#storystorm

[beatrice-blue]

[robertagibsonwrites]

Picture Book Writers: January Means Storystorm!

Picture Book Writers: January Means Storystorm!

What’s the best thing about the New Year? It is time for Storystorm at Tara Lazar’s blog! Storystorm is one month of inspirational blog posts to help children’s book writers generate new story ideas. Although to register and win prizes you must sign up during January, the posts are available all year around. Hop on over any time you need a creativity boost. And be sure to check out posts from…

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[mrs-bookdragon]

Storystorm is one of my favorite times of the year! Who’s with me? #storystorm #amwriting https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmj4o2KLVWH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[teresawritesdraws]

A few mornings ago, I found this odd little #ice #sculpture created by our (poopy) birdbath. 🤔 Even non-sentient beings long to be creative, I guess. 😆 (I may have found my next #StoryStorm idea, @taralaser!) It looks like a polar bear to me. What do you see? #authorsofinstagram #author https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Lx70tHmU_/?igshid=1p9gmjsqr9nuf

[tracivwcreations]

Happy New Year! Yes, I am a #storystorm participant. I’ve got new supplies and I breezed through the first day building on an idea/character from my notebook of ideas and rough drafts from 2019. #kidlit #writing #amwriting #writingcommunity #writingsupplies #picturebooks #ideasarebrewing #picturebookwriter #writerslife #pens #notebook #pencils #readytowrite https://www.instagram.com/p/B6zcZSsHE7_/?igshid=1d7lpg4ni17gz

[calemor]

Storystorm Update

I’m still going to finish 30 chapters to Glass and Roses!  It will just take longer than I hoped.  1 story a day is too much when I’m also working, performing in a musical, and getting sick all in the same month.  But thank you to everyone who’s stuck around anyway!  Glass and Roses will continue and finish before November.

[calemor]

Impressive

Glass and Roses, Chapter 12

Berit woke up to the sound of hissing and chanting.  She groaned and tried to move, but her hands were tied to a pole.  She was hanging from her hands and legs, being carried by two figures.  One turned when he heard her awaken.  He had the body of a man, but the head of a snake. He hissed and bared his fangs, then turned back to the path.  Berit craned her neck to see Valdimer, Dror, and Laurence also captured.

They reached a large clearing in the jungle.  Berit wondered how long it had been since they were ambushed.  She barely recalled something jumping out of the bushes at her back on the road.  How would they figure out how to get back?  Berit shook her head, reminding herself that they needed to escape before they could worry about being lost. The snake people had stopped walking when they reached the center of the clearing, in which there was a circular pool of water about twenty-five feet across.

Great, Berit thought.  We're being fed to the crocodiles.  How typical.  She looked over to see that Valdimer and Laurence were also awake and trying to analyze their situation.  Dror was still dangling limply. He did always like to sleep in.

The snake people began a ritualistic song, and placed the poles so that the four victims were dangling fifteen feet above the surface of the water.  "Okay, now would be a good time for a plan," she said, now that there were no spears being held to her throat.  "Got any spells prepared, Val?"

"Yes, but I can't cast anything with my hands tied," he said.

"I've been praying since I woke up," Laurence said, "but Luck is a fickle goddess.  I believe she will come through for us in the end, but it may not be as soon as we'd like."

The water stirred as the chanting grew more fevered.  "We'd better come up with something soon," Valdimer said.  "Before they serve the main course."

Berit wiggled her hand until it was straining against the binds, but pointed in the right direction.  She then flicked her wrist in a way that unsheathed the dagger that was hidden there, and starting using it to cut through the ropes.  "I'll be free soon, if they don't notice.  Stall the crocs while I work."

"And then what?" Laurence asked.

"We'll figure that out when we get there."

She heard the surface of the water part below her.  She started sawing faster, not looking down.  It would only make her lose her focus. "Um," Valdimer said.  "That's not a crocodile."

"I don't care about the difference between crocs and alligators," Berit said.

"That's not what I meant."

Berit sighed and looked down.  Rising out of the water were four heads of an enormous hydra.  It had glistening green scales and webbed spines, and four sets of long, pointy teeth.  "I knew I shouldn't have looked!" Berit shouted, turning back to her binding.

"This is a good thing!" Laurence said.

"Are you mad?!" Valdimer shouted.

"No, listen, hydras like to play with their food!  We have extra time!"

"THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING!" Valdimer said as one of the heads starting nudging him, drool dripping back into the water.

