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We are rapidly heading over to the end of the novel, only three more chapters including this one. We also get to revisit two characters who were influential in Rutejìmo's life as they get one last chance to give their respects and encouragements.
Mikáryo has been in all three of the Sand books. She has been one of my favorite characters. In the Hero's Journey, she is one of the mentors for at least two of them and maybe this one.
I've actually worked out what happens to her next. It isn't a fun ending for the story but it is an important one because it leads into The Horse Thief, a novel about TsubĂ yo and what happens after the events of this book. I'd like to write that story but I'll finish the ones I started and see if someone is interested in her and TsubĂ yo.
One of the things that comes up frequently when it comes to writing likable characters is: “don't kick the dog.” There is also “don't kill a child” but I had that in the last book with the miscarriage scenes and this one with the little girl who was attacked by the warrior. It isn't a goal, but this is an important scene for me, mainly because I know the decisions behind Mikáryo's choice to sacrificed Datobà po to save Rutejìmo.
I don't go into detail about how it happens, that isn't important, but it was a scene that I struggled with for a while. It felt right though, mainly for her need to save a young man she loved with all her heart but also because she had a good idea about the messages he carried.
This weekend, I went through a couple rounds of editing for Flight of the Scions[1]. So far this isn't going to be my next novel but I was “almost” done with it, so I finished working on chapters 21-26 to fix some damage I inflicted while reducing the word count. I also went through everything after that point and cleaned up stuff until I ran out of things to focus on.
1: https://fedran.com/flight-of-the-scions/
The novel is pretty much “done,” except that I need to add it into the pipeline. This doesn't really have to happen until the last twenty chapters or so but I figured I'd start by looking for alpha readers now. It doesn't take much for this, I'm not looking for grammar editing. Instead, I want to know about the story. Is it appealing? Were the characters good and interesting? What about the plot? Is something missing? Where was it boring? All those lovely details that can only be revealed with multiple people reading it.
What I can offer isn't much: a willingness to do the same for someone else, a year of my Patreon (well, direct), and credits in the back of the book.
If you are interested, send me an email at contact@moonfire.us[2].
The vote for the next novel is still open. This is for patrons, even ones who aren't going through Patreon.
Alpha readers for Flight can also jump on it. I'll close the poll pretty much when I start posting the next one, the next chapters of both novels are already done and ready to go.
Rutejìmo wakes up to find that Mikáryo and Tsubà yo have rescued him. His death by the poison in his blood is pushed back a few short hours, long enough for him to see the next morning but it comes at a great price.
Read the chapter at https://fedran.com/sand-and-bone/chapter-33/[3]. If you like it, please become a patron[4] or review one of my previous books. Subscribers get access to all my novels, including the first book of my next series[5] and my high-society romance novel[6].
3: https://fedran.com/sand-and-bone/chapter-33/
4: https://fedran.com/patrons/
5: https://fedran.com/flight-of-the-scions/
6: https://fedran.com/second-hand-dresses/
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