03 July 2023, Writing - part xxx368 Writing a Novel, Seoirse, Training
Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the
internet, but my primary publisher has gone out of business—they couldn’t
succeed in the past business and publishing environment. I’ll keep you
informed, but I need a new publisher.
More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels—I think
you’ll really enjoy them.
Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire
novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the
commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained,
how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing
techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back
through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.
I’m using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I’ll
keep you informed along the way.
Today’s Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing websites http://www.sisteroflight.com/.
The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:
1. Don’t confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don’t show (or tell) everything.
4a. Show what can
be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage of the novel.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
These are the steps I use to write a novel including the
five discrete parts of a novel:
1.
Design
the initial scene
2. Develop a theme statement (initial
setting, protagonist, protagonist’s helper or antagonist, action statement)
a.
Research
as required
b.
Develop
the initial setting
c.
Develop
the characters
d.
Identify
the telic flaw (internal and external)
3. Write the initial scene (identify
the output: implied setting, implied characters, implied action movement)
4. Write the next scene(s) to the
climax (rising action)
5. Write the climax scene
6. Write the falling action scene(s)
7.
Write
the dénouement scene
I finished writing my 31st novel, working title, Cassandra,
potential title Cassandra: Enchantment
and the Warriors. The theme
statement is: Deirdre and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school
where they discover difficult mysteries, people, and events.
Here is the cover proposal for Cassandra: Enchantment and the Warriors:
|
|
|
Cover
Proposal |
The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I am continuing to write on my 30th novel, working
title Red Sonja. I finished my 29th novel, working
title Detective. Writing number 31, working title Shifter. I just finished 32nd novel, Rose.
How to begin a novel.
Number one thought, we need an entertaining idea. I usually encapsulate such an idea with a
theme statement. Since I’m writing a new
novel, we need a new theme statement.
Here is an initial cut.
For novel 30: Red
Sonja, a Soviet spy, infiltrates the X-plane programs at Edwards AFB as a test
pilot’s administrative clerk, learns about freedom, and is redeemed.
For novel 31: Deirdre
and Sorcha are redirected to French finishing school where they discover
difficult mysteries, people, and events.
For Novel 32: Shiggy
Tash finds a lost girl in the isolated Scottish safe house her organization
gives her for her latest assignment: Rose Craigie has nothing, is alone, and
needs someone or something to rescue and acknowledge her as a human being.
For novel 33, Book girl: Siobhàn Shaw is Morven McLean’s savior—they
are both attending Kilgraston School in Scotland when Morven loses everything,
her wealth, position, and friends, and Siobhàn Shaw is the only one left to
befriend and help her discover the one thing that might save Morven’s family
and existence.
For novel 34: Seoirse
is assigned to be Rose’s protector and helper at Monmouth while Rose deals with
five goddesses and schoolwork; unfortunately Seoirse has fallen in love with
Rose.
Here is the
scene development outline:
1. Scene
input (comes from the previous scene output or is an initial scene)
2. Write the
scene setting (place, time, stuff, and characters)
3. Imagine
the output, creative elements, plot, telic flaw resolution (climax) and develop
the tension and release.
4. Write the
scene using the output and creative elements to build the tension.
5. Write the
release
6. Write the
kicker
Today: Let me tell
you a little about writing. Writing
isn’t so much a hobby, a career, or a pastime.
Writing is a habit and an obsession.
We who love to write love to write.
If you love
to write, the problem is gaining the skills to write well. We want to write well enough to have others
enjoy our writing. This is
important. No one writes just for
themselves the idea is absolutely irrational and silly. I can prove why.
In the first
place, the purpose of writing is communication—that’s the only purpose. Writing is the abstract communication of the
mind through symbols. As time goes by,
we as writers gain more and better tools and our readers gain more and better
appreciation for those tools and skills—even if they have no idea what they
are.
We are in
the modern era. In this time, the action
and dialog style along with the push of technology forced novels into the form
of third person, past tense, action and dialog style, implying the future. This is the modern style of the novel. I also showed how the end of literature
created the reflected worldview. We have
three possible worldviews for a novel: the real, the reflected, and the
created. I choose to work in the reflected
worldview.
Why don’t we
go back to the basics and just writing a novel?
I can tell you what I do, and show you how I go about putting a novel
together. We can start with developing
an idea then move into the details of the writing.
Ideas. We need
ideas. Ideas allow us to figure out the
protagonist and the telic flaw. Ideas
don’t come fully armed from the mind of Zeus.
We need to cultivate ideas.
1.
Read
novels.
2. Fill your mind with good
stuff—basically the stuff you want to write about.
3. Figure out what will build ideas in
your mind and what will kill ideas in your mind.
4. Study.
5. Teach.
6. Make the catharsis.
7.
Write.
