Alaire Sencler: Can I confide in you?

A little birdie told me that Léal had paid a visit, so I thought it was only fitting for me to correct his mistakes.  If I'm able to confide in you this once... I will return to you again and ask for your help.  You can join me on this journey, but I must warn you I carry the burden of secrets no man wishes to bear.  If you're ready, I'm inviting you in: welcome to my world.

I used to work for a man named Esmour.  Unfortunately I'm not able to tell you about the work I did for him, seeing as even I don't know how much of it is to  remain confidential now that he is did.  However, I can assure that he was a great man.  He was wise, you know?  He knew more about magic, and I imagine that kind of knowledge can be overwhelming.

I bear more grave news, I'm afraid.  Now that there are only five Dark magicians in the world, these are dangerous times.  You don't have anyone you can trust --except for those whom are you allies--and even your allies will never fully trust you.  There are secrets you may have to keep from your loved ones simply because you know if you ever spoke them aloud they would destroy you.  The war between light and darkness is unstoppable now.  We must go to war; we've known this for a long time, and we have been fools to avoid it.  Now the war will determine what species lives and which dies.

I've seen people turn right in front of my eyes.  One minute they're standing beside you, the next minute they're gone without a trace.  It's a scary thought, and I don't blame you if because of this reason you decide to not join me.  I've learned over the years it's better to be completely honest about he mission than lie to make it sound harmless.  If you're ignorant to the facts, it could get you killed.

Lastly, you should know that I'm traveling with another companion: Celestria.  She's stubborn, but never fear, her attitude is harmless.  Once you take the chance to listen to a person's story, you can begin to build up a image in your head of why they became the way that they are.  I believe this also applies to Celestria; once we hear her story, we'll know the reasons for her actions and words.

Oh, and if you hear from Léal, don't tell him I said this, but I honestly don't Celestria was impressed by him.  Even if she was, why should it bother me?  Léal's a fool when it comes to love.  A man who really wants to win over a lady's heart knows first he must win her over with his words --proving time and time again that he will stand beside her when everything else falls.

Are you ready for the journey?  Can I confide in you?  Let me know soon; I'll be awaiting your response.

Always,

Friendship

Picture reads: Friendship, a friend is someone you can be alone with and have nothing to do and not be able to think of anything to say and be comfortable in the silence.

Yet I realized that in several instances Celestria and Alaire's friendship is not always the most "comfortable".  Shall I share?
I feel like despite the friendship that is between Celestria and Alaire, there have been several rather awkward moments.  Let's not forget the bed scene, shall we?  I have been rather pleased with the turnout of the relationship they have with each other, and it's interesting (for me, mind you) to see how they've grown with one another.

Anyways, I just thought to share this with you because I happened to find that first picture and then I thought "Hmm, how is Celestria and Alaire's friendship like this?"
If I've bored you, I apologize.  Later on the Magicians series blog I will most likely be writing a post about Leal... or some kind of posts about a character (or characters).  Now I am returning to chapter 24 and if I don't finish it someone must shoot me because I've been spending too long on this chapter.

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Eating colored gold fish while writing for Nano

I realize yesterday I never got the chance to blog, but the title of this post explains it all.  I was attempting to dedicate my undivided attention to Nano.

Here it is the 8th day of this writing madness and I'm at 10K.  *sighs* But at least I'm not all that far behind yet.

As you might have noticed there's a new page up about a book called Arisen Darkness.

Cover by Hannah

The premier for Arisen Darkness will go live on the blog by December 1st.  I shall not post it before then because I cannot begin to think about this book --and the series it is a part of--in any more detail until Nano is over and done with.

Now onto STRONGER....

Do not cry, even when the rest of the world is falling apart around you.  You must stay strong.

I am spending a lot of time with this book.  (A lot doesn't even cover it.)  Every spare moment I get I am writing more for STRONGER and I am looking forward to it going public on December 1st.  Remember if you want to be updated when the book goes public to request being on the mailing list.

