It’s April and I’m Going Camping… Sort Of

Camp Nanowrimo is here!

View image | gettyimages.com

So, while I’ll be sharing a cabin with some other fantasy writers from around the world (how cool is that, and just one reason to love the internet), I’ll still have all my amenities, Sir T walking over my keyboard to remind me to take a break, and my usual writing coffee shop close by. I wrote a large part of my thesis there as well, so the waiters are used to me spacing out after a while between piles of papers or notebooks!

I’ve set my word count at 10 000 words for April and I’m planning on doing some serious outlining with regard to the specific stories I’m planning to write. And filling in the blank name spaces with names. You can’t very well have queen *** and her brother *** who led the golden age of the kingdom of Ezankhall, now can you?

Besides the major worldbuilding overhaul, I’ve also finished a map of Airtha with which I’m happy for the most part. (I’ll post this next week.)

I won’t be spending all my time on preparing for novel(s) though, as I also have a writing competition I want to enter (and I still need to write the story) and I want to do some shorter pieces in Afrikaans as well – along with my normal article writing and day job.

So, without any further ado, I will plunge into April!

Flash Fiction: Ariadne’s Freedom

This piece was written for the Flash!Fridaycompetition of 27 March, with the photo and “Man vs. Self” as prompts. I dug into the project I’m busy with for Campnanowrimo…

Ariadne’s Freedom

“What will you create for your entrance exam?”

Ariadne flinched under the gaze of the examiners. “I will weave a seagull,” her voice trembled as she took up the threads. Outside the sea chanted.

One chance, she reminded herself. One chance to get away from here, away from the darkness. Forever.

Her hands moved swiftly as she poured into the threads not the fear or anxiety she felt, but slivers of hope for a future that seemed to glimmer just beyond reach.

She thought of the freedom of the sky and vast ocean as the wings took shape beneath her hands. Keeping every heavy thought locked inside, she pushed every ounce of lightness into the white threads. As she cut the thread, a silver sheen rippled over the seagull that was small enough to fit in her hand.

“And what does this bird mean to you?” The eldest woman asked, her face and voice impassive.

“Beauty… hope… freedom. Everything I wish for.” Ariadne threw the bird into the air, where it spread its wings and hovered as if alive. She felt her despair fade as the bird landed on her hand, returning her hope.

“You will have your freedom, Ariadne,” the examiner smiled.

First Woman Jury, Los Angeles, Nov 1911. PD photo by Library of Congress.

Articles, Easter, and Campnanowrimo!

I’ve been taking a bit of a break during March, but I still had some articles and posts appearing (links below). I needed some time away from my normal routine and the bombardment of media you sometimes slip into.

Articles and links

I’ve had requests for some articles about Easter and the Easter holiday. In the more serious article about why Easter is celebrated, I tried to give a short and quite basic answer; as I intended it to be for readers who do not know why Easter is celebrated and just want to find out the basics. The last article is one I’ve already Tweeted about. The subject of classic literature is close to my heart, and I want to do a follow up article here on Hersenskim as well. Click on the titles to read the articles:

What is Easter and Why is it Celebrated?

Fun Things to Do This Easter Holiday

Seven Tips for Everyday Road Safety

Why Reading the Classics Shows Our Common Humanity

View image | gettyimages.com

More Writing! Campnanowrimo!

That said, there are more articles to come, as well as my post for the Writing Process Blog Tour, and I’ll be taking part in Campnanowrimo in April. While I won’t be tackling a novel in April, I will be continuing with some major worldbuilding and planning of the stories I want to write. I hope to start working on a proper draft of the first one in May and will then take part in Nanowrimo again in November (though I will have to wait and see how far I get before knowing what exactly I’ll be writing in November).

As this will be my first camp, I’m quite looking forward to it! (And I know my local coffee shop will be seeing a lot of me…)

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