Katie Runyon

As some might know, I was sick about 2 weeks back. I took the few days of antibiotics that I was prescribed at the hospital and started feeling better. During that week when I was feeling miserable and could not concentrate on anything but the crapiness, I didn’t complete my chapter as I’ve been trying. And while the antibiotics made me feel a little better, they didn’t seem to completely cure me. Now, my health is regressing back to that period before the hospital visit. While I’m not to that stage just yet, it feels bad enough. (And let’s hope it doesn’t get that far.) So far, I have gotten little done in the way of writing. For the most part, I’ve been trying to keep my mind off of how I’m feeling. I want to write, I really do. I want to finish up this story and finally see the whole series finished. And I want to move on and work on others things as well. But there is also the lazy/procrastinator part of me that feels it is a good time to just lay back.

So is my crapiness just an excuse or am I justified in resting both my mind and body?

In my case, I feel it may be both. While it is probably true that my mind in its current state would not be able to concentrate long enough to create a study stream of genius, I might be able to squeeze a little something out eventually. It may not be the best, but it would be something. But I guess the question is: is something better than nothing in this case? Is it worth going through forcing myself to commit to it, even if I’ll have to change the little I did manage in the end? Should I listen to that little part of me that just wants to sleep the days away or perhaps escape into some TV or even a movie?

It is an awful thing being torn between whether to write or not. The urge is there, as it always is, but at this point it is like clouds obscuring the sun; just enough to light things up, but not enough to make you venture outside to lie in the sun.

One of the bad things about not writing because I’m feeling bad is feeling even worse because I’m not writing. What a dilemma. Either way I think I’m stuck–stuck feeling like poo.

It has almost been a week since my symptoms have begun sprouting back like weeds that were broken off instead of pulled out with roots and all.  I am glad I was able to finish the last chapter before things became worse. But I fear this week will be worthless when it comes to writing…or anything at all.

Don’t you just love when the need to write grips you-even at 4am when you should have been asleep hours ago? And you’re filled with excitement and enthusiasm? Your mind keeps churning away and you can’t even think about anything else? Well that was me last night. Besides the temporary high, something good might just have come out of it.

It might have all began around 11 last night, when I started getting the rest of my scene summary figured out so I could actually get chapter 7 of Legendary Race finished today. So the juices were flowing a little late anyway. Then when I finally shut off the TV and rolled over to sleep…as it sometimes does…my imagination got the best of me. I began writing things down, bits that might be included in my current story or even in another one down the road. The first bit read like this:

She saw a shadow emerge on the wall. The figure hunched over, reaching for her. She could feel it creeping ever closer.

Then my mind just jumped from here to there. I wrote down anything that came to me-never knowing when something might actually be worth remembering after I’ve had around 4 hours of sleep…It is a bit embarrassing, but I’ll include it for your enjoyment anyway. The little bits and random thoughts went something like this:

It seems my best ideas-or at least a constant flood of semi-coherent ones-come when everyone else is asleep and I’m awake in the dark with my imagination running wild.

Which I used for my Twitter/Facebook accounts this morning.

There are so many stories to tell, so how do you choose just one?

That, I still don’t have an answer to. And if anyone else does…kindly let me know!

I’ve never hated any of my characters-even the innately evil or insane ones. They may be flawed, but they are only human after all.

This probably stemmed from a question posed in the Have You Ever? thread in my forum which asked, “Have you ever killed off a character because you hated him/her?”.

Where is the honor in dying? If you want honor, find a way to pull your ass out of the fire and survive instead.

This is something that seems like one of my characters might say. It’s also something I’ve thought about from time to time.

If falling on ones sword is so honorable, why not show them [your enemy] honor by helping them fall on your sword instead?

A variant of the bit above.

But I also moved beyond these random, silly thoughts and onto something bigger….A possible new story idea!? It would be my first modern day story and probably more supernatural than fantasy.

Have you ever caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye? It bet you thought it was just your imagination, right? So did I. But now I know better. And soon, so will you.

Lauren is an18 year old girl, just finishing high school and thinking about going off to college. For as long as she can remember, she’s seen things out of the corner of her eye and felt as if something was there in the dark. Of course, Lauren dismisses it, thinking she’s either paranoid or her overactive imagination is to blame. But one day, she finds that it is all real. What Lauren has really been seeing is glimpses into another world as the veil between them thins. But now it has split open and creatures from the other side are slipping through. Being the only one who knows, she decides she must do something. But she is terrified and at first no one believes her. Until she finds out that she is not alone after all. There are some who know about the other world-who have seen what is happening. And with their help, Lauren will attempt to stop it before the veil is torn open for good and all the evil of the other realm is unleashed on Earth.

