Kagerou's Journal 12

Read part 11 here.


She was quite right. Many people filled the tavern judging by the noise level, and more were still crowding in. The Shoanti shoved her way in first making room with her spear as needed. I darted forward and took advantage of the path she created.

The crowd parted for us, though, once Aldern called out loudly,

“Welcome, my heroes! Please come over here. The feast only awaits your presence!”

Every head turned to watch us and many clapped or cheered. I even heard a few wolf whistles but I couldn’t pinpoint the source. Aldern was dressed in an extravagant outfit, flaunting his wealth. It matched his pompous, overblown attitude. I barely registered the presence of a woman with asian features standing near him. She stood there watching us until Ick called her away to the bar.

Aldern jumped around making sure we were seated and our plates filled with food. Once our cups were filled as well, he grabbed his own and toasted to us. Most of the people in the tavern followed suit. The Shoanti gladly joined in and downed two cups in a row. With a silly grin on her face, she called for a refill.

Aldern filled his own plate with food and sat down at the table with us. “We haven’t had a proper conversation yet. Even though you are all heroes, I cannot continue calling you that. It would be rude. What are your names?”

We glanced at each other, silently willing another to go first. Eyotah gave in first with a wave of her hand, being the least hesitant due to drink.

“The name is Eyotah. I used to be part of a Shoanti tribe up north.” Her mouth twitched and she raised her mug to hide it. In one gulp she drained half of it.

Aldern leaned forward, riveted, but she didn’t elaborate. “And the rest of you?” He addressed us, but he still appeared intrigued by Eyotah.

My roommate gave in next. “My name is Breuvial.” She bowed her head slightly.

“A Varisian I take it?” She nodded. “Well met. Might I be correct in saying it was your dance I witnessed early yesterday in the square?”

She flushed slightly. “Yes, that was me.” She winked and smiled. “Would you like a repeat performance?”

Aldern clapped his hands. “Yes, please!” I would be honored.”

He rose to his feet and graciously helped Breuvial to her. She batted an eye at him and drew out her scarf with a flick that caught the attention of everyone in the room. The noisy partygoers stamped their feet and whistled at her and she began to twirl.

Aldern resumed his seat and joined in, clapping. His eyes followed her progress around the room. I thought I saw the glint of coins in the air around her.

She’ll make a pretty penny tonight. I sipped at my cup before realizing that Aldern’s eyes were now fixed on my face. I sighed.

“My name is Kagerou. A pleasure to meet you my good sir and thank you for the feast.” I raised my cup and drank once again.

“Well met indeed.” He raised his glass to me. “Where do you hail from? A half-elf like yourself is rare in these parts.”

“I was born in Erages though I did not spend many years longer than childhood there.” I paused but his eyes kept boring into me. “I passed through the lodge in Magnimar before coming here. They sent me on business.”

“A pathfinder.” His eyes brightened.

“Only an initiate.” I returned to my cup. People like him were far too interested in my occupation because of the knowledge I might have come in contact with. I disliked such people, consciously greedy or not.

He continued to attempt to prod me into speaking with his eyes, but I had had enough of speaking. Instead, he broke the silence.

“My main residence is in Magnimar. I assume you’ll be passing through once more when your business here has concluded?”

I nodded.

“Excellent!” He fished out a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Please come visit me. Here is my address. I’ll treat you to another feast when you do.”

I smiled politely and took the card. “Thank you for the offer. I shall try to take you up on it.
I do have to pass through Magnimar on my way back to the main lodge.”

Things I've Discovered in South Korea...

The way to and from work.

The reason behind little foam blocks on car doors.

How to work a Korean water heater.

2 excellent coffee shops to frequent. (For their wi-fi of course.)

3 convenience stores (visited. There are many more I've seen.)

2 cheap grocery stores

1 "dollar" store

4 restaurants (visited. More on the to-visit list.)

