Writing in a Bookstore...

Just thought I should update my blog again with a few interesting bits of news...

First of all, I feel the need to say that it has been hard to write recently. My sister is getting married in 3 days and just two days after that, I'll be on my way to England! So things have definitely been busy and emotional and stressful. All the fun stuff, really...But I am confident that I will have time to write in Europe.

On Pangaea, I am currently working on 2 chapters:

Chapter 2: The Governor is halfway done. Still have to work on Deodatus' character introduction.
Chapter 3: The Virus (formerly D.A.C Positive, that should give you ideas)... I only just started this chapter yesterday, in my favorite bookstore. It was a wonderful experience. I was sitting on a table upstairs, enjoying two cups of coffee. Unfortunately, however, there wasn't that much progress. A friend of my dad's showed up and talked to me for a while. I shared about my book, but my pen was resting on the table most of the time. Will get back to it as soon as I can.

If I can carry myself into a coffee shop, I promise Pangaea will get all the attention it needs. For now, please allow me to excuse myself for a week. There are many (exciting) happenings to attend to.

Chapter Titles

I cannot begin to express how excited I am!!! Yes, I do have a terrible cold and yes, my life is currently limited to my house. But I have had so much time to work on Pangaea and I can't believe that the plot has come to me so fast! Now I have heard of cases such as Toy Story 3, where Pixar's writers came up with a story over lunch, but I've never been particularly gifted in speed. Kate's Task took me half a year to draft and Pangaea (although not completely resolved) has only melted my brain for 2 months!
That scares me a little bit. I'm terrified that I have put together a marvelous assemble of written rubbish. But I know that the best way to escape that feeling is to write some more! Kate's Task was a lot more mysterious, I suppose. That takes lots of planning... Pangaea, on the other hand, is complex because of the world surrounding it.
Anyway, I wanted to share some of today's accomplishments with you. I have outlined the entire plot and divided it all in 21 tentative chapters and an epilogue. This is important because it helps me know exactly where I want to go throughout the book. Along with each chapter, a title. And here they are for your curious eyes.

1. The Doctor
2. The Governor
3. D.A.C Positive
4. The Therapist
5. Riders
6. Pure DNA
7. A Rush of Intel
8. The Perfect Year
9. Change of Plans
10. An Unexpected Arrival
11. D.A.C Again
12. The Beginning of it All
13. The Blood Plot
14. Separate Ways
15. Pangaea
16. Kidnapping
17. The Search Party
18. Defenseless?
19. The Imminent Battle
20. Fearless Pures
21. Charis Aspasia
22. Epilogue: What Happened to the Doctor

Mesmerizing...

Don't you just love that word???

Great Progress on Pangaea!

I'd like to let all of you know that today has been a VERY productive day! Allow me to walk you through some of the important decisions I have made that will directly affect the storyline.

1. I was having trouble with Deodatus Ariston's character, that is, our main character from the pure lineage. I wanted to make him and Cassius have something in common even though they were completely different in nature and that was hard to achieve. BUT alas, it's off of my to-do list.

2. I have added something unexpected that should hopefully be great for people that already know what Pangaea is all about! I'm keeping it a secret, though. You'll just have to wait 'til you're halfway into the book or so but I'm sure it will come as a surprise.

3. The epilogue, that is, the last chapter of the book, was finished today! I wanted to get a feel for where I am and where I'm going, if that makes any sense. It helps me focus on the purpose of this book.

4. Another issue was trying to determine how and when Deodatus and Cassius will meet each other. This has also been marked with a big green SOLVED! on my Pangaea Notes document.

5. Something else I haven't told you (it did not happen today) is that I have also started to write Chapter 2: The Governor, which deals with presenting the pure lineage and Deodatus. I haven't gotten much of that done yet, but I can say that the moment it starts you will be treated to something I am very excited to experience in Heaven. Also, I do believe I have contrasted both groups of people the way I had hoped for.

I cannot wait to finish Pangaea and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Just A Tweet

Although I usually find no use for Twitter (we have facebook statuses), I thought it'd be a good place to post little snippets on the process of writing a book. Follow me on twitter.com/hpis2cool

The Beginning of Pangaea

Ring the bells, strum guitars, bang on drums. I hope you enjoy this post.

