Once We Make the Big Announcement... !

I can feel a lurking, lurid, evil presence behind me. I know instantly what -- or rather, who -- it is even before he speaks.

"What are you up to, Kiri?"

I quickly close out the tab and pretend not to have heard him. I open up my email. Checking my inbox always makes me feel like I'm doing something profitable.

"Was that Cake Boss?" My little writer peers over my shoulder, his presence now thick and choking. There's no way to ignore him now.

"Of course not! This is my email!" I click through a couple of links on my inbox. "Wow, there's a lot of useless stuff coming in today."

My little writer sighs. "Kiri, when was the last time you opened something to work on?"

"I had The Dragon Tamer opened last week for a while."

"Yeah, but you didn't do much with it."

"I even had Secret of the Hazel Tree up."

"To re-read your favorite scene! When are you going to get serious about something this summer?"

"I am serious about my writing!"

"Then why are you watching clips of Cake Boss on Youtube?"

"I'm not now," I mutter dejectedly. "Besides, the cakes look really good. You know he made a taco cake once, and a giant pizza slice..."

"It doesn't matter what the Cake Boss makes," my little writer argues, "it's wasting your time."

"Not completely. Watching these clips has inspired me to bake more."

"Yes -- to bake more cakes. Which you don't need."

I close Diomedes -- my laptop -- with a distinct snap. "Actually, gissel, I've got big profitable plans, so you needn't worry about me at all."

"Gissel?" He looks puzzled. "What's that?"

"It's the Swedish word for scourge. Or curse."

"And that's what you think of me?"

"Don't yell. I know you're pleased."

Scowling, he changes topics. "What plans?"

I just grin. "Oh, you can find out with everybody else on Friday." I love that he looks astonished and furious all at the same time. It's not often I can strip him wordless like this. "Wait for the big announcement."

God bless!

In Which My Little Writer Makes an Appearance

I minimize the document on Sherlock's screen and crack my knuckles. Even though the story is no longer in front of my face, I can still see it in my mind's eye. My synesthesia is acting up again. The colors for this story are epic -- dark browns, maroons, charcoal grays. It's like some kind of chocolate cherry mix with a dash of epic served on top.

I grin. I'm loving this.

*Note: For those who don't know, my laptop's name is Sherlock. End commercial.*

It doesn't take long to open up the internet and log into blogger. The familiar orange tones of the page always excite me. Not only is orange one of my favorite colors, but orange means good things. Exciting things. Delicious things. Word things. 

"Um, Kiri, what are you doing?"

I nearly jump. "Little Writer, what are you doing here?"

"Making an appearance. Isn't it obvious?"

I cringe. I know why the appearance is necessary, but I don't want the lecture right now. "May I help you with something?"

My Little Writer just looks at me. "When was the last time you worked on Secret of the Hazel Tree?"

I'm refusing to give the satisfaction of a groan. "I edited a bunch on Monday and Tuesday."

"And now it's Friday."

"Your point?"

"You should open it again."

"It is open!" I motion to the bar at the bottom of Sherlock's screen. Technically, I have the document open on my laptop. I can maximize it in a moment. 

"You're too distracted."

I sigh. "I know. I know. But I couldn't help it!"

Little Writer isn't happy. "Why are you working on another Sleeping Beauty story?"

"Why would you think that I'd let the Rooglewood Fairy Tale contest pass without the merest inclination of a new story spark?" I shoot back. "You of all people should know how susceptible I am to these things. Especially when they involve fairy tales."

"But you already have a Sleeping Beauty retelling in the works! Have you forgotten about Beyond the Thorns?"

"I know," I reply. "And I'm going to finish that one of these days. It's way too tempting for me to abandon it. Don't worry."

Little Writer lifts an eyebrow and does not look amused. "And just how do you plan on making this Sleeping Beauty story different?"

I dive right in. "Well, this one is going to be much shorter. I have to keep it under 20K, which I think I can do, since I managed the Beauty and the Beast contest entry in about 18K. But for this one, I'm going to go as upside-down as possible. We're going to make the Sleeping Beauty heroine hate spinning. Instead of getting just one prick on the finger, she is familiar with working with a spinning wheel on a daily basis, and she's clumsy, so she's pricked a lot."

"Okay?"

"And then for the prince. Well, I figure we can give him the dreams. You know I found this quote from the Disney film that I think will work really nice. They say if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true. I really like that. I think I can incorporate that. But not as a positive dream angle. Let's make it nightmares!"

"So now you're taking a jab at Disney?"

I grin. "Why not? Their movie's not that good anyway. The music -- fantastic. But they do need some help. Ooh! I can give the heroine a dog and call it Merryweather in honor of the three fairies!"

Little Writer groans. "Great. I always wanted a dog that could fly."

I choose to ignore that. "But we'll hook this up to the Beauty and the Beast story. It'll be set in the same kingdom, but about one year later. And that way, I can incorporate some steampunk kinda stuff in it. I had hot air balloons in that one. Can you imagine what more could grow from that?" I stop and my eyes grow wide. My dimple is rather pronounced because of my smile, and Little Writer knows that's a bad sign.

"Kiri, do I even want to know what you're thinking?"

"I could do a whole series of upside-down, steampunk-ish fairy tale retellings!"

"No."

I try to amend it. "Well, not right now. But later. First, I want to finish this. I want my Sleeping Beauty heroine to like inventing. That's how I'm getting more steampunk stuff into this. Not true steampunk, mind you. Just some light stuff. We can save the airships for later. Maybe for Rumplestiltskin. Can you imagine Rapunzel with a mechanical hairbrush? Or Thumbelina with a pocket watch?"

"Kiri, just no. Get off blogger. You're just wasting time now. Please. Go edit."

I sigh. I know my Little Writer just wants to help, and it's sometimes annoying to have him proven right. "Okay." I reluctantly exit out of blogger.

"Thank you." Little Writer disappears. 

But I'm too fired up to do what he wants me to do. I click open the Sleeping Beauty story again. "I'll come back to you, Hazel Tree," I whisper. 

Spindle Dreams.

"I'm in this too far now, Little Writer. The story's already named. There's no going back now."