Monday, October 27, 2014

Chapter 6

This will have to be a quick post... I'm about to go pick up my sisters and friends from ballet...

To read Chapter 6, fill out the contact form to the right and in the message, put "Chapter 6 in the body of the message and I will give you access to the chapter!

Have a great week! I'll probably make up for this short post with another in the middle of this week. And on a side note, today is my little brother's birthday!! Happy 4th Birthday Trent Ethan! <3


Monday, October 20, 2014

Chapter 5

Happy Monday! :)

In case some of you didn't notice, I posted two posts during the week. If you haven't seen them yet, make sure you at least read the one titled "A Slight Change" because I touched on a minor change that will be a part of this chapter.

For today's character profile I chose Ellyn's sister Sybil, cast as Isabelle Allen:

Isabelle Allen as Ellyn's 10 year old sister, Sybil

Since the last chapter ended on a cliff hanger, I'll include the last part of that chapter in case you want to refresh your memory. :) And if you haven't caught up on the first four chapters yet... spoiler alert. :P

Chapter 4 excerpt:
There was a small shuffling. Ellyn’s grip around Julius’s arm tightened and she felt his muscles tense.
            “Ellyn?” a small voice squeaked, sounding nearby, but very muffled.
            “Yes, it’s me, Sybil, where are you? Come out, it’s alright,” Ellyn said, sighing with relief. There was a shuffling nearby and small footsteps approached Ellyn and Julius.
            “Sybil, there you are,” Ellyn said, enfolding her sister tightly in her arms. “It’s alright.”
            “I was afraid,” Sybil said, her voice shaking.
            “I know,” Ellyn said, holding her sister tightly. “We need to go inside now where it’s safe.”
            But a loud crash broke her words. Moonlight flooded through the door as it was pushed open, and a shadow filled the doorway. Ellyn gasped and Julius grabbed her and Sybil and opened the stall door, pushing both of them inside. He pushed them to the ground and closed the door, standing in front of it with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Ellyn squeezed Sybil in her arms, shaking with terror.

To read Chapter 5, fill out the contact form to the right and in the message, put "Chapter 5" in the body of the message and I will give you access to the chapter!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Medieval Castles

Hi everyone! So thanks for keeping up with the first four chapters. I greatly appreciate all your your very helpful comments for me! Thank you!

I decided to occasionally post a General Update where I give information about the time period, or maybe ask you guys questions, or just give a random update. I don't know what all I'll do with these posts... I guess we'll find out. ;D

Since I have set this novel in the Medieval time period (with fictional names, places and events) I thought I would share some images that will hopefully help you be able to envision some things better.

I looked up quite a few images of Medieval castles so that I had a better idea of how Medieval kings and queens used to live. The Marienburg Castle in Germany is my general idea of the castle at Eurasia where Ellyn lives: very large, surrounded by trees, a courtyard in the center. This castle was built in the mid-1300s and has been very well preserved.

Marienburg Castle

Marienburg Castle

The courtyard at Marienburg castle

There are also some very interesting pictures of the interiors of medieval castles:
castle dungeon
dining hall
Here is a Medieval bedroom, which I thought is a good representation of what Ellyn's room could look like.

And finally, since I didn't do this in my last post, I'll add a quick character profile. One of the characters you have already met is Queen Cordelia, Ellyn's mother, who I cast as Rosamund Pike.
Rosamund Pike as Queen Cordelia
Tune in next Monday for Chapter 5! :)

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A Slight Change

(there are some spoilers in this post... I would recommend not reading it unless you have caught up with the first four chapters which I have posted :)

I have made a slight change to an aspect of the novel, which involves Julius's past. This part of the story will also come in later, so I'm letting you all know so that it won't be confusing later on.

So originally, Julius had been hiding in the village near the castle Eurasia and was pretty much biding his time until he heard from his advisor Quinn, to give him advice on his next move. The after the battle, King Wulfred invited him to stay at Eurasia for as long as he needed to.

