Write Every Day 22

Putting this up early because the parental units' internet keeps croaking. If you're celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope it's a great day. Heck I hope everyone's day is great, celebrations or no. Hope you're finding your words. I am not. I was too tired from cross three states to get words last night. Made it to 555 and crapped out.





( daily tally )

Happy Thanksgiving

To my friends who celebrate, I hope you had a nice holiday. Mine was nice with the exception of the ONE thing I actually cooked (Mom had cooked 90% of this in the last couple of days). I had bought what SHOULD have been a tasty side dish of crasins and dice sweet potatoes but apparently Krogers had them on the shelf WAY too long. It was rotted and I had to toss it.

Lucky Uncle and his wife came out. She had surgery on monday but she's doing good. It was mostly quiet and I got some writing done (and more to do). That alone is something to be thankful for.

I decided to beg off going to Maryland tomorrow. These are my parents friends. I don't want to spend 5 hours on the road and several hours there when I have a) a shit ton of quizzes to write for the last week of class, b) a huge stack of crap to grade and c)I need 20K worth of words in a week. I've won nano 13 years running (OMG what is wrong with me?) and I don't want to lose now.

ALso 13 novels done and only TWO finished and sold. Two others are finished but one I'm not sure will ever amount to anything. Sigh. I need to finish my shit.

Have a longish snippet. Zvon is arriving now at Tanyth's home.

He could hardly keep his backside on the seat as he bounced and twisted around trying to see everything at once. Next to him Arria giggled but let him have his moment alone with the city. He could do no more than stare as the palace loomed into view. Zvon's heart leapt as he wondered where they really going to see the queen. Instead they went past it to a row of grand houses in a wooded glen, each one tucked in like it was their own private garden.

The car rolled up to a home so large he couldn't believe it was a house. It had to be a school or a hospital. Spires rose at all four sides, stabbing up to the open sky, the trees having been cleared back to a distance where they wouldn't fall on the structure in a storm. Was it made of marble? It looked like it was, all three or was it four stories of it. Even from here he could see stained glass windows.

"You live here?" he whispered, shocked. He knew they had money but nothing could have prepared him for this.

"It was a gift from the queen. I am not as well paid as this would make it seem." Tanyth grinned. "But we are well off, that is true."

"I'm beginning to think I died on that sidewalk and this is the long route to heaven."

Tanyth snorted. "You still have a ways to go before you get there young man. This is just a house, albeit a grand one. Let's see who is about."

Zvon's ability to move forward ended when he walked in the front door and he was greeted by a large room, bigger than his whole home with heavy woodened doors leading off in three directions and a rose marble staircase rising up to the next floor.

Arria dragged him along into the next room which had a warmer feel to it, all wood and gilt with book cases covering every place he could see. Along one wall he saw two people playing a table came he didn't know, a tall boy who bore a resemblance to Arria and a petite girl with hair like night and red-brown skin. She had to be one of the mountain folk though he had only ever heard about them.

"Mother!" The young man called, jumping up from the game. He jogged over but stopped dead seeing Zvon. "You brought home another new family member?"

Zvon blinked. Apparently Arria hadn't lied about Tanyth's habit of doing that.

"This is Zvon Pike." Tanyth put a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be living with us. Zvon, this is my son, Adan who's apparently home from school."

"It's the holiday of the End of Winter, Mother." Adan rolled his eyes. "Did you forget?"

"Apparently." She chuckled. "And that is Siaq, my adopted daughter."

Siaq stood, eyeing Zvon's stump then held her fingers in an X over her right eye.

"Siaq, don't be rude," Tanyth scolded. "Sorry, Zvon, the Sokil people are a bit superstitious."

"It won't happen to you if you prevent the evil eye," Siaq argued.

"It's not contagious," Zvon huffed, brandishing his stump. He wrinkled his nose. "Well, not any more. The infectious bit went in a bin."

Siaq made a face. "Ew."

33401 / 50000 words. 67% done!