Category: A Bit of Me

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

NaNo Report, Part 1

Becca Lusher

So November is here and NaNo has begun, but rather than spam everyone with daily updates on my progress, I thought I’d go for weekly instead. Since this month ends on a Wednesday, I figured a Wednesday update would work best. However, since I had something else to post yesterday, I’m doing it on Thursday. Which is a great start! Um…

Anyway, it’s Day 3 and, since I get up early and write in the morning, my count for the day is in. It’s going quite well so far. Cloud Cursed is taking shape and an idea pounced on me yesterday that may or may not turn into a major plot point. Not sure I could make it work, but if I can, it could be interesting.

So, progress so far (with daily snippets – no spoilers):

DAY ONE
Cloud Cursed Ch 1

Clearly he was having a mid-century crisis. Well, he was more than seven hundred years old. It was bound to hit him sooner or later.

Khennik, Chapter 1

Overall – 4295 words

DAY TWO
Cloud Cursed Ch 2+3

“It always starts in the library.”

Estenarven, Chapter 2

Day 2 – 4774 words
Overall – 9069 words

DAY THREE
Cloud Cursed Ch 4

He’d never done so much thinking in his life and, quite frankly, he was exhausted.

Estenarven, Chapter 4

Day 3 – 5169 words
Overall – 14,238 words

14238 / 80000 words. 18% done!

So far so good. I’m slowly increasing my count every day, but I’m still feeling my way into the book so it should go up even more when I know where it’s all going. For the moment, though, I’m happy with it. I’m hoping to get it over 20,000 by the weekend. We shall see.

To all my fellow NaNo participants out there, hope it’s going as well for you.

Merry Thursday, everybody!

A Bit of Me

Photo Friday

Becca Lusher

Sparrow 1

Still waiting for Kindle to publish (this is why I usually leave it to go through overnight), so I thought I’d post some photos instead. I take so many but share so few, so here’s a small selection of Dartmoor’s Bronze Age stone circles, as presided over by the Sparrow Cat, and taken by me over the last year or so.

Stones Fernworthy 1First up is Fernworthy, also known as Froggymead circle. This is a small circle, that might not be too impressive compared to some others, especially since it’s been surrounded by a forest plantation over the last century. And yet, I find it has its own charm. It was the first stone circle I went purposefully looking for on the moor, since it’s not too tricky to get to, so it’ll always remain something of a favourite. I like the way the stones get bigger on the south side. No one quite knows why. Then again, no one really knows why the Bronze Age stone circle builders did anything.

Stones Fernworthy 2

There are a number of barrows close by, as well as a double stone row that leads to what might once have been a burial cist, but the trees have pretty much destroyed them all. The stone row is through the gap in the trees and is strangely cute, since it exists of tiny stones barely visible over the grass. Not very impressive in photographs though.

Unlike this place:

Stones Grey Wethers 3

A couple of miles away from Fernworthy – as the crow flies, the trees mean walking takes a bit more time and effort – are the Grey Wethers, an unusual pair of stone circles sitting next to each other. They’re the only ones like this on the moor, and were both extensively “repaired” during the Victorian era, but they’re all the more impressive for it. Especially after a long walk, when you first see them appearing atop the hill beyond the stone wall on a spectacular April day.

Stones Grey Wethers 1 Stones Grey Wethers 2

They’re also unusual because of the size and uniformity of their stones. Other old monuments on the moor seem to almost revel in the odd shaped stones they could find and use, but the Grey Wethers are strange little oblongs. There are a bundle of local legends about them, most including sheep turned to stone, hence the name.

Stones Grey Wethers 4 Stones Grey Wethers 5Stones Grey Wethers 6 Stones Grey Wethers 7

Some people have suspected the stones were worked, but apparently there are a lot of stones like this on Sittaford tor – which you can’t see in these photos because it was behind me.

Seen enough?

Sparrow 2

No, of course not!

Stones Scorhill 1 Stones Scorhill 2

Welcome to Scorhill Circle! Which I first visited on a misty early October morning. Very atmospheric, don’t you think? Well, what a difference three weeks makes!

