google: you can't. you'll get launched off and they'll eat dogs and cats and toddlers. they wouldn't make good pets.

me:

nuclear fusion

isotope list

Tsar Bomba (the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated)

pierogi recipe (not related to writing)

Bonjour! Today was surprising productive (by my standards anyway lmao). I guess organizing my file yesterday made me come across lines that I forgot about and made me go “wait, I want to write that Right Now”.

And now the first draft of Chapter 7 is done! Woot woot! It’s 3798 words long, and about 1977 of it was written today. It’s one of Rian’s chapters, and this is when we finally get to see his telepathy in action (and more detail). It was really fun to explore and write, though of course it needs about a thousand rounds of revisions. There’s a lot of “oh shit!” moments in this chapter, and I really want that to come across to the readers. If it’s one thing I don’t like, it’s plot twists / surprises that don’t work because the premise wasn’t properly set up ><

WIP word count so far: 36k. I still haven’t counted how much of that was written during Nano 2019.

Things I googled, in no particular order:

> electrode caps

> geocentric orbit

> “define context”

> orbital decay

Before we get to today’s excerpt, here’s a quick primer:

Rian Scott: one of the three main characters; a 13-year-old boy with telekinesis and telepathy, who has been kept hidden from the public and planned to be used as a weapon in the impending war.

Holly: Rian’s primary caretaker. She is the only person Rian feels comfortable with and is like an older sister to Rian, though their relationship is a little strained after Rian tried to run away.

And now, it’s excerpt time, babey.

Chapter 7: Rian

“Well, how do you feel about breakfast?” Holly nodded toward the main room. “Come on. I’ve got your favourites.”

She said it like it was some kind of secret between them. Rian tapped off the bathroom light and let Holly guide him to the square table set beside his bed. After the tests, Holly had led him to this room--his room, not the hospital-like room he had woken up in. This room was...warm. Cozy, he thought was the right word. They had brought in as much of his old room as possible, trying to make it feel familiar, like home. It had the same patterned wallpaper, dark blue with stars and planets. The same round striped rug. The same desk and shelves and bed. His old drawings were stuck on a bulletin board on the desk, and the shelves were tucked with his books and games and toys.

He glanced at the tray on the table as he sat down. It had a plate of pancakes, a mug of fruit-flavoured milk, and a dollop of bright green jelly. The pancakes had already been cut into perfect bite-sized chunks because they knew Rian couldn’t hold a knife well enough to do the cutting himself. He scowled at that--or would’ve, if he didn’t feel so numb and detached. In the past he would have found this act considerate. Now it felt like they were mocking him. The world’s most powerful weapon, most coveted if anyone else knew he existed, and he couldn’t even hold his own damn utensils.

“Are you feeling sick?” Holly sat beside him, with one leg drawn onto the bed and her chin resting on her knee. They didn’t allow shoes in this room. Even his thin and harmless canvas slippers stayed outside the door. “I’m sorry, Ri. I know you don’t like any of this.” She sighed through her nose and brushed the hair out of Rian’s eyes. “Eat as much as you can, alright? I can help you eat the rest.” She tugged at the end of one of his curly locks, frowning slightly. “And then we can do something about your hair--”

“I don’t want to cut it.” The words came out stuck together like jam. He felt awful--he’d never talked back to Holly, or anyone, for that matter. Even before he ran away, when he’d been so, so angry with them, he hadn’t said any of his harsh words out loud. He’d simply let things happen, never disagreeing, never acting out, never resisting. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he knew that way, they wouldn’t suspect what he was planning.

And that’s it, because it’s so much spoiler territory from here on out. Why doesn’t Rian want to cut his hair? The answer can be found in this previous post.

Et c’est tout pour le moment mes amis!

-Emily

-

> are there lifeboats on spaceships (yes)

basketball court lines

jump ball

do they sell food at basketball games

how to bet on basketball games

what does setting up perimeter mean

“define viable”

could you build a spaceship in space