Moonlight dries your tears, moonlight hides your fears

[stillsostrange]

The most annoying part of my writing process is figuring out events before motivations. Earlier in the book it was "Ooh, we need a garden party with assassins!" I still haven't figured out exactly what was up with that assassins. Now I'm getting "Ooh, this character needs to be mugged in a kidnapping attempt as soon as she leaves Isyllt's apartment!" Why, I ask my hindbrain. No answer is forthcoming. But I guess we need a kidnapping attempt here.

In the meantime...

The Bone Palace

Words today: 1,000, give or take
Words total: 70,022!

70022 / 100000 words. 70% done!

Darling: n/a
Tyop: she smiled snowly
Research du jour: the history of stoves, various cuts of stones

I really need to get my timeline sorted. Originally the book started in mid-autumn, and I must have envisioned a leisurely sort of plot, because I planned on including a masked ball in mid-winter. I then committed myself to a solstice masque by talking about it in TDC. But I also have the issue of a campaigning army coming home, and unless there are all sorts of delays, a sensible army should be home before winter kicks in. And the antagette is waiting for the army to come back before she unleashes her Evile Plan.

So what should I do? Push the start of the book into winter and come up with some reason the army isn't home yet? Declare all of winter masked ball season and let them have lots? You will have to pry the masque itself out of my cold dead hands.

Comments

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Well, I can suggest a couple of reasons campaigning armies might get delayed, but I'm not sure how much that helps.

(A siege took longer than anyone anticipated, or they're having transport problems - not enough mules or oxen or ships, or the snows came early and they had to take the long way home - or the army has to hang around while people iron out armistice agreements, and the armistice agreement took longer than anyone expected: you can probably tell I've read Xenophon and Thucydides way too recently.)

Or you could just declare all of winter masqued ball season. I like that idea. :P

[libris-leonis.livejournal.com]

I think there's a lot of reasons for an army to fail to get home when expected (10-year sieges, anyone?) so you can easily justify that, and I'd tend to think it would make more sense than a long masked-ball season for reasons of expense...

[emgrasso.livejournal.com]

Alternatively, might there be a plot reason for having a masked ball outside the regular season for them? Eccentric patron. Someone lost a major bet. Granny may not last until the proper season and has her heart set ( or promised the gods) to witness one more masked ball. Do masked (as opposed to unmasked) balls have a special significance in the culture?

edit to insert half a sentence that somehow got lost.