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Tag: The Prophet’s Quest

Introducing “The Prophet’s Quest”

Tracey Dyck 40 Comments

Before we get into things, I wanted to take a minute to say a big thank you to all 19 wonderful people who filled out my survey! I appreciate the feedback so much. (And I recognized a number of you without having any names to go on. *wink*) Hopefully I’ll be able to start incorporating some of your suggestions in the near future.

One thing that came up a couple times in the survey results was a desire to see more about my writing. Synopses, blurbs, that sort of thing. And while I’ve talked openly about The Brightest Thread and other smaller projects, my main love has been kept mostly under wraps. I’ve done a few Beautiful People posts for it, and even shared a few snippets, but that’s about it. I mean, I’m still referring to the books as book one, book two, and so forth–not even their real names!
Seeing as I need some practice summing up my book(s) anyway, why not start here? (Querying will be a whole ‘nuther thing, but shhh.)
Also, Daniela Ark started a linkup called A Book’s Genesis that provided me with another nudge in this direction. You can use the linkup, which runs until the end of 2016, to talk about what inspired your current work-in-progress (WIP). Each month features a new slant, beginning with April’s introduction to your story.
Um. Well. This feels a little awkward. You see, this series has been part of my life for eight years. It was the first time I got serious about a long project, the first thing I stuck with beyond a few chapters, and maybe also the first idea to hold any merit. Prior to this, my stories consisted mostly of girls and horses, or talking pets, or mysteries that . . . were so mysterious I can’t even make sense of them. So you can see how it might be difficult to sum up something that has been such a long-time fixture in my life. It’s just there. How am I supposed to explain something that feels like it’s always been around? But I shall certainly make an effort to give you a window into it.
That “book 1” I’m always vaguely mentioning is titled The Prophet’s Quest (or TPQ, as I tend to shorten it). It’s the first in a four-book YA fantasy series. The second is The Prophet’s Key, and is currently being wrangled into a brand new form, so we won’t speak of that wild infant thing just now. Books three and four exist only as nebulous ideas in my head, and thus do not yet have titles. The series is called Journeys of the Chosen, though I’m not happy with that name. It’s a placeholder until inspiration strikes me with a brilliant replacement.
My badly rendered picture of the Prophet. XD
The Prophet’s Quest has evolved massively since I sat down as an overzealous twelve-year-old to begin penciling out a thinly-veiled hybrid of The Chronicles of Narnia and Dragons in Our Midst. In more recent years, I have grown tremendously as a writer–though I still have so very much to learn–and the book has been through fire after fire, being purged of loopholes and spineless characters and bad writing. Not that it’s perfect now, but it’s a whole heck of a lot closer than it used to be. And considerably more original, I hope. It also went from 68,000 words to 131,000. Not even sorry. According to my rough estimates, it will probably make a 300-400 page book.

Anyway. It’s a portal fantasy/high fantasy/contemporary fantasy mash-up. Which basically means it starts on modern Earth, and then moves to another world with a medieval fantasy setting (called Alewar, for those of you who want to know–and that’s pronounced Ah-luh-WARR . . . rhymes with car . . . just in case any of you are fantasy pronunciation nerds.)

I feel like I’m blandly describing a piece of real estate or something. Goodness.

Here’s an actual blurb to give you a sense of the story:

When visions of suffering begin to plague Aileen and Josiah, they pursue answers, and discover they are the prophesied rescuers of Demetria, a nation in another world. On that world, war hastens. And the very evil threatening Demetria has extended a branch to Earth as well. Transformed into dragons, Aileen and Josiah are propelled into a harrowing journey. Only a mysterious orb called the Prophet guides their way as they embark on a quest to save the Demetrians . . . and their own world as well. But the malevolent dragon Criffel will stop at nothing to keep the prophecy from coming true.


So we have a prophecy, some deliciously evil bad guys of the human and beastly sorts, a transformation into dragon form, talking animals (I can’t seem to get away from those), awesome Demetrian people, and a huge new world to explore. And, of course, there’s the Prophet–an object of which there is more than meets the eye. There are guardians, lords, warriors, mountains, waterfalls, long flights, battles, fortresses, fire, ice, allies, enemies, betrayals, division, ALL THE EPICNESS. (That’s the incoherent synopsis, methinks. The one where my writer side goes all bubbly and excited.)

