Dandelyon's Worlds

Well, never mind taxes. I'm going through papers to make sure I don't miss anything, but that's bad enough without blogging about the process.

I spent February feeling envious of my writer friends doing a Worldbuiding Month because I was way too tired to join in.

I am so tempted to continue worldbuilding my catkin universe in April while doing the April A-Z.  But then I'd need suitable topics for every letter of the alphabet to prompt new ficlets.

What do you think?  Are you willing to share some suggestions/questions/prompts to help me make an A-Z list?  If so, I'll edit them in here as I get suggestions:

A A for Apples, be they already enchanted or still growing in the orchard. kelkyag
B Anything with Cats is Bound to be wonderful queenoftheskies
.. Butterfly Headphones moon_fox
C Cave Systems dreamwidth user Clare_Dragonfly
.. Cucumber moon_fox
D Dancing ankewehner
E Education dreamwidth user Clare_Dragonfly
F Witch/familiar relationships ... in which either party might be the human or the cat. kelkyag
G Glasses msstacy13
H Helpfulness ankewehner
I I for indelible tigertoy
J Jewelry? skjam
K Keys ankewehner
L A large lovely Luna moth (perhaps magical) tigertoy
M Much Ado About Marshmallows seekerval
N Newspaper ankewehner
O Oblivious ankewehner Octagon moon_fox
P Premier ellenmillion
Q Queue at an Amusement Park Ride seekerval Quelled ellenmillion
R Five Toy Robots moon_fox
S Sandpaper moon_fox
T It seems as though teleportation would be mighty useful magic. ellenmillion
U Unfinished Work or U for Undone Work red_trillium
... Uncovering the Unknown kelkyag
V Very Hard Work, Very Hard Bones moon_fox
W Wild cats and their relationship with domestic cats pyraxis
X X is for crossing boundaries? kelkyag
Y Yardwork and Yellow Daffodils seekerval Yowls ellenmillion
Z Zoology dreamwidth user Clare_Dragonfly
... Zone Out ellenmillion


Thanks!

ETA: More than one prompt is welcome, and if I don't have at least 26 people participating, will get you more words. Also, a prompt for A would be especially welcome before April is actually upon us.



Here's a picture of me from when I graduated from college.  Gosh, that seems a long time ago now!

I love reading urban fantasy, and I've been wanting an urban fantasy world to play in--er, write in. But I don't have an urban fantasy world designed yet. I want something different, with magical beings that suit my personal sense of whimsy. A world different enough to let me challenge my characters with a different set of dilemmas.

I finally have the start of an idea for a world, and want to do some world building. I'd also like to give all of my patient readers a bit of a present.

I'm a cat lover, so there will be cats, probably a lot of them. Not only cats, of course, that would be too predictable. There will be ephemeral beings, and bright colors, beauty and danger, and quite possibly dragons, or maybe something else altogether, but ancient and strange and powerful.

So, if you want to play along and give me a bit of a Midwinter Gift, you can offer words, thoughts, questions, images or songs; my gift, for each of you that do so, will be to pick at least one to inspire me and offer some small glimpse into this world, a vignette or ficlet (at least 100 words), poem or song, or perhaps a bit of art.

Whether you play along or not, I hope you have wonderful Midwinter Holidays, and a marvelous New Year.

Technical difficulties prevent me from sharing a snow picture or two right now; later!

For now, let's get started!

It feels good to be back writing this story! I've missed Orchid, especially. To the people who've been following her story, welcome back!

To my new friends, Welcome to the world of the fireborn, where, according to the myth, people were divided into different forms so that there would be no more fear and hatred and prejudice.

(If this is your first visit, the myth is better recounted here, and this story starts with Wings on His Fingers.)

ORCHID

The rocks felt very heavy. Orchid would have laughed at their weight a week ago. Of course, she reflected, yesterday she’d barely been able to fly with a net full of food.
( In which Orchid finds... )
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This story isn't making me rich, but it has introduced me to new friends. So I hope you'll take a moment to comment or at least wave before you move on.

Well, the story grew (both longer and more exciting) since Mikka sponsored what is now the first third of it, but finally I found the right title. This is from kelkyag 's request to see how Fleita sells her fine pottery, and ellenmillion 's request to see a southern graduation ceremony of one sort or another.

So, with the usual caveat that this is the rough draft (comments and questions welcome), and some details may change to keep the world consistent by the time it's published on TornWorld.net, here is my story from the August Muse Fusion:

A Handhold on Life
by Deirdre M. Murphy

“Isn’t it exciting?” Arremina’s eyes shone as she buckled the harness around her climbing clothes—sturdy long pants and shirt, in the red and yellow colors that signified her club. Her cuffs were the rough undyed material signifying pre-apprentice status, but that didn’t really detract from the bright figure she cut in the uniform. Even her hair was braided with red and yellow ribbons.

Fleitamelo carefully set up her wares on the rented table. She didn’t usually go to fairs and festivals herself, but had made an exception to see her daughter compete. “I—I’m glad you’re excited,” she answered belatedly.
( read more! )
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Writing does take energy and time. If you enjoyed this story, and would like to support me continuing to spend my time this way instead of, say, playing video games, please click on the hat or leave a comment.