Stones Scorhill 3

I think of all the circles I’ve managed to visit so far, Scorhill is my favourite. The drive to get there is a bit tricky at times, but the walk to reach the circle is really nice, and there’s plenty of other things of interest to visit nearby. However, it’s the circle itself that I really love. It wasn’t “restored” by the Victorians, so it’s a bit more quirky and damaged from where stones have vanished over the years, and the tallest stone really looms over the others at around eight feet high.
Stones Scorhill 4

Those dark hills on the left horizon are actually the trees you can see behind the Grey Wethers circles in the first picture, and somewhere between the two lies Fernworthy circle (and reservoir and forest). And if you continue on that path through the circle, it would take you north and in a shallow arch to three more circles – each 1-2 miles apart – forming the “sacred crescent” of circles on the moor. An eighth of which was discovered only recently a little south of the Grey Wethers (Sittaford circle).

Stones Scorhill 5

But that’s not all Scorhill has to offer, because just a short walk on down the hill leads to the North Teign. Which was looking pretty gorgeous back in late October.

Stones Scorhill 6.jpg

It’s worth a little trek down to the river for its own sake, but there’s also the Tolmen stone to encounter. (Which is why I went down there in the first place, of course.)

Stones Scorhill 7

That completely natural hole is plenty big enough for a person to travel through (about a metre diameter). I know ’cause I scrambled over and dangled myself most of the way through it. I didn’t fancy a full dip, though, so I wimped out. Still, it’s pretty impressive – and of course has a heap of folklore surrounding it, from druids (because it’s always druids) to health cures. It would certainly make for a highly symbolic purification rite.

There’s also a couple of stone rows, a massive menhir and an ancient settlement nearby, but I think this post has enough photos in already, so I shall leave them for another day and go back to waiting for Kindle.

Sparrow 3

Merry Friday, everyone!

A Bit of Me, Overworld

The End is Nigh…

Becca Lusher

The final installment of Wingborn will be along later. I know I usually put it up early on a Sunday morning, before I go off romping about on the Moors, but I haven’t quite enough time right now to do everything.

So the end will be up some time this afternoon (it’s only 8:30 am), after I’ve returned from admiring a Bronze Age cairn circle on Dartmoor. ‘Cause that’s what I get up to on nice Sunday mornings, weird or no.

Anyway, hope you’re having a lovely day, and I promise to finish this book off later.

Merry Sunday, everyone!

PS: I’m back and enjoyed myself hugely. This is where I went:

Soussons Circle

Soussons Stone Circle (Bronze Age burial). Where I discovered that in my keenness to recharge my camera last night, I forgot to put the battery back in *facepalm* So I had to make do with my phone instead. It did fairly well.

And since it was right by the road and didn’t take any time to visit and admire, I stopped off at Grimspound on the way back.

Grimspound

Grimspound is a (probable) Bronze Age settlement, thought to be over 3,000 years old, with the remains of twenty-four houses inside it.

And luckily for me today, it also contained these little guys:

Grim ponies 2Grim ponies 1

Just your friendly local herd of Dartmoor ponies, complete with frisky foals. That dark colt in the middle of the bottom photo was particularly bossy, charging around, keeping the other foals in their places, before he realised he’d misplaced his mum – so he then bullied another mare and foal into tracking her down for him. Cute, pesky wee thing.

Anywho, back now, chapter is up and maybe sometime I’ll share more photos of this particular trip.

 

A Bit of Me, Writing

Feeling Off-Kilter

Becca Lusher
Dart Valley Rain 1
Dart Valley Nature Reserve, 12th June 2016

I’ve been feeling a little off-kilter for the last few weeks. Reading hasn’t been the joy it usually is, writing became a bit of chore, I had a run of headaches and was generally feeling rubbish.

This isn’t unusual for me, I’m used to these feelings cropping up sooner or later, but it’s the first time for a while that all things lost colour all at once. I felt a bit like the bluebells in the bottom right hand corner of the top photo, trying my hardest to keep going yet somehow getting overtaken by the super-fast bracken that sprung up from nowhere! Or maybe the oak tree, stretching all my limbs in one direction only to find the sun has shifted to rise behind me.