So, that is basically it…all I have. But it is something and possibly the next book on my plate after A Princely Betrayal (but I’ll only get to that one after I’ve finished Legendary Race). I think some of it may have been slightly influenced by this. It is a bit different of course, but it might have helped snap things together after reading through it earlier in the day.

So I don’t know…what do you think? Have you seen something like it before? Does the idea sound silly? It is a waste of my time?

Not really, but it almost feels like it. With 5 chapters down (about 1/5 of the 25 I’m planning to write), it is finally starting to hit me that it’s almost over. For years I have been working on this series (even if not continuously) and this book will most likely be the end. Knowing I will not write about these characters lives and struggles anymore is sad and even scary. I worry that I won’t get it right, that I’ll leave the series without the characters being fleshed out enough or in the right places. I love these characters and want to do right by them. The only thing that gives me a little comfort is the fact that I still have to edit all three books. And while doing this, I can relive their adventures and hopefully fix anything that wasn’t done right the first time.

Recently I’ve taken a look back on Foreseen and my thoughts were “Oh man!”. While the basics of the story may be there it almost seems as if I’ll have to rewrite everything to make it readable. I”m not saying I’m doing all that great at it now, since I’m worrying more about getting it done that it looking all that pretty. I know that once I go through it again, I will have the chance to pretty it up. Take it line by line and polish until it shines.

And who can I blame for this sudden shock into how close I am getting to the end? Onisepla! It is all his fault. I liked him from the very beginning and I always felt a certain connection with him that I didn’t feel with the others, not even Kari. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all, but there is just something about him. I usually love writing his scenes and writing this last one, it reminded me that I only have so many left. But at least I got some of his story out.

So now is the time to try and give everyone a bit of the limelight before the curtain closes for good. This is no easy task with such a large cast. I hope I can do it. But I need some filler, so maybe this will work for the better

There are so many things to cover, so many lives hanging in the balance. I hope I don’t let them all down.

So far, my next chapter is not even started yet. Things always seem to get in the way. Now that I have my laptop back, I figured I’d be good to go…but that was a false hope. While it is now as up to speed as I can probably get it at the moment, it is not complete. Yesterday I spent about an hour trying to change the power supply on my desktop computer (don’t ask) only to completely break it. I have not had the will to change back to the old power supply to see if I can get it running again. There are things on there that would make my life a lot easier if I had them (like the bookmark to my admin page for my blog here that I just took quite a while trying to find). But I have my book files and the program to use them, though like I said, other things keep getting in the way.

For example, the stray cat outside. Not only have I been trying to take care of her, but she in return has been leaving us little gifts in the form of dead rodents at our doorstep. One day my brother found her carrying a mole and was able to save it before she could get it alone. Since it was young, we kept it and I have been taking care of it. Then, about 2 days ago we found a baby mouse on the porch, only a little bigger than my thumb nail. This one is a little more difficult to care for as it appears that the little bugger’s eyes are just opening. But of course I could hardly say no.

And as I write this, not for the first time, the stray cat outside is clawing at my window. Somehow the other night she found a way onto our porch roof that sits just below the bedroom windows on the second floor and thoroughly scared my little brother when she woke him up by scratching at his screen.

Oh how I seem to be a sucker for all animals great and small. (Which is a main reason why Kari can talk to them.)

I’m hoping that between my usual cooking and cleaning, taking care of my new animal friends, too much TV, and computer woes, I’ll find time to finish the next chapter this week.

And now I need to go get the cat off the roof before she breaks in through the window.

Since you all waited so patiently…I took more than a 2 month break. So next time, don’t wait so patiently! How am I supposed to get any work done otherwise?

My return is bittersweet. That is, it’s good…it’s bad…it’s right…it’s, well not wrong for writing could never be wrong, but you get the picture. I always like coming back to writing after breaking away from it but there just doesn’t seem to be enough time! Before I know it the day is gone and so is my chance to write, none the less everything else I need to do. Thankfully, I got some good writing days in this week and finished off chapter 3. I’m just not sure how long my luck will last. This time, I had a detailed summary of both scenes. The next chapter might be doable, but after that…

I am looking forward to this book and especially finishing this series (even if it may not be the final ending to the series). Likewise, I am looking forward to moving on to other things. After the last chapter is complete I plan to work on editing Foreseen and maybe even Ariel(my short story). It will be my first real editing and it seems both exhilarating and cringe worthy. On one hand I will be (hopefully) improving my work, getting it up to par with my writing now (which has improved I’ve been told…thank god!), but it will also be a bit distressing changing my firstborn. I almost just want to skip the edit because I’m afraid of changing it from what it is at present, as if I may disfigure it with my horrid attempts at improving it. But most likely not much of the base story will change; I don’t think I have the heart for that yet.

