Well HELLOOOOOOOO. (Feel free to read that in a Jerry Seinfeld voice, if that’s your thing. It’s not mine, but I won’t judge.) Welcome again to WIPpet Wendesday, which I will be participating in again this week. Things aren’t back to normal, exactly; I seem to have lost my will to write. I’ll get back to it. In the meantime, have eleven sentences from the next chapter of… um… well, I don’t know what to call it. The Thingy That I Shared From Those Other Times seems sort of inappropriate as a title, but that’s what it is.
This doesn’t pick up exactly where we left off last time (Part one here, part two here); I’m skipping a few introductions and the first part of the “Where the heck are we” conversation, simply because these eleven sentences are more interesting on their own, and I can do that, because this is my blog. OH, THE POWER.
—
I walked a few paces behind her and tried not to stumble in the road as I took in the world around me. It looked so much like the land I was familiar with— the moss-covered boulders rising from the ground, the birches and pines and aspens. A red squirrel nattered at us as we passed by, and a startled grouse darted out of the road as we came around a bend. But it was like there was another world laid over the one I was familiar with, with strange birds and plants I’d never seen in my summers exploring the woods around Brightdale. I reached out to touch a blue, magnolia-like flower. “Don’t worry,” Genessa said. “Nothing along this road is magic. Kind of like where you come from, right?”
“We don’t have magic or dragons, if that’s what you mean. Except in stories.”
“Lucky you.”
—
If you do want to read the whole story, and assuming that I can go back in time and rescue my writing mojo from Dr Evil (who OBVIOUSLY has stolen it, because what else could it be?), I’m thinking about using this one to try out Wattpad. This is a little side-story (probably novella-length) set in the same world as the novels I’m working on, so that might be a fun project, and it’s no big loss if it doesn’t work out. Not for promotion, just for fun.
Want more WIPpet fun? Check out the linkie here to see what the other WIPpeteers are up to, and feel free to join in. The more the merrier! Thanks as always to the fantabulotronic K.L. Schwengel for hosting.
What else do we need to do today? My ROW80 update, of course!
Obviously I haven’t been getting much writing done, but I’ve got some revision planning on the go, so that kind of counts toward writing, even if I’m nowhere near hitting a thousand words a day. Or 500. Or three. My other goals are going well, though. I said I was going to do meal-planning, and I’m kind of sticking with that. I finished that pony for that secret… thing, and she turned out really pretty. I don’t have a picture of her yet, but I can show you the bonus pony I did; I don’t think the person who’s getting these reads my posts, anyway.
The problem is, I did this one as a last-minute extra, and I’m having a hard time thinking about sending her away. LOOK HOW ADORABLE!
Freaking Baby Bubbles. Stop it. Don’t look at me like that. STAHP!
Ugh.
Anyway, I finished my son’s Beothuk Barbie doll in time for his birthday, which was another goal. She turned out OK. I researched clothes, and then realized how difficult that was going to be, but I think I did a decent job with it. I re-did her face, but left her hair. I didn’t have the time, energy, or skill to do a re-root (it’s much harder on dolls than on ponies), so she has some lovely and inauthentic sun-kissed highlights going on. In any case, he loved her, and that was the goal. If he wants to put ochre (or more likely, red chalk pastels) on her skin and clothes, we’ll make a project of that and talk about the culture. Learning time!
So there you go. Progress on some things, just not on what this challenge is really about (ie writing). We’ll see how the next week goes…
So tell me: Have you used Wattpad for reading or writing all of the free things? What did you think? Would anyone be interested in seeing this one finished and posted? Do you have dragons where you live? Would you like to? Can I borrow your time machine? Do you want to use the word “fantabulotronic?” You totally can.
disregard the prologue 
September 11th, 2013 at 9:57 am
I would like to see the rest of the story.
September 11th, 2013 at 10:07 am
I’m loving this little side story. There are definitely dragons where I live. I haven’t used Wattpad personally. I did do some research on it, but got the feeling the audience is younger than what I was aiming for.
September 11th, 2013 at 10:08 am
And I am aiming for an upper-YA audience, so that might be good…
Could be an interesting experiment, anyway. 🙂
September 11th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
If you do it, make sure to keep us posted on pros/cons etc. 🙂
September 11th, 2013 at 11:12 am
Lucky us for this installment of your story. I’ve never used Wattpad, but I would like to see the whole story.
Here there be dragons, but a fly swatter deals with them effectively. 😉
September 11th, 2013 at 11:13 am
P. S. Love your creations!!! I can’t blame you for not wanting to give them up.
September 11th, 2013 at 11:34 am
I can’t seem to get away from the ponies, they’re popping up everywhere lately on my favorite blogs! This one is quite adorable, and if that makes me a Brony, so be it!
September 11th, 2013 at 11:48 am
Okay, you’re getting me addicted to the ponies. This can’t be a good sign. *grins* I’m even hanging on for the rest of the story. 😀 So, write write write, you’re doing fantastic!
September 11th, 2013 at 1:35 pm
Great excerpt Kate. Really enjoying this story. 🙂
September 11th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Lucky you… Sounds so ominous! Hadn’t heard of wattpad before. Sounds cool. Good luck if you use it!
September 12th, 2013 at 11:37 am
I love that idea of another world laid over the one she’s familiar with. I’m thoroughly enjoying this story.
September 12th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Since I’m a girl, I can’t be a brony, but I’ve loved the things since I bought my first in the 80s. I had Bowtie back then…. Now it’s Littlest Pet Shop animals. 😀 Oh, yeah, and ponies. Though most played on the iPhone game…
I’m really loving this story you have going, Kate. If you do end up trying Wattpad, let us know how it works for you. I’d be curious too.
September 13th, 2013 at 7:48 am
One of my writer’s group friends has a serial on Wattpad – we were toasting him at dinner last night because he reached 100,000 reads. I don’t really know much about it but he seems to like it. I would definitely read this one properly; I really like the descriptions in this scene, of the normal stuff plus the extra layer on top…
September 13th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
I love the simplicity of the observation in this. It’s not an “Oh crap everything is so different and weird!” moment, it’s very simple and organic. Love it!
September 13th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Like the excerpt, love the pony, and the Barbie is adorable. Highlights are no big deal. 😉
September 14th, 2013 at 2:13 am
I’m the mom of a 12 year old Brony and his 9 year old Pony-loving sister. I love this, and will be sharing.
There are more unicorns here than dragons, but we do have a sweet mama and her daughter who sometimes fly alongside the car when we’re driving. once in a while, they even lift us up and fly us along…
I think I’ve missed some of these, and I am going to try to get back and catch up. I think I love this!