Completed chapter 14. The chapter is called Inside the yearling cave.
This Chapter was pretty heavy and intense. A chapter filled with a lot of reflective and judgmental moments for the characters and a lot of newfound reality moments for the characters. So, the music I chose for this chapter was kind of in-between being heavy and reflective but also action pact because there is another chase scene.
So here is my playlist for this chapter 14:
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What songs do you play while you write your novel?
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You’re Not Mortal is the 4th scene in the 14th chapter of the 2nd draft of the work in progress novel During the Blue Hour. I finally completed not only this scene but the whole of chapter 14. Let me tell you I was dawdling through this scene not because it was boring but because I had to rewrite most of it. The new version of this chapter came to 8928 words. The you’re not mortal scene came to 3554 words total. The longest word counts out of all the scenes and chapters so far in the 2nd draft.
SCENE SYNOPSIS:Sirena is finally told by Cristen that she is not mortal, but in fact a caninruh and that she must stay with the pack in order to protect her, but her reaction is more than what is expected from Cristen and Sirena runs off in disbelief back to her mortal community.
In this scene it is in the 1st love interest pov ; Cristen and he has to convince Sirena that she is one of them. I originally wrote the scene in 2012 within the first draft but it wasn’t this long. It’s pretty much the same but the interactions and locations are somewhat different.
In this draft Adrian shows back up to the group and in front of Sirena in the form of the large werewolf and ordinarily Sirena would be afraid, but she can tell the difference between Adrian and any other beast because of his apparent kindness.
But like I said Cristen is the main POV so his perception is warped in this scene but not because he is an empath, and he can sense the energies between both Sirena and Adrian. So, within this scene there is a lot of tension because he is the alpha of the yearling werewolf pack and sees Adrian as trying to undermine him. In reality Adrian has fallen for Sirena and they are talking telepathically. Cristen doesn’t like that.
My greatest pitfall for this chapter is trying to keep the tension between the triangles. In the other chapters Sirena’s attitude is not one of being afraid but curious, even though she uses the excuse she is going to find her friend it is also because she is curious about the teenage wolves that saved her from the bear. However, she is still running away from them because she is in disbelief over the fact Cristen has told her she is actually a werewolf like the rest of them.
Moreover, she runs away because she has to face this truth that is her most hidden and dreadful fear in which she had tried to keep buried and locked within her dreams.
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Do you have a character that has this most dreadful fear that they try to keep hidden ?
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*UPDATE: The next podcast episode 11 will be a deep dive analysis on the serialized short story The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains. in my Werewolf in fiction podcast series coming soon. Check out the story and see what it is about down below.
What does a seafaring adventure involving a man trying to save his father have to do with werewolves? Well a lot .
The 1838 Gothic Novel by Frederick Marryat which explorers the legend of the Flying Dutchman, a tale about a ghost ship interestingly also includes not only other supernatural components but a whole chapter about a werewolf.
Cleverly and remarkably written it told the story of Kratz who leaves to the mountains of Germany with his three children after killing his wife and lover.
He distracts himself with hunting wolves in the mountain but one day is intercepted by a man and his daughter. He takes them back to the cottage where his three children are. After three weeks of knowing the woman he accepts her hand in marriage from her father. However he really doesn’t know who he has married because it is soon revealed the girl is a werewolf.
There is more that happens but I liked it for a werewolf story and to me it sort of had like a Moby-Dick vibe to it. Give it a read and let me know what you think .
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE WHITE WOLF OF HARTZ MOUNTAINS ?
I want to know so let me know in the comments below.
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So, I have been busy working and going back and forth on two podcast episodes.
I’m working on a new series called Forgotten History. And while working on this first episode I created some shorts history questions to get the mind to start to think about what the real story behind our history might be.
The first episode won’t be connected to these shorts right now but will be a full podcast episode about the forgotten history on the Rus. And I will continue with a whole series of episodes about Russia and exploring different questions I had and how it pertains to our history and the world. So please if you are interested in learning about Russia with me join me in exploring its forgotten history, coming soon…
The next project I’m working on is from the ongoing podcast Discovering the Blue Hour episode 11 where I will be talking about and going in-depth about the short story, The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains. It is a part of my werewolf in fiction series within my podcast and I will also be discussing book end framing technique in writing and the history of magazine serials and how it’s on the rise again in the writing community. I would love for you to join be for this episode if you like writing.
