Chapter 23: How He Sees Me

CHAPTER 23
HOW HE SEES ME
There is very few matters that I let take over my patient.  Love, I suppose, is one of the few because it keeps me up all night and drives me mad.  Sounds like something you would want to wake up to, does it not? --L

é

al
In chapter 23, Celestria is taken to a place she has never seen or heard of before.  Left alone to discover the wonders and mysteries of this place, she finds there is more for her to uncover than land.  She is to remember the men in her life and why now she has every right to question them, and she also must come to terms with the feelings she has.
Miles away from where she is, Alaire lays in a bed.  He remains stricken with poor health, but Celestria is not given enough time to worry about his failing conditions.
Somewhere --though it is not clear where--Celestria wants to believe Léal is not too far away.  Perhaps he is nearby, and then again perhaps Celestria will never have another chance to see him.  Were her promises a waste of time, or could there be hope for her?  A man she barely had the chance to know could be dead for all she is aware, but she wants to believe there is hope.  Maybe, just maybe, Léal is alive and searching for her.
In a whisper every memory of him returns to her.  With one word she recollects how she felt toward him when they first met.
EXCERPT:

Then in a whisper, “Hello?”

Léal stood up and came toward me, and I was unable to back away. He approached me and stared me in the eyes. I raised my brow, for no one else before had been able to see me. Why did Léal take notice of my presence? How could he notice me when I was incapable of seeing myself? The questions ran through my mind as he stood before me, breathing and waiting for a response that would never come. He extended his hand to me and…

Now is the time when decisions must be made, feelings must be spoken, and patience must be tested.  Fear will be taken to another level, danger will be thrown into the faces of good and bad, and beauty and innocence will be meaningless.
Celestria has only one life...
"His eyes rolled back into his head. I had done this."

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

Where has the author been?

*If you already read my "Lindsey MIA" post on Fictional Writer I'll just let you know now that this is the exact same post because honestly there's no way I'm going to try and explain this a thousand different ways.*

Yes, I realize I've been missing in action for the last few days and I want to apologize.  However, this post is to reassure you that I am alive, I am feeling fine, and yes I will return to blogging as often as possible.  I will upload chapter 23 as soon as I have it titled.

The reason I was unable to make any connection to the online community was because our internet was down and we had to wait to get a new router.  Now that it's here I can read my 30 new emails, godknows how many PMs, and return to the normal schedule of posting new material of my book.  So I apologize, but I'm back and alive and that's what matters.

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

22: Push Away Fear

CHAPTER 22
PUSH AWAY FEAR
Once fear tried to climb into bed with me.  I told her that even if she wore a disguise I would not let her any closer... Besides, I need sleep to look like I do every day. --Leal


Welcome to the one place you never knew about, never imagined, and thought was unreal.
When Celestria enters into such a place, she is barely able to grasp everything and everyone who surrounds her.  Despite specific words haunting her thoughts, she is in awe of the new world she is introduced to.
EXCERPT:

Some places where we stepped were darker than others, but the fairies' glowing wings kept everything bright. Birds chirped from large, wide trees and a family of deer walked past us without a second glance. An owl flew from one tree to the next, and nearby one magician was a squirrel who was digging a hole for a nut. There were campfires, giving off heat, yet there was also a fresh and refreshing breeze that brushed through the trees.

Emeria suggested first we should find a place to sleep, since we did not know how long we would be there. My stomach grumbled, but I ignored it and agreed with her. I had eaten more than I usually would consume for breakfast. How was I hungry? I did not bother to question it, hence I looked around with Emeria for a empty place. There were people everywhere we went, and with the way they huddled together it did not appear they would let us stay with them. Then, after all, we could not depend on making friends here. While Emeria was among people she could trust, I was surrounded by enemies.

Could ever such a place have danger enter into it?  A place of unimaginable beauty and magic... but with Celestria's presence there may be a change in the mood of such a place.  There could be hope for the magician as she walks through the magical setting, and at the same time there can be evils lurking.  Fear must be pushed away during these moments when truths are spoken.

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

Chapter 21: Scuze, Revedere

CHAPTER 21
SCUZE, REVEDERE
English translation: "Sorry, Goodbye"
Chapter 21 was a chapter I finished over winter break, but if it had not been for Tessa I probably would have forgotten that I needed to upload this chapter.  I apologize, and just in case you were worried I am alive and did not disappear as Leal did in the book.  Anyways, onto the chapter....

