Fantasy WIP June Challenge 2019

 I took this challenge on as one of four during the month of June. I found it to be a whole lot of fun and helpful in filling in some of the little details.

#FantasyWIPJune Challenge 2019

• Day 1 - Does your WIP have a creation myth? Yep. I haven't fleshed it all out yet, but it's forming as I go. These are some of the creatures, existing and otherwise, that have inspired me so far. 
• Day 2 - Theme Song - I don't have a dedicated theme song for OLUS just yet. I'm actually collabing with a friend to compose one. But this is the type of music that inspires me when I write about Genzet. [This collab fell through after the pandemic hit and my friend had to totally focus on their usual work.]
• Day 3 - Heirarchy: Who's In Charge? - Genzet is run by a Guild of Master Artisans. I don't have a specific name for the ruling body yet but it'll come to me. Or I'll go digging into the Nordic languages to find one. Only the best of the best get to sit in that chamber and the requirements are strict. Their word is law and second only to the Shrine Guardian, Bal Shif. But Bal only steps in to help during extreme circumstances. He's kept pretty busy training the younglings who'll be running things in the future. The Ka are the lawkeepers and they serve both the Guild and the Divini'I (more on that illustrious body later).
• Day 4 - Cultures of Your WIP - There's a lot to type out so I'm just going to refer you to click on the photo to check out my IG post. Normally, I wouldn't mind typing it out but I'm in the process of beta reading for a friend and I've got to stay focused on that.
• Day 5 - Feature a Specific Location in Your WIP - Perodyll Forest covers the territory between the northern and southern mountain ranges of Genzet. It's situated east of Kwarta, the capital of Drositiri territory, south of Mt. Gild'n Shrine, and north of Zayd (which isn't on the map yet). Our hero has to cross this forest to get safely to the shrine.
• Day 6 - WIP's Religious Beliefs - So far I've only tackled one basic religion in depth because it's similar to my own beliefs, though not exact. I find it interesting to see where the religious beliefs cross over, where totally different religions use the same proverbs/tennets. I've created some "variations on the theme", just like there are within my own Protestant faith base. That's been really interesting. I'm also working on a more pagan-like sect, as well as some more agnostic/atheist-like groups. They just haven't come to the forefront of the tale yet. They will, though.
• Day 7 - Names: Made-up or common? A little bit of both, actually... The first names in book 1 are actual names I pulled from baby name sites and the Old Testament in the Bible. The last names are different and I do make some of those up. In the current WIP, Genzettin family names are derived from actual things but I change up the spelling. Their first names are three and four letters for males and females respectively. The Bot'ha have three names and I do make those up.
• Day 8 - Language: Any unique swear words/blessings/idioms?
  This one was odd to me. I guess my work is complex in my head and it was hard for me to simplify.
  1. Bistarra - (bee STARR ah) - bastard in the literal sense, and extremely rude
  2. "Walk well the path that lies before you." A parting phrase reminding the recipient to live their lives well.
  3. Michiigi(n) - (mee CHEEEE ghee)(n) - a derogatory term for a child who was born different or gifted.
• Day 9 - Describe a scene you hated to write.
  I hate writing the in-between scenes. For some reason, in this WIP, they just aren't flowing well. It's probably just because I need to do a complete re-write, which I'll probably tackle for the upcoming Camp Nano. Anyone else participating?
  My least favorite scenes are the ones that deal with Zec's gift. The dreams don't mesh with my vision or the flow of the story. :( 
• Day 10 - Describe a scene you loved to write. - I absolutely loved writing Zec and Liha's birth scenes. I don't even know whether these will end up in the final draft. Zec's probably will but it'll be cut really short. If you want to read Liha's birth scenes, I'll be offering that to my newsletter subscribers in a pdf download as soon as I can clean it up for sharing. :)
• Day 11 - If your MC had their way, what would they change about their story? - Zec would totally opt for not dreaming at all. It's only brought him isolation and misery except in one or two cases. 
• Day 12 - MC's Pet Peeves - Baseless prejudice & Two-facedness (Was that a word before now? Probably better to say 'two-faced behavior'...)
• Day 13 - MC's Oldest Memory - I'm not really sure about this one. I never really noted anything like that yet. But perhaps it's a dream of blood and death and the glimmer of a distant light.
