This time the reason I haven’t blogged for a bit is that I’ve actually been writing. I had a breakthrough on this-here mid-way climactic scene and have been working on it bit by bit, rewriting, cutting, adding… I think it’s–well, I know it’s much better than it was before. More intense, more suspenseful, lots more conflict.
Janak now gets a fairly nasty head wound from the ogre that the bad guys use as a distraction while they abduct Kyer. Now the head wound in itself makes him not altogether happy, of course: not only is he in a lot of pain, but he’s worried about the sight in his left eye, and as he becomes more fearful of how this may affect his life, his ability to fight (work for Valrayker) etc. he becomes angrier than usual. His circumstances also have created a lovely inner conflict for Derry: As Captain of the company, his duty is to find Kyer. But as Physicker-Adept, his duty is more immediately to his patient. He feels helpless on both counts because there isn’t much he can do for Janak, yet he has to send Phennil and Jesqellan to look for Kyer, and when they aren’t successful, he feels terribly guilty. Phennil also chooses this time to inform the captain that he’s the one who inadvertently told Kyer’s enemies how to find her. The fact that Phennil remains alive at that point is a testament to Derry’s self-control.
So this has all been fun fun fun, watching what happens between these guys.
Now, on an unrelated note.… People, just because there’s snow on the ground does NOT mean you are exempt from picking up your dog’s poo. Sure, we can see it better, but it’s slippery out there and hard enough to walk without having to skirt round brown lumps, and hopefully not fall on them should one lose one’s balance. I dog sat for a week and it is not difficult at all to use a plastic bag to pick it up. Oh, and then, once you have picked it up, take it to a garbage bin, don’t just huck the poo-filled plastic bag into the woods.
And off I go to carry on with my day.