The Higher Education!

So the intention was there! I paid my $20 for my practice test but for the first time last night I sat down, set my timer for two hours and sat my practice STAT test! Amazingly I got 59 out of 70... At first I was extremely disappointed at getting 11 wrong but once I converted my potential score and realized that it would be well above the tertiary entry level I needed to get into my uni courses I was stoked.

I also decided to take into consideration that I sat my home test between midnight and 2am so thats got to count for something right!?

So now all that is left to do is book the test and take it... phew! Not that I am going to get my hopes up because a multiple question test that they send to your home could be completely different to the actual test I take in the exam, and then there is the essay questions! Mmm that makes me nervous!

It has been so long since I wrote a formal essay to be graded. The STAT test require two essays to be written in an hour, one formal and one less formal but the sample questions I have seem freak me out! They are things like 'It is a basic human right that people should be able to choose what they want to read, view and think, and censorship infringes this basic human right.' --- This is one of the sample 'formal questions and sure I have my opinions on the subject but that is if I had time to think about it and write bout it, not have it thrown at me and have to write about it in half an hour!

In reality all the literature on the test say that the essay scores are relatively lenient as they look more at the quality of the argument and the flow of the writing but by jeebas it's nerve racking! :)

Then there is the other decision... my dream has always been to be a history/social sciences teacher in secondary education ( I know, sooo geeky!) but to do that would require at least two university courses which in the long run may end up expensive depending on how the HECS stands up against the husbands 'earnings'. So for the last few years I have settled with the idea of doing primary education, just so long as it's at least years 5 - 7, but now that the time of the decision is getting closer I am just not sure.

Oh well, I guess I will make the choice when the time comes... Sometime I wonder why I continue doing all of this but I guess it will be worth it in the end!

Laters :)

Fall of Light - First chapters outline

**There is one thing I left out in the outline of the prologue, partly because I was tired and partly because I am still unsure about it. From where I left of the party of men and Dean travel the road, stopping for rest and food at an inn in a small village. While they eat in the commons a man joins them at the table. This man introduces himself to Prince Ladislas and Dean as Griff. He claims to be a traveler and asks of news but seems to take an interest in Dean from the start. He is a little strange for a traveler, seeming more like a scholar. During the evening Griff gifts Dean with a small coin pendant for him to wear, saying that he found it on the road telling him to keep it. After an odd farewell they leave and continue on the way to Carrador. 


The meeting with Griff will tie in with a lot of the storyline down the track but for some reason it doesn't feel right to me yet so I will keep an open mind until I find a way to write it that works or feel better about it. 


Chapter One


It is now seven years since the end of the Borderwars. Dean is hard at work in the Golden Crown, the Inn where he has lived since he was brought to Carrador after his families death.
Ladislas was the one who brought him to the Inn and got the Inn keeper, Vern and his wife to take him in. They have done well by him even if they are not the warmest people in the world and he is comfortable.
It is a busy night and Dean is busy. He notices a man he knows as Wal sitting in the corner, Wal is an adviser for Prince Ladislas who checked in on Dean a few times for Ladislas when he was younger. It isn't unusual to see Wal in the Golden Crown for a drink on occasion but something about the way he is speaking to his companion makes Dean take notice. Dean gets busy with the customers but notices when Wal gets up and leaves. 


A short while later Dean is called outside to help stable a horse and as he is returning he hears voices talking on the other side of the stable wall. The tone of their urgently whispered conversation makes Dean freeze and listen. 
One of the men seems agitated and slightly scared as he tells the other that they should re-think their plan. The other man is angry and tells him that there is no way that can happen and that the men are in place. When the first voice begins to protest there is a thud and he is silenced as his body is slammed up against the outside of the stable wall where Dean was hidden. The angry man holds him against the wall and says that nothing will threaten their plans, not even the Princes' witch man. He says that there are far more dangerous things to fear than the crown and he has no desire to be dead or worse! The orders were Summerfest so Summerfest it is, agreed?! After a moment the man is released and they move away. 


