A Step of Faith: The Endless Cage

Well, time for a break from the never ending swell of homework.

The Title: The Endless Cage

This one started off from a picture of a young woman in front of a birdcage holding a bird.

It started off as fantasy and evolved. . .

Into a futuristic sci-fi/post-apocalyptic.

Go figure.

But it works beautifully!

And I'm really intrigued on how this will end up being about, because the main character has amnesia, and she's the only one we really meet for the longest time.

But there's another character, and he I barely know, and is super quiet.

Well, I guess I would have to learn more when it's written.

She doesn't remember anything.

Her name.

Where she is.

How long she's been here.

What happened before.

Nothing.

Yet somehow, her hands know the instruments she finds from time to time.

Somehow, she knows which animals to evade and which ones to face.

And most of all, somehow she knows that she should never open her mouth, not even to scream.

Everything has been fine for a while now, but today has been different.

Today, someone with a deep voice called to her when she was hiding.

Someone, who called her Adaya.

I'm pretty sure that this would be centered around a post-apocalyptic world where there are people trying to figure out how mankind would survive mentally while alone.

This would be in first person, as that would make the most sense.

I'm still not certain about who she is. . .

It's driving me nuts. . .

Bah.

I need to write this sometime.

I really do.

Thoughts? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: The Dreaming Room

Well.

Here comes the next on my list.

Title: The Dreaming Room

This is, yet again, a Cinderella retelling.

This one, though, doesn't really have an exact genre it fits in.

There's a futuristic, almost contemporary feel to it, with some fantasy elements, mixed with a hint of thriller and a dash of romance.

This story particularly deals with captivity, and what happens to one's mind.

I guess you could say that this Cinderella is dealing with Stockholm Syndrome, and what happens to get her out of it.

It's all centered on one pivotal point, an invitation to a celebration.

This particular invitation, is presented to the main character by someone. . .

Almost, let's just say almost familiar.

Oh, and I have no idea how I'm going to fit in a fairy godmother. . .

Maybe she won't be in it?

But let's not forget the title.

That part.

Well, let's just say that if Cinderella kept falling asleep among the cinders, would the room with the fireplace not be called the room she dreams in?

Simple, really, but sweet.

Onward!

It's been years since she last set a foot out doors.
Well, off of the family property.
Eloise Duell never thought that was strange, or at least she would tell herself that.
But today, today is different.
Abraham Cofield, an old friend from before her father died, has suddenly turned up again.
And with him, an invitation to break free.
She doesn't know what from yet, but she can't help but wonder if it includes something to do with the room.
The dreaming room.

Well, that took some thinking out, and a lot of leaving out, but hey.
It's a work in progress.
Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is Welcome!

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,
SDG
Joy

A Step of Faith: Dreamer's Ball

This one technically came before the other Dreamer book in the list, but that would have been out of order and reveal some things, so. . .

Title: Dreamer's Ball

I really don't like that title.

I really need to find a better one.

But anyways, I liked playing around with the main character, Grettie, from Dreamer's Bridge so much that I didn't want to stop with one book idea.

I did two.

This one I decided to play around with the Cinderella story.

Instead of a step-family, it's extended family.

Instead of a prince, it's a leader of a smuggling ring, who inherited his position from his family.

I'm still not sure about the story world, but I'm leading towards a steam-punk style early 1900's.

Not quite bustle skirts and petticoats, but not quite historical 1900's.

Anyways.

Here's what I have for the synopsis.

Grettie has upset the village, and until things cool down, it no longer is good for her to stay there.

Her grandparents send her off to the city, to live with her widowed aunt and her three cousins.

Once there, they at first treat her like she was one of them, but that quickly changes.

Placed under their harsh cook, her limits are pushed.

But she still hangs on.

Until she one day she runs into a strange man in the market.

He's quiet, and soon she starts to notice him again and again, and slowly they start to interact.

Winter approaches, and the family gets ready for the week long winter festival, where each day ends in a ball.

When they mock her ability to go, she turns to the friends that she has made for help.

A group of older women in charge of a few shops collaborate together to get her dressed for the first ball, only for the cook to intervene and stop her.

The next day she the older women intervene again and literally escort her to the ball.

There, the quiet man from the market is the center of attention.

And she's now the full center of his attention.

Which she quickly discovers, is not the place where she wants to be.

Poor Grettie, she keeps meeting people with bad reputations.

I wonder if I should find her a storyline that doesn't end like that. . .

Who knows.

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: Dreamer's Bridge

The next idea is a little out of order, but that's the way it's done sometimes.

Title: Dreamer's Bridge

This one came from taking one element out of a fairy tale, and seeing where that leads me.

