The fissure itself appeared long and jagged, it appeared as a line almost as if three people had walked side by side by side together down a stretch of earth about 15 meters long. The snow dripped and fell into the crevasse as the sides of the new ravine and the new teutonic plate settled down into their new places. The fissure exposed only a long and dark pitch black nothingness that extended as far down to the core of the Earth as it was possible. Only a modest, and insignificant pin-prick of intensely bright yellow shone deep down near the core of the world. It was as if the world was admidst some growing pains and needed to somehow expand and stretch and grow the long steam of its spine starting down from the bottom and cracking it lengthwise up until the surface of the neck, which was seen as the exposed portion of the earth. The outermost part of the shell of the turtle’s back as it slowly shambles and making its way across the long highway of the Milky Way of the universe and galaxy.

A long, stunning, gorgeous, alluring plume of ghastly, gaseous smoke raised up out of the fissure. The sky above was a black canvas light only by tiny pinprick light of stars flickering in and out from high above. Evergreen trees, freshly dusted with a sprinkling with snow swayed lightly as a breeze shifted through the air. Freshly fallen snow also blanketed the ground, giving the dazzling light show a reflection, the perfect backdrop to shimmer across.

The lights danced across the sky as it mixed in with the oxygen and hydrogen and nitrogen that lived in the lower atmosphere of the world. Beautiful hues of magenta, emerald, cobalt blue, gold and silvers swirled and tapped across the sky, inching their way out from the fissure. At first only a small flow of magenta fluttered into the air, shyly moving from the ground and mixing slowly with the air until the air pushed it higher and farther from view. Then the fissure pushed out a stream of cobalt blue that got pushed out, almost as if it were a geyser, blasting the deep blue color directly into the winds stream heat that the air contained. Finally, like the whelping from a litter of kittens, a small but wide gush of emerald green hovered and slowly swayed from side to side as it zig-zagged its way to slowly join the other colors. As the three primary colors joined in oceans of swirling and circling, they clashed and collided together to create and form other amazing hues of violets, purples, silvers and golds.

The small, steady blurry cloud moved their way higher and higher into the air and split into ice-like diamonds that bounced gently across the top of the clouds before falling back down to the ground and melting back into the ground it was once safely tucked under. From start to finish, this process took all of a slow but steady fisfteen minutes and forty-seven seconds. And once it was done, the whole dance started again, as if the Earth sighed and was softly letting out a long, small whisper of prayer to the dark sky, the stars, and the planets that sat so far away from it.

It was late in the night, the sun having set many an hour ago. A small steading shhishing sound emitted from the fissure, barely audible, giving the already freezing evening a more dark and horrific feel to it. Nothing else was above ground or out along the ice. To do so would only mean certain death by either predators or the cold. No one noticed the dazzling smoke and light show as it began the nightly dance of painted color across the night sky.

This dance went on for hours and hours, and the moon passed high over the darkened sky, being the only witness to this new ecological phenomena. Soon, it grew tired as the lights shifted in and out of intricate patterns flowing in the sky. The morning light began to descend upon the northern sky for a small and brief appearance. While the light cast shadows among the trees, it barely affected the light show. In fact, it enhanced and caused the gasses and colors to appear even brighter. A white polar bear galloped across the ice, in search of holes that might provide it with sustenance for the day and those that followed it. It caught smell of the fissure and cautiously crept closely to the edge to see what beast might be inside. As it stepped closer and closer to the edge, the hair sitting on the back of the polar bear stood on edge and a low growl began to carve a path through the winding windpipes of inside of the bear from the belly to the mouth. It was not the sound of fear, or hatred, but a curious snort and throaty sound of warning and hesitancy. The moment it escaped the mouth of the bear, through long incisors and sharp fangs, the bear spun on the left and right haunches and galloped off in the opposite direction. It silently vowed never to return close to this edge and hoped that the cry of warning would have reached via echo location to hir companions and steer them away from this area. Something was amiss and the critters who lived next to or near this area would do well to keep away from the crack.

