Remembering The Great Activist & Artist, Valerie Maynard (1937 - 2022)

NaNoWriMo Update One

I want to keep updates posted of my progress this month but I find that I'm not keeping track based on word count, but on chapters. I do want to share my breakdown though--

100,000 words total

5 sections of 7 chapters each

20,000 words per section

2,900 words per chapter

This is the outline I'm using, so when I've finished a chapter I assume it falls into this estimate. In the end I'll run a comprehensive count. As long as each chapter is near 3k, I don't fret and move to the next.

So far, I have 8 of 35 chapters finished and it's the 7th day of NaNoWriMo. I could pick up the pace...

Rachel Forrest // Unknown // S. C. Lourie

domsli22

Her Falling Star

Content Warning: self-inflicted violence

Estrella refused to look away from the sky, especially once she made her last wish on the star that shot across. She waited for another. Too late; her breath quickened. Starlight streamed down hollow cheeks. Estrella refused to take her eyes off the sky, even after the trigger was pulled.

*peek*

quill's secret to writing: old Dance Moms reruns

Get to Know the Author <3

Hello!

After a few posts and sharing a few pieces, I thought I'd do a quick introduction. My pen name is quill rose, I use she/her, and I'm 23. My sign is cancer (capricorn moon, scorpio rising), I'm an INFJ, and a writer! My personal identities tie into my writing. My current project is a fantasy series depicting poc and lgbtq characters. In writing, my strengths are dialogue and worldbuilding. I find the most joy in the telling of stories.

Quick favorites:

        Movie: Lego Batman

        Book: Percy Jackson (I'm counting the series)

        Music: AJR and Billy Joel

        Author: Yaa Gyasi 

        Poet: Audre Lorde

        Food: Popcorn

        Color: Purple

        Video Game: Mass Effect (Trilogy)

A few more interests I have aaare: reading, illustration, fashion, cosplaying, jewelry making, journaling, self-care, dancing, and my two cats; Ahsoka and Rex.

Continuing to write from here,

quill rose

The Way Smell Evokes Memory

            On a hot summer afternoon, after a day of playing in the sun but before retiring to play video games, my mother would always shower. She loved spending time with us on those rare free days when all five of her girls were home, and she wasn’t working one of many jobs she held down simultaneously to provide. Our job was to set the living room up, since she didn’t understand and wasn’t willing to learn how to work the equipment. She would emerge in a puff of steam and a waft of perfume. Unwilling to wear shorts outside, those days she was even willing to don a light summer nightdress. We each peeled off at different times in the night, smart enough and independent enough to dictate our own bedtimes. With a yawn, I’d announce my departure. My mother was never short on hugs, pulling me in and holding me, understanding of the importance of that contact. Rich vanilla and rose and a creamy, heavy shea butter: the last things I’d smell for the night.

            When riffling through the cabinet before moving out, I discovered the exact lotion she would use. Her ‘yes’ when I asked to take it was distracted, unaware of the significance. Although, I don’t use it much.