The Secret Garden...

It's been another long week. It had it's ups (New couch! Clean living room!) and it had it's downs (totally useless doctors appointment) but it's almost over with.

I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted - we were still testing for the mid month website update up until yesterday (the update was due to be released tonight) but I was taken off of testing and reassigned to doing triage on stuck orders yesterday. I was annoyed at first (one always feels as if they've done something wrong or are being punished when they're removed from a project) but at the same time it was a little bit of a relief - people were getting frustrated and not communicating. My stress levels are already high enough due to this PCOS and fibroids stuff, so it's nice to take a step back, and work by myself.

My only complaint is that I've run out of music to listen to while I work. Any suggestions?

While I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted, I was able to chip away some more at Chapter 5. It's really quite sad that I've been struggling with this damn chapter ever since this round of ROW80 started. But I'm almost there. I swear. Girl Scout honor and all that.

Patricia Wrede posted a blog about writing crowd scenes today - which was appropriate because I'm in the middle of a crowd scene in one of my fanfics.

For this weeks WIPpet Wednesday, I have decided to share another part of Chapter 6. Since today's the 12th, here's 12 sentences for you to enjoy. This picks up a little bit after last week's WIPpet -Mattie has followed the footsteps, and has stumbled across a strange garden.

The continuous maze of hallways and rooms suddenly emptied out into a garden. Mattie skidded to a stop and stared at her new surroundings in shock. Despite the disrepair of the rest of the castle, this garden was surprisingly well kept; the plants and flowers had been recently trimmed and and far off she could hear the burble of water in a fountain. She followed the trail of stepping stones that stretched out in front of her, her head turning from side to side as she tried to take it all in.

Even though she had never seen it before - any of it - the well-worn paths between roses and other flowers seemed familiar.  Only... no... that wasn't right... The garden felt more than just familiar; the longer she stood there, the more she realized that she knew it by heart... like one of Rordan’s stories. She knew, though she didn’t know how to explain how she knew it, but she knew that if she continued straight ahead there would be a marble fountain. Beyond that, down a smaller side path, there was a grassy circle which was the perfect place to have a picnic during the summertime, or to watch the stars pass overhead during the night.

Her heart continued to race as if she was still running and the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up as if she had just walked into a cold room. It was one thing to not remember that you could read if it had been centuries since you had had a reason or the opportunity to read, but it was another thing entirely to recognize someplace one had never been. Was this more proof that she was losing control of her mind?

Or was she simply seeing things again?

Poor Mattie...

Anywho, WIPpet Wednesday was started by K. L. Schwengel of My Random Muse. The rules are simple, all you have to do is post part of a work in progress that some how relates to the date, or if you don't have a WIP, you can always start something new.

Be sure to check out more WIPpet Wednesday posts over here, you can also find more ROW 80 updates over here.