Clocks and Cliches

I have this obsession with the hour 11:11, which is what it is right now as I write this blog post. For whatever reason, my brain is programmed to glance at the clock either exactly at that time or minutes before it--the latter of which leads to me keep an eye on the clock until the infernal hour and minute, thus releasing me from whatever compulsion that had taken ahold of me. I actually googled this a while ago and it turns out I might not be the only one. If I ever plan to belong to a cult, I think that might be my best angle. "The Eleveners" is what we'll call ourselves.

In news related to my writing, I edited the beginning of my book to make it less abrupt and ended up right in cliche territory with a waking-up-in-bed beginning. It seemed appropriate, what with Amisra, the protagonist, oversleeping and being late for her first mission as a newly appointed guardian. But the appropriateness isn't something I want to try to explain to agents that I query in the future, so I'm going to have to rethink that one.

Update: Rethinking has been completed--sort of. I'm still a bit unsure with my latest version, but it's a problem I'll come back to once I've taken on bigger things.

This is also the day that I have officially started writing Aspect, the sequel to Conduit. Coming up with the name was a little difficult; I cycled through so many before it finally clicked, all thanks to a close friend of mine. I was talking to her about it, and she told me to give her a description of the second book. As I described the changes Amisra had gone through in the first book, it suddenly hit me. "Aspect" defined those changes well, plus I really like the word. It's strong and mysterious. And maybe a bit surefooted. Okay, now I'm reading too much into it.

It's really strange to tell someone "I'm going to go write Aspect". In my mind, I'm still working on Conduit because, well, the sequel is still part of the Conduit world...I'm sure I'll get accustomed to saying it.