Category Archives: Neubrandenwolf

Türchen #8

Mehr als ein Jahr ist seit der Veröffentlichung der Anthologie vergangen. Noch länger ist es her, seit ich das letzte Kapitel veröffentlicht habe, deswegen gibt es heute einen Schnipsel aus dem

Neubrandenwolf

Zwölf Kapitel sind geplant und teilweise auch schon angeschrieben, aber eben noch nicht digitalisiert.
Extra für euch habe ich für den Kalender zwei Stellen rausgesucht, abgetippt und übersetzt!

Aber nun zum siebten Schnipsel:

„Warum du nicht Wolf?“, fragte Amir und sah Rasha verwirrt an.
„Weil ein gewisser Jemand Angst hat, mich zu verwandeln…“ Sie warf einen Seitenblick auf Nina, hielt aber ein vergnügtes Lächeln auf ihren Lippen.
„Was? Wenn ich dich verwandle und wir uns trennen, wirst du für immer sauer auf mich sein!“, protestierte Nina und verschränkte die Arme vor der Brust.
„Dann lass Jan mich verwandeln!“ Sie haben dieses Gespräch so oft geführt, dass es war, als würden sie nur eine kaputte Schallplatte abspielen.
„Nein! Ich sollte es sein, aber….“ Nina blickte zur Seite, konnte ihre Verlobte nicht ansehen.
„Wir werden uns nicht trennen!“ Rasha seufzte lange.
„Das weißt du nicht!“, konterte Nina schwach und wusste, dass ihre Argumente auf taube Ohren stießen. „Warum beendest du nicht das Studium und wir -“
„Nachdem ich mit dem Studium fertig bin, heiraten wir und dein Hochzeitsgeschenk sollte besser sein, mich zu verwandeln!“ Rasha unterbrach sie, beendete das Gespräch und ließ sie in einer unangenehmen Stille zurück.
„Was studierst du?“, fragte Amir schließlich.
„Ich werde Anwalt“, rief sie stolz aus.
„Das ist Gesetzmensch?“, wollte Amir sichergehen.
„Ja. Wenn du in Schwierigkeiten gerätst, kann ich dich eines Tages vor Gericht verteidigen!“, bot Rasha aufgeregt an.
„Das sein nett.“ Ein kleines Lächeln zierte Amirs Lippen, als seine Augen auf den ruhigen See vor ihnen hinausblickten.

Hinter den Kulissen

Tatsächlich stammt dieser Auszug aus dem nächsten Kapitel „Flower Moon“ und ist die zweite Stelle überhaupt, die ich übersetze.

Besonders Amirs gebrochenes Deutsch war eine Herausforderung.
Aus „Why you not wolf?“ wollte deepl.com tatsächlich „Warum wolfst du nicht?“ machen und anstatt jemanden zu verwandeln, reichte es ihm, sie „umzudrehen„. 😀

Anne

Planting Moon

Fitting for the wolf-talks of the Fairy Tale Summer you’ll get the next chapter of the Neubrandenwolf. With this we’re half-way through the „Year of the Moon“. 😉
(You can find all chapters in proper order and some more information on this page: Neubrandenwolf)
So, have fun with:

