Maybe NOW I'll be able to take a break from the quizzes.

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. </td> Cultural Creative 94% Postmodernist 69% Idealist 63% Romanticist 50% Fundamentalist 38% Existentialist 31% Materialist 25% Modernist 13% What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm bored; can you tell?

Anyway, the latest quiz result should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me.

You Are Creepy

Serial killers would run away from you in a flash.

I seem to recall doing this before, but I don't think I ever posted the results. It made me answer a tiebreaker question, choosing between "I love to read extensively", "I love to study languages", and "I love to draw"; after much dithering, I chose the first one, which is why it lists my perfect major as English, even though I tied on English, Linguistics, and Art in the quiz (all 100%!).

Anyway, here are the results:

You scored as English. You should be an English major! Your passion lies in writing and expressing yourself creatively, and you hate it when you are inhibited from doing so. Pursue that interest of yours! </td> Linguistics 100% English 100% Art 100% Philosophy 92% Theater 83% Journalism 83% Sociology 83% Mathematics 75% Psychology 75% Dance 75% Anthropology 75% Biology 67% Engineering 67% Chemistry 58% What is your Perfect Major? created with QuizFarm.com

Mom's divorce is final, now, and we're moving on the 21st ... to a townhouse a mile away. It's even on the same bus route I currently use to get to work. It's a really nice place, and I'll have my own bathroom, and basically a whole floor to myself. (The other three rooms down there are the laundry room, a small room beneath the stairs we're giving to the cat, and a quiet craft room.) It also has a freaky light in the dining room, which is why I asked Mom to buy this place.

I've been working on packing my room, or on writing my stories, which is why I haven't updated. Packing is not going so well. I pack something, then realize I need/want something in the box I just packed! Aargh!

In other news, once we settle in to the new place, I'm going to dedicate this journal solely to story stuff. I'm going to make a new journal solely for other stuff, like the randomness that currently fills this journal. (Ordinarily, I'd just make a new journal for the story stuff, but this name fits that better... Am I making any sense?)

And, Mandy, I'm sorry if you think I've been ignoring you. I'm being a recluse again, poor excuse as that is. To make up for it, I'll write you a short story. If you want, comment with a prompt or a couple random things to be included; if you don't comment, I'll just surprise you with something. It's not much, but...

Edited to add: I'm also getting all four wisdom teeth out on Wednesday. Go me.

I figured I'd do this for me, since I really need to put these down all together somewhere. Here lies a list of all the books I am working on, more or less, in no particular order, with a little summary. What fun!