The development of ideas is based on study and research, but
it is also based on creativity. Creativity
is the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to present old ideas in
a new form. It is a reflection of
something new created with ties to the history, science, and logic (the
intellect). Creativity requires
consuming, thinking, and producing.
If we have filled our mind with all kinds of information and
ideas, we are ready to become creative.
Creativity means the extrapolation of older ideas to form new ones or to
present old ideas in a new form.
Literally, we are seeing the world in a new way, or actually, we are
seeing some part of the world in a new way.
The beginning of creativity is study and effort. We can use this to extrapolate to
creativity. In addition, we need to look
at recording ideas and working with ideas.
With that said, where should we go? Should I delve into ideas and creativity
again, or should we just move into the novel again? Should I develop a new protagonist, which, we
know, will result in a new novel. I’ve
got an idea, but it went stale. Let’s
look at the outline for a novel again:
1.
The initial scene
2.
The rising action
scenes
3.
The climax scene
4.
The falling action
scene(s)
5.
The dénouement scene(s)
The initial scene is the most important scene and part of
any novel. To get to the initial scene,
you don’t need a plot, you need a protagonist.
I’m now writing Seoirse, and since I retired from my day job,
I’m back to a chapter a day. I could
likely write two chapters a day, but my brain gets tired. I think it’s important to report again on how
to write a novel. Let’s start at the
beginning.
I already developed the protagonist for this novel: Seoirse Séamas
Wishart. That is his name in
Gaelic. His common or English name is
George James Wishart. Why the
difference. It all has to do with the
worldview of my novels. The worldview is
reflected and therefore the supernatural exists. We are mainly writing about the common and
mythical supernatural in the world. I’d
like to say that whatever the basis for the usual supernatural in human thought
exists in the reflected worldview of this and my novels. Thus there are vampires, werewolves, fairies,
the Fae courts, dragons, gods, goddesses, and other mythical creatures. They aren’t the world. They world of my novels is the world you see
around you. The supernatural aspects are
generally unseen, unknown, and rare.
They exist like the supernatural exists in the world today: generally
unseen, unknown, and rare. That’s the
basis of the world in my novels.
I wrote initial scenes, but remember, there is only one
initial scene. When I write initial
scenes, I mean the scenes I used at the beginning of the novel to lead into the
crisis. I guess I could outline some of
the development of this novel for you.
It has a little different development outline than many of my
novels. Part of the reason is the
subject matter and the fact that it is a follow-on. Come to think of it, Cassandra had
something similar in its development. I
won’t say this is a common type of outline for the development of a follow-on,
but it does bear some similar characteristics.
Here’s some of it.
1.
Initial
scene – a dialog that introduces the mission the protagonist and the
protagonist’s helper. Seoirse and Rose
don’t hit it off too well. Rose knows
what she is expected to do and she sees Seoirse as
an interloper. Seoirse is put in the
position as Rose’s handler and protection.
I should mention that Ms. O’Dwyer (Organization name), Mrs. Marshall
(overt name) is their boss and set them to the assignment. This is a great dialog scene with all kinds
of deep seated issues brought out. Rose
does not want supervision or protection.
Ms. O’Dwyer is giving her protection because of the recall and Chinese
problems at the climax of the first novel.
2. Next scene—travel scene, where Seoirse
and Rose are forced together by Ms. O’Dwyer to make the three hour drive from
London to Monmouth. They also pick up
their Fae helpers. Ms. O’Dwyer does not
allow Fae in her house and usually not in the Organization although the
basement of the Organization has a place where the Fae are allowed and Ms.
O’Dwyer’s secretary is Burgundy Rose, a Fae being. In this travel scene, Rose and Seoirse get to
bring out their little tiff and personal issues. We see some plans too for their operations,
and Rose declares, to Seoirse’s chagrin and yet pleasure that George Wishart (Seoirse’s
overt name at Monmouth) is her boyfriend—it’s a cover. In addition, in a short connection scene,
Rose insists that Seoirse take her out to supper where they are sure to be
seen.
3. First Monmouth scenes—this is an
introduction to the girls in Rose’s class, to Robyn, and to the other girls
Rose must look after. This scene and
scenes leads to the fateful crisis tea party scene.
4.
Crisis
(tea party)—Rose’s modus operandi is to gain the trust of others, especially
girls in this age group by inviting them to tea. Rose’s cover is as an aristocrat being sent
to Monmouth for education. She applies
this very successfully in the first novel, but there is a problem in the
second. Rose sets up the tea party for
the five problem children she must take care of. The problem is that the real problem child,
Sveta, knows all about Rose. The tea
party program was successful because the regular girls did not question Rose or
Robyn’s motives. They just were excited
to have a personal tea with a girl who looked, acted, and seemed to be a real member
of the peerage (actually, Rose is). Ms.
