Changing Books...

So I decided to change books halfway into NaNo WriMo...  Crazy I know...  Well here is the first bit of the book, the synopsis, the book cover, and banner (not in that order)~

~Cover~

~Banner~

~Synopsis~

Zuriel is faced with a decision... To remain in hiding or to fight back. The life she has always known was shattered by the evil Lord Sabra. Will she fight back and become a hero? If she does she will forever be remembered by her country as a warrior maid, assassin, and a hero...

~And here is the excerpt~

Prologue

Drip, Drip, Drip…  As the rain falls, a child is born.  This child has a destiny; she will save her people, and the way of life they have always known.  But no one knows that yet.  All they know is this gorgeous little bundle of joy.  Full of chaim (life) and full of happiness.  Bringing joy to everyone she meets.  Little do they know that she will be an assassin, a warrior maid, and a hero too.

Chapter 1

“Zuriel!  Where are you?  You need to come and get ready for the banquet!”, Nana, my elf nurse, calls.

“I am coming, Nana.  Just let me get down from this tree!’, I call down to her.

“Climbing trees again are we?  Just make sure your mother does not find you out.  She would have a fit!”, Nana tells me as I climb down.

“Oh, I will be all right.  Dad always sticks up for me anyways.”

“You may be right but you know how your mother can be”, Nana tells me with a worried look on her face, “Now lets go get ready for that banquet.”

* * * * * * *

Spread out on the table for the banquet are mounds of food.  Everyone (the guests) except for my mum, my dad, and I are seated at the table.  My family and I are of royal blood (my parents are king and queen) so we enter the dining room last and we enter in a ceremony type thingamabob.

Everyone is dressed in their best.  My mother is dressed in a red, floor length silk gown, is 5’8, has long black hair pinned up in a hair net, and is very graceful.  The Dress has square neck and laces down the front.  Sleeves are wide, tied on, and lined.  Skirt is full and opens in the front to reveal the  underskirt.  For a head dress she has a tight fitting cap with a long veil of tulle down her back.

My father, the dark, exotic, and happy King, is dressed in cream colored silk breeches, a royal purple silk shirt with gold stitching, and leather boots.  My father never really gets “dressed up”, unlike my mother who loves to get dressed up.  I’m like my father in that respect, and most other respects too.

I, the dark, exotic, blue eyed, maid have my longish dark brown, almost black, hair down in curls to just below my shoulders, and am dressed in a beautiful floor length light purple silk dress it accents my hight beautifully, I am 5’11.  It has a full skirt, low neckline, laces up in the front, with delicate lace at the throat, sleeves, and at the bottom of the skirt, the sleeves are wide with the tight arms of the undergarment peeping out, like my mother’s, I also have a small heart shaped pendant necklace.  Although my outfit is beautiful I dread having to wear it.  I much prefer boys clothes (also known as breeches).

I am pulled out of my reverie by the sound of trumpets.  My father and my mother walk out first.  Closely behind them I follow.  I know the routine well.  First we walk out,then we stop and wait for them to announce us.  Everyone is standing up and looking at you, it gets quite annoying!  Then you step down the stairs into the banquet hall and take your places.  Only then can everyone else sit down.

I go through the movements.  Now we can finally think about eating!  Woo Hoo!  We usually have 5 courses!  Plus we have to eat the food from all of the courses!  No wonder I get sick after each banquet.

This banquet is special.  It is in honor of fifteen years of my parents reigning over Elrad, the meaning of which is “The LORD rules”.  So that means this banquet will be longer than usual and with more courses.  Around eight - ten.  Fun!  Not!

My parents start to talk so I get ripped from my musings (like usual) by a question getting directed towards me.

“So Zuriel, how will you like being queen one day?”, my father’s right hand, Lord Sabra, asks me.

“I would like it alright,” I off handedly reply.

“Your Highness”, this was directed towards my father, “When can my son come to claim his bride?”, Lord Sabra asks my father.

“Zuriel should be ready within three or four months.  Would that suit your son?”, My father tells him.