I decided that I didn't want to give Little Red Riding Hood a crimson garment that would be easily seen in the woods from a distance in broad daylight.

Taking that element led me down many interesting paths. . .

I also turned the idea of the wolf into two different characters; a young nobleman's son and a banker.

This introduced some interesting conflict.

Mix that in with a few dashes of super-natural, entrapment in an old monastery wine cellar, and an unlikely friendship between Red and some old ladies, and I quite like the idea.

I just need to actually sit down and write it.

Here goes.

Grettie had no idea that the stranger was going to bring so much problems.

Nor did she want the banker to appear with a two week deadline for paying off her grandparents farm.

But there is little, so it seems, that she can do.

When offered a job running errands shortly after the banker's visit, she readily accepts.

Now, with some new courage she didn't know she had, Grettie races against time to save the only family she has ever known, and be back home before the moon rises.

That's all that I have for now.

I know some of it is vague, and there isn't much to it actually written out, but there are some things that I leave to develop later, when I know a lot more about the story.

Also known as when I start writing it.

So!

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: The Dark and the Delicate

Next up in my folder: The Dark and the Delicate

This idea came from a dream.

It was really weird, because a smattering of my family and I (four of us out of my six sisters and I) were for some reason in Europe when war broke out against the US.
We were in an enemy country, so we had to somehow go somewhere safe.

Which ended up being a mountain estate of someone's, a huge modern/castle-like mansion, where they were also hiding seven other foreign women.

I got a small room with this beautiful view, a tiny desk (that held the Narnia series and a notebook, all that evidently I had brought with me), and a small bed in this nook/closet area.

Days, then months passed and no one came to help us out of the country.

We settled into a routine, and we didn't get much information outside of the small rural village that was a little way below us.

It goes on, to include druid-like magic users and enslavement via these weird necklaces and lots of walking in the dark.

Let me just say that it was a very vivid dream.

And I decided to run with it.

Here's what I have!

(By the by, I'm going with a contemporary fantasty feel for this story. . .)

War has broken out.

In the southern hills and mountains of France, twelve foreign women seek refuge.

Duke Risbond, a wealthy land and business owner opens his spacious home to them.

For a few weeks, they wait for help to arrive.

Then one night, a man heavily robed sneaks into the building.

He knows his way well, and goes into one of the smaller rooms that one of the women are staying in.

She is sound asleep, and he enters a secret chamber in her room without disturbing her.

Or so he hopes.

In reality, she watched his every move from the shadows of her bed.

The next night, he does the same thing, and the woman slips in past him.

Doing so, she sets off an ancient secret that puts her own life and the lives of the eleven other women in danger.

They are now at the mercy of the Hiero Vasileios.

So. . . Yeah.

I pretty much see this in terms of a simple story, that, in many ways, seems too simple.

It's so much like the classic twelve dancing princesses' story, that I've never had too much of an interest in actually working on the characters.

Which is why I love Pinterest.

I can always discover something to keep my interest.

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: The Crystal Legend

So I guess I might as well do another one today.

Today's Little Bunny: The Crystal Legend

This idea came about when I put together three things: A cool looking picture, one of the countries I developed for Gypsy Gift, and the idea of what if this world had invisible beings that were going extinct?

Almost like saying ghosts are now extinct, but they weren't always, so that would be why we are still scared of them.

Hah.

Now there's a new idea within itself.

But anyways, I took it and I ran with it and this is what came out.

In a time when nobility understood the importance of educating the lower classes, rumors are flying.

Invisible creatures are back, they say, the invisible creatures from the age of myths.

The nobles do everything they can to deny this.

First livestock start to act oddly.

Then children start to disappear.

When a young prince and his entourage disappear on a hunt, a young philosopher is ordered to find the truth behind this.

He bands up with a pickpocket, a nobleman, and a swine herder. 

I did end up throwing in a cliche twist in there, but it just fits with this story and makes me smile so wide!

Oh, the adventures to write!

Questions? Advice? Idease? Anythings is welcome! :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: Conflicsion Finds Conclusion

This is one of those ideas that I didn't care for at first, but have never let go.

Plus I don't like the title, but go figure.

Idea: Conflicsion Finds Conclusion

This is one of those ideas, that came from a picture, and a character jumped out and didn't let me go.

Those are so annoying. . .

But I really do like this character.

I didn't name him until recently, but his desperation and constant searching just haunted me.

His world breathed darkness, evil, and a thirst for something more, and I had nothing else to go off of.

If anything, it reminded me of how I felt after I read Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and the Scarlet Letter. . .