O’Dwyer approved the tea party program for these five and she expected it to
work too. What no one realized was that
Sveta, the young Goddess of Light, had knowledge of Rose and her operations at
Monmouth. In addition, Sveta knew all
about Rose’s background and Rousay.
In
the crisis tea party, Sveta reveals what she knows with the intention of
getting the other girls to help her oppose Rose. Sveta even goes to the degree of recording
the entire event. She thinks her
knowledge will not only convince the others, but shock them that their mothers
and the Organization (and Stela) are using Rose to observe and to a degree
control them. The problem for Sveta is
that she doesn’t know about Rose’s power over glamour and people, Robyn’s power
and love for Rose, her own sister (Klava’s) pain over subjugation by Sveta, and
finally, that Phoebe and Sophie are not on her side. In the end, Sveta blows up and only with
Rose’s power are the girls protected and saved.
However, Rose must knock them all out, her 10,000 pound tea service is
destroyed, Rose is injured, and her clothing is completely burned off her.
The
ultimate end of this is that Rose was supposed to protect Robyn from others and
from Robyn harming herself or others. If
she can achieve this, Rose will get her house and property back. This was all covered in the initial scene. Since Rose’s contract is suddenly void and she
sees no hope for recovery, Rose runs away.
The point in her running away is that she is unclothed, doesn’t really
need clothing at the moment because of the balmy temperatures, and can and does
use glamour to hide and protect herself from others. This is the setup for the rest of the
novel.
This
is also where I wanted to start the novel but that would have provided little
chance for buildup. Seoirse is the protagonist,
and this is all a setup for his action on the stage of the novel.
5.
Prior
to the hunt—This is what one on my author friends calls a sequel. This is definitely a type of transition
scene. In this scene, Seoirse, is
brought into a conference with the parents of the children who were involved in
the incident. Luckily, Sveta made a
video of the entire incident on her phone.
Unluckily for Rose, it showed her in her glorious delight—nude but
helping every one of the girls. In this
scene Ms. O’Dwyer details what they will do about the girls especially Robyn
and Sveta, who caused the incident, but then, most importantly how they will
get Rose back. Rose is considered the
most important supernatural asset to the British government because she can
control the powers of a god or goddess.
The problem is that since Rose failed in her agreement, the government
no longer has a means of motivating her.
Rose only wants her house and property back. She isn’t motivated by stuff. So, the quandary. Ms. O’Dwyer has the police, the Fae, the
courts, and the entire intelligence structure looking for Rose. The military is on alert through the Office
of the King. So far, they can’t find
her. Seoirse tells the group that he can
find Rose. Lady Wishart, who is also
party to the conference agrees and makes Seoirse the chancellor of the Lady
Rose Tash. The reason for this is that
this will allow Seoirse to claim the help of the Fae in finding Rose—it also
give him certain authorities over her and her property. However, making Seoirse the chancellor of
Lady Tash also gives Rose power and control over him.
6. The hunt—Seoirse thinks he knows
what Rose is doing to hide. He lays out
his plans and his suppositions to Aillan, his Fae helper. Seoirse noted that a will-call ticket was
issued for the train at Lydney, the closest station to Monmouth. The conductor noted the tarin stopped, but no
one apparently got on the train. He
believes that’s how Rose got into the rail system. To hide from the Fae (who are in the isolated
and out of the way places in Britain), the police (who are in the populated
regions or Britain), and the intelligence structure (who are looking
everywhere). Seoirse thinks Rose is
riding the rails on the two sleeper trains in Britain. The first to Penzance would go directly
through the stations Rose could have connected to—Paddington. The second is just a quick local Paddington
to Euston in London—the Caledonian Sleeper.
Seoirse lays out his deduction to Aillan. Rose took the train from Lydney to Paddington
and the Penzance Sleeper then scooted over to Euston and took the Caledonian to
Scotland, most likely Inverness. That
would get her closest to Rosay and her home.
In the end of this scene Seoirse sends Aillan on the Penzance Sleeper
just to make sure Rose isn’t double tripping it, and he takes the Caledonian
Sleeper. They think Rose has not
procured clothing since she can use glamour more easily in that state to hide
from the eyes of people. In addition, the
weather isn’t that cold and she’s on a train.
Further, Seoirse goes back to Monmouth to get clothing for Rose. This is the setup for the next crisis for
Rose and Seoirse.
7. The finding—Although the crisis is
the action scene that sets off the entire novel, the finding is the scene that significantly
forwards the relationship between Seoirse and Rose. The first thing to understand is that Seoirse
is a gentleman. He is a gentlemen in
need of a little instruction and TLC but he is a gentleman. Rose, on the other hand, is a lady by decree
and cover, but she is a survivor and a manipulator who loves the ambiguous and
the uncertain. This becomes clear
through her interactions in the entire novel.
