Hello all,
What a screwed up year 2020 has been. A serious mess of Donald Trump, wicked weather, and the still-ongoing pandemic that once again is setting Greater Sudbury on the direction of a second lock-down. I’ve tried to keep busy and keep my mind occupied with work and other hobbies, but it has been a difficult. With Christmas coming up, I was hoping to put more effort into getting more storytelling done, but with the pandemic and lock-down and the slow restart to the economy earlier in the year, my mind fell onto other things, maybe a little to the side of depression.
As dreary as it sounds, I have tried to remain active in doing whatever, and that includes writing, even if in little chunks. I stepped away from Elineer, wrote a few instalments of The Severis Tales (still sure to backfire) but I’ve done a few other things.
2021 CBC Short Story Contest
Once again, I entered the CBC’s contest with two more short stories, this time read by a friend who said they enjoyed it. One story is about a secret meadow, while the other one is about the nostalgic obsession with a camping item. One is more sombre, the other more humorous. I can’t wait to see the results in 2021. One of these stories I typed up on a Royal 200 (otherwise known as the Royal Mercury) typewriter, with positive results. Once again, it was a joy and a wondrous experience to try typewritten stories to strengthen the thinking process. If only it would stay still on the damn desk…but I have an anti-slip mat for that now.
i entered the contest last year with two stories, which, to be frankly honest, I thought were rubbish then and still do today. That said, I still intend to keep my promise and either publish them free on the website or submit them elsewhere in expanded and in a much more thought out form. I believe the core of the stories is grand, but the execution is messy.
Elineer
Partly because of the pandemic and because it was taking up all my time, it forced me to cease work on my Elineer project. There were a lot of issues I ran into that required extensive editing (naturally, of course), and I was focusing on it so much, my mind was straying. I had to take a step back. The initial lock-down we had given me a chance to try other things out, including classical guitar (which I am rubbish at), and pen and write other The Severis Tales stories. Now that I’ve submitted my bits to the Short Story Contest, I can work on Elineer again with a fresh set of eyes and a plan.
To get the ball rolling, I started fiddling with map-making tools again. I’m a visual person, so creating a visual aid for a fantasy series is almost necessary. I had created and used a map a few years ago, which served as the basis for the world, but I never worked on it past the “that’ll do” point. I’ve begun piecing things together.
I’d like to share with you a work in progress for the world of Elineer. Click on the image to open the full size:
The Severis Tales
Right after I published story 7 of The Severis Tales, I began work on the eighth instalment. I’ve finished it, and it needs a set of eyes before I publish it. It is an immediate follow-up to the seventh story. Instalment 8, A Day Out With Mira, I will publish in mid-December. Stay tuned for that.
And that is it for now. I’m off to enjoy some brandy. It’s cold, it’s rainy, and it’s windy—a perfect excuse to have some.