October 2005 Archives
NaNoWriMo: A Victim
The victim (both the most and least important character in any murder mystery) of my novel is a woman by the name of Lynn Clancey. She is 32 at the time of her death and has been a practicing Fire mage for 10 years.
Lynn was raised in a small farming community of religious folk who reject magic in the same way that the Amish reject technology. These folk, the Weltlich, originated in Germany as an echo of Martin Luther’s new church. They are a protestant group who feel that magic contaminates the soul. Lynn was taught how to avoid using her gifts, and how to bottle them up. In her late teens, Lynn had a crisis of conscious, learned more about other religions’ takes on magic, and left the community. Though her parents disowned her, her grandmother gave her a nest egg and wished her the best. Lynn has not been in touch with her parents or younger brother (Charles) since Grandma died 5 years ago.
Lynn took the nest egg and used the tidy sum to live off of while she explored the Denver’s spiritual communities. In the end she joined a Wiccan circle and became fast friends with a Priestess and Wiccan seminarian by the name of Cora. After a year in Denver, Lynn used her nest egg and pristine credit to buy a building in Denver with 2 store fronts and a large second story apartment.
She lived above the stores, renting one store and operating a religious supplies shop out of the other. Instead of selling cheap knick knacks and other low quality items to a single faith, she chose to carry high quality items of “all” faiths. She began with Wiccan and Christian books, vestments, and important do-dads and slowly built her way up to representing all of the established religions within 30 miles of her shop. While she turned only a very small profit (after paying the mortgage and utilities), she was content and very active in her community.
After 5 years the business in her store was healthy enough to warrant an expansion. Since the other storefront she owned had changed faces 3 times in 5 years and was currently vacant, she chose to take it over herself. After a full remodel and refinance, “Trappings Religious Supply” doubled in size and the clientele grew with it. Lynn’s friend from the circle was a fully ordained High Priestess now, and was working part-time at a local bookstore to make ends meet since their circle didn’t provide a salary to the clergy. Hence, Cora becomes Lynn’s first employee.
Lynn is a hard worker who is the perfect murder victim. She works in a slightly controversial setting and receives threats regularly for ‘tainting’ religious good by selling them beside other religions’ sacred goodies. She is estranged from her family for religious reasons. She is celibate and socially inept, though a whiz at customer service. Her life focuses around a very small number of friends, all made within her spiritual community.
Physically, she is unremarkable. She’s 5’6” and a bit on the heavy side. Her ‘dishwater’ blonde hair and gray eyes are less than memorable. She dresses conservatively, in somber colors and tailored styles. This is a holdover from her upbringing, where men and women all wore quiet colors in order to better focus on Godly things. She always wears slacks, a button down shirt, and loafers. The make-up she wears is minimal and subtle. Her hair is cut in a very practical shoulder length style that defies fashion.
Nano Wrimo countdown: 12,033 minutes
Forum Posting
I mentioned this in my last blog, and I thought I’d explain.
I get paid to post in forums. I an a contractor with a couple of these companies, and they have contracts with forums all over the net. It is my job to post ‘X’ times on each of my forums everyday. I make between 10 and 20 cents per post and get a PayPal payment periodically. It isn’t much, but maybe I’ll be able to afford that trip to Vegas that Hubby is so keen on.
Girl will do a lot to get a real vacation, especially one that goes along with her wedding anniversary.
Nano Wrimo countdown: 10 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes
NaNoWriMo: Word Count
Based on my usual formatting settings, I’ve figured out what writing 50,000 words in 30 days actually means.
Using the “Courier New” font at a 12pt size, and 1 inch margins on standard paper …
If I write every single day, I will need to write 1666 words, or about 7 pages.
More likely, I will write about 5 days per week. In that case I’ll be writing 10 pages (2200 words) Monday thru Friday.
One way or another, this is a lot of production. It is said that to create a habit you have to do something every day for 2 weeks. This looks like the perfect opportunity to make high production writing a habit. Especially since I have to work as well.
Customer service, forum posting, Nano Wrimo, Girl Scouts, 2 newsletters, keeping my own site updated, blogging, and maybe some other assignments. I’m going to be a busy girl, how fabulous!
NaNoWriMo: Magic
In preparation for the Nano Wrimo challenge, I’ve been outlining my world, my characters, and my plot. I thought I would share some of this with my faithful readers (you strange, strange folk!).
My novel is going to be a modern fantasy/mystery. It is set in the Denver area and stars a Wiccan high-priestess who works two jobs to make ends meet. (No one ever said that Nano Wrimo had to be especially GOOD fiction!) In this world real magic is at least as common as having a good ear for music or eye for color. Like those mundane traits, the abilities range from the light and fluffy kitchen witch (the mother with an amazing singing voice) to the world famous wizard who writes books and has the ability to work great magics that change to world (Michelangelo).
Magic is like any other ability, the more you use it the better you get and the more tired you are. All forms of magic require concentration and focus, but the more frills and spell components you add the less skill you have to have. A moderately skilled mage with a complex spell and all the bell and whistles can make as much of a ‘bang’ as a strong mage with only his/her mind to work with. After hours of casting, concentrating and working a mage will be as tired as someone who had been doing hard physical labor for an equal amount of time.
There are two ways that magic is categorized: elemental attunement and ceremonial training. There are five element that a mage could be attuned with. Every mage is attuned to one and only one of these. They are not equally common. This list is from most to least common attunement. There are places that attumnents overlap, but the methodology in those overlaps will vary drastically.
Earth – herbalism, female fertility, agriculture, geology, clairvoyance associated with location
Water – purification, growth, change, ecology, precipitation, emotions, scrying
Air – intelligence, communication, telepathy, scent, peace, weather
Fire – purification, change, geology, creativity, pain, healing, male feritility, passions, telekinesis
Spirit – necromancy, mediumism, telepathy, divine contact, clairvoyance associated with people, healing
Ceremonial training (please suggest a better name for this category) is the method that a mage traditionally uses to get his point across. There are three basics within this group. Any mage can use any means he/she chooses, but they are not equal. The easiest methods make a big ‘bang’ but are not so good for long term projects (“flash in the pan” magic), the most difficult way of performing magig is also the best way to go if you are hoping to have an effect over the long term. These are listed from easiest to most difficult.
Ceremony – This is all of the “bells and whistles” of magic. Anyone with a bit of knowledge can cross reference the desired effect of the spell with the correct colors, scents, chants, etc. and come up with a spell that will have some effect. Minimal effort will create a noticeable little spell.
Religion – Limiting by its very nature, this is magic cast in a religious format. All religions recognize magic and most regulate its use for specific purposes or to only specific people. Some go so far as to say that the pious simply do not use magic at all, gifted or not.
Will – This is simply wishing magic happen and having it work. Even the most adept need to pause in their activities and focus in order to have an effect, and for anything more complex than lighting a candle, concentration exercises are used.
NaNoWriMo
Also, feel free to follow my progress at my NanoWrimo Page.