That gives you a sense of the plot, but what about the characters? If you’re like me, an awesome storyline is well appreciated . . . but if it’s not populated by vibrant characters, my interest level severely drops.

Main Characters

Note: I’m terrible at finding accurate character pictures. The ones that follow are rough representations of how I picture these people.



Aileen McKay – Sixteen years old. Brown hair, brown eyes. Introverted, intense personality, makes thoughtful decisions. Turns into a white dragon with ice breath. Read more about her HERE.
Josiah Williams – Sixteen years old. Blond-ish hair, grey eyes. Bold, self-assured, makes snap decisions. Turns into a red dragon with fiery breath. Read more about him HERE.

The POV switches back and forth between these two. It’s fun to get both of their perspectives and see the storyworld through two different lenses.

Secondary Characters

(Alas, I have next to no pictures for these guys. One of these days I might just cave and make a Pinterest account. Google images is almost useless for good character pics.)


Mr. Hawkins – Aileen and Josiah’s geography teacher. Guardian of the Prophet and all-around epic person.

The Sagire – A group of Criffel’s people on Earth, hunting for the Prophet and the chosen ones.

Lord Mauray and Lady Geneva – Benevolent rulers of Demetria.

Captain Dauntless – Fierce leader of the Demetrian dragons. Trains Aileen and Josiah.

Korohan – Centaur. Head of Lord Mauray’s security.

This is a bit like how I imagine the lesser cousins of Criffel’s species,
which appear in The Prophet’s Key (book 2).
Sheena – A female leopard warrior who befriends Aileen.
Leander – A white lion with a broken past. Read more about him HERE.

Fay Blacktail – A spirited crow brimming with opinions.
Criffel – Powerful mith’vel dragon. Main antagonist. Twisted ideals and bloodthirsty methods.

Character who will not be named due to spoilers – Criffel’s right hand. Mysterious magical abilities. Skilled in the art of deception.

This is a very brief look at just a few of the important characters. I fear it doesn’t do them justice, but I guess you’ll have to wait until the book is published to learn more! Because yes, this is the book I plan to start querying this year. (!!!)

Your turn to yammer away!

Do you like portal fantasy? Are you partial to the chosen one trope, as long as it’s done in new ways? DO YOU LIKE DRAGONS? (Most important question right there.) Oh, and if you have anything to say about my synopsis–constructive criticism definitely included–please tell me. Not like it’s the official synopsis, but you know. I need to make one soon, so if you feel this one was too broad or too specific or something, I want to know.

And do tell me about your work in progress! I love hearing about other people’s stories–rejoicing over fabulous ideas or commiserating over stubborn plots/characters/what have you.

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Subplots and Storylines – January 2016

Tracey Dyck 21 Comments

Well, my friends, the first month of 2016 is almost behind us. I hope yours was a good one! Mine was. It started with a belated Christmas gathering, was sprinkled with various social doings, and ended up being a productive writing month in the midst of all that.

I stepped out of my comfort zone by driving to my friend’s place an hour away, in a part of the city where I’ve never driven by myself before. I was going to take the GPS, but it went on the fritz, leaving me to check some maps, punch the address into my phone, and tape written directions to my dashboard. It sounds ridiculous, but I wanted to be prepared. Getting lost is not my idea of fun. Anyway, I’m proud to report that I made it there and back just fine, and had a great time with my friend to boot! I hadn’t seen her in several months, so it was awesome to catch up.

City driving happened again when I spent an afternoon in the city with another friend, discussing the details of her upcoming March wedding. (I’m going to be one of her bridesmaids!) A few days later, we met up again to find bridesmaid dresses. They’re going to be gorgeous: wine-colored, floor length . . .

Life at work has definitely been different than usual lately, as we’ve had a crew renovating certain parts of the store. Funny anecdote . . .

I met possibly the strangest customer yet–a young man (wearing rainbow socks) who thought he could take a pair of boots out of the store . . . without paying . . . in order to compare them to something in another store. Um, no. “What if I jezt take one boot?” he asked.

“Sorry, I can’t let you leave the store with unpaid merchandise,” I replied.

“What am I going to do wiz only one boot?”

I shrugged and reiterated the policy.

“Well, what eef I leave you my wallet? It has one hundred dollars een eet!”

Apparently there are people who think we still use a medieval bartering system . . .

