Working title- The other Side of Here. A fantasy novel in two parts.

This is my novel, a project I've been working on (on and off) for 9 years or so... I've written about 130.000 words on book one and I'm into 80.000 words of book two. It's my first attempt at creative writing (story-telling)

It begins like this...

Beta copy 1.
The Other Side of Here
Written and created by Gary Carter
Book One. Chapter I. The Night.

"The Universe is very big and very, very old, and so it stands to reason that odd things... unexplainable things do occur, sometimes to those who least expect it..."
Nym.

There are numerous tales told of heroes vanquishing evil and stories spoken in hushed voices over crackling campfires of dragons laying waste to all before them, but rarely a tale about an unassuming child who is brave.
Back when the sky was still young and the hills and mountains were strangers to the clouds, and the first seeds, offspring of the first trees began to grow, Dragons roamed freely, the Fire Breathers the bards called them. The dragons, it was said, controlled all of the old arcane magic and its powers that flourished within the strange and enchanted world of Minus. Men and dragons once lived side by side and in relative peace, but they, the children of men grew envious of the dragons and their power over them. Men of ambition, blinded by their own greed sort the secret that lies within all arcane magic, they wanted the power all to themselves, they were corrupted by its allure, as vane kings often are, and so war...

But first, we must meet our unassuming hero, for she is still unaware of her own fate and that of the enchanted world of Minus........................................................................

Outwardly Ellie was an ordinary eleven-year-old girl that did most of what ordinary girls do at that age, scale walls, climb trees and cross lava lakes, before undertaking daring leaps over snake-infested pits or fighting off the odd troll between breakfast and lunch.
Ellie liked dragons, she had books on dragons, and whenever she could, she drew dragons, big or small, fierce or gentle... Where this interest in dragons came from, she couldn’t say for now, only that she liked dragons and that one day she hoped to find one. Many’s the time she would sit in her room gazing wistfully out at the world through her bedroom window daydreaming, perhaps to faraway lands or further still, to a place where the Fire Breathers lived.
Ellie could speak with animals, it seems such a simple statement to make, but it is true none the less, she could speak to animals before she could walk, it was a gift that she never really questioned at all. She understood what they were thinking... almost feel and sense their world through her own eyes and understood what they were saying and they understood her too. It wasn't out of the ordinary for the child to sit and have a conversation with say a cat or a dog or even a bird, remark on its song, that in the end it really didn't seem that big of a deal to her any more. It had never occurred to Ellie that this was strange, though she did wonder... But there was no mistaking it, animals felt calm near her, they seemed to be drawn to her, almost like a healer... Perhaps part of her thought or imagined that it was all in her head and so went along with it anyway, just for the fun of it, after all, she did like to daydream now and again.

Hi, gary!

This sounds like an interesting world. I like the way you're showing us the way that having dragons changes the world (I assume the lava lakes are connected to the dragons!) and I'm looking forward to hearing more about Ellie and her adventures.

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Originally Posted by Caillagh de Bodemloze

Hi, gary!

This sounds like an interesting world. I like the way you're showing us the way that having dragons changes the world (I assume the lava lakes are connected to the dragons!) and I'm looking forward to hearing more about Ellie and her adventures.

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Thank you for your kind words, yes perhaps the lakes do relate to the dragons... I've just finished the first part, or book one, so now I'm getting it to proofread for grammar. I'm also doing a little artwork (see attached) to go along with each chapter. I've already written about 80.000 words of part two, :)

The pictures are fantastic! :D

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Originally Posted by Caillagh de Bodemloze

The pictures are fantastic! :D

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Thanks, mate.

Hey Gary, are you thinking of posting the story (or perhaps excerpts) here, or are you looking for offline beta-reading? I can't say I would be a good reader (I can give good commentary, but I have to like the story first, and I'm sometimes a picky punk :tongue:). However, I'd love to see at least a taste of it, to get a feel for your writing and the way you're building things!

It sounds like 11-year olds in Minus have adventurous lives! I wonder what Ellie uses her unusual ability for, and whether this will help or hinder her in the society that she's in. I agree that your artwork is impressive and you've got me interested in where the story goes from here.

To be honest the title caught my eye, and that's the main reason why I clicked, but holy moly you have put a lot of effort into this and the drawings are great as well! Typical 11 year old stuff eh...very intriguing indeed. Glad you've written so much already, that can be the main challenge itself sometimes. Great stuff!

I can only echo what others already have said. Those drawings are amazing!

An interesting idea for a story and I too would like to know what happens next.

Thanks all for your interest, the first version is being proofread at the moment by a teacher who is doing it for free, though I promised her a drawing for her troubles. Ellie in the story is unwittingly drawn into a world she knows nothing about and as their story unfolds she realises that she is more than meets the eye and that her connection to this enchanted world is not bt accident. But I would eagerly give any person who may be interested in a copy of what I have written just as soon as I get them (proofread copy back) (for grammar etc...) I am a painter but began to write some years ago as I wanted to give my niece a little story to read, she was raised without a father so I was there for her, unfortunately, the story turned out to be a twop part epic and far from being shory ha... My bad, she is now 18 and still waiting for the first copy to be finished... "you can't rush these things" I told her smiling. But want to say thanks again for all the interest, and I will if people want to post chapters, be warned though it builds up...

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Originally Posted by Kilo11

Hey Gary, are you thinking of posting the story (or perhaps excerpts) here, or are you looking for offline beta-reading? I can't say I would be a good reader (I can give good commentary, but I have to like the story first, and I'm sometimes a picky punk :tongue:). However, I'd love to see at least a taste of it, to get a feel for your writing and the way you're building things!

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@Kilo 11 yes I would post chapters if people want to read them, I'm just waiting to get the first version back from proofreading (for grammar) then ill post in there is an interest. Thanks.

PS I am already 80.000 words at last word count into book two. :)

PPS...These are two drawings I was doing for the siege of Newcastle 1644 ECW... But I never got round to printing them off for the castle i used to work at.

Please do post chapters! I'd love to read them, and I'm sure I'm not the only one! :D

Also, I feel I may be repeating myself here, but I have to say it anyway - those pictures are wonderful.

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Originally Posted by Caillagh de Bodemloze

Please do post chapters! I'd love to read them, and I'm sure I'm not the only one! :D

Also, I feel I may be repeating myself here, but I have to say it anyway - those pictures are wonderful.

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That's very kind of you to say so, thank you very much. Im not sure how to post chapters on here as it would be a lot of text, perhaps i can upload a word doc?

I'm afraid it's unlikely to be that straightforward. If there's an external site where your document is hosted, you could link to that. Otherwise, I'm afraid you may find you need to copy and paste from your document into posts here (and if your text contains much formatting, the formatting might not transfer well to TWC, sadly).

I suggest copying and pasting just a small amount, and then either posting it or sending it as a PM to yourself to see what the result looks like, before you decide whether that's something you want to do. I really would love to see your writing, but I don't want to make you feel you need to do a huge amount of work in order to make that possible!