As you hopefully are, I am excited about this project.  It is well right now, and I look forward to posting it public.  While it is already past 10K and could go public now I have decided against that because I will do editing once Nano ends so then it doesn't look like a crappy half-done piece of work.  (Because if anybody tells me it's like that I shall cry in the corner of my room... after I grab my box of tissues.)

A new summary for STRONGER has been uploaded.  Please look on the "new release" page to view.  Hope you like it.

Cursed with Power.  Yes, the book still exists!

Sadly enough I cannot even remember the last time I spoke about this book, so I can imagine many of you might have determined I had all together given together or I had quite possibly fallen off the Earth.  (That really can happen you know...It happened to Justin Guarnni; haha just kidding that would be for another time to discuss.)

So to reassure you I will state simply that 

• Just because I don't update the blog everyday about the book doesn't mean I've stopped writing it
• A chapter update has not gone up because I do not post chapters for public view until they are complete
• Celestria is extremely angry with me as of right now.  Please ask her to forgive me.

Lastly...

<---Okay, so I found this picture when I made my post about Adam on the Magicians series blog.  You can view the post here.  

Anyways, so I just thought I'd post this picture as a closure to this post because lets be honest.  That guy is gorgeous!

All right back to work for me.  And I just realized it's Character Blog Monday:O  Failure; I need to get that out of the way before the end of the night....

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Planning ahead...Yeah right, I wish

I actually have done some planning of what I want to get accomplished for today, but whether I will actually complete these plans I've set out with is another story.  I have to work until 8pm tonight, so it's not exactly like my afternoon is free me to blog and whatnot.
Later this evening I hope to....

• continue working on chapter 7 of Cursed with Power  --I feel like I've wasted way too long staring at the first two paragraphs for this chapter and I need to get the story moving along not only so I can have a state of peace in mind but so my readers --yes, you all--can read what you've been waiting for
• finish chapter 2 of Certain Fate --I've procrastinated with this book, I admit it.  However, I honestly do want to write the first 10,000 words so it can at last go public.  Hooray, hooray!  (What, am I the only one excited?)
• Revise/re-write/do something with the prologue off Everblue --not all that many people have read Everblue, but I've recently tried to begin polishing it because I'm so sick and tired of saying "here's another book I haven't finished"
• Finish prologue for The Magic of Light --yes, I'm thinking a prologue is necessary and besides I really like prologues and feel if I can pull the reader in at that point of the story then no worries...yeah, I wish it was that easy....

As you can see I have written out too much for myself to do today, but I pretty much go through this everyday.  Why am I sharing this with you?  It's so when and if I am blogging later tonight you can remind me of this long list full with madness I have to get working on.

Really, I mean look at that list.  FOUR BOOKS?!  It is madness and it's probably mentally destroying me working on so many projects as once, but as I was working with different ideas I would lose track of where to go next and then I would begin a new project.  Now while I have Cursed with Power there are at least these other books which can keep me company when I feel that Celestria and I have lost connection with each other entirely.

For any of you avid readers out there, I'll let you in on a secret: I'm going to post the prologue of The Magic of Light on this blog once I have it finished.  You will be able to read it.  Shh, don't let anybody know I told you.

<-----And maybe it's just me, but that's a really creepy face to make...even if she is winking.

Be there for the magic: www.themagiciansseries.blogspot.com

Well would you look at that....

Rank 503 (+5)

Word Count

17789

Date submitted

06.27.2010

Date Updated

10.08.2010
I can't believe the ranking for Cursed with Power is finally at 503.  While I have work this afternoon *sad faces all around* I hope the ranking will not go up during that time.  It was 511 yesterday....inkies, keep your eye on my book.  Make sure it does not go up but only continues to go down.  Please?