So that has been changed slightly. Instead of having been staying in the village, Julius was actually passing through Eurasia on his way to another kingdom called Brystol. His uncle is king of Brystol and is an ally of Julius's. Here's a "family tree" that might help if you're confused. You should be able to click on the image to make it larger if you have trouble reading the small font. ;)



So... hopefully that helps. While Julius is fleeing to his uncle's in Brystol (disguised as a peasant to avoid recognition), he travels through Eurasia, unaware they they are about to be attacked by the Northmen. When he finds himself in the middle of the battle, and in a not so very safe position, King Wulfred invites him to stay until Quinn arrives to advise him on his next move. Julius does not want to chance travelling through Eurasia when it could be dangerous. So he waits in Eurasia for the arrival of Quinn. If you would like to read the changes I made in the book, I have included Julius's explanation to King Wulfred of his past.

“Then how did you come here?” the king asked. “You are so far from your native land. I’m sure you are aware of the disunity and separation the countries of Eurasia have. I have no knowledge of the affairs that take place among other kingdoms.”        

"The tale you are requesting of me is very complicated, but in short, my father, King Rowan of Veridell, died several years ago, and the throne was taken over by my uncle, now Prince Randall. He is determined to begin a new line of kings, descending from himself, even though he has no right to the throne. I found my life in danger, and fled the kingdom. I have another uncle in the kingdom of Brystol, and he was an ally of my father’s and offered to protect me while I am in danger. My advisor Quinn suggested I dress as a peasant to avoid notice or possible recognition and I have been travelling to Brystol from Veridell. My uncle Randall has sent out men to hunt for me, because as long as I am alive, I am a threat to his plot.”

So at this point in the story, Julius is waiting in Eurasia to hear from Quinn, who he has sent a message to. An important point that is mentioned in the passage above is that the kingdoms are very separate from one another, as King Wulfred said. There is little communication or dealings between them, which is why neither Wulfred nor Julius knew about the affairs in the other's kingdom.

The reason I made this change is to make a part of the story coming up more realistic and possible. Sorry if this was confusing! Feel free to ask questions if you have any. :)

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Chapter 4

Hi everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend. :) Well this will be a short post because it's very late right now. Also, I think I have mentioned this, but I've been doing some editing to my book and long story short, this chapter was constructed entirely this afternoon, so it may be a little rough. I haven't done a lot of proofing on it so I apologize for the mistakes I'm sure you'll find... hehe. I'll be going over it again when I'm feeling more... awake. :D I would add a character profile but it's kind of late and I need to get to bed! I'm planning on doing a general update sometime this week, so I'll do it then. Bye for now. ;)

To read this chapter, fill out the contact form to the right and in the message, put "Chapter 4" in the body of the message and I will give you access to the chapter!


P.S. Some of you maybe be wondering why I posted this on Sunday instead of Monday... usually I get the post ready on Sunday and schedule it to be posted at midnight on Monday, but it's almost midnight anyway so I'm just going to go ahead and post it. ;D

Monday, October 6, 2014

Chapter 3

Happy Monday Everyone! Sorry things have been a little slow to start here (I did call this blog "Writer's Block" for a reason...haha!) but thanks for encouraging me to keep posting! I'm glad I have you all to remind me ... otherwise I would probably put off working on this and possibly not complete it! Thank you also for your very helpful critiques and advice. I've read over the chapters so much, that I don't have a very fresh perspective. So it's very helpful to receive feedback from those of you reading for the first time.


Anyway, a character that you will read a lot about in Chapter 3 is Ellyn's brother Ivor, who I have cast as Freddie Stroma:

Freddie Stroma as Ivor
To read this chapter, fill out the contact form to the right and in the message, put "Chapter 3" in the body of the message and I will give you access to the chapter! Don't forget - critiques are greatly appreciated. :) Thanks everyone! Have a great week!