Oookay, I'm still dubious about this teenage poetry endeavor, as I thought the last was really the best (and omg, the angst in some of these that I probably WON'T share):

Time is an endless
Circle.
Forever repeating with
endless variations,
Shaping our minds,
Changing our lives
Into rings of memories.

And the first I remember writing, at maybe 13 or 15 or, I don't really know, I tie it up with my maternal grandmother's death years earlier and seeing Orion from the bedroom window, and how that has been a constant solace (and I don't know if the poem will ever convey that. Just that it has that touchpoint for the adult me now):

"I want to be a star"
she cried.
"What kind of star?"
they asked.
"A star in the sky star"
"Oh really?"
"Yes"
"Why?
they pressed.
"I would be free
to shine,
To be wished upon.
To have children
point at me
and say
"There's you!"
She grew
Old
As she died
she said
"I want to be a star,
a star in the sky star."
And she flew
Upwards
And shone
with light.
Taking her place, up
up in the sky.
A child cries
"There's you!
I want to be a star,
a star in the sky star,
up there."

Damn it, sara, that last one made me cry. That's lovely. I'd be tempted to revisit how/where the lines break, but other than that I absolutely love it.

Susan, I like the name Eleanor for that character.

Susan, I like Eleanor because of the "_____ of Acquitaine" associations. That'll convey a fair amount of ruthlessness and toughness.

The center challenge is now closed.

This week's challenge is embrace.

I like Philippa

I rather like Beatrice because it wouldn't imply ruthlessness, making it much more interesting when she first rolls right over someone.

Sara, I love the second one too.

I have had no drabbles lately. Maybe this time I'll find one.

I'm now leaning toward Philippa, even though I like Eleanor, too, because if we have another daughter in a year or two, we might name her Eleanor, but Philippa sounds funny with our last name.

Sigh. ION, I hope writing plotty action scenes eventually gets easier for me. I just tried to pass what amounted to handwavium by my CPs, because I needed a scene where one of my protagonists is captured by his enemies to work out a certain way that isn't necessarily the most logical way for the enemies in question to behave. The two CPs who are least alike, the ones where if they agree on something, I know it's a problem, have both weighed in to say, "Um, your villain's plan makes no sense at all." I think I've found a way around it, but it's going to be tougher, I'm going to have to completely rewrite the last 20 pages of my WIP (after spending the entire week rewriting earlier scenes), and I'm going to have to lose a sequence I was particularly fond of because there's no longer a way to shoehorn it in.

Sigh. As of May 1 I'll have been working on this manuscript for a full year, and I'm at least 150 pages from the end, probably more like 200-250. Someone please assure me I'll finish this thing someday...

I've known a couple of people that have been going to RWA meetings for more than a couple of years and have A) written maybe a total of a few chapters of their WIP and B) have no plans to finish their WIP. Ever.

You'll finish, Susan. You're doing the work and putting in the effort, when you can. There might be times when a couple of chapters pour out of as if you're possessed, and also times when three pages take forever to get through, but you will finish.

Susan, I have some thoughts on the "book per year" problem.

The answer is this: as long as you have no advance, and you are working on spec Na Ga Na Ha Pen. You can't produce a book a year, work full time and take of a kid. You can't even do it after your first sale, cause that will be of a book you have already written. You can produce good professional books in those circumstances, but NOT a book a year. The first time you get an advance on an unwritten book, thus are paid for some of your labor in advance, you can step up your writing schedule to the point you produce a book a year. Because when you get to that point, even if you can't eliminate your day job, you can cut your hours. But that is what it will take. When you can spend half the time you currently spend on your day job (commute included) then you can get up to a book a year. And that will happen the day someone pays for your work in advance.