When I do get back to having some spare time I am planning on finishing chapter five of Cursed with Power.  Are you just the slightest curious?  Even if you're not, I'm going to let you get inside the story a bit....
Let's see if there's anything happening that will be interesting....
Chapter Five
I don't know want to give away anything and I especially don't want to say so much that I ruin when I'll post up the update for this chapter.  However, I will tell you little matters here and there....
Leal anyone?  YES, he's in this chapter.
I can guarantee you in this chapter there's more conversing between Celestria and Leal.  (Sorry I'm not putting the accent in his name....)
Why does it seem I'm always mentioning Leal?!
It doesn't seem that way... that's because I actually probably always do --especially since I happen to know certain people *cough cough Annie and Pslams* absolutely love his character as if there is no tomorrow.
Honestly I'm glad you guys love him so much.
Remember black ashes.....?
Hey, weren't black ashes mentioned in the first chapter?  Hmmm, that's so strange.  I wonder why I would mention that right now. *sarcasm* Perhaps by reading the chapter you can find out....
There. Have. Been. Major. Changes.
Yes, actually chapter five is changing entirely from what it was like in the original copy of the book.  Hence why you should read the new version once I have it posted up.  Trust me when I say you don't want to miss this chapter.... not for anything.


And remember, coming this month is the Magicians series blog. Be there for the magic.


Haven't taken the survey about the new blog?  Take it now.
Want to win something? Don't we all? Here's your chance with my first ever contest.
I mean if you haven't done either so far it's not like that would bother me, but you know I do actually mention it in all my posts because I'm hoping it will somehow get your attention.  Just hoping....

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.

Wrong Impression

I wanted to blog about this because someone who recently read Cursed with Power got the impression that I was trying to make Dark magicians out to be good people.  I thought it would be good for me to explain that I am not trying to do such a thing.

The Magicians series, as you know, focuses on five Dark magicians and there struggle to survive since they are the last of their kind.  Each story in the series is told from the POV of one of the five Dark magicians.

At times it may seem like the magicians are saying --or suggesting--that they are good people, but in truth they are not.  Seeing as they actually tell the story from how it happens and how they see it, they are of course going to be objective and bias towards themselves.  These magicians know they are villains --or whatever you would prefer to call them--but like anyone else they do not believe that what is happening to them is right, nor is it something that deserves to happen to them because they are evil.

Like you, I view Dark magicians as villains, no matter what the story.  However, in this series you have to keep in mind that the stories are being told from each magician's perspective.  

So if you are reading Cursed with Power or if you should happen to read any of the other books in the five part series, please keep an open mind and remember that the magicians are narrating the story.

Chapter fifteen has been UPLOADED

Chapter fifteen has been finished and uploaded onto IP for you to read.  To get you interested I'll let you in on a little surprise that enters into this chapter....
Celestria,
I have sent this message because it is vital that you return in haste.  I will not say much for now but I will tell you that there is something within the diamond you left....


And that's all of the message that you can read for now.  If you want to read the rest and find out what Celestria does afterwards you know what you'll have to do. 
Read it here. Review it.  Leave a comment. Add it.


Now I'm going to work on chapter 16.  You can expect to hear more from me later on once another chapter is finished.  Soon I will be posting up Lala's interview.

Chapter fourteen has been UPLOADED

At last chapter fourteen is finished and uploaded on IP for you to read.  As always I'm here to give you a little preview and some hints at what may happen and telling you about what very well could happen next.
Read it here.
Chapter fourteen: Miraculous
In chapter fourteen Celestria travels to a magical, miraculous place.  However, she does not realize that danger is right around the corner for her.


Coming up next....
Celestria must decide how far she wants to go to save a person she barely knows.  Is she really going to put her life on the line?  And what may be the most significant to her comes her way.  What will she do about it?


The author is looking forward to...
I'm glad to be moving on with the chapters and getting a lot of suspense and tension into the story.  The paranormal aspects of this story come into play yet again and make the reader (hopefully) wonder what is real and what is a hallucination.  Celestria has to come to make a vital decision on her behalf in the next chapter or so.  It is this decision alone that will lead to what kind of ending she has to her story.
Hope you'll stop in to read more; if not I'll be back again later with another new chapter up.  The answers you've been waiting for are ones that Celestria is just coming to find the answers to for herself.
Read the story. Review it.  Leave a comment.  Add it.
 