Dart Valley Rain 3
Dart Valley, 12th June 2016

It’s not so terrible a feeling, and is mostly brought on by tiredness and a general feeling of being run down, but I wasn’t expecting it all at once so it knocked me back a bit.

 

Sometimes it’s a simple thing to fix – a good walk, usually on Dartmoor, often works wonders. So a couple of weekends ago I went back to the Dart Valley, since the weather was showery and I didn’t want to get caught out somewhere high if it turned nasty. I was half-hoping that the foxgloves would have come out.

Wow, was I wrong. Turns out the bluebells are going stronger than ever and the undergrowth has exploded! Here are some pictures from 15th May next to my last visit on the 12th June. It’s like someone jammed the grow switch on or something. Moss, ferns, leaves, go!

Dart Valley 2 Dart Valley Rain 4

Dart Valley 1 Dart Valley Rain 5

It was lovely down there, and this time there weren’t a bunch of campers cluttering the place up so I could get much closer to the water. I’m not very good at sharing my favourite spaces with other people, but one of the best things about this place is that a lot of people don’t realise it’s down there, so it’s pretty peaceful and quiet – when the campers aren’t about anyway ;)

It was even lovelier when the sun poked its head out for a bit.

Dart Valley Rain 7
River Dart, 12th June 2016

I caught a faint shower on the way back up the hill, but by the time I reached the top the sun was blazing and I was startled by a bunch of sheep who looked very unimpressed by me. I would have taken a picture but the ewe was looking at me funny and I didn’t want to disturb the lambs, so I left them to it and decided to clamber down a very (very) steep slope to see how far along the Venn Brook (which flows into the Dart) I could get. I’d seen a picture of a waterfall down there and wanted to try and find it. Well, I think I did, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s not much of a path and I didn’t pick the best time to walk it, since everything is growing like mad. Maybe I’ll try again in the winter.

Dart Valley Venn
Venn Brook (not the falls, unless they’re really weedy or those ferns are enormous!)

Still, it is very pretty down there. A proper fairy glen.

And the climb back up was rough. I followed a bunch of hoof prints from the Clydesdale Heavy Horse Adventure rides, and I felt so jealous! I went on a ride with them last year and it was amazing, but I really wished I had a horse, any horse, when I was scrambling back up that slope. Served me right.

Dart Valley Rain 2
Dart Valley, 12th June 2016

Sadly the walk itself didn’t sort my head out as much as I hoped, but putting my fiction reading aside for a few days and immersing myself into some non-fiction definitely helped out on that score. On the writing side, I abandoned everything at the end of last week and watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 instead. I hadn’t seen it for ages and it was a perfect tonic. Add in a few naps and I seem to have recovered my writing zest too. I’m now closing in on the end of the Viscount book.

Dart Valley Rain 6
River Dart, 12th June 2016

At least I was until the characters decided to take a road trip. Argh! Don’t they know how difficult it is to find and read Regency era road maps from Devon to Norfolk on my phone?
I also looked up the symptoms for syphilis, just to stop my Google search history from getting boring. It’s probably best that cocaine usage post-dates this era, else I’d have that research on top, with a little opium addiction for extra colour. At least it isn’t poisons or the best natural treatments for burns and bruises or how long it actually takes to throttle someone this time.

I’m not a serial murderer in training, I promise. It’s all research – er, not that kind of research. Oh, never mind!

Ah well, at least my equilibrium is mostly back, so that’s gotta be good. Even if Google is looking at me funny.

Merry Wednesday, everyone, I hope you’ve been enjoying Midsummer, or if you be on the lower half of the world, I hope you’re enjoying being halfway out of the dark!

(And for those who are interested, new dragons can be found on Starlight Magpie. Along with an Ivy Witch and hares on rocks. If you’re curious, go and see.)

A Bit of Me, Updates

Of Progress and Lazy Sparrows

Becca Lusher
Garden Flag 2
Flag Iris

Life in my garden is very green right now, bursting with life and buzzing with insects. For the most part I’m not a particularly clever gardener. I don’t remember the names of things, I tend to “rescue” plants from the sale sections of garden centres and hope for the best, and I’m very Darwinian in my planting scheme (stick ’em in, if they’re tough they will survive). On the whole, I prefer to stick to native wildflowers or things that I know bees and butterflies love. Occasionally, very rarely, I’ll pick something just for me.

