Note to self: Brown rice simply does not cook if I throw it in with the rest of the food. It just doesn't. I had it boiling for forty-five minutes, and when I served dinner, it was still crunchy. Next time I'll just give up and dirty another pot.

I've been really needing to write lately, so for lack of a better project, I've been working over Dawn's origin story. I'm trying to pull it away from AD&D and into a more generic fantasy setting, without trying to take it all the way to Gaena, because magic in Gaena is problematical.

Dawn wants to give me a lot of details that don't fit into the story. Or at least, they're not necessary. It's not a novel. But he doesn't want to shut up, so the story keeps growing. I haven't checked lately, but it may be approaching novelette length.

I wish I could get Dusk to talk about his story. Of the two, his is more interesting. Dawn's story is more or less unrelieved horribleness, and after a while it's hard to keep up the desire to know more. Dusk's has ups and downs and mysteries and tragedies and would make a splendid story. But Dusk doesn't like to talk about his past. I know the essentials, and that's all he cares to tell me.

As I observed to Karen the other day - Dawn is obsessed with the past, and Dusk with the future. It's part of what's made them such a good team, but they've come to a point where it's beginning to cause as many problems as it helps - both personally and as story characters. They've developed such a perfect balance that they're beginning to stagnate.

Luckily, K.T.'s starting a new Scum plot, so I plan to shake things up a little. I'm sure they'll hate me for it, but at least angry characters are willing to take action.

--Liz