A few cool things

So, I got a night out with the hubby!  The kid went to his "parents night out" deal and TJ drug himself out to take me to dinner.  Well, the anniversary is coming up so he probably figures he has to be nice to me...lol.  He did point out to me, however, we have been together for half my life...you gasp, but tis true!  I was 19 when we moved in together...you do the math; I do not admit to age.

My wonderful friend made me a wonderful photo to help boost my creativity - it's designed to be a wallpaper for my computer so that I can look at it whenever I open the laptop - inspiration at your fingertips!  I love the effort she put in to helping me get into the writing mood.  I probably don't deserve such wonderful friends but am very thankful I do have them!  (Thanks, Nik!)  I keep pulling it up to look at it.  I especially like the part that says "by Lela Robichaux".  tee hee

I've got a few scenes running around in my mind, and I've decided on an opening, which will immediately introduce the two characters above, Elerbee and Tia.  I've done some work tweaking my world's map to include the places these two will have to travel.  They start in Jareen, Elerbee's hometown and also the seat of the Elder (the highest priestly official, who governs the three main sects).  Their journey will keep them in the western part of the world, traveling to the Wintry Woods, where they hook up with Hadra and I'm thinking they'll travel through the dwarven lands to pick up Durlag, who had gone back there to help rebuild after Rekho destroyed the city (that's from the first book, for those who aren't familiar).  They'll employ him as a guide, yet again, since he's been all over Cantor as a soldier in the armies that first banished the dragons.  So far, that's all I've got on the map.  I haven't decided where the demon has holed up but probably just outside some huge city in the mountainous region where he has access to harvest all the souls he wants - of course, unrest would be beneficial, so he doesn't have to do too much persuading of the people to give up their souls for promises of either money, glory or a better life for their families...I think the bad guy is also a priest.  I had thought mage, but, no...I think it will be better if it is one of Elerbee's own - poor Elerbee, I have hell planned for him in this story! 

Here's a visual of my bad guy, who has yet to be named.  Yes, Rufus Sewell serves wonderfully as the antagonist!  His eyes just hold this really intense feeling.  Plus, every time I've seen him portray the bad guy, he's done such an excellent job!  I don't think that power is his only motive here.  There has to be more of why he would agree to set up house with a demon and do its bidding.  What could the demon have on him...hmmm?

This requires more thought.  So, until next time!  I hope you keep coming back.  :)

But is it the end?

Well, this is to be the last official blog post for class...I intend to keep posting at least once a week, so I do hope you will all come back from time to time!

It's been a hectic week.  Trent's had some issues at school this week but he's uber stressed about this silly iLeap testing next week.  I'm not a huge standardized testing fan, if you can't tell.  Tonight he told me that he is nervous about doing well because he wants to do well for his school so they get a good score and get their 5th star back...telling, no?  This huge burden should not be on a bunch of 11 and 12 year old's shoulders.  They should be encouraged to do their best, certainly, but to hound them to do well because the school wants that 5th star ranking...I just have no more words for that.  *sigh*

On to the story!  YAY! :)  So, I threw out the idea on my new ranger character to friends and family this week and she wasn't so warmly received...lol.  I like her, though, so that's what counts.  :)~  She is an elf, but an elf that has been 'touched' by her god; Chosen, like Elerbee.  But, when an elf is Chosen by their deity, they become what is known as a Spirit Elf.  They are able to hear, see and communicate with the spiritual realm.  Biggest drawback from this, they become partially spirit...this particular elf wears a cape with a hood that covers all but one of her eyes.  When she removes the hood, she reveals a ghostly face...kind of transparent and milky (you know, like a ghost).  Her right arm is the same.  Cool part?  She can reach through walls and when she touches anyone with that hand or arm, she has the effect of "ghost touch" - chilling the person to the bone and even sucking the life out of them, leaving them permanently affected from having come into such close contact with the realm of spirit.  She'll immediately be able to see that Tia has no soul, since a soul is of the spirital realm.  That's where she'll come in handy since they'll be chasing all these stolen souls...Her name is Hadra, meaning "half" in my elven language, she lives beyond Jareen, to the west, past the mountains where the dwarves live, in a place called the Wintry Woods.  All of the Spirit Elves go here once they are touched - people are kind of scared of them, so they separate themselves from the population but they go about helping, in disguise, hiding and in ways that people won't know it's them.  So far, I only have the one picture of her...I'll have to enlist my brother-in-law to draw her up for me...

SO, hopefully, I'll see some of you back next week!  I don't know how much I'll be able to think on my story because I've got tons of school work to do, but any and all of my free time finds me drifting off to Cantor to plot out the story and develop the characters...they only live in my blog right now and I can't wait to start writing some of this down!

Of course my saga continues

Not just my story, but life as well!  This week went by so fast for me.  I had a ton of work to do at the ol' job, which is unusual these days with the closing looming, but keeping busy makes the days go by so much faster!  Trent was on spring break and so things at home were not so stressful, even though he did have homework the whole time...ugh.  TJ (that's the hubby for those who don't know) is on spring break next week and then a couple of weeks later, it's my turn! My husband is in nursing school and will graduate (I'm on positive thinking mode) in December.  Clinicals have been progressively harder for him and stress levels between us have risen somewhat but he's doing such an awesome job!  I am stressing (as usual) about the research papers I have to write this month!  EEK!  I can do it, I just have to buckle down and commit...however, I am going to have to take some vacation time from work just to get some of the work done!  (Any excuse to get away from that place, right?)

Now, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my new story - I know, I know, when am I NOT?  I've got three of my characters set in stone, well four, if you count the bad guy.  I need at least one more and I was thinking along the lines of a bard.  A bard, in fantasy, is someone who weaves magic with their voice, either by storytelling or singing or playing an instrument.  Or all of those.  OR a ranger-type.  This would be an outdoorsy, tracker type who would be good with long-range weapons like a bow and arrow, throwing daggers - that kind of thing.  It has to be a woman.  And I'm leaning towards an elven woman.  I have two humans and a dwarf already - of course I need to throw in an elf! :)  Maybe a shapeshifter?  OH!  I just had an idea - so she's a ranger who can shapeshift into different animals but, she has to have been in contact with whatever animal she shifts to...AND she would have an animal companion.  I think I've made my decision - a ranger it will be! lol  Wow, thanks for talking that out with me y'all!  I leave you with an image.