Excerpt from Second Firechild Book

Yes, I'm working on the second Firechild book. ;)

Just the beginning. I'm not done with the first, but I had an idea I couldn't ignore for the second book, and I had to write it down.

Here's part of it. :)

Dakota Ryan loved plans.

She believed that for every situation, someone should have a plan for it. Whether it was winning in a board game, catching a thief, or saving the world, Dakota believed a person should have a plan. She hated to wing it, and she would only do so if all else fails. Even the thought of being unprepared was torturous.

It was this painful thought that had kept her awake all night long. She did not have a plan for what she was going to do next, and she knew it. But how could she have a plan? Her mortal enemy, Igdoscio Dechomai, had not (as of yet) done anything since Dakota's rescue of the Haven's most valuable allies, Shivahn and Ilona. It was his move, and Dakota couldn't come up with anything to counter him with if he had not done anything for her to deal with.

This notion (and her roommate Ashton White's snoring) had kept her awake for a long, long time. It was now three in the morning, and Dakota still could not think of anything except for some shaky back-up plans.

“Oh, come on,” she muttered to herself exasperatedly. “I have to save the world; I'm responsible to have a plan!”

Yet still nothing came to her.

Dakota felt her eyelids begin to droop, the heavy weight of sleep pulling them over her tired eyes.

No, no, not now – I don't have a plan!

Dakota fought for a few moments, pinching herself frequently on the cheek, but it would not do – her body would have its way. Dakota drifted into dreamland as her jumbled plans and schemes faded away into the darkness.

It seemed like a second later (though it really was several hours) when Dakota seemingly woke up.

She was greeted by a forest that looked remarkably like the Hemshire Forest in the Haven, though this forest was considerably darker and more sinister looking. White tendrils of mist curled between the tree trunks, and there wasn't a single bird or animal in sight.

Dakota involuntarily backed up a step. She looked down, and noticed that she was still wearing her pajamas – pink and purple plaid.

This must be a dream, she thought with relief, glancing up again at the spooky forest.

But then she noticed that she could feel the dirt, sticks and moss under her bare feet. She could feel the slightly damp chill emanating from the woods. Dakota bent down and picked up a handful of dirt, letting it fall through her fingers. Yes. She could definitely feel the dirt and its wetness, but yet there was something not right about it … she could touch, and see, and hear, but she did not feel like she was fully there – she felt like another part of her was away, anchored somewhere else, and she therefore did not feel complete.

She stood upright and wiped her dirty fingers on her pajama top. I could be sleepwalking in the Hemshire Forest, she thought to herself, glancing around. And my dream is changing the way it looks – that's why it's so creepy.

She was just beginning to formulate a plan for waking herself up when a light, very familiar voice came from the woods.

Also, does anybody know any synonyms for forest and woods? I feel kind of weird using those two words over and over. :P

And the second book's name is The Legend of the Starkindlers. Like? Dislike? Hate? Love? ;)

The Dreamcatchers

Haven't posted in a while. :( Life has been busy. Very busy.

And because life has been so hectic and crazy, I have not had much time to write. Over the span of at least a week I have hardly written five pages. It's so sad. :(

And I'm also experiencing a slight case of writer's block, so that doesn't help.

However, I did come up with an idea for another story. That's a thing about me -- I can come up with so many various storylines, but when I actually go to sit down at my computer to write them my inspiration and excitement peters out and I can't continue. So far, Dakota Ryan is the only one of my greater ideas that hasn't died yet. :)

So, here's my latest idea. Don't expect me to continue with it (it'll probably become like The Wanted or Masquerade -- thrown in my mental archives) but it feels good to get this idea out of my head.

...

There is a parallel world overlapping Earth called Morduca. The Morducans are humanoid beings who have the ability to enter EDs' (Earth Dwellers) minds only when the EDs are sleeping, for that is when their mind is the least active and the most vulnerable. The Morducans can create dreams from random thoughts floating around in the EDs brains. The reason the MD create dreams is because if the EDs minds are not occupied with something while they sleep the humans may accidentally drift over to Morduca, which would expose Morduca to the humans and the MDs don't want that.

In the 1800s a foolish, slightly evil man finds out about the Morducans. The MDs send one of their generals, a shifty man by the name of ___ (Writer's block is affecting me..) to go kill the human. The MDs would rather not kill the human, but they have no choice now.

Once the general has done the killing he discovers that he likes to torture humans and decides that he will torture them through nightmares, created by their own random thoughts. He formulates an army and goes around Earth, trying to torture as many humans as possible.

However he is trying to find a way to create nightmares based on another person's thoughts -- for, if a dream/nightmare is created from the victim's thoughts then the victim can, with enough strength of mind, change the dream/nightmare to "do" what the victim wants. If the nightmare/dream was based on someone or something else's thoughts, then the victim would have no control and it would seem more real to them.

315 years later, General __ still hasn't succeeded, but he is very very close.

Enter ____ (Something funky ... like Eden, Zora, or Brylee. Or something like that). She is a Morducan/human hybrid (father was MD, mother was ED), and her existence is illegal according to the Morducan government, who's main law is that no MD will have any contact with an ED except through dreams.

...

That's all I've got. Still a work in progress. I work on it when I'm bored, and I'm temporarily burned out for Dakota Ryan. But, what do you think? Like? Dislike?

Story Segment

This is from a part where Dakota is fighting this really proud, arrogant guy named Damian Continello. He got stuck in their group for the mission, and he was angry that he was not in charge. He challenged Dakota to a fight to see who "deserves" the right to lead and Dakota, in her bold impulsive style, accepted the challenge.

(Remember, morphing means changing from their human form to their creature form.)

Damian growled and slowly began to morph. With a haughty expression on his face, he sneered at Dakota as he finished changing. “I will crush you!”

Dakota took one look at his Crotorus and burst into laughter.

“A peacock?” Dakota gasped, doubling over in mid-flight, almost tumbling out of the air. “What're you going to do, wave your feathers at me?”

Jazmyn and Noah howled with laughter. Damian swelled up, his ego injured. “Peacocks are the most majestic creatures ever created!” he shouted. “We are –”

“Proud, stupid boneheads?” Noah taunted from off to the side. “Yeah, that explains a lot.”

Damian roared in fury and leapt into the air. Though he could not fly, he could soar for short distances, and the wind buffeted his tail feathers and shot him into the air, up to Dakota's level. In one lightning fast swipe, he smacked Dakota in the face with his clawed foot.

Dakota tumbled backwards and hit the ground hard. Shaking herself off, she got up and looked at him in surprise. “How can you touch me without burning?”

Damian smirked. “Crotori peacock anatomy. Our skin is fireproof.”

Dakota smirked back. “But not your feathers!” She jumped into the air and flew as high as she could, out of Damian's reach. “Jazmyn! Noah!” she yelled. “Get a water hose, or a bucket of water, or something! Damian will need it!”