Seoirse indeed finds Rose almost right away on the Caledonian
Sleeper. He figured her perfectly right
down to her missing knickers. And, he
finds her in the nude. Unfortunately or
fortunately, however you are thinking, Rose doesn’t immediately recognize him
or that he can see her. The scene is
both humorous and titillating. When Rose
finally figures out what is going on, Seoirse can’t cover his eyes or let her
leave because he has captured the illusive Lady Rose Tash. Before he allows her the clothing he brought
for her, she must promise by the One and All to not escape. That seals her fate, so to speak. Seoirse gives her the clothing he brought
from her room at school, but she is so flustered, she forgets he can see her
plainly in the window of the compartment—it’s night after all. Seoirse takes her to his compartment and then
to dinner.
8. The dinner—this is a highly
important and intricate scene. In it, Seoirse
plays a pivotal role as well as his planning.
While Seoirse wants to establish their cover, Rose wants to establish her
propriety. Seoirse orders wine so he can
show off the fake IDs he procured for her and him from the Organization. As Seoirse notes to Rose, two sixth form
students traveling on a sleeper train in the same compartment means the police
and others will get involved. On the
other hand, a twenty-one and a twenty-two year old traveling together is just a
lover’s tryst. She becomes Raven Tash
(21) and he James Wishart (22). He buys
a bottle of wine to ensure the waiter will ask for their IDs, but tells Rose
she need not imbibe. Of course Rose will
imbibe. Something you don’t know about
Rose. She is a survivor. She is also a strongly motivated foodie who
must eat. She burns calories like a furnace,
and eats everything she can. It’s a
little secret and problem embedded in her past.
She has learned to eat more slowly and she is always the consummate lady,
but she can eat copious amounts and quickly.
It’s not a good trait, but she can pull it off. What does this have to do with dinner? They are eating a nice dinner on the
train. The focus is not the dinner, but
their interaction in dialog. During
their conversation, the most important issues to Rose are what Seoirse saw of
her and what others saw of her in the video from the incident. It should be obvious why this is important
even to a maiden of dubious background.
Rose is worried about her cover and what others think of her. Seoirse is more concerned with getting Rose
back and negotiations about what she will do in the future. He is her handler and protector. She is the only person in Britain who can
handle the goddess girls and others (that we haven’t even moved to in the
novel). This conversation moves to
breakfast, but I’ll handle that in the next scene outline portion.
9. Inverness – What we see in Rose is progression. She does not change, but in every endeavor
and experience, her approach changes.
She dodges, weaves, and forces through her every desire with mostly
behavioral training, acting, and manipulation.
Seoirse just wants to achieve his mission and to become friends with
Rose. As an author, I show this
progression and action through the incidents in the novel. Rose demands Seoirse plan their excursion in
Inverness while they wait their evening Caledonian Sleeper to return to
London. Rose wants underthings, a
nightgown, clothing, makeup, and a souvenir.
She also wants a good dinner (luncheon) and drinks. Here is where things get a little
interesting. The kinds of clothing Rose
usually wears are not available in Inverness.
Yes, my friends, the clothing of celebrities and the ultra-wealthy can’t
be found in even large cities and towns.
You need a metropolitan center, and with apologies to Inverness, that’s
one of the reasons I sent Rose and Seoirse there. This produces a little of an issue for Rose,
she must have another set of clothing, but she knows she can’t find her usual
designer stuff. She also must settle for
regular lingerie—there is no way she can get the hand-made French silk lace
knickers and bras that are her usual underclothing. This is a tension builder in the scene, but
as I noted Rose is always in progression.
I forgot to mention, the scene where the police recognize her. Seoirse has made his report to headquarters
that Rose is found, but he Scottish police in Inverness haven’t got the word,
yet. Rose makes a beautiful scene where
she convinces the apprehending policewoman that James (Seoirse) has brought
Raven (Rose) to Inverness to propose and that the involvement of the police
might put him off. This is a moment
where Seoirse realizes that Rose is not at all what she seems. She is a consummate actress. The police check with the desk sergeant and
find that Rose Tash has been found and Raven Tash may continue with her
boyfriend, hopefully fiancé. That’s just
the beginning. In Inverness, Rose knows
exactly where she wants to shop—she borrowed Seoirse’s laptop while he was in
the bath and changing. She takes him to
the Victorian Mall in Inverness where she buys antique whiskey glasses as souvenirs. Then to a fancy store. She breaks to him that she wants a jumper
(sweater) and clings to him. Seoirse
doesn’t seem to realize what she is about.
She went from cold to hot in an instant—is it the cover or something
else? Rose drags him to a kilt and
Scottish clothing store, really emporium.
They hand make their kilts and clothing there. Rose wants a kilt-like skirt and a top in
Rousay Rose. That isn’t a clan tartan,
but it fits her. She also wants a Harris
Cape in burgundy, and she wants it all made before luncheon. The manager notes Rose’s very expensive
attire and agrees if she will allow photos of the process and fitting. Rose agrees as long as Seoirse approves the
pictures and that they are flattering to her.
