Reorganization, And Other Delights

Reorganization began last year with my office.  This year the amazing Kate (who has helped me do what I couldn’t on my own, and also untangled tech problems that I couldn’t do that either) accomplished three times as much in several months, while I worked on my writing (mostly) and she did the heavy lifting (actual lifting at times) that transformed bedroom, what *will* be the craft room when I finish the work, and crash attacks on several other problems.  We also hosted an introductory saber workshop taught by the incomparable Russ Mitchell  of  Winged Sabre Historical Fencing from Dallas, whom I’d visited earlier, for some coaching in my attempt to learn sabre.   Meanwhile, no word from Editor about Horngard, and after a discussion with Agent and a clearer eye, I went in to that battleground again, this time with aid from the writing group I’m in.

I have a new computer (well, she’s a year old now),  a REAL high-speed internet connection, a new printer.   And Kate’s mother Karen (who is NOT “a Karen” so no jokes about her name) is working on a “bible” for Paksworld, which has grown too big to handle with a few namelist files, especially since the demise of the previous computer (Bunter)  zapped them.  Kate also found me a fantastic data recovery firm, which recovered a lot of stuff that was on Bunter.  Yay on that.

But back to the writing.  Short fiction done while Horngard was being revised (MANY times) in the past year turned out to be useful to keep the first-drafting instincts continuing to recover.

So Horngard now has a new beginning that is less…verbose.  Re-imagined in terms of the characters’ complexity and also specific developmental, um, constraints.   Camwyn is 21 now,  and Aris is 18.  Camwyn, readers o the Paladin’s Legacy books will remember, was badly injured by an iynisin attack, saved by Dragon, who took him away to heal him dragon-fashion and later reported that he had survived but lost all his previous memories.  Now it’s  5-6 years later.  Camwyn indeed remembers nothing of his life before waking in Dragon’s cave.   He’s spent the intervening years being retaught what can be retaught, by Dragon and the tutors Dragon hires, prepating Cam to become king somewhere in the Westmounts.  Aris, 3 years younger, shocked and grieving, wanted Camwyn back…the Camwyn he remembered. That didn’t happen.  Losing Camwyn apparently changed his personality from the active, mischievous boy who was up for any of Camwyn’s  sometimes hair-raising ideas…and became the perfect page, then the perfect squire.   He’s been vigorously discouraged (by his father, by his older brothers) from “daydreaming” about finding Camwyn himself and renewing their friendship.   His father, at least, thinks Aris has given up that idea entirely.  Meanwhile, like many a teenage boy, he’s counting the days until he’s free to act on his own.   There’s quite a bit about horses in this monster–it’s not about horses, exactly, but the Marrakai family horses are widely known, and three Marrakai…no, counting Julyan, the youngest, *four* Marrakai, all of them horse-connected, are active in the plot.   Juris, the eldest and kirgan, Gwennothlin, who was one of Dorrin’s squires and then went into the Bells and now is in the Royal Guard of Tsaia, Aris…co-MC with Camwyn…and Julyan.

If interested in snippets, there are several posted over on the Paksworld blog, one each for Camwyn, Aris, Aesil M’Dierra, and Gurtnor Sartanits…who’s Gurtnor?    Owner-commander of Blue Company out of Valdaire.  The kind of man who scrapes his spurs on a polished floor, carries not just a longsword, a dagger in each boot, and a street-fighting short-sword on his other hip and wants all these to show everyone how tough he is…and who condescends to Aesil M’dierra, sneering about Duke Arcolin.

3 thoughts on “Reorganization, And Other Delights

  1. Wasn’t it Blue Company who let Captain Arneson go without a pension when he had been wounded after nine years’ service? Evidently their leader is not a nice person,

    1. Yup. Sartanits is not a nice fellow at all. Excellent memory–congratulations. The little hints at the end of the snippets over on Paksworld blog suggest that someone is going to die in this book (actually quite a few people die…what happens when you write about mercenaries, scoundrels, and war.)

  2. He condescended to M’dierra? This will not end well.

    (at the very least it proves he is A FOOL)

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