Amy Ponders Zorro

Has it really been TWO YEARS?  How deplorable!

In my defense, it's been a busy two years.  My dad died shortly after my last post.  A month after that, I met Tim, who became my husband last August.  I am so blessed to have found such a kind, thoughtful man!  I'd given up on dating and expected to be alone the rest of my life.  Now I am facing the daily challenge of loving a real human being, which is less romantic than the ideal relationships I write about, but ever so much more rewarding.

I also bought a used bookstore.  That has taken all my time, and to be honest, will probably continue to do so.  I don't know when or if I will get back to writing.  I do get the itch, though; especially when someone responds to one of my stories.  I WILL try - and if I can't do it, I'll remove the incomplete stories.  It's not fair to leave them as they are.

Thank you for all of your kind comments.

~Amy

I don't generally care for sappy-style songs, but "Give Me Forever" is such a perfect song for a wedding.  And since I may never get to hear it at my own wedding, I'll play it while writing about my alter ego's.  (If you're not familiar with it, search for it along with the name "John Tesh" ~ the song is on his Greatest Hits album.)

I don't have a very suitable picture for this chapter, but like this one of Diego traveling.  Call it "A funny thing happened on the way home..."

 

   

I'm sorry for the long delay.  I was working two jobs for a while, one of them typing all day.  Then my father took a turn for the worse.  We're pretty sure he has cancer, but he is too weak for treatment.  He is not expected to live more than a couple of months, at most.

I have slowly been rewriting the rest of Invisible.  The first version was quite sketchy in the final chapters.  I also found that I had written myself into a corner.  I had hurried to post the last chapter without checking what came next, then found, to my embarrassment, that I had intended that last thrust to be the second touch.  Since it is now fixed as the third, I must make use of a weak contrivance.  My apologies!

Also, I apologize for the implausibility of Diego's recovery.  I had originally intended that he should remain a bit impaired, that Toronado would go home after Diego runs away and lead the others to him, and, reassured of Victoria's love, would marry her.  But Alejandro didn't approve of that idea, as we've seen, and apparently Diego didn't, either.  So I speeded up his recovery and made it more total than it should have been.

My last apology is for the tone of the final chapters.  It feels like an entirely different story, now that Diego is well, but I don't know how to recapture the sober realism of the early ones without hurting him again, and he's suffered enough for one story.

All that being said, watch for chapter 28 shortly.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

~Amy (who is 46 as of today)

Diego's shirt ought to be black, but it's so-o much work to change colors!


Diego had taken his sabre in his left hand.
~*~

I love this picture!



She hadn't told him everything.
~*~ 

I thought I saw you walking down a street yesterday.
I dream I hear your voice though I cannot hear just what you say.
And I am waiting . . . I am waiting here for you.
I am whispering your name; I will tell it to the wind.
Your love has brought me here --
'til I see you again.
~Mark Schultz



If only Diego could see her!
~*~

This is for you, Mary Beth!



What was she doing here?
~*~

I'm staying here!
~*~

He has to be here!
~*~

I'm running out of photos of secondary characters - Alejandro, Felipe, and DeSoto.  If anyone has any they would like to share, please let me know!

My son may surprise you one of these days!
~*~

He couldn’t go home . . .
~*~

Zorro finally makes an appearance in this story.  But will his impaired memory give him away?

It’s a trick!
~*~

( Read chapter )

Oops: wrong music in the last chapter (Chad Kroeger's "Hero"--I've changed it to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," to reflect Victoria's attitude).  I had intended to include this section.  I doctored the final photo in this chapter a little bit: gave Diego more hair on his forehead and a smaller nose!

Zorro had to save her!
~*~ 

I've been working on pix while my internet connection is down; in this one, Felipe's shirt was over-exposed and blindingly white.  I also added one to chapter 16; I gave Victoria longer, curlier hair and removed some of Diego's (he had that Donny Osmond pouf).

I wish I could be Zorro again!
~*~ 

Alejandro takes charge, but can he deal with Diego and Victoria?

This was going to be a problem.
~*~ 

( Read chapter )

I am finally getting the rest of Invisible typed in.  I'm so sorry for making you wait so long!  

LiveJournal has changed some things since last year, and I'm just getting the hang of it, having a lot of trouble with the Cut text, so I hope it's readable.


Chapter 16 is a few entries down; I started posting it a while ago.  Two more chapters coming soon; I just need to proofread them and find pix.  The next one is mostly Alejandro; Chapter 18 is Diego's first attempt to be Zorro again.

Enjoy!

~Amy

I've finished revising The Courtesan, but LJ is giving me trouble; it keeps telling me that chapter 14 is too big, even though I've added virtually nothing to it! So I've divided it and put the final scene in as Chapter 15 (with new mood music, etc.).  I've made small changes to every chapter, but probably the most to these last two.

Hooray!  I can't wait to get back to Invisible.  I've written a new scene for the next chapter and will hopefully start typing and posting this weekend.  (I also revised the first half of that story, but made no plot changes.)

So once again, here is Zorro's moment of truth . . .

~*~

( Read chapter... )

[Old comments deleted]

Without further ado, here's Part 9:

~ Z ~

( Read chapter )

Invisible Part 2


Did he say anything about hugs?
~*~

( Read chapter )

Dear friends,

I'm sorry for the long hiatus. I made the mistake of starting that charity story before finishing the ones I'd started here, and it took MUCH longer than I expected.

Then, last spring, my dad collapsed and has been in poor health ever since. I spend a lot of time nursing him (he's partially disabled). Two weeks ago, he was hospitalized with pneumonia and multiple complications and had a risky emergency surgery. He is finally starting to get better and will be in a nursing home for at least a month.

Third, I lost my teaching job and had to find work. I have a temporary one, but will be looking again soon. For supplemental income, I opened an online store last month, selling used Lego pieces. It took off - nearly $1000 the first month! - but has taken all my free time.

I do hope to get back to my stories very soon. They are all finished in manuscript, so it's just a matter of finding typing time (and the will; since both of my jobs are mainly at the computer, I don't feel much like typing at the end of the day!).

Again, I apologize, and hope to do better this year. Thank you all for your patience, encouragement, and prayers for my dad.

~Amy

( Read more... )

Invisible Chapter 15

~*~

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you loved me too
What a wonderful world this would be

I'm not smart anymore!

~*~

 

Chapter 15 will be the end of Part 1 of "Invisible." I won't post Part 2 until it has been rewritten and typed, so it may be a few months.

Invisible Chapter 14

~*~

Didn't see me, you didn't see me at all
Couldn't hear me, so you couldn't have heard me fall
And you never knew though I did everything I could do
'Cause I, I was invisible to you

  
Please don't let it rain!

( Read chapter )

I can give you a wee bit more of Invisible; then I'll be writing and posting the charity story before I finish this one.

Invisible Chapter 13

I didn't know you could fence like that!

( Read chapter )

It has been great fun to read all of your comments and speculations about this story. Thanks!

~ Z ~

( read chapter )

Epiphany, continued

( Read chapter )

™ Epiphany ™

( Read chapter )

On the 11th and twelfth days of Christmas . . .

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window, and the traffic wrote the words
It came a-reeling up like Christmas bells, and rapping up like pipes and drums
 ~ Joni Mitchell, "Chelsea Morning"

( Read chapter )

I figured out my error in posting the last part as "Part 13"; I had intended to post Chapter 13 of "Invisible," yesterday, and posted an incomplete section of this story instead.  I'll leave it as Part 12 and add the rest to this installment. 

( Read chapter )