A Pocketful of Stars, Snippet.

When scientists recreated the Big Bang, they had no idea how successful it would be. In their little universe, new worlds had begun to form. So when sixteen year old Catriona stumbles into her father's experiment, she's thrown into a whole new reality: here, she's not just a High School student with B grades and a computer based social life. Now she's a goddess with magic like powers and the ability to make or break their primitive society. What she does surprises them all: adopted the people as her own and went to war with the scientists she once called family.  

CHAPTER ONE

The big bang theory is something that scientists believe created the universe. Prior to the big bang they stated quite firmly that nothing existed. The universe was a big blank slate ready to stretch out across light years. No one's quite pin-pointed what made up the Big Bang, but leading theories suggested that there was a major expansion around thirteen point seven billion years ago. Now across the world there are different theories as to how the world was created. The Greeks had their ancient gods, from Zeus and Poseidon to Athena and Hades. But what classical literature doesn't tell us is if these people were aware that in the future scientists would attempt something that would rock the very foundations of several core belief systems. They would attempt to re-create the Big Bang.

I knew this because I visited my father's laboratory every few weeks. The man was involved in ground-breaking research into how the world began. All the scientists were scrambling to prove their theories true. One of the theories with just as much relevance today was the String Theory. There are two types of string theory: the closed string loops that break into open loops, or the closed string loops that can't break open. I didn't understand it very well, but it had something to do with musical notes and the stretching of guitar strings; the most common example Dad tried to explain to me. As for my opinion? String theory had to be proved at the molecular level, which meant that they were smaller than the eye could see. The Big Bang felt more like an answer to a sixteen year old girl with little knowledge in the scientific area, except for what she'd been told by adults.

It was a Friday afternoon when Dad took me to the workplace. The scientists were already aware that my visit would come around, so parts of the facility had been sealed off as staff only 'access points' to which I'd been cut off. As long as I hung out in the library waiting for Dad, I would be fine and dandy and nothing would happen.

Today was a little different. I had my little brother with me. As little brother's go, he's a right pain in the arse and controlling him is like trying to control an active little kitten – almost impossible. We were on the third floor of the faculty and outside one of the staff only rooms.

"Why can't we go in there?" Iain reached up for the handle and didn't notice the shiny metallic locking system on the door.

The metallic lock meant that a code had to be dialled into the door in order for us to get through. No matter how much we tried, even if I did wonder what was behind that door, I couldn't get through anyway. "If you know the code to get in, be my guest. But in the mean-time, we should probably head back to the library. Dad's waiting for us there."

Iain took that as permission to go through the unwieldy door. Now it should have been obvious to anyone that it wouldn't work. No way could a door with an access pin code allow a ten year old boy and a sixteen year old girl to go through it without the access code. So when Ian reached up and gently pushed open the door, my mouth dropped open.

"You said I could go in if I could get the door open," Iain said. "So let's go in and have a look around!"

He sounded way too enthusiastic to break the rules. We were only allowed at the facility if we didn't break the rules. If we did, Dad would be forced to leave us at home with a baby-sitter, which would mean endless amounts of embarrassment from what little school friends I had. I swallowed. This could not result in anything good, but because I was a good big sister I followed him inside.

Once inside it became very plain as to why they did not want children in the staff only areas of the facility. The sensation could only be described as similar to stepping inside a holographic three dimensional show that they have on display in some museums, to give the feeling that you're really in space. Some simulators did it, too. But not on this scale. The whole room was literally filled with planets and stars, hanging from the skies in the way most people imagined the universe would look across the great expanse of space.

"What is this place?" Iain ran through the room with his arms out, trying to touch the stars. As it stood they just went through it, like they would have gone straight through any holographic device.

As I'm sixteen years older than him, I was supposed to have all the answers when Mum and Dad weren't around. Right now, now I was flummoxed. I had no idea why a place like this would be in Dad's facility. But I guess they had to map the stars they found somehow. "I think its a device Dad and his team use to map the stars they find on the telescope."

I knew Dad was supposed to be a very well known Astronomer. So much so that he'd even been allowed to name a couple of stars that he'd found in the galaxy Andromeda, the closest galaxy to earth from the Milky Way. "But why would they need a computer to do that?"

Iain had crossed the room without me even noticing. I'd been too caught up in the stars to work out what had happened right under my nose. We were going to be in so much trouble when we got out of this. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up grounded, or worse. As I stepped through the holographic light-show, Iain must have pressed a button on the computer without realising it. Because the stars, planets and moons were suddenly getting bigger and bigger, until finally they were towering masses above me.

