Caught a good writing wind this morning at 6 AM, and just now finished the first draft of Enter the Death Circus, which is the first of six (or possibly seven) stories in The LONGVIEW series. I did 2,783 words today to get it finished.
And I’m pleased with what I got. I have to go through my series matrix to make sure I didn’t miss anything critical…and one of the main characters threw me a total shock this morning, and I’m going to have to run that through the matrix to see what sort of weird twists it adds.
Here’s a snippet—the story opener. (By the way, the story is told from several points of view).
From The Longview #1: Enter the Death Circus
NOTICE: This material is copyrighted, unchecked raw first draft, probably buggy. Please don’t post typos or corrections (I do my edits at the end of the first draft of the project and will not see your comments when I revise). This material may not survive to publication. Do not quote or repost anywhere or in any format. Thanks.
Down the darkness, down the line of standing cells, three words rippled urgently and under breath. “Death Circus here!”
In the dark, this criminal had waited long and longer for death to come. This criminal could not lie down, could not sit down—its captors had made certain its cell, and the cells of the others like it, permitted only standing.
With its bandaged knees pressed into one corner, its spine jammed into the other, this criminal drifted in that lightless place, never certain whether it was waking or dreaming. When it ate, it ate maggots. When it dreamed of eating, it dreamed of maggots.When it pissed or shit, it pissed or shit down its legs. When it dreamed, it dreamed of the same.
In one thing only, this criminal knew a dream was a dream, and that was when it touched We-42K again, or saw its wondrous smile.
That could only be a dream, for We-Above had taken this criminal out of its cell to watch beautiful We-42K volunteer its death and the death of the unlicensed-but-born that We-42K and this criminal had made. We-42K had stood above the flames of Return to Citizenship with the born in its arms, and had turned to smile at this criminal. It looked thin and starved and filthy standing there, and the born looked dead, and as if it had been dead for a while.
The born had been beautiful when this criminal had first seen it, when this criminal and We-42K had hidden in the hills and held each other at night, had accidentally made the born, had brought it into the world together. The born had the bright red hair of We-42k, and eyes that looked at this criminal with strange knowing—and this criminal thought for a little while that life could hold more than work and duty.
That ended, and after the end, the capture, the sentencing, the imprisonment, this criminal watched the flames and knew that the We are right to say Only Death Forgives.
This criminal has no right of judgement, but this criminal will never forgive.
I want to do the revision and get the story live on Kindle KDP in the next week.
For writers, I’ll be building the first module of the How To Write A Series Expansion at the same time, though it probably won’t be finished at the same time.
I’ll announce here and via the HTTS Boot Camp Member list (login, then click Member Updates from the classroom hub and sign up) and the Writing Tips list the day before I take HTWAS Expansion: Module 1 live.
Quick reminder if you want the course…The price will go up by $25 when I add the first module, and by the same amount when I add each subsequent module.
You are grandfathered into ALL FUTURE MODULES at whatever point you buy the course. The current price is the best it will ever be.
Crud. I’m in college [@ 50?!? what was I thinking] running a business, trying to send out another Query package [why do I still press on?] and then you show me the hook for a story that I MUST READ. Only–terrible irony of life–the story hasn’t been finished yet, much yet published.
In a word, AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!
There, now I’m over it. The book will probably be done at just the moment I have time to read it. Because that is how the timing of everything works, right?
Thank you for the update, now I must submerge myself again….
I’m really looking forward to the upgrade. I’ve been struggling a lot with creating a series or three lately. At least I’m pretty sure about what I want to write (with one exception but I’m currently getting feedback on that). As always, remember to get enough rest, Holly. We’ll be waiting patiently.
Won’t have to be too patient. I finished the revision just a few minutes ago. Getting ready to do type-in now. After that, the story goes to the editor, and I put the course together. 😀
If you buy HTRYN, that comes with a version of Write a Series, is it the same as the current version of Write a Series when purchased alone? And if so, would that grandfather in as well? I’ve been trying to puzzle that out for a while, in anticipation of having the money to purchase… and that time is close, now.
Hi, Shawna,
The free bonus class version of HTWAS does not include the upgrade. However, as a Big Course Student, you can purchase HTWAS through the Big Course Student Discount page, linked from your HTRYN sidebar menu, and get the course at a discount.
Thank you!
I’m sure I’m being stupid, but I can’t remember if the HTWAS expansion will come free to those of us who are HTRYN grads, or if we have to buy it separately. Can you refresh my memory?
By the way, the snippet looks great.
The HTRYN free bonus does not upgrade. Only the stand-alone version does. But, as noted on another post, if you’re a Big Course student, either HTTS or HTRYN, you can purchase through the Big Course Discount page linked from the HTTS and HTRYN sidebar menus.
Thanks, Holly.