Tales of the Drui

The State of the Writer: 5/31/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 5/17/20         The State of the Writer: 6/14/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 5

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 251,992
Prior Word Count: 252,140
Word Difference: -148
Status: Editing
Progress: Posted Chapter 23

Well shit…I made an oopsie.  I was so set on posting the chapter last night due to being encouraged by correspondence with my illustrator friend I made an embarrassing error.  I don’t repeat chapter pictures, or I didn’t before yesterday; however…

 

Ahhhhhhhh

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Dolor and Shadow by Angela B. Chrysler (Tales of the Drui #1)

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Title: Dolor and Shadow
Series Title: Tales of the Drui
Author: Angela B. Chrysler
Date Added: June 16, 2016
Date Started: July 4, 2018
Date Finished: August 8, 2018
Reading Duration: 35 Days
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology

Cover of Dolor and Shadow by Angela B. Chrysler (Tales of the Drui #1)Pages: 588
Publication Date: May 31, 2015
Publisher: Creativia
Media: eBook/Kindle

As the elven city burns, Princess Kallan is taken to Alfheim while a great power begins to awaken within her. Desperate to keep the child hidden, her abilities are suppressed and her memory erased. But the gods have powers as well, and it is only a matter of time before they find the child again.

When Kallan, the elven witch, Queen of Lorlenalin, fails to save her dying father, she inherits her father’s war and vows revenge on the one man she believes is responsible: Rune, King of Gunir. But nothing is as it seems, and the gods are relentless.

A twist of fate puts Kallan into the protection of the man she has sworn to kill, and Rune into possession of power he does not understand. From Alfheim, to Jotunheim, and then lost in the world of Men, these two must form an alliance to make their way home, and try to solve the lies of the past and of the Shadow that hunts them all.

I had started reading this before and Initially thought it was boring or the characters irritated me for some reason, but as I’d barely finished the prologue, I figured I’d give it another chance.  The beginning quote is directly from The Poetic Edda, which I’d recently finished, and the novel itself if rife with Norse Mythology.

The prologue introduces two characters, a grandmother and her granddaughter who are elves or Alfar (as the story calls them) living on Midgard, and there are mentions of Alfenheim and Jotunheim, which are other locales on Yggdrasil, the World Tree.  Gudrun, the elder, is telling the young Kallan about a war between the Aesir and Vanar with the latter on the losing end.  I’m always down for Norse Mythology, so my hopes were high, but they had been as soon as I saw the title had “dolor” in it, which not only means “sorrow” in Latin, but is also used in the Advent Children version of “One Winged Angel,” which has been stuck in my head since I started writing this review.

“Saevam iram
Iram et dolorum…”

The title translates to “Sorrow and Shadow” so I was pretty stoked.

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The State of the Writer: 5/17/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 5/3/20         The State of the Writer: 5/31/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 252,140
Prior Word Count: 252,353
Word Difference: -213
Status: Editing
Progress: Second edit of Chapter 23

Sephiroth by BethanyAnnie

I’ve used this picture before, but there is an excellent reason and method to my madness.  I discovered one of the readers/commenters on AO3 was none other than the artist of the glorious piece above BethanyAnnie who is both on Deviant Art, and ArtStation.  She is a freelance illustrator and concept artist from the UK per her ArtStation account, and I’m seriously thinking about commissioning her for artwork (if I can) if I decide to go the self-publishing route with any of my stories, BUT there’s more.  She’s on Archive of Our Own as OrtumnAllbones with a story called Parenthood’z Nightmare that I’ve bookmarked, which I found out during our conversations where she OFFERED TO DO ARTWORK FOR THE BROKEN ROSE.  Um ♥♥♥  So we’ve been in correspondence once I finally figured out what image I want.  She says she doesn’t charge for fanworks, but I’m honestly hoping she’ll allow me to pay SOMETHING because artists should be paid for their work.  She also has a society6 account.  Visual art is one of the most important mediums we have.  There would literally be no movies, no cartoons, no fashion, no anything without it.  The least I can do is spread the word when someone shows me such generosity ♥

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The State of the Writer: 5/3/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 4/19/20         The State of the Writer: 5/17/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 252,353
Prior Word Count: 251,945
Word Difference: +403
Status: Editing
Progress: Second edit of Chapter 23

I finished the first edit of Chapter 23 last night.  For some reason known only to past TSN, I put in things from my notes, but didn’t mark off that I’d used them so I spent an unnecessary amount of time confirming that.  But the most annoying thing was I put in something I’d already used in Chapter 24.  Thankfully, I was moving notes to that section so I happened to notice it.  It fits much better there then in where I wedged it in Chapter 23, so it was simple matter of deletion, but I’m still annoyed I didn’t do due diligence beforehand.  Oh well, what’s done is done.  I still need to center on a title for this chapter, and I *might* wind up splitting it in two, but that’s a pretty low percentage since everything just sort of flows.

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The State of the Writer: 4/19/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 4/5/20         The State of the Writer: 5/3/20–>

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
Current Word Count: 251,945
Prior Word Count: 252,040
Word Difference: -95
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 23

I would say I’m in the home stretch for this story because I only have two or three more chapters left, but that would be a lie.  There’s still SO much, and I might be splitting some parts up.  Something very important does happen in Chapter 23, something people have been bugging me about lol.  This chapter is…easier (?) to edit?  I don’t know if that’s the right term.  It’s more like I was reaching a pinnacle and I was in the zone when I wrote it, so a lot of it is very smooth.  There are still some patches that need some TLC, and I have a lot of things that need to be added, but it’s not like there’s a shortage of inspiration these days, am I right?