That's when I realised something wasn't quite right. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find my little brother. At that point I should have realised the truth. But I was just too damned stubborn to admit that something impossible had happened. I stepped forward with my arms out, trying to feel the space  around me. Nothing but air, which didn't surprise me. A noise like thunder rolled through the simulation room. I couldn't make out the sounds for the life of me, though I was certain it came from someone's lips.

"Bloody hell," I murmured.

Something had gone wrong, all right. Though I couldn't put my finger on exactly what, the space we were in had changed dramatically from what'd been to something eerily different. And when I stepped forward my body stretched as though the very particles that made up my body were being stretched and pulled in all directions. The ping pong sensation that spiralled out of control through my body sent a whirlwind of pain through me, until finally I collapsed onto my knees.

When I finally looked up a clay shell lay on the ground beside me. The shape mirrored my body so completely, that I thought someone must have made a mask of me when I'd had one of my operations as a young child. I did vaguely remember being taken into the hospital with a broken arm. When I could finally tear my eyes away from the clay statue, I looked up at the young man standing across from me. Was he the sculptor? If so, he needed to be commended for his good work.

The young man's hand reached out towards me. I stared at it stupidly for a few seconds before realising that I should probably take it. A gesture of good will, if nothing else. "I had rather hoped it would work the way the Sorcerers said it would."

Sorcerers? "Don't be stupid. There's no such thing."

An amused smile crossed the young man's face. "Take a look around you. You stepped out of that clay sculpture as a fully formed adult, my dear. If you weren't made from magic, tell me how you came forth?"

"I am not a being of pure magic," I corrected him straightaway. Why did people always make assumptions when they sure as hell shouldn't? Just because I wasn't at the facility anymore didn't mean that Dad hadn't invented a teleporter. Maybe I was in the middle of another operation, or unconscious. Two possibilities I couldn't well rule out. "I am a teenager from Upper Valley and all I want to do is go home."

"Nonsense," The young man shook his head and put a finger to my lips. "You didn't answer the question."

I snorted. "I'm supposed to tell a stranger where I come from?"

He stepped forward. "Fair enough. I'm Cornelius, god of wisdom and the arts."

I spluttered a laugh. This man really thought he was a god, did he? He thought I had stepped out of the broken clay statue that mirrored my physique perfectly. He might well believe Santa Claus really did circle the globe through everyone's midnight and that aliens visited the earth on a regular basis. Although that did beg the question. How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was being in the planet room with my little brother. He'd gone up to the computer and pressed a button he clearly shouldn't have and somehow, I'd wound up in crazy town.

"And I am Catriona," And with a shrug I gave up and chose the easiest thing possible, just to pacify him. "Goddess of ... Messages."

Snippet; untitled WIP

This high school party would be the party of the century, starting  with the cutest boys in school in attendance and ending with my arms wrapped around the waist of the hottest of them. I would be the envy of the prettiest girls in the school. Those who had shunned me would soon regret making me an outcast once the night came to a close. However what I hadn't counted on was my night derailing somewhere between my cat deciding it wanted to be fed and the flea-infested ball of fur knocking said hair dryer from the sink toward the bathtub.

I had already concluded a long time ago that my little ball of fur undoubtedly insane. "Summer!"

I called my little darling's name as though it were some kind of curse. The dumb animal reacted by jumping from the sink to the bathtub. I only just caught the dryer before it hit the water. A numb feeling travelled up my arm and froze it in place. The cat, being the curious thing that it was, knocked the dryer from my hands. It clattered to the floor with a loud thud.

"Summer." I wrapped my towel around me and took the blasted animal in my arms. Who on earth had left the dryer plugged into a power outlet?

Now what the said cat didn't realise is that water conducts electricity. The cat wouldn't have realised that she would be causing serious harm if this went any further. Some idiot had forgotten to turn the power off at the wall the last time they'd had a shower. There were two possible culprits in this house-hold: me, the sensible, loving and caring younger sister. I would of course have remembered to turn the electricity off at the wall – or at least unplug the hair-dryer. The second culprit you ask? Well that would be the older sister. The older sister was not currently in residence at the moment had had hurriedly showered this morning, washed her hair and forgotten to unplug the said hair-dryer.

"I bet it was Trina," I told the cat as I towelled myself off. "She has a bad habit of leaving things plugged in and mark you, she ran out the door this morning that bloody fast." I snapped my fingers to demonstrate to the cat, who watched me expectantly.

I got the feeling I only had an audience because she wanted her food for the night. I stepped into my outfit for this evening: a pink blouse, coupled with a skirt just above the knee. Long black boots might work, too. The cat would just have to wait. She'd caused enough trouble already: she could consider it as my proverbial form of punishment.

