April: Behind the scenes

So while my character parade is happily plodding onward, I thought I'd share what's going on behind the scenes.

1. During the flooding last week, despite $200 pump I ran to three stores to finally find one in stock in the pouring rain, getting covered in mud several times and becoming one with the worms in my dirt crawl space, my furnace went underwater just far enough to die.

2. After the days of  rain finally ended, we did not go directly to our long delayed spring. Instead, we reverted back to winter. It's been snowing intermittantly and not above 40 degrees. And I have no heat other than a space heater in the living room.

3. Work is busy as hell. Being self-employed means if it's busy, I'm working. There have been 10 - 14 hour work days (and there have been for the past couple weeks and that includes weekends). Okay, so working like mad has sort of kept me warmish. There is that. Sort of.

4. While all this is going on, it was time for my LAST school carnival yesterday. This means, that while working crazy long hours, I was also at school (where there is at least heat) for 11 hours last week setting up and running the darn carnival. It went very smoothly thanks to some wonderful volunteers from a local church, but I'm soooooo glad it's over. Another last for this can't wait to be done with PTO duties mom. Now there's just a parade, a big field trip and graduation to plan. Deep breaths. It's almost over.

5. Progress on my Camp NaNo novella has screeched to a couple hundred words here and there. I am at 13k of my 25k goal. Will I get there by the end of the month?

6. I'm way behind on crits. Chapters are piling up of some great stories I'd love to be reading.

7. All this culminated in a lovely migraine yesterday that is still with me today and I have a ton of work to do.

Monday will be better, right?  At least the furnace guy is coming in the morning now that the water has drained out of the crawlspace so he can tell me how much fixing my furnance is going to cost. Yay?

April A to Z Characters: R

R is for Roy.

A priest of Hasi, Roy hails from Samarah's Sunset. Roy is a devout man and he's got little patience for Samarah while she struggles to find her place in his group of soldiers. And really, there is no place for her. A woman amongst lonely men makes for more trouble than either of the them want to deal with. Religion only holds not-so-devout men in line so long.

Second in command to Yanis, Roy leads the band of men toward home though enemy territory. He's more adept at wielding sermons and the words of Hasi than a sword, but he gets by enemies attack. He holds control over the food supply, usually meaning moldy biscuits, and the spiritual wellbeing of his charges. At least until they get really hungry.

Likes: His god, order, clean robes and a good meal.

Dislikes: The temptations of a woman, ungrateful men, wondering if his brother is still alive.


See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: Q

Q is for Queen.

I know it probably seems convenient for this whole A to Z challenge, but seriously, she doesn't have a name of her own. Maybe she never will. She's simply known as The Queen in Swan Queen. And no, she's not the Swan Queen.

Mother of Princess Maribella and sister to Kenric, the Queen is ailing. She chastises her procrastinating daughter for delaying in her choosing of a husband. The longer Maribella delays, the more chance Kenric will have time to work his way onto the throne. The wedding must take place. The problem is that Maribella's choices are slim. She can't picture herself with any of the menagerie of men her mother has chosen for her.

When the Queen inconveniently dies shortly after their conversation, Mari finds herself without a kingdom and her people under Kenric's heavy hand. Now she has to live long enough to find a suitable husband and convince Kernic to step down without tossing her country into war.

Thanks for dying, Queen.

Likes: The thought of her her daughter on the throne, servants, being queen,

Dislikes: Her brother, her daughter being so damn indecisive, dying.

See all the A to Z challenge partcipants here.

April A to Z Characters: P

P is for Paul.

Paul is the husband of Marion from Devolution, a short story currently in need of some extensive revision and possible expansion into novella territory. He's a good guy for the most part. He makes sure his wife has a nice home in their Plex. They even have a window. Thanks to all his work, they want for very little. The one thing he can't give his wife is a child. Not that he's unable. She's the one who can't clear the approval process. Mental unstability runs in her family and the last thing their orderly world needs is a drain on resources by caring for those who had no right to be born in the first place.

Paul does his best to get Marion counseling and find something more useful for her baby-craving mind to do. If she doesn't quit with her silly dreams and take her medication, he could loose his job and with it, the apartment with a view. He's not a bad man and she's not a bad woman but if you ask either of them, they'll probably tell you different.

Likes: Variation in his evening meals, a wife who comes to bed with him, and his job

Dislikes: Headstrong women, the uncivilized people who live out in the wilds, the thought of moving from his apartment.

April A to Z Characters: O

O is for Olga.

Olga travels through the land of Not Another Bard's Tale. She wants nothing more than to protect her sister, the chosen of the Sheep God, and to find a man who loves her for who she is.

Her sister got the good looks, but Olga got the brains of her Elven mother and brawn of her Dwarvish father. She also has a big sword and she knows how to use it. Unfortunately, the men in town see her as a more of a friend than a lover. In fact, most of them are scared to death of her. When her father sends her out of the country on a business trip, Olga learns that when the quaking men of her town said it wasn't her, it was them, they just might have been right.

Likes: Men who aren't afraid of a strong woman, supportive yet flattering swordswoman wear, and sharpening her sword.

Dislikes: The knight who deflowered her sister, cowards, and men who don't take her swordsmanship seriously.