Friday Fiction: Mapping History & a Sneak Peek

I’ve almost finished three small maps showing the changing face of the Midlands during the Midland Wars. Planning on adding the final touches this weekend (like adding colour) and scanning them in properly to post next week. The maps show the changing borders of Guldargan and the surrounding kingdoms mentioned in the posts covering the First Strike and Sanctuaries.
The Maps can be seen here.

Other writing news
I mentioned on Twitter during the week that I’m on the fourth draft of a WIP. I really love this piece, but am not really getting it just the way I want. I’ve changed the beginning a few different times and then realised the chronology I was trying to use is not working for such a short piece (about 2000 words). I’m really hoping that I’ll get a chance to work on it this weekend and finish the fourth draft. Here’s a sneak peak of the WIP at the moment:

I awoke at a sound outside the car window. A child wailing? It took a moment for my mind to clear. The dreams of death, makeshift pyres and graves faded slightly. Maybe it was just the wind. I kept my head down on the sweaty seat, pressing my body closer to the seat. I didn’t really want to find out. But the sound continued. Inside the car it was still dark. I rolled down the window ever so slightly, keeping my head down. Cold wind struck me. The wind, then. Not a child. Not this time.

And today there's also more maps over at Kammastories.

(Stock photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu)

Kammastories en kammalande

Welkom by die eerste inskrywing hier by Kammastories, ’n hoekie op die internet vir allerhande stories, sketse en verbeeldingsvlugte. Reeds vir meer as ’n jaar blog ek by Hersenskim oor stories, boeke en ’n kammawêreld genaamd Airthai. Hier en daar het al ’n paar stories in publikasies verskyn, maar met die dat die oorgrote lesers slegs Engels magtig is, was dit moeilik om die Afrikaanse teks by die Engels in te werk sonder dat die inskrywings lomp raak. Dus het ek besluit om hier ’n plekkie te skrop vir die Afrikaanse stories – veral aangesien meeste van die kort fiksie van Airthai oorspronklik in Afrikaans geskryf is.

Soos op Hersenskim, sal inskrywings op Kammastories gewy word aan skryfwerk, stories en boeke op Woensdae en Vrydae en mooi en inpirerende liedjies, poësie en musiek op Maandae. (Sommige van die inskrywings hier en op Hersenskim sal steeds ooreenstem*.)

Maar, intussen, hier is ’n bietjie inspirasie vir die naweek – Prime Circle se liedjie “My Inspiration”.

*Soos byvoorbeeld die week se liedjie of gedig.

Of Fingers, Pies and Inspiration

Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much pie. Especially when you have fingers stuck in them. Although I picture the ones I have fingers stuck in more like a range of different kinds of pie and some of the experimental fillings aren’t working as well as I’d hoped. And now I’ll stop with the pie-metaphor and get to the real news:

Kammastories*
Kammastories will be a new blog filled with stories and spinned yarns – but these will all be (as far as possible) in Afrikaans (if you are new to this blog – Afrikaans is my mother tongue**). Many of my shorter pieces of Airthai worldbuilding and fiction were first written in Afrikaans, but, while this blog has some Afrikaans content, I find that my readers predominantly have English as their mother tongue or as an additional language, but do not understand Afrikaans. Therefore, rather that simply having the same posts in both languages on one blog – which may become very confusing – I’ve decided to split them, but still have some of the same blog posts on both, or the same story in both languages. I also want to write more fiction in Afrikaans, and this will give me a specific platform for those pieces. Which brings me to “Small Mercies”.

This short-lived blog – which I just feel does not work on its own – will rather be incorporated into my usual posts here on Hersenskim and will give me more freedom than just saying that I’ve been surrounded by books for another week or to stay on such a narrow subject. That said, I am not quitting my Finish Year list, but will just go about noting progress on finishing that list a bit differently!

Plans for Hersenskim
The format (or, rather, the order) of the posts here will change slightly – I’ll start Monday with some Inspiration†, Wednesdays will remain days for Worldbuilding and Fridays will have posts about fiction, book reviews, writing and other bookish endeavours. I’ll also give a short update on Finish Year at the end of the Friday post.

Weekend Inspiration
But, to get everyone in weekend mode and give some inspiration (albeit a bit louder than usual), music by a wonderful South African band called Prime Circle. Here’s their song “My Inspiration” – enjoy!

*”Kammastories” means “fantastical stories” or “fantasy stories” in Afrikaans. Cue evil laugh of glee!
** Or now you now why my “Friday Inspiration” posts also have an Afrikaans translation…
† Simply because you need inspiration more at the beginning of the week than at the end of it!

Stock photo courtesy of www.sxc.hu