To catch up on what The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains is I wrote a post about it last year entitled:
Let me know what you think about the short story before I release the podcast episode coming soon…
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Sparks fly in this love triangle I got going on my work in progress novel but how?
The love triangle in my work in progress novel is just a subplot in this first novel actually and begins on the 12th chapter of my 2nd draft.
The two love interest Adrian and Cristen won’t actually realize they have feeling for Sirena until after they find out she is a werewolf. Based on how they are raised they don’t really have any interest in romancing and mating with a human girl and I don’t explore that until maybe my 3rd book in which case Eli will be the human that a new werewolf character named Amarantha falls in love with him.
But anyways there will be sparks between them all that they will ignore up until chapter 12. Not only because they think she is human but because they also have their own goals . This chapter 14 is where they finally establish she is defiantly a werewolf and boy do the emotions and sparks fly. All kinds of jealousy and animosity all over the place.
Sirena has just found out she is a werewolf from love interest Cristen and the rest of his pack. She is in this confusion scared state where she doesn’t believe any of what has just been told to her even though she already has been through a lot within the previous chapters. She literally has been almost killed twice. The first time by a religious wolf hunter and almost kidnapped by the wolf council.
But when she sees Adrian she softens a bit because Adrian saved her from getting mauled by a dog in previous chapters. But just a bit because he is in his werewolf form with red eyes and everything is just weird to Sirena. She doesn’t and can’t believe what is before her. But that sense of familiarity from him makes her draw closer to him as though she is a magnetic .
Cristen wants help from the earth diver to get off the mountain but in order to do that he has to help Sirena.
Adrian wants to become the alpha and so he thinks he can use his new found knowledge about Sirena to do that.
This love triangle between the three will consist of a lot of jealously , betrayals and secrets .
The main Character Sirena will be interested in both of them and she will have a reason to be interested in both of them. They will be her first ever love interest.
She is interested in Adrian because he seems to understand her in a way. They seem to get along and she likes Adrian because he never seems to be afraid to tell her the truth of things no matter how harshly he delivers it. And she respects him for that. And also he ends up saving her most of the time.
With her falling for Cristen he is reasonable, compassionate, and kind to her and seems to understand her differently because he can easily read her emotions and see through her insecurities because of his powers and abilities and he connects her with his emotions and calm her emerging werewolf rage. And she is able to do the same , calming him of his werewolf rage since his powers are not fully developed as well.
I don’t have Sirena really going back and forth over them like a drag out decision . Time is of the essence and she really has no time to play teenage love games with the two werewolf boys . Because she is about to become a werewolf herself dammit.
I only put in a little section within the novel where both Adrian and Cristen will give her an ultimatum to choose between them but she is like wait hold the phone . She is new to the whole boyfriend experience and feelings thing especially with them both being werewolves where they date differently. They don’t date . They mate and become pair bonds. (pair bonds is a real thing in the real world in wolf society. Check this article out about ( pair bonds)But in my novel they can’t officially mate until they get to the werewolf community anyway. Another reason why they are rushing her to make a choice is because they have never seen another werewolf girl besides Imani. And Imani is Adrian’s sister who is the future pair bond to Bastian. Cristan always also saw Imani as a sister so yeah . Sirena is basically the only werewolf girl right now they can choose from.
She basically tells them they are both crazy and she is not going to mate with them .
This particular scene in my first draft that will soon be in my 2nd draft doesn’t mean Sirena doesn’t choose one of them because she does . I don’t want to really tell you who but there is a kissing scene between Sirena and one of the two boys. And the other boy is greatly devasted by Sirena’s choice.
This choice that Sirena makes will bring a lot of conflict between both Adrian and Cristen even though they already hate each other over the whole alpha situation( I talk about that type of rivalry in a different post) Her decision doesn’t make anything better in the story even other characters hate her for what she decides. Let me just give you a little (spoiler) her decision comes to a tragic accumulation . She is never selfish about her decision and she doesn’t string them along but it’s just that the reveal of secrets and lies get in the way and makes her choice worse for everybody at the end .
