Warriors of Love

[Odalisque]

I hope to polish Chapter 1 of "Tuerqui" this evening.

I'm thinking of emailing it to a few people to see what they think. (Either tonight or tomorrow.)

[Odalisque]

Quote Originally Posted by Odalisque

I hope to polish Chapter 1 of "Tuerqui" this evening. I'm thinking of emailing it to a few people to see what they think. (Either tonight or tomorrow.)

Well, I have now polished the chapter. And I've emailed it to several people. If anyone else would like it emailed to them, please PM me with your email address.

[Odalisque]

In an email, Des Lewis asked whether the volumes of "The Warriors of Love" can be read in any order. I replied, as follows:

Yes, they can be read in any order. But each novel will say on its title page "The Warriors of Love Volume" ...followed by a number from 1 to 12. That will suggest a reading sequence, which the reader is free to follow or ignore. The reading sequence of the novels is by no means as set in stone as the reading sequence of chapters within a novel. Of course, readers could read the chapters out of sequence but, if they do so, they can expect to become thoroughly confused. Reading the novels out of sequence should work perfectly well... at least, it's my aim that this should work perfectly well. Knowing what will happen shouldn't be a "spoiler" in the usual sense, I don't see the novels as working through surprise twists and turns. That Margaret will be enslaved as a result of Jenna's plotting is signalled in Volume 1 "Jane". That this will happen is also telegraphed in advance in Volume 2 "Margaret". It's not at all like a murder mystery!

I decided to post this here in case it is of wider interest.

[G. S. Carnivals]

Quote Originally Posted by Odalisque

I've also created 15 CDs to send to people. Each disc contains: Jane Margaret my tarot pack

I received my disc in today's mail. I hope to check it out in earnest over the holiday break. Thank you, Pet!

[Odalisque]

Quote Originally Posted by G. S. Carnivals

Quote Originally Posted by Odalisque I've also created 15 CDs to send to people. Each disc contains: Jane Margaret my tarot pack I received my disc in today's mail. I hope to check it out in earnest over the holiday break. Thank you, Pet!

I hope you enjoy it!

[Odalisque]

I'm currently working on Chapter 5 of The Warriors of Love Volume 5 Tuerqui, and come upon this brief paragraph about playing the game of calendar bones:

Even now I feel frustrated at the vivid recollection of re-rolling on the verge of a season. After three re-casts with one of the bones, I was still left with only a lump and cusp – giving me a score of bar five! The winner had a mere lump, but on a single roll. It was difficult to fight back my tears as I handed her thirteen of my precious fragments.

When this was part of Odalisque, there was a long footnote explaining the minutiae of calendar bones, so that this paragraph (with some study of the footnote) made perfect sense. But there will now be no footnotes, and I am left with this choice:

1) Retain the paragraph as is, aware that the reader will not be able to follow the exact meaning.

2) Expand the paragraph (perhaps turning it into two or three paragraphs) so that there is an explanation of the terms used.

3) Introduce a new passage of dialogue in which someone explains sufficient of the rules to make sense of this paragraph.

4) Delete the paragraph.

I wonder whether anyone has any preference between these alternatives.

[G. S. Carnivals]

I suggest keeping the paragraph since it is bizarre and intriguing. Some explanatory exposition by a character would be helpful, though. Best of luck with the novel's construction!

[Odalisque]

I have now written some explanatory dialogue to precede that paragraph. It explains most (but not quite all) of the short paragraph. It also adds some other references which expand or confirm things we already know of the world in which the novel is set. Currently, this section reads as follows:

“I’m not sure how to play,” Spanquibelle said, when first invited to join a game. “My mother wouldn’t allow it – held that gambling was the great slave catcher.”

“Your mother had a good point,” Leggi replied. “A couple of months back, a whole family – who lived just round the corner from us – were enslaved to pay their gambling debts.”

“Well, enslavement is one thing we don’t have to worry about any more,” Fuquibelle pointed out.

“We used to play calendar bones at school,” Bifi said. “It was against the rules, but…”

“In certainly was!” Bouche added. “If we were caught, it was six of the best from the house mistress – then up before the beak in the morning.”

“Beak?” I asked.

“The headmistress,” Bouche explained.

“I can see their point,” Leggi said. “The mistresses weren’t paid to see you enslaved.”

“Not much of a risk,” Bouche replied dismissively. “We used to play for sweeties.”

“There was a regular rate of exchange,” Bifi added. “Six dolly mixture equalled one pear drop, eight pear drops equalled one gobstopper…”

“But that doesn’t explain how you play,” Spanquibelle complained.

“Right,” Bifi replied, suddenly practical. “You roll the three bones like this, and see what months come up. Best of all is a season – worth twenty points – that’s all three months from spring, summer…”

“I know what a season is,” Spanquibelle sounded insulted. “And you haven’t rolled a season. That’s Litnight, Thunderhead and Mistream.”

“You’re right,” Bifi responded. “Litnight and Thunderhead, as the first and last months of summer, form what we call a lump. But that’s only worth eight points.”

“Which isn’t very good,” Fuquibelle said, “so you might want to consider re-rolling Mistream, in the hope of Glarehaze for twenty.”

“But,” Bifi warned, “re-rolling one bone costs you five points. So the best you could do, after re-rolling Mistream, would be fifteen. Do that a couple of times and you could end up under the bar.”

“Under the bar?” Spanquibelle asked, obviously confused.

“That means with a score of less than nothing,” Bouche explained. “A point less than nothing is bar one, two points under is bar two, and so on.”

Even now I feel frustrated at the vivid recollection of re-rolling on the verge of a season. After three re-casts with one of the bones, I was still left with only a lump and cusp – giving me a score of bar five! The winner had a mere lump, but on a single roll. It was difficult to fight back my tears as I handed her thirteen of my precious fragments.

[Odalisque]

I polished Chapter 5 today. I made a few changes to the quotation in my last post but -- essentially -- it stands.

[Odalisque]

I polished the penultimate chapter of "Tuerqui" today. The novel is almost complete.