Planting Moon

After a few weeks of consulting the employees got used to Nina being around; they even started asking her, if she wanted to join them for lunch. This time they brought her to a renovated restaurant some of them had already tried and wanted to use it as an alternative to their usual lunch routine of heating up leftovers or getting lunch delivered. The restaurant was part of the hotel complex Nina stayed in. Though, this time she had to enter the building through the backyard, which gave her another perspective at the whole construction. Beside the hotel the building held a parking garage and a whole array of different little shops ranging from butcher and baker, over tobacco shop, up to a cocktail bar she wanted to try when Rasha could visit her. Unlike the hotel, which certainly looked its age, the restaurant was a lot more than what she would have expected from a town like this. It had a bright and soothing colour scheme and comfortable seats. It was nicely decorated and even had a small terrace with nice woven chairs and tables. It wasn’t exactly fancy and the service people still had a lot of work ahead of them, but it was a nice atmosphere. She was curious what the lunch would be like, as she knew what they had to offer for breakfast, but she had never managed to eat lunch there.
When they entered the building a group of men came towards them in the long hallway leading towards the restaurant. Nina had never seen any of them before, but one of them caught her eyes and as she got closer she knew why. He was like her. He was a wolf. She hadn’t considered meeting one of her kind here and she was quite surprised to do so. Their eyes met and the two of them stopped in their tracks. To talk? To stare? She didn’t know. And she couldn’t find out as the girls pushed her forward and his mates him. Still, she turned around to catch one last glimpse of him and saw that he was doing the same.
„Found your dreamgirl?“ She heard one of the others joke and she couldn’t resist her own snicker.
„Nah, she just reminded me of someone.“ Nina heard his reply in a deep, but gentle voice.
‚Good catch‘, she thought while the girls gave her similar questions. It wasn’t like she hadn’t mentioned her girlfriend before, but they insisted that maybe she wasn’t as gay as she thought if she stared at him like that. „Yeah, sure… „, she only dryly commented, shaking her head, hoping this encounter wouldn’t be the main topic of the lunch talk.
Of course it was and she was relieved when the food had shut them up for a while and given them something else to talk about. Nina was quite satisfied with her meal, but her thoughts kept drifting back to the other wolf. During her stay here she hadn’t smelled him so their paths had either not crossed before or he was one of those stay-at-home kind of guys as the nerdy shirts his mates had worn would suggest; or her nose was still not as well trained as she would have liked, but she didn’t even want to admit that to herself. It was curious and she would have liked to at least talk to him a little, but the circumstance had been rather unfortunate for that. So the only thing she could do was text her pack and Rasha that she had seen another wolf and hope to meet him again, as she probably wouldn’t be able to track him otherwise.
When they left the building again Nina saw him standing nearby, casually looking at the window dressing of a small shop across the backyard, as if he had been waiting for her.
„There is a bank over there, right? Gotta get some cash“, she fibbed and the others bought it right away.
„All right, see you later“, one of them simply acknowledged as if they didn’t saw him.
Nina casually walked into the direction of the bank she knew was at the exit of the backyard behind him. Every few steps she turned to see if the girls had already turned the corner and when they finally had, she walked over to him.
„Are you stalking me?“ She asked bluntly, standing just a few steps away from him and crossing her arms.
„I merely waited to see if we could talk later“, he told her after turning around. Yet Nina wasn’t convinced and informed him: „I’m into girls.“
„I know. I can smell your girlfriend? Wife?“ He tried to gauge her relationship status.
„That’s – that’s creepy and she’s my fiancée“, she corrected him and raised an eyebrow. She knew from her pack and her own experiences that they could smell other people on someone, but she hadn’t been home in a while, so her smell would almost be entirely gone.
„Really? A human? Does she know?“ He now asked, curiosity and surprise ringing in his words.
„Yeah, of course“, Nina told him in a matter of fact tone, just shrugging her shoulders.
„Now we definitely have to talk about at least that“, he told her a wide grin on his face.
„What would the other topics be?“ She asked, still a little suspicious.
„Your experiences and methods; if you’d like to run with us next moon… „, he started, but she interrupted him with an: „Us?“
„I’m teaching someone and I could use a second pair of – hands – for that“, he cryptically explained looking around the backyard to see if someone followed their conversation.
„You’re only two?“ Nina checked if she had understood him correctly.
„You’re the third one I met in this town in the seven years I’ve been living here“, he told her with an inviting smile.
„Okay… „, Nina commented and contemplated for a moment. He seemed to handle himself well, if he thought to be able to teach someone else. Besides surviving on his own for at least seven years was quite a feat. Therefore she decided to ask: „Where do you want to talk?“
„Do you know where the Burger-Soup-thing is in the town centre?“ He tried.
„Yeah“, Nina nodded.
„We could get something meaty to go and sit down somewhere quiet“, he suggested with a wave of his hand.
„Sounds like a plan. I’m off at five“, Nina agreed.
„Half past at the entrance then?“ Came his next suggestion.
„Deal“ She was far too curious to pass this up, „I’m Nina by the way“
„Thomas“, he introduced himself with another smile. „And I really have to go now“, he added, nodding towards the direction the girls had went.
„Sure, see you later“, she nodded and got a „See ya“ in return as he walked off.
>>Pack of two in town<<, she texted her pack and Rasha, once he had turned his back.
They met as agreed and after they got their meals Thomas led her to the wall surrounding the town centre. Through a side entrance of one of the large town gates they went onto the rampant consisting of mounds and moats between them and everything filled with greenery. Thomas let her to one such moat nearby that spread into a wide meadow. On it they found a free bench and said down. Nina took this in for a moment. She had passed through the rampant before, but she was still surprised to find a place this quiet so close to the ring, that was she could still see through the brushwork on the other side of the meadow.
„Tell me about yourself, Nina“, Thomas jolted her out of her thoughts.
She looked at him for a moment, as he just there unpacking his dinner and giving her the space to collect her thoughts.
„I live in the capital with my fiancée and meet up with my pack of twelfth every moon if possible“, she decided to tell him and focused on her own dinner.
„Twelfth, wow“, he noted looking up into the distance. Those were nearly as many wolves as he had met his entire life.
„I’ve been a wolf for three years and Rasha helped me through it all the way. She’s the reason I didn’t go mad. She’s my anchor“, Nina explained lovingly.
„So you didn’t have to tell her?“ Thomas wanted to make sure.
„No. She was there when Jan, my alpha, told me what would happen. They have a system that notifies them whenever someone with a wolf bite comes to the hospital“, Nina explained and she saw Thomas‘ eyes widen in awe.
„Wish I had had stuff like that. Must be great to have someone so close to share the burden with“, he only concluding and Nina agreed with a nod.
They were silent for a moment before she asked: „What about you?“
„My last proper relationship ended shortly before I was turned ten years ago, and since then I barely let anything go further than a One Night Stand or a few dates“, he told her with merely a shrug, but she could see that it pained him to admit.
„Why? Can’t you control yourself?“ Nina now wanted to know.
„I can, pretty well even, but I don’t think anyone would want to be with me if they knew“, Thomas reluctantly admitted looking away.
„So you’re basically looking for a singly lady wolf“, Nina concluded teasingly, a smirk on her face.
„Nah. I’m not looking“, Thomas disagreed with smile, „It’s fine the way it is.“
Nina was certain that it was not fine, but she didn’t want to push the topic any further so instead she changed it: „What about the wolf you’re teaching?“
„Amir. He’s a refugee and was turned back in Syria, when a wolf was sent to kill everyone in his village“, Thomas bluntly told her to not have this hanging between them. If she could help him then she needed to know what had happened to Amir.
„OMG“, Nina exclaimed, nearly dropping her burger, „Are you for real?“
Thomas nodded solemnly. „He slipped the moon after and killed others who fled with him. Only later did he find someone who’d knock him out each moon.“
„That’s awful. How is he coping?“ Nina was close to tears. She shivered in the bright sunlight and felt sick to her stomach. How horrible could someone be to do this to a person? A village?
„Rather well“, Thomas answered with a warm and proud smile, „I think due to what happened the first time he’s even more eager to learn control.“
„I can’t even imagine how horrible that must’ve been“, Nina acknowledged in a near whisper.
„I can a little. I nearly killed my best friend before he managed to lure me into a cage and lock me up“, Thomas admitted after a pause.
„I’m sorry. I had such a great transition that I barely think about how hard it must be for others without the support of a pack“, Nina apologized, only shaking her head before adding: „I never thought I’d see myself as privileged.“
„That’s why I’d like you to run with us. If you’re still in town“, Thomas more asked then stated and watched her in anticipation.
„I’ll be here for another few months at least“, Nina agreed with a smile.
On the night of the moon Nina drove up to the hill Thomas had described her and parked near their meeting point. She was a bit nervous about the run. Her pack had more males than females so it wasn’t the first time she’d run with wolves of the opposite gender, but here no one would keep an eye on them if their instincts took over. No one would be able to protect her. She had talked for hours with her Alpha and Rasha about it and while the latter was terrified at the thought of her running with two total strangers, Jan saw it as an opportunity for her to prove to herself how much she had improved. With fluttering knees she made her way to the bus station where she could already see Thomas.
He greeted her with a smile when she approached and another much shorter man stood up beside him. Amir seemed unsure what to do. He looked between Thomas and Nina and then held out his hand.
„Here it custom to great everyone with handshake, right?“ He asked, worry in his voice.
„It is“, Thomas confirmed with a smile, „But if you don’t want to shake someone’s hand it’s just as fine to simply say ‚Hello‘.“
Amir seemed to contemplate this for a moment before he shook his head. „I want shake hands“, he decided.
With a smile Nina accepted his hand. „I’m Nina, nice to meet you“, she introduced herself.
„Me Amir, nice to meet you, too“, he returned likewise.
Soon after the three of them had turned and Nina felt Amir’s instincts taking over, as he watched her lustfully. But Thomas wouldn’t have any of it and subdued him before Nina could do so herself. A part of her was relieved, another insulted, as she knew she was capable of defending herself. So in turn she challenged Thomas, which turned into a playful squabble between the three of them.
Panting and yapping the little pack of misfits soon found themselves howling at the moon together.

