Around the Year Writing

This post is out of date. I'll be leaving it as-is.


Since I'll be writing 1.6 million words from September 1st, 2011, to January 31st, 2013, I wrote down my activities per month, so that I can stay on track and not have to figure something new out each month.


A dictionary entry is for the language I have created, and which requires a word base so I can write the songs and epic poems.




AROUND THE YEAR WRITING:


January:
- Pants: Pants a novel.
- Plan for February.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.


February: 
- FAWM (http://fawm.org): Write 14 songs (a song is c. 400 words, so 6k)
- Novel: Planned out.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Plan for March


March:
- NANOEDMO : Log 50 hours of editing
- 100 Theme Novel: Write a novel based on 100 themes.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Plan for April


April:
- Script Frenzy: Write 100 pages of script.
- Epistolary novel.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Plan for May


May:
- NEPMo: Write 5000 lines of epic poetry in a conlang.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Drivel


June:
- Drivel
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Plan for July/August. (optional!)


July:
- Write a long novel, spanning from July to August.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.


August:
- Complete novel from July.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.


September:
- Drivel
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.
- Plan for October, November, December


October:
- GothNoWriMo: Write a gothic story from 20k +
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.


November:
- NaNoWriMo: Write 50k
- Write a long novel.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.


December:
- Continue writing NaNovel
- Write a new novel.
- Dictionary: Add one dictionary entry per day.

The Master Document of Plots and Characters

Because I am telling so many people about The Blood Feud, I've compiled this master list of all the characters and plots.

The book currently has six main story lines, along with various ancestors' sub-plots, which feature as letters/short stories between main bits of narrative.

Main Plot:

Two families war against each other in a sham blood feud that no one knows is fake.

Then there are the characters (some of which have not been included). 

Main Characters:

Frederick Martin: Frederick is the Martin Head of House. He is a careful, conscientous man who weighs everything before responding to it. He has never believed that the blood feud has any sense whatsoever.

Marie Martin: Marie is a free spirit who firmly believes in trying something just to see what it's like. She hates dates and would rather be riding a fast horse or eating an exotic food than sitting in at a meeting. Her younger brother, Frederick, is convinced she's going to die some day from too much excitement. Marie is the Martin Ambassador and thus often goes on business trips to the other estates.

Grigory Martin: Grigory is 19, and will take any dare you give him,  be it jumping off the roof, eating a pound of grapes in ten minutes, or walking on coals. He's the youngest of the main Martin's: Marie is his older sister and Frederick is his older brother. 

Natalie Lundquist: Natalie is the beauty of the Lundquists and is their pride and joy. She works at the hospital as a Morale Booster: a person who sits and talks to patients to boost their morale. She is 19, and has a bad temper.

James Lundquist: Natalie's older brother and Head of Lundquist House, James is brutally killed by Gerald Hughes, thus foisting the estate onto his second cousin, Henry Lundquist.

Gerald Hughes: George's great-grandfather is George, and his grandmother is Arianna Martin, who married Daniel Hughes, who has Sirius Hughes, who had him. Gerald is schizopherinic, and he hears voices in his head that tell him to hurt people. His story is about struggling with his growing insanity.

Henry Lundquist: Henry Lundquist is a quiet, careful young man who does not enjoy adventure. His left eye is brown and his right is blue, giving him a lopsided look. Henry is the Lundquist Ambassador starting November 2^nd, 2011, because no one else wanted to be and because he was the only one silly enough to say "Yes."

Jakob Anderson: The black, 5'11" journalist with dreadlocks that is paid to write stories on the Martins and Lundquists. He is working for the Martin Informer— a newspaper almost on the line between the Martin and Lundquist Estates. He is engaged to Eleni Carlson, and is working his tail off so that they can get married.

The Ancestors:

Thomas Lundquist: The founder of Lundquist Estate, Thomas lost half his lands to his best friend, Joshua Martin in a night of gambling. The same night, Lundquist Manor burned down. Thomas Lundquist has a few secrets secreted throughout the walls of Lundquist Estate. He married Athena Rothspar, and had three children.

Joshua Martin: Joshua Martin built Martin Estate with limited funds. The house is therefore added on to whenever there is money left, and it is somewhat mis-matched. Joshua Martin married Katherina, having courted her on a tree on the grounds of Martin Estate. Daniel, Richard, and Isabelle are his children.

George Martin: The great-grandson of Joshua Martin, George Martin died suddenly in a carriage collision— smashing head-on into Arabella Lundquist's carriage. His wife, Victoria, and he had Alexander, Aiden, and Daniel.

Arabella Lundquist: When Arabella married David Lundquist, she inherited an entire estate.She had George, Harriet, and Nicholas. She died in a carriage collision on June 12^th, 1960 with George Martin.

Minor Characters:

Roxanne and Rebecca Lundquist: Clairvoyant twins, Roxanne and Rebecca are Henry's aunts on his father's side. They speak in riddles, finish each other's sentences, and generally confuse the other members of the family. They receive communication from the dead by telegram, and flesh out the ancestor stories.

Judith Martin: Marie, Frederick, and Grigory's mother, who offers hot beverages and large shoulders to cry on.

Eleni Carlson: Jakob's fiancée, Eleni has a disease that will prove fatal if she doesn't get medical attention. She is in almost constant pain.