By seven thirty, the cat had been fed and the first guests were starting to arrive. Summer had decided to bugger off somewhere and hide under a rock or something. Good thing, too. I didn't want her to try her luck on any of the guests.

Distant Sun Snippet

Three or four ships popped up on radar. The fourth blinked in and out, as if enticing us to come closer. I snorted. Wasn't falling for that trick again. The last time I'd encountered something out of the ordinary we'd been blessed with the opportunity to see two crispy bodies. I wasn't about to suffer the indignity, because next time instead of the ship playing decoy I might end up as someone else's afternoon snack. Plan A seemed to work. Guided by radar we made our way around the tag-team of vessels who were probably waiting to ambush us. With our shields up, we were invisible to their radars unless they chose to ask Control. Passing those four ships took us straight from twentieth to sixteenth, bypassing a helluva lot of trouble and time consuming battles.

"Learnt from last time then?" Bex said scathingly. I attempted to ignore his comment. Bit back the snarky reply that had surfaced and came up with a logical, well thought out response.

"Can you try getting rid of some of this condensation?" I asked of him. Asked, but didn't expect the waspish reply.

"What d'you think I'm doing?" Bex snapped. "When I'm not baby-sitting you, making sure you're not puking your guts out and generally keeping you out of hot water, I'm damn well trying to get a visual."

O-kay. Someone needed a chill-pill. In times of high stress, racers and navigators must keep their cool. We were pushing past the speed of sound. Safe in a world with its own atmosphere, when faster than light speed might not be appropriate. I kept the damn ship going in the right direction, didn't I? I controlled the weapons, the shields, and everything else. Bex was supposed to navigate, but ended up having the rest of the controls that I managed to forget. Flying wasn't that easy, y'know.

"Ah, the cameras are operational," I played Captain Obvious for a bit and managed to swerve a mountain at the last minute. Good thing too. Looking like roasted chicken splattered across a mountainside along Diamede's wouldn't pay off any debt I'd ever heard of, nor would it skyrocket our names to stardom. When the condensation cleared, a bright, glaring Jump Gate made its grand entrance. Time for the rollercoaster ride from hell.

The Jump Gate had spat us out into an ocean. Quite literally. Out here there were those same rocky outcrops. Except the rocky outcrops here weren't entirely stationary. The gas bubbles were a dead giveaway that something wasn't quite right. As we flew over the seascape, up fast became anyone's guess right down next to the Abominable Snow Man. Speaking of Abominable Snow Men, it appeared that the underwater seascape had whiskers. Long, electric whiskers that lit up even the depths. I swallowed.

"I don't think this was in the travel itinerary," Bex hazarded one of the best guesses I'd heard from him since we'd become friends. "Because if it was, there would be a helluva lot more tourists here to see..."

Bex was cut short by a thunderous noise. It sounded like an explosion. And suddenly we were looking at two unblinking golden eyes. Eyes that could've belonged to any goat or sheep back on our home-world. Here though they were plastered onto the face of a giant sized sea slug.

"Shit," I blurted. "We're screwed."

There were so many ways I would have preferred to die. Being buried alive had rocketed into my top ten, while burnt alive shot to first place. Sea slug? Right down at the bottom, because it didn't look like I could avoid it. I slammed the Beast into reverse and attempted to zap from the speed of zero to sound in exactly point one of a second. Didn't end up happening that way. Instead I ran into what turned out to be very helpful protestors, whose lights were on at full boom and distracted the slug enough for us to make a  getaway. A bit of an anti-climatic end to that battle, but I wasn't taking any chances by playing rescuer.

"I thought I was supposed to be the pessimist?" Bex said as we placed our vessel on cruise control. The seascape still had that same, rocky outcrop that we'd seen before. It occurred to me then that one slug might not be a problem. Outrunning and outgunning several would really test the Beast. I scoured the sea floor, my eyes fixed for any sort of movement. My hands shook. "Damn that was close."

"Duh, one more minute and we would've been –" The hovercraft dropped out of cruise speed so fast that I swore the engines had started to fail. I frantically checked the controls and mirrors. Nothing squealed, whirred or protested that it wasn't working. Radar showed a vessel behind us, but we couldn't see it. Suddenly it dawned on me what the vast array of brown had been. More goddamn slugs.

"Elliot, its a ..."

"I know!" I shouted down the earpiece. "I fucking well know, Bex. Screw this. We're going to try distracting it. Throw out the best light you can, see if it'll play fetch."

