frogs_of_war

My boss hasn’t got the floral schedule printed for next week so I don’t know if I’ll start working tomorrow and not get a day off until next Friday. I like advance notice on these things so I can ease my way into them. I hope for a day off in there somewhere though because five days in a row makes me tired, six makes me dippy, and seven makes me slow and stupid. I don’t want to survive nine.


Title: Watching Chaos
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred eight of gobs
Genre: m/m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: work, listening, knowledge, tea and biscuits, workmen, moving, worry, joy, Emil’s little friend, going outside, similarity, leaving
Length: about 1,400 words
Summary: Emil makes a visit. Kurt lays his claim. And Peregrine has something brought to his attention.

Master list


( paintings I haven’t seen )

Four days into my vacation (which went by too fast), I got a phone call from the store manager. My immediate boss was sick again and the doctor wasn’t letting her come back until Tuesday, so could I work the first two days of the week. I could and did, but no one had been in the department Thursday and Friday, so it looked a mess. As of yesterday, I think we might have finally got it back into shape. But we are still behind for Valentines.


Title: Apart, Together
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred six of
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: dancing, overwhelmed, impatience, realization, anger, pain, worry, a search, savoring
Length: about 3,300 words
Summary: Emil discovers that his men aren’t as perceptive as he’d hoped. Kurt doesn’t know what he did or how to fix it.

Master list


( Do you think it’s late enough to leave? )

My last week was exhausting. My immediate boss got the flu (despite being vaccinated) and I worked three of her days. Lots of stuff came in for Valentine's Day. One of the days I opened and put away 30+ boxes of stuff. When I came by to see how she was on Saturday (when I worked in another department) and the first thing she said (after hi) was that she always makes sure to open all the boxes when they come in. One of the boxes had candle wax everywhere but where it was supposed to be. It was one of only two boxes that I didn't open, and I had planned to open them, but these were things that we had enough of and no room for them on the shelf. I'd say she's feeling better.



Title: Gyrations
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred four of
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: Pancakes, a phone, pictures, an odd temper, jealousy, a backbone, an apology, cookies, a non-office, talking it out, a great idea, interruption, pleasure, dancing, Jess’s other boyfriend
Length: about 1,900 words
Summary: Peregrine eats cookies. Emil is good to a fan and Kurt isn’t pleased with that attention.

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( Kurt crossed his arms )

I have some pictures up of toys I made for Christmas while working all those hours. I still can believe I managed it.





Title: Stepping up
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred two of
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: furniture, kisses, beauty, stretching, pain, invitation, questions, advice, interruption, definitions
Length: about 1,700 words
Summary: Kurt gets advice. Peregrine gives advice. Emil didn’t get a name.

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( He and Kurt did what any couple did )

I had a guy enthuse over my work today and all I did was rewrap the flowers he picked for his girlfriend (which also means removing the guard petals {the ugly/bruised/broken/discolored rose petals on the outside of each bud} and changing out the yellowing greens for something not dying) plus I wrapped the flowers and fastened the balloon with ribbon the color he’d mentioned his girlfriend loved. He almost cried. I hope she liked it half as well as he did.

I’ve been reading Wired for Story by Lisa Cron which is a fascinating book about how our brains work and how to make the most of what we know about Brain Science when writing. In the chapter I’m reading, she says it’s our responsibility as writers to push our creations (characters) to survive the worse we can give them and allow them to live up to their potential. And so I rewrote two scenes in this chapter.



Title: Interruptions
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter one hundred of… more than a hundred
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: moving, book signing, a happy baby, getting to know you, an offer, confrontation turned, the right tool, invitation, the doorbell, rumor, pain, joy, a question, a timer
Length: about 2,400 words
Summary: Emil signs a book. Peregrine gets to know Saf. And Kurt can’t help himself.

Master list


( I came to talk to you )

If I were the type of person that wrote dystopias, I would write about a person who had a sibling who constantly acted stupid and got people killed and so Main would have to leave the place of safety and find another, knowing that Sibling would start the whole process again at the next place. And he can’t just abandoned his well meaning but stupid-acting sibling not just because Sibling wouldn’t survive alone, but also because Sibling knows where the other groups they left are and could, in a well-meaning manner, (perhaps in the hands of the bad guys) bring calamity and death to the survivors. 