1 wal-mart type store

1 shopping mall (10 stories tall with 3 basement levels, a whole floor devoted to food and a whole floor devoted to a theater and a sky park on top.)

How to access free internet which has a log-on page in Korean.

1 subway line

2 subway stations

1 enormous shopping district

Several potential Japanese restaurants to try.

2 bookstores

Just how fast the internet speed around here is.

And last but not least, dozens of cute students! (Pictures of three of them forthcoming hopefully. The camera goes to work with me tomorrow.)


The new school year begins in three days. Wish me luck!

Until next time.

Kagerou's Journal 11

(Now that my life is starting to settle down a bit expect the Kagerou posts to resume with a more regular frequency. You can read part 10 here to refresh your memory.)


The inside of Quink’s house was cluttered with curious, ancient scrolls, books, artifacts and many things of which I had no knowledge. He led us to a small seating area and cleared off enough room for us to sit. He put the kettle on to boil and arranged five teacups beside the teapot on a table. He spooned tea leaves in the teapot very carefully. By this time, steam poured out of the kettle. He removed it from the fire and filled the teapot. The lid of the teapot clinked softly as he settled it into place.

“I tell you ‘bout Sinspawn now.” He sat down facing us. “They creatures summoned by rune lords to do bidding. Very evil magic. Each is different. Each comes from one of the seven deadly sins – envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath.”

“How can you tell them apart?” the halfling asked.

“Each looks different. Different in size too. Depends on which sin it came from.” He shrugged.

“So you can tell us which kind of sinspawn made this print!” She waved the sheet of paper in her hand.

“Do I look like I see one?” No. I do not know. I only hear about them. Don’t want to see one. Might die! You crazy.” He shook his head as he poured tea into the five teacups.

I accepted mine and sipped at it, thinking. The presence of a sinspawn meant that someone else had been behind the attack. So why target the healer?

Putting the teacup down, I asked, “The priest mentioned an event in Sandpoint five years ago that paralleled yesterday’s events. Might you be able to tell us about it?”

“Oh that. That worse. Whole town burned down. Called the Late Unpleasantness.

“A mild way of putting it,” I muttered. “How is it similar?”

“Probably same cause.”

The halfling cut in. “What do you mean by that?”

“Sinspawn cause craziness. Woodcutter called Chopper went crazy. Tried to kill lots of people with axe. Even now hi house empty. And priest’s daughter went crazy too and burned down last cathedral!”

“How does a sinspawn cause that?” asked the spearwoman.

“Wrath sinspawn cause wrath in people near it.” He spoke as if it should be obvious. “You know more ‘bout sinspawn once you go to ruins. Job, right?”

We nodded.

“Bring interesting this back and use paper to make rubbing of things on walls like writing. Ok? You understand? I pay gold when you come back.” He rose and shooed us out the door. Once we crossed the threshold he slammed the door behind us.

“What an odd fellow,” I remarked.

“Indeed.” The Shoanti shifted her spear.

“Where to?” Breuvial asked.

“I suppose that young man, Aldern ought to have the boar ready by now.” I watched as a half-orc stumbled out of the building across the street. He noticed me looking and sneered at us before he lumbered off to the Hagfish. The name reminded me of the job board.

“Perhaps we could inquire about the jobs at the Hagfish.”

I spoke to no one in particular but the halfling answered. “Not today. It’s a nasty crowd in there. Let’s return to the Rusty Dragon.”

I nodded along with the rest and we retraced our steps back to the tavern. The Shoanti fell back to match my pace.

“Where did you disappear to earlier?”

“The North gate. I saw some fighting over that way last night so I wanted to find out what had happened. And what about you?” I looked her up and down. “You didn’t have those bruises or that rip when I left.”

“I…sparred with Stormy.” She shrugged it off.

“Who’s Stormy?”

"Oh sorry, she’s the halfling.”

Looking ahead I studied the halfling. “What an unusual name. Do you two know each other?”

