Works in Progress: Week Thirteen. Blood Bound and Bones of Earth

Blood Bound
Flesh and Blood, Book 1

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Bones of Earth
Heir to the Firstborn, Book 3

A good, productive week this past week. The words are flowing well in both cases, and I’m pretty pleased with my progress.  Blood Bound is on track to be done by mid-December, I think.  I’ve started running it through the ERWA Storytime list, and the crits have been awesome so far. Bones of Earth is running on the Patreon, and comments there have been fun.

Tomorrow, I get to do my favorite volunteer activity of the school year — I get to go in and talk to the middle school about being a writer.  Last year, I had a lot of fun and lost my voice. This year, we’ll see how I do! (You’re allowed to open book on what period my voice drops out — last year it was fifth or sixth.)

I’m starting to think around the edges about Cookiepocalypse 2019. It’s just around the corner!  (Oh, boy. It is, isn’t it? Thanksgiving is in two weeks!)

There’s not much else going on around these parts.  It’s been quiet, and I hope it stays boring. It might not — I’ll find out shortly if my boring will be short-lived. Yes, that’s a vague-book. I’ll be more specific when I know more.

A very brief excerpt. I really dig the art of kintsugi. I love the idea of finding beauty in the flaws. So I got to speak a little through Hiro in this bit:

“That is not true,” Hiro said. “You are not a mistake. You are Daniel. You are mine. You are perfect to me.”

“I’m not—”

“You are,” Hiro insisted. “Your flaws only make you more perfect.” He chuckled. “Wait.” He shifted, and Daniel sat up so that Hiro could leave the room. He came back a moment later carrying a pottery bowl that Daniel had seen on a shelf in the living room. The bowl was blue, and there were veins of gold that ran through it in crazed, zig-zag patterns.

Hiro sat down facing Daniel and held the bowl between his hands. “When Usagi saved my life, when she brought me back to her court, I told her that I wished only to die. She took this bowl and she shattered it. And she told me that I was not allowed to make such decisions in my pain. That I needed to wait, and heal.” He turned the bowl over in his hands. “On the day that she put her collar around my neck, she gave this to me.”

“It’s the same bowl?” Daniel asked. He bent at the waist, looking closer. “How’d they fix it?”

“Lacquer infused with gold,” Hiro said. “It will never be what it was before it was shattered. But it is beautiful nonetheless. More beautiful, perhaps.” He met Daniel’s eyes. “Do you understand what I am saying?”

Daniel nodded. “I’m not sure I believe it, though. Not really.”

“I have the patience to wait until you do. Because I love you, and you are worth the waiting.” He kissed Daniel’s forehead. “I need no grand gestures, my Daniel. I do not need your pain to prove that you love me. Nor do I require you to punish yourself for your flaws.” He turned the bowl again. “Your flaws, my flaws, they contribute to make us the men we are. They make us beautiful. Your flaws are part of you, and they make you Daniel. And Daniel is beautiful.” He smiled. “And Daniel is mine.”