The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

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 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 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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The State of the Writer: 10/18/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 9/20/20         The State of the Writer: 11/1/20–>

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: 250,147
Prior Word Count: 250,284
Word Difference: -137
Status: Editing
Progress: Finished second edit of Chapter 27

Note: Image talked about below was removed due to artist no longer allowed repost.

I spent entirely too much time trying to find another picture.  I swear to god I had it saved somewhere on my computer or at least on Pinterest or or Deviant Art, but I couldn’t find it.  I probably scrolled right past it because that’s how I roll, and I freaking know I’ll find it later when I’m not looking.  It also doesn’t help that my husband is currently playing FFVIIR at some seriously integral parts (plate drop, Aerith’s backstory by Elmyra et al), so my concentration is a bit off.

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The State of the Writer: 10/4/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 9/20/20         The State of the Writer: 10/18/20–>

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: 250,284
Prior Word Count: 250,107
Word Difference: +177
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 27

I was able to add in some of the text from my notes the other day, but I still have a little bit more.  It’s…interesting to say the least.  I have this tendency to find myself writing/editing, at least thematically, about currently topical events.  What do I mean?  Well…there’s a conversation I’ve wanted to add for a while where Aeris asks Sephiroth if there’s anyone he didn’t regret killing, and the answer to that is, uh, well the person in real life in question is not…doing…well.  Anyway, I’m hoping to finish and post this within the next two weeks so I can at least participate in some part of Preptober.

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The State of the Writer: 9/20/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 9/6/20         The State of the Writer: 10/4/20–>

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: 250,107
Prior Word Count: 250,448
Word Difference: -341
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 27

I’m always glad when I’m not the only one who sees similarities in paradigms as this week’s artwork attests.   I initially started thinking such due to this picture,

because it just brought the “lord of death and flower maiden” paradigm into sharp relief.  I want to do a rehashing of the myth myself at some point with Hades as more of a winter king, but that’s a song for another day.

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The State of the Writer: 9/6/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 8/23/20         The State of the Writer: 9/20/20–>

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: 250,448
Prior Word Count: 250,199
Word Difference: +249
Status: Editing
Progress: Finished first edit of Chapter 26

I finished the first edit some time last week and added in all of the additional text I felt was necessary.  I am going to do a move explicit version (maybe I’ll password protect it or something, giving it out to anyone who requests?  Idk I’ll figure it out lol), but it’s not like this version is tame by any means :p  I’m on vacation for the next two weeks, and my goal is to finish editing and posting the rest of the story as I only have one chapter left after this.  I love this piece and I still have a lot of offshoot story ideas to explore with it, but I really want to have the main story up prior to November so I can focus on NaNo, plus I’d like to re-edit and start looking into self-publishing my short story in the interim and prep for NaNo as well.

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The State of the Writer: 8/23/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 8/9/20         The State of the Writer: 9/6/20–>

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: 250,199
Prior Word Count: 250,796
Word Difference: -597
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 26

It is so much more difficult to edit smut than it is to do general editing lol.  I think it’s because it’s so easy for something like this to veer into cheesy and hilarious territory.  I mean we’ve all read bad smut/poorly planned erotica and it’s not the vibe I’m going for.  I’ve cut a lot of things out.  Some of it might find its way into the more explicit version; other parts are definitely gone to stay.  I only have less than a page left to edit, but I really need to bring my A game because it’s definitely one of those that could be laughably bad if done wrong.

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The State of the Reader: 9/12/18

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<–The State of the Reader: 8/29/18          The State of the Reader: 9/26/18–>

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 DNF: 1

Title: The Riddle of the Wren
Author: Charles de Lint
Date Added: August 24, 2014
Date Started: August 26, 2018
Date DNF: September 5, 2018
Reading Duration: 10 days

The Riddle of the Wren coverMedia: Physical (Library)

This is one of those books I would’ve devoured in high school.  It’s an old school fantasy (published in 1984) by one of my favorite authors back then.  This was actually his first published work…and it shows.  It’s not bad, but you can see where the cracks haven’t been smoothed over.  When I’m less concerned  with how a story gets to where it’s going and more about how the characters resolve it, I know it’s not something I’ll enjoy reading, and I’ll usually just flip to the end to see how it all plays out.  I didn’t bother doing that with this one.

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