My NaNo book title will be Fixed Flight of the Nightingale.

The Nightingale is a space station in the Chordas system, on a wide orbit of the only class-M planet.  Far from Earth, they must fend for themselves.

National Novel Writing Month just around the corner.

I'm joining the National Novel Writing Month for the first time.  Nothing like a deadline to get things moving.  My handle is Skaldiduna if you'd like to buddy up.

                                                                 http://nanowrimo.org/

Accidental self-portrait

This chalkboard in downtown Juneau, Alaska is different every time I walk by.

Boats of Glass

I took this pic at Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle, Washington.

The Adventure Begins

I'm thrilled to announce my first book has started on Amazon.com as a serial.
The first installments of Lexicon Lost are available.

Crashed into Paradise (serial part I) available now.
Embarked into Danger (serial part II) available now.
Conflicts in the Capital (serial part III) coming soon.

Lexicon Lost Artistic Statement

          Lexicon Lost started with a map and a name.  I drew a side view of an M-class (Earthlike) world with a major continent centered in the view.  I chose a large section of this continent and created a blow up with detailed roads, rails, cities and mountains.  I named the nation of this continent the Eyan Empire. 

On the northeast coast, just below a black sand desert, I placed a human colony.  I create a blow up of this area and began filling in details.  As I sketched in a crash site, a classmate mentioned a lexicon in the discussion. 

What if the crashed ship had been a lexicon of human knowledge?  The lexicon would be a focus of pride and protection for a society lost from Earth.  The crashed ship became the Lexicon and the project became Lexicon Lost.

            Next came characters and story ideas, which blossomed together in sporadic epiphany moments.  I wanted to create a hero’s journey with a science fiction or steampunk flair.  I needed a hero.  Well, no.  I needed a person who could become a hero, but wasn’t there yet.  Like C. J. Cherryh’s Bren Cameron, I wanted an academic with a love of language and keen senses. (Cherryh, 2004)  I wanted someone the reader could trust to tell them about the world through his experiences.

            I wanted to tell an exciting but meaningful story which questions our preconceptions and social constructions.  In my own experiences, I have found that cultures differ in their social constructions, and this is visible in the language.  Language became a perfect focus to get ideas flowing. 

What happens when two cultures meet, one human and one other?  There are bound to be miscommunications based on the social constructions and idioms on both sides.  Just like here on Earth, an idiom can say something completely different than its literal translation.  That was an attractive idea to play with, and a great way to introduce conflict early in the story.

With the overarching storyline plotted, I developed four minor threads to weave into the whole.  (A) Our POV academic, Dr. Banister must learn to work with both cultures and to act in the best interests of both.  (B) His (almost trusty) sidekick Joe Ryan must grow into a respectable man if he wants to receive the respect he craves.  (C) Their travel guide Suvira Frey must keep these two displaced humans alive and help them reach their goals if she wants to regain her rights and title.  (D)  A specific mystery of the Eyan Language will be revealed by the end of the story, giving Banister one of the tools he needs to reach a compromise.

With these ideas in mind, the story is evolving along a beautiful and exciting path.  I am thrilled when my characters or my world surprises me with something new.  I especially enjoy sharing details with other writers and finding them excited to learn more.

Some back copy ideas:

After the crash of the Lexicon research vessel on the world of MVX-5 in the Chordas System, named Eydan by the indigenous people, humans have been stranded for nearly twenty years.  They found themselves alien visitors on a fertile world with a race and culture they cannot quite understand.  

Lawrence Banister and Joe Ryan must immerse themselves in Eyan culture and travel across a continent to build an observatory and communications station which will allow the stranded colony to contact their own people off-world.  They must convince the nobility of Soza Province to sign a land deal, but this is the same province which took in refugees displaced when humans crashed into their world.  It will be hard to sell a deal to superstitious locals who resent humans for bringing disease and death, still vivid in personal memory.

Lawrence and Joe are joined by Suvira, an Eyan noble woman shamed for her hatred of humans.  She must work with Lawrence and Joe to regain her title, or become a social pariah.  She is horrified to find they hold each other’s lives in their hands.

Across open roads, steel rails and into jagged ancient mountains, their journey will span a continent and unfold intrigue.  They will tumble with steel workers in Frey, spin on the dance floor in the capital of Nodae Eya and skulk through the hidden corridors of Soza Castle.  They will risk life and breath to speak to the stars.

New Map

Here is the new version of the Soza Castle map.  What do you think of the hive-like design?

Graduation is in three weeks and I am working on my public contact information.

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