Hello World!
This is the official start of my Blog.
I’ve been thinking about starting one and finally made a February 6th Resolution to get it going. I thought a lot about what to share with you. I’m not sure if what I came up with will be interesting or not. Maybe I’ll share with you things from my next book, or new graphics I’ve received from artists, or . . .
I thought about sharing some of the writing challenges I face, and how I get past them. For example, I’ve recently been struggling with setting the scene in an interesting way so that you have an image of the scene in your mind. Here’s what I wrote for the introduction to an important battle:
Alman guided his mutie in a slow walk toward the spiny bushes, heading for a narrow opening in the wall of spikes. Following a curving path, Alman led the party past prickly bushes, then turned to the left following another path. After twenty paces, he turned onto a new path heading to the right. In a seemingly random pattern, Alman moved from one pathway to another, weaving closer and closer to the center. Spiky bushes lined the edge of the path, the sharp thorns reaching out to snag cloths or scratch skin.
“Did your people plant the ThornBerries here, just for this purpose?” Rayel asked.
Alman shrugged but remained silent as he led the party along the confusing path. Sometimes, the path branched off in another direction, the gaian ignoring certain paths in favor of others.
“It’s a maze,” Brianna whispered.
Alman glanced over his shoulder at her, a smile peeking through the tangle of brown and gray hair clinging to his chin. Brianna tried to keep track of the path they followed, but it was impossible.
After many turns and passing through multiple intersections, the path finally ended, spilling them into a clearing at the top of the hill, a ring of tall, thorny bushes guarding them on all sides. Brightly colored berries lay nestled amidst the barricade of sharp spines. Blues, reds, and purples peeked out from between the sharp barbs, daring any intruder to reach in and take the succulent prize.
A thick blanket of grass covered the ground with a fire pit at the center, polished stones of every type ringing the charred circle. Clearly, the Gaians used this place to camp overnight, the ThornBerry bushes keeping out unwanted visitors.
What do you think? Can you see it in your mind? I’m sure it would make more sense if you had the previous page, but I wanted to keep this short. Later, I’ll share the entire scene.
Mark