Garden Flag 1Like the flag irises in the pond.

It’s not much of a pond, just a half barrel in the corner of the garden, mostly taken over by duckweed, but every other year the flag irises decide to break through the green and put on a show. Only one is flowering this year, but it seems to be making up for it with the sheer number of blooms it’s throwing out. Three so far, with at least three more to go. They only last a few days, but luckily there’s always another waiting.

Garden Iris 1 Speaking of irises, this is one of my garden centre rescues. I have no idea what type it is, it was in the sale as a gorgeous pale blue bloom, so I snapped it up and every year I think it’s died and instead, out of nowhere, I’ll get this gorgeous fellow.

Sometimes the pale blue one comes up too, but since I only spotted this bud yesterday, I’ll have to see if the other one makes an appearance. Yesterday this was just a green shoot with a purple tip. Isn’t it lovely?

Garden Iris 2 Garden Iris 3

The sad thing about irises is that they never bloom for long, and when they’re done they mostly vanish. Which is why I’m always so delighted when these ones keep coming back, year after year.

Garden Ev PrimA bit like this evening primrose. I found it in Wells last year, when I met up with my sisters in search of where our great-grandparents are buried. (And to see my nieces and nephews.)

Anyway, I saw this outside the Bishop’s Palace café and thought it was lovely. Had no idea what it was, but brought it home, planted it up and figured out it was an evening primrose. The flowers only last a day or two, but as you can see in the picture there are plenty more buds waiting to open. It flowered non-stop for about five months last year, then vanished entirely over the winter. I’m so pleased my mystery bargain came back!

Garden Yellow DaisyThis is another mystery buy, some sort of daisy thing, but it’s a great big bush now that’s picked out its own little niche beside the buddleia. Every time the poor thing opens a flower it seems to get eaten, but it ploughs on regardless with bloom after bloom after bloom all through spring and summer. It first came out in April – which is a little late, as most things are this year – but it’s going stronger than ever right now.

Garden ButtercupsIt’s right at home alongside the buttercups. These ones in the main garden are doing considerably better than the ones in the wild garden, which are getting eaten by the mega slugs, who will eat everything they can, alas.

Garden Ox-eye 1The ox-eye daisy has also just made a reappearance. I love how cheerful these flowers are. Big and brash and sunny – the bees and hoverflies seem to like them too. Haven’t seen any butterflies on them yet, but then butterflies are pretty scarce in the garden so far this summer.

Garden Orion GeraniumHere’s another of my rescues. It was in the end of season sale and I felt sorry for it. Besides, not only do I like geraniums, but it’s an Orion something or other – I couldn’t leave it! This is another that I think has vanished when I go looking for it each spring, but it always bounces back in the summer to surprise me.

The bees seem to like it too.

Elsewhere in the garden the violas and red campion are flowering like mad, the bluebells are gone and replaced with nettles and the sea holly seems to be flowering small this year and doing better than usual.

When I stepped out for lunch the other day, I watched a female house sparrow on the seed feeder, fluttering back and forth across the garden, while her lazy brood huddled in the prickly pair, fluttering and begging whenever she came within reach. They’re as big as she is, and since they had to have flown to get into the pair, the least the lazy so and sos could do was flit the tiny distance to the feeders themselves. One of the feeders is practically in that tree now, it’s spread so much since spring.

Garden Forgetmenot
Forget-Me-Nots mostly gone now :(

Ah, such are the delights of a green and beautiful summer. I hope things are as pretty where you are, or at least have spaces where you can breathe in something clean and remember the beautiful days.

I’m having a pretty productive week away from the garden. I’ve finished the second Regency book, which is only a novella, and started a third. They have titles now too. At some point I think I’ll have to make myself a new author website, since these will be released under a pseudonym. Still, the writing is going well, the weather is glorious and I survived my solo-driving trip to Wales.

Yay, summer!

May your own week be going so well.

A Bit of Me, Updates, Writing

The Merry Month of May

Becca Lusher
Dart Valley 2
Dart Valley Nature Reserve, 15th May 2016

Since I was walking in the woods the other day, and it being the merry merry month of May, I decided to share some photos with you while I natter about what I’ve been up to.