On another note, Old Man Winter has been a capricious beast this month, first dropping the temperatures down to minus thirty degrees (Celsius), then warming up to near-melting weather. None of us are fooled, of course: a month or two of winter still lies ahead.

Between the bitter cold and yucky slush, I went ice skating twice and had so much fun.

Oh, and guess what came in the mail?? Just kidding, don’t guess. I’ll tell you. The Raising Dragons graphic novel! I was so excited. As a Kickstarter backer, I’d pledged enough to get a copy, so I’ve been following James Art Ville’s journey of adapting a book into a graphic novel. He has worked so hard, and by the looks of these beautiful illustrations, it’s really paid off!


January Films & Shows

  • Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – I didn’t realize how much I loved spy/heist movies until watching this one. (My first MI, actually.) Seriously. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. The plot, the humor (Benji’s lines were the best), the suspense . . . So good! Now I want to watch all the ones that came before. Also the Bourne movies. Really need to see those.
  • About a dozen Once Upon a Time Season 2 episodes – My sisters and I are almost finished the season. One of my favorite episodes was Manhattan. All the relational conflict! All the secrets revealed! The family relationships are seriously messed up, though.
  • Everest – I can sit back and calmly watch entire fantasy armies run at each other, or superheroes fight to defend a city, or teenage girls overthrow their government. But watching human beings attempt to scale Mount Everest–and not only try to make it to the summit, but to make it back down again safely–that is intense on an entirely different level. I literally gasped aloud numerous times. My forehead hurt from being scrunched into a frown of apprehension for so long. One character had it right: “This is suffering.” People walk across ladders set up over impossibly deep crevasses. They endure the buffeting winds and freezing temperatures and freak storms. Some freeze to death. Some succumb to frostbite. Some, their brains swelling from the high altitudes, go crazy and do things that could (and do) kill them. Brave people on the way down to safety turn back to help their fellow climbers. And how do I feel about all this? Let’s just say I won’t be looking to climb any major mountains anytime soon!
  • Hotel Transylvania 2: 89 minutes of nothing. This was a sequel that needn’t have been made.

January Reads



Illusionarium by Heather Dixon: Remember me buying this last summer whilst on holidays in the States? I bought it solely based off Deborah’s glowing recommendation, which is really saying something. [I almost never purchase a book that I a) have never read, or b) have never read anything by its author. If a UBO–unidentified bookish object–looks interesting, I’m much more inclined to get it from the library first. Anyway. Deb convinced me so thoroughly of this book’s awesomeness, and the cover is gorgeous, and HELLO, STEAMPUNK, that I actually did buy it.]

And I don’t regret a single nickel spent. This book is fabulous! The steampunk settings range from an aerial city to the Tower of London to airships to an alternate-reality-London that’s all crumbling and decrepit.

The characters are just–gah, I don’t even have the words. The first-person narrator, Jonathan, is so lovable and ordinary, with a dry wit and a smart, science-y brain. I love his family too. And then there’s Lieutenant Lockwood, a cocky, eye-patch-wearing firebrand brimming with snark and mad fighting skills. I’d mention other characters, but it could be spoilery, so let’s just say some of them are maddening and some are evil and some are both with a  dash of sympathy thrown in.

This book definitely has a creepy factor, which I loved in a wide-eyed, horrified way. There’s a disease that turns the victims’ veins black. Later on, we meet people who are splitting . . . they have multiple eyes and noses and mouths and fingers and blegh, it’s gross. But also fascinating. The whole concept of the book actually contains some great symbolism regarding moral choices and our sin nature. I loved it immensely.

Oh, and there are footnotes! Footnotes in a fictional book! Sarcastic footnotes! It’s delightful. Go read it this instant, I command you.

Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor: Atrocious. I started my reading year off so wonderfully with Illusionarium, only to find in myself the desire to throw Shadowmancer across the room. See, I read book 2 (Wormwood) years and years ago, and liked it. But I hadn’t realized there was a book that came before. So I picked up both books at second-hand book fairs some time ago, and finally got around to reading the first one this month.

Where do I even start?