Cursed with Power... writing more

Today I am writing more for Cursed with Power.  I think that for those of you who are reading it or have a least been keeping up with the posts I blog about it you will find that there is much more awaiting both you and Celestria in this story.
What happens next is what you're not going to expect... much less believe!
Just while matters are seemingly starting to go well for Celestria she finds out there is much more to come her way.  Unfortunately it is not at all good.  New characters come to enter into the story and Celestria goes to seek out an old foe.
Can she survive through it?
I ask this question but I know that you are asking exactly what she has to worry about surviving.  Well, my fellow followers and viewers, I cannot give that away to you.  However, I will let you know that I have outlined the ending of the book and as I said in an early post this ending is just the right ending to lead you into New Life.
As eager as I may be to write out the ending of the book there is still more Celestria has to tell you about.  Her journey is far from being over.
Haven't read it yet?
If you haven't read this book yet I am not exactly the right person to be saying you should read it --seeing as I'm bias--but you should definitely consider taking a glance at the summary if nothing else to get some ideas of your own on the book.
Read it here.Review it. Leave a comment. Add it.

Check in again later today on the blog to hear about chapter 14, which I'm in the process of writing right now.  Let's all hope I'll stay focused and force myself to write and finish more than one chapter.

Working on Cursed with Power

I have just spent what feels like forever on the Writer Interviews for today, but now I really must get back to serious business.  I have a new story idea that I just want to quickly save on IP and set to private and then I have to get to work on...
Today I am going back to chapter one of Cursed with Power and re-editing that.  I have actually been advised by one of my top favorite online authors that it would probably be best I show Dyanna's death or show Dyanna in the first chapter so readers will care about her and understand also why Celestria is so hurt because of this.
You, like me, might be wondering what I'm going to do.  To be honest I have not an idea because I still want to keep the beginning with the dream that Celestria has.... I guess that's why I need to start working on it now so I can sit and ponder about that for a while.  (Or a very long time).
Nonetheless, I am hopeful in figuring out something before the end of the day and if I don't... You guys will be hearing about it because I'll suddenly be like "Guys, this sucks.  I came up with nothing." But you and I both know we don't want that kind of post to come up, so I promise I'm going to give it my all to see what is left in my brain and what words I still know at the moment.  Do you ever have those moments where you feel you're completely losing any good word choice you knew at a time?  Sometimes I have days like that.... *sigh*

An important THANK YOU

Hello my fellow bloggers, writers, friends, followers, viewers, and whatever else have you.
This post is dedicated to everyone I emailed this summer with my "writing update" emails.

Today I want to post a very important thank you, which I am hoping I will be able to type up in a timely fashion because at the moment the computer and I are not getting along too well.

This summer I emailed my friends, writing "buddies" (as I like to call them), and overall just a group of people who have always cared for me and continue to do so.
What all of these people probably don't realize is that this was my first summer in which I ever sent out so many emails and was actually enjoying myself while doing that.  (Now I know that makes me sound so nerdy)...  Instead of spending my summer emailing agency after agency, as I probably should have now that I think about it, I emailed my closest friends and so forth to keep them on track with my progress in my writing.
So to everyone who received those emails...
I do not know if you guys read my emails, and I think it's probably best I never know what you did with them.  For all I know you might have gotten tired of seeing my name in your inbox so often and put the emails straight into the trash can.  However, I happen to know all of you and I doubt you would be so harsh to do such a thing.  (But again, I really don't think I want to know if you did or did not).
I know that my emails have been both long and seemingly endless, yet here it is already August and before you know it summer will be over.  Whether you guys realize this or not, you were my inspiration this summer. You all in some way or another made me feel a kind of confidence that I never felt before.  I kept on writing and the more I wrote the better I felt because for the first time ever I felt as if  I were sharing my progress with the whole world.  (Even though in truth I know if was only with all of you).
You came along with me by reading those emails or replying to them and joined my long journey with Cursed with Power and those lovely rejection letters I got from agencies and publishers.  You were there to tell me my ideas were good and interesting and I felt as if you were there for Celestria as well because by following how her story moved along it was almost as if you were with her during her travels and adventures.  When she was battling and you feared the worst there you were again, hoping everything would end well for her while at the same time questioning how much you should like her character.  And believe me when I say that I am forever grateful you did care about her and the characters in my story.
As you guys know, I never did anything like this when I was writing The Magic of Light.  I do not think then I realized that I have a rather large group --okay not that large, but decent sized--I could keep informed.  It was great that you all kept letting me send you emails, as well, because I remember at the beginning I warned you that my emails are sometimes long --because you know how I go off rambling if I start on the topic of writing--and could possibly be boring.  Nonetheless, I thankfully never received a reply in which one of you were requesting I not email you about the story and my progress anymore.
There are not enough "thank you" images I can put into this post to fully express how thankfully I am to every single one of you.  I just hope that one day I can support you as much as you have supported me.  Being a writer isn't something anybody said was going to be easy, but with my friends and all of these people who care about me I feel confident.
Before I end this I want you guys just to realize two things.  One, I haven't finished Cursed with Power yet, which leads to... Two, I think your days of long emails from me might not be over.  (Sorry)!  But i have really enjoyed emailing you guys and telling you what I thought I would not have anybody to tell.  Hopefully there were emails that you liked reading, even if you could not reply to them.  (I did try to make the subjects interesting)...
And who knows.... maybe all of this will just give us all something to talk about and laugh over one day.
Thank you.  Your endless support and comfort is something I can not thank in enough words, but let these words be enough...
I will always be grateful for what you have said and done -even the simple things--because you are the ones who probably would have stood at the edge of a cliff with me. (Why we would be on the edge of a cliff in the first place is beyond me... Let's stay with that being more like a figure of speech).

