extras are fun

I've decided to post some random "excerpts" from The Ghost Stone. I've been doing perspective switches for fun (no profit) lately, thanks to that massive two-month writer's block. Some interesting things have come out of it. Andrew is fun to write, too. So this particular piece comes out of the second chapter, when Vesper and Andrew first set eyes on each other at the tram station behind Carroway. The original is from Vesper’s point of view; this one is Andrew’s first impression. Let me know what's good, son.


The Ghost Stone
excerpt from Chapter Two

He and Mark were on the tram when he felt it. The little itch at the back of his neck that told him to look up, to be aware. It happened more often than he cared to admit, and though he never quite ignored the feeling, Andrew was uncomfortable with the idea that some residue of his father’s power had been passed down to him through his genes. After all, Ethan’s ability to see hadn’t done him a whole lot of good.

Andrew’s wasn’t so developed as that. If what he had could be called anything, it was a finely developed sense of foreboding. He was intuitive, his mother liked to say. There were no dreams, no visions; no quick snatches of images assaulted him unawares. He just got that little itch, and it told him something was going on, something important, and to pay attention.

Mark was still talking, so Andrew nodded vaguely to prove his attention but glanced past his shoulder towards Carroway station. The tram was still a good twenty yards away, but he could see a lone student waiting. Female. Tall. Unfamiliar.

“Andrew.”

Busted. His eyes flickered to the blond and his mouth curved up a little, acknowledging his distraction. “Sorry.”

Mark rolled his eyes, and then turned a little to see what was so fascinating behind him. When he realized it was a girl, one who grew more and more attractive as the tram drew closer to the station, he arched a teasing eyebrow at him and remarked approvingly, “I see.”

The itch was steadily increasing, and instead of smirking at the light banter, Andrew frowned instead and returned his attention to the girl. She was definitely new, whoever she was – he didn’t recognize her, and she had a green, fresh look about her, one all freshmen had when they first started, and one that they quickly lost by the time the first semester closed out. And she was attractive, riding the line between girl-next-door hot and the kind of hot that made the eyes wander and want to linger in places they shouldn’t. If it weren’t for the totally casual way she was dressed and the laidback, almost absent way she was regarding the horizon, she could have been out-of-your-league hot.

The tram began to slow, and the noisy brakes broke her concentration. He saw her glance towards the tram and take the two of them in, her gaze appraising. Andrew might have admired her mouth, and the bedroom quality of her eyes, but his hormones were refused any leeway when he realized hers was a two-colored gaze.

“Mark,” he murmured quietly, and the blond shifted.

“You feel something?” Mark asked, just as quietly.

“Yeah.” Andrew didn’t have to explain. The two of them had been friends most of their lives, and even if there was a little more distance as of late, they still knew each other better than anybody else. Some things didn’t change.

The tram came to a rolling stop, and they both climbed off. Andrew couldn’t take his eyes off of her, and it had nothing at all to do with that first, immediate physical attraction now. He sunk in slowly, probing gently with his magic to feel her out, see what the Awakening had brought out in her. The result surprised him, and he stiffened to hide the shiver that shook his spine all the way down.

Earth magic. He tried to focus on that, and not the way his mouth went dry but his skin went hot in response the reading. Earth magic on top of the Ghost Eye. Jesus, what the hell does that mean?

She’d climbed on the tram, and after a second or two glanced back at them. Andrew hadn’t quite realized he’d stopped walking entirely and was just staring at her; hadn’t expected to react that strongly at all, truth be told, and was a little disconcerted by it. Mark stood with him, at least, and their obvious attention registered with the girl because after another second or so she acknowledged them with a little sideways peace sign, one eyebrow quirked a little higher than the other. It was almost a challenge, the way she looked at them, and it was enough to make him shiver all over again.

Mark chuckled lightly next to him, and turned his attention back to Andrew as the tram pulled away, taking the girl with it. “Interesting combination, wouldn’t you say?” He asked, and nodded towards the Carroway building.

Andrew took the hint and resumed walking, but his mind remained with her. “Yeah.” He almost added, I don’t like it, but refrained; he knew how Mark felt about his suspicions and today had been a good day. They’d argued so much about it in the past, and the gulf between them was wide enough as it was. The only way to salvage the years of friendship was not to talk about it at all, and for Mark, he could do that.

He would tell Dan about it later, maybe. See what the other man thought. Dan’s quiet, observant demeanor and curious politeness had ingratiated him to most of the student body right away, but what Andrew appreciated most about his friend was the sharp, clever mind behind the amiable exterior. And even if Dan didn’t wholly believe him, he didn’t write him off as angry or vengeful, which was more than Andrew could say for quite a lot of the people he had once considered friends.

“She’s cute,” Mark ventured after a second, having sensed that Andrew wouldn’t comment further on the other line of thought. They both knew why, and to his credit, Mark steered away from it as diligently as he had. “And tall.”

“I noticed,” Andrew replied, wryly.

Diamonds and Dust update

I took Diamonds and Dust down from FictionPress today. It is a decision that, while the most recent surge of plagiarism on the site has certainly influenced it, has been a long time in coming. I know I'm repeating myself when I say that D&D is my most prized story and it is the one that I am seriously pursuing in terms of professional revision and publication. To leave it on FictionPress is to invite people to take, copy, and distribute it elsewhere. Despite FP's strict rules to the contrary in their Terms of Service, recent events have clearly demonstrated the total lack of respect that certain people can have for creative ownership and authority. Frankly it's not something I want to mess with, and because I am so focused on finishing D&D and positioning it so that it may one day be of a publishable quality, I just cut to the chase. I have left the first chapter up so that, if need be, I have proof of a posting date prior to anyone else's, and can refer back to that if - god forbid - some legality issue might arise in the future.