This love triangle subplot is basically scattered mostly toward the middle and end of my novel. I can’t say that the three character actually fall in love perse . All three of these characters just have these new found feelings . They are all teenagers in this first novel . And they don’t know what their feelings are yet.
The only two characters I can say that know exactly what their feeling are with each other are Bastian and Imani but their true love will be tested in my later books and I don’t know where those particular love triangle storylines will go yet .
Did I need a love triangle in this first novel? No . I mean I could have done without one. I didn’t have one in my pre-draft screenplay version . But I just thought it would be fun to add more conflict to the story. I kind of like reading love triangles in other novels and thought I’d give it a try writing about one myself.
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WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LOVE TRIANGLE FROM A BOOK YOU HAVE READ ?
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While I’m writing my work in progress novel During the Blue Hour . I’m also working on a short story series for the same novel series. There will be different stories that will involve characters from the universe that I mention in the upcoming novels. I had planned to do this years ago . I just didn’t really have the time to sit down and do it. But now I will be concentrating on that and my novel series .
The short story series consist of right now about 11 short stories give or take. There might be more or changes to this list.
ANTHOLOGIES OF THE HOUR SERIES
Story 1: The First Kraldire
Story 2: In the Hour of Humanity
Story 3: Iron clad: The story of Annette and Cole
Story 4: TheViātors of the Caelum
Story 5: A Tale of Two Brothers
Story 6: The Apennine pack
Story 7: Refuge : The story of the Wolf Warrior
Story 8: Alpha
Story 9: The Eternals : The struggle between good and evil
Story 10: Pair Bond
Story 11: Red Envy
My plan is to turn these short stories into some sort of Chronicles about the history for my main character . In my first work in progress novel for the series my main character doesn’t know anything about the world of these werewolves. So she will read a history eventually. These histories will be mentioned in the second novel. Hopefully I will start that one next year.
These are some to look forward to now . I will try to blog them individually . The First Kraldire short story and an excerpt of IN THE HOUR OF HUMANITY: The Story of Zios is already up . So if you would like to read that . You can go ahead and read it now . There will be changes to that stories though. I ‘m not sure I will upload those changes . I will be submitting them to literary magazines or self-publishing them all together. So stay tune . Keep an eye out for them . And please when you read the short stories please leave your comments about the stories in order to improve them if needed.
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Have you wrote any short stories connected to your novels?
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So, like you, I ‘ve heard that prologues are not thought upon lightly. Because they usually are skipped, sometimes boring or are simply not necessary.
Last year I recorded a prologue podcast episode about the origins of prologues. I liked researching for that episode. I will be recording another podcast about prologues sometime in the future.
But right now, I want to talk about the prologue in my novel that almost wasn’t. What do you mean almost wasn’t?
Well, my current prologue.
I had this same prologue in my first draft. I chose to take it out for my 2nd draft because when I was back in college some years ago, an English professor read the draft and well he ripped the prologue out because he said he simply did not read prologues.
I was kind of devastated because I worked really hard on it, and it has everything to do with the rest of the story.
My prologue is called The Magical World of Wonder and is centered on my main character’s best friend Gabby and her family. It’s very magical indeed. Not only does the prologue involve a snow globe, a music box and a werewolf but it plays with and triggers pretty heavy and intense secrets that are buried within the town and also along with Gabby’s family secrets. But It’s one of those prologues where there is a character that doesn’t appear anymore throughout the novel again. (Spoiler alert).
It’s hard to explain but it’s like a rewind fast forward scene. That can’t really be placed anywhere in the novel itself because the main character doesn’t see it or experience it. But it will bring the story kind of full circle by the end of the novel. And the character Gabby in the prologue is constantly mentioned throughout the novel by the main character and other characters. And what happens to Gabby in the prologue will come back to have heavy consequences on some of the characters within the main story. Especially Gabby’s family who are going to end up paying a heavy price for their deep and dark secrets.
So, I decided to put the prologue back in my novel. Even if readers skip over it, the readers will probably find themselves going back to it in the middle of the novel.
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Do you think having a prologue is a good idea in the novel? Should the reader go back to read the prologue or is it a waste of time?
I want to know so let me know in the comments below.
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Did you know the issues of the Beast Of Gévaudan was so problematic that Louis XV sent professional wolf-hunters, Jean Charles Marc Antoine Vaumesle d’Enneval and his son Jean-François, to hunt . He also sentJean Chasel to kill the beast . But the attacks still continued .
