I am participating in NaNoWrimo this November, in order to work on the second draft of my novel, TheMystery of the Body Thief. And if you want, you can check out my most recent post about my novel here, given that this post will be answering questions about it.
Also, thank you everyone for sending in and posting questions for the Q&A about my novel. I won't be able to answer all the questions in this post, but there will be a second part of the Q&A, so if you didn't post a question and want to, you still can. Or, if not all your questions got answered or none of your questions got answered they will be answered in the next part. Also, thank you for Fifty-six followers!
Synopsis-
Genre: Fantasy | Murder Mystery Series: The1st book in the Lady Annabelle Mystery Series.
Horatio wakes up from being in a coma, but he doesn't remember anything that happened before he fell into unconsciousness. All that he remembers is a name, "Annabelle!"
Also... Detective Inspector Time finds himself having to solve a case without Lady Annabelle. Murders have been happening throughout many different kingdoms, and no one knows who exactly is behind it all.
My Plans for NaNoWrimo This Year
I plan to continue world-building, editing, and rewriting my novel from where I left off. Originally when I was editing, I edited the story in its chronological order. But then I decided to rewrite it out of order, so I could spend some time on the scenes (and sections) I had skipped during the first draft.
I might add that when I was first drafting the story, I skipped some sections. Most of them were scenes I had trouble writing and/or didn't feel like writing at the moment. But in the second draft, I get to focus on those scenes and flesh them out.
I've also found that the scenes I skipped writing required me to have experiences that I didn't have at the time but have now. It wasn't until the second draft that I realized I was unconsciously writing about experiences from my own life, and why I had to process those experiences before getting them right....It's interesting how writing does that sometimes.
Also, in the second draft, I finally realized what message I wanted to communicate through my story. Neil Gaiman actually said something similar about this in his writing of The Graveyard Book: "It was then, only then, that I saw clearly what I was writing...." He "had set out to write a book about a childhood-- it was Bod's childhood, and it was in a graveyard, but still, it was a childhood like any other; I was now writing about being a parent..." (The Newberry acceptance speech, part five, the Graveyard book) I realize that I am doing a similar thing now, in my story, and that there are some elements I need to tweak in order to get the message through.
In terms of world-building, I have made some progress, and I understand the world better. And it has also helped me understand the characters. When I first started writing, I didn't know Ophelia was going to be a healer and a priestess. I first knew she was a healer, but over time I soon figured out what it meant to be a healer and priestess in her world and that some priestesses are healers. (Not all priestesses are healers, but a certain type of them are.)
So, during this NaNoWrimo, I plan to expand more on world-building and look back on the document where I wrote random ideas I had about the world during Camp NaNoWrimo. I want to see if I can expand on them and flesh them out.
Q & A
And now for the questions from you, the readers, about my novel, The Mystery of the Body Thief.
Question from Elizabeth Knight:
I'm intrigued about what the "body thief" could possibly be, but I have a different question in mind so as not to spoil the book for me: what, if any, kinds of magic are there in the book, and what form does it take?
Ophelia (left) and Vonivera (right), using their powers
There are three different types of magic in the world of The Lady Annabelle Mysteries Series: there is magic given at birth which is usually seen in fairies (though it is seen in other creatures too, like dragons), magic that can be learned (in this particular world you have to become a devotee to a god/goddess in order to learn it), and magical objects (which can be in mirrors, wands, etc.)
There are also very different uses for magic: some magic is used for healing in the world, other magic is used for harm (or to kill), and magic can also be used to solve cases by the detectives in the world.
In the religious beliefs of the elves, magic was given to the world by the gods. (Other magic came to the world through pure trickery.) I am also working on a post in my Look Into a World series on this blog, which I plan to post sometime soon. It talks more in depth about how the magic in this world came to be.
Hi Quinley, I was wondering about Horatio’s personality. Is he quiet and shy? Humble and Gentle, a bit prideful or outgoing? Or just friendly and creative?
Horatio is a bit timid (partly because he doesn't have many friends, and many servants in the castle do not like him), curious, and friendly, as well as being outgoing. If there is something dangerous or mysterious happening, he is willing to get involved in it. (However, he doesn't always know why he is so quick to do that: it seems almost like he does it instinctively or impulsively.)
