So my undying WIP (codename Torcmar until I think of something better) is in a state of flux (again) as I try to wrestle the story into something meaningful.
The problem is that I have been writing this story since the summer of 1995, when I was a student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. I spent quite a lot of time in the cafe at the Dom where I was staying (no, that's not a typo, Dom = Home) with notes and sketches and maps. The original map of the Shadowrealm is based on the map of Krakow's Old Town with which I navigated the cobblestones of the medieval city. I made up a lot of fun characters, and got really into the story.
The main character at the time was called Laella, and she had a friend called Zephrene who was sort of scene decoration and sounding board. I love the name Zephrene so I used it for a MOO character in 1997. Then I used it for myself when I started creating an internet ID, thus the LJ and the various other usernames.
And then as the story evolved, I realized that Laella was not actually the protagonist, but Zephrene was. And I can't keep writing her with that name, because it has too many associations for me, and all of my beta-readers will choke on it. It doesn't really matter that the character pre-dated my internet ID.

So what can I name her instead?  Aaaargh. 

In other news, I have inquiries about three weddings this year, and only two are for friends. Wowee.

In March, Writing Rocks invites members and interested writers to use the cards at Post Secret as inspiration for ficlets, timed writing exercises, short stories, whatever.

So I did a little bit for this week (Sunday March 2nd Secrets), basically a timed exercise for ten minutes because I wrote it on my lunch break, directly into the posting window.

( I'm sorry I failed you... )

I wrote over 1000 words today. It was a slow work day. I am feeling very good about that, although I'm not sure how many of the words are worth keeping.
In any case, here's a snippet from the bit. ETA: I didn't need the context, I cut it way short.

( Ethan had chosen a dreary day for this visit. The mist of early morning gradually gave way to intermittent rain showers as heavy gray clouds pushed all evidence of daylight to the east. )

Oh, readers of LJ, I need some creative insults for shapeshifters to call people what are stuck in a single form their whole lives (e.g. humans).
And while we're at it, how about some that go the other way?

Don't be shy!

Found in the character file for Zephrene Alidhi:  "She can stand on her hands."  

Not sure why that was important to note, but there it is.

The best thing to come out of my trip to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was renewed inspiration to write, coupled with some love for the score.
Also, so incredibly excited about the trailers.
However, this film really failed me on the costumes. A few of them were brilliant, but I just kept noticing how awful some of them were for the characters, and that's a bad thing. Anything that throws me out of the film is a bad thing. (Usually for me it's an especially obnoxious score that does it.)
Neville, who was in charge of your casual closet, lad? Stick to the uniform.
The adults weren't awful, but they weren't wonderful either, with the exception of Sirius and his waistcoat. Oh, my. Ok, geeking over.

SPOILERS after the cut...
( what little spoilers there be, be here )

I wish they'd just made it 15 minutes longer and attempted to make the internal logic more consistent. Dare I hope the DVD will have deleted scenes? Too bad they don't do Extended Editions of Harry Potter.

I'm hoping to see it at least once more on the big screen so perhaps my observations will change.
Also, I just want to note that the credits include "Slightly Creepy Boy" and "Somewhat Doubtful Boy".

I stayed up entirely too late last night, but I was on a roll with my scene, so yay!
I skipped ahead - way way way ahead - in the story to almost the end, the rescue of a character who had been taken prisoner and tortured. Somehow there's always one.
I also had my first session of the Storytelling class at Continuing Studies today, which served as its own sort of inspiration. Plus one of the Quilt Committee ladies was in it with her husband!
I am still working on character journals, but one thing I did was a Tarot Tools Character Creation Exercise with Baroz and Paul, which actually did turn up a few useful tidbits. Oddly enough, their prime motivations and root longings are the same - stable, safe, loving families. Unfortunately, Baroz lost that long ago and has spent the last few decades burning the bridges that might have let him recover something of that feeling, thinking each time that this fire would be the one to bring him peace. It never is, so he must burn once more, and the possibility of peace and family grows farther still. Paul has been so dedicated to his service in his skewed version of duty to Kate that he has never been able to live for himself, and is unsure how to do so now that he has returned to a world in which it is possible. He struggles to identify himself outside his role as guardian and teacher, to find a foundation from which a future can be built, a future for him and for Kate. Villain and hero, at core dreaming the same dream, but each shaping their reality in totally different ways in search of it. Fascinating, this stuff. I love it.
Kate and Sajus have a much more conventional romance subplot, but it gets sliced and diced by the political warfare and assassination attempts that dog their steps toward the altar.
I'm trying to think whether any of my POV characters get through the story without being at death's very door. I don't think so.
I don't actually know yet if they all survive, but I think so. In this story.