You know what I think? I think they just wanted money, fame and fortune . They ended up killing over a hundred actual real wolves without any real proof that the beast actually existed. And right up until this very day no one actually knows the truth behind it all.
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What do you think the werewolf hunters of the Beast of Gevaudan actually saw ? Do you think they wanted money and fame?
I want to know so let me know in the comments below.
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If you are like me and ever wondered about the werewolf genre within fiction and whether it was classified as horror or fantasy you want to read this post now because this is the post for you.
First before finding out what genre werewolves are classified under let’s look at the difference of what the fantasy genre and horror genre in fiction is defined as.
Fantasy Genre:
The fantasy genre within novel writing and literature features both magic and supernatural elements that evolve around made up and imaginary worlds , timelines and creatures . It usually has at least 8 sub categories
High or epic fantasy.
Low fantasy.
Sword and sorcery.
Dark fantasy.
Fables.
Fairy tales.
Superhero fiction.
Horror Genre
Horror genre is focused more on mood. In order to work it has to create an unsettling atmosphere and give its intended reader a sense of fear. Even though it may have fantastical elements within its genre, the setting is usually entirely realistic.
So I found an article called 144 Genres and Subgenres for Fiction Writing by Tonya Thompson and in the article werewolves are classified under monsters which is a subgenre of Horror.
But did you know there was another sub-genre that is considered in the realm of the fantasy genre?
It is called the paranormal genre or speculative fiction and this genre is a subgenre of fantasy. The paranormal genre consists of all of the monsters that go bump in the night which includes werewolves.
Whereas wikipedia has defined the werewolf genre and classified it as being a genre that can be categorized in both horror and fantasy
Just by looking at these two definitions of where the werewolf genre is categorized under we can assume that the werewolf genre is used both in fantasy and horror and can be used in an exceptional and varied storylines and plots because of the ancients roots the werewolf folklores stem from with its various re interpretations of the genre.
Thus a writer can draw from previous folklores and myths of werewolves in order to create a fantastical and horrific tale.
If you liked this blog post and you want to see more content involving my work in progress During the Blue Hour Follow and share that is important . THEN LET’S START A DIALOGUE
Are you a writer who writes about werewolves in the horror or fantasy genre?
I want to know so let me know in the comments below.
I just wrote a recent post about the love at first sight trope and over the weekend I wrote about my characters in my work in progress novel being in a love triangle and how it will begin once I start chapter 12 . Does them being in a long triangle mean they are affected by the love at first sight bug? Or Cupid’s arrow? As I explained in my recent post.
Well let me delve into it and analysis my own characters.
Okay so when my Main character Sirena first comes upon Cristen , who I like to call the first love interest because they interact first. Both Sirena and Cristen get this funny kind of tingly butterfly feelings when he stops her from falling (a twilight moment , but not really) They also feel like they have met each other before (spoiler ) they have . (you’ll find out about that later) .
However Sirena simply thinks this upon seeing him in chapter 5 :
Sirena’s heart raced and she panicked. That boy. That boy was the same boy at the river stream who held her in his arms and then disappeared. What was he doing here? Where did he come from? The town did not receive new residents often. Did he come from Stella City? An Actor? Dancer? Maybe? No. She would have heard of him. Maybe he was a solider or spider agent come to take her away to become a gatherer because of her outburst at the river? No . He would’ve arrested her if that was the case. Was he a new student from Umbra Valley City? If he was a new student and not a Spider Agent or Dancer where could she have seen him from before? She knew him from somewhere other than at the river.
He had a small leaf looking scar on the side of his prominent cheek bone that appeared to be imprinted or burned into his golden skin that made him appear older than seventeen or eighteen. But it could’ve been a birthmark. Stubble on his face as though he was growing a beard. Neat. He had muscles. He was fit. He worked out. He probably was a runner? Yeah he defiantly was a runner . He had these sort of deep set amber brown eyes that were kind of different as though the iris of his eyes changed colors. A spec of red maybe?
It was strange. He wasn’t fine or attractive. He wasn’t even her type at all. But his allure was strong. Sirena ogled and awed toward the boy like all the rest of the girls in her class. She drew in a breath but shook her head unclear to why she reacted that way.
