Kaak's Walk

[Kaak]

So I was in Iraq for about a month and I completely blocked up. I couldn't write anything... now that I'm back, and I've gone on my thirty-day leave, the words have started coming.

Somewhere in Iraq, while I was thinking about Kaak and his journey to the rank of apprentice, I realized that Kaak didn't climb, he walked. He proved himself by walking away from the canyon for the first time in his life and he stayed on the road for nearly two years.

This is kind of a project in which I'm challenging both myself and my character. A good friend of mine sent me the big Dinotopia map poster and it's got the little towns on it... so I, who notoriously cannot draw, cannot paint, cannot express anything in the visual arts (unless it's photoshopping, which always feels like cheating), am going to follow Kaak's Walk with pictures as well as words.

I'll post updates here if you're interested. Right now he's leaving for Kuskonak, which I found is actually a place in Turkey, which is awesome because I have my first images in my head :D So that's it. Um. Yeah. I'll post here when I've got a start.

[Dakota]

Sounds Cool! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[Anemone]

I second that! This should be interesting indeed.

[Azonthus]

Yay for the discovery of a Dinotopian city actually existing! Now if only we could flood the real Kuskonak with dinosaurs>) I can't wait to see your pictures and read the new story!

[Aven Bluewing]

Me neither, I think it's gonna be great!!

[Kaak]

So I'm home from my trip around the U.S. and I'm dog-sitting for a family that's been very good to me here in Yuma. I go over to their house to hang out with the doggies yesterday afternoon and... at midnight I have 12,111 words.

Everything up to Kaak arriving in Kuskonak is done but badly needs an edit. Do we have any volunteers? *grin* I want to put down the Kuskonak bit of the story (a baker apprentice! a harbor master! ruins! sandy beaches! rocky spits! the gloriously blue waters of Warmwater Bay!) and get Kaak on the road to Prosperine before I post.

But... I did find this while searching for pictures of Turkey.

www.imagesturkey.com/

Excellent, excellent site. I'm blending a lot of it together and I haven't actually started drawing yet but the fiction side is well on its way. I have to go back about 3,000 words right now and fiddle with the descriptions and feel to get them to fit what's in my head now. These pictures (of Alana, one of the ancient cities, and the village pictures in particular) really came in handy!

[Anemone]

I can't wait to see the finished product of this!

I have a lot on my plate right now, but do I love editing things. Just ask any of my writer friends. I cover manuscripts in red marks! ;D I'd absolutely love to edit something, but I can't promise that it'll come back right away.

[Vorchia]

I'll never get over the fact you strange English speaking people would refer to a bird you breed for human consumption with the same word you use for a country.... Given how close to your American 'Thanksgiving' this post was made I actually thought you were talking about the bird Meleagris gallopavo as in the typical evening meal of aforementioned holiday rather then the country Turkey. Yes I should have noticed the capital, I know.
At my college there's a rather large cultural diversity (I lost count on how many nationailities a long time ago). And friend of mine (who happens to be Turkish) introduced me to Turkish baklava. If you really want to try something góód of Turkish origin (and like sugar), you should try baklava. Its pure sugar with nuts and layered filo dough, it somehow manages to be more sugary then pure sugar. I'm not sure how that is possible either but Its absolutely GREAT. You can just feel your bloodsugar go trough the roof. Who knows, it might even help inspire your writing, assuming you can hold your hands still enough to type while on a sugar high of course...
Enjoy your writing!