Omg, I completely forgot to write an update for April. Probably because of taking the break and all, but I guess there’s no problem in doing a joined one with May. Especially since I didn’t write that much last month.
April Update
So April had Camp NaNoWriMo. I was off to a great start, but didn’t make my goal. My wordcount for Salandrine, which was the WIP I wanted to work on during the event was 6497/10.000.
There were some more WIPs I worked on aside from Salandrine. I know I should have focused all my attention on Salandrine only, and though I thought that was the best way to go about things previously, I feel I disagree at the moment. Since my ADD keeps me from writing many days, I take what I can get. Even if it’s for another project.
So during April, I ended up with a total of 13.184 words written. I wrote a micro fic which I immediately shelved afterwards called “Smile so Bright”, added a few words to “Enchanted”, a flash fic called “Hellfire” (now retitled to “From Ashes to Ashes”), and drafted three short stories which I am very happy with; “Love Potion”, “Tempted”, and “Herbalist”. Those which have at least a completed first draft will get their own writing updates, so I’ll add links when they’re up.
May (worldbuilding) update
Seriously the month of May has been one of inspiration. I’d been overflowing with ideas and because of it, have many new ideas for stories, all in the same universe as Salandrine.
So, the planet is based on Earth but the continents don’t look the same. The continent where Salandrine takes place is called Atlenora, of which Mnaluria is the southern part. To the north-east of Mnaluria is Saevria (with the Szearnan Republic where Amal is from) which is a large region filled with wetlands and mountains towards it’s northern parts. It’s a country of commerce, of entertainment, and community. West of Saevria lies Grenea, which consists mostly of grasslands, highlands, woodlands, and large technologically advanced cities. While the former two nations have magic as the prevailing power, Grenea relies more on technology (both are present all over the continent though). Then there’s the Altadaerian mountain ranges to the north end of the continent, a scattering of larger islands to the north and east, and more.
I’ve been working on a timeline on how they dealt with the incoming magic and its effects, of when they developed which tech (as an example, I have settings which would fit solarpunk, biopunk, and cyberpunk), and which deities are active where. So those are some basics. I’ll try to add more little details in other updates.
Free Fluff (excerpt)
I want to include some lines from a WIP and this time chose some fluff that won’t be in Salandrine, but features her and Amal. It’s a very rough first draft though, keep that in mind, but I really liked it and want to share it anyway:
Salandrine let herself fall onto the bed and sighed. Being locked inside the house for days and days had led to her imprisonment in endless cycles of brooding. In fact, too much had happened for her not to. She clutched her head and dwelled on the loss. On the betrayal. On the pain she’d felt at the hands of those professing they’d cared for her. Loved her.
Lies. They were all lies and she would not have them any longer. She launched upward with a loud groan.
Footsteps echoed up the stairs, and Amal pushed the curtains aside. “What’s all this groaning and grumbling I’m hearing?”
“Just the soundtrack to my life.” Salandrine stared at her feet as she wiggled her toes.
Amal plopped down beside her and pulled Salandrine’s head down onto her stomach. She caressed her hair. “Want to make it a duet?”
“If you would,” Salandrine said and turned her head to face Amal. “Everything is better when it includes you.”
Amal made a noise, something between surprise and joy.
“Sometimes I just wonder,” Salandrine said.
“About what?”
“Life.” She sighed again. “Bad things keep happening to us, but we’re still here. We survived. Things could have been a lot worse. But I feel… so sad sometimes. And so tired. I don’t feel like doing anything and life just feels meaningless. But then I think about all of that I just feel so guilty. I should be happy, right? That at least I have what I have. That we didn’t die. But I can’t. I’m not happy.”
“Sal, you can’t be happy all the time.”
“But I can’t be sad all the time either.”
After a moment of silence, Amal finally answered. “Considering everything that happened, yes, you can.”
“But I shouldn’t.”
“We don’t choose our feelings. All we can do is choose to deal with them accordingly.”
“So how do I deal with meaningless sadness?”
“By allowing it time to pass.”
June goals
For the upcoming month of June I’ll be actively writing again. Hopefully the summer heat and humidity won’t fry my brain too much xD. My goal for this month is just to start writing again. So I’ll be happy with any number of words I manage to get on paper (or rather, screen).