I promised an update

Congratulations

I just want to say how happy I am for Shawna and Erik and I totally did not help pick out the engagement ring !

Chapter 8
Consider it a study guide or more crazy

There is a bit of intrigue going on in this story and even I lose track of what's going on. I usually make a "motivations" list to help keep track

I think the thing to understand is that Mr. DeLune asked Mr. Fierro for help in creating a reward for Clara, realizing how in need of money and how proud Martin was he then decided to blackmail Martin hoping he will once again come to him for money because he is "predictable"

Chapter 8 really revealed that Martin hadn't used the money from chapter 7 to pay the ransom hoping Mr. Fierro wouldn't find out but of course . . .


Chapter 9

So here it is chapter 9, this was orginally chapter 8 but I felt that this section was necessary for the story to be well rounded, if you will. This chapter is slighly less complicated. . . at least at first glance.

Playlist

This playlist features in particular order ; One song by an italian pianist who isn't Clara, One song I've used before, one song that has been on almost every primetime drama and another song that really grew on me

+1+ - Piano Sonata No. 14 - Murray Perhaia

+2+ - Le Onde - Ludvocio Einaudi

+3+ - 9 Crimes - Damien Rice

+4+ - Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice

Chapter 9

Link Crazy

OH, I'm so sorry I accidentally "opened" LL8 not HOF 8 sorry.. . . new chapter coming soon

This is a long blog entry because chapter 8 is a short one.

SYTCD

Yes, we made it to another taping of SYTYCD, it was a performance show. I 'm an American Idol fan but my niece seems to be a big fan of Kent. I think he is from the same small town as my sister-in-law.

Pictures

I did have a few pictures for inspiration for a few of the characters

Clara's Mother is inspired by Carla Bruni AKA the new First Lady of France

Clara's Father - John O'Hurley aka, that guy from Dancing With The Stars (p.s.Ms. DeLune and Mr. Fierro are dancing the foxtrot in chapter 2, obviously more like this !)

Henry Thorpe - an older Paul Cincotti whose version of "Sway" I used

Music

As much as I love playing the guessing game, one of the "goals" of this was to use a diverse amount of music from different eras and genres I think so far we've explored Classical, Pop, Mambo and Soul.

Speaking of Soul I was concerned about using Otis Redding in this chapter I originally wanted a pop song that everyone knew such as"I Can't Help Myself" by the Temptations or "Twist and Shout"by the Beatles or something by Michael Jackson.

However I had that song left over it was supposed to be in chapter three (when Mr. Fierro starts smoking) but I felt it worked better here. It's difficult to find reasonably music from the 80's although I do have one.

Chapter 7/Comments
(speaking of comments Erik and Shawna might find it fun to look at some of their old comments)

Mrs. Beck

I can't say when I knew Mrs. Beck was going to die but once it happened it was unavoidable. The scene after Mrs. Beck's death was another one of those "written first" sections and I Find it interesting that some of you missed something about that part that was important in the first draft.

Also there was another Commenter (I usually keep tabs) who said Clara should hit Mr. Fierro, have you been picking at my notes ?

Wanna see how crazy I am ?

I noticed in Chapter 7 when Lucie drives the car into the ravine Mr. Fierro calls her Clara instead of Ms. DeLune. This happened in another chapter and I fixed it but for some reason I did not even notice this, and I realized that he probably wouldn't call Clara "Ms. DeLune" infront of Lucie (like he does Clara's mother)

Questions

There have been questions as to why Lucie would let Clara talk to Mr. Fierro, and it is because Lucie would like to pretend they are ". . .the family [she wants them] to be", however she does have an alternative reason.

of course the real question is where Lucie is going . . .

Why Does Addison lets Lucie Control Clara ?