It’s incredible how green everything has suddenly become around here. Until very recently it’s been kind of cold for the time of year, meaning the buds and blossoms have been holding back. No longer. It’s all green, all the time. Which, in places like the above picture, mean the bluebells are out in force.

Dart Valley Bells 1You can’t see them too well in that shot, so here’s some more down beside the River Dart. Dart Valley Bells 2

These are British Bluebells, which are something of a rare breed these days, since Spanish bluebells are stronger, brighter and spread like nobody’s business from people’s gardens. In this little spot, however, they were all delicate British ones. I’ve never seen so many.

Dart Valley 1
Dart Valley Nature Reserve, May 15th 2016

This is how you can definitely tell I’m on Dartmoor. Rocks in the woods, rocks in the river. Rocks everywhere! It’s an oread paradise – look at all that moss.

Anyway, as lovely as all that has been (and it has been very lovely, and I’ve had some really good walks lately), I’ve also been busy in other areas.

Since my last catch up post, I’ve edited and read through Blazing Dawn, but I’m a little stuck. If you know of anyone who wouldn’t mind reading a dragon fantasy novel at some point over the next month, please let me know. I’m not looking for deep editing (though I never say no to picks and crits), I mostly need to know if certain plot points make sense. Of course they do to me, because they’re threads I’ve been teasing out for over a decade, but I’m not sure if it’s too obscure for other people or if it works well enough in the context of the story. So, if you know of anyone who can help, please let me know. Ta!

Away from that, I’ve left my first Regency book alone since I finished it – because I need to do some extra research and check things – and was supposed to have turned my attention away from writing for a while. However, I got itchy without typing on a daily basis, so I’m now a little over halfway through an unplanned Overworld novella, which doesn’t fit into either of my Overworld series, but I’m enjoying it immensely. I’m not at all sure where it’s heading (though I got a few inklings when I was thinking it over earlier), so I’m hoping I’m over halfway but can’t be certain. It’s at 20K at the moment, but who knows where it’ll end.

I’ve also started a second Regency novel, because why not? I’m planning to spend the next month writing it, the novella and working on Blazing Dawn. Then, come July, it’ll be time to turn back to the Aekhartain (because summer is absolutely the best time to write a winter novel), and also tidy up the details in the first Regency book. I might even come up with a name… I hope! I can’t call it Filly’s book forever. I’m also hoping I will come up with a name for the second Regency book along the way, because Matilda’s book (can you sense a theme?) doesn’t sound nearly exciting enough.

And the reason why I was supposed to be taking a break from writing these last few weeks? Well, since you asked, I’ve opened an Etsy shop and started a new blog – both called Starlight Magpie.

Here’s a little glimpse at why:

It’s been keeping me busy and I’ve been having fun with it. We’ll see how it goes. For now it’s providing a nice creative break away from writing and I’m constantly getting new ideas.

Dart Valley 3
Dart Valley Nature Reserve, 15th May 2016

Anywho, that’s what up with me. I shall leave you now with a final look along the Dart Valley.

And while we’re here, how are things with you lovely people? Has the year been treating you kindly thus far? I hope so.

I’m driving to Wales on Friday and I’m a touch nervous, but more about that another time.

For now, bask in something beautiful.

Cheers, m’dears!

 

 

A Bit of Me, Books, Overworld, Updates, Writing

Catching Up: Feb-May

Becca Lusher

As there isn’t a midweek Wingborn update this week (contain yourselves) and we’ve hit the halfway point in the book, I thought I’d catch everyone up on what I’ve been up to lately.

Bagtor Feb
Haytor from Bagtor Feb 2016

As the picture shows, I’ve been walking on Dartmoor a fair bit, when the weather allows. You’d never know from that particular picture that it was bitterly cold up there that day, with a wind blowing hard enough to almost knock me over! (Ignore the shape of the tree, it’s always like that. Growing on the moors tends to have that effect on the vegetation.)

It’s been a very strange start to the year in many ways, not least weatherwise, but now that May is here things seem to be settling down a bit. Especially when it comes to writing.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve finished two books!