Once Dean is sure they are gone he thinks over what he heard and knows it isn't good. Obviously there where people in Carrador who where planning to do something terrible on Summerfest but what was he to do about it? Who could he tell and what would he tell them? The city watch would laugh him out of the station if he was to tell them what he had heard, without even so much as a description of the alleged conspirators.
A few hours later he lay in bed, unable to ease the feeling of dread he remembered the men talking about the Princes' man and thought of Wal. He was at the Inn, maybe he knew something about this? Resolving to seek out Wal With this information in the morning he falls asleep.


Stealing away in the morning he makes his way up to the castle. He is stopped at the gates and tries to explain to the guards that he needs to speak to the princes adviser Wal and it is important. They dismiss his urgency and turn him away from the gates. 
Dean protests saying that he is known to Wal and has some information that may be critical to him. As one of the guards raises his hand demanding Dean leave the Captain emerges from beyond the gatehouse, demanding to know what is the disturbance. Dean looks at the man recognizing him as one of the men who had ridden with Ladislas when he had been brought to Carrador.
After the guard explains the situation the Captain looks at Dean asking if this was accurate, Dean nods. With a cock of his head the captain asks who Dean is as he looks familiar. After he remember where he has seen Dean the Captain admits him, introducing himself as Reeves, Capitan of the Princes Army. 


Dean is taken to Wal and recounts what he overheard, suddenly nervous as the seemingly useless information came out of his mouth. Wal is grave but friendly asking Dean to come with him as there is someone else who might be interested in what he has to say. 
Dean follows and is surprised when he is taken to Ladislas himself. Ladislas seems genuinely pleased to see him again, he thanks Dean for the news and says that he needs attentive people like Dean out in the City, telling him to keep his ears open and return to the castle if he sees anything that he feels they might need to know. 
Dean is excused and leaves, taking notice of the of grave expressions of the three men as the door was closed behind him.


====================
This is my original beginning for Fall of Light but I am questioning it. Is it right that Dean ended up at the Inn? Or should Ladislas have taken him to work in the castle... Not that I am a fan of the whole Castle boy rises to the occasion but is Inn boy really all that much different? I have no intention for Dean to be adopted by the crown or anything but I think that it is important that he and Ladislas become friends. Perhaps once the friendship grows no one will care how he came to be there? 

All In The Mind!

Again it has taken me a while to get back here and I am eagerly anticipating my husband return on friday (2 nights away) so I can get a nice quiet week to get some work done. I am going to try write my outlines in separate posts under the lable Fall of Light for any one who is interested and if anyone has anything they want me to read let me know:)

So much of my writing is still in my mind and it's starting to get really exciting how things seem to just be opening up the further along I get. It is also kind of scary how many potential forks in the story are appearing.

Fall of light began with the world map, I still don't know how it started. What has surprised me is that my whole story evolved from that very first scene that I wrote with Dean witnessing the attack on his family. It was from this one chapter about a boy who I named after my son that whole world of history and people was created.

So I ask you to keep an open mind as I write my outline as I have still to decide on the directions some of my characters are to take. I would compare it to getting to know a friend, at first you don't know all that much about them so you can't really say what they think or will do. It's only after you learn more about their personality, their likes and dislikes, beliefs and ethics that you can make some kind of decision as to what they might do in a particular situation.

So bear with me as even I am not sure how it is all going to pan out as I have come to realise that I am only writing part of the story, the rest is writing itself.

Also if some of it doesn't seem to make sense or something let me know, it could be because I have made a major mistake or it could be just because I get most of my writing done late at night and I am a little fuddled :)

Fall of Light - Intro/Outline

This is my world so far, I have yet to name it.

In true epic fantasy style my world is set in a medieval style time period, but not too traditionally.

Fall of Light is set nine years after the Borderwars. So, I will give you a quick history.

====

In the north is Eillienia, Angalia and Osakeio.

Eillienia is the main kingdom of Fall of light. It is based on the more traditional English/European medieval period.

West of Eillienia is Angalia. Influenced by Scandinavian and Norse history the Angalians are something like migrated Vikings.

East of Eillienia, over the Avalon Sea is the Island nation of Osakeio, an empire inspired by a combination of Japanese and Samurai history.

