I've begun Chapter 3 and realizing I need to take a week or two (or 3) off. I have ideas for the story and characters, but not enough adhesive. I also have some distractions in my life right now that are, to be honest, killing my creative momentum. So I'm going to take a step back, draw some pictures, read some books, and regroup before landsliding into a bear-trap. I really love these characters and I want to do this thing right. Here's a segment from Chapter 2, so you know I'm not full of crap about this project.
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There was in fact a bar in the lobby of the lodge, and Ruck Holland was surprised to find it busy as Christmas, with more drinkers than possible lodgers. He had never considered his competition in his many years of pubbery, but now he wondered. Those quiet nights of two or three patrons trickling in, was the rest of Greywine's alcoholics piling into this lodge to drink? A hint of jealousy crept into his chest. What was wrong with his old place? The Jackal's Fountain was the best pub around, as far as he was concerned.
He found himself counting heads and making note of familiar faces from his own place. His mental list was getting lengthy when he spotted the bartender – a woman. It was then that a hint of another emotion crept into his chest. If love and hate are the extremes, this was not the point at which they meet, but the point at which they violently collide to become something else entirely. It is the most common affection to consume a man when he is faced with a woman – bewilderment. The mop-legged fool stood dumbfounded in the middle of the bustling room, staring lock-jawed at this petite brunette floating along the crowded bar, never spilling a drop of rum.
While Ruck held down the floor in the middle of the room, staring at the object of his bewilderment, Shallum was busy getting nosy. He poked around, eavesdropped on conversations, and asked about wizards when it was appropriate. The old wino, though crazy, had a knack for engaging audiences. It took only moments before he had a crowd of listeners around him at one table, where he accepted the challenge of a riveting Backgammon match to three. He could have walked away on two doubles in mere seconds, but opted for a longer match that resulted in a round of drinks on the house and the whereabouts of Peter Fowlcoat.
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