My, what white teeth you have …

It’s been a really long day today. I have to get up at the crack of dawn (08:00) to leave the house at nine for my latest Cognitive Behavioural Therapy appointment. The hour of talking went by really quick but I was exhausted afterwards. We did a quick depression and anxiety checklist at the beginning and I have halved my scores !! 😀 I am now on the high end of being an anxious person rather than over the threshold and suffering anxiety. My depression levels are within normal range for an ill person.

 

After that grueling episode I had a wonderful half an hour being prodded by the dentist. I now have some extra fillings and am getting over cramp in my jaw muscles! I had to take some painkillers and go an lie down when I got back just because my jaw muscles were in complete spasm causing me to have a vicious headache. And two hour nap solved that problem though and when I got up I chilled out by re-reading The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.

 

Then I spent a perplexing 5 hours writing my novel. This resulted in 3000 words written but I’m still scratching my head a bit. I had to go and do lots of web research on titles for servants in royal households and who has responsibility for what. Then I had to tackle the dreaded scene with my hero’s father :-S That’s why I chose to read The Warrior’s Apprentice because the main character Miles Vorkosigan has to deal with lots of authority figures as well as duel roles of soldier and noble. Very useful ‘research’ on how to get the tone of the authority figures right. That and I really love this series !!

 

I’m now trying to work out if anything else should go in this chapter. At the moment it is about 2000 words shorter than the other chapters: on average my chapters so far are 6000 words long. There is a scene I was intending to include but I wonder whether it would be better left as flashbacks as the main element would be quite hard to write; I have to tell an eight year her entire family has been murdered. On a cheery note the next chapter is back in a location I already have a map for so that should make it easier to write. I still have to tackle making some maps to go with Chapter 5. While I don’t need them particularly for descriptions in Chapter 5 I’m likely to need them in the future so that I don’t contradict myself on directions.

 

Well it is almost my bedtime so I shall try to persuade myself I want to go to sleep rather than stay up and plan the floor plan of a palace.
Hours Sleep Today so far : – 9 hours in 2 session 😐
Headache intensity / pain level : 4 😦
Nausea level : 0 😀
Joint / muscle pain : 4 😦
Fatigue : 5 🙂
Brain Fog : 5.5 🙂

My life as a fairy story : Age 21 – 22 : Uni Year 2 plus summer

The princess was glad when she realised she had done very well on the tests and that she would be able to study the next year …

 

The king and queen were proud of their daughter and unaware of truly how sick she had been joyfully sent her back to the Red Dragon Academy the next year. This time the princess was able to get to all her lessons and took great joy in listening to experts teach. However she still could not overcome the evil wizard’s reading and writing spell. When the big tests finally rolled around Evil Wizard ME was determined to stop the princess from completing the year. He doubled his efforts and she was bombarded by invisible woodpeckers and her brain turned to sludge.

 

The princess spoke with her mother through the magic mirror and the queen realised that only her royal magic could help. She hired a carriage and made the journey to join her daughter. She found an inn and every day she would arrive at her daughter’s dormitory. The queen would read the required scrolls and write up all knowledge that was needed into short and simple words. After two weeks the queen had made up all the necessary notes so that the princess could pass her big tests. Then the queen would read the notes to the princess and ask her questions about the information.

 

The princess was so happy to have the mother with her to help her. Evil Wizard ME was angry at this interference in his plans and gradually increased the strength and number of the invisible woodpeckers. The princess attended all her tests and managed to cast some basic spells on the provided magic mirror. She got a letter from a resident healer to tell the professors how the evil wizard was treating her. The professors looked kindly on her and she was allowed to continue studying.

 

Normally the princess would have begun a year volunteering in a village in order to practice her skills but the professors said that first she must complete all her scroll work. They said if she completed the work before the new study year started she could go straight to the last year of her studies. The princess was pleased by this approach. However she needed to stay in the Red Dragon Capital in order to keep studying and her dormitory was shut over the summer. So with her bestest friend another princess being victimised by Evil Wizard ME, she moved into her very own tiny castle.

 

She loved her castle so much. It had just enough space to fit the two of them. The two princesses loved to play in the kitchen making new and exciting meals. But Evil Wizard ME was infuriated that two of his victims should be enjoying themselves and he began to send more powerful spells their way. Gradually the two princesses stopped talking or playing together. Our princess tried to work but found it very difficult. By the end of the summer she had still not completed all her scroll work. The kindly professors said she could have an extra year of studying to focus on recovering from the effects of the latest evil wizard’s spells and complete all her scroll work …

My life as a fairy story : Age 17 – 20 : A levels and Uni Year 1

The king and queen rejoiced for now the princess was able to go back to her studies …

But she was not as she had been and found reading and studying much more difficult. She was well enough to learn to drive a carriage and after 3 attempts passed her test. Carriage instructors don’t give privileges to royalty. A year rolled by and the princess passed her immediate tests. But once again this infuriated Evil Wizard ME and he set out to increase the power of his spell.

The princess began to look to her future and her heart’s desire was to learn how to listen to people’s troubles and help them get better. She found a well regarded academy that would teach her and she and her parents went on a visit to inspect the facilities. When Evil Wizard ME heard about this visit he roared with fury and unleashed his new spell. The princess fell down in agony unable to leave her tower. Her tutors were upset for her and sent her papers she could read. She worked through the papers as she could until the final tests arrived. She was tired and in pain but she completed all the tests. Her parents were proud of her but she felt disappointed with her performance.

She began the long wait to hear about her results while planning for her life in the distant Red Dragon Academy. When the results finally arrived she realised she had not achieved what she needed to for the academy to accept her. Her mother the queen insisted she ring them and politely request a place because she was a special princess. The princess rang and there was a kindly professor who took pity on her and gave her a place in the Red Dragon Academy.

The princess was very excited to be starting her new studies. She had a new place to live with lots of other princesses. She had a special room and her very own pony so she could ride everywhere and not have to walk. She was given several servants to fetch and carry her books from the library, go to the market for food and do all her laundry and cleaning. Her most beloved servant would go to all her lessons and take notes for her so she could sit and listen. Though the princess was very excited the king and queen were sad that she would be living so far away. They wouldn’t be able to visit her since they couldn’t afford to take a 8 hour carriage ride round trip away from their kingdom. But they had a magic mirror they could use to talk to the princess every day.

At first the princess was very happy and excited exploring her new home. However the servants were very troublesome and often didn’t turn up for work. Evil Wizard ME bided his time looking for a new way to torture the princess. He found a new spell that turned her thoughts to mist that would drift out her ears. She would look at words on a page and not be able to understand what they meant. She would not be able to hold all the words in a sentence together in her mind to work out its meaning. All day while her servants toiled at her lessons she would sit by the magic mirror and match coloured jewels into groups of three. As the spell grew stronger the princess began to have terrible fears; she did not like to leave her room or to try to talk to anyone. Only once a day would she leave her room to eat in the dining hall with the other princesses. But because the other girls were busy with their studies no-one noticed she was hiding away.

When the end of the academy year rolled around the princess realised she had not completed any of the required scroll work and set out in two weeks to knock out the required work. When the exams came around the princess was granted a short reprieve from the wizard’s spells and was able to read all the notes her servants had made and remember them for the big tests. The princess was glad when she realised she had done very well on the tests and that she would be able to study the next year …