A lone prop-jet plane sped across the sky. The sun begun a slow descent for the evening and the evening winds kicked up, spinning and pushing the light show into new heights. The pilot gaped in amazement at the show happening outside his cockpit window. He looked at the star charts and flight paths wrapped in plastic and sitting on the seat next to him. Confinement spread across his face as he realized that it was too low and the wrong time of the year for the aurora borealis to appear so strongly. “What the hell,” he said,” This should not be happening in Washington State. Now here is one for the record and trivia books. Makes me wish that I had brought my camera along with me for the ride. Betty and the kids would have loved to have seen this. Darn them for not wanting to come out here on this run. Oh well, I guess it is their loss.” The pilot circled his plane three times just so he could maximize the time to watch the live-action paint show that God had decided to provide him with on this very special night. Once his curiosity and spiritual desires were satisfied, he sped off to finish his delivery run.

Word of the new light show slowly spread through word of mouth and the once abandoned wilderness near the backside of Mount Rainier became a popular autumn destination spot. People slowly trekked their way into the area via snowshoes, snowmobiles, and skis. They brought coffee and hot chocolate and the dogs and the children, as hardly anyone this low in the hemisphere had ever been fortuitous to bear witness to something as awesome as the aurora borealis. Children ran around making circles in the snow as they attempted to mimic the patterns made by the dancing colors wavering and moving high overhead. Couples held hands in one another as they felt the power of the world draw them closer together in the bonds of emotional caring. Everyone reveled in the amazement of mother nature. They were so captivated and enthralled that no one noticed the absence of sound from birds or beasts. They did not see or recognize the unsteadiness and the nervous behavior from the pets they brought with them. Dogs would stammer and step from left to right and mummer nervously in the snow. Some tugged at the lead the master placed around them, trying desperately to grab the attention of the person nearest to them, hoping they could get the two-legged to move away from the unnatural event.

Only two visitors came to the center of the newest heavenly show. Two park rangers huddled against one another in the sub-zero freezing temperatures. “This has been going on for the past two days now,” the smaller of the two rangers said, her voice trembling as she brought her fingers up to her face to breathe warm, moist air across them to keep the stealthy frigid air away from them. Soon more and more people came and that is when the Federal Park Rangers took notice.

It was late in the morning, on the third day that the fissure erupted forth from the deep below and started sending gasses up and out from the center of the world, when the familiar olive green trucks and Jeeps speed through the pavement only to bounce off into the mud and ice and snow on logging road number four hundred and sixty four for the next two hours. Jillian pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face as the crappy suspension and traction bobbed her body back and forth. Static called out from the truck’s walkie talkie, alerting her to the fact that she was now in radio silence territory. Nothing would be able to be reported back to headquarters if they had found anything. All she and her boss, Steven, knew was that a whole lot of people decided that Humble Campsite was a great winter destination spot, an location that had never drawn in many people in the thirty years the location had become a part of the forest service campsite string. Her bosses and the State Transportation, who feared that the logging road would send civilians unused to the harsh road conditions out in the back country, would soon find themselves trapped or worse, decided to send them over to “check things out.”

The temperature rose a few degrees, but the sun still refused to make an appearance for the day. Steve, who was sitting in the Jeep, leading the two of them to their destination, flashed his lights at Jillian. She sighed and hoped that the signal meant one thing. That they were close to their destination site where they could begin their day and figure out what was going on. The thick and dense trees opened up and the breathtaking sight caused Jillian to gasp and blink twice. Before her was a magnificent sight of colors and patterns. The sky seemed to be alive with the most vivid light show ever seen. “Damn, no wonder they are all so attracted to this location. That is so totally amazing. It is almost unreal. I have never seen anything like this before. I hope Steve is getting an eyeful of this.”

Soon after the Jeep pulled off the side of the road and powered down. Jillian pulled up beside the Jeep as far as she could off the logging road as she could. Now that the lights were dimmed they could experience the silent dance hovering over their heads.

Steve scratched his head and looked at Jillian. “I do not know what to make of it,” he said, shaking his head. “This is unreal. So unnatural. I have never seen this this far South. “Jillian, when did they say this started going on?”

“A pilot first reported it a few days ago, sir,” she said looking around. “They gather out there, and apparently the lights go on for some distance. What do you think is causing it?”

“Well, whatever it is… it is a bit unnerving. I have a bad feeling about this. Come on, lets grab the gear and set out. The sooner we can figure out what is going on, the better we will be able to tell Washington D.C. and figure out how to contain this. Word is getting out, and I am sure, more and more people will make the long-ass journey up here to see this. I will bet that this place is going to be a circus soon.”

