I See Me (Oracle 1): Chapter 2 and 3 – Author-Read-Along

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CHAPTER TWO – thoughts/notes/quotes:

Social worker scene – setting up how terribly alone Rochelle is, devoid of true human contact, her orphan status and ‘mental illness’ have segregated her from the world. No matter how strong she wants to be, everyone needs someone …

BTW, the scene with the jeweller is one of Michael’s favourite scenes in the book.

Notes

Necklace – broken, tarnished, and with a roughly-hewn antique-white diamond (so slightly darker/cloudier than the one pictured below). A piece of Rochelle’s past surfacing right before she begins her new chapter.

Favourite Quotes

It was nice that she cared, though. I’d just had more than enough of nice in my life. I wanted more than nice, but didn’t believe that more existed. So I’d take nothing – and no one – on my own terms every day, starting today. Nice just didn’t work for me anymore. – I See Me (Oracle 1), Chapter Two

CHAPTER THREE – thoughts/notes/quotes:

THE BRAVE!! “It was absolutely hideous. I loved every inch of it.” – Rochelle’s retreat, her ‘coccoon’. [I was going to insert a picture here – but am blogging on my iPad right now. Will come back to do so tomorrow.]

Notes

Gary/Tess -N.B. ‘dinner smells’ – make Rochelle’s stomach rumble though food means little to her in other situations.

Favourite Quotes

Keeping my mouth shut was my best defence against life. – I See Me, Oracle 1, Chapter Three

I See Me (Oracle 1) read-a-long

Chapter One

Chapter Two & Three (above)

Chapters Four and Five

What were your thoughts, comments, and/or questions on Chapter Two and Three?

I See Me (Oracle 1): Chapter 1 – Author-Read-Along

Okay – as I mentioned here – I’m rereading I See Me, Oracle 1 in preparation for writing Oracle 2. I’ve written and released Dowser 4 as well as written Dowser 5 since having Rochelle and Beau in my head, so I wanted to acquaint myself with their voices before really digging into the next book (though I already know the plot, the players, and the locations). I’m going to pin this post for awhile and link all the read-a-long posts at the bottom for easier navigation. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, discuss things with each other, etc. below.

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I See Me (Oracle 1) is an origin story. I adore writing origin stories. But it’s also a love story. The scene where Rochelle and Beau first meet haunted me for over a year before I gave in and wrote their story. I’d taken a lot of notes and sketched out a few scenes, but it wasn’t until I was halfway through the first draft of Dowser 4 that I See Me demanded to be written, needed to be written then – for timeline reasons – so I set Dowser 4 aside and devoted a few months to R&B. So … an Origin story. I loved the idea of an adept growing up not know anything about magic – how would that be possible? Under what circumstances? What would the ‘human’ world think magic was? Who would be the first to understand/find/interact with that person? And … a pure romance. Under what circumstances could two people come together and bond so completely that they began to believe in ‘true love’ and ‘love at first sight’? Ideas that almost anyone who hasn’t experienced the phenomena sneers at these days. Anyway, more on that later. CHAPTER ONE – thoughts/notes/quotes: Opening line: I wanted the book to immediately begin with a hint of the conflict to come. In the first draft of I See Me every chapter began with dialogue, each scene opened somewhere in the middle of the action to continually drive the plot and story forward. In later drafts I tweaked that setup somewhat for clarity and grounding (adding setting, etc, upfront). I worried about the possible slow start and build of this book for readers who were coming into this universe for the first time through this book (and didn’t understand that magic was at play). But I hoped that readers of the Dowser Series would figure out pretty quickly who the ‘bad guys’ were and be intrigued by their interaction with Rochelle in these early chapters. Notes

Colours, shades of grey, and black/white. Rochelle views the world in a VERY specific way – for her almost everything is perceived as some shade of grey. It’s important to note what she sees in colour, and what she renders in B&W.
Names: only people of some importance have actual names. This is another way Rochelle keeps herself distanced from people.

Favourite Quotes

Other people wanted to be haunted by my imaginary friends so much that they willing paid hundreds of dollars per sketch. My shrink would point that out as a silver-lining, but I’d prefer working at McDonald’s over delusions, any day. – I See Me (Oracle 1), Chapter One Today was my birthday. Today I would be free … well, as free as my mind would let me be. If I could just render the shading of the blade’s edge perfectly. – I See Me (Oracle 1), Chapter One

I See Me (Oracle 1) read-a-long

Chapter One (above)

Chapter Two & Three

Chapter Four and Five

Chapter Six and Seven

What were your thoughts, comments, and/or questions on Chapter One?

Two very different to-do lists

Every morning Michael and I have a ‘decisive meeting’ in the garden. This gives the chickens a bit of time to free range and us a moment to chat about our upcoming day. Being foodies, we talk about meals mostly, then share our to-do lists. Usually both of these lists are filled with work related duties, but every now and then Michael does something (errands/chores/etc) to keep our life in order and I try not to feel guilty about focusing on writing while he does so.

Michael’s to-do list:

mow 8 acres of wild grass
clean chicken coop(s)
build a new compost and dig out the old one

My to-do list:

read I See Me, Oracle 1
make notes on Oracle 1 and blog for Author Read-A-Long
plant tomatoes
test taste two new chocolate bars so I can finish Dowser 5 and get it off to the editor

Michael sweetly – and not at all laughing his ass off that I had added it to my things to-do – offered to take over #4 for me, since his list only has three ‘light duty’ chores on it and it’s a terrible hardship that I have to eat TWO chocolate bars just so I can finish my work.

Kind of him, yes?

The next three chocolates in the queue for testing. Will two of them be worthy of a place in Dowser 5?

Oracle 1 – Cover Reveal

It’s my birthday today. To celebrate, I thought I would share the cover of I See Me, Oracle 1 with you as a treat.

I’ll have a synopsis and release date for you next week (hopefully), but for now, you (and I) will have to make do with your first glimpse of Rochelle:

This gorgeous art is the combined-genius of Irene Langholm and Elizabeth Mackey. I’m truly blessed that both of these talented ladies agreed to work together to launch the Oracle Series.

More treats to come …

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, INDEED!!

What do you think?