At this point I get white as a sheet and I feel my stomach and heart leap into my throat.  You see I did not know I was “engaged” already.  I was hurt that my father had not told me.  Another thing that really upset me was that I knew the only reason Lord Sabra, “The Thorny Cactus” (Yes, that is what his name means), wanted me to marry his son is because he wanted to claim the throne for himself.  I had ears, and I am also able to hide really well.  I was raised by elves, dwarfs, centaurs, and talking animals you know.

All I remember from the rest of the banquet was having to eat a lot of food.  When I reached my room that night I threw myself over Nana and cried.  Nana asked what was wrong, so I told her.  She gathered me into her arms and cried herself.  But my always resourceful Nana was already thinking of a plan.

Hope you ADORE it!  I am really liking it so far!

Another Excerpt...

I'm LOVING my characters right now!  Well here is another excerpt~

Chapter 2

The Beginning of a New Life

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

He will watch over your life;

The LORD will watch over you coming and going

Both now and forevermore.

Psalms 121:7-8

All of a sudden I feel free again, as if all the worries of the world washed away.  The breeze hitting my cheeks and the smell of fresh air clear my head.  I head for what looks like a cliff with thick brush growing in front of it but as I peel the brush away, and the wood planks, it opens up into a cave opening.  The opening is just big enough for an 18 hands high horse, rider, and wagon, I may add, to fit through.

The room smells of horses.  From the outside the cave, with the brush peeled back, the cave looks like a small, but not that small, nook.  But when you get inside you can see it is immense!

It is a maze of connecting caves with the one immense cave in the middle.  With 12 of the caves I made “stalls” with wood I found at the back of our property.  Each horse had his/her own stall.

I also made a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom with 3 of the other caves, and I did pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

My bedroom has light purple walls, I had bought some paint, and a light purple coverlet for the bed; I snuck my old bed here by saying it was too old and that I would just take my parents old bed. I had also transported, with the help of some friends, my desk that was great-great-great aunts.  I had my laptop, my air card, my horse books and DVD’s, and my Bible’s.  I also, last night, got all my pictures from my wall, my clothing, and everything else in my room.  The reason I could do this is because Atalya pulls a wagon / cart so I had loaded everything onto that and head for the cave.

The kitchen area has buttery yellow walls with red, orange, and bright yellow accents.  My dad used to do carpenter work as a hobby and I had found the cave before they died so he made me some cabinets and I bought a little wood burning grill / stove and a solar refrigerator.

The bathroom had the same paint as the kitchen and I had made a little hole to outside where the feces would wash out into a latrine.

The cave has a freshwater spring that is in the kitchen!  It also has an abundance of berry plants, a vegetable garden, herb garden, nut trees, alfalfa hay grass, orchard hay grass (I harvest the Alfalfa hay grass and the Orchard hat grass and put it into 5 of the chambers off of the main chamber.), and wild game nearby.  I was so lucky to be able to find this place!

I untack my horses and unhook Atalya from her cart once they are all in the main “cavern” and I have covered the opening back over with brush.

Then I go over to greet each of the horses and toss in some herbs and hay into the stalls with them.  I then proceed to; with a wheel barrow and pitchfork I had previously bought, clean out the stalls, also referred to as mucking.  When I was finished I go and unload the cart with the last of my possessions.

The cart contains pictures from the walls in my old room and my parents old room, the stuffed animals I have had since I was an infant, the blanket my great grandma made for me when I was born, my clothing, and everything else from my room.

After I unloaded the cart I put everything in its spot.  Now my puny brain finally realizes that I am living alone and in the middle of nowhere!  But I love adventure and have a courageous spirit, so I get over that quickly.

I go into my bedroom and settle down at my desk.  I pull up Microsoft Word on my laptop, pull up the internet, and email my friend, Gabriel Adael (But everyone calls him Gabe), the days happenings.