The first, Blazing Dawn, is an Overworld book, set a few centuries before Wingborn when women were still allowed in the Rift Riders and the dragons still interacted with humans. That’s where this series is set, the Dragonlands, where a certain fiery Blazeborn elder has been unhappily assigned as a delegate to the new human ambassador and her Rift Rider retinue.

Mini Khennik Blossom
Mini Khennik amidst the greengage blossoms

The dragon is called Khennik and he’s the sort of hero who if you’d asked him to save the world would say, “Not today, I’m busy.” But if you asked him to help his kin and Clan, would lay down his life before you finished the question. He’s contrary and grumpy, prone to bursting into flames, and I’m really rather fond of him.

Mini Dragons 1

Here Mini Khennik is hanging out with a few of his fellow Blazing Dawn characters on some pieces of Dartmoor quartz. Junior Archivist Reglian is the black and gold dragon, Elder Goryal is the little grey one, stony Estenarven is beside him, while poor watery Mastekh is lying off to one side. They all have their parts to play in the story, some more successfully than others, and there are plenty of Rift Riders to get to know too. Not least Nera, a young lieutenant out in the world for the first time.

You might also be able to tell that I’ve been playing with polymer clay a bit lately, but more on that some other time.

The second book I finished just last week. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s a Regency Romance! I love reading books in this genre and I’ve had a few ideas for my own over the years. I originally started this one almost ten years ago, but it’s been mouldering away, stalled at only three chapters ever since. I thought I’d give it another go and see if I could actually finish it – and I did! It’s still very rough and needs a lot of work, but it’s set in the country, has a rather put-upon heroine, a scarred up hero and some annoyingly cute kids running around. I had fun writing it, so I hope people will enjoy reading it. I’ll also be releasing it under a different name, but again, more on that some other time.

Aside from the fact that I’m really pleased to have finished these two books, they also have a couple of surprising things in common. They’re both old stories I started ages ago (Blazing Dawn didn’t even get past the first chapter), neither of them turned out at all like I expected, they’re both longer than I intended, and they’re both firsts in their own ways: my first completed Regency and the first time I’ve actually managed to finish a book with a dragon as the main protagonist. This last one is particularly surprising since I love dragons and have written a fair few over the years, but clearly they prove more tricky than I ever expect.

So, as you can see, writing continues apace. Over the next few months I’ll be polishing both books up and turning my attention back to the Aekhartain again. I’ll also be considering what I’ll do after the serialisation of Wingborn ends. I think I’d like to try it with something else, but I’ll be writing it as I go this time. I haven’t what decided yet, but I’m open to suggestion if anyone has anything they want to know more of.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with a final couple of pictures.

One of the things I love best about walking on Dartmoor at this time of year (or in the lanes closer to home, because I am very lucky) is hearing the skylarks. Their numbers are supposedly dropping nationwide, but you’d never know it if you walk regularly around these parts. Here’s one I spotted the other day when walking to Laughter Tor.

Laughter Skylark

It’s perched atop a prehistoric menhir, Loughtor Man, which stands at 2.4 metres tall.

Louden Man
Loughtor Man, April 2016

Apparently it once stood in the centre of a small cairn, with stone rows around it. Now it stands mostly alone, save for the occasional walker or skylark stopping by for a rest or to admire the view.

And on that note, I shall leave you all in peace. I hope the world and the weather is treating you kind wheresoever you may be. I shall be back soon with more Wingborn and perhaps a photo or two of places I’ve been along the way.

Merry midweek, everyone!

A Bit of Me, Aekhartain, Writing

Secrets of Icarus: Part Five

Becca Lusher

With all the Icarus Child books now out and available, I thought I’d wrap things up with one last secret before I take a bit of a break from the Aekhverse.

Secret #5 – This Isn’t the Last You’ll be Seeing of These Characters

With the trilogy being a prequel to the Tales of the Aekhartain this might seem like an obvious secret. But I’m not talking about Shaiel or Maskai, though of course both of them do come back and make many, many appearances in the other stories. No, this is about the others.