In the south is Rajangaria, and the sub country of Issan. Rajangaria is hot, dry and relatively hostile. The people are mostly nomadic clans, ruled by an individual chieftain. The countries, people and cultures of Rajangaria and Issan are influenced generally by various Middle Eastern countries and cultures.

So... For year before the Borderwars there had been fighting between Eillienia and Rajangaria but with no unification between the clans the threat of the Rajan warriors was never considered a threat to the Eillienian soldiers who patrolled the Rhone Mountains.

Then came Dharakon Khan.

Naming himself Warlord, Dharakon united the Rajan clans under his rule, leading the masses of warriors over the Bhadakhar Ranges to descend on the people of Eillienia without warning.

For almost nine years the Borderwars brought death and destruction to the northern kingdoms. It was only after the sudden disappearance of Rajan Warlord that the fighting finally came to an end.

Fighting side by side in the war had bonded the three northern kingdoms and together kings of the north vowed never to make the same mistake again, creating the Northern Alliance.

===

So the first chapter is a prologue, this post is the first half or so of the prologue in a rough outline.

Set in late winter in the time of the Borderwars is is told from the point of view of Dean, a seven year old boy who is the son of a farm owner in the village of Bolt in Eillienia.

The light is fading as Dean hurries home. Dean is worried, His father is going to be so mad with him for being late. To dean a beating seems the worst thing that could happen to him in his child s mind.

Breaking into a run he reaches the crest of the hill that leads down to the Farmstead. Dean slips on the icy ground, tumbling down the hillside and into the bramble bushes before landing face down in the ditch.

It is then that dean looks up and sees the orange glow. From the spot where he lay in the ditch he can see The yard in front of his home, illuminated by the flames of his burning home. Before him are six dark figures on horseback, their silhouettes forming a circle around the huddled forms of his Father, Mother and sister as they kneel on the cold ground.

In on fluid motion on of the riders slides from his saddle and approaches Deans family. Dean can not hear the words that are spoken. Whatever the black man said seemed to have angered deans father, he lunges protectively to move himself in front of his family.

In one frightening second the shadow man steps forward, gripping a handful of Deans fathers hand in his fist he yanks his head back. Without hesitation a knife appears in his hand, and he sweeps it over his throat. His father Falls to the ground, the screams of his mother and sister drowned out by the explosion of the fires as the beams in the burning roof give way. Dean clamped his eyes shut.

After a moment he opened his eyes again when he hears a scream, with wide eyes he looks on as the riders throw his mother and sister, roughly over the front of their saddles. With a single whistle they all remount and disappear into the darkness beyond the flames at a gallop.

Dean stays in his place in the ditch all night. Gradually the flames of the buildings die down, and by the time the first grey light of dawn arrives they are little left but smoldering embers.

Crawling out of the bramble dean slowly walks over to the still shape of his fathers body on the ground. Blinking the tears back he walks over to the remains of the barn. Poking at the smoking ashes with a stick he finds the head of his fathers shovel still intact, the handle having burnt away. He pulls it out to cool for a moment, then walks over to the trampled remains of his mothers vegetable gardens and begins to dig.

After some time of Dean hacking at the half frozen earth with the spade tip he is startled by the sounds of horses approaching. The horses are close, there is no point in running so Dean returns to his task, lift, strike, sweep, lift, strike, sweep.

The horsemen arrive by the second strike. Dean does not look up but he can not help but listen.

The man at the head of the riders curses loadly, leaping from his saddle, he stides over to Deans fathers body.

After a few breathes Dean wipes his eyes and resumes his digging. In the background he can dimly hear the men talking, then the voices go quite. Deans eyes begin to water again as he hears the footsteps approach him, stopping a few feet from where he worked. Dean blinked and continued with the motions, refusing to look up at the stranger who watched him.

The sound of steel on stone behind him made dean jump and he whipped his head around. Of all the things Dean had expected to see the reality was none of them. Dean stared bewildered for a moment, at the opposite end on the grave the man had knelt, his once fine clothes now caked in mud. Deans confusion however was that the man had began to dig using the blade of the finest looking sword dean had ever seen.