Jolene Artemis: Frederick's girlfriend.

Chad Artemis: Artemis Head of House.

Sandra Artemis: Central Hospital Director

The Plots:

Natalie/Grigory Story Arc:

Natalie and Grigory have known each other for nearly six months in close quarters, and they absolutely hate each other. When Grigory gets sent to the hospital for an emergency stay, Natalie is the one chosen to keep him company.

The two cannot stand each other… so how is it that Henry is finding heart-shaped notes around Lundquist Manor, and why does Frederick feel as if he hears his brother calling "Nat" in his sleep?

Marie Martin Story Arc:

Marie's brother, Frederick, sets her up with an epistolary dating service. As Marie juggles various deaths, she writes to three men, all of which seem wonderful.

Gerald Hughes

Gerald Hughes is hearing three voices: Hera, who criticizes everything he does and everyone he sees; Thor, who finds something to be angry about in the smallest things; and Pluto, who is convinced that Gerald needs to kill people. 

As Gerald is put under house arrest for crimes he didn't mean to commit, he struggles with Hera, Thor, and Pluto— and ultimately himself.

Henry Lundquist

When Celia Lundquist, Ambassador, was murdered, Henry reluctantly became ambassador, hoping fervently that he'd be able to resign just a few months later.

But when the Lundquist Head of House is killed, Henry finds out that he is next in line for the estate. Going from simple man to ambassador to head of house has never been easy, but it's worse for Henry, who has never wanted to be in the spotlight.

He can't possibly abdicate: there's no such thing, and besides, the only other inheritor is a distant cousin so far removed that he's practically on the Martin's side.

To add to his problems, Henry's letter-writing is deteriorating and he's been rejected by one of the women he really thought was the one; his second cousin, Natalie, is fraternizing with the Martin boy, and people are dying, left and right.

James Lundquist

James Lundquist has always been a good leader, even if he is very young. But when his ambassador, and then two other prominent family members are killed, James becomes incensed and storms to Martin Manor to demand one of the largest blood payments in history.

What he doesn't know is that Pluto has been waiting for him… and Gerald is ready to kill.

Jakob Anderson

Jakob Anderson has troubles: his rent is due, his feet hurt, and it's hot enough on the streets to melt a candle. On top of everything, his fiancée, Eleni, is dying.

When he got the Martin-Lundquist column, he thought it was the best day of his life, and one of the best opportunities he could have ever had.

When he trips over a toy on the staircase and falls and breaks his leg, he thinks it's just bad luck: after all, Frederick's been nothing but kindness. But then he gets to his apartment, and he gets kicked out because it's booby-trapped.

And a knife was perilously close to his ear one morning when he woke up.

Suffice it to say, Jakob Anderson can't wait for this story to be over.

Frederick Martin

Frederick has never believed that the blood feud is real: it's just too nonsensical. The beginnings of it have almost been lost in time, but when Frederick finds a little note in his desk that hints at answers to the questions that have been plaguing him, he begins searching for more.

And what he is slowly finding out is that everything he's known is untrue…

The Blood Feud

Many people think that the blood feud started because Thomas Lundquist lost half of his estate to Joshua Martin and then his estate burned down.

But what Frederick is now finding out is that that isn't the whole story…

Interpersed between various points of view from the other characters are the stories of the ancestors: those that were affected by the blood feud, but are now dead.

Please note that this is a sort of master document, and that it may not be clear: in which case, please tell me, so I can fix it!

Jakob Anderson and Secrets of the Houses

With 22 days until take-off, and 37 days until the start of NaNoWriMo, I've realized a couple of things:


(1) Information Overload is Bad.  Why? Because if you overload, you can't concentrate, and your outlines begin to suck, and then you don't learn any psychology. Also, you get stressed. 
(2) My novel is going to be work-intensive. I probably should have realized this when I came up with the story of a blood feud and a minimum word goal of 200,000 words, but I have a talent for not realizing things lately.


And… what have these two realizations come down to?


Well, addressing number one quite quickly, I'll be reviewing my Psychology up until we leave, and then working at that as we're gone. So instead of an enormous amount of pages every day, I'll be reviewing a small amount, and working at it better and more thoroughly. "Overlearning," as it were. And I have grammar down pat; I'll probably finish it before I go to bed tonight.


And, number two: Thanks to ikerrivercast, I have one of my plots nailed down rather well, I must say. And I have one of my characters figured out nicely.
Meet Jakob Anderson, who is a struggling journalist with foot and rent problems. He's been given one of the bigger columns in the Redland Informer, namely to report on the activities and whereabouts of the various members of Lundquist Estate and Martin Estate.
As Jakob starts reporting on the blood feud, he's suddenly drawn in: Frederick Martin uses him to uncover a plot of secrets, Natalie and Grigory use him to carry love notes to each other, and the clairvoyant twins, Roxanne and Rebecca, tell him ghastly stories of the future.
Jakob isn't absolutely sure that he's in trouble, though, until he breaks his leg tripping over a skateboard at Martin Estate, and even then he's not convinced until his landlord kicks him out because Jakob's apartment was booby trapped.
As Jakob tries to keep himself alive, he's dragged around by Frederick Martin, who is convinced that he's found a secret that is fundamental to the blood feud.


