A Snippet of my Novel

Hello everyone!

Since I haven't gotten the chance to dig into the world of photography and travel, I will save that for a future post.  It is now April and I will be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, I thought it would be neat to share a bit of my story with you all.  Just note that I quickly edited over this snippet so that it doesn't burn your eyes when you read it.  I'll give you the short "back of the cover" synopsis and a couple details about my (work-in-progress) novel, before putting in a 500-1000 word snippet.  This is the story I will be working on throughout April, it is also the story I wrote in July and November for NaNoWriMo in 2015.

I'm not as far as I would have hoped to be by now, since I did some editing and deleted a few things a couple months ago.  I plan to completely finish writing the story by the end of April, hopefully before the 30th.  I have no idea what is to come, the Lord only knows what could happen in the next month.  So I will use this month of camp to help me get closer to my goal.

On to the synopsis and details of my novel, some of this information can be found on my "Writing Projects" page.

The Sword of Warrior's Past

Started: June 2015

Status: Writing Phase

Word Count: 59,614

(As of writing this post)

Synopsis:

Have you ever had too many problems for your own skin to handle?  Anahi blames her own DNA for everything that goes wrong in her life; losing her family, training as a soldier, watching everyone she loves, die or leave her forever.  A rough life was in store for her before she was even born.  A story full of air ships, action, and broken hearts.  In this steampunk fantasy novel, Anahi will travel with her new military group to lands unknown to find The Sword of Warrior's Past.  A sword that could quite possibly destroy the whole continent.  Will they find it or will it stay hidden forever?

--Please remember that I am changing up my novel practically every day, so even this synopsis might change over time--

I have put many, many, many, many hours into writing this novel.  I cannot wait till I finish this story! Oh! Should I mention this is only the first book?  I have so many more ideas to incorporate into this novel that it needs a sequel.  EEK!  This is going to be so amazing once I'm finished.  Well, here is the snippet of my novel.  SOWP, as I call it (pronounced like soap)  I hope you all enjoy it!

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"Anahi Setter, please make your way to the stage for the interview!" A shout came from a speaker above her. Anahi looked up from her hands enclosed in her lap. Standing up from the long bench attached to the wall, she walked towards the large doors in front of her. Putting her arms out, she pushed the door open and walked into the room. Chairs were lined from front to back, one long aisle lay in the middle. Blue banners hung on the walls with the royal crest, a gold shield with two spears crossed behind it. The stage was at the front of the room, it was used for skits in the academy... since the king loves his entertainment. Many people were sitting in the chairs, they all were dressed alike, in the army's uniform.  Anahi has known the image of the army's symbol, it's been sketched into her brain since birth. She never thought she'd become a soldier, especially since she grew up in the palace. Many recognized Anahi as the king's disowned daughter. The reason why he disowned her and the reason why she's still around is because of her genes. According to the records in the royal library, her mother was killed by soldiers while she was traveling back to her family. Why? Her mother was the queen's servant, Leila.

After giving birth to her first born, the queen could not conceive her second child for over ten years. After "giving up" she asked her servant to give her the next child she bears.  Leila agreed to the queen's wishes and gave birth to Anahi. Anahi's father and multiple other men in the kingdom started a revolt. Since the king hated one half of Anahi's race, he had Leila killed along with Anahi's father, or so she's told.  All of those statements came straight from the library.  They could be true, but Anahi didn’t believe everything she read, especially when it came from the king’s personal reading collection.

Walking up the stairs of the stage she scanned the crowd of commanders. She spotted someone she knew and gave a small smile, quickly her smile dropped and she was serious again, walking to the center of the stage.

"Please state your name, age, year of education, and which kind of job you'd like as a soldier of the king." The man on the right hand side of the announcer's table commanded.

With a strong tone she replied with all answers, "My name is Anahi. I am sixteen years old and in my third year of education at this academy. I would particularly like to be scout of the northern divisions."

The other announcer's nodded and began to ask random but necessary questions. "How tall are you?" One asked. "Do you have any special abilities or traits we should know?" The other asked.

"I am five feet and four inches tall sir. I have multiple abilities, which include tree climbing, great agility and I have a strong focus." She answered firmly, her brows furrowed. "I also have a strong integrity and will follow and obey all orders given from my higher-ups."

All of the men in the room nodded their heads and grinned in satisfaction. They liked her, and there was no way to back out now. She was in this job until the day she dies…or is unable to continue her duties. The announcers stood up and applauded her. The one who had first spoken told her to come back the next day to find out who her overseer is and to start training with him.  Anahi nodded and walked off the stage, she was then lead back down the aisle. Opening the doors again she noticed the nervous faces of the teenagers after her. Some of them were crying, others were shaking, and there were few who stood strong and waited patiently.  Taking a deep breath, Anahi continued down the hall towards the entrance to the main auditorium. Large pillars rose from the ground to the high ceilings above. Dark blue tiles outlined a mosaic of the royal crest again. Anahi frowned, she had seen enough of that symbol. But no matter how hard she could try, it would never leave her side.

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With that, I hope you enjoyed reading this snippet of my novel The Sword of Warrior's Past. I will be using this novel in the April Camp NaNoWriMo, which starts TODAY! I am excited and totally freaked out at the same time. I will try to go for 50k words this month, but that could change depending on how many words I need to finish my novel.