Rose is perhaps one of the most beautiful and elegant women anyone will
meet—that is the reason for the attention, plus a woman who wears 5000 pounds
in exterior clothing in just jeans and a top is definitely in a certain
strata. Take beauty, kindness, elegance,
and wealth all together and you get not just Rose, but societal interaction and
acquiescence. That is Rose. Suffice to say Rose gets her very Scottish
clothing and very stylish cape. The
pictures, which will eventually haunt her and Seoirse are taken, and they head
for luncheon at the White House Pub in Inverness. There are a few more adventures in Inverness,
mostly related to drink and makeup. Seoirse
has to bail her out of that one too, but all this is to show just how
resourceful and capable Rose is. In the
end, they make their way back to the Caledonian Sleeper and board for
London. They have a Caledonian Double
this time.
10. Return to London – The return to
London isn’t as detailed as the trip to Inverness, but still fills out critical
details and foreshadowing in the novel.
Of greatest interest for tension and release is that Rose happens to be
sleeping on the same bed as Seoirse.
This provides some great laughs later with Seoirse’s parents. However, the most important part of this
scene is the pillow-talk (so to speak) dialog Rose engages in with Seoirse. She wants to know how to handle the five
terrors—the girls that caused the whole problem. That is, if Rose is willing to take over her
assignment again, what can she do to fix the girls? Seoirse gives her an answer which has great
legs in the novel. He tells her the
military breaks their new recruits down to build them back up again, and that
his mother might be able to shed some information about that. This is a revelation to Rose, but of course
she gives no indications of this—she just starts digging.
11. Conference with Ms. O’Dwyer. That’s the first piece of business, and the
obvious piece of business on Rose and Seoirse’s return to London. This entire conference is about
reestablishing Rose’s contract to regain her house and her assignment. Ms. O’Dwyer allows Seoirse to negotiate, to
Rose’s chagrin. He had the authority and
he told Rose, but Rose didn’t trust him.
Seoirse is forced to promise not to speak about the incident of finding
Rose in the nude, not to roll his eyes at her, and to help her with the girls. There are a few other details, but that Rose
agrees to the expansion of her assignment to all five girls for her property as
long as Seoirse agrees to her terms is a small and large incident in the
novel. It shows a turning point in
Rose’s mind, but the others just see it as petulance.
12. Briarashe—Rose cajoles Seoirse into
taking her to see his parents at Briarashe.
This is a set of three scenes which solidify and drive the novel. The reason for the visit, so says Rose, is to
take pictures and establish a credible cover for her as George’s (Seoirse’s)
girlfriend. I’ll remind you, Seoirse is
George at school and Rose originally proposed that George act in the role of
her boyfriend while at school so they could legitimately communicate and work
together. She is just continuing the
façade. At Briarashe, Rose begins by
berating the Butler because of Seoirse’s terrible wardrobe and clothing
choices. She is acting like the petulant
aristocratic girlfriend. How much is an
act and how must the Lady Rose is hard to tell.
When Seoirse’s parents, Lady Wishart and Air Commodore Calloway invite
Rose and Seoirse to dinner (luncheon), Lady Rose forces the couple to serve her
and Seoirse wine. She does this through
the previous Raven Tash ID Seoirse gave her.
This is a little off putting, but Rose is putting Seoirse’s parents in
the place she wants them. Then Rose
appears to trip up a little. While
describing Seoirse and her trip to Inverness, Rose lets out that her current
Scottish clothing is Rousay Pink and was hand made for her. I forgot to mention that Seoirse forgot about
Rose’s injuries from the incident. She
was holding his arm and hands to hide them (scalds and cuts on her hands and
arms) This was also the reason she
wanted a jumper (sweater) and acquired the Harris cape. In any case, everyone else remembered Rose’s
injuries. However, when Rose mentions her
current Scottish clothing, Lady Wishart informs her in no uncertain terms that
she will not wear her clothing to Monmouth or in society that knows her. The reason is obvious, it could blow her
cover. This informs Rose that Lady
Wishart knows all about her background. This
causes a crisis for Rose. She has been
acting very high handed with Lady Wishart and Air Commodore Calloway and she
ends up apologizing for that. Lady
Wishart sees things much differently.
She completely accepts Rose and her cover as well as her peerage
presented by the King and the Fae. It
may be a fake actual peerage, but it has legitimacy in the world Lady Wishart
engages within. I perhaps didn’t remind
you, Lady Wishart is the Keeper of the Book of the Fae. I need to mention, this scene ends with a
peace offering from Air Commodore Calloway.
He provides McCallan 18 to them all and gives Rose a Scottish pour. This results in her Rousay accent coming out
and her needing help getting to her room.
