The Far Away Place (in progress)

Howdy, Friends and Nemeses! This is the site that holds my current work in progress, a book called The Far Away Place.

A few words of caution: if you do not wish to read the book until it is done, then leave right now and don't come back until November 30th.

This book is being written in chunks with no chronological organization. Whatever section I feel like working on today is the section that gets written, regardless of when it takes place in the story. So if you feel like there's a giant gap somewhere in your reading, you are most certainly correct. I've already got the ending written, but I will not be posting it on here until late in the month - hey, I've got to keep a little mystery, right?

Thanks for visiting, and feel free to come back at any point, even on the same day. I will be constantly updating. Comments and suggestions are welcome at twitterpate@juno.com, although they may be politely ignored.

Hearts, Jenny K. (La Luna Unita)

Today's update: as of November 28st, I am at 42,400 words. Sections 1 and 2 have been updated, since I've decided that the publishing rumor is crap. Hopefully I'll be adding some illustration images soon, as well!

The Outline - don't read it if you don't want to know the ending ahead of time!

• We meet the main character. She is eleven - an unremarkable age, to her, and she feels unremarkable in every aspect of life. She is lazy, yawning, whining, bored, tall and gangly for her age.
• Her crossing over into the FAP and two days on her own in the woods.
• Her first meeting with Faeyin - how can I get home? He takes her to Queenstown (a.k.a. Lingeed) to see if there is any help for her.
• Meets with Faeyin’s master, who is a kind old and absentminded wizard, but a servant of his Queen Witch. He looks to be a tired old man, but the knowledge he has is boundless. She gets to see his workshop and a little of the city.
• Meeting with the Queen. To return her home, the girl must go on a secret journey for the Queen as payment. Out far beyond the reaches of the FAP’s civilization lies the precious heart of the Queen. It was stolen long ago, and now she wants it back. But the enemies are even more terrible than the Queen. Perhaps it is revealed that the Queen put the green stones there on purpose? The Queen tells them that they must first seek the blessing of the Oracle as the beginning of their journey. What about her parents? They will never know she was gone. (How? I don’t know yet)
• Faeyin and Adeline prepare for the journey from the city’s fantastic and amazing markets while the Wizard spends a week looking for an old potion recipe he has so that Adeline can breathe underwater and visit the Oracle (it’s a hermit who lives on an island).
• The girl begins her journey with Faeyin and perhaps another person, or a horse. They travel east to the sea and Faeyin (able to speak to fishes) bums a ride for them.
• The Oracle doesn’t have much of interest to say to the girl, other than to send them north, through the Gray King’s land. To Faeyin it has private words. It does tell them that the Ignidar of the Gray Kingdom is waiting to see them, and that they must have a vision from her.
• The company must cross the land of the Gray King, which involves Faeyin asking permission and also asking a boon - to be allowed a viewing of the Ignidar, the flame witch. The flame witch is very interested in Adeline. The Gray King’s land is a very unusual place, and crossing it is an adventure in itself. They hear rumors of the forested land to the north.
• They cross into the petrified forest of the north. Not much has been heard from the inhabitants of the land for many years, but few have taken notice because they have always been a secretive people. Some are of the opinion that they disappeared when the forest was turned to rock, and some think they turned it to rock to dissuade anyone from entering and moved farther north, etc. As they journey inward, the talisman the Queen gave Jade gives her strange dreams or something to indicate that they are getting near the heart.
• The heart works like a beacon. Adeline is possessed slightly by the talisman and she pushes hard, traveling almost feverishly forward. The others attribute this to a desire to get home, and try to ignore her crankiness, not realizing there is a deeper cause.
• The groups finds something wonderful - an actual garden within all the dead stone around them. This is where the heart has rested. Just as Jade attempts to put her hand on it, they are all ambushed by the FNS, who have been watching their trek. Their connection to the witch queen is made known and the FNS are not very friendly. The group is brought to the leader, Hembel.
• They speak with some of the FN Spirits and discover that the Queen was lying - she really just needed the black heart to complete her powers so that she could begin her army to conquer ALL the lands of the FAP... and it is made known that the removal of her black heart is the only reason she hasn’t completely oppressed her own people and the reason she hasn’t had the power to take on the FNS. *when the queen had the heart, it was indeed black. Over time, her influence has disappeared and it has returned to its natural state*
• Adeline and Faeyin and their companions pledge their help in destroying Zora’el’s hold on the Spring Land. But the witch queen’s talisman calls the heart back and they must go steal it again to stop her - Adeline is called in the night, possessed by the talisman, and she simply gets up and walks away. The talisman pulls her forward as though she is flying and she travels all night as if in a dream, only to wake up in the court of the witch-queen*
• It’s muddy here - essentially, the inhabitants use their magic, but then also find magic in the girl which helps to save them all.
• The inhabitants know how to start the girl back on the path to the human world, and they help her in return for their victory. She returns home.

Outline Links

Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Section 10
Section 11
Section 12
Section 13
Section 14
Section 15
Section 16