Update: Misc.

Two things:  First, I sometimes get an idea or a scene in my mind and really hold onto it until I need to sit down and write it out.  This was the case with a half dozen little beginnings of stories that I might  will write assuming I live long enough eventually.  Second, I get my best ideas as I’m lying in bed, just about to drift off to sleep.  I used to forget them when I fell asleep, but something about being older has allowed me to hold onto them.

The other night I had one such idea and several days later I sat down and wrote the first two pages of what might be a Blood Trade sequel.  I don’t think I’ll write anything else on it for a while because I don’t really have a story; I just had a scene.  Also, Blood Trade is one of my least popular books.  I really feel like I need to focus on books that people want to read– top of the list being the next Robot Wife book.

It did feel really good to write this little bit though– surprising, since I writing the first book was such a wringing experience.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: The Wizards

There are two wizards who appear in The Voyage of the Minotaur—Dudley Labrith and Suvir Kesi.  Wizards differ from sorcerers in the world of Senta and the Steel Dragon.  One may learn to be a wizard.  It involves mathematics.  One must be born a sorcerer.  It involves being able to communicate with the magical plane.  Dudley Labrith and Suvir Kesi are nominally friends and served in the military together.
Spoiler Alert

Dudley Labrith is a Brech wizard.  He would love to steal some of Zurfina’s magic, but otherwise is not that bad a chap.  I named Dudley in honor of J. K. Rowling.  Her Dudley is one of the few nonmagical characters in her Harry Potter books.  Dudley Labrith is an insect collector and loves killing them and pinning them to his mat, which foreshadows his own demise.

Suvir Kesi is a Mirsannan.  Mirsanna is the third major country on the continent of Sumir and somewhat takes the place of France in our world.  It is a bit more exotic, with the men wearing fezzes and coats made of ferret skins and the women running around in Arabian Knights-ish silky things.  I found the name Suvir on a baby name web site and immediately chose it for Kesi, because it sounds like “severe.”   He is a bad guy and the extent of his evil plans should be a surprise for the end of the book, so I won’t spoil them now even though I put up the spoiler warning.