Celtic Bard: Blog

So far, this New Year has left a lot to be desired. I wound up getting sick, so the writing has slowed to a crawl. I just finished up a large project that had been languishing in the end stages of completion so I can return to some of the stuff that will eventually make it onto this site. However, just last night the same twisted Muse that wacked me over the head with Death and Love in Marjah hit me again. For some of my readers, that will be a good thing as it means I will be writing another story (in the planning stages as I write this) about Con and Maeve, with Shameera merely being a plot tool and not a very important part of the story. I am hoping this one will be a short, quick little story so I can get back to a couple of stories I have on hold about the Am'mortal and another that is a sort-of-but-not-really prequel to A Stranger in an Even Stranger Land.

I am also debating with myself over posting one of my longer, book-length pieces, with the side of me leaning towards doing so coming close to winning. If I do, I will probably begin posting chapters in the very near future with a schedule of something like a chapter a week. That will give me time to reread the chapters and do any editing that needs doing.

Also, the preliminary background work on a new Universe has almost been completed and I might begin writing stories about that one soon. I haven't decided yet whether to finish the background first or just start writing. We will see, i guess. The Muses usually get their way, so they might make the decisions for me.

Anyway, that is what I have been up to and why some of the things I had planned to have done by now have not gotten done. Look forward to something new in the next couple-few weeks. That's all for now.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you have a very happy holiday season. May the old year pass with fond memories and the New Year arrive with even better to come.

I want to say thanks for all of the response to "Death and Love in Marjah." This is the highest scoring story I have written and I want to thank all of the voters who liked this one so much.

There is a little housekeeping I need to do as far as some of the response goes.

1. Somebody pointed out a typo I missed so I will probably be reposting in a few days to take care of that.

2. Somebody wrote and said they felt the end was rushed and wanted more info about what happens between when Shameera and Con meet again for the "first" time and when they get married. I believe the reader said, "It would have be[en] nice to know what Con and
Shameera were doing, contacting, saying to each
other, etc. after Con left for Iraq until they met
again in Paris." The reason I left what was going on for six months out was simply the yawn factor. Anyone who has seen any Revolutionary or Civil War documentaries knows the kinds of things soldiers write to their girlfriends/fiancees/wives. Yes, it has gotten less flowery and probably more explicit in the intervening century or two, but still not very interesting for anyone but the voyeurs and the two involved. The same thing for video contacts that are now available. This story was mainly supposed to be about a man who cut himself off from much of humanity and a woman who rectifies that situation, both for her sake and his. The story as is does that. As a matter of fact, I gave serious thought to making the end even more abrupt but remembered the stories and movies I have read and seen that did that and irritated me. Thus the conclusion I wrote explaining what happens after that Sunday.

3. The same reader as wrote me about #2 wondered about the dangling story thread I left mysteriously unanswered. I did answer that as far as the main characters are concerned. Shameera knows nothing of it and Con will not speak of it, as the scene in the backyard shows. Not very satisfying, I know, but that is how the story, as written, answered it. If the muse who wacked me over the head with this story hits me again, I may write another story from Maeve's point of view to answer the reader's question, but that will probably be some time down the road. I have at least half a dozen unfinished projects waiting on my inspiration at the moment and I am concentrating on those. But like I said, my muses can get pushy (as with "Death and Love in Marjah") and if that happens, that project will get priority. If only so I can get back to what I was doing. This story was a two-week plus detour in my writing that I had not planned.


Anyway, that is housekeeping for now. And I really appreciate the feedback and constructive responses. If my response to your response is not what you hoped, sorry about that. You can always pray to the Muses and hope the right one is listening, but that rarely works. Mine seem to be capricious little things that have more than a little imp to them. Thanks again and bye for now.

As promised, I have finally finished the project that has bumped some of the other stuff I had been working on. You know, the one that starts out, "She was naked and tied to a bed." Anyway, it turned out my muse didn't hit me with a feather but an anvil and this one took longer and wound up being longer than I had planned. It is finished and I am proofing it now. It should be up in a couple of days, depending on how fast the webmaster works.

EDIT-It has been submitted as of 5:30 a. m. on 16 Dec.

After this, I will try to get the reposting of "Timeline" and "World" finished and maybe one of the Am'mortal stories I had started when my muse got pushy and clobbered me with that line in the shower. I also have a couple of thoughts floating around about the new universe I introduced with "When Enemies Meet" and "A Stanger in an Even Stranger Land" but they may not develop anytime soon into something postable.

So look forward to something new in the next couple of days and as always, constructive criticism is welcomed and please remember to vote when you finish reading.

Thanks for you patience and enjoy!

OK, updating my update. On the 16th I wrote that I would be reposting "Timeline" and "World" because I have been working on some new things for "World" and adding to "Timeline" accordingly. That got put on hold just when I was almost finished, however.
So, there I was a bout a week ago, taking a shower and getting ready for bed when a sentence popped into my head.

"She was naked and tied to a bed when we first met."

I know, I know, who hasn't wished for a scenario like that. However, my mind doesn't usually work that way. When otherwise unoccupied, I tend to have long (and probably very boring to most) thoughts about quantum mechanics or constitutional philosophy or fantasy chartography. So I had to think about what popped into my head and it grabbed me by the brain and began wrestling with me. I wound up staying up past 7 a. m. writing the first part of what has turned into a strange (especially for me) story about love. Those of you on SOL are going to be disappointed. This has very little in the way of physical love and more to do with . . . hmm, shall we say fated, emotional love. The kind storytellers and poets and . . . well, bards have been writing about since man figured out how to string together sounds to make words. This new story is close to finished and I should be posting it in the next day or so.
After that, I will either get back to my updating of "World" or I will finish one of the three or four other things I have simmering in my head at the moment. Whichever my muse finds most interesting.

Oh, and I want again to thank those of you who liked and sent me e-mails on "A Stranger in an Even Stranger Land." I hate to disappoint you all by saying that more from that storyline won't be coming soon as the rest of that story line expands into a four book series, the third of which is practically finished. I want to say that the response has definitely got me thinking about publishing and I may begin to look for that option soon.