And I'll stop there, because 1) I'm not sure exactly what happens next to him, and 2) I might change it, even if I did know.


And now, the estates. Both Martin and Lundquist Estate hold many secrets about the blood feud and about the many family members that have lived in the house at one point or another. Thomas Lundquist, the founder of Lundquist House, has the key to the secret of the blood feud hidden in tubes in the walls. Joshua Martin, the winner of Martin Manor, has his own gambling debts that he'd rather not anyone know about.


One day, Frederick Martin, the current owner of Martin Manor, breaks a wall, and finds a piece of paper that hints at a bigger secret. A secret that Frederick has been wondering about for a while. It doesn't make sense to him, you see, that so many people would be fighting over something that happened nearly two hundred years ago. So he's been wondering… why the blood feud?
And this little piece of paper gives him a hint. When Jakob shows up, Frederick has just found out that a majority of the clues to solving the mystery are in Lundquist House, and he sends Jakob out after them. 
What neither of them feel very comfortable with is that it seems that the houses are watching them, waiting for them to make a mistake, so that they can swallow them up.


Because the secrets the houses are keeping are not the sort the ghosts haunting them seem to want to come out.


I'm looking forward to finding out exactly what the secrets are, and the entire histories of both Martin and Lundquist Estate. In some respects of the story, I know (almost) exactly what's going on, but in others I am clueless.
Like Natalie and Grigory's story. WHAT, exactly, is preventing them from falling desperately in love?
I'll be exploring that later.

Around the World... and MilHalfy... and a Blood Feud

I'm going around the world with my family... as people may or may not know. We leave October 16th, 2011, and should be back January, 2013. We'll be going everywhere, practically, but that's besides the point.

The point is, I'm making up my own little challenge (if 'little' can be used as an adjective for this kind of project), and writing 1,600,000 words in 16 months. I dubbed it MilHalfy, short for Million and a Half. The challenge started on the first of September, and I am happy to say that I am kind of on track. Though perhaps I should be a bit aheader.

Anyway, I have a new story at the moment (Kathy and Co. has been relegated to a "When I can Sort Through This" Pile at the moment-- it should be finished by the end of 2012 though), whose working title is The Blood Feud.

It's about two families, the Martins and the Lundquists, who are engaged in a blood feud, believe it or not. It's going to have a really intricate plot, with a Romeo-Juliet complex, a duel (ending in DEATH), revenge, the paparazzi (for it all takes place in Modern Times-- which is code for I Don't Have Time to Research), online blogs, cellphones, an island in Malta, future-seeing twins, a psychopath murderer kept under wraps, and two ghosts... whose great grandparents invented the blood feud as a sham to propel the families to fame and fortune.

These two ghosts are some of my main characters: George Martin and Arabella Lundquist think they are still alive, and don't think it strange at all that they don't look a day over fifty, even if they're about ninety five each. They are the masterminds of all that has been happening lately with Grigory Martin and Natalie Lundquist (the Romeo-Juliet complex), James Lundquist and Gerald Hughes (the duel), and the twins, Rebecca and Roxanne.

Things would be normal, relatively, if the alive members of the clans knew that the blood feud was a sham, because then things would all be 'made up' and people would live quite comfortably. But it seems that whatever George and Arabella think up actually happens, with catastrophic results.

There's a lot of stuff to look through in this world at the moment, because I quite possibly might suddenly decide to SHIFT it all from modern times into some other world I've been working on, and the psychopath murder could quite possibly simply disappear. I'll probably have a plethora of background info by the time I actually start writing the book, but I'm looking forward to entertainment for quite some time: My word goal for this novel is twice as much as I've ever written: 200,000 words. And that doesn't include the 50,000 words I'm estimating the planning and word-building will take.

After I finish this, I'll probably start work on some of the other novel ideas that have been waiting around, but that got pushed off unceremoniously in favor of The Blood Feud.

Interesting...

I admit: I forgot about this.

But it's not just that. I FORGOT about KATHY...

Let me explain. In December we went towards Romania. I remembered Kathy in the airport. I wrote about her in the airport. (I started writing Heroism and Sticky Notes, which is pre-RaGC and kind of sucks).

Come January, I remembered that MilWordY was on. Which I should totally be competing in at the moment, only I feel like everything I'm writing comes out terribly.

ANYWAY: HaSN sucked. I could honestly not think of anything interesting about Kathy going into a class and learning about villain segments.

So I started introducing the other main characters: Allegra, Lucinda... and Robert.

And lo and behold: ROBERT started sparking all these things. What is Robert's job like? What exactly does he do? Why does he do it? How does he even MEET Kathy? Why would he meet her? Why wouldn't his coworker, Gus, meet Kathy instead? Why did Robert break up with Kathy?

Whereas the questions about Kathy were: gee... I have to write this... okay... she's going to class now.

I knew, fundamentally, having written three NaNovels till now (RaGC included), which all included some form of boring drivel/ annoying banter/ stupid characters, that writing in Kathy's POV would result in a terrible book and a never-finished series.

So... I PMed MystWarrior in a desperate attempt to figure out if HaSN would become a totally different book. Namely, a Robert POV book that contains not only pre-RaGC, but RaGC and post-RaGC... basically Robert's deal throughout this fate-distribution process.