13. More at Briarashe – There are three
more notable scenes at Briarashe. In the
evening, Rose has recovered well enough to participate in supper. This is a short scene with some important
discussion, but a lot of talking around issues.
This is followed with a drawing room scene where the ladies and the
gentlemen partake in cigars and whiskey (McCallan 18). Why mention McCallan 18—to all Scotch Whiskey
fans this is the best Scotch in the world at about $300 a bottle, it’s steep,
but not too steep for the quality of the whiskey. The study or drawing room scene is all about
convivial conversation and a dialog about the meaning of Seoirse being the
chancellor for Lady Tash. In this scene,
Air Commodore Calloway is read in about Seoirse’s covers. He is not told anything about anything
else. There are layers on layers of secrets
and secret affairs in this novel. Part
of the fun is how they interweave and interact.
This scene is a setup for the morning scene.
14. Morning at Briarashe—Seoirse has
made arrangements for a meeting between Rose, Sophia, Phoebe, Robyn, Sveta, and
Klava as well as their mothers Mrs. Marshall (Ms. O’Dwyer and Mrs. Mardling. I’ll eventually get to this scene, but the
setup is pretty important. Mrs. Marshall
is the current Goddess of Light. Mrs. Mardling is the current Goddess of
Darkness. Sveta is the presumptive
Goddess of Light and Robyn has similar powers, while Klava is the presumptive
Goddess of Darkness. You can see this
meeting will be filled and fraught with issues, but there is an interesting one
looming after breakfast. At breakfast,
Rose gives a foreshadowing that she will make requests of Lady Wishart. They take a walk. Lady Wishart calls Rose her friend. That makes Rose immediately begin addressing
Lady Wishart as Azure (her given name).
This brings unease that Rose obviously wants, but Lady Wishart unexpecting
brings. Rose’s request is for Lady
Wishart to induct her into the Black Branch which is the band of women warriors
led and trained by Aife. Why this is
important? In myth, Aife was the leader
of the Black Branch, woman warriors and Aife trained them on the Isle of
Shadows. Aife’s sister Scattach ruled
over and trained the Red Branch, a group of male warriors. She trained them at the Isle of Sky. In the history of Myth, Aife was accused of
stealing the knowledge of writing and reading from the gods and giving it to
man (to help in her training). Aife was
also the keeper of the threefold Celtic law.
This was the idea that evil returned threefold to those who committed
evil and good threefold to those who did good.
Aife, because she gave reading and writing to man, was turned into a
Swan. In some myths, she is killed by a
hunter. In others she just remains a
swan. In some, Ceridwen, the head
goddess of the Gaelic and Celtic people returns Aife to a human form. In my novels, Ceridwen, in an earlier
incarnation, has returned Aife to human form and she plays a role in trials and
the courts of the gods and goddesses.
She is obviously held in some contempt by Ceridwen and the others. Ceridwen does allow Aife to have an Isle of
Shadows teahouse in High Wycombe. This
is near Wycombe Abbey which plays some roles in my novels. In one of my novels, Lady Wishart demands of
Ceridwen that Aife be returned to her previous honor as the Queen of the Isle
of Shadows and of the Black Branch. In
this novel, Aife has been given back her authority. Rose knows all about this through the
Fae. She requests that Lady Wishart make
her a member of the Black Branch, and basically forces her to enact a knights
oath. A knights oath requires the Lady
Wishart to strike Rose (remember the sword on the shoulder? In reality, this wasn’t a tap, but rather a strike. The strike could be done with a sword or the
fist). Lady Wishart regrettably strikes
Rose which makes her a knight or captain beneath her in the Black Branch. Rose then requests a portion of the Red
Bracer. These were the marks of the Black
Branch and Aife. I don’t know why Aife’s
colors and bracers are red historically, but they are. In one of my other novels, Aife gives the
Lady Wishart one of the Red Bracers, which is an item of power from antiquity. Rose requests the beads form the bracer which
are used to make the members of the Black Branch. She requests only two of them. The bracer delivers six to Rose. This is more than she needs. Here’s what is going on. Seoirse gave Rose the idea to apply military
training to Sveta specifically as part of her rehabilitation. Rose gets enough pieces of the Black Branch
bracer to make all the girls cadets under her tutelage. That is and was her plan only for Sveta. These are unstated concepts in the
novel. They are not stated
directly. Rose’s plan now, that she
doesn’t tell anyone, Lady Wishart might have some idea what is going on, but
really Seoirse is the only one other than Rose who might have a more complete
idea. Plus, Seoirse does not know yet
that Rose was made a knight under her and the Black Branch by his mother. He sees the results. With that, a bag of biscuits, tea, and water,
with Rose’s head on Seoirse’s lap (because she is out like a light). Seoirse and Bob head off in an Organization
Bentley to Monmouth and school and the very important and potentially dangerous
meeting with the girls and their mothers.