The Books

1. The Great Mosaic - In the depths of Castle Annwn, there stands a great mosaic, started by Annwn's most controversial general and finished by its most controversial king. This is the story it tells.
2. Momentary Gods - Scientists have discovered a genuine elixir of life - a substance that makes humans immortal. It also makes them considerably more sociopathic. But an old maneater is stirring, and mankind must choose between the elixir or an uncertain protector.
3. Dragonsson - In Central Forest, young women are being slaughtered to sate a vampire countess' appetite. Hunters from all around the world gather in the Forest to stop her, but the only one they are certain can stop her is a strangely apathetic monk. Nevertheless, the hunters must stop the countess before the Impaler stirs from his castle.
4. The Snake That Eats Itself - The ruins of Iram are discovered in the desert, but archaeologists find more than they expect when they open a sealed dungeon. They find a survivor - one who may not be human anymore.
5. The Lights of the Earth - One night, you are dragged out of your room and into a strange castle perched precariously on a cliff. Below, you hear the shrieks of mermaids. Outside, you hear the howls of werewolves. Ahead of you, you see the Wizard-King - who is refusing to let you go home.
6. The King's Wolves - A thief has been robbing travelers along the Royal Highway. As sheriff of Weathertown and the Woods, John has to stop this thief - preferably before the King himself arrives for his winter hunting trip. But how do you catch a thief who isn't even human?
7. The Answerer - Tensions between the Danann and the Fomori escalate when the architect of their imperiled peace treaty goes missing. But it's not the missing diplomat that's worrying everyone - it's his missing sword.
8. The Ribbon of Impossible Things - Odin knew how the worlds would end, and so the Aesir followed him. But Odin's doomsday preparations are becoming more crazy and more cruel, so his son decides to set things to rights - by freeing the wolf he was destined to kill.
9. The Fallen Moon - No one can find the moon. All any of the gods know is that he fell from the top of their great gate - but no one knows where he went. Then a human begs a goddess for sanctuary, claiming to know where the moon is, and his story defies belief.
10. The Beloved One - Every seven years, Baal and Mot fight, and the winner is king of the gods. This goes on and on until the Old God steps in and declares Baal the eternal winner - and Mot is banished to icy darkness. But when an older, more mature Baal sets out to understand why Mot fought him in the first place, what he discovers will set his kingship on its head.
11. Speak No Ill of the Dead - An arrogant god challenges the honor of the Queen of the Dead, and many of her followers are killed during the ensuing fight. Finally, passion of one kind turns to passion of another, but not everyone in Irkalla is happy with their queen's marriage - especially not her chief advisor.
12. Desert Demon - Everyone knows the story of Osiris, how he was killed by his evil brother (several times), how his son grew to banish said evil brother to the deepest deserts. But Osiris' half-brother was never satisfied with that story, and when a strange new god shows up, claiming to be a fragment of Osiris' soul, he may finally get his answers.
13. Starkiller - Aboveground, everyone knows the story of sweet Kore, kidnapped to live in Erebus by the evil god of the dead. In Erebus, everyone knows bitter Persipnei, and knows that story to be a lie. When Persipnei sets out to destroy those who tried to destroy her, Olympus will tremble. 
14. Dance of Skulls - A rash of brutal murders bring terror to the city, especially when several impossible murders take place in broad daylight. One investigator turns to the supernatural for an explanation - and discovers that an ancient deity may be walking the earth once more. But how does one stop a god?
15. The Smoking Mirror - What good is daylight without darkness? Happiness without pain? Love without hate? A great god without his nemesis? He's about to find out.
16. The Golden Labyrinth - Weilend, the great smith, is missing, and his father is about to move heaven and earth to find him - even if it means he must disturb gods and men alike. Weilend, in the meantime, has his own plans, and will stop at nothing to regain his freedom.
17. The Prophet King - Higure Meian has lived all his life in hiding. His father, the previous king of the Shadowlands, was murdered by his uncle, the sadistic new ruler. But when Higure's second sight shows assassins coming for him, he must decide where to go: back to his homeland, or further away.
18. The Secrets of Raziel - Millennia ago, when the universe was first forming, the Bottomless Void threatened to devour creation. When an angel was sent to bind the Void, he was bound up in it, there to remain until the end of everything. But chains are sounding in the Deep, and demons and angels alike prepare for war.
19. The Gospel of Judas Iscariot - His name is synonymous with "traitor", even to unbelievers. Preachers speak of his horrible suicide with smirks on their faces and sneers in their voices. Imagine one reverend's shock, then, when he discovers that his new neighbor is none other than Judas Iscariot himself.
20. The Wrath of Dawn - It's been a hard year for Adrian Reed. His wife and unborn child were killed when a bomb was implanted in their apartment; Adrian's knee was shattered and his brain injured in the same attack. Now, Adrian cannot sleep, dead men walk the streets, the leader of the Illuminati has just gone missing - and the key to it all may be Adrian's father.
21. The Dragon Lord's Crown - It is hard to slay a dragon, even one in human shape. It is far harder to kill a Dragon Lord - the crown itself prevents their death. So, every time a new Lord is crowned, a new person receives the Bloody Spear, the only weapon that will kill a Dragon Lord, and a sacred charge: to kill the Lord when he becomes unfit to rule. This time 'round, though, a twist of fate has given the Spear to the Dragon Lord's heir.

All titles are pretty firmly set, though they may still change. Stories may change, too, so I kept the summaries pretty basic.

The Great Mosaic is what I'm working on right now. Momentary Gods is probably next, and after that, who knows?

I have a job now (didn't I mention that?), and even though it's only ten hours a week, something about working seems to make me forget to update my livejournal. I don't know why.

Working at the library is fun, although I don't think most people would agree. Sorting and shelving books is really interesting!

In other news, The Great Mosaic is underway. I'm setting myself a deadline of mid-May, but we'll see. I may post pieces of it here, if I'm feeling particularly evil.

I also have the beginnings of another book simmering in my brain. (I'm thinking of writing the part that I have so it doesn't distract me while I work on Mosaic.) It's called Momentary Gods. In this story, a couple of scientists have discovered a substance that, when ingested by humans or injected into their bloodstream, makes the human body immortal and incorruptible - as in, nothing can harm that human again. Ever. They test this substance on a terminally-ill woman, only to discover that she's becoming more apathetic and capricious as time goes on.

In the meantime, an ancient, devouring evil is awakening under old Carthage. The few people who realize what this is are faced with a choice: give the immortality-conferring substance to as many people as possible, and survive the waking of the evil that way, or try to awaken old Carthage's protective spirit - a spirit that's vanquished the old evil before - and hope it'll vanquish that evil again, preferably before said evil eats all the children of man.

Anyone who knows my family knows we're having major financial troubles. Apparently, a sunday school class at my church knows that, too.

Yesterday afternoon, a couple from my church shows up at our door - with bags of food. Their class had given us: ( item list )
I think I know what we're eating through the new year.

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...Can't you hear the gears creaking?

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