Berit freed her hand and her head fell backwards, as she was only suspended at her knees now.  The snake people started hissing with displeasure, but they could not reach the victims now, and they did not want to throw spears for risk of hitting the hydra.  Or maybe it was some part of the ritual that they couldn't interfere with the feeding, Berit didn't know.  She tucked her body up, barely missing being chomped by the hydra, and fully unsheathed her dagger.  She cut her final bonds with one slice, and stood atop the pole.

Three of the hydra's heads were focused on her now.  She jumped from her pole as one shot up and bit down on it, splintering it in half.  She balanced on Laurence's pole, and he shook his head.  "Don't cut me, I'm still wearing my armor!  I can't swim!"

"And I can't balance like that, I'd fall right into its mouth!  Er, mouths," Valdimer said.

"What am I supposed to do alone?!" Berit shouted.  She looked over at Dror, still somehow unconscious.  She saw that his sword was still strapped to his back.  She also heard an ululation from the side and quickly dodged a spear that was thrown at her.

Berit jumped onto Valdimer's pole, then Dror's, and swung down to dangle next to him.  The hydra's eight eyes were all focused on her, ready to lash out.  She grabbed the pommel of Dror's sword and yanked it out of its sheath.  The hydra stretched up to gobble her down.  She let go of the pole and dropped into the midst of its necks.  She splashed to the water, and all four heads recoiled down to follow her.

There was a moment of thrashing in the water, and then silence.  Then, Berit resurfaced, and three severed hydra heads bobbed up around her.

"That was very impressive!" Valdimer shouted.  "Now what are we going to do about them!"  The snake people were getting ready to slay the sacrifices themselves.

Berit grinned and rose from the water, her feet pushing open the last hydra's mouth as it tried to consume her.  It moved higher, allowing her to jump off and land in the crowd of snake people.  She brandished Dror's sword.

Dror eventually moaned and opened his eyes.  He was sitting on the ground under the shade of a tree.  He looked around to see that the clearing was covered with the bodies of snake people.  Valdimer and Laurence were nearby, rubbing their wrists.  “I knew Luck would come through for us,” Laurence said with a grin.  Valdimer rolled his eyes.

"What happened?" Dror asked.

Berit smiled and handed him his sword.  "Let's figure out where we are, and then I'll tell you."

Glass and Roses Chapters

[calemor]

Road

Glass and Roses, Chapter 11

Valdimer looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on the door.  He put down his quill next to his magic rod and stood up to open the door. Hannah greeted him with a smile and a plate of warm bread, butter, and slices of ham.  "Mum thought you'd be awake!" Hannah said.  "She sees the light under your door before sunrise every morning.  She thought you could use a proper breakfast for once!"

Valdimer chuckled.  "Thank you!  I sometimes forget to eat while I'm writing."

"There's more downstairs if you want it," Hannah said, and headed back down to the inn's kitchen.  Valdimer started to close the door, but paused and changed his mind.  He left his room and walked over to the next door.  He knocked once, waited a few moments, then knocked again harder.

"Hey, it's time for breakfast!  How late did you stay up?" he shouted through the door.  He heard a low grumble from the other side, then heavy footsteps, before the door cracked open and Dror stuck a horn out.  Valdimer gave him a goofy smile, and Dror rolled his eyes.  "We haven't spent a proper day together in a while.  Come on!"

"Let me get dressed at least," he said, closing the door again. Valdimer heard rustling and a swear, then the door opened fully. Dror blinked in the sunlight from the window at the end of the hall, but he had a small smile on his face.  "Well, come on, get moving.  Don't want it to get cold."

They arrived in the dining room.  The inn was small compared to those they had stayed at in the past, but it was a small town that didn't see many passers-through, and so most of the rooms were usually empty. Hannah's parents had refused to allow the twins and Dror to pay for their rooms, saying that saving their daughters life gave them a lifetime stay if they wished.  Valdimer still snuck coins into their chest whenever he could.

Dror sat down at one of the two tables and started gobbling down the ham, his face growing less drowsy-looking with every bite.  "Say, where's Berit?" he asked through a mouthful of meat.  "She's usually here in the morning."

"She's usually back by the time you normally wake up," Valdimer said. "Which would be in...almost two hours.  But in the morning she likes to go to the archery range and practice.  I don't think she's missed the bullseye even once, but she still seems to think there's room for improvement."  He spread a large slab of butter on a slice of bread and took a bite.

