Poof!

So I had this post written discussing a new tv show I started watching, how the Bug is now teething, and other things, and somehow it just disappeared! One minute it was there and then the next it was replaced by an earlier post. The title was the same, but other than that it was totally different.

Weird.

Anywho, to sum the previous post up:

• I'm sorry I didn't post last week, but we did a soft launch of our new program so my team was up until 3am supporting that. I, however, couldn't hack it so I passed out at 1. 
• The 100 on the CW is amazing. 
• Teething sucks. 
• And my in laws are out of town so we have the whole house to ourselves! YAY! I can watch my TV shows on Netflix without having to worry about whatever my in laws are doing with the internet interfering (the internet at their house really sucks, but hopefully in 6 more months we'll be on our own again)

In addition to that I rediscovered my word press blog yesterday. I prefer blogger because I have more control over the layout without having to pay some exorbitant fee, but I finally found a free layout that's not too horrible. Also it seems like everyone and their mother likes to use wordpress. I'm trying to decide if I want to move over there, or stay here, or maybe keep them both but have one be for updates about the Bug and have this one be for writing.

Decisions, decisions.

The other tough decision on my plate right now is trying to figure out what to do with The Descendants. Currently the book opens with Vivian going to a party where her boyfriend proposes and then flips out on her when she turns him down. It occurred to me the other day that the boyfriend is a pointless character. He really serves no purpose in the books other than to show that Vivian is ambivalent about love and relationships. She wants to be in one, but she's afraid of it at the same time because she's afraid of loosing the person (After seeing how her dad reacted to her mom's death, who could really blame her). However, after the first book we don't see him again until book four and he only shows up in one or two scenes that do nothing to further the plot - though they lead to some great fan service (Though, can a book have a fan service scene if it hasn't been written yet and therefore has no fans yet? I have a lot of faith in this series I guess).

A part of me is tempted to change the opening to where her dad is getting remarried. Vivian is, understandably, not thrilled about the idea - especially since she's pretty positive that the woman has ulterior motives. Sure enough the woman does and her actions are what send Vivian on her journey.

I'm also tempted to make Audra be this woman's daughter instead of being Vivian's friend.

And I'm debating about making Audra a florist, but I worry it might be too obvious.

What are your thoughts, my dear readers and fellow WIPpeteers?

Today is WIPpet Wednesday, so here is your weekly snippet. Since today is January 21st, here are four paragraphs from The Descendants (1+21=22, 2+2=4). We last checked in with Vivian in this post. She's no longer stuck in the temple of doom, but her new surroundings are still dangerous - she just doesn't know it yet.

Afraid of what fresh nightmare might await her, she opened her eyes just a smidge - and immediately closed them against the bright glare of the sun. It hung high in the sky above, it’s rays beating down on her body and warming the fabric of her clothing and the stone underneath her.  

Squinting, she opened her eyes a second time and discovered that she wasn’t in another nightmare - instead she was in the middle of a field. Tall grass surrounded her on either side, broken up here and there by red flowers. She bent down and plucked one, running her thumb over the soft petals and the dark whorl of stamens at its center - poppies.  

While poppies weren’t her favorite flower by far, it was still comforting to see them. 

Beyond the poppies and the grass, foothills covered in greenery led up to two mountains that towered on the horizon. One was sharp and short, while the other was wide with a jagged top like a tooth. Smoke seemed to be drifting from the top of that one, but it faded as she stared at it, making her wonder if she had just imagined it.  

To check out more WIPpet Wednesday posts, go here.

Music Monday: Roundtable Rival

Six Months Later...

Today my baby boy turned six months old.

SIX MONTHS OLD!!!!

Just yesterday he was this tiny little thing in an incubator, and now he's wearing size 9 month clothing and sleeping in a crib. We brought him home in an infant carrier carseat and now he's in a convertible carseat. He used to drink just 2 ounces of formula, and now he's up to 5 and he's going to be starting baby food soon! He's laughing and cooing all the time, can roll over, and is trying to figure out crawling. Where has the time gone?!?

Music Mondays Are Back!

I've been listening to this song on repeat all last week. The line 'I am the son of a lost country' reminds me a lot of one of my characters.

A New Year...

My resolutions this year are to:

1. Write more - like every day if possible
2. Finish my crochet projects before I start a new one
3. Use up all my yarn stash.

So far I finished a harry potter scarf I started over a year and a half ago (though it's probably been longer than that). The sad thing is that it was pretty much finished last January - all I had to do was sew up either side and add fringe. I'm currently plugging away now at a baby blanket I started in October for a friend from Church - I think I have 20 more rows till I'm done. After that there's another baby blanket to finish for a cousin. However I lost the hook I was using for that one, and now I can't remember what size hook it was, so I may have to frog it and start from scratch.

Oh, well, at least my neck will be warm while I do so. 

(Ravenclaw  Forever)

I am beginning to plug away at my stories more. I updated both of my fanfics for the first time since April. I finally just deleted the chapter that was annoying me on The Undying Ones. It turns out that I didn't really need it after all. I still have no idea if I should change the first couple of chapters of the Descendants, or leave it as is.

Anywho, today is WIPpet Wednesday. Since there isn't anything I can really share in TUO or The Descendants at this point, and there's nothing new in Mary's story, I'm going to share a little bit from one of the aformentioned fanfics I updated last week - Renegade Weyr. Just like Between Two Worlds, it's a Dragonriders of Pern Fanfic, but unlike Between Two Worlds, this actually takes place on Pern and the two main characters are both dragonriders.

There are five different dragon colors on Pern - Golds are female dragons and are the largest, and are often called Queens. Bronzes are male and the second largest dragons. Browns are also male, and are the next in line on the size scale. They're followed by Blues, who are male too. Last but not least are Greens, who are the smallest and are female.

When dragons hatch, they 'impress' upon a human, and then they and that human are bonded for life. Queen's impress on women. Bronzes, Browns, and Blues impress on men. Greens either impress girls, or men. They can communicate with their rider and each other telepathically, but it's very rare that a dragon will talk to another dragon's rider.

When men impress they shorten their name - so Jason, becomes J'son. Women who impress don't change their name. Dragon's names always end in a 'th'.

Dragons and their riders all live together in a Weyr, but occasionally they'll leave to go and visit a hold, craft hall, or a Gather - which is kinda like a county fair.

N'kar, the character in this chapter, is the rider of brown Elanth. He grew up in a Weyr surrounded by dragons and eventually impressed. His family, however, moved out of the Weyr and into a Hold after his oldest sister got married. He's gone to a Gather near their home to spend some time with them when his dragon encounters another dragon that isn't what it seems to be.

Since today is the seventh of January, here are seven lines from the first chapter.

I thought you were going to sleep? N’kar asked the brown.
I was, but then more dragons arrived and I had to move. There are two very pretty greens here now but they won't talk to me. There's a small bronze and a blue that keep watch on them constantly. The dragon sounded annoyed, They're very nervous.
Maybe they're coming into heat? The brownrider suggested in an attempt to soothe the dragon.
No, I would know. And no one else has seen them before. The large green isn't right, she's nearly as big as me, but she isn't a green.
How can a green not be a green?
I don't know, I don't understand. She's green, but she isn't a green.
I give up. N'kar's brain hurt from trying to understand Elanth's logic. Try to ignore them and go to sleep.

To read more of the fanfic (there's 31 chapters) you can go here.
To read more WIPpet Wednesday updates - go here.