Of course, RaGC and SaGE would be expanded slightly to include pre-RaGC scenes... just to further flesh out the series. Like Kathy remembering suddenly what her PR teacher told her when confronting a crazed idiot that wants to do her in. (the standard definition for heroes, btw)

Myst agreed... thankfully... and now I have to figure out a better synopsis. XD

The Break Up

I've never been broken up with... I suppose, because of that, there is going to be really unrealistic, but oh well. I needed words. This gave me like 3529 words. I'm happy. XD Yes, so, here it is. I type in Courier font at 13pt, and I'm really not in the mood to change it and then find out that Blogger ruined all my lovely italics... so enjoy as is. ^_^

Sunshine filtered through the living room. It highlighted the fern's leaves and danced across Kathy's pen, bounced up to her face, and reflected the window in her eyes.

Kathy, however, was not paying any attention to the sunshine. In fact, she was frowning because of it. You see, Kathy had a problem, and it wasn't one of the kinds of problems one can solve easily.

She muttered as she scanned the seating for the wedding, frowning as she realized that there was no way she would ever manage to do this and stay sane at the same time. She almost wished that she and Robert had decided to elope— but then again, Lucinda would never forgive her had she decided to do so. And Allegra… but Kathy tried not to think of Allegra's reaction to an elopement.

"I can't sit Daddy next to Dr. Lime. They'd drive everyone else batty. And Mother has to be next to… no, not him. Mother HATES him. And… Cecile…" Kathy sighed and shouted toward Lucinda.

"Luce, does Cecile have a boyfriend?" Kathy asked, head in hands as she stared at the seating arrangements.

"Bryan Cummings, 23, born December 15^th, 1988, dark brown hair, six feet, three and three quarter inches, weight one hundred ninety eight pounds. Been dating since August 13^th of last year. Get along well— he's likeable and so is she. Both Usuals, in case you'd forgotten— I recommend leaving them with your mother or another— OH, and Bryan has connections to a billionaire, who you'll want to invite because he's highly influential." Lucinda drew a breath for the first time and continued. "Daniel Burroughby, lives just down the street."

"You're JOKING! We have a billionaire on Prescott Drive?” Kathy asked raising her head and looking ecstatic.

"Of course we do!" Lucinda said. "Now keep quiet, Rico and I are watching 'Kim Possible'."

"What, no physical police description?" Kathy asked.

"Of course not. You met him at the party." Lucinda said, rolling her eyes at Dr. Drakken's newest plan. If one could call struggling to open a pickle jar as a plan.

Kathy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Allegra's new friend." Lucinda said. "You mean you didn't meet him?"

Kathy blanched. "You… you mean Allegra's being stalked by a billionaire?"

"Of COURSE!" Lucinda said. "Otherwise I wouldn't allow it. But he's the kind of man that will help Allegra with her temper, and in my opinion, that's wonderful."

Kathy nodded and twirled her red hair as she stared up at the ceiling. Then she scanned the finances. "Do you think we can get the billionaire to pay for the wedding?" she joked. "There's so many people I'm afraid Daddy will go broke."

Lucinda snorted haughtily. "I doubt that, Katherine. Your father is rich enough to pay for the wedding."

Kathy thought she was wise in dropping the subject of the wedding, and moved the seating arrangements to the other end of the desk, where she could easily ignore them. She drew her master plot towards her and opened All About Force Fields, trying to find something that she could possibly use in the plot.

She heard Lucinda going up the stairs to feed the upstairs fish, but didn't pay much attention because, after all, she was reading about force fields. What else could possibly be more interesting?

She didn't surface until later, when the well-known foot steps of the mail man sounded from outside.

"I'm getting it!" Lucinda said, clomping down the stairs. Kathy merely nodded.

"It's muggy outside," Lucinda said, "and it makes me feel baked and itchy and icky all at the same time." She came into the living room and handed Kathy an envelope. "From the fiancé. And… here's another one from my admirer! I hope this is a good one. The last letter, all he could talk about was how his glasses fogged up from the last time he saw me— do you think that's entirely sane, Katherine? And…" Lucinda scanned her letter quickly as she walked out of the living room.

"TICKLING!" she screeched. "He says he'd like to tickle me just to hear me laugh… again… and he's remembering all the jokes he told…" Lucinda suddenly went silent, and Kathy slowly closed her book, frowning as she tried to contemplate creating a force field as large as she'd need. She opened the envelope absent-mindedly and almost forgot she held it in her hand before shaking her head to clear it. She drew the letter out of the envelope and snuggled down to read what she was sure was going to be one of the sentimental, sweet letters Robert sent her every once in a while when he had too many things to say and not enough words on the tip of his tongue to say them with.

"You know," said Lucinda, "I'm not sure I like this admirer any more— I think I actually am getting a good idea of who it is… and I don't want to do that. He might become like Allegra's friend— Daniel."

Kathy grunted a response and skimmed the letter quickly— it was best to skim Robert's long letters— and this one was already filled with what looked like hundreds of lines with hundreds of words, all crammed together on a single page. She frowned as she caught the words "wedding", "can't", and "I'm sorry".

She skimmed again. Now she could decipher a couple of sentences, "the wedding's off", "I called the caterer", "I'm sorry."