Bex turned our lights onto full blast. It pierced through the darkness like a knife through butter. This would have been an improvement if the ship hadn't decided to be involved in what would've been described as an earthquake on land, but here could only have been described as several massive jolts.

"I thought we lost them?" Bex whined. "Elliot, do something!"

"I just did!" I exclaimed, near tears.

"Control!" Bex wailed into the earpiece. "We're under attack. What do we do?"

"From what?" Sam's voice rippled through the earpiece, barely controlling his laughter. Great, just great. We were going to die by sea slug, and he's laughing? I was going to slap him silly if we got out of this alive.

That's when our craft went spinning towards the nearest rock. I leapt at the ship's controls, pressing every button I could to get the vessel steady enough to fly. Several lights were now shining in the direction of the slug, confusing it. It gave me enough time to check my radar and notice that not one, but at least fifty, ships were surrounding the creature.

I was gobsmacked. What were they all doing here? They could have just left me as bait for the slug and escaped themselves. Instead they're all around us, and we're surrounded.

"All right there, Armstrong and Moss?" The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Bex had more luck than me.

"Yeah Trellis, thanks." Trellis. Didn't Trellis fly the Quasar alongside Macmillan? They were top racers, among the best in the galaxy. Having won several Sectionals and made it through to the Finals several times, they were among the most envied players in the world. An all male team had rallied this many people to our side? Why? When Gage had mentioned we'd made ourselves suspects I'd assumed...

"Why?" I blurted. "Would you have missed me that much?"

Laughter burst through the frequency. "Like hell, Moss. I'm just saying that we're not losing another racer because of some dumb shit animal rights activists, when they were the ones to wake the monsters in the first place. Now let's get going, before we change our minds."

We kept pace with the crew of the Quasar throughout the race, jumping from world to world at top speed. When we crossed the finish line we were miles ahead of those that'd saved our lives, but close enough to the end for a photo finish. With a soaking wet craft and our lives very much in tact, we dashed across the finish line in what the Officials called a rare, "photo finish." Shared first with racers who were ten times better than us and had the gull of twenty men. And I owed them a thank you.

Creation Myth .. So Far

Navid, O' Navid,

he's first, he's second,

He lived and breathed,

He lived and breathed,

The Chaos Seed.

Ninety nine a thousand,

The counts ran high,

Red soaked the greens,

Injustices unchecked,

Were the Chaos Seed and Navid,

Were the Chaos Seed and Navid.

When the red sky rose at night,

Navid and the Chaos Seed,

Howled their battle cry,

And the people gave up the ghost,

The people gave up the ghost.

Its up to Brogan now to tell,

As his hammer rose,

Whom to send to the Nethers,

The red sun broke to fall,

The red sun broke to fall.

From the red dawn came Adela,

Straight from the Nethers did She.

To break the Chaos Seed,

To break the Chaos Seed.

Hence came the Trinity Three,

As His Hammer struck forth,

As His Hammer struck forth.

Justice, Injustice and the Judge,

Justice, Injustice and the Judge. 

Update & Rant

Well it has been an interesting week, to say the least.

Not only have I proven myself geographically retarded -- a word I don't use lightly, considering I can't tell you where certain countries are without said map -- I have been through one of the biggest moves I will ever make.

This means that I am no longer living at the house I've always lived at. It feels kind of strange, and now I'm wondering how I can transfer that information to my writing.

My writing is going through a dry spell. There's nothing like them to dampen down the mood a little, but I suppose I could always drink a few spirits and get that sweet alcohol to do it for me. But I digress. I rather like being happy, so I think I'll stick to making my character's lives a living hell.

As for how to make it hell, one usually does throw conflict after conflict at them.

My muses currently have a few plot threads, but where I am in the story now? Not so great. Distant Sun is chugging along and hitting the middle is a big and scary place filled with mystery for a writer like me.

I'm not used to trying to finish stories. I am determined to finish this one. Because I actually have people interested in them, and this time around I have crafted an old idea into a brand spanking new one. There are even other books in the works, although this story needs to be told first.

What I've worked out is that writing crap really doesn't help my story. Not one little bit. So I can't add on it. If I'm not happy with what I've written, I don't create new words. I have to go all the way back and that takes up time. As a panster, this must seem pretty annoying. But there's not much I can do about it. It is my process.

I've recently decided that my process pretty much sucks. I've taken suggestions. Tried nearly everything to get a decent outline finished, but I keep losing interest in the outline. My urge to write the story -- actually write it -- is too strong.

So when I wrote my essay for school work, I was pleasantly surprised when one worked. Suggested by a friend from forward motion, it is simple enough. Make a list of all the headings, and the points that go under them. Brilliant for non-fiction and including everything that needs doing in an essay.