Behind the Scenes

This part was originally called Flower Moon, but the title just didn’t fit the story any more once I had written it, so I loudly collected my thoughts in the Nornennetz (I’m a Norn now, more later. 😉 ) and got the needed Feedback to change it.
Other than that is the hotel complexx they meet in, the same one Thomas passed on his way to the bus station in Winter Moon. It’s a small town. 😉
I don’t know if I should advertise the food places mentioned, but if anyone does want to know more about them: Just let me know.
Last but not least: I did not plan on finishing this on such short notice, but when I had all the posts done for last and this weeks, and Mondays Fairy Tale Summer entry, I just felt like it would be a nice place to squeeze it in. It just gave me a lot more to do than I already had, preparing for the Rockharz and stuff…Sometimes I hate my own ideas…
Hope you still enjoyed this chapter!
Stay tuned for part seven: Flower Moon! (Again. 😉 )
PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Everything about Writing

And with this, week four, we already reached the end of the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. Scary how a month flies by without anything getting done…
(For more information see the introduction post.)

Week 4

This weeks theme is Everything about Writing and as I wouldn’t have that much to say about the different topics, I’ve decided to put them all into one post again.

For stuff about Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Plotted-Pantsed driven Worldbuilding

From the Inspiration week I do believe one can figure that I’m a pantser. I have an idea and then just sit down and write. Everything else then comes when I start to edit (or lengthen) it and think about what things actually make sense.

Though that doesn’t mean plot isn’t involved. I usually have a few markers that I want to reach, but what I write to get there or for them is then pantsed or dictated by the characters involved. Usually these markers are rough ideas/scenes that I want to see in a chapter or part of the story, so I make notes about them and fill them out when I’ve got time to pantse it. 😉

This graphic from Tumblr, even if it is for Fanfiction, still describes my process quite well:

Other than that are there only a few occasions where I think about the world beforehand. Usually this is done, when I actually write a Fanfic, as I always try my best to have the story fit into the given narrative. When it’s my own world it’s mostly in the editing phase that I think about things in the grander scheme.
E.g. for The Queen’s Wish, which is the story I’m writing for Projekt Myra, I had to adjust the idea I had for the layout of the land, so it would fit onto an island in the Myra world, (though I’m still not sure, whether it will really work for them, but that’s just my insecurity talking again…).

Selfpublishing vs Publishing House

I’m a no-name. That’s a fact. So for me to even try my luck at a publishing house I’d have to write extremely well or so mainstream that the bigger ones would like it. I don’t do either. That leaves the smaller ones, which either are busy with their own brilliant authors or turn out to be DKZ (Druckkostenzuschuss – Print Cost Grant) publishers and so on.
Plus, I’m really insecure when it comes to my writings, so I will either one day try my luck with selfpublishing or stick to just putting stuff on my Blog, because I think no one would want to read it anyway. 😉

Weird Research

There certainly was strange research I had do make over the years, but I don’t really remember what it was. I only remember that one of the last „weird“ things I had to google was: Is it possible to kill a bear with a knife? Those who thoroughly read my Advent Calendar last year, know why I had to research that. 😉

Interestingly: I only do research when I’m in the editing process to check if what I thought up (pantsing, remember?) does even make sense. While just writing down stuff I find research to be far too distracting and counter productive…

My very first Story

was written, in second grade (together with a classmate, but I did most of the work, I think), at least I have no memory of other stories. It was filled with spelling mistakes and handwritten on small (A7 maybe?), glued together pages with little scribbles of the characters. It also has an incredible twist [/sarcasm], because somehow, as a seven year old, I thought it very plausible that people from Australia talked backwards because they lived on the other side of the planet…
I still have it somewhere, so I could photograph it, but for now, have this German transcript of „How Horse and Kangaroo [became] friends“ (Warning: Please keep tissues at hand, you might cry):

Wie Pferd und Kängeruh Freunde [wurden]
Es war einmal vor langer, langer Zeit. Im fernen Lande Australien dort wonte ein kleines Kängeruh. Eines Tages wurde das kleine Kängeruh nach Deutschland verfrachtet.