If you have anything you want to say about the little bit of my story you are going to read, please leave a comment below with your thoughts and suggestions. I will be back in two weeks with a post more along the lines of photography since this blog isn't all about writing. Stay tuned in and see you all then o/
-Anna Jolene <3

Flash Fiction - The Ocean of Sand

Hello everybody,

Remember that Flash Fiction challenge I mentioned in my update?  Well, this is how it works.  Rachelle from The Ink Loft paired each of us participants together. We give someone a prompt and receive a prompt from someone else, then we write something from what we were given, in under 1,000 words.  I received a dialogue prompt from Emmerayne at Writing in Rivendell.  This is how I perceived it, and to be honest, this story gets pretty weird.  Here's the prompt:

"How can you possibly be okay with this?"

"Quite simple, really. I'm realistic." 

And this is my Flash Fiction: 

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The desert caravan made its way across the sand dunes, wind blowing sediment into their masked faces and whipping at their wrapped ankles. With the sun beating down on the travelers, their water supply ran low and dehydration was beginning to be a problem. Piper and Stuart, two wanderers, had joined up with this caravan. Yet, they themselves had run out of the water in their canteens.

Piper's camel had just stopped and caused a camel-jam for the caravan behind her. Everyone had to halt and wait for her to get moving again. The dry air made it hard to breathe; the sand below their feet shifted as they trekked across the ridge of the sand dunes. Everyone's feet had grown sores and the skin rubbed against their sandals making plenty of blisters.

Stuart helped the children within the caravan; some of them couldn't bear the harsh conditions and fell over quickly. He would pick them up and carry them on his back for a while until they were able to walk again. A few of the children were allowed to sit on top of their family's camel.

In the middle of nowhere, there was no water, no shelter, and no place to take a rest. They were in a setting where there was nothing to be seen for miles upon miles. Only dust and sand, clouds and turtles.

Piper pointed to a boulder off into the distance. The rock formation jutted out of the sand. A large shadow encased the ground below it, engulfing the heat. The caravan walked another half an hour before coming upon the formation. Everyone gathered underneath it like a massive umbrella, keeping the sun off of their skin.

"Do you see that?" Piper asked. Her gaze looked directly up at the sky.

"Are those flying turtles?" one man asked. "Couldn't be, we're in a desert!" another one answered.

Stuart glanced up into the sky and saw a multitude of flying figures in front of the blue expanse. They floated around gracefully as if were gliding through a jet stream. "Piper, we don't have much water left. We're all dehydrated and seeing things."

"What do you mean?!" Piper's mouth gaped open with stupefaction, she couldn't believe what came out of his mouth. The fact that she and the other people around them could see flying turtles in the sky was crazy for her to think that he couldn't comprehend it. "How can you possibly be okay with this?"

"Quite simple, really. I'm realistic." His expression was smug, face showing that he was proud of himself for being the only "sane" person in their group of twenty or so.

"What do you mean?" is it even feasible for us to see the same mirage?" Piper asked, her curious side unveiled. And that would get Stuart going off on a rant.

His face went blank, she was right. Is it scientifically possible to see the same crazy visions in the middle of a desert? Sure it is if everyone was on the same mindset. Right? He looked up again at the flying turtles and shook his head, "They aren't real."

The girl stared at him with disbelief. "I don't understand how you can say that when they look as realistic as you and me." Piper watched as the sky-faring sea turtles danced across the blue sky. They were all gray, almost white colored. One by one, each of the reptiles moved across the desert plain, through the air and dusty atmosphere. "You are a very confusing person, Stuart."

"I am a realist, I don't see things the way you do. Everything to me has to make sense or some kind of logic." Stuart leaned against the rough surface of the boulder and sighed. "If those things were real, what good would it do any of us?"

"They could be traveling towards a waterhole." Piper smiled at the thought of drinking something; she licked her lips and laughed.

"Or, they are just a figment of our imaginations and we end up diving into another sand dune." Stuart pulled out a flute from his sack and started to play it, but then he paused to speak. "I think everyone should get some rest. It'll be dark in an hour and it might be a good idea to travel at night." After that idea, the caravan was temporarily stopped at the boulder for what seemed like an eternity for the kids. But Piper kept the young ones running around and playing games together. After a while, Stuart was the only one still awake and he started to play his flute again quietly.

As if it was like a switch, a small, white, sea turtle had glided down to listen to Stuart play. It landed right next to his legs and nestled down on Stuart's lap. For the man who said they weren't real, he was really enjoying the reptilian company he was getting. He stroked the turtle's shell and smiled. If Piper saw him right now, she would probably have a fit. The night had started and it was already half-way till midnight before he decided to let the caravan sleep and gain their energy for the next day. A day full of surprises to come.

The little sea turtle closed his eyes, resting its flippers from the aggressive winds. Blowing sand across the desert, the jet streams moved sediment around like a pillar of steam. Same as the sea turtles, they follow the breeze through the desert to their destination. By the time the rest of the caravan awoke, the sea turtle stream was gone and only left a clear blue sky for the sun to beat down on the travelers again. Another day, another journey across the dry landscape. Going to search for water one thought was all on their minds: did they just imagine the turtles in the ocean of sand?