Darkest Fear - reading

Finished "Darkest Fear" by Harlan Coben. To be honest, I just didn't get many of the analogies the author used. I just don't have the same cultural references. That's odd considering it was written in 2000. It also doesn't help that this is like the 7th book in a series with this character, but the first one I read. Overall, I didn't feel like I really connected with the story. It was only so-so, in part being too predictable and in part because it tried to throw in plot twists for the sake of plot twists.

Celduin begins

I play Everquest II, and for it, I wrote up a very short intro (not quite a story) about Celduin, one of my characters. This is very short (269 words), and only a first draft or less, but may end up expanding over time. I was prompted by a writing contest for the guild.

The morning sun rose above the horizon and I was at the top of a tall tree, waiting to meet it. The chill of both the night and the cold morning wind melted away as the rays sank into my bare skin. I closed my eyes and focused on the memory of the dark forest spread out before me to the horizon, a sight I had been staring at for hours leading up to this moment. Until now, nothing had comforted me in my time of loss. The calls of my kin below did not stir me from my perch. The cold and hunger I felt were only at the edge of my consciousness and easily ignored. I had to know the sun would rise again, even though my parents would not, slain as they were by murdurous orcs in the attack late the previous day. The last words I heard, spoken of my family and of many families around me were, "They cannot be raised. We do not know why." Those words echoed incessantly through my head as I ran to the forest and as I climbed and they remained with me as a shroud of anger and doubt throughout the night. Upon seeing the brightening of the pre-dawn sky, the words finally faded from my thoughts, replaced with the knowledge that I would dedicate myself not to revenge, for revenge can lead to greater evil, but to continuing the fight against evil in memory of my parents. It was a momentous time for me. It lasted no longer than a day, but would carry me into adulthood.

Santa story

One day last year, I woke up with a scene in my head of Santa Claus, and thought that the events leading up to that scene would make an interesting, if dark story. Today, I finally got some words down on it - 1,182 to be exact. As it's a short story and barely about a third of the way through its first draft, I decided not to post the work-in-progress. I may consider posting the final version when it's done.

This is the first thing I've written in a while, and it's largely due to having met with a coworker who also has an interest in writing. We decided to meet once a week to review each other's writing, and for a couple weeks, I coasted on the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2008, on which he gave very good feedback. Last week, he gave me an excerpt of a story he was visibly uncomfortable with sharing. I had nothing to offer in return and knew that my time of coasting was at an end. Thank goodness for that. I needed a good kick in the ass.

On a Pale Horse - reading

Finished "On a Pale Horse" by Piers Anthony (last week, actually). Though a little bit dated, this story holds up well against contemporary stories. I saw shades of several other death-related stories as I went along. I really wasn't sure where it could go given the setup, but was pleasantly surprised at how Anthony weaved the story in the end. Very enjoyable.