"She probably just wants to stay in shape," Dror said.  "I can understand that.  You do the same thing, in your own way.  But while she keeps her body in good condition, you focus on your brain." He tapped Valdimer on the head, and Valdimer laughed and pretended to shoo Dror away.  "How's the memoir going, anyway?" Dror added.

"I'm trying to put as much detail in it as I can," Valdimer said. "Remembering the details of our battle with Mephutozim is challenging, however.  Zhihao kept it from escaping while Hannah recited the binding ritual, and we protected them both from the lesser demons, but it's mostly just a blur.  I was acting on reflex, since I thought we were as good as dead.  But, if there's one thing I've learned on this journey, it's that a well documented history of your life can mean all the difference in the future."

Dror rolled his eyes and let out a bark.  "That's your lesson?  Not, I dunno, don't mess with demons?"

Valdimer smirked.  "Our mother was able to use Folami's family history to find Hannah and manipulate her.  If we had known more about our mother, we could have stopped her sooner.  I suppose this information could be dangerous in the wrong hands, but it's better than letting anyone in the future be ignorant.  There's just one thing I still can't figure out."

"Whuff dat?" Dror said, two pieces of bread in his mouth.

"She never explained what spell she needed from Mephutozim, or why she needed it.  It must have been something powerful, if a demon was the only way to gain quick access to it.  Summoning demons isn't easy, yet it was still easier than actually learning the spell she wanted. And she was afraid we would be mad if we found out.  I'm just wondering if it had something to do with-"

The front door burst open, and Valdimer and Dror looked up to see Berit standing at the entrance, eyes wide as if she had just seen a ghost. "You need to come and see this, Val," she said.

He stood up.  "What's going on?  Is everything all right?"

"Yes, sorry, there's no danger," she said, looking over her shoulder. "It's just...someone just came down the road, and he's wearing the blue rose.  Our family's crest."

Valdimer's brow clenched in confusion, and he quickly followed Berit out of the inn.  Dror took a few more pieces of bread and ran to catch up.  They walked to the stable, where a man in full plate armor was tying up his chestnut horse.  He turned around when he heard them approaching. Emblazoned on the front of his armor was not just any blue rose, but the same symbol that hung from Berit's neck.  His black hair was starting to grow gray around his ears.  He gave the half-elves and devilborn nearing him a questioning look.

“Who do you work for?” Berit demanded.  “Why do you bear that crest?”

“I'm sorry, I don't understand-” the man began, but Berit unclasped her brooch and thrust it towards his face.  His eyes focused on the symbol it bore, the same one he had on his armor.  He looked back up at them, more curious now than before.  “My name is Laurence.  I am a paladin of the Church of Generous Luck.  We are a small, young order, but this is the symbol that represents us.”

“That is the symbol of our family, from our father's side,” Valdimer said.  “But we haven't seen him since we were young.  We are Valdimer and Berit Rhosynglas.  Does that name sound familiar to you?”

“Yes,” Laurence said.  “Madoc Rhosynglas, the founder of our order.  So then, you are...”

“His children, yes,” Berit said.  She looked at Valdimer.  “I know you've been wondering the same thing I have.  What was the spell Mom wanted from Mephutozim?  Maybe Dad has the answer.”

“He abandoned us in the most vulnerable time in our lives,” Valdimer said.  “Do you really think he'd care to help us now?”

Berit shrugged.  “It's worth a try.  Besides, knowing where he might have gone makes me want to find him even more.  I have a few choice words to tell him.”

“Fair enough,” Valdimer said with a smirk.  He turned back to the paladin.  “Laurence, do you think you could take us to your headquarters?  We would love to be...reintroduced to Madoc.”

“I would be honored to escort you,” Laurence said.  “Madoc was an upstanding envoy of Luck, and if he wronged you in the past, I am sworn to make it up to you on his behalf.  Unfortunately, you won't find him at our headquarters.  I don't know where he has been for a couple years now.  The high priestess might have answers for you, though.”

“Then lead the way.”  Berit turned to Dror.  “What about you, Dev? You're welcome to join us, but I won't blame you if you want to stay here where there's always fresh food and free rooms.”

“That there is,” Dror said.  “But this place doesn't have anything to fight!  I want to head out onto the road again.”

“The temple is in Abertswyth, a three weeks' journey from here,” Laurence said.  “I just need to make another delivery in the next village over, and then we can head back.”

“Thank you,” Valdimer said.  “Although I personally hope we don't come across any fights along the way.”

Laurence chuckled for the first time since they met him.  “Then you're hoping for a different road, my friend!”

Glass and Roses Chapters