A Little Monday Madness

Just a quick check-in with a little Monday madness: a snippet from the Peace Makers chapter I'm working on. This one is written from the POV (point of view) of one of the main characters, a fourteen year-old boy named Brian.

"Within nanoseconds, the fissure trembled and ruptured, ripping the gorilla enclosure and the path in two. The facing side settled and sank, belching dust and sand in to the air to shower down on them. Gorillas, trees and rubble tumbled away along the face of the emerging slope. 

But it didn't stop there. The side where they crouched rose rapidly in to the air like an elevator. It was the oddest sensation standing atop a rising mountain, thrilling yet totally terrifying."

Who lives, who dies? Only the characters know.

And they're not telling.

~ Olivia J. Herrell

Dragon Dreams

Each morning I wake,
scenes of Peace Makers*
dancing through my dreams.
Today it was dragons.

They arrived on scene,
playing in and out,
siren song calling,
cajoling.

I knew they would.

What I didn't know
(but should have suspected)
is that they want top billing.
Or as close as possible.

What I did know
(and had forgotten)
is that the story was
part theirs all along.

Welcome dragons, welcome to the story.

Today I will head to Atlanta to revisit the location/s of the final scene/s of Book One. That happens to be Oakland Cemetery and Zoo Atlanta. Lucky me!

Happy Saturday ~ Olivia J. Herrell

*Dr. Olivia J. Herrell is the author of That Rebel with a Blog and Blessed Are The Peace Makers, the Blog. She is currently editing the first of a Southern Urban Fantasy (trilogy) of the same name.

Literary Blockbuster Challenge

Hi Y'all,

Just popping in for a quick update on Peace Makers.

• The first draft is complete
• 171 (of 407) pages are edited
• I am entering it in the Literary Blockbuster Challenge (JOIN ME!)
• It must be completed and uploaded to Inkubator.com by March 31st

Shake and Bake!! Olivia J. Herrell

Okay. I have no idea why I signed Shake and Bake. But it popped in my head so I did. That prompted a google search. Which made me laugh. And laughs should be shared, right? HOWEVER. If PG-13 is pushing your limit, please don't read past the first few definitions. They become rather, well, obscene after that.

Who knew something that meant dinner when we were kids would rack up this many definitions in the Urban Dictionary. Of course, I'm sure the one at the end of the page was a write-in. Dictionaries by definition DO NOT misspell words. Just saying. OH. Here's the link: Shake and Bake.

Hail the Pajama Queen (aka Coming Up for Air)

No seriously. It is now 8:30 pm and I am still in my pj's. I woke at 4:32 to dreams of Peace Maker plot sorties. Unable to go back to sleep, I got up around 5:30 and at 7:01 a.m. sat down to read my book from cover to finish. I edit as I go, jotting down notes for larger issues to be addressed such as:

• cut and pastes;
• POV breaks;
• need for names that don't start with S or M (so far I have six S names and at least three M's, WTYKW);
• threads to pull;
• threads to tie up;
• clarifications;
• foreshadowing;
• and assorted other lovelies

I am happy to share that I  have logged eleven hours today in edits and am now on page 123 (out of 410). Here is a snippet from the last scene edited:

"The Reptilian stared at his opponent, a battle-scarred Ecthelian. The ugly creature’s only hope of living until tomorrow was killing Nergal. Circling the room on great, clawed feet, Nergal observed the lizard’s movements. He knew its weak spots and was about to close in when a buzzing interrupted his concentration. He glanced at the hologram. A message awaited him. The Fomorian was receiving information from the woman. 

He looked back to the spot where the Ecthelian had been. It was gone. With a groan, he wheeled on sturdy hind legs and when it leapt and sunk needle-sharp teeth in to his throat, he regretted having looked at the screen. In spite of the lancing pain, Nergal reacted swiftly, prying the jaws loose with hands as hard as steel. As he yanked he heard a grinding crack. Putting his back in to the task, he tore the lizard’s face apart. 

But dinner would have to wait. Leaving it lying in a pool of its own blood, Nergal strode out of the arena to his office. Wiping his hands, he activated the screen with a curt, “Receive incoming.”

Okay, gross. Did I write that? Eeeeww. This is part of the reason I don't like writing bad guys. Or lizards.

Don't you love unexpected days when you get to ignore everything in your life except writing, eating and bodily functions? Yeah. Me too. OH. And the cat. Must not forget the attention-loving, four-legged, furred one.

Happy One of Those Days ~ Olivia J. Herrell