It was somewhat revealed in chapter 6 but it may have been to subtle. In one word "Ultio"In chapter 6 he comments on how some feelings out way other and that feeling is Revenge. If he can keep Clara in his house he can use her to act out vengeance on Roger, however at the same time there is something that prevented him from chopping her to pieces. If anything he and Lucie are unbeknowestly working together. It's convenient because he knows Clara will blame Lucie for her suffering and not him, but he is not completely convinced it's the ethical thing to do (cue: chain smoking)

As for Violeta's Comment

. . . he is just a young insecure 25 year old man who doesn't know how to deal with his feelings.

I buy this, especially when isn't sure how to comfort Clara when she is crying.

Clara = Canon Sue

Another comment that spoke about Clara being the only innocent one with everyone out for revenge made me think that possibly Clara is a Canon Sue. In her defense she tries to please everyone, she plays her sister's favorite songs at the wedding, she is the maid of honor, she became a teacher like Lucie. I'm not entirely convinced either way but I'd be interested in what readers get from her.

True, in LL she was a bit naive and possibly selfish but that's not much to work with. Since HOF is pretty much outlined/done I won't be making her clumsy or make her kick puppies to give her personality.


Chapter 8

Okay this chapter is a little different and once again it is short and involves a bit of Dramatic Irony (I could have used a wiki or scholar link but I love this website now, I started using tropes in Real life, Thanks Shawna). Once we are all finished I may be able to explain why this part had to stand alone.

I'll try to update soon to make up for it !

Playlist

Um, well there isn't really a song although I did like C.S Lewis song for this one. I didn't add it to the playlist but there a link here


Chapter 8

Fine Fresh Fierce We Got It On Lock

Yes, I know I'm from the midwest

No excuse

So, I've been away for a while. I'm working on a few projects not related to Cobalt.

Anywho I decided to make this post after coming back from taking my girls (mostly my niece)to see So You Think You Can Dance Live.

Chapter 6

Okay, this chapter gave me a hard time. I was afraid the part with Mr. Fierro talking to Reverend wouldn't work ,but it served two purposes

1. It explains why Addison never left his farm in the 1950s. His foster parents were strictly relighouse and self sufficent which is why he had to sneak out to the library. This is also why he is a bit of an introvert. It also semi-explain why he doesn't cook or do house work.

2. It also put the idea in Clara's head that people would not recognize her and have stopped looking.

Also it may become more evident in this chapter but Mr. FIerro could easily dominate (you know what I mean) Clara but from what we know of Lucie she took advantage of him. Even Clara sort of calls him out on it in chapter 11.

Yes, I'll admit to some unsavory subtext at the end of chapter 6, if it made you uncomfortable it's supposed to.

Once again this is another one of these chapters where Mr. Fierro and Clara's Mother's scene was written early on. In Chapter 5 when Mr. Fierro says

her disappearance was quoted as causing sympathy and heartache for her wealthy family and fiancee, among other things I would later find to be lies.

He is referring to The DeLune's being bankrupt , Mr. DeLune marrying his daughters off for money, making him wonder if Martin wants Clara back for the right reason.


Tropes

Someone at Cobalt e-mailed me this list and I love it but there are a few things I don't agree with

Genius Book Club
Tolstoy was the social equivalent of Harry Potter back in the day, it's not really appraised except by us simple people, which is why she is reading it.

Crowning Moments of Heartwarming Angels : Sofia looks in the mirror to see a man in love
I think I've gone on and on about how much I regret writing that, it was one of the reasons I did a sequel it was just so predictable and a little cheesy. YMMV, right. Did I use that right ?

Happily Married -- Subverted . . . with everyone . . . Lile has ever written about . . . to this point . . . hmm
Okay, so just looking at S&A the ending sort of gave the idea that Sofia and Tomas have the happiest ending they deserved.

I will discuss this more when I finish HOF *making Venn diagram* I'm calling it my Epic Romance Post and am writing it as we speak.

Speaking of which I'm trying to come up with a non-canon parody crossover. My therapist says I need more humor !