The writing was . . . passable, I guess. It had its moments. The comma splices were annoying, though. The POV was so distant that it floated around from head to head, never settling anywhere. We’d be with Character A knocking on the door, then suddenly we’re observing Character B waking from a drunken slumber inside the building. I wouldn’t even call this omniscient; it’s just poor writing. And let’s not get started on the all the botched sensory details! He could see, she knew, they could hear, he felt angry, she was sad, they were all THIS EMOTION THAT MUST BE SHOVED IN MY FACE BECAUSE I’M TOO DUMB TO PICK UP SUBTLER CUES. Ahem. Sorry for the rant.

Moving along. This is a Christian fantasy. I wish that were a good thing. In this case, it meant watered down Scripture references, weird (and inaccurate) supernatural dealings with angels and demons and a mystical object of power, and unrealistic stuff everywhere. Instant conversions. Instant turnarounds in beliefs and feelings and thoughts. People being good just because, or bad for the sake of being bad.

A character doesn’t know which door to take when sneaking through the bad guy’s house, so he prays. Fine, that’s good. But then dust swirls up around the door to the right, and he just knows this is where God is leading him. The narrative even says something to the effect of: “He didn’t stop to think that Demurral [the villain] could be behind the door.” I’m all for praying for direction, don’t get me wrong. And I totally believe that God guides us. But it’s not usually with swirling dust, and it’s usually guidance given in conjunction with the usage of our brains. You have a brain. Use it.

The book’s pacing was off. The main characters were passive. Thomas, the Main-main character, hardly ever thinks about his dying mother, whom he supposedly loves very much. Kate, another main character, spends far too much time crying when she’s supposed to be a rough-and-tumble tomgirl.

Demurral, the villain, blabbers his plans to just about anyone who’ll listen. His backstory reveals a moment in which, surveying the land and its resources, he suddenly and instantaneously turns evil. (Because that is so realistic, and the path of evil is a sudden drop off a cliff, mm-hmm.) Every trace of goodness flees him. He is overcome by greed. He goes on to trick the current vicar out of his position (by getting him drunk and then racing cockroaches across a table–um, what?) and seizes the vicarage.

I could go on, but that rant is long enough. I normally don’t like to bash books because I feel bad for the author, knowing how much work and heart goes into a novel . . . but in this case, it was a real slog to reach the final page. My family heard of my distaste, and asked why I didn’t just quit the story. Problem is, I hate quitting.

Moving along! Those are the only two books I finished this month, though I’m well into a couple others. Apparently I had a lot to say about both January reads. Eheheh.

January Writings

I’m a rather happy dragon, because I reached my January writing goals a week early! Woot!

I’ve no clue where this gif comes
from, but isn’t it cute?

To jog your memory, the goal was to finish the final read-through/edit of book 1. There was very little to do, but still. I did deal with a couple issues that had been hanging over my head the last few months as I worked on The Brightest Thread, so it felt good to clear them up for good.

My brain can hardly comprehend the fact that I’m actually . . . done editing this book. I’ve been working on it for years. In fact, this March will mark eight years since I first started writing it! As I was telling a friend this week, it feels like I’m lying to say, “I’m done.” It can’t be true, can it? Surely there’s more for me to tweak and fiddle and completely overhaul? But no. This is pretty much it.

Maybe it will sink in when I start researching the querying process next month, something I’m super stoked about. Mind you, once this book lands on the desk of an agent or editor, I suspect there’ll be a whole new round of editing to complete.

In other writerly doings, I wrote a guest post (it goes up in March–I’ll announce it here when that happens), and got clonked over the head with an idea for Welcome to Absurdity. I’ve mentioned that little seedling in passing here, but haven’t elaborated much. That’s because I know next to nothing about the actual plot. But now I have a few very fun ideas. It’s still percolating, of course, and I don’t foresee having an opportunity to write this thing anytime soon, but I’m excited for when that day comes!

So that was January.

I stepped out of my comfort zone, watched some great (and not so great) movies, read a couple of polar opposite books, and finished editing book 1. I’d say it was a good month.

Next month promises to be an exciting leg of the journey. I’ll dip my toes in the waters of querying, for one thing. For another, I have some fun stuff planned for the blog! Stay tuned for a brand-new series of posts.

What did your month look like? What sort of dangerous quests did you undertake? Any dragons slain? (I hope you left the good ones alive. Kill all the Smaugs and keep all the Clefspeares, okay?)