Yet the newest plan is to try it with a full length novel, including all the points but with some serious leeway. I think I can do it. But not with the story I am working on at the moment. It is far too soon. Maybe if this works and I have a decent idea, I'll be able to complete it. Right now... one thing at a time. Another thing I struggle with.

Don't worry if you don't understand the rant. I've just let this flow as I'm thinking about it, but if its any consolation I'm sure my insanity won't translate into the written word. However, I intend to prune and preen where necessary in my wip, until it is nice and shiny for Indie Publishing. I'll touch on that in my next post, maybe make it less ranty and more about what made me make the decision.

Revised Snippet: Slipstream Racers

"Engine four is down," Bex informed me in the tiniest of voices.

Right. Engine four is down. Not a total loss. "We can fly on three. We're not dead yet, mate."

"I'd like to think we're not dead," Bex said haughtily. "It increases our chances somewhat."

"By?" I refused to look at Bex's equipment. It might tell me something I didn't want to hear. Contrary to popular belief, I was allergic to bad news.

"Oh, about zero point five instead," The corners of Bex's mouth twitched. The slightest of smiles, but enough to tell me that he wasn't spending the last remaining minutes in race with his knickers in a twist. "I'm not sure how long we're going to keep it at zero point five, considering that two enemy vessels are now within range."

Range of what? I peered out my windscreen at spaces vast expanse. I could just make out their faint silhouettes. Crap. 'In range' must've meant in range of the radar, rather than firing range, which would've meant an easy defence. As it stood ...

I wasn't going to voice the thought aloud.

"Um ... " I stopped and made the mistake of glancing into the rear-view cameras.

Shit. Had he meant the two closer vessels, bearing down on  us with some speed? Because they certainly weren't cloaked. With their shields down, they were as visible to us as a rainbow on any water-world.

"Four ships," Bex confirmed a moment later.

Well that was good news. I wasn't imagining things. My body began to shake slightly. Crumbs. There wasn't a driver in the Outer Sequence that shouldn't have been able to handle pressure. Four ships shouldn't be a problem.

Not really. The Saints guns were good. Especially at full power. Except we were down an engine, running on auxiliary power and gunning for the finish line at the same time. There were three Jump Gates ahead of us that we had to rendezvous with. My jaw ached. A moment later, I realised I'd been clenching my teeth.

Shit, shit, shit.

"Five," I added to the total with a hint of dismay. Since when had tag-team racing been part of the War Game Division?

However it did give one of the freakish, once in a life-time opportunities. Pass all five of these crafts and I'd rocket into fourth place ahead of anyone who came by. So, what did I fear most? The opportunity, or the disaster to follow?

"Six," the number sounded as though Bex had taken a long gulp of water and then splattered it against the windscreen.

Definitely tag-team racing. But it would allow us to acquire third place. Hang on a minute. The sixth craft wasn't doing anything. It certainly wasn't getting ready to fire at us.

And as I thought the last line the ground shook beneath us like a magnitude 5 earthquake on a habitable world. Violent and sudden, we hadn't had time to do anything but react.

Curse these opportunists.

"What were you saying about our chances?" I murmured, hoping that Bex hadn't caught that last sentence.

"I think we can kiss the point five goodbye ..."

END SNIPPET 

So what does everyone think?  

An Update: The Slipstream Premier League

Today has been one of those rare days when I've made the most progress on this particular WIP.

HOWEVER

I have made plenty of changes.

Firstly I have been having fun shuffling scenes around. Which means I've edited the first race. While it is longer, it also brings my characters to life more effectively.

Some things are happening earlier. Now there are more deaths. The death of one important older gentleman; the two original deaths of the girls that push Elliot into the Sectionals, and the deaths of the two racers, who by all accounts would surely have won the Sectionals if their ship hadn't suffered a drastic mechanical failure in the first race of the Sectionals.

All plot related deaths, all within the first few chapters. I might space out the events in the second draft.

 A new point of view has been added, ala Agent Cameron Gage. He ties things in together nicely, with his point of view helping along the investigation.

Introduction to one of my Big Bad's happens later. Elliot has seen him, but hasn't spoken to him. Nor has he made a proposition to her ... as of yet. And she's not going to put  two and two together and make five quite as easily as she did the first time around. Let's just deepen the mystery first. So back at 12k, we're well ahead but ... ! It is starting to make some kind of sense.

So without further ado, I'm starting to run out of old materials that I can safely transfer. But I am becoming clearer on who the real villain is ... though its several someones. Not just a someone. Hehe. I love writing.

And that is the update for now,

Cheers!