In Deutschland angekommen blieb es erst einmal in einem Reiterhof. Im Reiterhof gab es ser viele Pferde so ca 40 stück, zwischen disen 40 war auch das schwarze Pferd Robert.

Er war nicht nur das einzigste schwarze Pferd sondern auch das schnellste Pferd im Hof. Die anderen 39 fragten Robert: „Wie machst du das du so schnell bist?“ „Ich teile meine kraft ein“. Es wuselte nur so durch den Stall. Alle dachten leise: kraft einteilen, kraft einteilen, dachten sie die ganze Nacht.

Robert konnte diese Nacht gut schlaffen.
Bei dem nesten Renen war es wie verhekst. Ein Kopf an Kopf Renen. Aber Robert gewonn trotzdem. Die Anderen Pferde wahren total neidisch auf Robert.
Der ausrit aus dem Stall war eine woltat für Röbert.
Die Reiter sprachen wun einem Kängeruh. Ein Kängeruh im Stall dachte Robert.

Er wuste was ein Kängeruh ist. Als sie wieder im Stall waren machte Robert sich auf die suche nach dem Kängeruh. Robert suchte hir und suchte da, aber er fand es nicht. Aber im lestem gang fand er es. Das Kängeruh sang immer wieder „Kleine Maus komm aus dem Haus. Sonst holt dich di Katze raus und dann ist es aus.“ Sang es immer wider.
Das hörte Robert und ging sofort hin. Er sag es und fragte wie er heiße. Das Kängeruh antwortete „Hci eßieh Lrak“, Robert verhstand nicht was er sagte. Johannes das war sein Johkej. Er hörte Roberts gejammer und rannte sofort hin. Johannes fragte Robert: „Was ist los?“ Robert Antwortete: „Dieses Kängeruh hat eine undäutliche ausschbrache.“ Was hat es den gesagt.“ „Ich habe in gefragt wie er heist. Und er hat gesagt: „Hci eßieh Lrak.“ „Also du verschtestin nicht, aber ich.“ „Was hat er gesagt Johannes?“ „Er hat gesagt „Ich heiße Karl.“ „In Australien spricht mann so. Das ist rückwertz.“

I really hope you didn’t forget the tissue, I always have tears in my eyes when I read this. :’D
It’s just so…I don’t even have words for it.
(The song was from my classmate I think, no idea why that wasn’t in „Australian“…)

At least I can proudly say: I’ve come a loooong way since then or so I think. 😀

My stories in five words

For this I focused on the three stories I told you about in the Character-week.
I’m not entirely satisfies with the words, but well, it’s all I could think of.

The Unnamed One: Werwolf, Vampire, Family, Prejudices, Life

The Queen’s Wish: Intrigues, Magic, Family, Change, Compassion

Neubrandenwolf: Werwolf, Change, Full Moon*, Life, Running

Well, this concludes the challenge.

I hope you enjoyed this look into my different projects, I certainly enjoyed writing about them.

See you around

PoiSonPaiNter

* I know I cheated with this, but Full Moon in German is Vollmond and that’s one word. 😉

Water Moon

As I had mentioned did I want to publish the last Sunday as part of a „slow“ week for the #LoveWritingChallenge. But as that weekend got quite busy I decided to give you part five of the Neubrandenwolf-Tale today.
(You can find all chapters in proper order and some more information on this page: Neubrandenwolf)
So, have fun with:

Water Moon

It wasn’t like she hated her job, quite the contrary; she loved helping companies in trouble and figuring out, how they could improve their business strategies. Only a few things were better than the happiness she caused when she managed to save them from certain bankruptcy. She just didn’t like it when she was assigned to some remote area she had never been to and had never even thought about visiting before. Her boss had made sure she’d go. He had flattered her and told her that she’d be the best for the job, that only she would be able to help this small company. She wasn’t, but the extra money for the trip wasn’t too shabby. It still meant that she had to spend at least four months in a completely unknown environment, with no idea whom she could trust and where she could go for her special run. This was all so much easier at home with her pack. But no, she would have to stay in that stupid hicktown. From the look of it on a map it least was in the middle of nowhere, though there seemed to be a lot of nowhere in that state.
Every time she drove up and down from the capital she checked out places she might be able to use as meeting points or starting points, but most of them seemed too far away from home. The new work wasn’t necessarily bad, but it wasn’t thrilling either. They were still in the assessment phase of the project so progress was slow anyway. The company had already let go of a couple of employees, so the basis was different and had to be adjusted accordingly. The remaining people knew that if she didn’t manage to come up with a solution, they would have to look for a new job as well. Those that only sat out their time waiting for the new job to start were a bit more chipper. The others were gloomy and it wasn’t easy working with them. Still this phase always gave her the time she needed to get to know a new town and especially the hunting grounds surrounding it.
It was larger than most towns in the vicinity, but nothing compared to the capital. Yet, the north seemed like a good place for just running across the large fields, but she couldn’t find a proper place on the map, where she could start without being seen, so she discarded the option for now.
On a way home she eventually saw an advertisement for lodgings near a lake, so she decided to make a stop and check it out before she continued. It wasn’t much, neither in price nor in accommodation: A few bungalows for rent on the property. They were small and basically had just a bedroom, a small bathroom and kitchen, but it would be enough. The lake right in front of it helped settle the matter, so she rented one bungalow for the night of the full moon.
With this matter settled her spirits for the assessment rose and she could now fully concentrate on helping these people keep their jobs. It wasn’t easy. They usually mistrusted her until they could see that what she changed actually worked. Before that she was only an outsider trying to get their hands on the remaining money of the company without accomplishing anything. She had to win their trust and the first few successful measurements were always the ones that granted her access to bolder and more risky moves. Some of her colleagues always went for lay-offs first, she didn’t like that; she always tried to keep the staff the way it was, even if they had to negotiate new contract conditions and a temporarily lower income. She made sure that these discussions were civilized and that everyone knew and understood why it was necessary. Though, those that didn’t agree with the monetary reduction for the sake of the company usually resigned, which gave her more room for other changes. Through talks with the employees and looking through the data at her disposal she had already discovered a few things they could change. Sometimes even changing the distributor of office supplies could give a small push in the right direction, which was all most companies needed to get back on their feet.
The day of the full moon went smoothly. She was able to get off work early enough to grab a little bag with a few things she’d need for the night from her hotel room and then drove off. Normally on her way towards her home she’d talk to her girlfriend, but right now she turned up the volume of her radio and listened to the new album of her favourite singer, Ed Sheeran. Loudly singing along the time flew by and she nearly missed the inconspicuous entrance to the lake lodgings. She parked her car where the owner had told her to and went to ring the bell of the family home on the property. The landlady greeted her with a smile and handed her the key after receiving the agreed upon money. When everything was settled she went to put her stuff into the small bungalow she had rented. On her way she stopped for a moment and just looked across the lake, imagining her route. It’d be so much fun to change in the water. She looked up into the sky trying to figure out how long it would still take the sun to sink and decided it would be enough time to have a phone call.
In her bungalow she sat down on the small bed. Briefly she just sat there in silence, a part of her was already excited for what was to come; another didn’t want to be overwhelmed by it. With a few buttons the screen of her smartphone lit up, showing her a picture of her brightly smiling girlfriend and her name, Rasha, in bright letters, while dialling her number.
„Hey Sweetie“, she greeted her.
„Hey, how’re you doing?“ Rasha answered; concern clearly detectable in her voice.
„I’m alright. It’s strange and this thing isn’t what you’d call a five star hotel, but it’ll do. The lake is great though“, she told her and looked through the window onto the clear water. „How was your day?“ She then changed the subject. Her girlfriend told her about her lectures she had had that day and she told her about the progress they made with the company. Slowly but surely the sun sank and as the darkness grew, so grew her restlessness.
„I don’t like this, Nina“, her girlfriend told her while she was getting ready.
„Don’t worry Sweetie, I’ll be fine“, she assured her for the umpteenth time.
„But…you don’t know if someone will see you-„, Rasha worried.
„Honey, we’ve been through this: It’s the middle of the week and I’ve got work tomorrow, I can’t come home to change with the pack“, Nina tried to remind her.
„I’m just worried…“
„I know. I don’t like it either, but I’ll be fine“, she tried to reassure her.
„Have you eaten?“ Rasha wanted to know.
„Yes“, Nina replied, annoyance rising in her voice.
„Enough?“ Rasha tried to make sure
„More than enough, I’d be surprised if I don’t sink into the lake like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood“, Nina joked, but it was lost on Rasha, who only replied with a gasping: „Nina!“
„I’m just kidding! Relax!“
„Just call me first thing in the morning, okay?“ Rasha demanded, knowing she had lost the argument she couldn’t have won anyway.
„After I’ve taken a shower to not smell like wet dog, yes I will, probably on my way back to town“, Nina answered, more concentrated on undressing than following the conversation.
„Be careful!“ Rasha demanded and Nina only agreed with a short „Promise“ and assurance of her love, before hanging up.
Only covered in a light bathrobe she walked towards the lake, stopping before it. Slowly she let the robe slight down her body and without another thought she jumped into the water. With a few strong strokes she nearly made it halfway through. The water was still cold, but that didn’t bother her, as a short layer of fur already covered her body. Looking around for anyone watching her she dived back under water and soon after her wolf head appeared above it. It didn’t take her long to reach the other side of the shore. Out of the lake she shook off the water and started running, the wind would dry the rest. Only then did she let out a lonely howl to the moon, bewailing the friends she could not be with tonight.

Behind the Scenes

Remember when I quoted some stuff from this chapter for the challenge? 😉 Yup. Meet Nina and Rasha, the werwolf-human couple that joins Thomas and Amir. 🙂
If anyone is interested: The place Nina stays in really exists. It’s the private accomodation I mentioned here: Through a bit of Germany 2014 Pt. 1.
I hope you enjoyed this story as well.
Stay tuned for part six: Flower Moon! (Though that title might change as it doesn’t fit to the content…)
PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Themes

And week three of the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

Week 3

This weeks theme is Themes and as I would just be repeating myself with the sub-themes, I’ve decided to put them all into one post again.