After another critique...

I just received another comment on Cursed with Power and while I am always grateful for comments and the fact that people will read my work, there was something in this comment that surprised me.
Perhaps it was because it was so unexpected...
While I cannot disagree with the grammar mistakes --because I know there are probably several and they do need to eventually be fixed at some point or another--I could not help but disagree with the statement that the first chapter of the story seems to go nowhere.  Actually, I was told in exact words that, "The plot seems to be going nowhere at the moment."
I do not wish to rant on about why I don't necessarily agree with that, but it's just that I can't believe I'm hearing this about the first chapter.  However, it's only one person who has told me this, so perhaps I really should not be worrying about it.  I mean, let's face it... We cannot always please everyone.
A part of me feels bad because everyone is saying this and that which can be fixed and yet I'm working towards the future of the book.  I guess I'm really just trying to get the whole story down before I completely lose it, which I would absolutely hate to have happen.
In case you did not see, Cursed with Power went up to 967 ranking points today.  (That's not good).  However, the book is not finished so really it's probably good that it is not flying through the rankings like there is no tomorrow.  Besides, I'm not anybody like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. My writing is not to that amazing point yet, and none of us will ever really be like another writer.  I think in all truth we writers are all very different and that is what makes our stories unique.

But anyhow... That's pretty much it.  Hopefully those of you who are also reading Cursed with Power aren't bored with the book already.  (I mean, if the author is not yet then surely she can keep her readers there with her, right)?
However, I cannot let some comment that pretty much shows that someone does not like my work phase me.  So, nonetheless, I'll keep writing the story and working on it.

New review today

I read a new review I got on Cursed with Power that mentioned something that rather surprised me.  This person was most curious as to why the man Celestria was writing to in the prologue had the name of Adam when they lived in such a "fantastical world".
I never really thought that Adam's name was out of place for the book because while there are magicians in this story, there are also regular people within it --Adam being one of them.
So I suppose what I am saying here is that I just want to explain that I see no reason to really change Adam's name because he is an ordinary guy with a name that was common back in the 1500s.  I think the extraordinary names I researched I used for the magicians.

Anyways...
Today I am going to try and start chapter thirteen after I refresh my memory with where I left off.  I'm assuming at this point in the book there are three major questions everyone has.
Is Léal ever coming back into the story?  What really happened to Dyanna?  Is there a real message inside of the diamond?
Alas you will have to wait until more is written to come to the conclusions of those questions.  For those of you who aren't reading the story, do not worry too much that I will give away a lot by my posts about Cursed with Power.