Cover_3 Icarus ChildIt’s all Maskai’s fault, of course. The short story – Star and Shadowborn – that I’ve included at the end of The Icarus Child hints a little at this, because it’s all to do with Maskai’s power and how in the early Aekh days she was a bit careless with it. In fact, when she wasn’t paying attention, it had a habit of rubbing off on people around her and changing them – which is how the Aekhartain come about. It’s all because Maskai wasn’t paying attention and ordinary folk got caught in a power splash.

Which means that plenty of characters in Icastar’s life have the potential to become Aekhartain further down the line. It isn’t reincarnation, not quite, but some personality quirks and other aspects do keep turning up over and over again.

Cover - Dark RebelIn fact, if you read Dark Rebel closely, you might think there’s something a little familiar about one of Caligo’s companions – especially if you look up the meaning of his name and find a russet-coloured animal on the other end. There are quite a number of Aekhs to spot in DR, but since I haven’t got around to rewriting most of their stories yet, it’s not entirely fair.

I also have an unfinished Regency tale about Fox and Cana, so those two definitely come back – a little changed, but essentially themselves (because I couldn’t let them go after the original IC and a friend challenged me to write a Regency romance). Look out for Howl and Rudh again too, because I backtracked on them, bringing in characters from later Aekh tales to amuse myself.

Cover_2 Crying ChildI have also since realised that if anyone is likely to come back, Saekara is most qualified and I’ve already laid a few clues about Icaria (or rather, as I was writing it I made a few connections and had a light-bulb moment). The biggest clue is in the prologue for The Crying Child, for those who like playing Spot-the-Aekh in advance. Names are always a massive clue too, even if they are mostly in a different language.

Spot-the-Aekh is mostly just a bit of fun between me and my readers. You won’t be missing anything vital if you don’t make the connections or follow along, but those who do play often feel an extra understanding about how the story is progressing. It’s one big in-joke that helps tie the long, long bunch of interconnected stories together and hopefully make it all more enjoyable.

Some characters are a lot more obvious than others, because I like to make sure everyone can play and also pose a bit of a challenge. So when it comes to the characters in this book, look out for future appearances from interesting names, familiar hair colours and eyes and those intriguing qualities that you can’t quite put your finger on, but feel familiar nonetheless.

Because in the Aekhartain world, death is never the end.

A Bit of Me, Aekhartain, Writing

Secrets of Icarus: Part Four

Becca Lusher

The Icarus Child is almost ready! I think I might actually be able to release it tomorrow as planned – which will be a big relief. In the meantime I’ve been reading Wingborn on my Kindle, and finding it surprisingly enjoyable, but more on that next week ;)

For now…

Secret #4 – Some of My Books Have Their Own Accents

Okay, I’ll admit this one is a bit weird and is something that has only started recently, but it’s true, my books sometimes have accents.

Let me explain. During the editing process, at some point I’ll email a book to my Kindle and then read it aloud – making changes as I go. The change of screen and reading pace is great for spotting those irritating typos that I would otherwise skim over without noticing – especially after the third or fourth times of reading the same book. To make this more interesting for myself, I often do voices and accents along the way. I’ve always loved imitating accents, so I like to have a bit of fun and because the accents make me speak more slowly I tend to pay more attention to what I’m reading.

Which is straightforward enough, if a little strange. However, just lately I’ve noticed that some books prefer a particular type of accent throughout. Unbound and Free and Be With Me have a distinctly Welsh lilt, thanks to Elisud. While the Dark Rebellion books are very Devonian. Both of these make sense due to the characters involved.

The Icarus Child is Scottish – and I have no idea why. I’ve never been that good at Scottish accents before, but this book has cured me. I had so much fun saying Icastar (ih-KA-staar) that I can no longer use any other accents with it. Believe me, I’ve tried. My Irish starts off well enough, but drifts into an Ulster/Northern Ireland sound before hopping across the sea to Scotland. I lost my Welsh accent altogether, and even my Yorkshire/generic Northern accent doesn’t last long.

It doesn’t make much sense, but there you have it. The Icarus Child has a Scottish soul and you now have another unnecessary insight into my quirky writing habits.

I’ll be back tomorrow (hopefully) to pester you about the new book. Hurrah!

In the meantime – Merry Monday and Happy February, everyone!