For stuff about Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Loving and losing your family and friends

For some reason do I always end up creating families in my longer projects. I can’t figure out why that is. Part of me thinks it’s far too cheesy to give everyone a more or less happy end or at least someone that cares deeply for them, but another feels like it’s important for those characters, that it fits for them and their story to have someone in their lives. They just wouldn’t be the same without their families. I mean, Andrew would barely survive on his own…
Though that doesn’t mean all my families are the same. As I have mentioned in the character-week posts does not everyone of my characters fall into the usual sexual spectrum, so their love-lives are equally different from the norm. It feels like I have several kinds of couples on various levels, even if the majority is still the „traditional“ female/male relationship. Apart from that, does, even if they have kids, barely anyone get married in my stories…
There is one couple from The Unnamed One that’s had an on-and-off relationship for over twenty years, including kids and different partners in the meantime, before they finally tie the knot (twice if you count human and wolf wedding 😉 ).
Another couple has a very unhealthy, kind of co-dependant, relationship that’s mostly based on lust and the thrill of being with something that is able to kill you and of course the outdated thought of having to make it work with the father of your child/ren.
But love isn’t only between couples, it’s between parent and child, siblings and friends. It’s about caring for one another, about being with someone if they need you and about kicking their butts if they’re being stupid. In short terms. 😉
With friends and families comes tragedies and the more I think about it, the more I’m certain my subconscious wanted to prepare me for losing my own Mum. There is no other reason I could use to explain why so many of my characters have lost their mothers (at a young age). Though, I could blame Disney…
Just like in real life, do I try to keep the reactions realistic and differing from character to character. As I said does, e.g., Andrew not deal well with loss. He sinks into a very deep hole that he can’t get out of by himself. Others have it a bit easier to move on.
Dying isn’t the only way you can lose someone, so obviously I also have a few characters just drifting apart, breaking up or just losing sight of each other.
Describing this part of the human condition is fun for me, but I’m never sure if it’s too much, too detailed or just enough to get invested in the characters…
Curiously: In my short stories the characters rarely talk about their families and only occasionally have friends (mentioned). 😀

Tempting Courage and Fear

Temptation in the meaning of forbidden love is something I certainly use as a theme in variations (age-/status-gap, existing relationships, species), even if I don’t like the term. Love isn’t something a law can dictate it just happens, even if it’s sometimes creepy and/or weird – or biologically questionable/unhealthy, if you want to go down that road.
Besides with werwolves and vampires there is a different kind of temptation at play. 😉
But there is also the temptation of power that a few characters have to face (I wrote a short story a couple of years ago about the Tree of Knowledge that I feel I should link here: Knowledge is Power (German), be warned: It’s old!). My antagonists usually succumb to this, but at least one main character dips into it pretty badly until he realizes what he’d become.
I couldn’t say if any of them is particularly brave or frightened in a situation, but there are of course different ways to be either. It’s part of a person to succumb to/overcome fear, but overcoming fear isn’t necessarily courage, just as not being brave doesn’t mean you’re afraid. It’s a thin line between all these things and I think it’s interesting to play with it and „throw“ the characters into uncomfortable situations. 😉
Though there are short stories where I intentionally played with fear, which was fun:

Just to name a few.
Courage on the other hand doesn’t seem to be one of the themes I focus on. The Christmas Light is pretty much the only thing I can think of, where a character displays some kind of courage (the moving on-kind).

My own theme

In short stories a reoccurring theme is running (away) or flying from something. In the longer ones it’s „life“ and what troubles it and the setting in general throws your way. Other than that is I think „being different“ one of the main topics in my writings.
Sometimes I include stuff to discuss it or work through it myself (like a death-scene in the 2015 Advent Calendar), at other times I just write something without much thought behind it and someone else interprets it completely different and pretty deeply (happened with Blind Date (German), though Evanesca has yet to tell me about all the layers she discovered. 😀 Though I can’t find where we talked about it… =/).
Well, it’s not much and I didn’t really go into that much detail, but I’ve already covered some of it in the first week and other things would give too much away, soo….let’s just say: I try to keep an open mind to how my characters would react in a given theme, even if I have to push it onto them at times. 😉
See you with the next theme next week (or hopefully on Sunday with the update of Neubrandenwolf)!
PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Inspiration

I’m participating in the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

Week 2

This weeks theme is Inspiration and as I wont be able to write proper length posts about the different sub-themes I’ve decided to put them all into one post.

For stuff about Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Inspiration

Inspiration for me is a tricky thing. I might not be too dependent on a muse any more, meaning I can sit down and write, when I’m up for it, but that doesn’t mean I’m always up for it. And even if I’m up for it, it doesn’t mean I’m working on the stuff that I need to be doing and instead write something entirely different. I have so many unfinished projects and ideas floating around it’s annoying. I know this would be easy to change, but there is also the whole thing with the writing mood. 😉
I’m fairly certain that most of the time the thing that gets me to write is a deadline. 😀 Due to this I try to set them for myself and with the Advent Calendars or writing contests it works, more or less(, with a regular posting schedule it doesn’t…). Still, that doesn’t mean my head isn’t constantly working on something. I’m just too lazy to write it down…and of course there is this thing, that I talked about in my Update on Writing:

[M]otivation plays a rather huge part in my process and when the voice in the back of my head tells me something is not worth doing, then I have the tendency to listen to it, which is awful and counterproductive and absolutely annoying.

Regardless of all that do I technically only need to let my mind wander to find a new idea for a story. Different media help here as well. As I’ve mentioned on the Blog before, did I go to an organ concert a couple of years ago and during the concert I simply closed my eyes and let my imagination show me scenes that fit the music. The Queen’s Wish, whose characters I talked about last week, was one of those ideas/scenes. Though it turned out different from what I originally expected…
When I want to focus my writing I mostly listen to the same (more or less fitting) song(s) over and over again until I’m done with the scene. I primarily do this for my different Fanfiction projects, but Winter Moon, and the re-work I made for it, got the same treatment. Recently I also tried instrumental playlists for TQW, but that felt more like background music instead of focus. The music helps me to imagine (visual writer, remember?) the scenes a bit more clearly. I can just concentrate on watching the scene unfold without any distractions and then write it down, even if it will never be 100% the same.
Watching movies and tv shows makes me think about how my characters would react to certain situations, but more often than it makes me think about creating crossovers for different tv shows with the same actors instead… >_ < (recently happened again during my Buffy-re-watch…). The same goes for other authors. Just as I do with my spoken language, where I sometimes pick up other peoples way of speaking, do I pick up similar stuff from other stories (ideas, format, expressions, …). I don’t set out to copy anyone, but I guess it is possible to see their influence in my writings, even if I myself couldn’t put a finger on it. I might not have read as many books as others, but I do know what I want and especially what I don’t want in a book/story, so I know what I want to/wont add to my own stuff.