She hesitated. “We’ve met before.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop prying. Though,” I added, as an afterthought, “you stink. Did she throw that goblin’s barrel of pickles at you?”

She laughed. “No, no. I had some business at the tanner. The smell of the baths must have clung to my clothes.”

“Looks like the party has started without us,” Breuvial called from in front of us, interrupting our conversation.

I'm Here! Missed Me Yet?

I have arrived! Where, you might ask. Well if you were paying attention back in April, I mentioned that I was moving to South Korea to teach English! And, as of Monday, I have! Though I'm not settled into my apartment yet.

The flight over consisted of two flights. One was two hours and the other nearly fourteen. But that last flight boasted the best service I've ever seen, and most certainly the best meals I've ever had, for an international flight. Even if I was stuck in the middle seat in a chair which refused point blank to recline.

However, there were two full meals (Korean food!) and a snack sandwich during the flight. Also they handed out not just a pillow and blanket, but also slippers. Yes. Slippers. Only on an Asian airline would they hand out slippers. I sneaked them off the plane and am using them at home to keep my feet clean.

My seatmate on the left turned out to be a fellow English teacher so we exchanged contact information. But we had to part after customs when we split off to meet our respective person with a sign. The ride to Suji-gu was slightly awkward simply due to the fact that neither of us was a chatterbox.

South Korea caught my attention from the moment I landed. Even though I didn't see the sun until the next day. All the roads have fences or barricades around them with long sheets of ivy draped over them. But the creepiest part? I wish I had taken a picture of at least one, but I didn't. Construction zones are marked not by signs alone, but by mannequins dressed in constructions clothes!! What freaked me out was that the first one I saw was moving and I thought at first it was a person. Sheesh. It certainly catches your attention.

More of South Korea later, when I get around to visiting this cafe again. It is monsoon season after all and it's raining outside. I should head home on foot umbrella-less while it's still a light drizzle.

Until next time!

Z = The Final Step of Writing a Novel and the End of the A to Z Challenge

Z is for the end, both of writing a novel and this blogging challenge. It's been an interesting ride this month (and this is the only time I've ever completed the challenge). Camp NaNo ended up derailed so I wrote less than 1/10 of what I had planned to. But at least I'm excited about going back to my novel again so the end should be written soon.

I hope all of you have enjoyed reading the various posts linked throughout the month. And the giveaways have been fun (you've got until midnight to enter for Angel Eyes). I'll probably not be quite as active over the next two months due to all the logistics of moving to another country to start my job, but that's life.

Enjoy the last article and please do click through to M J Wright's website to read the rest of the article.

One of my favourite writing tips is so well known it barely needs repeating. When you’ve written your first draft manuscript, stick it in a (metaphorical) drawer for a month and don’t look at it.

The idea is that you come back with fresh eyes.

The other problem is that it’s too easy to re-awaken the old ideas – to lock back into the old thinking. Sometimes the ‘novelty factor’ lasts about a page and a half. Sometimes those old thoughts can creep up on you without you even really noticing.It sort of works, but like all cliches there are two problems with the idea. One is getting that month, especially if there is a deadline and the work has to be juggled between half a dozen other writing projects, along with all the impecunious demands of everyday life.

But there are ways around it. Try this. Print the manuscript off and look at isolated pages, making sure you don’t start with the first one.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Y = A Map to the Land of YA Publishing

The people over at YA Highway have created an interesting visual map of the publishing process complete with links to articles on various subjects. Click the image below to view the full map on their website.

Click here to enter the Angel Eyes Giveaway! Only one day left!

Kagerou's Journal 10

Read part 9 here.

Even out on the street people pointed and stared. Some even clapped or called out, but I dodged away before any could attempt to waylay me. I set my course for the northern gate, deeming my report incomplete until I found out what had happened the previous night. I also was curious to know upon whose side the green giant had been.

Upon reaching the northern gate I observed a large number of workmen clearing away piles of rubble. The enormous wooden gate lay to one side, twisted and broken. A group of workmen labored to repair it. Curiously, I didn’t observe any bodies from the fight the previous night.