Jillian nodded and slung the backpack over her shoulders. She hoped that they would figure out how to deal with this so that people could experience the phenomena safely.

Admiring the forum banners, I stumbled across one that had a design and theme that resonated in me. So out comes Photoshop and my digital crafty side took over. By the time kender arrived home I had started files for a Dust Cover (for my author’s bio page), and a Desktop graphic. About an hour ago, I finished the designs on all three.

Ladies and Gents… I’d like to present this year’s idea:

Now all I need is to develop that idea into a REAL plot and maybe get a rudimentary outline ready by November 1st. Any out there want to talk plot shop?

I spent 17 days, living in the world of Autumn Chase. A world where magic lives and good triumphs over evil with nothing more than the power of intellect. I loved writing about the lives of my characters, their journey of uncovering information, and exposing the darker side of what could exist in our world. After spending all that time in this world, it’s hard to let it go. This year, once I shut the book, it made the transition from that world back to my world, more real. When I went to bed, that night, I cried a bit. I wasn’t ready to let go. Is any writer really ready for that moment?

Today I experienced the second TGIO moment. This one, of more excitement, happens when I plug in the full draft of my manuscript into the “Official NaNoWriMo Validator.” This is the moment of truth, when I hold my breath, and watch as the website puts the words “WINNER” in big purple letters across my Green bar. My smile widens and then I hurriedly download both my winner’s badge and certificate. It’s also the moment that I proudly tell anyone and everyone that I AM A WINNER and a novelist for another year.

So, there you have it folks. I’m a NaNoWriMo 2008 winner! I’ve completed my 7th full first draft of a novel and can proudly say (and bear the writer’s bump to prove it) that I did it all by my own hands.

YAAAAAY! I did it… I’m done. I finished my 7th first draft of a novel… and this TIME I DID IT ALL BY HAND. And boy was it sore tonight. Not sure if it was the excitement of being almost done or the slim signature I made that hurt it. But I did it. Autumn Chase defeated the daemon with the help of the power of creation from the lifebox. She then buried it (shhh, it’s a SEKRIT! She won’t tell you) and went back to the Order and told them it was destroyed. I then gave her a vacation with Chad, somewhere warm.. where she wanted.

I’m relieved that I am done. For a brief moment tonight, I was afraid I wasn’t going to have enough words to finish with. And amazingly I did. We tried to go out to dinner for fish to celebrate but no one was open at 9pm. Oh well, maybe some other time.

Now I wait to submit a manuscript of words to the NaNoWriMo site (which validates my authenticity as a winner) and then get my certificate, and winner’s badge. Then I’ll try and relax for the next month and give my hand a break from any hardcore writing. I’m planning on vegging out with lots of good books for the next month and a half.

(And write essays. I have been looking forward to writing a few new essays. Besides, my mind needs a break from the whole novel writing routine for a spell.)

Today’s points didn’t go as planned. Actually it was all quite messy and I wish I could take them back but I can’t. I don’t think I planned these points out well at all. For some reason I planned to have Inca and Autumn chat about life, the universe, and everything for 3000 words that would lead up to the big climax.

That sort of was boring and didn’t happen. That and the two opposing viewpoints (god is machine and does not exist versus god does exist because I came from there!) just didn’t come out of me because I really do not see either point in myself. *shrug* oh well. I did get them talking for a little bit, however. Mostly because I needed to buy Autumn some more time to read the scroll and figure out what to say. She finally figured it out though, good girl.

Then I had her sing and breathe the intonations to unlock the box. And it opened, filling her head with all the memories and things that the owner of the box put inside… in this case… God. I now have 2500 words left. I am sitting on a cliffhanger that involves another energy ball from Inca and what Autumn will do.

I finished my journal today as well. Had I written smaller in the first 5 days I think I would have had enough room to get all 50k words in there. Tonight I’ll make another 10 page signature. That way I can finish up the novel in that and slip it into the back of the book so it all will be self contained. I am going to be done a day sooner than I anticipated. Which makes me glad because I am so ready to move on with this.