The act of plagiarism didn't happen to me, but despite that I'm still very upset by what's happened. It's something I'm going to be looking into in the next week, in terms of FP users' legal rights, copyright infringement/plagiarism issues, and so forth; hopefully you'll be able to see the fruits of that effort in the next issue of Tough and Dirty. Until then, check out the thread on the SKoW forum and definitely add your two cents to the conversation. As users of FP, it's something that really concerns us all.

With all of that said, I do want to take a moment to apologize to all of those who regularly read and reviewed Diamonds and Dust, and who, even after a four month lack, still tuned in faithfully to the last couple chapters and have supported the story generally. You will never know how much that support means to me, and you have my eternal thanks. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please let me hear them. I am going to send out PMs in the next couple of days to all those who have put the story on favorites/alerts, but for those who are genuinely interested in the fate of Virginia and company, let me know. I won't promise that I'll send out the story on the sly or anything like that, but I certainly will keep you updated on its progress in terms of completion, revision, and publication, and will undoubtedly continue to ask for advice.

Those of you who are concerned about my other stories, don't worry. I don't think I'll be taking anything else down from my profile. There are a few works that I considered posting that will now never be posted, but that's only because these are future stories that I will also pursue publication with and I don't want to hurt my chances at getting them out to an even wider audience.

Hopefully most of you understand where I'm coming from and will continue to support my writing. Again, it's not a decision I came to easily, that I made spur of the moment, but rather one that has been slowly building for some time. For those of you who would like to throw tantrums and feel victimized by my decision, I rescind my apology and would further like to add: grow up.

Nuthin' but love,
Megs

gradumacation baby

OMG I'M DONE.

No seriously. I am done. With school. For a good while. Done. Done? Doooone.

Pardon me, I'm going to start wigging out now.

*elevator music*

*muffled screaming*

Okay.

Today I turned in my last paper, and now I am officially free to write fiction until my fingers bleed. I probably won't go quite that far, you understand, but the very availability of the option is so enticing. I still have work, of course (unless you people want to start paying my bills--which I am totally up for, let me just put it out there), but now when I come home from said job I can has cheeseburgers, too!

I mean, fuck. Wait.

Forget it. I can't think properly. I'M DONE, OMGZ.

"progress" my ass.

So I've been having some computer-related problems lately. Nothing serious, but it's enough to piss me off. I have an old mac powerbook g4, and it's getting to the point where I can no longer use certain browsers or updates because my computer is too old. Mozilla is totally out - won't even work any more, and that's what I'd been using, and so it's where all my bookmarks are. Safari I can use, but it's an old version, and to make matters worse, isn't even supported by half the websites I visit. There are no longer security updates (or any other kind, for that matter) available for my mac. I don't even have wifi.

I need a new computer, like whoa. But since I can't afford one.... le sigh.

Also, FP is totally acting up. I can't sign into my account for some reason, and when I tried the "forgot password?" option, I never got the email. So I don't know what's up with that.

All in all, not a happy camper.

AAAHHHH, and stuff like that

So my all-important exam is on Monday and Tuesday. And then.... and then, ladies and gentlemen, I can start writing semi-regularly again. I won't have to study for the biggest, scariest test of my life and can instead focus on the goodness that is my fiction.

I also started another story. >_>;;

Not a big one.... probably only six chapters, actually.

Don't look at me like that.

Whatever, you'll like it. Or else.

dude.

Anybody seen this shit yet? Apparently The Ghost Stone has been officially nominated at SKoW for Most Creative Plot (uncomplete). I know I asked people to give Vesper and Co. some love but I didn't actually expect a nomination. So this is kind of flattering. I love you guys. It's a fun story to write, no doubt, but you guys make it feel even more worthwhile. So thanks for that. ;]

Meanwhile, the first couple weeks of school have been, as predicted, crazy busy and have generally leeched on all my time, energy, and good intentions. Things are starting to die down a little bit but I still have some scary exams to take this semester, so do not expect as many updates. This will be my last semester in school however, and that is good news for my writing career. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Also. Super bowl today. Go Bruce!

time is money

I started writing the next story for The Harris Family Tree already (just a couple pages, nothing serious), mostly because I was still in gear from The Man-nequin and I found the perfect challenge for Erin. So she's up next. But after that, I don't know what I'll do because I don't really like any of the other SKoW challenges and I simply refuse to submit Justin and Mark to such stupid scenarios as the "period piece" and notable others. The Harris men are too cool for school, you dig? So help me find something else - doesn't have to be SKoW, as long as I have all the requirements written down. If you guys know a place where I can get some new ones, gimme gimme.

With all that said, don't expect another update on the Family Tree anytime soon - school starts this week, and so does my job from hell. College bookstores are pretty chill most of the year, but dear god, that first couple weeks can kill a man. To give you an idea of how my soul will be a withered and pale thing by the end of the week, here's my hours tomorrow--and this is just tuesday: 7:45 AM - 9 PM. I remind myself of the money, and that is the only thing that keeps me going.

In other news, I came up with a fun idea for a story the other day. It would probably be a (relatively) short deal - no more than 7-10 chapters, I would think - and I would get to write about a very competitive, sexy, and generally unhealthy relationship between a man and a woman who enjoy the chase almost as much as the win and do not suffer losses. Naturally this is going to be a bitter love/hate thing and may border on being dark and vaguely sadomasochistic; to the say the least, neither one is going down without a fight. It would, of course, be rated mature.

Not that I need more things to write about, though. ;p

P. S. There's a new poll about this here blog on my fictionpress profile. Go check it out!