Something that gets me writing quite easily are pictures. Back in The Forum there was a challenge where you had to write a story for a picture and I was always fascinated by it, but never dared to participate. Then back in 2014 I decided to give it a try and the idea for my first Advent Calendar was born. In the end it consisted of 24 stories I wrote for pictures friends and others sent me. We later picked up that idea for Your Picture – A Story on DF.PP Entertainment. I don’t know what it is about pictures that makes it easy for me to think something up, even if not right away for every picture, but it’s always a fun way to try out new short stories. Titles or topics or prompts/quotes or clues aren’t as easy for me though. Sometimes it clicks and I just know what I want to write about, sometimes there is nothing. [The titles-story is another first person narrator that I wasn’t sure about but forgot to check, but it still kind of falls into the same category as the other two…]
As for inspiration from everyday Real Life and stuff: I wouldn’t have started writing the Neubrandenwolf if watching the full moon wouldn’t have inspired me. 😉
By the way: A new chapter will hopefully be published on Sunday!
See you next week for the next theme!
PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Favourite Characters

I’m participating in the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

This weeks theme are Characters and today is all about Favourite Characters.
To make things easier for myself I will focus on the characters in three of my longer stories:

Though I might add more from other stories.
For stuff about our characters from Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Favouritism

Have I ever mentioned that I don’t like picking favourites? No? Then let it be known now… Alas, I need to pick favourites her, so let’s take a look at them…
Top on this list should probably be Michael and Andrew from TUO. I just like exploring their characters and their stories. I really like their interaction with each other and the other characters and stuff… A close second this this would be „their“ mum (Andrew’s biological, Michael’s adopted mother). Haven’t talked about her, but I throw a lot of crap her way(, just as I do with her boys), but she gets out on top anyway. Sometimes thanks to them, sometimes thanks to her own strength. Besides: She was one of my first OCs …

For some reason did Emry not just weasel his way into TQW(, where he was only supposed to be a passing mention), but also became quite dear to me very fast. I have no idea why … It might be his compassion, his humour, his loyalty or of course his magic, but really, why would anyone like that combination? 😀

Same with Rasha and Nina, but this might be due to their real life counterparts. 😉

Other than that do I enjoy writing pretty much all my characters and they’re all special in their own way, but that’s probably the same for every author …

Do you have a favourite character from one of my stories?

Anyway, see you next week when I’ll talk about inspiration … that’ll be hard …

PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Fun Facts

I’m participating in the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

This weeks theme are Characters and today is all about Fun Facts.
To make things easier for myself I will focus on the ladies (and characters) in three of my longer stories:

Though I might add more from other stories.
For stuff about our characters from Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Jokes on you…

All right, fun facts about my projects…let’s see…

I already told you that I had characters that wanted their names changed and that Nina’s and Rasha’s names are based on real people…hmm…

Is it a fun fact that I prefer writing my stories by hand, but haven’t written a single line on paper for TQW?
Well, unless you count corrections made on a print out…

Is it a fun fact that a story tells me which language it wants to be written in? That’s why NBWolf is originally English and TQW was German to begin with.

Is it a fun fact that I’m a visual writer? That I imagine the conversations, the way characters interact/move/etc. and then try to write down what I saw?

Probably not, as neither of those have to do with my characters…Let’s think again…

Hmm…how about this:

I only noticed that Emry was left handed, because he kept doing stuff with that hand.

Just as it only occurred to me that Amir was a biologist when I envisioned a scene of him and Thomas walking around a lake and talking about it.

This is a pretty common occurrence when I write, as I put the characters in scenes and then see what happens. Sometimes the direction it goes sounds interesting, but then I rethink it and realize that it doesn’t fit and I either cut out/not write the scene completely or rearrange it to fit better.

As we’re already talking about funny things:
Another thing that is pretty common amongst my characters is that they share my humour. It’s hard for me to tell jokes I wouldn’t laugh about or wouldn’t make myself – regardless of how bad they are, so I add those to lighten the mood at times. Well, because of that I wouldn’t be surprised if some characters from different stories would get along well and just have a pun-tastic time. 😀

See you tomorrow, when I talk about my favourite characters…

PoiSonPaiNter

#LoveWritingChallenge – Male Characters

I’m participating in the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

This weeks theme are Characters and today is all about Male Characters.
To make things easier for myself I will focus on the characters in three of my longer stories:

Though I might add more from other stories.
For stuff about our characters from Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

So let’s take a look at the guys in my stories…

Just like I don’t care much about gender roles with my ladies, are my guys not typical males. Their compassionate and supportive of their ladies/lady friends, some would even be considered as feminine. Though that doesn’t mean they wont mistreat my girls. With male characters it’s easier to explore certain aspects of personalities and the asshole is kind of one of my favourites to write. It’s just so much fun…
Somehow are males still kind of the default gender I use for stories, especially short stories. On occasion I find myself wondering: Would it change the story if I wrote about a woman instead (especially the first chapter of the NBWolf)? Most of the time the character stays male…

Anyway, let’s talk jobs.

As I did with the ladies let’s take a look at what my guys do for a living. Which if I really think about it, isn’t that much…
Though I do have: cook, teacher, programmer, zoo keeper/veterinarian, biologist, accountant, advisor, soldier and painter/graphic designer. Well, and at least one king. 😀
I’m not entirely sure, why I have most of the jobs for the ladies figured out, but the guys either struggle to find a proper job or just don’t really have a description for what they do…

And what about their relationships?