May 1^st, 2010

I finished transporting my things.  The plan to live out here is now in progress!  The horses are in their stalls munching the hay I gathered last summer.  The hay I cut down a week ago is ready to be brought in.  That’s tomorrow’s job.  I’m so excited!  I can’t wait to start on tomorrow’s jobs!  I know that sounds weird, but its true!  On another track I HATE the state people who * were * watching me (And are still watching you).  They drank a lot and did drugs (As you very well know ;) ).  Their kids kept trying to pressure me into taking them.  I, of course, said no.  But they didn’t stop!  UGH!  But at least I’ll never be seeing them again.  I’ve got to go to bed now…  Toodles!

I turn off my laptop and go unplug it from the solar panels, which are just outside my room and I had put, with the help of my dad when he was still alive, a small hole big enough for my computer cord through the cave wall.  I pull back the covers on my bed, climb in, and blow out the candle.  I am left in the darkness with a sweet peace enveloping me.

An Excerpt from my "Novel"

'Ello!  I'm LOVING NaNo WriMo right now!  It is soooooo fun!  Here is an excerpt from my book~

As I, Amalya Adael, step into the fog, I turn around for one last look.  The two story Ranch house seems to reach through the fog to wrap its arms around me to hold me close, the white paint glistens in the moonlight, and the red shutters whisper goodbye.  I am going to miss the old house.  It holds a lot of old memories, memories of my parents and childhood, memories of long bygone days, and memories of the happy family I shall never have again.

With tears in my eyes I turn towards the barn and slowly walk inside.  The empty stalls tell of their former days of glory, the white trim seems old and faded, and the old red paint chips off in my hand.

As the tears work their way down my face, I think of days gone by, stalls filled w/ horses, the petite and arrogant Arabians, the gorgeous multi-colored Pintos, and the huge, beautiful, and flashy Friesians.  My mom and dad used to sit on the tack trunks in front of the stalls to clean the tack; and tell me what my name, Amalya means; it means “The Work of God (Yeshua)”.  I’m glad they’re not alive to see the way the old red barn is now, and how the stalls former occupants have now all been sold except for a few choice mares and the stallions, which are well hidden so they will not be sold.

When news came about the car crash, I was in utter desolation.  I cried for days.  I wouldn’t eat and the only place I ever felt even the tiniest bit better was in the barn or in the pastures with the horses.

Seeing the green grass, huge rolling hills, and meticulous white fencing helped to soothe the hurts I felt and helped me to “make up” with Yeshua, God.

At 15 years of age it was hard to get over the loss of my parents...  I’m also hebrew, with long dark brown hair, a smile with perfect teeth, and brownish-blueish eyes, so some people tend to steer clear of me, because I look Hebrew and can fluently speak Hebrew.  I don’t know why everyone hates us, but they do...  That’s why my parents died.  My parents kept a Star of David sticker on the car and the killers saw it and ran them over the overpass.

When my parents died I was hurt inside and was pretty mad at Yeshua and I wondered why he would do this to me.  I would have these fits where I would yell and scream at him “Why, Yeshua?!  Why did you take my parents away from me?  Huh?!  Why, Yeshua?!  Why?!” and then bust out into tears.

For a while I went on like that and then I figured out that maybe Yahweh wanted to make me stronger through this ordeal.  So I started to read my Bible more and went to church again.  I read the book of Job and the four Gospels starting with book of Matthew, about Christ’s birth, his trials, his crucifixion, and his resurrection from four different perspectives.  It made me realize that my troubles aren’t as bad as I think they are.

It also helped me realize that although you may go through some rough patches you are always cradled in the hands of Yeshua and that nothing can happen to you without it being for the good of you.

The reason that all the horses had to be sold was because my parents had so many debts!  Everywhere I turned there was yet another bill.

I also don’t have any relatives so I am now a ward of the state.  I don’t want to go live in a foster home and sell all the horses.  So I devised a plan to run away and live off the land.  There was a cave I found not long before my parents died so I went and handpicked the 2 most well made mares from each breed and the stallions, I then hid them in this cave and “made” stalls for them so the stallions could only be in with the mares, and the others, if I wanted them to.

My own 4 personal horses were hidden behind the barn; they were my escape plan.  After I had finished saying goodbye and had made sure they (the state’s people) thought I was still in bed, I would make my getaway.

I went through the barn to where my “escape vehicles” were......