Chapter four... with that guy you know... LEAL

4: Someone to Need
I realize it's been a while since I've done an update on this blog about Cursed with Power.  I sincerely apologize to all of you who love --for some reason or another--reading updates about the book.  I can't remember when I last did an update because I've been busy with the new blog, surveys, the new contest, and etc etc... Oh well, I will start here.  At chapter four, which I posted up last night but didn't have the chance to tell you about.

In chapter four the entrance of a seemingly minor character comes into the story.  Yes, ladies and gents, I am talking about Leal.  He at first was going to be as minor as a character can get.  I suppose a lot of you are curious about just how minor he would have been, but I think that I will save for you to read on the Magicians series blog.
Anyways, the original chapter involved a lot of talking between Celestria and Leal.  Somehow or another there was something about Leal that caught everyone's attention.  I may never fully know why many of you fans like his character as much as you tell me, but I assure you there is more about Leal than first appears to be.  All the same, I was very strict with myself while writing this chapter because I wanted to make sure that whatever had sparked your interest in his character stayed in the story.
While at first I thought I would most likely keep the dialog in this chapter the same as in the first original version, I ended up changed it all because I felt that the conversation between Celestria and Leal needed to flow smoothly.
Who is Leal and what's all this talk about him for?  I would answer that question, but I think the best answer you can get from the chapter itself.  The reactions I've gotten from this chapter were unbelievable; I truly did not expect everyone to fall so madly in love with Leal and now I'm only more interested to see how you'll react as both you and Celestria find out more about him...

It was brought to my attention early that there doesn't seem to be much magic involved in the first few chapters.  Well, that is exactly why I'm going to give you some hints as to what is coming in the next few chapters.  There is definitely magic in this book, I assure you of that.

Coming next in Cursed with Power...
You know I'm not one to give away anything major, especially with books.  However, I feel it necessary to tell you about the following chapters in a brief kind of way because then it *hopefully* gives you something to look forward to.
I think for the book itself, chapter four was like the top of the staircase.  So far there has been lots of talk about magic, and Celestria has explained in more than one way how her world has shattered before her, but I don't think yet anyone can fully understand why people hate her.  Or even why she feels she cannot escape what she once called a "nightmare".
From chapter four we see a new side to Celestria, and then more mystery enters into the story once more.  The fact of the matter is you only know as much as Celestria knows.  She believes Dyanna is dead; you do no know what happened to her.  She thinks Leal is handsome but doubts him; you are only able to judge him from what he says and does.  All the same, while these unknown matters may be addressed very soon, there are much larger events that will leave you questioning everything.
The world of magic is about to come to life in the book... this may not be something Celestria will want to look forward to.  What makes her evil and why it is so hard to change the person she has become will be made clear to you.
In Cursed with Power the magical world is perceived in a different way.  The reader may find him/herself depending on Celestria to discover what is true and what is in the shadows of the world during these next coming up scenes.

"My talk about shadows is no joke, Miss Hale.  There are dark parts of this world thou have not seen before; I can only hope thou shall not ever be exposed to them." Leal said solemnly.


Read the book?!

*PLEASE NOTE: Leal's name has an accent on the "e".  I am sorry I did not take the extra time to post that within this update, but this was my second time typing this up so I assume you can understand.*

Have you read this post? Why not?

The Teen Inkst Magazine is uploading stories in today, thus I think later I'll be back and giving you the links.  The new short stories of mine that are going up will be Innocent & Young and Sketching a Fashionable Future.

It is finally Friday! Honestly sometimes I feel like the week drags on and on and on, but at last Friday is here!

Since last night it was too late for me to give details about chapter 17 of Cursed with Power, I figure I probably should now before I return to typing up chapter 18.
It all happened so soon....
Chapter 17: Another Journey...................
In chapter seventeen Celestria is faced with having to travel somewhere else.  Now her mission seems clear to her, but can it really be as simple as she is thinking?  And what about all the troubles that she ponders about when all is silent?  How is this going to end for Celestria?  Well, both you and her are coming up on the end with every new chapter you read.


Coming up is..................
What I sadly cannot give away too much about.  As I come closer to reaching the end with this book it appears I'll have less and less that I can tell you.  Sorry; but you know what you can do to ease your curiosity. 


The author is looking forward to.................
What am I looking forward to?  Hmm, I think focusing more on the struggles Celestria is now going to face.  I mean, she's already been through a great deal of battling and betrayal and etc. but there's still more she has to face before she reaches the ending to her story, as she mentioned in her letter to Adam.  Whatever ending she has will lead readers into the next book.  I'll be curious for reactions when readers do discover how it all ends.


For now I believe this is all I have to say.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this yesterday, but I did not win in the "Love is Hell" contest.  At least there are still more contests that always go up, right?
To end this post I'll just say that now I've got to get back to Cursed with Power and perhaps if you should read the first and second chapter of the book on IP you can help me determine how to add in more about Dyanna at the beginning.
You can read the story by clicking here.

New query coming soon!

After getting some critique on my query it's obvious that it needs some adjustments.  Thus I'll be working out new additions to it for now and hopefully soon I will post up the new one so you guys can again critique it.  Thanks to everybody out there who is so willing to help!

And I also have another favor to ask of you...
If you have any free time I am asking simply that you read the first chapter (second chapter on IP) of Cursed with Power and tell me if I still need to add in more about Dyanna.  As my readers have pleaded with me they feel there needs to be more of her in the first chapter, but alas I cannot tell from my own opinion if I have yet added in enough or still have a ways to go.
The "first" chapter on IP is the prologue, which is only a page long, so reading that and the real first chapter would not take up much of your time.  
If you should do this I ask you leave your feedback with your opinion on the comments page of IP (if you're a member) or you leave a comment on my blog.
Read it here.

Dyanna's death

When I blogged yesterday that I would be doing some revisions to chapter one because I felt that these revisions would be necessary, I think I may have made it sound like I was going to be making drastic changes.  (And I really hope that drastic is the right word to use, but if it's not my apologies for not having the greatest word choice in the morning).
You see, I've added in some more about Dyanna.  Since she is already dead when the book begins you don't really get to be there the day of her leaving Celestria.  One of my friends on IP, TomW, suggested that I put more about Dyanna in the first chapter because then the readers will care more about the fact that she's dead.  He believes that so long as the reader knows --or feels they know, in this case--the character who died they will have more sympathy towards their death and the people who were effected by it.
I'm hoping that what I've put in about Dyanna in the first chapter is good enough for readers to care, but you know that I'm always interested in hearing other opinions.  Read it.  Please note that on IP chapter one is actually chapter two because I had to make my prologue count as the first chapter.  (Well, I didn't have to but I wanted to do it that way; it would have bothered me if the prologue and the first chapter were together).
For those of you who haven't read Cursed with Power yet and you're thinking to yourself, "She's kind of giving away a lot to those of us who haven't read it..." Don't fret over it because I am actually not giving away much that you did not already know.  As I said, Dyanna's death is something you're told at the very beginning of the book --it's even in the prologue.  As you continue to read farther in the book you're going to find that the events about Dyanna's death and the fact that no body was ever recovered will continue to haunt Celestria's thoughts.  You could say that even though Dyanna's dead she gets her own parts in the book to play out in her death.
Secrets, secrets, secrets.... I fear that if I continue on about Dyanna I might give away something that I definitely do not want to give away.  If you want to know what all the significance of Dyanna's death is and find out if Celestria's going to live you'll have to read the book for yourself.
Read it. Review it. Comment. Add it.