Note that I write that she thought him not fine or attractive. However she is drawn to him like all the other girls. Well in my work in progress I kind of use that mortals are attracted (without knowing) to werewolves who are in their human form . So she is simply confused and curious but I wouldn’t say its love at first sight.
I also have Cristen reaction in chapter 6
When the mortal girl Sirena almost fainted he threw himself to help her. He tried to ignore her but her despair was different than the rest of the mortals. She wanted answers to her friend’s disappearance. And somehow he didn’t crave for her heart in his mind. She was like a pacifier. She subdued the cravings and the rage. There was no green-eyed abnormality to think of. Only the fluttering butterflies swarming each and every way through her thoughts. Beyond the butterflies there was this movements of a white sun; circles, spirals and rays that shown through her downtrodden yellow blue spirit . Glimmers of her sitting in a room full of people gawking at her as though deciding her fate…glimmers of her laughing with her friends- a girl and a boy…glimmers of a man laughing with joy… glimmers of a girl dancing in snow… glimmers of a women brushing her hair… glimmers of her and another girl laughing and swatting each other with a soft feather material in a brightly colored room…glimmers of her dancing.. her dancing was- was like ice droplets falling. Those glimmers of her life all spun together , uneven , disorganized , collapsing. He reached out for them and tried to settle the moments of her life, to keep them still. To go deeper into-but he couldn’t reach the white sun even if he tried. How could he make it stop?
So in this passage I try to explore that he is able to see who she truly is and how she feels . Which he wants to take away her sadness and make her happy. Because she is somehow the only one to pacify his cravings from the mortal hearts in the room and also his rage . But he can’t seem to take away her despair (he doesn’t know how. He hasn’t fully mastered his abilities yet. And another spoiler- he won’t especially when it comes to dealing with Sirena) . And he doesn’t understand why he is having these feelings about her.
So it’s not a love at first sight thing for Cristen it’s just that he is also questioning their connection with one another . And he also wants to figure out why she can settle his rage. But these feelings don’t overtake his mind dispelling his main goal which is to get off the mountain. And plus he thinks she’s mortal so . He’s not going there with that.
Let’s see if it was love at first sight with Adrian and Sirena
The first time Adrian meets Sirena in chapter 7
He leaned back and abruptly glanced down at her in his arms. He forgot he was even holding her. He gasped . He had never seen a mortal close up before, nevertheless another girl before besides own his sister. The girl was beautiful. He gazed down at her and grazed his fingers lightly against her cheek. wait, what was going on? he sniffed her. Why could he hold her and not transform into his Canine? He didn’t know why but he did know he couldn’t just leave her there …
He placed the girl next to a tree . He glanced down at her, pushed her hair gently out of her face and smirked ….
Glanced at the girl one more time and sped toward the pack…
With Adrian I can’t say it is love at first sight because he has never seen another girl before . Mortal or Werewolf , besides his own sister. His first reaction of her is that she is beautiful . But he is just curious and nothing more . Once again they think Sirena is human .
Here is a reaction to Sirena meeting Adrian for the first time in chapter 11
Adrian just looked at her as she cringed touching her head. Finally she turned looking up at him. No, more like through him, and started to stand up. She didn’t say anything. She just scrutinized him but not like the other mortals did….
For Sirena it’s definitely not love at first sight when meeting Adrian and this is not even in her POV but Adrian’s POV. But he describes her as scrutinizing him not in the way others did. You going to come to find out that she does it not out of oh I’m in love with you but out of recognition that she has seen him before but in wolf form. Strange I know, but it will be more clear once my novel is finished and you can actually read it.
With these passages they clearly show that there is no love at first sight anywhere with my characters. However when the two werewolf boy will realize that she is a werewolf herself they will get some sort of well not love at first sight but more attraction at first site . And I’m also going to mention that my novel’s story takes place in a week’s time as by the end of the book it is the main character’s birthday. And she does end up kissing one of the werewolf boys but that still doesn’t account for love at first sight.
So to answer my own questions based on my own analysis of my characters I would say no they haven’t caught the love at first sight bug and I don’t use the trope in my novel . Well… at least not yet….
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Have your characters caught the love at first sight bug in your novel?
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