Happy Sunday to you all. I’m taking a break from packing and focusing on Sky Dancers. The manuscript goes back to my editor for a quick ‘second read,’ then on to my proofreader. Now that my ‘puter has fully recovered, no excuses.
I think this stage is one of the most fun. Dancers is being tweaked, so it’s more like reading a book than writing one. (The other stages are fun, mind you, but call for different abilities.) I’m very pleased with how this story reads. Yep, I’m loving my manuscript. My editor is the bomb.
The Sky Dancers concept came literally from a dream I’d dreamt about 25 or so years ago. It was such a cool dream that I was determined to write a book about it. I was also determined to tell lots of people the story. One Sunday stroll, I told nearly the whole story to my companions as we meandered down an old logging road. It passed the time. They enjoyed it, encouraged me to write it. I was painting and raising a child, but I thought I could write, too. Why not, eh?
But something strange happened.
I had told the story and it took all these twenty odd years to get it written. Once told, I had no desire to tell it again. (That’s when I learned never to discuss my story until the first draft is written. Doesn’t work for me. I lose interest. My mind is so darned fickle.)
Sky Dancers sank back into my subconscious where it matured and grew into a better story, I think.
Do you recall a few weeks back how I was searching the internet for my cast of characters? No? Perhaps it was a Tweet or a FaceBook mention.
Whatever, I’d like to now present the faces I found to portray my characters.
First up, we have Angel of Earth, a stowaway on a slaver ship searching for Exotics to sell at the markets of Pernaan:
And here is a collage of Layla of Earth. She was captured and undergoing the taming process until it was discovered she was a tad pregnant. They should have returned her to Earth, but the ship was already two jump-gates out and Balistro, the slaver, was under a time constraint.
This is Velin, the ship’s Guardian. All ships carry a Guardian of the Federation to solve problems (render judgments) when they arise. Usually, these issues are contract disputes and the like. Poor Velin doesn’t quite know how to solve this particular situation. A pregnant slave who should never have been captured, an angry slaver who doesn’t want to put her back, what’s a Guardian to do?
These are the three primary characters: Angel, Layla and Velin. In my next post, I’ll introduce you to Meena’s Sky Dancing Troupe. Meena rescued Angel from death. She had happened to be shopping for an inexpensive slave to replace one of the members of her Troupe who was wishing to retire. Angel was very inexpensive. The way he behaved that day, he was slated for execution. Nobody wants a wild slave. Here’s Meena…
I’ll leave you with a lovely view from my lovely little home in Northern California. I’ve been really appreciating it. Mr. Al and I worked hard to pull it all together. In fourteen days we leave. Have a great week!
