Spring has Sprung and So Have I...

... or is that just the coffee?


I feel like I am on a roll right now.  This week I have started my next country, Hynovia, and its accompanying story.  Hynovia is in the south-east of Idhua and has close ties to Eonia, so there is already some information about it from the work I have done on its neighbor.  The story is just an idea right now, but I am going to explore someone turning down the “great opportunity.”  This came from musing on the way in which our culture has a narrative that if someone has a talent or opportunity that will make them rich, famous or powerful then it should be grabbed with both hands.  Likewise, the story more often told is the young person who wants to leave home and claim their gifts.  While I don’t have a problem with ambition or exploration, I want to acknowledge that there is also value in the person who decides that love of what they have is enough, that they don’t need to do great deeds or have great acclaim.


Besides the new country, I’ve been editing The Summer Valley, which I have decided is pretty good as it is and I just need to get over being neurotic about presenting it to a big launch party in June.  I am also pursuing an idea of asking some of the other guests at the launch party to perform music or poetry and so to make the evening a literary and musical celebration.  To this end I have begun to make arrangements with Dusty Stings to rent a harp for my friend E.  She can’t bring her harp up to Seattle with her, but she and I are both eager for her to play at the party.


I have also been thinking about decorations and the menu, which is a bit early I know, but this is a big one!  I am thinking of a five to seven course feast, leaning heavily on the fresh produce that will be coming into season in June: asparagus, peas, and strawberries.  This week I am going to make and freeze Meyer Lemon Curd so that I can make Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs as one of the desserts.


Besides all the excitement in writing and party planning, Norwescon is coming up next week.  I am going with artist Sara Twitty who will have a display in the art show – so if you’re going to be there, head to the Gallery sometime to check out her work!

Finished Orin

I have finished both the entry and the rough draft of the short story for my next country: Orin.  The short story, titled “The Summer Valley” is being read by my kind and generous beta reader, M, whom I hope will not be quite as despairing about it as I have been feeling.  The reason I am being gloomy about it is that the launch party for Orin is set for June and it is going to be a big one.  My mom, my dear friend E, and my sister’s boyfriend are all going to be up from CA to see my sister graduate and will be here for the party.  In addition, when I sent out a “save this date” invitation I had a lot of positive responses, a number from people who will be coming for the first time.  So it’s not that I don’t like “The Summer Valley” but rather that I have been feeling that it should somehow be extra special for an extra big party with VIPs.


Orin is a country which spans a temperate and Mediterranean climate – in the north above the Idessa Mountains it is cooler and wetter, though it rarely snows, while in the south there are vineyards and orange and lemon orchards.  It was limping along a bit until I decided that they needed a legendary king to focus on with both their history and their legends and folk-lore.  I glanced over the Arthurian and Carolingian cycles, not only for inspiration, but also as an example of how such bodies of literature and legend work on a patriotic consciousness.


Here is the current map of Idhua: It is entirely coincidental that I have been working on the purple countries.  Apparently, I colored a number of the countries which were settled earliest (which is my criteria) purple without planning it.

Ghost of a Rose

After spending most of the week flailing around trying to come up with an idea for my next short story, I just managed to write 2000 words in two hours.  I had the idea on Wednesday at work, let it marinate yesterday and it’s been bubbling out this morning.  What’s it about?  The Forest, young love, old love, summer time, an enchanted valley.  I wasn’t consciously thinking of the Blackmore’s Night song “Ghost of a Rose,” when I scribbled the outline at work, but it is surprisingly appropriate.  Since E was the one who gave me that song years ago, this one will be for you, my fellow Philomythus.

Vacation Time

I took a 6 week vacation from many of my activities so that I could enjoy summer, house-guests, visiting California, etc.  For the last week I have been down in Santa Cruz, staying with my mom and my dear friend, E.  (Check out her poetry blog CrazyCurlyCues.)  While I was down south, my mom’s writing group, the Inkslingers, was kind enough to invite me to their monthly meeting and to read for them.  I read my shortest story to date, Catkin, and received some excellent feedback.  It was also really wonderful to hear what others in the group were writing: high fantasy, a YA adventure/mystery story, and a non-fiction self realization/empowerment book.  I wish I had a magic door that opened one way into Seattle and the other into Santa Cruz, so I could visit all my good friends here – especially the redwood trees!

Sunlight in the Redwoods