Maybe that's why I ended up giving him the background that I did.

Anyways, here we go.

Emlyn was born an outcast.

The oldest son of the local witch, Eithne Byrne, he was immediately labeled an outcast.

His life looked dark, and his mother was pushing him to join her in her practices.

Then, like a ray of possible light, a strange family came to town.

Their daughter, Anya, immediately became something that resembled everything that he could never be.

Good.

Whole.

Free.

As time runs out for him to decide, he reaches out, hoping that he will make it out whole by daybreak.

Yeah. . .

Still lots of work, but it won't let me be.

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: Colors of Night

This time around: Colors of Night

I have this fascination with random things, and one of them is the aspect of color.
When I read The Giver by Lois Lowry, I was absolutely amazed that she took the idea of color and emotions going together, and how she applied that in her story.
How I didn't even catch it until-
Oh, hi bunny trail; I'll wave hi as you go by. . .
Sorry, back to my original train of thought before it derails.
Back up.
I basically took that fascination of color, added a couple of pictures I found online, and a dystopian/post-apocalyptic story emerged.
I haven't really done much with it, but here's what I have.



Iria was born into a world where color is used as a commodity, and is sold to the highest bidder.
Born with the gift of crafting colors into pictures, she was sold to a color house long ago.
Ciar was born into a world where color was taken away from the people, and only used as a form of torture.
He is a young guard in a high tech facility, who flinches at the sounds of the horror of color.
Until one night, Ciar dreams of a girl in beautiful color, and isn't afraid.
Separated, gifted, and now thought going insane, the two unlikely souls search for a way to cross realities before they are finished forever by those around them.

Okay, I had a bit of fun with writing that on the spot towards the end.
So what do you think?
Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,
SDG
Joy

A Step of Faith: Carousel Song

I am bored today, so here's the next idea: Carousel Song

This one actually has been lingering with me for a long time.

When I was younger (I don't even remember how old I was. . .), I read a picture book that was about a carousel that came alive at night.

That idea stayed with me for a very long time, and when I was a teenager I combined it with two (possibly three) things that I love: Family, and Sci-Fi/Fantasty.

I didn't like the idea of creating the one cliche (to me at least) single main character, who just falls in love with another sub-main character, when they were in their mid teens, like I was then.

I wasn't even in a place or position to even start thinking about what having a boyfriend would be like, so in hind sight, I don't blame my teenage self.

So. . . 

Here it is, after the many evolutions it has gone through.

This reminds me of the book that originally inspired this, but it isn't quite like it. . .

The two main characters are sisters, Melvina and Skye.

Their father is the keeper of the carousel that is in their town.

They have known for many years, that the carousel was special, they just didn't know how.

The day after Skye's (some teen number) birthday, she is introduced to how to take care of the carousel with her sister and father.

That night, she learns their family's secret: The carousel is alive.

The horses, of all kinds and colors, become alive after (some yet to be determined time)

For some unknown reason, her father disappears without a reason that same night.

They find (a communication of some sort) that informs them about something (not really decided, but something about their father. . .).

They discover somehow that the horses actually act as guards of a kind to other worlds and realms, and one of them has gone missing.

The over arching premise is to find their father.

The story is broken down into twenty-six short episodes, I guess you can put it.

Originally, they were just stories of modern girls exploring my imaginary worlds, but then last year I came up with the episode/chapter titles, and that gave them more of a plot.

I'm actually thinking that this might be the stories that I work on during the rest of this summer. . .

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcomed! :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: Becoming a Gentleman

Well, it's past time for me to do another one of these.

My next idea (type, thing) is: Becoming a Gentleman 

I started this one when I first started to play around with the Steam Punk genre.

I personally don't see much in it yet, but I still love the title and the feel of it.

Oh yes, I don't think of these ideas/stories as one dimensional thought, but with all my senses.

This one in particular feels like old supple leather and smells of black tea that was steeped too long.

I never really sat down and wrote down any of my thoughts on this, but I'll try to remember all that I can.

(Self, please don't forget to do that again. . .)

(MC) was some kind of street kid, who was snagged off the street by someone (or maybe an organization???).

He decides to go into the police force, especially as he sees himself as a fairer officer towards his fellows.

When he finally gets his badge, he is immediately moved to a finer district and put on a watch for a grand mansion.

There was something about assassins as well, and someone with spy information that needed to be kept guarded.

And for some reason, there was nobility and upper class stuff that he had to learn.

Really self, why didn't you write this one down?

Oh well.

There it is.

All that I can remember about it.