• Day 14 - Family Crest - Genzet tradition is by far the most complex. Family is very important, as are the right connections. They don't have family crests. What they do have is a family piercing near the point of their right ear. Zec's family is the Inessi. Their piercing is a single deep blue gemstone which matches their skin. It's carved with the design of a drill because the Inessi are Delvrin, miners.
• Day 15 - Character Spotlight - Ka Shi Malaki - He's the antag in Over Land & Under Stone. Shi (pronounced SHEE) has a grudge against the Inessi because he was obsessed with Zec's birth mother. When she chose another as her life-mate, Shi fell prey to the lie of revenge. He's a member of the Ka.
• Day 16 - Worst Parent in WIP - I don't know that she's necessarily a bad parent but Ibin's imi'I didn't really understand her or support her dreams. Whether that's because she was beaten down in spirit herself, or it was some misunderstanding of the best way to save her child from heartache, I don't know if we'll ever find out.
• Day 17 - Bash Your WIP - I wasn't going to do this. I have no problem understanding that no matter how good a writer you are, there will always be flaws in your work. I happen to like leaving a couple of flaws in my projects. Makes them more human. So I just chose the two most troublesome points I'm going to tackle during the rewrite I'll do for Camp Nano.
  1. It's choppier than a Casesar salad.
  2. There's not enough conflict.
• Day 18 - Brag on Your WIP -
  1. Great cover!
  2. The characters have potential.
  3. The friendships are interesting.
  4. The scenery is beautiful.
• Day 19 - Character Q & A - I was supposed to do the Day 19 challenge as an IG Story. I'm sure you can gather I didn't. I don't have time to answer lots of questions on social media and yesterday was particularly busy in the evening. (Update 9-29-2020: Also, I have since done some of these Q&A's and gotten responses that have nothing to do with my characters and nothing to do with writing at all. I don't know if people are dared to do such things, but why waste your time and the time of others in such a way? Boggles the mind...)
• Day 20 - Zec likes how carving just comes to him naturally. He also takes joy in being faithful to Andurdrao. He's proud to be an Inessi.
• Day 21 - Zec hates his dreams, especially as a child when he couldn't tell what was happening and they frightened him. Now that he's older, he's still a nobody, so he can't do much to help the people who are hurt in his dreams, then eventually hurt in real life. It's frustrating. 
• Day 22 - So far, there aren't any trigger warnings that I'm aware of. I hope beta readers will notify me of them if I've missed them.
• Day 23 - The book wouldn't be much of a draw if the MC didn't reach his breaking point. That's one of the pieces I'm going to fix in the rewrite. 
• Day 24 - Write a scene in which your antagonist gets their way. - This is from the current WIP. I didn't write it specifically for the challenge. I honestly didn't have the time to write a whole new scene, nor was I inspired to do so by this prompt. *shrugs* I have a lot on my plate right now. See below to read the whole scene without having to strain your eyes so much.
• Day 25 - Gender Swap: How would things change? - They really wouldn't change a whole lot. The names would change a bit but they would keep their same jobs and have the same goals. The only thing that might change would concern Liha. She's hiding at Si'Yinte for her safety but if she was male, her size would limit the time she could stay there. Genzetti are bigger than the people of the other clans, even the females. But the shorter females can be mistaken for members of other clans if their coloring is similar.
• Day 26 - Indie Book Love - These are my favorite indie books since I started reading a lot in the middle of last year. If you haven't read the books by C.H. Knyght, Natasja Eby, and/or Elizabeth D. Marie, you need to go check them out. Use the link in the photo to be taken to my IG post. Scroll to photo 2 and tap for links to their book pages. 
• Day 27 - Yes. I had so much fun learning how to put a book trailer together for my first book. I'm definitely going to keep making them.
• Day 28 -  WIP Merch - Yes, I do sell bookish merch. There are several things in my Zazzle store, certainly enough variety to fit most any budget and style. Check the sidebar menu for the link!
• Day 29 - MC's Wishes - If Zek could wish for anything, he'd likely wish to keep his friends around him. That's not really possible but something may be worked out by the time the work is complete. :) 
• Day 30 - How has your MC changed? - I really don't have this book as complete as I'd like to answer this question. However, I can say that Zek has to get over his fear of his gift and learn about choices and the difficult sacrifices they sometimes entail. 

And now for the slideshow!