As they mostly are counterparts to the females this answer isn’t much different to the previous one. Though it feels like they are a bit more open about things than the ladies. A lot of them don’t mind one night stands where the ladies would contemplate them a lot more. They flirt, they talk back and they’re usually stronger and taller than the women. But I still wouldn’t change it, because, well, it’s part of who they are…
On the other hand are they not as progressed when it comes to sexual preferences as I only have (two) side characters that are gay. The only lead character with a different orientation is pansexual, which I only realized after learning about it.

Special cases

Well, let’s take a look at some of them that are not the typical male characters. This time two of them are even lead characters.

Andrew (TUO)

Andrew is a vampire-like creature and Michaels older half-brother. He is a gentle person that doesn’t like conflict and deals badly with change and loss and sometimes reacts the way a little child would. This is mostly due to his birth conditions, as his mother was turned while she was pregnant with him. When he loves, he loves with his whole heart and would do anything to make whoever that might be happy.
What I like about him: He was one of the first characters I created for TUO and therefore has a special place in my heart. He’s just this cute little guy that you just want to hug and keep save, even if he can kick your ass if you threaten his family…

Kurth (TQW)

He’s a young boy that aims to become a strong knight to protect the queen. Kurth can be quite naive, but his heart is in the right place, even if his tongue sometimes gets the better of him. He faces a lot of backlash from his peers and superiors, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t give it his best.
What I like about him: He provides a different look on some of the story aspects and he’s this dorky little guy, that’s just fun to write.

Amir (NBWolf)

Amir is a kind person burdened with a cruel fate. He is the lone survivor of his village, where he used to be a respected biologist (plant research), now he is nothing more than a refugee trying to find his footing again. It’s hard for him to adapt, especially with his condition as a newly turned Werwolf without any control.
What I like about him: Like Rasha am I still exploring what makes him, him and the more I do, the worse I feel about what will happen to him…

Boys, boys, boys

Just like my ladies, do I let the boys tell me what they like and who they are. Somehow it’s easier for me to write them. I’m somehow less worried about writing clichés in their cases, but I also prefer exploring things with them. It’s a bit strange and I’m not sure why that is…
Anyway, see you tomorrow when I’ll talk about Point of Views (POVs)
PoiSonPaiNter
P.S. This is my 400th post. o.O

#LoveWritingChallenge – Quotes

I’m participating in the #LoveWritingChallenge by Katie Kling. For more information see the introduction post.

This weeks theme are Characters and today is all about Character Quotes.
To make things easier for myself I will focus on the characters in three of my longer stories:

Though I might add more from other stories.
For stuff about our characters from Warlords feel free to check out our Facebook Page.

Say something nice!

Well, this is tricky…mostly because I haven’t written most of the stuff in those three stories and partly because I don’t remember quotes…and some of my favourite quotes are already covered on Facebook with Warlords…but let’s see what I can come up with…and you’ll get a sneak peek through it. 🙂

From TQW:

This one is a spoiler, but not really. Read at your own risk. 😉

As a disbelieving realisation: „The wizard shagged the queen“

I’m not entirely sure why I like this one, but I guess it’s mostly the picture in my head of the boy sitting down when this dawns on him. As I said: Not really a spoiler as this doesn’t tell you when it happened and who it is really about. 😉
And a tiny bit longer (though shortened) scene:

„And what are you learning today?“ [He] asked.
„I drew a bird!“ She told him proudly.
„Well, then let’s take a look at your bird“, [he] declared with a wide smile.
She pulled a parchment with a mazy scribble closer so [he] could see it. „There look“, she proudly presented it to him and [he] raised his eyebrow. With a exaggeratedly confused frown he looked first at the drawing then at his daughter. „A bird you say?“
„YEAH!“ She protested and explained the different parts of the line clutter: „That’s the beak, those are the wings and these are the feet!“
„Daughter, if this is a bird, then I will have to take you collecting herbs again, so you can see a real one“, he taunted her jokingly.
[later]
„Papa look! My horse is finished!“ [She] called out to him and held out another parchment.
„Your horse looks like a bird“, [he] commented with a wide grin and earned the expected indignant „PAPA!“

Of course I’m not telling you who is who here either. 😉

From the NBWolf:

An (unedited) excerpt from the upcoming chapter Water Moon:

„I don’t like this, [XY]“, her girlfriend told her over the phone while she was getting ready.
„Don’t worry Sweetie, I’ll be fine“, she assured her for the umpteenth time.
„But…you don’t know if someone will see you-“
„Honey, we’ve been through this: It’s the middle of the week and I’ve got work tomorrow, I can’t come home to change with the pack“
„I’m just worried“
„I know. I don’t like it either, but I’ll be fine“
„Have you eaten?“
„Yes“
„Enough?“
„More than enough, I’d be surprised if I don’t sink into the lake like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood“
„[XY]!“
„I’m just kidding! Relax!“

I just like their interaction and if you paid attention so far, you can guess whom it’s about. 😉
I always try to make dialogues and interactions realistic and I think this is a nice example of it.
Well, let’s round this up with a quote that made a couple of people laugh when they read my short story for the Bücherstadtkurier Advent Calendar

The Crib:

“And The Doctor, Superman and DARTH VADER are the Three Wise Men?”
“Yup. They always say one of them is black.”
For a moment Harry quarrelled with himself, then he corrected: “Black: yes; Mass Murderer: No.“

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little look at different stories of mine. There are many more stories – especially my short stories – that I could look through for quotes, but as I don’t even know where to look it would take quite some time…
So, if you remember any quote from one of my other works: Feel free to add them in the comments!
See you tomorrow, when I’ll talk about my Male Characters.
PoiSonPaiNter