Playlist

Today's Playlist has in no particular order a I've used before, A song that was featured on SYTYCD (but I had it first), One song from a Shakespearean film and a song that has been covered more times than I thought.

+1+ - Against All Odds - The Postal Service*It's supposed to sound like that
+2+ - I've Been Loving You - Otis Redding
+3+ - A Time For Us - Nino Rota
+4+ - Sweet Escape - Paul Cardall

Chapter 7

Moving Along

Dear Shawna



So being the overly smart person I am I went in search of your "wrong" word I'm sure it has something to do with this sentence.

“ Wanna hear some crazy shit ?,” Pascal began, “ Before the bombs I heard a Mjollner configed a black clinic leech to do a full conversion,”

Maybe I don't know

Not So Original

As mentioned before August was supposed to be little vignettes that would end with Clara’s (one) sister’s wedding in August 31st at Midnight. None of these were written except for one that was called “1954”. As you may have guessed "1954" was chapter five up until the drowning. In essence I just changed it to third person so chapter 5 (and parts of 8) were written first. I didn’t know how to make "1954" tie in with other unpublished vignettes and decided to toss it and make something original.



I did this because after finishing “The Storm” I realized the whole point was that even after burning the sage it didn’t work and Lucie would always haunt them. It felt incomplete.



Chapter 5



I call this chapter "The Reveal"



Title



True I could have called this "Revenge of Lucie" but if gives the plot away. I like the name and its meaning plays into a "scene" I imagined.



Throwback



Another throwback to LL where Mr. Fierro remembers that Clara can swim and Lucie can't.



What’s Lucie’s deal



Lucie in a sense has allowed Clara to become her puppet. Lucie can’t feel pain or hunger but she can feel things she’s touched only if she’s touched them before (once again it’s in the notes it doesn’t play a huge part.)



Lucie can however leave and comeback to Clara's body when she wants to. So Mr. Fierro could speak to her if Lucie let him. As for wondering why he would want to speak to Clara I think the reasons come out later but he does somewhat like her.



This is all foreshadowed in LL, In chapter 4

". . .and those desperate dark souls who so wish to be human again, reach in and try to posses an innocent body . ..”"

Don't read to much into the full quote



Red Herring



I did throw in a little red herring in chapter 4 with the "C" necklace, it was actually a Chanel Necklace. Also, In chapter one Clara originally says "I won't be here when you get back" but I removed it because I felt it was a little to obvious.



Comments



In one comment someone notice that Clara was a bit distant from her sisters and it is because she has a new "appreciation" for her life. Mr. Fierro kind of points this out when he says.

"Martin often commented on how his daughter had not been the same after the accident, she could be distant and quiet, always reading he would say. She was somewhat rebellious and constantly causing a strain on her father. A disgraceful daughter by his count."

Another commenter commented on the "age" difference between Edward/Bella and Mr. Fierro/Clara, I found it a little humorous because in the bare bones of LL Mr. Fierro was born in 1869 and was related to Clara but that never set well with me. . .



Chapter 6



This is the longest chapter yet, It's got a different flow I don't know. . .



Playlist



Today's playlist features (in no particular order) A song we've heard before, A popular movie score, a song by a artist who has a place named after him in the story, music that's appeared on One Tree Hill and one wild card song !

• +1+ - Embraced - Paul Cardall
• +2+ - Hurt - NIN piano tribute
• +3+ - Always - Peter Bradley Adams
• +4+ - Lex Aterna - Paul Schwartz
• +5+ - Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield

Chapter 6 (Aftermath)

Post 83

I think I'm going to start keeping track till I reach 100 post (I can't believe it almost took an entire year).

Chapter 3&4

Well I'm glad the third person is not throwing people off. There really isn't much to say about these chapters except I jumped the gun with my other comment. This chapter has Clara calling the Black Room the "Black Room", before she would even realize it. Which actually leads to something else . . .