What was he sorry about? Kathy couldn't understand it, though she'd read it twice already.

She started reading from the beginning, but her mind was racing, and it didn't seem to want to let her understand what she was reading.

"Dear Kathy," the letter started.

Okay, that was normal. That was like Robert. It was, wasn't it?

No, it wasn't. She realized with a sinking heart. He called her Kat when he wrote letters like this.

Or did he? She couldn't remember, couldn't remember anything, though memories and thoughts were racing past her brain so fast she couldn't catch them and find out what was going on.

She shook her head again and started from the beginning.

"Dear Kathy,

"I'm writing you a letter. I tried to tell you at the restaurant, at The Villain, but I couldn't tell you there.

"Knowing you, you'll understand, I hope, but I couldn't tell you face to face.

"I hope you don't think me a coward…

"… The wedding. I can't go through with it. You won't have to worry about that insane caterer— I called him and recompensed him for all his trouble so far. In fact, I went to everyone and told them the wedding's off.

"There's nothing you can do, Kat—" the Kat was crossed off and replaced with a Katherine, what was he saying? She had to keep reading, but she had a sinking feeling that nothing was going to get clearer. Nothing.

"There's nothing you can do, Katherine. It's not you— it's me. I can't get married to you with what's going on at my end."

What? What was going on at 'his end'? Why wasn't he telling her? Kathy felt in the dark. This wasn't making sense! Kathy shook her head rapidly. Lucinda would know. Lucinda always knew. But where was she?

"LUCINDA!" she shouted. "Come here!"

"What is it?" Lucinad asked, coming in grumpily.

"Tell me what this says—" Kathy said, thrusting the letter to Lucinda and putting her head in her hands. "I can't figure it out— he's— he's not making any sense. It's like he's saying the wedding's off— but that doesn't make any sense." She said, laughing shakily. "It doesn't actually say that, does it, Lucinda?" she asked, looking up at the old woman.

"Please tell me it doesn't." She whispered as she watched Lucinda's eyes scanning the letter rapidly, a frown growing more and more pronounced on her face.

"Lucinda…" Kathy ventured again…

Lucinda's face was mutinous now, and Kathy was becoming scared.

Was that actually what he'd written? Why? What was wrong with her? What had made him change his mind?

My god, is this about the high heels and the driving? She wondered. No, that's not like Robert. Is it?

"That…" Lucinda sputtered, her usually pale face now nearly purple. "That…" Lucinda, usually so calm, now spouted off a couple of words that made Kathy wonder if she was supposed to blush or not.

"What? It's… it IS true, isn't it? Please don't tell me it is… Lucinda!"

Lucinda turned towards Kathy and started as if she'd only just now noticed that she was there.

"Lucinda… it's not true, is it?"

Lucinda sat down in a huff. "That… that— I told you he was no good, but I held my tongue when I saw how smitten you were with him. I tell you, Kathy, he's having an affair, and he's just decided that he likes his—"

"Don't say that, Lucinda. I have to find him and—"

"No, here's the postscript." Lucinda said, her face still red. "Please don't look for me, Kat— you can't change my mind."

"This is crazy." Kathy said, her shoulders slumping and her eyes filling with tears. "This is a bad dream. I'll wake up and find out I've been dreaming. That's all." And she pinched herself, hard, then examined a bruise that was now forming.

"That hurt…" she said absently.

"Katherine, I'm going to make you a nice cup of tea." Lucinda said, standing up and patting Kathy's hand sympathetically. "And then I'll call Allegra over— we can all abuse the male species together."

Kathy shook her head absently. "No, thank you, Lucinda. I'll be fine. Don't bother Allegra— she has her own problems right now."

Lucinda tutted impatiently and went to the kitchen. "Nevertheless…"

"I don't want tea!" Kathy called, suddenly desperate, after her.

"I know!" Lucinda said. "I'm making some for myself!"

"Oh." Kathy said, slumping. She found she suddenly did want tea. Never mind. She wanted Allegra's entire teapot of tea, and then— but Kathy couldn't figure out what she wanted to do with Allegra's teapot.

There was something people used things like teapots for.

It definitely wasn't for making tea… but it would have come in handy now.

Kathy frowned and realized that she didn't want to be alone. She followed Lucinda to the kitchen, where she sat down heavily in one of the wooden, straightbacked chairs that Lucinda adored in her kitchen, and tried to find a comfortable.

Lucinda shot her a passing glance as she busied herself with the teapot.

Kathy stared, then realized that making tea in a teapot made complete and total sense.

Or did it? Her mind was racing one moment, then blissfully blank the next, and all the while, nothing made sense.

She tried to piece things together.

Robert had called the wedding off.

She immediately negated that as being untrue. Robert had said he loved her, in so many words. She could distinctly even remember the dinner date at The Villain. Had he been trying to tell her then?

And then on the phone, when he'd called to say he had an assignment and might miss the party.

He'd said it, twice, in less than a week.

Oh my god, was he lying to me? Kathy wondered.

"I called Allegra." Lucinda announced. "She's coming over in two minutes, just as soon as she gets rid of the billionaire."

"I told you not to bother her, Luce." Kathy said, pressing the palms of her hands to her temples and shaking her head to somehow clear her mind. It only made her head hurt.

