Monday, March 4, 2013

Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Dragon Blade


Notice: Before you read this, please note that this is rough, unedited and hasn't even been gazed over for structure. Please be forgiving for this, but I just wanted to share with you a part of chapter 6.

Okay....I guess you can read now.



“Should we resume our duties at the prince’s door?” A young soldier asked.

“Aye, it’s been long enough. He only requested we be gone for a few hours,” a deeper voice replied, the senior officer between the two most likely. “Maybe you can finally get a glimpse of the lass. What are the men calling her now? The—“

“The dragon whisperer,” the young soldier replied. “I heard it from one of the men that were in the main battle. They said she’d been able to control the silver-winged beast. Are there any truths to this gossip? Is she really strong enough to tame these monsters?”

The older man snorted. “I don’t doubt it. You’re new Jerd. You’ve only transferred, what, a few days before we departed the kingdom?”

There was no answer, the young soldier probably nodding.

“Then you haven’t seen the young lady fight. She uses daggers, lad. Those small knives she carries are more dangerous than a top-ranked knight with two swords. Three even!”

The older soldier’s voice returned to its regular tone. “Good man.” He patted the boy on the back, the metal armor rattling. “Now, let us get out of this cold and back to our station.

Leiv could feel her heart beating faster. If the two soldiers went to check on Talen they would find his unconscious body and immediately alert the rest of the others of her disappearance. She needed to stop them before they reached their post.

Another whisper reached her from the dark depths of the abandoned house; the same one that directed her to hide there. “Use the vial sticking out of your pocket,” it said in hushed whisper.

Looking out into the shadows, she spotted no one. “Who’s there?”

No answer.

Had her mind been playing tricks on her? Remembering the task at hand, she watched as the men walked back to her prison. There was no time to waste. Leiv left the safety of her hiding place and came out into the open.

“Hey!” She yelled towards the men.

Both turned swiftly at the sound of her voice and unsheathed their swords. The two soldiers eyed her with curiosity and caution. Scrutinizing every inch of her from afar, the men dared to close the space between them. She didn’t move, allowing them the courtesy to see whom they were truly dealing with.

Leiv recognized the senior officer from her time at the castle. Bramor they called him, for he was always picking fruits from the bramored tree in the gardens. His head held a bed of white hair with streaks of black peppering the edges. His height didn’t rival her father’s, but came awfully close. What he seemed to lack with bulk he made up with intelligence, automatically deciphering who she was.

“Apprentice,” he said, slowly, unsure of what her reaction might be at the name she’d been so often called within the king’s city.

She narrowed her eyes. “Am I still an apprentice to you, Bramor?” Her hands rested on her dagger, allowing the cool metal sheathe to calm her nerves. “I heard from the guards I’ve been branded a traitor.”

Jerd fumbled with his words. “You’re—the warrior all the men have spoken about.”

Her attention left Bramor’s and flitted to the younger soldier. “Well now, I do hope my abilities are still being spoken about with great revere.” She crossed her arms. The young man squirmed under the scrutiny, unable to stop shuffling his feet. “Do I make you nervous, Jerd.” Leiv allowed each letter of his name to slide languidly off her tongue, as if there was all the time in the world. She watched his features change from nervous to astonished at the sound of his name passing through her lips.

It wasn’t an uncommon sight for Leiv to see a man quiver when coming face to face with her, but this one was so terribly young. Since when did they allow such younglings into the king’s army?  He looked to be 15 at most. His medium-length blonde hair barely reached his shoulders. The boy had a small build, his armor looking far heavier than his entire frame. He was shorter than she, reaching to about her shoulders. The lad should have been at home, tending his family’s farm or working as an apprentice to one of the shopkeepers. Instead, he was out in the battlefield fighting for the mad king.

The king’s army was made of several factions of society, making it the most diverse group in the kingdom. Most times guards at the castle would enlist for a larger stipend, but usually their soldiers were peasants who trained for a year in the kingdom of Lyria, which specialized in battle training.

How could the king be so blinded by his ambition that he would put the needs of his greed over the welfare of his people? That question always plagued her, the answering never fully emerging. Farmlands were being destroyed, people were dying and children were being sent into war callously with blatant disregard for their inexperience.

Bramor broke the silence between them. “You know we can’t allow you to leave, apprentice.” He tightened his grip on the sword, taking one step after another.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Bramor,” she said, taking a small step back, “but I will do what I must to ensure the safety of my companions.”

“Then arm yourself, my lady, for I will not hold back.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

FAQ: How did you get the names for your characters?

Along with my "Comment of the Day" posts from Wattpad, I'm going to go ahead and start doing a FAQ segment. At times I'll be doing multiple questions, and other times I'll be answering one. It all depends on the quantity of questions flying/crawling in.

How did you get the names for your characters?

In Dragon Heir almost all the characters names were made from smushing the names of my friends together. How original right? *scoffs*. Let me show you a few off my list.



            - Leiv Devereux (Main Character) – IVy LE

            - Kenji (Leiv’s Close friend) Mix between Kim + bENJI

            - Rin (Leiv’s Dragon) Roxy + fIN (Haha, these are my dogs)

            - Deklan Bexton (Missing Prince)– DyLAN pEpKa

            - Talen Bexton (Oldest King’s son)  - Tyler LANE

            - Hana  (Seer)– tatiANA Hmun



Friday, March 1, 2013

Inspirational Words by Paulo Coelho


A Brazilian lyricist and novelist by the name of Paulo Coelho wrote a series of comments to aspiring authors, which were then collected by a Filipino blogger, Jerome. I have probably read this list quite a few times and it never seems to get old. The words resonate something in me that I cannot express. This list should serve as sort of the 8 commandments of writing--no joke. 

On Confidence:You cannot sell your next book by underrating your book that was just published. Be proud of what you have

On Trust: Trust your reader, don’t try to describe things. Give a hint and they will fulfill this hint with their own imagination

On Expertise: You cannot take something out of nothing. When you write a book, use your experience.

On Critics: Writers want to please their peers, they want to be recognized. Forget about this. Who cares? You should care to share your soul and not to please other writers.

On Notetaking: If you want to capture ideas, you are lost. You are going to be detached from emotions and forget to live your life. You will be an observer and not a human being living his or her life. Forget taking notes, what important remains what is not important goes away.

On Research: If you overload your book with a lot of research, you are going to be very boring to yourself and to your reader. Books are not there to show how intelligent you are. Books are there to show your soul.

On Writing: I write the book that wants to be written. Behind the first sentence is a thread that takes you to the last.

On Style: Don’t try to innovate storytelling, tell a good story and it is magical. I see people trying to work so much in style, finding different ways to tell the same thing. It’s like fashion. Style is the dress, but the dress does not dictate what is inside the dress

After reading this I urge you to read the 2-paragraph biography of his life on wikipedia: Click Here.
Paul's wattpad can be found HERE.