I base this idea on my interpretation of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, where the Main character would have been the handicap or obstacle had anyone else been the POV. She was directly responsible for more deaths than the murderers in many mysteries I’ve read. And an article about how stupid(ly optimistic) the protagonist of Revolutions is. I haven’t watched any of the show, but the article had a list of potentially deadly things the character did to further the plot. Five in the pilot alone. That sounds like a sign of lazy writing to me.

Do writers make this kind of characters female so we'll forgive her? Because that doesn’t work for me.

I imagine my story would start with a scene like the (last?) one in Of Mice and Men where Main has to move on quickly after his brother has accidently killed the woman. Only I can’t figure out an end that would be happy for Main. Abandoning Sibling is potentially deadly. Not finding people to take them in will kill them even faster; someone has to watch his back and he can’t trust Sibling to do it. And he can’t just kill Sibling. That would haunt him forever. And no matter if it’s for Main’s and everyone else’s good Main could never forgive anyone that killed Sibling. Which leaves what? Bad guys maybe. But why would they kill Sibling when Sibling is the fount for valuable information? Main’s world will only be safe once Sibling is dead, but he will do whatever it takes to keep Sibling alive.




Title: A Different Kind of Home
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter ninety-eight of gosh, a lot
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: quickening up, helping others, questions, children, fresh bread, attention, companionship, disgust, drinks, listening, the boss’s nephew, a fan, reconnecting, lunch
Length: about 2,600 words
Summary: Emil solves one mystery. Kurt misses something. And Peregrine feels at home.

Master list



( as a person I’ve trusted all my life )

Does anyone know where to find a list of published lj or FictonPress users real/pen names and where they are published? I’m thinking of submitting a story to LT3 and the best way to research what they take is to read what they published, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money on stuff I don’t like. I’d rather start by reading books from authors I know I like.



Title: Taking Shape
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter ninety-six of some more
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: stubbornness, torture, relief, payment, information, familiarity, presents, complications, a pet, nagging questions
Length: about 1,700 words
Summary: Peregrine pushes his dad too be his best. Kurt plans for the future. And Emil meets someone familiar.

Master list



( He approved )

This Halloween a small Christmas display was set up by the Halloween candy at the store where I work, so my husband bought candy canes to go with the Kit Kats, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, etc., in the candy treasure chest. All three of the trick-or-treaters who came to our door picked the candy canes.

My youngest wore his costume to school. He was Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. Although I wasn’t surprised that no one knew who Sam Spade was, I was slightly disappointed that even the teachers didn’t know who Bogie was.



Title: Like Flowers after a Fight
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter ninety-four of many
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: worry, repercussions, guilt, new rules, subject change, an apology, sending off, a walk, paintings, sparkles, questions, friends, need vs. want, waiting list, winter, enchilada, dessert.
Length: about 3,300 words
Summary: Kurt makes a promise. Emil celebrates. And Peregrine apologizes.

Master list

( I can handle him )

I have a request if anyone can help me out. I’m looking for the words “one”, “two”, and “three” in different languages (the way you’d say “part ‘one’” if that’s different than the regular “one”) for a story. The more languages I can get the more chapters I can write (I have ideas for eighteen). I attempted to use Google Translate, but since it can’t always translate the word back and some languages have more than one “one” and I need the Romanization, I’d rather get the words from people who have at least a familiarity with the language in question. In my house we have a least a little study in English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, and Mandarin, plus my daughter is presently studying Russian, but she’s only a few weeks in and hasn’t yet learned with of the two “one”s to use.

So any help you could give me would be wonderful.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Title: One of the Crowd
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter ninety-two of gobs
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: stretching, painting, a long lunch, sleep, waking up, a shower, breakfast, writing, transitioning, concern, secrets, drawing, dealing, getting it out
Length: about 2,700 words
Summary: Emil has a good day. Kurt enjoys his men. And Peregrine puts off the inevitable.

Master list


( At Dad’s I’m somebody special )

Since the zombies have come out of the woodwork, I might be hiding for a while. But I’m trying to get all my handwritten things on the computer, so this may give you more to read.


Title: The You Underneath
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Chapter ninety of gobs
Genre: m/m romance, drama, city life, businessmen
Rating: R
Content: shopping, gifts, a park, scars, questions, a maxim, cooking, too close to the line, a means to an end, sketches, vibrance, invitation, hot peppers, a drive, the privilege, prejudices, strays, follow his lead, setting the table, wonderful smells, obfuscation, guests, tea, tissues.
Length: about 3,400 words
Summary: Peregrine has an idea. Emil keeps Brandon busy. And Kurt has his part to play

Master list


( We were willfully ignorant )