Getting down to the wire, I’m almost finished! Today I wrote the first confrontation between Autumn and Inca. I originally planned that it was going to be some sort of physical duel, with them barely escaping. Instead things got a bit mental and metaphysical. They dueled in Autumn’s head, which gave me a some space to get them talking… show a bit of attraction, etc. and let Inca know he meant business.

Then I got the three out of there and on a plane back to Portland. Everyone has now been caught up and the plan is to keep Autumn on the run, shuffled off to various safe-houses, as she works on deciphering the scroll. Basically this catches the storyline up to the “present”. It also sets me up to make the final transition back to the final duel between Autumn and Inca on the streets of Portland. I’m not very good at transitions between scenes and time but I managed it. Tomorrow we return to the story’s present as I work to set up the big climax and battle.

I’m still on track with the story. I quickly got them over to the Pyramid and instead of having them travel in some labyrinth maze, my mind decided to put the information in easily accessible rooms on the outside. I put glyphs on the walls and had them figure out which room the scroll was hidden in and would NOT destroy the ruins. My mind got tricky on me and decided that instead of one room, two of the rooms contained valuable information. One on the lockbox and another with the scroll. Finished the section off with them getting the scroll they came for but… hearing sounds of combat off in the distance.

Overall today was fun to write. It felt like the words flowed and I could see what was going on, like I was on my computer. Things slowed down when I had to quickly figure out what the “puzzle” portion of the plot but in the end was pleased at making the goal.

(Note to revision-self: When you come to editing this part, do some research with regards to Cairo and where the pyramids are located. Does it really take 3 hours to get to the first of the nearest pyramids? Maybe get a guidebook to Egypt.)

Yay! Go me! I’m past 35K and still going. Still writing this blasted thing by hand even. I’ve got Autumn, Chad, and Andrews up in a plane now. They’re en route to Cairo. I figure it’s the safest place for them to be with the daemons after them. *gryn* Tomorrow I plan on getting them into a pyramid and trying to come up with some magic lock picking method to get what they need from the ruins.

Being less than 15k away from the 50k finish line, I took a look at the plot outline. When I started, I figured that 17 plot points was barely enough to get me to 50k. Of course, I think that EVERY year and tend to squish things down in the last 15K because I have like 10 or more things to cover before I consider the book done. In reality, I pad a lot when I write, hoping that every word will help count towards the ultimate goal. I do this because I think a part of me is afraid that if I don’t extend the word count and throw in as many words a day as I possibly can, before my mind explodes, that those words may cost me– it may be the year where I run out of plot and things to write about before hitting 50k. And then I’d have to go back and add more in, something I don’t like doing because I feel it’s cheating and allows my internal censor and editor out to rip apart the fragile draft before it’s done.

If I keep going at the nightly rate of 3000+ words, I think I’ll have a 70k novel on my hands. And maybe a dead left hand. I don’t want either of those to happen. I’m already tired of writing by hand and really want to stop, but I am determined not to let that negativity get the best of me. So, I’m going to condense a bit (not by much tho) and plan on finishing the book in 5 days and about 52,000 words. If I stick to this new goal, this handwritten book will be my longest NaNo book I’ve done to date.

Oh and for those of you reading this (hi btw!), and want to see what I wrote this year, I DO plan on uploading it to it the stories section of this domain. I may put it under the category of “Pandora’s Lifebox”. However, I don’t plan on transcribing it until January at the earliest. I totally want to veg in December and read my brains out! But yes, I plan on digitizing it for posterity and later editing, if I so choose that route for the story.

I had to check my math twice tonight. It seems rather odd that those 3604 words jumped me that far up the chain. I had planned on writing another meeting and then maybe the boring beginnings of a trip to Europe. Instead I decided to write my own personal rendition of Pandora’s Box, a story that heavily influences the novel’s idea and also catapults Chat and Autumn into unraveling the mystery of the necklace. I then ended it with Chad reading Autumn a bedtime story and Graham walking into the library with some news and offers of coffee. Tomorrow I’ll have the gang get back together, figure out what it is and then go to Europe or something to search for another piece of how the whole thing works.

I must say that I have been enjoying writing the side tangents of the novel more than writing the main storyline. The daemon’s voice, the myth-telling have been far more fun for me so far. I wonder that means?