Whatever We Love Most

Goodbye Forever, Briar

So I'm not going to see Briar again.

I've made up my mind. I love her so much, and she will always be special to me-oh gosh, four years I've known her now. But I can't visit again. I just need to move on. Which is what I'm going to do.

I can still see Jellybean. I have a new pony, Rory. I'll be okay.

Fun fact-Briar wouldn't even still be at Thorn Ridge if it weren't for me. Miranda almost sold her but I begged her to keep Bri, so she did. But begging won't help this time.

Trust me, I've tried.

I can't jump right now, because of something at ICS where they don't want us to be sent to the hospital or whatever. Because of the full hospitals around here. My dad's a doctor so, lucky me!, I get to hear all about it.

So now I'm riding bareback, and without stirrups, and etc. I'll end up cantering bareback eventually, which is fun. Ish. I prefer jumping.

I love jumping. Even just cantering is great, but that feeling, like you're flying for a split second, as your horse jumps... that is what I live for. 

-

Later, I'm sitting on my bed playing a dragon-themed simulator. An idea pops into my head, for a story. I've never really written one before.

A mysterious, ice blue egg appears at the nursery one day. It's adopted almost immediately and hatches, and a young ice dragon is born. She lives with her family for a year, believing that they were her blood family. At one point she falls off a ledge, and hurts both her wing and leg. That same day her mother goes out, not telling her why, leaving her with her two siblings at home in their large, warm cave. But an older, bigger dragon appears, attacking the young ice dragon and her sisters. The ice dragon flees, somehow managing to hobble along at a fast pace on three legs. That's how terrified she was. She's lost in the wilds for five and a half days, eventually finding the nursery, where she collapses. One of her sisters is there too, and tells the ice dragon that her mother and other sister died in the attack. The ice dragon remembers exactly how that dragon looked... the one who killed her family... and vows to take revenge.

After a horrible year at the nursery, the young dragon is adopted again. Her new father heals her, and she can fly again. He adopted her sister too, but she went missing. The ice dragon told herself it was fine, but one day found her sister's body mangled in a ditch.

Her father forces her to live in the fire realm, but she hates it, though she doesn't complain. Not when he saved her life. And is keeping her alive. So every day she endures burns, and scars, and immense pain. One day they leave, though. Her father doesn't tell her why, but she knows. She knows he's been exiled. She doesn't know why, and her father had always told her that the rulers were awful, and one day he would remove them from their thrones forever.

They find a three-level stone column, each level large enough for a grown dragon to sleep on. So that's where they stay. But as the ice dragon looks out over the edge, she feels a strange pull. Toward the distant ice realm. So every day she stares at it, watching the blizzards, the avalanches, the tiny little dragons that are just large enough to see sometimes. She watches.

Her father tries to stop her, but he can't, and she decides she wants to leave.

Very detailed, I know. I think I might actually do it. What's the worst that could happen? And it would be great to see my name up there on the bestsellers list... Camberlyn Peirce, author of bleh-blah, I don't know what I'll call it.

Epic fantasy series.

I sit down and start writing.

-

Ten minutes in, I scrap the whole thing for the second time. I need a plan. What happens when, etc. So I start a timeline. And scrap that too, grumbling to myself. I suck at this. So I text Cal. 

Hey girl! Out of curiosity, how do you write such great books? What's your process?

Callie is a writer.

She responds a couple moments later.

I go with the flow. No process, no plan. Just write whatever pops into my head, and pick and choose from that.

I shrug and grab a pile of paper to start writing down ideas and stuff, which I will use to make a timeline, which I will use to make a book.

I now understand why this process often takes years.