March Games

This month’s games were #TheMerryWriter and #WriterlyWIPChat.

#TheMerryWriter

1. De Vries – I should like to introduce Drew, the chronicler of my rise to power. I say should since, well, if I took as long about accomplishing my plans as he does, I’d still be in hiding with everyone believing me dead.
2. I don’t know, it’s not like I keep fucking count. I will say it’s casual enough that I swore during my first annual review at my current job without thinking about it. Fortunately, it amused my boss more than anything else. Plus, as someone more famous than me once said – “Swearing is different in Scotland. Here, the word fucking is simply a warning that a noun is on its way.”
3. Heights. No matter how much I tell myself I’m being irrational, they still get to me.
4. I don’t think I have a good answer for this one, at least not one that doesn’t sound self-aggrandizing in some way.
5. Yes – Britt Hyden (now McVittie), Feb 14th 2008
6. BREAK.
7. BREAK.
8. A Wind from the Wilderness by Suzannah Rowntree (see below).
9. My first instinct was to say the castle in the sky but when I think about my issues with heights maybe that wouldn’t be the best. Besides: A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air. A psychotic is the man who lives in it. – Jerome Lawrence.
10. Living or dead? If we’re allowed the deceased, I would definitely have to say the late Sir Terry Pratchett. If not, then is Neil Gaiman available?
11. “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own” ― Bruce Lee.
12. I don’t mind paying something but having lived in Scotland for the first 30 years of my life, I do find the costs of healthcare here pretty steep at times.
13. BREAK.
14. BREAK.
15. Casablanca.
16. Guards! Guards! by the later Sir Terry Pratchett.
17. The two of us waiting to get vaccinated (see below).
18. At the risk of being a downer, I think if any mythical creature really existed, they’d be hunted and/or experimented on. Not something I’d wish for.
19. Planning book 3.
20. BREAK.
21. BREAK.
22. Confidence.
23. I’ll avoid it if I can, keep it brief if I can’t.
24. I try to, although probably not as often as I should.
25. Shouting at wildebeest.
26. Sadly, it’s probably Ash. He doesn’t really have any experience living with other people in close quarters. Doesn’t bode well for the upcoming bunker scenes.
27. BREAK.
28. BREAK.
29. Probably a pure-white waistcoat, the reasoning for which escapes me now.
30. Oh, there are several but for this, I’ll pick one that’s perhaps less well known; Semisonic’s Singing In My Sleep.
31. The painter Giotto could draw a perfect circle free hand.

• 

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#WriterlyWIPChat

1. I’m Drew and while I’m not very good about being complimentary about myself, I’m still working on making myself a better person.
2. Plotting/drafting.
3. The working title is House in Exile. I’m not expecting it to change unless something changes drastically since it fits the naming conventions of the other books and it fits with the events of this particular instalment.
4. My main grammar peeve is that mine probably isn’t as good as it should be.
5. The only thing I can think of is that he is very sensitive about his new scars and often brings his hand up to his face in an effort to hide them.
6. Ash doesn’t really have much experience in cooking, but he can probably order pizza without any issues.
7. Some of them have been known to enjoy going to the cinema. After dark, obviously.
8. Darkness Forged by Matt Larkin. If you want, you can read my review here.
9. While Quinn is pretty easy going most of the time, once he’s roused, he can be really fearsome.
10. Probably Ash, and he’s usually sincere. Although there have been a few occasions where he was being sarcastic.
11. Well, according to the test I just tried, 44 words per minute.
12. Ash is fairly minimal, especially now when he’s staying on the move as much as possible. If it isn’t absolutely necessary and he can’t carry it in a backpack, it gets left.
13. Not published, no idea if I ever will be.
14. Ash definitely wants more. He wants to restore his name & the standing of his House after De Vries’ attacks.
15. On average, 6 to 7 hours.
16. Right now, Ash isn’t sleeping more than a couple hours at a time. And it’s making him more and more ragged.
17. I was back in that grimy alley, watching as the bullets tore into my friend. I saw them collapse face down on the cobbles & felt the scream rip its way from my throat, raw & agonizing, but the rest of me remained frozen, held immobile as they died.
18. Being woken from a drunken & depressive stupor and having to pay off a hotel employee to extend his stay after missing check out.
19. Just finished A Wind from the Wilderness by Suzannah Rowntree.
20. The primary antagonist is Piter De Vries, the one behind the recent attacks against House Valerius. The secondary antagonist(s) – Lady Mallory and other members of the Curia who want Ash captured or dead.
21. None of the major cast wear glasses. Some have worn contacts (more to change the colour than for vision purposes) but only Elizabeth uses them routinely.
22. Now that things are getting warmer, I’m looking forward to be able to sit outside and enjoy our back garden again.
23. It was the library at Shadowcroft. Nowadays though, Ash doesn’t have anywhere he considers safe enough to hang out.
24. I just want to tell stories.
25. The last alias I had Ash using was Eric Brooks. He is due a new one so I guess I’d better think about that.
26. Lately, nowhere near enough.
27. The majority of the core cast have had Praetorian training and do some form of martial arts.
28. I’ve been thinking about this on and off for the past 24hrs and I’ve yet to come up with an answer. I sure there has been an ending I’ve not agreed with somewhere but I can’t bring one to mind right now.
29. Not sure I have a good answer for this one since I haven’t really submitted anything in so long. But just off the top of my head, I’d say at least 3 read-throughs before letting it near anyone else.
30. Not quite. There are some where I’ve put them aside because it wasn’t working for me at the time but I still intend to go back to them. I don’t think there are any that I’ve flat out said that I’m not finishing ever.
31. I have a few that want to get involved again but they’re waiting until Ash reconnects with them first.

As Always, Thanks to the hosts:

#TheMerryWriter – Ari Meghlen & Rachel Poli

#WriterlyWIPChat – Kerri Davidson & Mark Gelinas, Sr.