I caught a passing workman, a carpenter by the look of his tools, and asked, “What happened here?”

His face twitched as he frowned in concentration. “H-he r-ripped off th-the g-gate.”

“Who did?”

“Th-the giant from th-the Rusty D-dragon,” he replied. His stutter made him difficult to understand. When I looked puzzled he explained, “Th-the c-cook.”

“He’s the cook at the Rusty Dragon?”

He nodded.

“Ok, thanks.”

It looked like I came to the wrong place for information. It was time to seek out the gigantic, green cook at the Rusty Dragon. At least that explained the apron and the hat from the previous night.

I headed back that direction, intending to seek him out, but something distracted me. I paused as I saw the halfling, Shoanti, and Breuvial leave the Rusty Dragon together. Curious, I followed along behind. As far as I knew, we were all strangers, so why were they joining together as friends outside of the necessity during battle?

The halfling led the way across town to a short building whose windows were filled with curios. The sign over the door said ‘Brodert Quink’. The name was the same as the one on the job listing I’d read. Maybe they were here to apply for it?

She knocked on the door. I crept closer to listen as the door opened to reveal a short man, who looked to be of asian descent.

“What do you want?” His voice rang out sharply.

The halfling handed him a sheet of paper. I strained my ears to hear what she was speaking. I caught something about “drawings of the animal” on the sheet. I edged closer but Quink had the sheet now so I couldn’t see what was drawn on it.

“Sure, sure. It looks like a sinspawn. No I don’t know what kind. Maybe rage. Maybe not. I got job. You want to do it? I pay gold.” He looked around at them eagerly. “You go there you might find out what kind of sinspawn.”

I jumped into the conversation at that point. I’d been considering applying for the job anyway. Casually, I walked closer.

“What kind of job is this? I saw your notice at the Rusty Dragon and it sounds interesting.”

“The halfling and Breuvial looked surprised at my appearance but the Shoanti spearwoman didn’t.

“Of course it interesting. I want you to go to lighthouse ruin and look for writing to bring back.”

“What about this sinspawn? Why should going to the ruin help?” the halfling persisted.

“And what is a sin spawn?” Breuvial asked.

“Are you accepting job?” he asked.

“Yes.” The halfling nodded.

“Then come inside and we talk over tea.” He retreated into his house and we followed.

X = 7 Reasons Agents Might Give Your First Chapter an X

The dreaded first chapter, or even the first paragraph of your novel. That's all the time you have to impress an agent into asking for more. So here are some tips on what not to do, unless you like seeing how fast an agent can lose interest in your novel.

Previously, I attended the Writer Idol Event at Boston Book Fest. It was not for the faint of heart, but for those willing to brave public ridicule, it was a great way to get helpful feedback.

(How to Support an Author’s New Book: 11 Ways For You to Help)

This is how it worked: An actress picked manuscripts at random and read the first 250 words out loud for the panel and the audience. If at any point a panelist felt he would stop reading, he raised his hand. The actress read until two or more panelists raised their hands, at which point the panel discussed the reasons they stopped, or in cases where the actress read to the end, they discussed what worked. Helene Atwan (Director of Beacon Press) and agents Esmond Harmsworth, Eve Bridburg, and Janet Silver (all from Zachary Shuster Harmsworth) served on the panel.

These panelists were tough! I’d say less than 25% made it to the end of the passage. Here are some of the common reasons panelists stopped reading.

1. Generic beginnings: Stories that opened with the date or the weather didn’t really inspire interest. According to Harmsworth, you are only allowed to start with the weather if you’re writing a book about meteorologists. Otherwise, pick something more creative.

2. Slow beginnings: Some manuscripts started with too much pedestrian detail (characters washing dishes, etc) or unnecessary background information. 

Click here to read tips 3-7 at Writer's Digest.

Click here to enter for a chance of winning Angel Eyes until the 30th!