Horatio also seems not to understand parts of himself, like how he behaves certain ways at certain times. This is partly due to the fact that he has amnesia and doesn't remember his past. So elements about himself seem strange to him that wouldn't otherwise be strange if he remembered his past.
Where’s the setting of your story?
(Image from Wiki Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Sandby_-_Bothwell_Castle,_from_the_South_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
The story is set in a Fantasy world. But most of the action in the first half takes place in Dragon's Province, in the castle of Lord Oberon, where Horatio is a servant.
But the setting also extends to the town in Dragon's Province, where events happen such as plays, festivals, and religious gatherings. At different points in the story, Horatio visits the town for different reasons. In particular, he visits the police department.
(Image from Wiki Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tavern_Scene-1658-David_Teniers_II.jpg)
And though this isn't exactly a single place, the characters do visit several taverns (and sometimes taverns that are also inns). I have felt like taverns are also part of the setting of the story. Taverns can be a dramatic setting in the story, since characters often fear being watched by others. Other characters either meet in a tavern (in some cases) or go there to talk when their work is done. (And I may have been also slightly influenced by D&D and Lord of the Rings with the taverns that show up in my story).
One thing I think I should add is that I've been listening to this particular complication of music whenever I write a tavern scene. Though it isn't exactly about the setting in my story, I thought by sharing it I could give you an idea of the atmosphere of the taverns in Annabelle's world.
Ooh my first question is- who is Annabelle? Kinda obvious I know lol, but she seems to be key.
Annabelle in her wedding dress.
Lady Annabelle is a half elf princess who worked as a detective before she (like Horatio) was in a coma. But unlike him, she hasn't awakened yet. She is also the main character in the series. (Though Horatio is taking the spotlight for a short time in this one book, the next book will go back to Annabelle.) She started working as a detective after a murder took place in the castle, and though her father is very against it (because he worries about her safety), she continues to solve cases anyway.
However, her connection to Horatio is unclear. Horatio isn't sure how she and him knew each other -- whether they were friends...or something else entirely -- but at the moment, he believes they were at least friends or acquaintances (given that he has memories of her). But I can't say anything else about that...because of spoilers.
So, I hope that answers your question. Also, I have created a profile for Annabelle on this blog, so if you want you can check out her character sheet here.
Inspector Time- I'm wondering if his name means anything (like time travel or something) or if that's just his name?
Naming wise, When I first created the character, his name was going to be Detective Inspector Thyme, but since I was pretty young when I named the character and had taken the name from the cozy murder mystery TV show, Rosemary and Thyme, I thought the name "Thyme" was Time not Thyme, so I ended up naming him Detective Inspector Time. But since it worked, I decided not to change it.
Character-wise, D.I. Time changed his last name, because he wanted to. His family had had a different last name, but since he wanted his name to be memorable he decided to change it to Time. (This may or may not have been after he got his magic). His extended family though is not very happy with the name change. (Especially because the name change was not done through marriage, and just was done..."on a whim" as they describe it).
When it comes to your question about whether he has powers (time travel related ones that is), the answer is not exactly. Since most detectives or officers in the police department do have powers (though people are not required to have them) he does have powers (and so does his adpoted daughter, Marigold). But they aren't exactly what you think they are. Upon touching an object, D.I. Time has the ability to know what it has gone through and who has touched it. But he can't tell the names of the people who touched it, only the texture of their hand, the way they hold the object, and other feelings like (warmth, cold) he gets from where the object was, how it was made, what it has been through.
The fact that murders are happening in multiple kingdoms is intriguing too. that makes me wonder if Time and Lady Annabelle are part of some far flung agency or detective group, or ?
So, there are several detective agencies working on solving the murders of royalty. This is partly because concerned royalty (who is worried they one of them could be next), would rather have more than one agency work on solving it than a single one. So agencies from all over different kingdoms are working to solve it. Admittedly, this rarely happens, since crime solving is usually limited to one kingdom, but since the life of different kings and queens is on the line, multiple detective agencies happened to get involved.
