Even though I'm not very active socially, I have managed to attract several thousand friends on Google+ a quarter of which is made up of writers. I have a Facebook account but that's mainly for family and close relations. I haven't tried any of the other social media sites yet since I don't normally have much to say. I joined a writers critique group and a writers support group several years ago. The two groups serve a completely different purpose but are both equally important. I also gained the attention of a local independent e-book publisher who has been extremely helpful in guiding me along this path.
Without the critique group and beta readers, I don't think this story would flow as well as it does. They identified problems and plot holes I didn't even know were there. Living on a fixed income doesn't leave any extra money for cover design or editing but here again my friends came through. Several volunteered to help me put together a cover that looks great and others have gone through the manuscript for me to tighten up the writing and to make sure I've got commas in all the right places.
The point I'm trying to make is that unless you're a highly gifted writer, editor and graphic artist, e-book publishing is not a one man show. It takes a team to put together something that sells. I've lost count of the writers I've run into who tried going it alone and can't understand why they aren't selling books. They usually had a good story but it was presented in a way that kept readers from taking a chance.
I'll probably spend several more days going over the manuscript one last time and then have my publisher friend take me through the process of getting it on Amazon. As soon as I have a date, I'll let everyone know. The goal is sometime before Christmas.
For this week I'm back to sharing a scene from my fan/fic.
Thanks for reading.
Wait a minute.
Something tickled the back of her mind. It had to do with Elayne and
Warders, specifically the Warder bond. Egwene realized that Elayne had been
unusually quiet the whole meeting and seemed pre-occupied with something,
staring at the wall of the tent. Now that Egwene looked a little closer, she
saw a slight smile on Elayne’s face and a warmth in her eyes Egwene had never
seen before. Oh Light! Elayne wasn’t staring at the tent wall, she was looking
right in the direction of Rand ’s camp. Little
hints, like the pieces of a blacksmith’s puzzle, started falling into place.
Elayne has bonded Rand as her Warder! That’s
how she always seemed to know what Rand was
feeling and where he was. But hadn’t Nynaeve told her that their group first
tracked Rand through Alanna and then through
Min since both seemed to know where Rand was.
None of this made any sense. Blood and bloody ashes! Now she was upset. Upset
that she hadn’t figured this out sooner and upset that her best friend had kept
it a secret from her.
“Elayne,” Egwene
said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “I think we should start
with the secret you’ve been keeping from all of us. The secret of you and your
Warder.”
At Elayne’s gasp
and startled look, Egwene knew she had caught her woolgathering. Elayne
recovered quickly though and answered. “You know I can’t talk about that.”
“I‘m not talking
about Birgitte, I’m talking about your other Warder, Elayne.”
Egwene watched in
amazement as a number of emotions flashed across the other woman’s face. Some
she couldn’t even identify before Elayne’s training took over and the Queen of
Andor sat before them once again.
“First of all,” she
declared. “I am not going to ask for forgiveness for what we’ve done and I
don’t regret keeping it a secret. As you will see, there are some very personal
reasons behind it and a matter of safety for those involved.”
That got everyone’s
attention.
“Please be
patient,” she asked. “I need to go back to a time before I knew any of you.”
For some reason she
stared at Nynaeve and Egwene a moment before continuing.
“After the two of
you, with Rand , Perrin, Mat and Thom, left the
Two Rivers with Moraine Sedai and Lan, the first town you stopped at was
Baerlon, right?”
“I didn’t leave the
Two Rivers with them.” Nynaeve grumbled. “But that’s where I caught up with
them.”
With a sympathetic
look for Nynaeve, Egwene answered the questioning looks on the older women’s
faces. “A story for another time.”
“Anyway,” Elayne
continued. “I don’t think either of you are aware of the fact that the main
reason Moraine Sedai wanted to stop in Baerlon was because Min lived there.
Moraine knew all abut Min’s ability to look at someone and see their future.
Remember, Moraine knew that one of the boys had to be the ________ and hoped
that any viewing of Min’s would lead her to the right one. Min told me that
when she looked at the three boys, she almost fainted at the number of images
swirling around their heads. With so many images she could only be sure of two
things. The first being that the three of them are so closely tied together
that if any one of them fails then possibly the entire Pattern fails as well.”
“Blood and bloody
ashes,” Siuan blurted out. “That means Perrin and Matrim are just as important
as Rand in the upcoming battle. We have been
so focused on Rand that no one has been
keeping an eye on the other two.”
At a sharp glance
from Egwene, Siuan sat back in her chair muttering under her breath.
“It’s a little late
to worry about them now, Siuan. From what I’ve been able to learn, the two of
them have done very well on their own.” Turning her attention back to Elayne,
she asked. “What was the second thing Elayne?”
“When she looked at
Rand , she saw that she would fall hopelessly
in love with him and that two others would love him also. The viewing didn’t tell
her whether or not he would love her or any of the other women. If he did, then
somehow the three of them were going to find a way to share him.”
“Fish guts, girl,”
Siuan exclaimed. “That is the most disgusting and indecent thing I’ve ever
heard. Besides, I would box the ears of any man I caught trying to juggle three
women at the same time.”