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Beautiful People – 2016 plans

Tracey Dyck 32 Comments
It’s time for Beautiful People! I’ve missed doing these link-ups. I skipped the last three months, partially due to the Nano focus of the questions, but at last I’m participating again.

This round of questions is about writing plans and goals, which is perfectly timed. On my way home from the city earlier this week, I was talking out loud to myself and making plans for this year’s writing. (What? You guys don’t talk to yourself when you’re driving alone?) They’re rather ambitious, and I have to wonder if it’s insane to ask so much of myself, especially when 2016 is full of so many unknowns. But I want to aim high, and if Life has other ideas, so be it. Contrary to my usual thinking, goals can be adjusted.

Hosted by the lively gals Cait & Sky!


What were your writing achievements last year?

I finished up a couple rounds of edits on book 1. I read over book 2, outlined a new version of it, and had way too much fun masterminding stuff about the series as a whole. I completed a novella-sized retelling of Sleeping Beauty and entered it in the Five Magic Spindles writing contest. I also helped both my brother and a friend of mine edit their entries.

Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year.

I have three, actually! And now’s as good a time as any to whip out my 2016 Writing Goals.

January: Finish editing book 1.

February: Begin querying agents for book 1. (Yipes!) Review the outline of book 2 and do some research.
March-May: Draft book 2.
June: Draft Rooglewood entry.
July: Edit Rooglewood entry and send it off. (I’d like to be much more on the ball this year, so I’m going to try finishing it in two months. Two and a half, tops.)
August-December: Finish drafting book 2, and if I’ve actually managed to meet my monthly goals, I’d like to do a round or two of edits on it as well.
So to directly answer the question, my writing priorities are books 1 & 2 plus a fairy tale novella. Because these plans must be balanced with things called Work and (very hopefully) School, I’m trying to remember to take my own advice and have grace for myself if circumstances change and crowd out writing.
List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year.

Efficiency. I’d like to write more often, and write better when I do write. Even if all I can do is a little bit here and there, I want to be more consistent.

Moving forward. I’d like book 1 to be ready for the next phase.

Writing first drafts that aren’t littered with dragon-sized plot holes. It’s been about four-ish years since I’ve actually written a first draft for my fantasy series, and the most recent was possibly one of my worst. But I’ve grown since then, and I know a lot more about my fantasy world, so maybe the new book 2’s first draft will be more structurally sound. We can hope.


Continuing to cultivate my writing craft in general. One should never stop growing, after all.

Poetry. I wrote only seven poems last year, but I’d like to do more this year. Stretch my poet muscles. Try new techniques.
Are you participating in any writing challenges?
Only if you count the annual Rooglewood Press contest. Nano might be a possibility this year, but I’m not putting any expectations on myself.
What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?
I stumbled into a wonderful Pack of writer gals online a year and a half ago, and have since had the pleasure of beta reading a number of their stories. Some of the girls have been betas for me too, which is heaps of fun. (My goodness, that sounds British: heaps of fun.) I’m quite content with my current situation, so no, I don’t have expansion plans.
Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research?
Finish Gail Carson Levine’s “Writer to Writer,” which I started last year. I’ve heard that “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon is good, so maybe that too? I don’t have many specific titles in mind. I’ll probably look for some good books on mental illness (specifically delusion-related stuff, though there’s probably a nicer word for that). I have a character whose parents believe he’s crazy, resulting in psychologist appointments. I’d like to at least sound like I know what I’m talking about.
Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?

Basically my entire supporting cast of book 2! Aileen’s and Josiah’s family members. The Shifters, a group of five elementals. Rex Nelson, the pilot. Yeah. Basically everyone. I’ll get to know them better by writing their story and doing character sketches.
Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack?
Some of both. See question #2. As for a plan of attack . . . with editing, it’ll be the usual process. With querying–well, that’s a whole new arena for me. So I have no idea!
Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?
More clean, excellent fantasy. Whether it’s Christian or not is almost besides the point. I want to see good fantasy–without all the foul language and sleazy content so many of them seem to carry.
More steampunk, because the genre is awesome and quite underrated.
And I don’t know if this is a hole, exactly . . . But I want to see an off-kilter story that plays with mind. One part crazed humor, one part creepy, and one part deeply hidden meaning. I have something like this cooking in my brain, but it’ll be a while before it’s ready to be written.
What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?
I hope to have book 1 actually, for real complete–and if all goes well, I want to either have an agent or at least be actively querying. I hope to have another fairy-tale novella completed, and I also want to have book 2 drafted. Somewhat edited too, if I have the time. Like I said before, it really depends on how these next several months pan out.
If nothing else, I want to be able to look back on 2016 and say that I made good use of the writing time I had. (But if I’m honest, I’d really, really like that whole querying thing to . . . you know, be a thing.)
What do you think? Insane or doable? (Wait . . . don’t answer that.) What are your writing plans for the year?
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Subplots and Storylines – November 2015