“Doesn’t matter. She asked if she could come over the second she picked up the phone.”

Kathy groaned as a deafening knock sounded at the door.

“You really need to give me a key, one of these days, Kat.” Allegra said as she bounded into the kitchen. She stopped as soon as she saw the look on her face, and frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“That idiot.” Lucinda said vehemently.

“Yes?” Allegra asked.

“Has called. Off. The. Wedding.” Lucinda said, clenching her teeth.

“NO!”

Lucinda nodded grimly.

“Why? Should I kill him? Never mind, I am going to kill him! What does he think he’s doing?!” Allegra exclaimed. She BANGED her hand on the table. “How dare he? We’re not going to stand for this, Kathy, are we?”

“CALM DOWN, Allegra. Katherine is still in shock, as you see. She hasn’t accepted it yet. I maintain the man was an idiot to begin with, but…” Lucinda trailed off.

The teapot shrilled and Allegra snatched it off the stove, pouring a cup of tea for Kathy so hastily that she burned herself.

A shriek resounded through the kitchen and tea slopped over the beige walls.

“For God’s sake, Allegra, if you can’t do something properly, let me do it!” Lucinda snapped, fluttering her hands at Allegra and pouring the tea properly. She set it down in front of Kathy, who frowned and shook her head.

“I’m fine, Luce.” Kathy said irritably, even as she drained a cup of strong ginger tea.

“Where’s that letter?” Allegra asked suddenly.

Lucinda pointed wordlessly with one long finger towards the living room, and Allegra bounced up.

A roar of rage came from the living room a minute later, and Kathy winced. Lucinda stood up and closed the door to the rest of the house with a squeak and a SMACK!

“You really should practice closing that door more often, Luce.” Kathy said, pouring herself another cup of tea.

“Hmmph!” Lucinda said. “I have a premonition I’ll be SLAMMING it!” She sat down with a huff and poured herself a cup of tea as well.

“Can’t you just… leave me alone?” Kathy asked slowly. “I really just want to be alone right now.”

“Of course, dear.” Lucinda said, standing up and walking out of the kitchen.

Kathy suddenly felt very alone indeed. She felt as if something was seriously wrong.

The wedding wasn’t off— it couldn’t be.

She suddenly felt bewildered and small and childish— she felt as if something had happened and she knew she was supposed to be aware of it, but suddenly she couldn’t be, not when everything was already so uncertain for her. She just wanted to sleep.

But she couldn’t sleep, because she still needed to figure out the seating arrangements— because Robert couldn’t have called off the wedding. More importantly, he wouldn’t.

If anyone did, it would be her. And she most certainly had not called it off. He had.

But he hadn’t. Had he?

She stared wordlessly out the window. The sun seemed to be setting, faster and faster until she was in a dark kitchen with a cup of ice cold tea.

Lucinda tiptoed in at one point to check on Rico— she turned on the lights when she came on— and she closed the light again as she left.

Kathy didn’t notice. She was much too preoccupied with what was going on in her head.

She was reliving the restaurant date, and wondering what in the world had gone wrong. Because Robert most definitely had not called off the wedding.

He hadn’t. He just hadn’t. She was sure of it… so why was there this sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach?

Kathy stood up and grabbed the phone, dialling her mother’s number.

Agnes Summers answered the phone on the first ring.

“‘ello?” she asked crisply in her French accent.

“Mother?” Kathy said.

“Ah, chéri! ‘Ow are you?” Agnes asked, smiling broadly on the other end of the line.

“I-I’m not sure.”

“‘Ow is the wedding planning coming along?” Agnes asked. “Eef you want me to contribute my lace veil, you are welcome to eet. Your father, of course, will protest, but since when has—“

“The wedding’s off.” Kathy said in a small voice.

Agnes paused. Then she laughed a little laugh. “Eemposseeble. Robert would not allow it. You ‘ave seen the way ‘e acts.”

“He called it off.” Kathy said, in an even smaller voice.

“Nonsense!” Agnes said, after an even longer pause. “Nonsense!” she repeated.

“Yes, Mother… Nonsense!” Kathy said, her voice cracking. “But it’s all a dream, Mother, just tell me that it’s all a dream.”

“I am coming over.” Said Agnes. “Don’t you worry, ch´ri, we will figure out all thees, thees nonsense.”

And Agnes Summers hung up.

Kathy slumped in her chair, trying to make sense of the day.

She’d woken up. That was normal. That was what she did every day.

She’d eaten. Kathy frowned as she tried to remember, then gave up entirely. This was insane. Why… what… where— she needed Robert, Robert would help. Robert would help her make sense of all this.

She picked up the phone to call him and ask him— what was so wrong with her that she couldn’t form a coherent thought.

She’d dialed the number and even let the phone ring for a while before remembering that Robert was the reason she couldn’t think straight.

This was all Robert’s fault, this strange stomach churning, lead intestine feeling. Not to mention she felt empty at the same time.

Kathy frowned. It was all Robert’s fault. She struggled to remember why it was, and then she remembered the letter, and everything came crashing down all at once.

“THIS IS TERRIBLE!” she shouted, so loud that Allegra screamed from the next room.

And suddenly everything was flooding over her and everything just seemed so close and so real and Kathy broke down completely.