I have not thought anymore about the next book(s) I will be writing, even though I’m pretty sure what it will be. I haven’t even thought all that much about writing at all and this story in particular I want to keep out of my mind for now. When I’m finished, and maybe editing, I should have some time to plan it out. This probably means that, even though I will technically be working on my stories, I won’t be putting out any new stuff for a time. Which will sadden all of you greatly I’m sure!

First and foremost, Legendary Race is in my thoughts. There is still a lot to work out and hurdles to jump over. But I hope it is everything I want (and you expect!) and more.

In delving even further into my upcoming works, in a sense, I figured I’d share some future story ideas. Now there are only a few, since my thoughts have been mainly preoccupied with The Elementi Series, but I do have some fragments of ideas. At this time, I’m only sure that one will be turned into a book. The others are iffy and I’ll have to see how I feel at a later date. Still, I thought I’d share them and see which one(s) you think might make better novels. As ideas, they are subject to drastic changes. And if you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you can probably guess which one is my next book idea of Legendary Race. Anyway, here they are:

1. After a murderous betrayal costs most of the royal family their lives, the only remaining member, and heir to the throne, goes into hiding in order to bide his time. But it is not long before he happens upon a woman whom is much more dangerous than she appears. In fact, she is a member of a skilled and deadly order of magic users, or at least she was before they cast her out and left her for dead. Soon, they agree to help each other in their missions, one in the name of justice and the other in the name of revenge.

2. Afraid of their powers, all magic users are being rounded up and put into prison camps. But one woman decides to take matters into her own hands in an attempt to win their freedom once again. But what will be the cost?

3.When a girl gets the chance to have her wishes granted, she doesn’t hesitate. But nothing is ever that simple. As it turns out, her wishes are twisted in horrible ways, changing the world as she knows it. And on her quest to undo the terrible magic, she must face more death and darkness than she ever wished to.

4.A Seer is a powerful tool for those in power, or who wish to be. So many of those who possess such magic stay hidden. But one young woman had the horrible luck of being found and sold to the highest bidder on the black market. As his slave, she must struggle through intense pain as she attempts to force her visions to present themselves in order to please her master and stay alive. But those visions she receives at night, are ones she fights to keep to herself. Because if anyone finds out about them, it could give them the power to imprison them all.

Which one would you like to see written next?

Since, according to the poll I presented on my website, readers wish to know more about my upcoming works,  I am going to give out a few teaser facts (at least some that are relevant at this time). They can and may change at any time though, sorry! If you weren’t one of the people that wanted a few little, tasty spoilers, than you may wish to skip this post. Anyway, here they are:

1. At least 3 named characters will die by the end of the novel.

2. Kari will catch another glimpse of the future and it will shock her even more than the first time.

3. Someone makes a deal with the devil (aka Onisepla).

4. The Darkness isn’t acting alone.

Not much, but it’s a little taste. Hope it doesn’t spoil too much!

As I move on to my third book, I’ve begun to work out my own process for writing. It’s nothing special, but it’s how I approach writing. I’m sure many others out there have their own way of doing things, and I’d be happy to hear them, but I figured I’d use this time to tell you mine.

Obviously it all starts with an idea, either written down or just floating about in my brain. Then this idea begins to grow, usually of its own accord, but sometimes with a little prodding. With the wish to turn this idea into a book, I get out paper and pen and write down what I know so far. It may only be a few paragraphs or even a few sentences, but it is a beginning. In my notebook for Legendary Race, the first page consists of only two short paragraphs of notes. This is followed by a quick (paragraph) scene summary that I had in my head.

Next I move deeper into the story, fleshing it out. Since I already had an idea for something I thought of as only “The Darkness”, I wanted to get into that first. What is the darkness? Where did it come from? What can it do? Those are some of the questions I posed to myself while jotting down a page worth of notes about anything that popped into my head concerning that topic. Then it was on to the Legendary Race, where I jotted down another page of notes.

So after I wrote down some of the basic ideas for two of the main parts of my book, I moved on to my questions page. I think I’ve done this for all three books now and I find it pretty helpful. I jot down some questions that still need to be answered, even if they are as simple as: “What is so and so’s name?” These questions allow me to visually see which things I still don’t know and allow me to think about them all separately in order to concentrate on one at a time.

After the questions stage, I move on to more notes in order to flesh out more details about the story from what I have just figured out. This can also mean doing a lot of event summaries/ideas, which seem to be a very common thing for me now.