Tracey Dyck 18 Comments

November trundled in with sullen skies of low-slung clouds. For a week it glowered in typical November fashion, all skeleton trees and dead leaves skittering in a northern wind. Grey. Bleak. Winter’s prologue.

But at last the sun broke free, and Autumn revived itself for one last hoorah—a week of blue sky and leaf-raking and lounging on the front lawn just because I could. (In single layers, no less. At 15 degrees Celsius, it was positively gorgeous and rather uncharacteristic for November.)

“Ha!” laughed Winter, and his guffaw blew clouds back in on a high, chilly wind. The first snow arrived. Not much, but enough to initially make for slippery roads.

But you’re not here for a weather report, are you?

These tidbits should be more interesting . . .

November saw me turn twenty! My wonderful family took me out for an elegant lunch at a place that served the most delicious wild rice and mushroom soup I’ve ever tasted. (Alright, so it was the first wild rice and mushroom soup I’d ever tasted. But I still think it was the tastiest.) I then spent the afternoon doing all the best nothings, such as reading. My grandma came over for the evening, I received thoughtful gifts, and then we all had raspberry swirl cheesecake. All in all, I consider myself very blessed.

This month also saw my youngest sister enter the teenage years. Happy birthday, Kit-Kat! I was originally scheduled to work on that day, but at the last minute, was able to switch shifts so I could stay home with her.

I’ve been working full-time. The store has been busy, especially on Black Friday. (Why, oh why, is that day cause for such a hullabaloo?)

A week ago, I spent an afternoon in the city with a very dear friend of mine—a kindred spirit—during which time we ate pizza, shopped, and had our nails done. Time spent with her is like a breath of fresh air for my heart. It’s uncanny how often we’re on the same page life-wise or thought-wise, and we constantly have “What? You too?” moments.

Christmas shopping has commenced. Can you believe Christmas is less than four weeks away?!

And questers. I have obtained my first ever little magical box, a piece of wizardry capable of long distance communication, the capturing of images, and the scheduling of days. Yes. I bought a cell phone! I know, in a world where even little children flaunt these gadgets, it seems a bit unremarkable. But this is my first phone, and my dad found me a fabulous deal. Much excitement.

Now then, as vastly interesting as those little life updates are (at least, more interesting than the weather report), you’re really just scrolling down to read about the story-related stuff, am I right? The books, movies, and writing? I shall tarry no longer.

In movies
I watched only one, Inside Out. It was so good! Plugged In’s review remarks that “Hollywood’s bravest storytellers all work for Pixar,” and I’m inclined to agree. Getting inside the mind of an eleven-year-old girl was fascinating, humorous, and definitely feels-inducing. Sadness was one of my favorite characters.
In books
Heh. Only two.