Welcome back to the world of the Fireborn! If you are new to Fireborn, or if you may have missed any installments, here are links to all the installments. 


ORCHID

Orchid ate the seaweed raw, though it got less appetizing with every bite. But she was exhausted, and hungry enough that she wouldn’t sleep unless she ate.

Once she had finished it, she wedged herself high in the tree, sinking her claws deep into the bark, and closed her eyes. Soon, maybe even before sunrise, her mother would wake her, and this nightmare would be over. They could fly home together, and be safe. Then she sighed. She didn’t really believe her mother would fly off to safety leaving any child in danger. ( Read more... )
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Please feel free to friend me, and to refer my stories to your friends.

Thank you for reading!

The Torn World Muse Fusion is open!

You can go here to see the prompts other people leave, leave some yourself, cheer us on, see what we're working on, and in a little while, see links to some of what we're creating: http://community.livejournal.com/torn_world/40068.html

And you can buy me a nice, cold drink (it's too hot for hot chocolate, and coffee, well, it has coffee flavor, you know? Ewwwwww!) using the link below. Or you can sponsor a story or poem. If I get general donations for sponsoring my work (or for sponsoring Mexican cane-sugar-only Coke), I'll post a poll and let you all vote for which of my creative efforts of the day will be sponsored.

I found a new group of writers, doing what they call Free Fiction Friday. Go check out the ringleader!  There are links to other FFF writers there too.

And for new friends, the first story about Grace and Stella is here.



Grace and Stella were enjoying the heat of the summer day. Stella by hovering, wings, tail, and crest spread wide, just over the water, luxuriantly soaking in sunlight, Grace by relaxing in the water, only the tip of her head above the surface, to facilitate conversation. Over them both, like a garment fit for the Oscars, Stella held a shimmer of sunlight dancing on water, so no one would see them.

Grace had spent the early morning running along the beach, flapping her wings, and finally leaping, trying to get her bulk into the air. So far, all she had accomplished was about one dragon-length, before the waters gracefully welcomed her, turning what should have been an awkward belly-flop into a sleek dive.

“Well, I have to hand it to you—you sure can swim!” Stella laughed, from her comfortable spot in mid-air.

“Lot of good that’s doing me. I’ve got to learn to fly!”

( (read more) )

I love to hear from you!

Welcome back to the world of the fireborn, where, according to the myth, people were divided into different forms so that there would be no more fear and hatred and prejudice.

(If this is your first visit, the myth is better recounted here, and this story starts with Wings on His Fingers.)

DRAGON

Dragon swam on top of the water as he approached the huge old oak tree they’d chosen for their rendezvous, so she would know it was him. Orchid was finishing the last of the huge bag of food he’d cooked for their lunch as he pulled out of the water under the tree.

He really had thought he was going overboard when he gathered more seaweed while he swam, just in case.

Orchid greeted him with a smile and a huge yawn, the empty net bag dangling from one foot. ( Read more... )

The story continues here.)

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This work is supported solely by crowdfunding. You, my readers, are the patrons who support this work, both financially and with your words. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to let me know, or refer me to a friend. Your comments can help shape the story, and funds received speed the posting of the next chapter.

And I love to hear from you!

I guess this is my catch-up weekend. :-D

It's been too long since we all visited the world of the windborn, the lakeborn, and the magically-talented fireborn.

For my new friends (and anyone who's lost track) the story starts here and the chapters are listed here. But now, back to the story:

Black Berries and Butterfish

ORCHID

Orchid dreamed she was traveling with her mother, sleeping on a beach and waking in the silent twilight before dawn to eat berries from a bowlful they’d gathered the night before. Mist, who was very young, just a teenager, was crying for a little boy in a distant town, who’d been killed because he was fireborn, and the grownups around him feared him, and attacked him. Even little children fight back when cornered, though the effort is doomed.

The weeping embarrassed Orchid; it seemed too private to intrude on, so she pretended she didn’t hear the sobs and very quietly ate the berries to calm her stomach. As she ate, she noticed the bowl was a shell of some sort. It looked very bright on the dark sand, and slightly blue, the berries inside like black stones. Somehow she knew black stones were safe, at least this week.

That didn’t make sense, ( but... )

The next chapter is one of Dragon's:  Homecoming, with Tea
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Thank you all for your patience and support!  I hope you'll take a moment to let me know you were here.

I have been working on a story from the prompts you kindly gave me, but this working full time cuts into my writing time. However, the people who played along and suggested things that are appearing in the story will probably get to see the first draft later this week.

And I have a new chapter of Fireborn drafted; I wanted to read it over and post it lastnight, but bedtime came too early.

I'm doing something a little different -- with Dragon suddenly deciding to be a viewpoint character, I figure we need to see some of what's going on from his point of view before he meets Orchid and Mist. This chapter will be a bonus for people who've shown support for Fireborn by commenting or by sponsoring it. I'm planning to post it tonight, hopefully before Criminal Minds.

So if you've been lurking, you're welcome to come out of hiding! There's a nice comment link below, and a pretty painting of a hat on my profile for people who would prefer to catch my attention that way. And for sponsors who don't have an LJ, let me know that and I'll e-mail the chapter to you.