“Siuan,” Egwene
said with another sharp look. “Control yourself. It isn’t that unusual. Many
Aiel women share a husband and it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of an Aes
Sedai marrying her Warder was frowned upon. I think we can safely say that
prohibition has come to an end, can’t we?”
Since Siuan had
married her Warder, Gareth Bryne, and Egwene was planning on marrying her
Warder, Gawyn Trakand, Elayne’s brother, there was nothing left to say.
“It’s still
indecent,” Siuan muttered.
As Elayne and
Egwene shared a smile between them, Egwene continued. “So, Min was the first,
you obviously are the second, but who is the third?”
Before Elayne could
answer, Nynaeve looked up with an incredulous expression on her face.
“Aviendha. It has to be Aviendha. Is that what all that first sister business
was about?”
Egwene could only
sit and stare as memories of their time in the Aiel waste flashed through her
mind. Aviendha was the last person she would have thought of. All the time that
they had spent together as apprentices to the Wise Ones, Aviendha had treated
Rand with scorn and appeared to hate being around him. And what was this about
first sisters?
“Elayne,” she said.
“Aviendha is the last woman I would have ever guessed. Remember, we spent a lot
of time together in the Aiel waste and she certainly never acted like she
wanted to be near him. Plus, I’m sure I don’t understand all of the intricacies
of Aiel relationships and family bonds, but I know that to be first sisters
means you have to share the same mother. What am I missing here?”
With a laugh of
understanding and ironic amusement, Elayne answered. “Egwene, the only way to
understand Aiel ways is to be born and raised Aiel. I don’t even try anymore.
But to answer your last question first, the Aiel Wise ones have developed some
amazing weaves over the years. If two women care for each other enough and want
to be first sisters more than anything, the Wise Ones have a ceremony that can
simulate being born together from the same mother. Actually, Amys acted as our
surrogate mother. The experience was so intense and I guess you could say
primal, that I can’t even begin to describe it. Anyway, we became first sisters
in heart and mind, if not in blood.”
It was obvious from
the look on Elayne’s face and the beginning of tears, that this was still a
very strong emotional experience for her and she would need some time to
recover. Egwene decided to get up and see if there was any tea left in the
pitcher. As she got up, she thanked the Light again that her new chair was
nothing like the one she’d had in the rebel camp. That thing would collapse
every time she moved it and had dumped her on her backside a number of times.
It’s extremely hard to maintain any kind of dignity when you’re on your rump
with your dress around your knees. Thankfully, there was still tea left, so she
proceeded to fill anyone’s cup who wanted more.
“No thank you,
Egwene,” Elayne grimaced. “I’m still only allowed goat’s milk because of the
pregnancy.”
After Egwene
returned to her chair, Elayne continued. “I’m afraid you will have to ask
Aviendha about her side of the story, because I’m not sure it’s something I can
discuss. But I can guarantee that she loves Rand
as much as Min and I. So when Rand came to Caemlyn
to drag Nynaeve off on his mad plan to cleanse the male half of the Source, the
three of us got together and confronted him, explaining how we felt. Of course,
being a man, he thought we were all crazy and gave us some drivel about how he
didn’t want us to be hurt when he died at the Last Battle. He finally confessed
that he loved all three of us and agreed to let the three of us bond him.”
“But Min has
absolutely no ability to channel the One Power. How could she have bonded him?”
asked a very puzzled Nynaeve.
“Aviendha and I
worked out a new weave using parts of the Warder bond and part of the first
sister weave,” Elayne explained. “We tied the three of us together and then
bonded Rand with one bond. Instead of having
three separate bonds, there is one bond with a link to each of us. I had no
idea how strong the bond was until something in Rand
changed and a circle of blue sky opened up over Caemlyn. I’ve heard the same
thing happened over the Stone of Tear where Min was staying. I have no doubt
that where ever Aviendha is, blue sky is there also.”
Siuan snorted as
she got up and faced each one of them in turn. “I still don’t know what to
think about what the three of you have done. However, it’s obvious to me that
we’ve been living to long with the belief that just because something has never
been done with the Power means it can’t be done. I’d rather clean out the
bilges than admit this, but we Aes Sedai have become stagnant and lost the
ability to be creative, which brings us back to the purpose of this meeting. Do
we dare let Rand destroy the remaining Seals
on the Dark One’s prison? Do we dare stop him? We all know that more than half
of the Seals have failed already and the others will fail soon. Are we against
it because of pride or because of ignorance? Even the youngest member of a crew
knows that when you start putting new patches over old ones in the bottom of a
boat, it’s time to replace the whole bottom. This grates on me like a pair of
old, rusty oar locks, but I think it’s time we stopped trying to control and
guide the _________ and just give him the support he asks for. Didn’t he say
that the seals were a last ditch measure taken because the female Aes Sedai of
the time refused to help him? If we give him our full support this time, maybe
instead of patches he can make the Dark One’s prison whole again. You’ve been
speaking a lot about trust this evening, Mother. Maybe it’s time we trust the
Dragon to do what needs to be done. Besides, from the look of the world right
now, what do we have to lose?”
What do we have to
lose? Egwene thought. If we lose, the world and everyone in it will cease to
exist. Could she trust Rand that far? Did they
have a choice? She would have to make a decision by tomorrow and hope it was
the right one.
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