Annabelle is not a part of the detective agency though. Her father would never let her give up her position of princess to be a detective, though she has gotten herself involved in several different cases, I'd say in a very Sherlock Holmes-like fashion.
Is there any drama in this story? I would like a lot of drama in your story! I love drama!
While the story itself is not a melodrama, there are some social conflicts (drama) and internal psychological conflicts. Gossip often plays a negative role in the social drama, and since this is a murder mystery, there is of course the drama of murder itself and having to look for the killer or killers. There is also magical and supernatural drama throughout the series, as magic plays a role in causing and solving cases. Gods and goddesses often come to the mortals' world, and sometimes they cause a bit of drama whether they meant to or not.
Why are the murders happening in the story? Is it because of money or something else is going on?
That contains spoilers, so you will have to wait for my book to come out in order to figure out who the murderer or murderers are, and why the murders are happening. If I revealed it here, it would remove the mystery from The Mystery of the Body Thief.
...And that's the end of part one of the Q&A, if you would like to get a question or questions in for part two, you can ask them here or comment them down below.
So that my post about The Mystery of the Body Thief this NaNoWrimo is not a repetition of what I have said before, I will be answering your questions about it in an upcoming blog post. Here are some examples of questions you might want to ask: questions about the characters themselves, the story, the setting (as I am world-building it), my inspiration behind the novel, my writing progress, or even fun questions, like if my novel was a movie who I would cast to play the characters?
If you don't know what The Mystery of the Body Thief is about, here is a quick synopsis and a link to my most recent post about it:
Horatio wakes up from being in a coma, but he doesn't remember anything that happened before he fell into unconsciousness. All that he remembers is a name, "Annabelle!" Also... Detective Inspector Time finds himself having to solve a case without Lady Annabelle. Murders have been happening throughout many different kingdoms, and no one knows who exactly is behind it all.
You can either ask the questions you have about it down in the comments down below, or ask it in this Google form (I will be mentioning who left the questions hence the name and blog part of the form, but if you would like to be Anonymous, you can just enter "Anonymous" and entering your blog is optional (since not everyone has one)):
Hello fellow actors, I hope you're having a Happy Halloween!
When I was searching for a monologue for an audition in 2020, (which I didn't end of doing because the monologue ended up not fitting the mood of the show) I came across this one from BBC's Sherlock. While in the original show Sherlock is trying to prove to Watson that he is fine (with them talking back and forth), I had to change the script for audition reasons so that Sherlock was the only one talking, and is talking directly to the audience (John Watson).
He is trying to prove to the audience (John) that he is alright. Sherlock is a very calm and collected person, so, the fact that he of all people is afraid of a "Hell hound" that he has seen is very unusual. Even Sherlock Holmes is scared.
I think it is worth mentioning that the show I was going to be auditioning for was about the pandemic and being quarantined, and I thought this monologue perfectly captured the feeling of uncomfortableness and even the feeling of being frightened about the pandemic. I tried to show that element in the monologue, given that I feel the fear Sherlock is feeling is similar. Because the fear he has is not a fun fear the kind you get from reading a ghost story, but instead a real fear. So without further ado, I present you, my version of this monologue:
I have been working on this monologue for a year and a little more (getting to know Sherlock Holmes as a character throughout that time), so I am glad that I finally got it to where I wanted it to be and filmed it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Which episode of Sherlock do you think is scarier The Hounds of Baskerville or The Abominable Bride? And, which character would you want to play in BBC's Sherlock? -Quinley
It's been a while since I've done my "Introducing Some Characters..." series, so I decided to revive it. I thought it was time to introduce you to my Dungeons and Dragons characters. I do have some other D&D characters, but at the moment I am going to introduce you to the ones that I've actually played in campaigns:
Jinx Jekyll
Bio: Jinx (which is his alias) is a half elf rogue, and he somehow manages to get a whole following of people who believe he is a god. Unfortunately for them, he has stolen most of their money, but fortunately, they eventually find out he is not really a god and is conning them. (And the real gods weren't so happy about that either...) Jinx was orphaned and grew up on the street having to fend for himself. He doesn't know who his parents are, but if they are still alive he hopes they didn't abandon him.