I probably haven't been writing as much as I'd like to, but there are definitely exciting ideas in the brewing. And ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to invite you to read the first pages of Pangaea*. I know it's not much, but hopefully it will give you an atmosphere for the world I'm creating. As you will see, it seems a lot like our own world to begin with, but by the time the first chapter ends, I believe many people will be quite surprised.

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Chapter 1: The Doctor

The alarm clock went off at precisely 5am, like it always did. Cass ignored the ringing, using his right hand to search for a pillow instead. Stupid, he thought, remembering that for the past three hours his face had been buried in the feather-filled sack. Then, after waiting for a few more seconds, it had become unbearable. He grudgingly smashed the clock against the wall with his pillow, sacrificing sleep for good. But it had to be done eventually.

Cass was not known for late arrivals. The hospital had never seen such a devoted doctor in all of its 80 years of existence. His previous night had been filled with every kind of paperwork imaginable, but that had never slowed him down. A real cup of coffee goes a long way, he liked to tell his friends whenever they expressed concern, and yet today seemed different. Breathing in deeply, he got up to look in the bathroom mirror.

Staring back at him from the glass was a fearless sort of man. His square-like attributes were intimidating to say the least. He was admired for his stand against the pures, as they were called. Ever since his father had died, he had sworn allegiance to the rebel cause, studying medicine all his life. But people kept dying. And the blame was certainly never placed upon him. Even as Cass himself had administered the drug, there was never room for lawsuits. After all, all patients and their families had been notified on every possible risk. They had chosen their own graves.

“Do you remember their faces?” his psychiatrist's voice echoed in his head as he shaved.

“You mean...”

“The faces of the patients who lost their lives, Cass”

“I didn't....no. I didn't kill them. I...Why would you say I-”

“Cass! I didn't say you had killed them! Do you remember the faces of the people that died?”

“Oh...I thought...yes. All of them. Why do you ask?”

“Because I would like you to concentrate on them for a while. Now if you would kindly close your eyes”.

Cass had obeyed him, but a little hesitantly.

“Focus, Cassius. Picture all of them in your head”

“All at once?”

“Whatever suits you”.

Cassius had tried his best to bring them all back. The thought of dozens of people running around in a park played in his head like a movie. A young boy slurping down his milkshake, a pregnant woman waving to her husband on a ferris wheel.

“Ok...Now what?”

“Make them blow up” the psychiatrist's cold voice hissed.

“Excuse me?” Cass opened his eyes.

“You heard me, Cassius. Now execute the order. Imagine a bomb explode in the midst of all those innocent people” he finished whispering: “they're all dead anyway”.

Cassius had done as he was told. He had certainly learned how to ignore guilt by now. And finally, after years, all the haunting faces had disappeared. If people were to be saved, there was no room in his mind for past casualties. Someone was knocking on the door.

“Just a second!” he yelled, rushing to shave off the last bit of hair on his neck. Then, throwing on the first shirt he could find, Cassius ran toward the door as it was fiercely knocked on again from the other side. Who would need him at 5:30 in the morning?

“Are you Dr. Aeschylus?” a short, slightly overweight old man inquired.

“Depends on who's asking”, Cassius replied suspiciously.

“Toren. Toren Lexley. I am sorry to disturb you, sir. But this is an emergency. They told me I could find you here”.

“What kind of emergency?”

“It's my daughter. She was coming back home and some sort of animal attacked her”.

“What do you mean 'some sort of animal'? This isn't the jungle!”

“We live near the zoo, sir. Have you not read the news lately?”

Cassius remembered yesterday's headline before muttering an unpleasant “great”.

“Are you not coming, then?” asked the man called Toren because Cassius had turned away from him and was now going through his drawers.

“Not without this,” he said, returning to the door and holding up a handgun. He smiled.

“Good Heavens, sir. What kind of doctor are you?”

“The prepared kind”.

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That will be all for now, folks!

*This is a very early draft in production. Changes can and most likely will be made to the final text. However, these changes should not affect the story.