
Progress: 61%

I like this better than Dune.  There.  I said it.  I don’t dislike Dune, and I feel like I want to do a comparison of the two novels when I’m done, but that’s my feeling at the moment.

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The State of the Writer: 11/1/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 10/18/20         The State of the Writer: 11/15/20–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Final Word Count: 249,902
Prior Word Count: 250,147
Word Difference: -245
Status: Finished

I wrote this in the authors note, but my god…this was an experience.  I learn something new with every story I write.  Among other things I realized something that’s supposed to just be an idea trial for something else could turn into the longest thing I’ve ever written and stand on its own merits.  I also expanded on my own person Aeriseph head canon universe in ways I never dreamed of, but even more so I realized things about myself I never considered.  Granted as I grow older I conclude more aspects of my identity, but with what I write and what I want to write it comes even clearer.

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