Playing history: I've only played Jinx in one campaign, I intend to play him again if I get a chance to and maybe expand on his character more than I have already, and maybe develop him to see where he goes.
Aurinda Van Visser
Bio: Aurinda is an elven Druid. She comes from Sleepy Hollow and is something of a story teller. For reasons the townsfolk are unsure of Aurinda has a bit of a grudge against Katrina Van Tassel. Aurinda really enjoys nature, and tends to use a spell often to turn herself into different animals, horses being her favorite to turn into. She is a firm believer in ghosts and the supernatural. Aurinda went on a journey for a while to explore other parts of the world, and then came back to Sleepy Hollow only to find out the Headless Horseman was terrorizing it.
Playing history: I ended up creating Aurinda for a Legend of Sleepy Hollow themed campaign. Aurinda was the first character I've done a full campaign with. I would like to use her again in the future, but I will have to find a way to seperate her from the story and/or put her in another Gothic-themed Campaign. At the moment I am using her in a Legend of Sleepy Hollow retelling.
Elvin (pronounced AL-vin) The Silver
Bio: Elvin is a human wizard, who worked for a king a very long time ago and gave him wise advice. However one day upon giving a young man advice about how to treat the King, he then decided maybe it was best not to follow his own advice and insulted the King. He was thrown out of the kingdom and became a wandering wizard giving advice to anyone who would listen. Elvin is very impulsive and uses the spell FireBolt whenever he can. This spell can lead to dangerous situations, but it can also be very useful.
Playing History: This was the first time I played a human and the first time I've played a wizard in a D&D campaign. It was a very different experience, but a fun one because I created a different character than I usually do. (Most of my characters are elves).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Which character is your favorite? And have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?
I normally don't post two drawing posts in a row, but I recently found out about Inktober, and have been participating in it, and I wanted to share what I have been drawing. If you don't know what Inktober is, here is the link to their official website.
To me, it's like NaNoWrimo but instead for artists, to use to draw more. I already draw a lot (as you may already know), but I like giving myself challenges. (Hence the reason I made the Using Polls to Create Art series.) So this seemed right up my alley! Also, I wanted to learn how to draw in a different medium with COPIC markers, so I am using Inktober to help me practice using them.
I intend to share with you each ten drawings that I draw (with eleven being the last one), so that it will be divided up into segments (for all the thirty-one drawings), so you don't get all thirty-one all at once.
Here's the prompt list for Inktober this year:
And here are the first ten drawings of mine (some of them are Halloween-y, but that is because I am very excited for Halloween, so that influenced my drawings)...
Day #1 Crystal. I decided to draw the Crystal from The Dark Crystal.
The character you see behind the crystal is Kira, she is a Gelfing and one of the movie's protagonists. The hands you see reaching towards the crystal are supposed to be Kira (left) and Jen (Jen being the one holding the crystal shard (right)). I also decided it would be fun and mystical to add mist around Kira and the crystal.
Day #2 Suit. I drew Oscar Wilde. I don't know why my mind went to Oscar Wilde from the word "suit," but it did. It's probably because he is one of my favorite Gothic writers. I had a bit of trouble drawing his arms, since I was finding it difficult to figure out where it connected.
Day #3 Vessel, my first thought was a spirit using a human as a vessel for possession. I feel like I am probably going to (eventually) write a story about this person and spirit. 😉
Day #4 Knot, I decided to draw a Celtic knot. This made me realize how hard drawing Celtic knots is, but I am happy with how it turned out.
Day #5 Raven, This prompt reminds me very strongly of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.
So I drew something inspired by that.
Day #6 spirit, This is the same spirit you saw possessing the person earlier, I was inspired by this cover of "Remains of the Day" (from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride) and just decided to delve into her backstory a bit. She was going to get married, but then she died, and possessed the character you see for the prompt Vessel (who was also getting married, and possibly, the ghost could have caused the wedding to happen, so that she could have that experience that she lost.) Her plan goes as well as you can expect a possession to go...