This chapter I found a lot of inspiration for from "Sorry for everything" by Dead by April.  The song became influential for what Alaire said in this part of the book.
Without giving away too much more, here is the excerpt.
EXCERPT:

“Goodbye?” The word squeaked from my lips. He made it sound as if Alaire would die tonight, and there seemed to be constant dwelling on death. I, of course, thought on the subject much too often as it was, but Grefin was a doctor and an educated man. When it was him suggesting the worst, there was not much left to hope for.

“Da, because it is possible that he may not recover,” Grefin said. When I frowned he added, “Make no mistake, there is hope that he will live, yet I must be blunt with you. He does not act like a man who wishes to fight off death.”

While the excerpt is short, there is much more that occurs in the chapter that is significant --as always--to the rest that is to happen in the book.  However, can Celestria live with the difficult decisions she has made?  Why is Alaire giving up, and can anyone change the feelings he has?
Goodbye... the word we speak last but never use for its actual purpose.  Sorry... a word we can say over and over again for everything we have done...
Yet how can Celestria forgive herself?

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

A new year, a new cover

The title explains it all.  The madness returns, and a new cover comes...

The black and white with the font I wasn't going to do to begin with, but then I did and it ended up adding in a nice affect to it.  Anyone like it?

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

Answering a question: "How do..."

Question: How do you think of such wonderful chapter titles? Does it take you a long time?


Asked by: Tessa Faith at WittyWriter


Chapter titles are always the most difficult because I feel they need to be appropriate for everything that occurs in the chapter.  It is rare for me to name chapters before I finish a chapter, and as of recently I can't think of when I did name a chapter before I finished it first.
Coming up with chapter titles can take anywhere from 2-15 minutes, depending on what the chapter was on and what I can think of.  Sometimes I have to look through lyrics of songs to find inspiration, and then I take those words and change them to fit within the context.  Other times it's simply picking out the most significant words a character said in the chapter and using those as the title.  Then there is of course just one word titles, but those are often the most difficult.  One word for a whole chapter... It is not very easy.
Songs that have become influential for what titles the chapter has been anything from Avenged Sevenfold to Christina Perri to Thousand Foot Krutch to HURTS.  I listen to a variety of music while writing Cursed with Power, and often I try to find songs with a deep meaning and mood to properly set the context. 
I do spend a lot of time with coming up with chapter titles.  Probably more time then most would bother, but I feel the title of the chapter is just as important as everything within the chapter.  That is why I work hard toward making the titles interesting --if that be possible--because I hope it can intrigue the reader more.

Great question; glad someone finally asked.

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.

Chapter 20: Pleasure and Pain

CHAPTER 20
PLEASURE AND PAIN
Chapter 20 of Cursed with Power was uploaded last night, but it was not until today that I had the time to write up the update.  Enjoy.

In the newest chapter Celestria has a moment of pure happiness and pleasure, which as the reader knows by now is rare to occur.    However, when Celestria seems something that she cannot fully explain or comprehend, there is pain that re-enters into her life.  Someone who she had not dreamed about for a while comes back into her life as never before.
EXCERPT:

“Perhaps you took Daciana's warning too lightly. That place is not for Dark magicians; as she said, the best of good magicians go there.” Grefin replied.

Emeria proposed, “I could go with her. After all, who would question her if we said that the great Grefin de Villy had sent us?”

Before Grefin could open his mouth, I countered with, “Wait a minute! I never said I needed a twelve year old girl with me so I could have an easier way to get in.”

“I am fourteen, thank you very much,” Emeria said.

“Whether you like it or not, the truth of the matter is you cannot enter Belsgar on your own. There are magicians who guard at all hours of the day...and night. To enter without any name for yourself... We would soon have only four Dark magicians alive,” Grefin said.

Celestria faces a difficult decision, harsh memories, and a painful truth that she has come to realize but not yet accept.  In time she must choose... a life of pleasure or a life with pain.  Find out what happens when next you read Cursed with Power.
Coming next is an answer to a question from a reader, and later an update on chapter 21.

*The images in this post are not those of my own.  The first picture is from deviantart.com and the second is from normchowphotography.com  I do not own these images.**

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.