Omega Dragon by Bryan Davis

Ah, the epic conclusion to a twelve-book adventure! I didn’t think anything could top The Bones of Makaidos, but this one is on par for sure. It made me laugh, cry, and fret over the fate of certain characters. Intense battles alongside heartfelt journeys made for a classic Davis tale.
Something about this book hearkened back to older instalments, which was wonderful, especially considering the dark, apocalyptic setting. Lauren’s scenes especially reminded me of previous tests of the heart encountered by her parents. For some reason, I haven’t connected to Matt and Lauren quite as deeply as I did with Billy and Bonnie, but this book did strengthen my emotional ties to the younger pair.
Again, that ending. That ending! It was glorious. I wish I could say why, but really you just need to read it for yourself.
Before I move on, though . . . I accidentally skipped a chapter. *le gasp* How could I do such a thing? And with one of my favorite series of ever, too?
See, I checked it out of the library and started reading it, only to receive my own copy for my birthday. (The first book, Raising Dragons was a gift for my thirteenth, by the way. Getting the final book for my twentieth was kind of perfect.) Anyway, because I like to keep my books in good condition, I held onto the library copy to bring with me to work, to read on lunch breaks. At home, I picked up wherever I left off with my personal copy. So I went back and forth between the two books for a while. One morning, in a rush to get to work, I must have moved my bookmark one chapter too far. Because as I was reading on break, I had the strange sense that I was missing something. The characters were doing what they’d planned to do, but I was somewhat confused as to how they’d gotten there. “Perhaps Bryan Davis expects the readers to connect the dots,” I thought. “And I am, after all, reading this book in choppy little spurts, so it could very well be that I’ve just forgotten a detail or two. I’m sure it will all make sense soon.” So I kept reading.
It wasn’t until that night, nestled in to read the final (28th) chapter, that I realized, “Oh no! I never read chapter 23!” Quickly, I read what I’d missed, then scanned the following chapters in order to iron out the sequence of events in my mind. Finally, satisfied and no longer confused, I read that last beautiful chapter and said goodbye to characters I’ve grown up with. So bittersweet . . .
One of these days, I plan to read all twelve books back to back.
Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz
Not nearly as epic or emotional as the previous read, but then, I wasn’t expecting it to be. This one is more like a summer action flick–just there to entertain.
Young Alex Rider (a James Bond type of character, only fourteen years old) infiltrates a school for boys located in France. It’s run by a crazy villain and his disturbing cement-block-of-a-woman sidekick. The story follows the same plot pattern as the first book in the series:

-Alex is forced into a mission he doesn’t want
-There’s a period of training/preparation in which he encounters a series of obstacles
-The real mission begins
-He eventually discovers the villain’s plot
-Chase/fight scenes
-The end
-Oh, and there are lots of neat spy gadgets disguised as inconspicuous objects, like a book or an earring or a Discman (yes, this book was written in the early 2000’s).
In writing
I worked on a motley of projects this month, or at least more than this single-minded tortoise usually does. (Well, I’m not always tortoise slow, but never mind all that.)
  • The Brightest Thread // I read over it twice, each in two sittings. I tweaked and fiddled with various things, worried over whether parts of it were paced too fast, and in the end declared, “I love this story!” The ending, you guys. It just makes me giddy, which, at this point, is kind of miraculous. Oh, I also caught wee mistakes I hadn’t seen before, such as miscounting the fairy stewards in the first scene. And speaking of TBT, the beginning of it recently went up for critique on The Author’s Chair (Bryan Davis’s blog)! If you feel so inclined, you may hop on over and nitpick it for me. I’m up for big critiques, little critiques, harsh critiques, and I-love-it critiques. Seriously. Any thoughts at all are appreciated.
  • That secretive ‘Book 1’ I sometimes talk about here // After so much time and effort spent on the aforementioned novella, this ‘first love’ of mine has been calling to me again. So, while in between projects, I read the first few chapters. I’ve a few more edits to complete before I can call it ready, so I figured that a read-over would help get my brain in gear for that. Turns out that the distance afforded by my Five Magic Spindles entry has caused me to fall in love with book 1 all over again. A break away was just what I needed, and now I’m itching to dive back into this thing!
  • Darkened Slumber // Have I mentioned that my brother is entering the Five Magic Spindles contest too? I don’t recall. Anyway, he is. His story is, in his words, a pseudo-feudal Japanese fantasy. I just spent a week editing it for him. He’s done an amazing job cutting it down to size on his own (he was only 1400 words over . . . I’s jealous), after which he turned it over to me. To give you a taste, the tale involves an awesome sword, big bad creatures, and an epic journey flavored with a sprinkle of humor and a dash of heartbreak. (Okay, more like a cup or two of that.)
And that was my November. How was yours, fellow adventurers? What quests have you been pursuing? Some of you are Nano survivors—come and collapse and possibly hibernate until Christmas. (In all honesty, I watched you with some envy at the beginning of the month, as you plotted and planned and psyched each other up. By the end of the month, after hearing about the short nights and sore eyes/wrists and rebellious plots, I’m more relieved that I chose not to shoulder that this year. Perhaps I’ll join the insanity next year?) But do share the war stories!
And for those of you who did not Nano this year, what filled your month? Have you read any of the books I mentioned or watched Inside Out?
Oh, before I bid you adieu, happy belated Thanksgiving to my American friends!
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