Day #7 Fan, I wasn't sure what to draw at first but then I decided it would be fun to draw one of my characters holding a fan. I decided to draw Ophelia from The Mystery of the Body Thief fanning herself while she is at ball. This drawing is mixed media, because I used a mix of ink and water color.
Day #8 Watch, I interpreted this prompt as a verb, as in "being watched." So I drew what could be a mermaid looking at you. This was another mixed media drawing I used the same materials as the one before. (Also this was partly inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Ginny Di's Songs to Drown Sailors To).
Day #9 Pressure, Crime and Punishment was the first idea that came to my mind, this may be due to the fact that I am reading it right now. All of I could think of was the pressure Raskolnikov put on himself.
Day #10 Pick, a lock pick. I drew my D&D character Jinx, he is a rogue and knows how to pick locks (and pockets). I had to redraw this one, because I messed up the coloring of the previous one. This also made me realize I should practice on working on foreshortening in figure drawing, since I had difficulty with the arms again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? And are you participating in Inktober?
Here are some more drawings I made using polls, I had a lot of fun drawing these, unless otherwise stated the drawings in this post came out of majority votes:
I wanted to draw Marigold because I don't have many drawings of her, so I did a poll. And Marigold with a dragon ended up winning the majority vote. This is my favorite drawing of her, because I feel it really captures her personality.
Felix pictured at a masquerade. I had a lot of fun making his mask, because I wanted it to hint at something that happened to him in his story. It was also fun to draw Felix in clothes other than his black suit.
Vallara, a character from the same world as Annabelle (but in a very different part of it) at an archery contest. The last time I drew her was in this post, I felt it was about time to redraw characters from that post, but I was unsure which one so I had the voters vote on who I should redraw and Vallara ended up winning.
Matilda with a ghost (girl). I feel the voters were a lot more nicer to Felix than they were to Matilda, but I know she would enjoy meeting a ghost, so I doubt she would complain. 😊
A drawing of Ophelia and Horatio. I decided to do a drawing inspired by Howl's Moving Castle, and had the pollers vote on which two characters would take the places of Howl and Sophie, Horatio and Ophelia ended up winning.
This wasn't a majority vote, someone had an idea of a crossover, and thought it would be fun if I drew the scene from Howl's Moving Castle but with Ophelia and Gletta. Though Gletta and Ophelia live in completely different worlds, the idea of them ever meeting each other seemed fun to me, so I had to draw it.
My idea for what happened and how they met was that Ophelia used her magic (given to her by gods) to rescue Gletta from being nearly killed in a battle. Gletta is just a bit upset that she was pulled out of the battle when she thought she was going to defeat whoever was trying to kill her. (Hence the reason she is so annoyed at Ophelia).
I also find it interesting that Ophelia takes the place of Howl in both drawings. She isn't like him in terms of personality, but in abilities she is. After all Howl is a wizard and Ophelia has magic, and could be considered a sorceress. (The only thing she doesn't have is a moving castle. 😉)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? And which would you rather meet a ghost or a dragon?
"Jolly Sailor Bold." was originally from Pirates of the Caribbean (but is older than that, I believe because only part of the song was actually sung in the movie, and there are many variations of it). The song is what one of the mermaids uses to trick the sailor into coming to her, when she intends to drown him.
I always create backstories for songs I am singing or listening to. For this one I came up with a backstory about a siren named Oceana, who poses as a merchant's daughter and uses the alias "Maria" to lure sailors to her rocks. Oceana is also the character behind the song, The Waves Come Crushing. In creating the character, Oceana, I decided to go for a more Greek bird-like siren, and gave her feathers all over her body and scales under her eyes.
I also plan to film a music video for the song, hopefully once I finish the three video projects I am currently working on. But for now I wanted you to get the musical sound of it and your own visualization, because I know I visualize things when I listen to music.
A funny story behind recording this song is that I recorded it in my bathroom (my bathroom has good acoustics), and I was pretending to be a siren there, trying to lure sailors to my rocks....er...my bathroom sink, but rocks, totally rocks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Would you rather be a siren or a sailor? Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?