And this leads me closer to the actual writing. After I’ve jotted down a general summary for the story, I move on to the final stage before writing. This is the scene summary stage and happens throughout the whole book. Usually before I write a scene, to help work out the details beforehand, I write a scene summary detailing the basics of what I see happening in the scene. Depending on the scene, it can be anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few pages. But I’ve found, especially when I’m stuck, this helps me to push forward and work out the obstacles I might find when approaching a scene. If I’m not sure what is going to happen next, which is a frequent occurrence, I just sit down with paper and pen and write what I know and soon things begin to work themselves out. But if I find myself in a really hard place, trying to decide what action to take, I write down the choices and the impact they may have or pose questions to myself. This usually gets things rolling and sometimes once I write it down, I know what I’m going to do right away. Occasionally, even drawing out a location to see possible movements when in a fight scene, etc. I guess I’m a very visual person and writing it down on paper seems to help.

So pretty much my process is this: main ideas/brief notes, begin to flesh out story/characters, pose questions that still need to be answered, brief story events, story summary, begin writing (with event summary before each scene).

Of course, since this was a continuation of a story about a world I already know a lot about, my job is made a little easier. But once I move on to a new book, a new world, there will be a lot more in the beginning notes and in fleshing out story, characters, and setting.

Now if only I could work on keeping everything a bit more organized, things might go a little smoother.

Being my usual self, instead of writing or even planning, I’ve been working on other things. Mostly my site, which I usually enjoy tinkering with. I’ve added a few mods to the forum that do a lot of neat things, some games, updated my Books section with new pictures for each books since I’ve spent way too much time messing around with this neat site. So I haven’t just been staring off into space…But neither have I done any planning or writing. Part of me isn’t actually all that excited about writing. It might be because I’m thinking too much about the book I’m going to write after this, or it may just be that everything going on around here has made my brain a little frizzled. I want to work on it and finish it, I really do, but the motivation doesn’t seem to be there in large quantities at the moment. But I am going to try writing the first scene tomorrow. It should be short, but it will be important, as it introduces two new characters and sets off the whole chain of events that are to come really. Maybe once I get started, it will all come flooding back to me…?

As far as other things go, I have read the first 4 chapters of Rides a Dread Legion…I know its not a lot, but usually I am too tired to read much when I get in bed at night. And if I start reading during the day, I’ll probably keep at it until after the sun goes down and the day is over. Which isn’t a good idea at the moment, there is already not enough hours in a day.

Even though I might not be super excited, I hope that’s not how everyone feels. Too bad writing a book is a long process for me. I’d love to be able to dish a few out a year. Then again, I’d probably run out of material a lot sooner and have nothing left to do! Instead of having ideas, but having to wait a year before I can really pay them any attention.

December has come and gone and I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be. Most of the last month I spent being busy with other things or feeling like I was on my deathbed. Things have been hard, especially the last few weeks and I am just hoping that a new year will bring better times. As far as my progress, I still have not finished the second book I purchased…in fact, I haven’t even started it. I’ve also barely done any plotting or planning for Legendary Race. It doesn’t help that my shiny new book idea is trying to take precedence over this third book. For this reason, and others, I want to finish this book as soon as possible. There are so many different ideas I want to explore that things seem to take so long. But I have no choice but to be patient.

So, let’s talk about what I do know about Legendary Race. While things have taken a completely different direction than I expected when I began The Dark Within, which is a big part of why it’s more difficult to plan, the place I’m taking it hopefully won’t be too disappointing. Now Onisepla will seem even less of a bad guy with the new arrival of The Darkness. And what that means for his own plans, you will have to wait and see. The back story behind The Darkness and the Legendary Race are intertwined. Way back, I posted a spoilery bit on the forum in the Legendary Race section and while it is only a small part of a much larger story (and a bit outdated), it still pretty much holds true. Unfortunately, the things that I don’t know, that I still have to decide, are far greater than what I do know. But I have a decent grasp of the background for those two newcomers. And for those that like Onisepla, don’t fret, he will still play a major part in this book. In fact, we will learn a lot more about him and even meet someone important to him that has been watching him without Onisepla ever knowing.

Now, as for this untitled book that I will be working on after Legendary Race, most of what I posted earlier still holds true. Right now, it is mainly about two characters. The first is a prince, betrayed by someone close to him and forced from his own kingdom after his family is murdered. Of course he plans on doing whatever he has to in order to take back his throne and avenge his family’s murder. But while in hiding he meets a woman in a bit of a similar predicament. She is an elite fighter, and magic user, exiled from her people and left for dead. She wants revenge and will help him as long as he returns the favor after he regains his kingdom. Much of this may change, since that is how it seems to go, but that is the basics of what I know as of now. I’m trying not to think on it too much, wishing to devote my time to Legendary Race first, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

Well, I hope this year brings everyone health and happiness. And for those waiting for the Legendary Race, I’m hoping to start writing soon, so keep an eye out.