Water overflowed from her eyes and she gasped for air as she realized that Robert was gone— he’d called off the wedding, and, and — and she wasn’t going to see him, ever again. This was all ROBERT’S fault— he was the one who had made this happen. And here she was, paying for it.

“L-Lucindaaaaaa!” she shrieked, rushing into the living room. “I need the letter. Give me the letter. I need to see the letter.”

Lucinda handed it to her and Kathy snatched it so fast that she crumpled it. She sat down on the floor and smoothed it out on her thigh, trying to decipher the words that were starting to be dotted with tears.

“Dear Kathy,” it said.

She faintly remembered this bit.

"I'm writing you a letter. I tried to tell you at the restaurant, at The Villain, but I couldn't tell you there.

"Knowing you, you'll understand, I hope, but I couldn't tell you face to face.

"I hope you don't think me a coward; I should be telling this to your face, but I can’t stand to see you when you start crying— you know that.”

She could actually feel him smiling faintly— wanting to tell her something he felt was best for her, while at the same time dashing all her hopes to the ground… tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped them away impatiently. Didn’t want to see her cry… of COURSE he was a coward… of COURSE he was!

“It’s about the wedding. I can't go through with it. Don’t worry about calling all the services— I took care of it. You won't have to worry about that insane caterer— I called him and recompensed him for all his trouble so far. In fact, I went to everyone and told them the wedding's off.”

Yes, the caterer was insane, Kathy thought. Absolutely insane. He wanted triple the pay for something not even worth half. She wouldn’t have used him at all, in fact, if he hadn’t been the only one available— but…

"There's nothing you can do, Katherine. Not about any of this. Don’t worry about what started this entire fiasco.”

Was he saying their entire RELATIONSHIP was a fiasco?

“It’s not you— it's me. I can't get married to you with what's going on at my end. I wish I could, but I can’t, and that’s the end of it.

“I’m not expecting you to forgive me, and I’m not expecting you to understand. But this is what’s best, unfortunately, and this is what we have to do. Alright? I want you to smile, every day, and try not to get your heart broken over me. Okay?”

It was signed ROBERT, with a postscript that said:

“Don’t try to contact me. I won’t answer. Please don’t look for me, Kat— you can’t change my mind.”

She flung the letter down and burst into hot, angry, bewildered tears. This wasn’t right! This wasn’t right at all! What WAS with him? This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Not here. Not now.

The doorbell rang and Allegra got up, subdued, to answer it.

“Where eez she?” Agnes asked. “And more eemportantly, where eez that… that… that ‘ooligan? I shall keel eem when I see eem!”

“She’s in the living room.” Allegra said.

Kathy didn’t pay attention to them. She even did not realize when her mother came in and drew her in a close embrace. Kathy cried and cried and cried, and she didn’t stop until she just couldn’t cry any more.

Now she just felt empty.

First Day In...

The first day in, and I spent... 80% of my time studying for the SAT.

On one hand, dismal scores (I guarantee you that if I checked them over... twice, instead of stopping as soon as I finished the last question, I would have gotten frabjous scores instead.), on the other hand, dismal word count.

I was aiming for 5,000 words, but the scenes seem to be NOT writing themselves, unlike what I was expecting. Which, obviously, was that they would write themselves. They're not. Happily, however, the first scene of NaNoWriMo went 355 words over the goal. (words in outline times 36, i.e. 1044).

It's about the DATE... and Robert is rather strange to Kathy. (the next scene, though, seems to me even worse. XD)

Here's a sneak peek:

Robert showed up at the door that day in his characteristic suit and tie. He was punctual, as usual, and even Lucinda had to smile, albeit grimly, at the nervousness on his face.

"Hmmph." Lucinda said. "You’d think you were proposing to her TODAY, instead of having done it two years ago."

Robert hadn’t a chance to answer before Lucinda turned away from him to call Kathy. Sighing, Robert let himself in as Lucinda shouted up the stairs.

"KATHERINE! Your fiancé is here!"

It was only a moment before Kathy swooped down the velvet-covered stairs with a wide smile, and Robert caught his breath as he surveyed the vision she presented.

Shining dark brown eyes, auburn hair twisted into a bun, diamonds he’d bought for her… one day when they were simply walking and enjoying life… holding hands. It made what he had to do that much worse. Her dress seemed to sparkle, and as she drew closer he realized that it had sequins embroidered on it, the dark green material winking at him as if it knew…

But Robert shook his head to clear it and cleared his throat as Kathy reached the landing.

"You look beautiful." He said as he took her hand in his.

Kathy smiled brightly. "Really? I thought the sequins kind of… off-put it. Don’t you think so, Luce?" she asked, preening herself in the mirror. "My hair never STAYS." She said as a tendril fell from the bun. "Isn’t it terrible?"

"We’re going to be late, Kat." Robert said, looking nervously at his watch.

"Hmmph!" Lucinda said, turning and marching into the kitchen, where she commenced knitting furiously. "You enjoy yourselves!" she shouted from the kitchen, though her tone conveyed exactly what she thought of the business: a load of nonsense.

Kathy chatted about her plan for creating a forcefield around the earth as they entered the car. "You see, Rob, if I trap the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide within a highly dense force field, there really should be no problem with overwarming the Earth in… well I haven’t done the math for THAT yet, but think about it."