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The State of the Writer: 4/5/20

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 9 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 3/22/20         The State of the Writer: 4/19/20–>

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
Current Word Count: 252,040
Prior Word Count: 252,067
Word Difference: -27
Status: Editing
Progress: Prepping to post Chapter 22

I sent a note to a Deviant Artist about the picture I want to use for Chapter 22 (not the one above).  As of yet, I haven’t heard back, so I’m in a bit of limbo, though I now also realize I used a picture for a prior chapter that I didn’t ask permission for.  Oh, I credited and all, but I can’t locate any proof of correspondence.  I think that’s why I stopped posted this story on DA itself; I didn’t get permission from an artist there for the image I wanted to use.  I could just pick another picture I suppose.  Anyway, I do have backup images, but what I might do is give it another couple of days then check back to see how active the artist is.  If they haven’t really been on the sight I *might* use the picture with all appropriate credits, though I always feel like that’s dicey.

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The State of the Reader: 8/15/18

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 11 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 8/1/18          The State of the Reader: 8/29/18–>

A weekly 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.

Books Purchased: 2

Books DNF: 1

Title: The Paper Magician
Series Title: The Paper Magician
Author: Charlie N. Holmber
Date Added: June 17, 2016
Date Started: August 9, 2018
Date DNF: August 9, 2018

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. HolmbergMedia: eBook/Kindle

I wish I’d just passed on this based on the sample, but I probably didn’t read enough of it and what I read at the time was enough of a draw.  It’s a hard balance.  I want to read enough to know if I’m going to like it, but I don’t want to read too much because I don’t see the point in reading it twice (I wish I could make this make more sense, but I’m too tired to explain it any better…)

I didn’t have much of a sense of Ceony the main character except she’s a good student and wanted to work with metal not paper.  Usually students can choose what they want, but since there’s been a dearth of paper magicians or Folders, she was pushed in that direction, and once you bond with a material that’s it.

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The State of the Reader: 8/1/18

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 15 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/18/18          The State of the Reader: 8/15/18–>

A weekly 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.

Books Purchased: 4

Books Finished: 0

Currently Reading

Title: Two Hearts
Series Title: The Last Unicorn
Author: Peter S. Beagle
Date Added: August 24, 2014
Date Started: July 27. 2018

Two Hearts coverMedia: Online
Progress: Unknown

If there was one work of fiction or fantasy I’d recommend to everyone, it would The Last Unicorn.  Ahead of it’s time and meta before meta was cool, this is not your typical fairy tale.  Two Hearts may very well be the longest interval between the original and its sequel written by the same author, but I’m too caution to take bets on that.  If it’s available online, I plan to purchase it since Mr. Beagle is still living and certainly deserves the credit.  The mien is exactly the same as the first book even though TLU is third person and TH is first.  Fans of the first will immediately recognize their favorite characters before they’re named and wonder about the fates of others.  It seems to take place some years/decades after the unicorn’s adventure when an antagonist even worse than the Red Bull terrorizes the land.

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The State of the Reader: 7/18/18

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 15 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/4/18          The State of the Reader: 8/1/18–>

A weekly 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.

Books Purchased: 3

Books Finished: 2

Title: Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins
Series Title: Black Hammer
Author: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Dean Ormston & Dave Stewart
Date Added: September 15, 2017
Date Started: June 28, 2018
Date Finished: July 5, 2017
Reading Duration: 7 days

Black Hammer, Vol. 1: Secret Origins coverMedia: Paperback (Library

This was fantastic.  All of the characters were complex, and many of them were rightfully bitter about their fate.  They might have been attempting to play a big, happy family, but there were a welter of unresolved issues centering around their inability to escape the situation.  I’ll be continuing this series and reviewing the entire thing when done.

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The State of the Reader: 7/4/18

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 10 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 6/20/18          The State of the Reader: 7/18/18–>

A weekly 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.

Books Purchased: 4

TSN is super pissed about Being and Time.  I bought it because Heidegger is referenced in Final Fantasy VII, and you all know I’m interested in studying anything my favorite game references.  The real deal even looks a bit like the character in the game…and he was a Nazi 😡  Granted he’s a dead Nazi (the only decent kind), but I’m still annoyed.  Granted, there’s a good chance none of the money I paid is going to go towards that terrible ideology, but it’s just the icing on the tombstone of this week where I argued with a combination Holocaust denier and flat earther.  Yep, your dear TSN got a two for one on nonsense.

Books Finished: 4

Title: Peddling Doomsday
Author: Petra Jacob
Date Added: June 6, 2018
Date Started: June 18, 2018
Date Finished: July 3, 2018
Reading Duration: 32 days

Peddling DoomsdaycoverMedia: eBook/Kindle

If you want to delve into the machinations of how a cult can draw in and take over “normal” people, this is the book you want to read.  Looking at it from the outside, it’s easy to see what’s going on, but if you really want to believe something because you have nothing else, you will.  That’s how these kinds of people prey on the most vulnerable.  This novel is a disturbing journey, but that’s what makes it worth the read.

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