Chapter 5

Questions will be answered and more will be raised. . . I fell like a writer on Lost ! (you know except I know what I'm doing.)

Some of you are very close though . . .

Playlist

Today's playlist contains music from a movie soundtrack and from a NOW! Valentine's day collection.

+1+ - Possibility - Lykke Li
+2+ - Here without you - Three Doors Down

I'd play the first song towards the end to.

Chapter 5

That's what she said . . .

Office Politics

I'm starting to notice a lot of people from the "Office" supporting me and it is nice but I'm sort of new to this whole office politics thing. I mean there was an epic debate over the proper desert to bring to an office party. I guess you could say that is why I mostly work from home. (speaking of which what is with this Hannah Montana forever ?)

Chapter 2

hmm, I noticed there were no "too shorts" so I'm happy for that

Notice something ?

Remember Clara's first flash back ? Remember the first few lyrics to that one song ?
There was another illusion with Mr. Fierro being able to cut himself with a pen but that was somewhat unintentional.

Who's telling the story ?

While writing LL I found it easier to write one POV. I mean sure I switched it up in S&A etc. but as I was doing this I realized I couldn't chapter off the POV so I usually try to bookend it so it's one and then the other just wanted to know how that was going. (I don't know how Shawna does it)

On that note I started to realize that here are three people telling the story. First there is me (the third person), Clara and Mr. Fierro in their flashbacks and the present is technically me as well because the characters don't know what happens.

With that said I think I tried to make it more distinct. The characters are telling the story. This lends Clara to be an unreliable narrator and how she makes it obvious that she knows what happens for example when it comes to Mr. Thorpe's first introduction

". . .Whose name I didn’t know then"

Mr. Fierro adds to his own narrative it as well which is why he mentions how many seconds there are to reach his study and the like and why his speech is a tiny bit antiquated.

Places

1770 House and Wolffer Vineyard- are real places and the patio is beautiful !

Chapter 3&4

It's double day !

Playlist

Today's playlist features a final song from a deceased legend and a song that hails from one of our main characters homeland.

Chapter 3
+1+ - Ordinary Day - Vanessa Carlton
+2+- Hurt - Johnny Cash

Chapter 4

Adagio in G - Tomas Alboni

Chapter III & Chapter IV

. . .

Where have I been ?

So the truth is I've been around for a while clicking around avoiding anything that reminded me remotely of any of your usernames (including The Hills, Boston, Starbucks but hey it's almost June). The truth is I've be more than able to write and share with you to my hearts content but all of my post came out as solid and maybe a little cold.

Lately (with the help of my SIL) I've been able to find my spark, the "bubble" that make me me. and while some may call it flakeness I'm just glad to have it back. I think what made this work for me is and always will be music. Music therapy is honestly my life and lucky for you all it helped me write this story.

As you can see my new (and temporary) template change is helping me, it reminds me of my desk except I don't have Mac.

Macs plus children never works out well.

+++

Refresher, Much

I'd like to invite you take the time skim the previous post maybe look over some comments.

go ahead

. . .

Back ? time for some trvia

Notice anymistakes ? originally I wanted Mr. Fierro to drive a Aston Martin and through the power of google I came up with the 1958 Aston Martin Continental . . . which if you just googled will find out that it doesn't exsist there is however a Continental Bently so incase someone went car shopping .

Chapter 2

This is were things get interesting to say the least, I find this story getting a bit more complex and longer as I finish it.

That said there are a few things to look for including a very veiled illusion/allusion to Litany Lane. There are technically two but one is more obvious.

Playlist

Today's selection will include music that wasn't discovered till 1919, 80's classic, a 21st century away winner no one will forget and Linda Leigh's new crush ! plus many more.

+1+ - Sway - Peter Cincotti

+2+ Pachelbel meets U2 - John Schmidt

+3+ - Sweet and Low (Acoustic) - Agustanta

+4+ - Grey Room - Damien Rice

I hovered over the candle . . .