Reckless and Irrational

OK, so this is officially Conlan's story. He doesn't get enough attention in the main books, and I'm going to have to remedy that at some point. But Skyborn is just . . . yeah. I've never had such a handle on his character before. One of his main traits from the original story was that no one could really get inside his head. Nobody ever knew what he thought. 

Well, ha. I get him now. Totally. And this is going to be a really fun ride, because I already know what the finale's going to look like. 

I Am So Confused

Alright, here's what I have going on right now:

1. Skyborn
2. The God of Enclosed Spaces
3. ACQUISITIONS
4. NaNoWriMo Planning
5. College Applications

I plan on doing another chapter of #2 sometime in the next few days. As far as #3 is concerned, I think it's pretty much still in the planning stages, and besides, I'm a long way off from finishing the setup of the web site. NaNoWriMo is going to start taking priority as the month goes on, Skyborn should get a couple of more short chapters over the next couple of weeks, and in the next few days I'm dropping everything for college applications.

So, basically, priority-wise, The God of Enclosed Spaces and Skyborn are near the top for now. NaNo is really distracting me though, and you can't see it, but I've been writing TONS of snippets on different ideas. It is a madhouse up in here, is what I'm saying, OK? So please be patient with me! ;)

Besides the above, it's also just . . . sort of frantic in general for no apparent reason. We're thinking of remodelling one of the bathrooms, so it's a mystery how today will play out. 

Short Posts FTW

Alright, so, I tried to write longer Skyborn posts. Not going to happen. At least, not intentionally. I like the shorter posts because I don't have to set up camp and wait for the long haul. I can say what I want to say on a particular subject, and then move on. End of post. Go to the next one. And I don't have to worry about rambling from one topic to the next.

I can slap up a post on Conlan's taste in airship components and then go joyfully back to the action scene, and be happy with it.

So, that's what I'm going to do. Just a note.

I mean, if a post ends up long-ish, more power to it, I suppose. But writing for Figment has made me fond of keeping things brief. It usually means faster updates.

We Should Get Jerseys ('Cause We Make a Good Team)

Ever heard that song? It's "Must Have Done Something Right" by Relient K. It's this absolutely dorky, absolutely adorable song about a girl who's changed the singer's life for the better, even though he has no idea how to tell her that. And it reminds me of Conlan and Matt. You know, if Conlan was dorky - which he isn't, because if Conlan has one thing going for him, it's composure. And badassery, but whatever.

Anyway, one thing I'm excited about in Skyborn is that I'll be able to focus a lot more on Matt and Conlan's relationship. Usually Cam and Hauke get a lot of the attention, because either it's told in first person by Cam or Matt and Conlan just don't have much time to spend together. You know, off saving the world, and all that. In Skyborn, I've got third person to work with, so I can follow who I please, and the whole beginning of the book is about Cam, Matt and Conlan living together. That, and frankly Hauke is getting the least stagetime because he is the last main character to show up.

I think one of the most fun things about writing Matt and Conlan is that most of the time it seems (key word: "seems") like they're not getting along. Matt teases Conlan incessantly, or otherwise yells at him, and Conlan is entirely unmoved either way, at best replying in a laid-back, witty manner that only gets Matt more riled up.

There's a scene I'm excited for where Matt is trying to whip a team of mechanics into shape, and Conlan arrives to be measured for the seat in the cockpit. Matt says some pretty scathing things about him only to shoot him a smirk a moment later and start teasing him about stripping so the crew (who are pretty much petrified at this point) can get accurate measurements. Conlan's replies basically amount to a couple of quips and a raised eyebrow, but it's clear both of them are having a good time.

Of course, sometimes (or, a lot of the time) Conlan's apparent lack of genuine emotion does get on Matt's nerves, so they still have some issues to deal with. She often feels like he just doesn't care about anything, so part of Skyborn will have to do with addressing how he actually feels and why he acts the way he does.

Shhh . . . I Have a Secret

The Writing Skyborn tab is actually it's own blog. It's on a completely separate site from Home/Overview/Characters, etc. I just linked them all together seamlessly and copied all the colors and formatting so they look like they're the same web site . . . except for the header. Look up there. "Blogging the book" isn't on the main site's header. And the web address is different. And the sidebar is different! Look, there are new links . . .

Shhh . . . I cheated. Don't tell anyone. It's actually impossible to have two blogs on one blog.

You Stumble Across An Odd Web Page . . .

There seems to be a story in progress.What would you like to do?

[Selected "Read the Story"]

At least, that's what happens if you're BB and the only person currently interested . . . but, yes! The beginning of the first chapter of Testament Hill: Skyborn is up, and marks the first TH story that I actually plan on finishing since . . . well, the main series. But the main series is a complicated jumble of conspiracies concocted by an insane person, so the main series will have to wait.

Thankfully, plot-wise Skyborn won't be nearly as complicated. It's more or less straightforward - evil attacks and everyone beats it until it's dead. Oh, there'll still be twists along the way - they just won't be compounded twists upon curves upon labyrinths. The main thing about Skyborn is figuring out how to write it. First person or third (right now, third, because I know I'll be following multiple characters and Cam, bless her heart, has yet to figure out how to be everywhere at once). Long posts or short? Chapter 1.1 is short, but all the posts don't have to be that way. We'll just have to see.

Any, celebrate! Testament Hill is in action once again!