Peter’s Backstory

This post will make better sense if you've read either this post or this post first. Or both. :3

Author’s Notes: I was looking back through my post history for the blog and realised how long it’s been since I posted actual story content. I admit I haven’t written anything new for some time, but months ago I wrote a prose piece about Peter’s backstory from his mother’s perspective that I’d planned to post on the blog. However, I showed it to a friend whom I’d hoped would help me edit it, and the problems that she pointed out were so intrinsic that I despaired of ever being able to fix them short of totally rewriting the whole thing. So I put it away and didn’t look at it.

But just now I thought, what the hell. I’ve already established that I’m willing to put up first draft excerpts on this blog, so why is it so important that this one piece has to be of uber-high quality? Yeah, the execution isn’t great, but it’s the events that are relayed that matter more to Peter’s character, and which are likely to be of interest to you, readers of this blog x3

Even with my newly lowered standards, though, the beginning wasn’t really worth posting xD So I’ve missed out Peter Pan: The Toddler Years and skipped straight to when Peter is nine years old and already attending secondary school…

Chapter One | The Darling House | 11:47 PM

Author's Notes: I tried SO hard to get this post up on time. I really did. I sat for hours yesterday with a blank document open and couldn't think of the right words to start off. I stayed up until 1 in the morning trying to write something that didn't sound godawful. I managed a couple of paragraphs before giving up. Then today, I went to visit a friend who lives in another county. On the train journey there I opened up the Notes on my iPod and immediately knew how the next bit should go. On the way back not only did I finish the post but I started planning out character arcs and suddenly a whole load of ideas came together. I won't spend forever talking about them here, but I am super stoked. Clearly what I need to do is just write every word of my novel whilst riding around on English trains x3
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That night, Wendy lay awake for an hour after her parents had gone to bed, until she was sure that they must be asleep. She crept out into the corridor and strained her ears for the murmur of her parents’ voices, but all she could hear were the sounds of deep breathing and John’s light snores coming from the bedroom he and Michael shared. Perfect. 

Recommendation Tuesday: 'Digital: A Love Story'

It’s Tuesday! I’m posting something! Yaaaaay!

For our first ‘Recommendation Tuesday’ I wanted to flag up a Visual Novel that’s been a huge influence on this story and especially my choice of setting. If you haven’t heard of a VN before, here’s a quick primer. I always describe it as a cross between a game and a “choose your own adventure” story – except that having said that, this VN is so much more than that. It’s called ‘Digital: A Love Story’ and you can download it for free from Lemma Soft Forums right here.

Chapter One | The Darling House | 11:15 AM

WELCOME TO PIRATES V2.2! WOULD YOU LIKE INSTRUCTIONS?

YES

THE YEAR IS 1665. YOU ARE A SWASHBUCKLING, SEAFARING LASS ABOARD THE HMS COMMODORE, A LAW-ABIDING MERCHANT VESSEL WHICH SAILS THE TRADE ROUTES OF THE CARIBBEAN. THESE TRADE ROUTES ARE OFTEN BESET BY PIRATE SHIPS: VESSELS FULL OF VILLAINOUS ROGUES WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET THEIR HANDS ON YOUR CARGO. I WILL BE YOUR EYES AND HANDS. DIRECT ME WITH COMMANDS OF 1 OR 2 WORDS.

(IF STUCK TYPE HELP FOR SOME HINTS)

A FELLOW SHIP IS SIGHTED OFF THE PORT BOW. IT IS FLYING THE UNION JACK, BUT SOMETHING SEEMS SUSPICIOUS. SHOULD YOU WAIT, OR INVESTIGATE THE SHIP?

WAIT

Wendy laughed, looking over her brother’s shoulder. “You’re not meant to do that! It’s right there in the text. You always play things so safe.”

“I wanted to see what you’d coded for the ‘wait’ option,” John reasoned mildly.