Merlin of Chaos

Grr. I posted by livejournal seems to have LOST my POST.

Anyway, 3,814 words for 40,869 total. 14,920 TooNoWriMo words.

I'm about 4000 words behind my self-imposed schedule. A chapter behind.

Cracks in the Window, Chapter 11 WORD Format
Cracks in the Window, Chapter 11 PDF Format

As usual, password is required. Please, if you want it just ask--I'm only passwording it to protect my copyright etc.

A little ahead of schedule!

3584 words, for a total of 33402 so far.

Cracks in the Window, Chapter 9 WORD Format
Cracks in the Window, Chapter 9 PDF Format

Again, password is required. Just ask.

This recipe came pretty much straight from a can of Rosarita vegetarian refried beans.

1 cup (8 oz) refried beans
2 cups shredded cheddar
2 cups shredded monterey jack
1 small can green chiles
1 jar (16 oz) enchilada sauce
1 large can sliced black olives
1-2 handfulls of sliced green onions

for meat
1/2 lb of lean ground beef
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt

Combine all meat ingredients in a small saute pan and cook until done. You want the meat in pretty small chunks. Adjust spices to taste. Note that this is pretty much just basic taco filling, only without any of the subtle flavors since it's going into the chili.

Mix beans & enchilada sauce in stock pot; mix until smooth. Add shredded cheese. Sadly I have to recommend packaged shredded cheese here, beacuse it tends to melt more smoothly; if you know of a block cheddar that also melts well, please let me know =) (the jack cheeses all melt just fine though).

When that's smooth and bubbling, add the onions, olives, chilis and cooked meat mixture. Stir until smooth and serve. This stuff is quite thick, so make sure you serve it with hearty chips.

I honestly don't think I've ever made a dish that's worse for you than this one--every ingredient is pretty much fat with more fat, but we're in love with this dip.

3,792 words or 18,737 words so far.

Cracks in the Window, Chapter 5, DOC version
Cracks in the Window, Chapter 5, PDF version

Again, password required. Just contact me if you need it.

Again, comments appreciated. Critical and otherwise. Really!

One minor note to those who've already read Chapter 1; I changed the reference of Bellarius to Zhang Tsu because Bellarius sounds kinda lame.

( Cracks in the Window, chapter 2 )

For completeness' sake, this is the final draft. If you've read it before, don't bother; I'm only putting this up because I occasionally show this essay to people and I'd rather they read the final final draft =)

( You know what this means )

This one has some corrections, though it's essentially the same as the prior one. Only bother reading this one if you're interested in commenting on it with a critical eye.

I've also fixed the formatting so the paragraphs should be better separated.

( I love this folding space bit... )

I wrote this after skimming through the topics for weeklywriting and decided to submit this.

It's not the greatest--for part of it I feel like I'm stumbling around trying to remember what my point is, and I'm not sure the point, such as it is, got across. But we'll have to see.

BTW, if you read this, please comment; sadly, I do need some sort of validation that people are at least reading these things, which will help motivate me to write more. And if I write more it can (I hope) only get better. So if you read it, say so; you don't have to say you liked it or hated it or anything (tho you can if you like, feedback is even better) but if you comment and say "I read it" even that will help me. Thanks!

--- cut here ---

"What do you think would be the worst way to die?" he asked calmly.

The boy looked at the old man, his eyes narrowed. The boy was just getting a little bit of dark scruff on his chin. "What I'm going to do to you, old man, when I get out of here."

( And now...the rest of the story. )