Crossword puzzles and conversations

You really never know where your next scene is going to come from when you are exploring a new WIP.  Sometimes it is the familiar surroundings you see every day.  Others it is a new experience that excites your senses and tugs you into writing about it.  Sometimes, it is a conversation with a good friend.

Dragon Masque is complete, well complete as it is going to get for now.  (Another 20,000 words will round it out nicely later.)  But last night I started on a new project, book two of the series.

I won’t name it until I find some quirky phrase that sits just right with the tone and feel of what I am writing, so for now it is WIP#2.  I wrote about 6 pages long-hand in a frenzy because my head would-not-shut-up.  Opening scene is a dingy bar– somewhere.  Not sure where yet.  I’ll figure it out later.  It’s about a year to a year and a half later than the end of  Dragon Masque.  There is a continuation of the downward spiral the MC faced in the first book that did not get resolved.  she might not know it, but she needs help.  Pretty much shutting herself away from very few friends she had hasn’t helped her attitude any.  Still bouncing from job to job, she is making a living, but at what price?

Well that is to be determined later.

In this book, we introduce Ryssie, a good-hearted tinkerer who needs the MC’s help to work on some things.  Working closely together, Rys kind of grows on the MC and whether she likes it or not, become friends.

Now the MC has not ever had much of a family life, being an orphan (is necessary I promise!) and being yanked into the Academy at the very tender age of 8.  She has few social skills and is rather baffled at how people get along.  But Rys completely overlooks Ty’s rash behaviors to see the very insecure woman inside.

I got a puzzle book the other day. I like puzzles and had not seen this publication before, so I treated myself to one and brought it to the office.  I am pretty good at logic, mazes, math, and visual ones but this morning when I hit the crossword puzzle I knew I was in trouble.

I generally avoid crossword puzzles.  I have never completed one.  I have come close.  I can do them in reverse where you have the words and you have to put them into the spaces, but I have never completed a crossword puzzle in my life.  This one was in the easy section of the book, surely I could do this one.

After 5 minutes I knew I was in trouble.

10 minutes later I wanted to call it quits.

I went to whine to my friend who was online.  She laughed at me then asked me for one of he clues I was stuck on.

Pec’s Neighbor.

“Abs,” she said immediately.

I grumbled.

So I tried another one.

She answered immediately with the correct answer.  I tried a few more.  Apparently I  “Overthink”  things.

But this is not necessarily a bad thing.  See this is a good thing.  The conversation led to a few tidbits and then Boom!  One of the scenes for the upcoming story.

Ty and Rys and the crossword puzzle.

Since my friend knows all about the books (one of my beta readers and my sounding board when I get stuck) and she was the reason in the first place I developed the character, she helps shape my MC from merely a piece of flesh walking around, to something that resembles a human.  I copied the conversation (yes I have permissions) and have it saved for reference later.

I can just see Rys tinkering with something while Ty gets bored.  She picks up the puzzle book, opens it to a blank page and fills in what she knows.

Ty mumbles something about a clue.

Rys, still busy, tosses an answer over her shoulder as though it is no big deal.

This goes on for a bit before Ty gets disgusted at herself.

For now, end scene.