After the grave is completed the stranger helps Dean to place is body in the ground and fill it in in silence........

Fear and Procrastination...

Finding time to write is a problem for me at the best of times. And with my husband away and the kids running around like hypo midgets I find myself using that excuse more and more often. I don't even think that this is the real problem anymore! I have gotten to the point where I need to move forward from where I am in my novel and quite frankly it scares me.


So I have decided to start posting my outline etc. I have started to make myself paranoid with all the talk of clichés and would like some feedback on the story. I never realized how difficult it would be to make epic fantasy 'different'! So while I know some people won't like it I am going to try to stop second guessing myself and go with what i think fits. The time will come to start worrying about what everyone else thinks later. 


Stay tuned.... Fall of Light will be emerging soon! 

Terry Pratchett - The Last Continent!

This would have to be my favorite Discworld novel! Probably because I am Australian, but it is just so well done.

When the librarian of the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork gets sick the wizards discover that they are unable to use their magic on the sick orangutan without his real name!

There is one who might know the true name of the library ape, Rincewind! This poses a problem as Rincewind, who is now known as 'Strewth', is now living in a dirt hole in the outback of the last continent of the Discworld. A continent 'girt by sea' and thousands of years in the past.

The wizards travel to the continent known as EcksEcksEcksEcks, and set out to find Rincewind.

Mean while, Rincewind is befriended by Scrappy, the talking Kangaroo. Scrappy tells Rincewind that it is his destiny to restore the past and bring back the rains to the bone dry land!

Being no stranger to 'destiny' and all it brings, Rincewind does what he believes to be the right thing. He runs!

His freedom is short lived however as he is soon captured by a short tempered dwarf named Mad. After narrowly escaping an attack by some out back thugs in supercharged emu carts, Mad takes him to Dijabringabeeralong. An out back town made up of one road, a Pub and run by a crocodile named Dongo!

The night is passed with drinking, gambling and sword bearing giants spouting the phrase 'You call that a knife? This Is a knife!' In the morning Rincewind not only has a sore head but also is reunited with Scrappy, his kangaroo stalker whom only he can see. And then when he leaves Dijabringabeeralong on his way to the city of Bugerup he is set upon by Drop Bears!

The wizards seem to forget about finding Rincewind, instead enjoying the food, drink and cigarettes that seem to appear whenever wished for, while coming to terms with the idea of being in the past and trying to figure out how to get back to Anhk-Morpork.

In their travels they come across God, hard at work molding, assembling and drawing the creatures that he creates. in true Unseen University fashion the manage to baffle and befriend god. The hard working God in the outback has a heavy workload, largely due to the fact that he is oblivious of sex and the ability for animals to reproduce, which the wizards rectify! After accidentally inventing surfing while escaping a storm and creating the platypus with their poor artwork, they head to Bugerup and meet up with Rincewind.

Rincewind is framed by tin helmet wearing bush rangers and after escaping the gallows, meets a sly, meet pie selling Kangaroo named Dibbler! (The kangaroo 'cousin' of Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler of Anhk-Morpork). It end with the wizards reuniting and making their dramatic way home!

Facts and Fantasy? The Importance Of Research!

Why is research so important?

All writers are at the mercy of their readers. No matter what you write, in the end your success or failure as an author is determined by those who read your book! No easy feat in the world of fantasy writing. Lovers of fantasy can be obsessively passionate! They are the most dedicated and loyal fans, they are also some of the toughest critics on earth! So getting the details right is just as important as your storyline or characters.

So where do you draw the line between fantasy and reality? What can be made up and what needs to be accurate? Why does it matter?

It's all about keeping your writing believable, understandable and realistic.

It is not very believable for your characters to travel 200 miles in a day, or to be picking apples in the dead of winter! The army of a broke government in a drought affected land is not likely to be feasting and drinking each night!

I will most likely come back to this topic at some point... At the moment everything that I wanted to say has escaped me, as per usual. But if anyone has any thoughts I would like to hear what you think. Hopefully my brain blank disappears sometime soon! :)