Robert nodded distractedly, and Kathy noticed because instead of offering advice— he was usually so good at that— he didn’t seem to be paying attention at all!

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Robert glanced at her as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Of course I am." He said automatically. "I’m absolutely fine."

Kathy rolled her eyes and stared out the window for the rest of the journey, wondering what in the world was wrong with him. Usually they talked and laughed… but today, it was as if something had gone wrong.

"Is there something wrong with one of your assignments?" Kathy asked as Robert stopped the car and tossed the keys to the valet of The Villain, the local villainous restaurant. Robert started— how had she known? And then quickly realized that he shouldn’t. He calmed down almost immediately, but Kathy had realized something, and her eyes narrowed.

"What? No, no, everything’s just fine."

"Have you GOT an assignment?"

"Yes. Er… highly confidential." Robert said, nodding to one of the greenclad doormen. The doorman nodded back and said "Welcome back, Mr. Gr—" Robert pierced him with a gaze as the other, older doorman said hastily. "We hope you’ll enjoy the special tonight." He said, opening the door.

"Thank you." Robert said, handing a small bill to the second doorman.

Robert chanced a glance at Kathy as the entered the dining room. She didn’t seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, but then again, she was preoccupied with that PLAN of hers… a really brilliant plan— he almost wished he’d thought of it himself.

"We’re here, Kat." He whispered— she’d almost walked right past the table.

"I knew that." She snapped, then shot him a quick smile as she sat down in the chair he’d pulled out.

"Did you know, Rob, that the caterer wants DOUBLE the money? I told him a flat-out ‘no’. If he wanted double the money, I told him, I wanted double the food— we’ll just have to invite double the people. Don’t you think so?"

The waiter came and asked for their orders.

"Er…" Robert said, trying desperately to find something to say.

"He’ll have the chicken parmasiano," Kathy said quickly, "and I’ll have… the…" she skimmed the menu quickly. "Special."

"It has meat in it, Miss."

"So?"

"Nothing, I am merely required to say so." Said the waiter seriously.

"Oh. And… to drink, he’ll have…" she surveyed Robert, realized that he was going to be driving and that he already looked rather woozy, and opened her mouth.

"Ice— ice water." Robert said. "Lots and lots of ice water."

"He'll have the ice water." Kathy said, echoing him, "and I'll have just water— room temperature, please."

When the waiter had left, Kathy stared at him. "What IS wrong with you? Don't tell me it's an assignment— there's something seriously wrong, isn't there? You ALWAYS order the chicken parmasiano."

"Er… w-well, you s-see, Kat, I h-have this problem— and I really d-don't— I really should have written notes for this—"

"Is it about the wedding?"

"K-kind of." Robert said, starting to sweat profusely.

"Really? Because it seems to always be about the wedding. You know what? Let's put the wedding out of our minds and just enjoy the dinner. What's up at work?"

Robert groaned inwardly and tried to deflect the question. "N-not much. Er… tell me about that plan of yours again."

Kathy shot him a look, but she started talking about her plan nonetheless, raising an eyebrow whenever he asked a stupid question, which Robert thought was agonizingly often.

"Robert…" said Kathy after he'd asked another stupid question: ("So… er… what exactly is carbon dioxide?")

"I don't want to say this, but you are obviously suffering for a nervous breakdown. I'LL drive you home and then just WALK." She stood up and called for the waiter.

"Y-you can't do that." Robert said, standing up hurriedly but digging out his wallet just the same.

"Of course I can." Kathy said, leaving as the waiter came up.

"H-here." Robert said, handing the man a hundred dollar bill and chasing after Kathy, who had almost left the restaurant.

He narrowly missed a corpulent, old, diamond-decked lady who aimed and missed at his head with her purse, shot after Kathy, who had now passed the doormen and was waiting for him with an air of extreme impatience. "I need the ticket, Robert." She said.

Robert hastily dug it out of his pocket— one did not argue with Kathy Summers if he wished to keep his body the way it was— and handed it to her silently.

"Here you go." She said, handing it to the valet, who examined it cheerfully and said that the car would be just a minute.

"Now, Rob, you make yourself comfortable and I'll drive you home." She said, removing her high heels and pulling her skirt up so that she could manage the gas pedal.

Robert gave up and leaned back and closed his eyes. It was no use. He'd have to write her a letter.

He nearly crashed through the windshield as Kathy launched out of the restaurant's driveway, but when he shot a shocked glance at her, she was biting her lip and looking carefully at the road.

Deciding against distracting her in case he really DID crash through the windshield, Robert grabbed the handle at the top of the car door and braced himself for any more sudden acceleration.

She parked the car, albeit not too neatly, in his garage, then got out and put on her high heels. "Bye." She said cheerfully as he got up woozily from the car.

"Do you want me to unlock the door for you?" she asked.

"No, no, I'm fine. Are you sure you don't want to take my car?"

"Goodness no, Rob! I'll be fine. It's just a mile."

"You're wearing three inch heels." He pointed out.

"So what? I'll go barefoot. Besides, I need a minute to myself— Lucinda will probably want to know all about tonight." She said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and walking down the street in those ridiculously long heels.

And here's the weird thing. "I Write Like..." says I write like Stephen King. -_^