15. On the way to Monmouth—Rose is
recovering on the way to Monmouth. She
wakes and instructs Bob and Seoirse to take her to Lydney. Seoirse is a little dubious, but they do and
find Aillan and Airgead. Rose arranged
and communicated with them to take the trains to Lydney and now they rejoin the
party. Rose then instructs Seoirse to find
her a jewelry store that can repair jewelry and that has 18+ caret gold necklaces
and a bracelet. They make their way to a
jewelry store in Monmouth. Rose has the pieces
from the bracer mounted on a bracelet and the necklaces. She has Seoirse put the bracelet on her right
wrist. While they were in the jewelry
store, Seoirse also bought something else that he kept hidden from Rose. Rose and Seoirse make their return to
Monmouth School where they have an appointment with destiny, actually with five
goddesses, including their mothers.
16. The Meeting—this is another crisis
event of scene in the novel. Seoirse comes
well dressed and Rose appears soon after in princess picture perfect
beauty. Airgead is with her. The confrontation begins. They all meet in the Headmistress’
Office. All the girls and their mothers
are there. Rose insists they all stand
for her and address her by her rank.
Rose asks the headmistress to leave.
She does. Seoirse then
enters. We get everything from Seoirse’
point of view (PoV). He is the
protagonist. Rose begins with Phoebe and
Sophie. She thanks them for their
defense and asks them to sit. She moves
on to Klava, and wlecomes her like a sister for protecting her and her
charges. Rose goes to Robyn and
admonishes her for using her power, even though it was to defend Rose. Rose takes Robyn’s dagger from her until the
end of the Lenten term. Finally, Rose
goes to the unrepentant Sveta. Sveta has
no intention of doing anything. She has
been in the black tablet for all the time Rose has been away. I forgot to mention one of the requests Rose
made of Lady Wishart was to write Sveta in the Book of the Fae as her
vassal. That means Sveta can’t attack
Rose in any way, and Rose will be able to control her. That was a very important part of the walk
with Lady Wishart. In any case, Rose
takes Seoirse’s advice about Sveta and attacks.
Its just slaps, but Rose tells Sveta, since her mother didn’t punish
her, she will. Rose encourages Sveta to
try to use her power against her. Of
course Sveta can’t—then Rose reveals the reason and demands that Sveta serve
her as a menial. There are more details,
but this is the plan Rose sets into place to tame the dangerous Sveta. Then Rose gives her a new name, Soluis. This name brings Sveta anew into Rose’s
household as a vassal. It’s all based in
historical naming and vassal ceremonies.
If you didn’t notice that’s the entire basis of this novel in history:
the knight’s oath, the knighting of Rose, the Black Branch, Soluis as a vassal,
and all. Rose then inducts Soluis as a
cadet in the Black Branch. Once all this
has been accomplished, Rose dismisses the mothers and the girls, but takes
Soluis in hand to show her, her duties and work.
17. The training—This is the portion I’m
writing at the moment. This is the
training. If you’ve been following
alone, you might be able to get where this is going—at least in the idea of
training. Seoirse gave Rose the idea
that military type training might help these girls, so that’s what she is
planning. In general, I’ve tried to
convey in the novel that these girls are longing to be like normal girls but
are under the close hold of the mothers.
Rose becomes a kind of mother for them, but as a mentor and leader. She gets the girls talking to each other out
of their usual groups—that is out of the sister pairs. Klava is easy. She can makes friends, but Soluis, Sophie,
and Phoebe have the same problems as Robyn did in the beginning. Rose gets them out of their sister pairs and
into new groups. At the same time, Rose
gets them into the mainstream of the school.
Rose is also encouraging and helping with the formal tea party for the
lower sixth. This is her signature means
of getting reticent British girls together.
It works. All these small
developments are portrayed in scenes showing how Rose is communicating and
working with the girls. The next stage,
for Rose is the induction and field trip.
18. Induction—part of military training
is to bring a group together with esprit de corps. To do this, Rose uses the necklaces she
received from the bracers. She inducts
the four other girls into the Black Branch.
This is a detailed scene that the Welsh Fae crash. They all want to see the first cadet members
of the Black Branch in hundreds of years.
This is just a fun scene. Seoirse
is completely involved. In addition,
Rose not only inducts the girls into the Black Branch, but also into her bad
girls gang (so to speak). Ms. O’Dwyer
had instructed Rose in her first assignment to cultivate the bad girls to help
Robyn get over her bad girl ideas. Rose
did and instituted a drinking and smoking event on Saturdays. Rose is not at all a bad girl, but she is
very able to move in different groups and people. Rose brings beer, snacks, and smokes for the
girls after induction party. This is
just a funny scene. Robyn gets Cherry
Cola and no cigarettes. She’s still too
young. The induction prepares the girls
for their military training and field trip.
