Amelia's Blog

        So, I didn’t go into great detail with the town of Bolero. Mainly because I didn’t want too much overhead to keep track of. I’m learning the hard way that the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle applies to world building as much as anything. A lot of times, scenery is more effective when you provide the high points and let the reader fill in the blanks. That sounds counter intuitive, I know, but if you try and meticulously fill in every single detail, you’ll end up with way more to keep track of than you want.         Simply put: would YOU want to literally keep track of a whole city? Of course not. That’s why you keep yourself limited to a few physical buildings. For example, so far in Bolero, we’ve seen the building Deb and Rob worked at, their apartment building, the local hospital, and a description of the CDC campus downtown, including some of the geography. Of course, there’s also the mysterious trucks to nowhere.                  That’s not a lot. If you look at any

        That looks like a good place to pause this story for now. In the mean time, I would like to talk about world building. It’s probably the thing I spend more time than writing on. Sometimes, though I do not like to admit this, I even use it as an excuse to put off the actual writing. That’s not really a good thing, as any writer can tell you.         Yet it’s a fundamentally important step to some writers, myself included. Not all like to start here, some make it up as they go, which is an equally valid way to write. It doesn’t work for me, as I found myself writing into corners more often than not if I don’t understand just were the action is happening. You may ask how you could not know that before you even start, but truth be told, writing is an organic process. You can have a shallow, basic idea of our setting before you write and flesh it out as you go. Like I said, it works for some people.         However, I didn’t start doing this until recently. I have no clue why, but i

        While it was getting harder to resist going to look for him, Gloriana held her impulses in check. Though she would never tell Gabriel, his continued absence, especially after his pronouncement about revolution, had made her rather jumpy. However, any ideas she had were cut short when Gabriel made a rather noisy entrance into her quarters.         One does not often see an Archangel appear in one’s quarters in full regalia. It’s an impressive sight. Wings visible and shining, golden armor gleaming, sword stained and bloodied.         Wait... what was that last part? She asked her self that in the split second it took him to will himself into more normal clothing. “Master? What happened?”         The big being shuddered and passed a hand over his face, still marked, a small cut above his eye. “Trouble. Worse than I thought.”         “Worse than another revolt in heaven?”         He nodded, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “Much. Someone on the Council has made a deal with t

No one has been able to figure out just why Guardians have trouble manifesting in daylight, and The Light isn't talking. It wasn't a new thing, however, so it was just something Guardians trained for. That wasn't to say that they were useless in daylight, far from it. While they can still affect their surroundings, with great effort, something in the sun's light prevented any but the most powerful from being visible to normal humans. To Gloriana, this was a minor obstacle. She did not want her charges to know she was keeping watch on them all the time now. She was worried, but she didn't want them to worry. So, she stayed invisible to them, except on her visits. She had quickly grown fond of the time spent with them, aware that it was something she had missed out on while actually alive. She tried to dwell on that as little as possible. As other Guardians came into view or passed by, she nodded to them. Some returned it. Others didn't. She was used t

        “A blessing in disguise? I’m not sure I follow?”         “There have been some rather disturbing rumors arising from the fringes of the Dark.” Gabriel looked worried. Which worried Gloriana in turn. She had rarely seen him look worried. Angry, yes. Worried, never. “Rumors of rebellion. Which is nothing new, except this time this has the added complication of whispers of rebellion in the Light.”         Glory gasped, horrified at Gabriel’s words. “But that’s unthinkable!”         The big archangel shook his head. “No. It was thought of once before, long ago. That is why the Pantheon is rent asunder. But in this Age? I do not know if these are true rumors or not. Regardless, I must find out.”         “How? Can I help?”         “You can. By making sure your charge is safe. If some of the rumors are true.” He shook his head. “I cannot say more until I know more. In the mean time, keep the child and her father safe.“         She looked oddly at him. ”Her father, too? That’s new.“  

        As a comic fan who’s had almost 20 years to mature into the hobby, I’ve learned to take other people’s opinions in stride. After all, I can like something that you hate and vice versa. There’s one thing, though that always get me: Superman is a lame, boring character.         You don’t get to say that. Superman is the first hero, the one to whom the kids putting their underoos on outside of their pants for the first time look up to. He’s been continually published since the late ‘30’s for a reason. He’s an icon. Period.         Normally, you can have your opinion, but you can’t just declare a character “lame” just because YOU don’t like him. You gotta remember that every character is someone’s favorite. I’m pretty laid back on that respect, but... Superman? Really? I’d sooner blame the writer for not writing the character well enough, and *I* am a writer, amateur that I am.         You say he’s boring? Why, because he’s so powerful? Hardly. Some of the best stories I’ve read de

With a whisper of thought, Gloriana appeared in her Guardian's quarters. Since it was semi-sentient, she affectionately called it "House", which amused most of her fellow Guardians to no end. Whenever it was brought up, she calmly shushed them. The Guardian Quarters were tied directly to their occupants, the link between them acting as a kind of "portable" home field advantage, allowing Guardians to draw on more power than they normally could. The quarters also had the advantage of being heavily warded against attack. Guardians in the past had been brutally attacked in their own homes, due mostly to their charges being highly influential. The dark forces that are ever moving seek to take these charges for their own, and sometimes find success in destroying and taking the place of a Guardian. The wards on each Guardian's quarters were keyed to make sure that only the Guardian could get through, others needed express intent from the occupant. In other words,

Well sorta. I was at Wizard World this last weekend. It was fun, but really tiring. Kinds tossed me off my game. I am actually still writing. Unfortunately, it's the sames story I started this weekend. Yeah. I won't call it block, because I know what I want, it's just not coming out on the page right. Happens. Plus, with this being the 4th of July for us in the U.S., things are really low key as many businesses are running on a short week, including my own day job. Anyway, these lame excuses are my way of saying sorry for no posts (quiet Adam), and I'll most likely be back on the wagon by Monday. I'll keep hammering on what I've got going, and post either when its done, or on Monday. Which ever comes first!