Also back on the front burner is Torcmar, with Zeph and Ethan. I let the World's Slowest Love Scene rest for several weeks and read it again this past week. It's not bad. The other scenes aren't bad either. Oddly enough, the more I read limyaael's rants, the more I want to write about Zeph and Ethan. Ah, my sweet broken and badly-glued lovers, how I love thee. They both get close to death, too, but it's not the death of the body that really gets to them. Their whole story is about what it means to be sane vs. insane, to be healthy vs. sick, to live in a fantasy world vs. in grounded reality. Funny how I didn't know that until right this very minute.
I love writing.

I went to the write-in and cranked out some words on a pivotal scene. I am not entirely sure it makes sense, but this is NaNo, and we don't delete. :)
Snippet is posted in the Writing Filter.

I've posted some amusing bits from today's work on the WIP. Stuff is getting good. I'm pretty pleased with the developments - it's tough filling in extra scenes to get my word count up, but the NaNo crew has been most helpful. And yWriter at least lets me jump back and forth around the storyboard without losing track of where I am.

Ok, I wrote practically nothing again today, but I did some Torcmar photo manip instead, resulting in my sweet new Ethan & Zephrene icon.
There's a new snippet up on the Writing Filter, as well.

I think that the 1100 words I put on the story last night may all be completely expendable. I can't really see what the point is for the scene as it stands - plus I didn't end up writing the scene I thought I was writing, the one for the word I pulled out of my prompts table.
Now I have two words from the table to write, and I have to get back to something relevant.
Hm. Perhaps I'm wrong, and the story will need some of what was in that scene. Given that the story is still so nebulous, anything is possible.

I will soldier on today with my next word and see if I can get to some of the scenes I've actually outlined.

And please continue to post questions for the interfaith minister.

I met up with Michelle for coffee and chat, then had what may be my final Ethiopian dinner as a resident of New York.
I also put in some new words on the story, actually entering Zephrene's point of view for the first time since this whole thing started. Woot!

And just for kicks, another link for Jeri regarding the airport security and terrorism stuff.
What a crock.

Now I must sleep, because I have to be down by City Hall by 7:30am for work in the morning. Mmm, morning trainings for Feds. Fun times.

So I jumped ahead a bit in the story (bad habit, gotta stop doing that) and found myself wondering... Ethan is essentially a cop in this world. At least two Wolves are his coworkers, and two more encounter him regularly in an official capacity at their jobs. He is extremely formal when in uniform, and generally aloof otherwise, so when on duty or in the city he's mostly addressed by his surname.
So do people use his surname to address him at home, like they do out in the world, or do they actually call him "Ethan"?
Please note, the results of this poll may have absolutely no effect on the story. Just wondering.

Poll #814066
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

What name do the Wolves use for Ethan?

(Please feel free to suggest an Annoying Epithet should that be your choice.)

The next installment of the Ethan & Zeph story (which really needs a title) is on my Writing Filter, direct from my raw file to LJ readers. Should you not be on the Writing Filter and wish to be, drop me a comment.
I am going to continue to post both story updates (tag: story) and general writing/worldbuilding news (tag: writing) for all my WIPs here. This particular story's specific tag is 'torcmar'.

Now I have more of the next scene to write. Cheers.

From today's Google Chat:
me: you know what, I just grew my character three new siblings and WOW does that complicate matters.
me: I need to be able to three-dimensionally model all these relationships
Jaye: Maybe if we got you one of those chem molecule sets.
me: duuuuuude. and I could paint all of the little atoms with faces and names... and attach hair... and it would get really silly really fast. and all the different kinds of bonds would represent relationships - parenthood, siblinghood, sex/marriage...
Jaye: Why is Richard Schiff suddenly in my head saying "See, I lent voice to thought and that was my mistake"

It's not a Red Light District if the world doesn't have lights.

One man's heretic is another man's saint is another man's innocuous neighbor.

The question of who pays the City Guard is more important than it first appears.

The Elite Unit does not always have to wear black.

Real wolves don't behave like most fantasy wolves.

A wall that keeps everybody else out also holds you in.

The result of my evening spent with Google Maps, my eleven-year-old original sketches, and my new color gel mini-pens. I think this is a much more promising look at the Torcmar Territory than my previous attempt. (For those wondering, it's a little bit San Francisco and a little bit Venice and a lot my inner god-like worldbuilder.)
It will give me a much better idea of where things are. Now I have to re-do some of the zoomed-in interior street maps, too, but those should be relatively easy to adjust. Not to mention fun!
I love fantasy cartography.

I genuinely now need a map so that I can figure out some things for the story, but the ones I drew eleven years ago are no longer going to cut it. They are juvenile geography at best, with no real understanding of scale or distance. So now I'm wandering the globe with Google Maps looking for a good set of cognate areas. I need a port city-state with a defensible landscape, and at least one major waterway. I looked at Istanbul and Venice and Galveston, but I'm not sure that I want the main body of the city on an island, or separated over any bodies of water.
One problem with my early map-making skills - my coastlines were amazingly island-free.

I broke 4,000 words. Yay!
Hm. Maybe I should switch POV characters now...