This is Rose’s means to encourage their interaction and to get them into
some military thinking, training, and fun.
That’s not all.
19. Supper with Seoirse—in the
preparation for the field trip. Seoirse
is highly important to Rose in working the details with the Organization and
Stela. Rose basically dictates what she
wants and Seoirse is required to make it happen. In this planning and preparation, we have two
large scenes where Seoirse and Rose get together in the evening, and Rose
always must have drinks and supper. This
means Seoirse is taking her out on the occasional Saturday night. It’s all for work, of course. The problem is that we know Seoirse has
fallen for Rose. She keeps pushing him
away, but it’s obvious that she is, in her way, falling for him. If Seoirse keeps saying exactly the things
Rose wants to hear and keeps meeting her needs, well the end might be
love. Rose must discover other ways than
kisses and attention to show her affection for Seoirse. He doesn’t realize this and thinks she is
pushing him away. Ah, so is love. The ultimate point of this is that we shall
see the approach to the climax of the novel.
I’ve not fully developed this yet, but it will have to do with the
military training and the Book of the Fae.
This is to be determined latter, but it is the ultimate point of the
novel, a climax that involves the girls, military training, Rose, and Seoirse
and that resolves much of the points from the beginning of the novel. That’s the goal and at chapter 14, the goal
is in sight.
20. Preparations for the Field Trip—Here’s
the basics of Rose’s solution. The tea
party method blew up in her face. She
used the force method as Seoirse suggested and that worked to quell and control
Soluis (Sveta). Each of these girls has
her own problems caused by too much coddling, too much protecting, too much interaction
with their sisters and adults, too little interaction as girls, and too much self-esteem
which led them to isolation and egotism.
Each of the girls is a little different and needs a little different
touch. However, Rose has a conversation
with Phoebe where Phoebe blames everyone but herself and she believes she and
her sister have been unfairly targeted and prevented from getting the training
they want for their future. Rose already
has this in hand, to some degrees. Her
plan is to get these girls away from each other and talking to other girls. At the same time, she wants to get them
training and appropriate attention—thus the military training. Much of at chapter is taken up with Seoirse and
preparing for a field trip to the Isle of Shadows. Isle of Shadows was the training and kingdom
of Queen Aife. Aife trained female
warriors for the Celts. She was a
goddess. Rose revitalizes the Black
Branch with her own troop, the Shadow Branch and demands training from her
troop of five dangerous girls from the Organization and Stele. Seoirse is the one in charge of setting up
the training. Rose plans it all. The Organization brings in its big guns. I’ll get to that. At the same time, Rose is feeling a strong
ambivalence for Seoirse. She won’t admit
it to herself that she is falling in love with him. Seoirse already knows who he loves.
21. Beginning of the Field Trip—On a “quiet
weekend” when most of the boarders go home, Rose takes her girls to the Isle of
Shadows in Scotland. They dress at the
Regimental Headquarters just outside of Monmouth, get their gear, and take a
Westland Wildcat Mk1 helicopter to the Isle of Shadows. The trip takes two and a half hours and Rose
instructs Seoirse to sit in the copilot’s seat.
She teaches military courtesies and discipline to the girls on the
way. Seoirse gets to pilot a Wildcat Mk1
under the tutelage of a real instructor who can sign off his logbook. In fact, who brings him a logbook. How can this be. Seoirse set up the adventure, but Rose made
it for him too. One of his greatest
desires is to be a pilot officer. This
lets him try out flying, and he loves it.
This is the way Rose is.
22. The Field Trip—they arrive at the
Isle of Shadows and the first activity is weapons training with their graphite Etan
Arms AR-2 pistol. They meet their trainers:
Colonel Luna Bolang, Lieutenant Colonel Sorcha Easom, Major Shiggy Cross. Each of these ladies are members of the
Organization and Stela. My readers have
met them in other novels. Colonel Bolang
trains weapons. Rose isn’t very good at shooting. After about three hours training, it’s time
for supper. The Organization brought a
portable kitchen with cook and helper.
They get steaks, baked potatoes, peas, and dessert. The girls meet Aife and Rose gets
embarrassed. After supper, there is a
campfire, but before taps, Rose takes her girls to a spot where they can have
Shadow Branch time: cigars and beer—except Robyn who gets fizzy cola and a
cigar. Rose has Soluis start the fire—difficult
for a Goddess of Light to do in the darkness.
She has Klava show the power of darkness, which is a little dangerous
for Rose. Rose has a lot of discussion
and tell her plans. Then taps.
23.
There
is more and I’m still writing it. I
haven’t decided on exactly how I want to put the climax together. I’m looking at a small climax to bring the
girls together during their long field trip then a shorter hard climax during
the last quiet weekend. The point is to
bring them together, then give them something important to do.
I guess I should move on from there.
More
tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.ancientlight.com/
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/
http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
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