(Oh, all of my picture story ideas are kept on my computer, and automatically alphabetized, so. . . expect all future story ideas from A-Z :D )

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome! :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: Beautiful Eyes

My next idea to share, is:

Beautiful Eyes (a Beauty and the Beast retelling)

I wanted to play around with the idea of giving both Belle and the Beast a curse to battle.

Then I decided to, well, flip the effects of the curses.

In essence, Belle is disfigured and the Beast is considered innocent.

This is an old idea, one that I played with in my mid-teen years.

After tossing the concepts around for a bit, I couldn't make much sense of how to make it work.

(In fact, I think that I might use it now in a different way then originally imagined.)

Here is what I had written on my story ideas document:

Twice Cursed.

Disgusted with the current thread of nobility, a Fae curses the daughter of a Duke; she'll forever long for human contact, but in the presence of a human she morphs painfully into a monster.

Unwanted by good society, a half-blood thief runs from the band that he had called home for years; with no where to turn in the metropolis, he turns to the legendary old haunted mansion.

Uncertain of what to do in his new prison, he embarks on a quest to end both of their pains.

So in essence, I tried to give the Beast a bigger and more important part in the story than what I grew up with.

Like I said, I like the idea still. . .

I just need to twist it just so that I can actually make it work.

Maybe a different genre?

I don't know.

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome! :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith: A Palace of Words

After a lot of thinking, I've decided to start with the stories inspired by pictures and quotes I've collected on my computer.

First one up:

A Palace of Words (A Snow White Retelling)

There are many things that I've come to detest in Snow White retellings.

Many of them include:

1. Weird to really fast romance

2. Either really innocent or some odd combination of innocence and warrior princess

3. An overly trusting Snow White

I guess you can say that I don't read too much fairy tale retellings, but I can say that this is what has been bugging me personally.

So, like a lot of my stories end up becoming, I decided to try my own little spin.

(This story has had two different versions arise in the time that it has stewed in my noggin. . .)

Oh, my answers to the things I don't like. . .

1. Either somehow learn to make it realistic, or don't include it at all.

2. Where's the background reasoning behind everything? Turn her into a real character I can understand!

3. Similar to 2, but I'd probably also give her some common sense. . . 

Version 1:

 

(Snow) was a very sheltered princess/girl while growing up.

Her father pampered her.

Her step-mother was her closest confidant and friend.

But times have changed, with the rise of a great plague and the rumors that only spilled blood with end it.

Her father tried to bring this down with the help of the local priests, only for the step-mother to side with the priests and kill her husband.

This doesn't end the plague, and all eyes turn on the new found ruler, the queen.

Fearing the priesthood, she herself turns to the young woman who she had once adored, (Snow).

Unable to do the requested deed herself, she sends the girl out with some men who were told to do the deed.

The frightened girl escapes from these strange men, and eventually comes upon a small mountain village, starving and in need of help.

Taken in by the headman's family, she becomes dear to them, despite her useless knowledge and strange ways.

When a strange woman comes to their village, the plague quickly follows.

The queen has come to do the job herself.

Version 2:

The royals are dying out, and danger lies everywhere

When the queen dies, leaving the king with a little daughter as his heir, he remarries and sends his daughter to grow up with her wet nurse's family.

He keeps the knowledge of his daughter from his new bride, in the hopes that his daughter would become lost to the royal world.

After a short and barren marriage, he dies and leaves his kingdom to his queen.

History will not, however, forget his deed.

A group of young historians come to the queen, requesting information on the young princess, who would be reaching her time of eligibility soon.

Aghast at the news that her husband had a child, she sends out men to find the young woman.

By the turns of Fate, she was not found in her home, and the men retaliated by needlessly murdering her adopted family.

Frightened for her life, she escapes into the nearby forest and travels for weeks.

She eventually ends up in an enclosed University, where she is befriended and given work.

After years of searching, the queen finds her and slowly tries to befriend her.

After coming to a standstill in (Snow's) defenses, the queen decides that she must act.

I don't know the details, or all of the answers yet for these two versions.

For all that I know, I'll end up changing the name for one of them and just write two different stories!

Questions? Advice? Ideas? Anything is welcome. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy

A Step of Faith

So life is busy.

Work doesn't help with feeling like creating.

And time is very precious.

So. . .

I'm taking a step of faith and, trying to at least, start posting about some of my actual story ideas.

And updating the different ones on whether or not I actually work more on them.

Not what I thought about doing originally for this summer, but I hope that it'll keep me going.

Thank you to everyone who still looks at my blog.

I do have some Pinspiration posts still scheduled, I like doing those ahead of time. :)

Keep on Writing!

God Bless,

SDG

Joy