“It’s not what you see in the mirror that matters. It’s what sees you.”

That is the working first line of this novella. :::proud smile::: I just figured it out today!

Today basically embodied one of the things I love the most about writing: the discovery process. I made two major discoveries while wading through the muck of the first draft:

The first line: I’ve been nervous about coming up with a good beginning for this thing. It’s pulp, so it needs action, but I wanted a good first line to really draw people in. This one came to me when my hero, Michael, was trying to explain to someone (in cryptic terms) why he avoided mirrors. Personally, I think it’s the 2nd best first line I’ve written.

(Coincidentally, the best ever takes place in a short story in this series that happens 12 full moons after the end of this one. It’s called “The Witch Hunter,” and it should be published two to three weeks from now in an anthology called The Big Bad 2. “I would have buried the axe in the girl’s neck if my walker hadn’t gotten in the way” is hard to top…)

My hero needs some weapons: If this is your first time reading my writing diary, I’m writing a pulp novella about a witch hunter named Michael, who is hunting between 6 and 9 witches and wizards who made themselves immortal hundreds of years ago and have been stirring up evil ever since. Michael was one of them, but realized how evil they all were, changed is ways, and is now hunting them down before they destroy the world. The catch: he’s not allowed to use magic if he wants to destroy their immortality. It’s going to be a pulp series, and the first 30,000 word manuscript is due April 15th.

Anyhow, I put poor Michael in the middle of a room against a powerful wizard currently named Gregorio. Gregorio can shoot magic balls of fire and other fun things from his hands. He can cast spells that melt non-iron guns. (In the novella’s world, iron is anti-magical…) He has a lot of spells up his sleeves and isn’t someone you want to cross.

Michael has an iron dagger.

So technically, my hero really did bring a knife to a gun fight.

I didn’t even realize my mistake until Gregorio starts teasing Michael about the female detective with him being the only one with weapons.

I stopped mid-paragraph and thought, “Holy crap. I forgot to arm the guy.”

I spent the rest of the evening googling martial arts weapons and consulting with one of the martial arts experts I know.

:::eagerly rubbing hands together:::

Michael is going to love all the presents I’m giving him when I start typing tomorrow. 🙂

Anyone else out there ever do something silly–like forgetting to arm your hero?

Toodles!