xakara: (Gothic Beauty)
[personal profile] xakara
Hello Kittens, 

Welcome to my 13th Thursday Thirteen. Originally this was going to be a list of 13 things I learned over the last 13 weeks doing TT. I had a growing list and everything. Then NaNoWriMo started and I worked the very next night leaving me to write longhand for the last week. This in turn left me transcribing my pages all day Wednesday and so I have THE FORGIVEN on the brain right now and in turn you must too have it in your head. Don't think of it as "misery loving company", but more of creative psychosis craving companionship. That's so much more accurate in this case. 

And so for this 13th edition I bring you the first 13 paragraphs of THE FORGIVEN, which so happens to be the prologue. It was meant to be. :) (I'll even number them for the compulsive among you)

Enjoy.


13 Paragraphs From THE FORGIVEN




1) I fought against the forces of Heaven and Hell and now it is time to fight them again. But I am ahead of myself. An explanation is required.

2) On all possible worlds, holding all possible truths, there are those in which a war was waged in Heaven. This is not one of those worlds. Here, The Great War was waged upon Earth herself, and in the end the world lay flooded because of our collective pride. But the War did not begin in pride, nor lust as it would be believed. No, the War Against Heaven began with Love. The Love of Celestial Beings for that of Human Beings. For as Elohim so Loved them how could We, their Watchers, do anything less?  

3) Placed upon the Earth as guardians, the Grigori watched Humanity grow and prosper, far from the Eden of their beginnings. As their numbers increased so too did their restlessness and We fed their creativity to bring forth their contentment. Contentment led to happiness, and happiness led to exaltation in the Divine.

 4) So beautiful were they in their innocence, so exuberant in their thirst for knowledge, so alluring in their desire to please and be loved that We could not look away. Nor was it Our place to turn from them, they whom We had been set by Heaven to watch over with an unblinking eye.

5) From the depth of that unwavering stare We were dazzled by the shine of their divine potential and Love blossomed through Our Being for those We watched over. In time We took to Us Human mates and had born to Us offspring of great power. They came to be known as the Nephilim. To Us they are the Celeste, heavenly children to embody our Love of Humanity, and through them, Our Love of Elohim.  

6) When We stepped forward from the Light and from the Shadow to live beside Our Human mates, great civilizations sprang up around our Divine offspring and Humanity soared to its greatest achievements. They mastered the arts and sciences of reality and began to reach for new ones. They understood their bodies and their physical place in the world and walked the Earth with unshakeable confidence. And to Our great shame, beneath Our watchful eye, their spirit began to suffer.

7) They began to believe in what they could see and touch over what they could feel inside during the great quiet of true reflection. They turned to Us and Our offspring and found new gods to replace the Creative Divinity Of All Worlds and saw in Us a greatness equal to Elohim Itself. Our offspring, having never seen Heaven, looked upon themselves in the mirror of Human awe and accordingly they took to become the gods they were praised as.

8) And as would always be the case, down the path of pride, lay wickedness.

9) It was not universal, nor was it a majority, but you need only a powerful few to change the course of the world. Because We could not curtail the spiraling effects of Our offspring and in some cases, Ourselves, We were called Home to Heaven.

10) Some refused to abandon their base of power, others refused to abandon their families, and still others returned to Heaven and never looked back. This division could not last as a mere dissension of opinion and desire, and it grew, as it had to, into a full rebellion. And from that rebellion came The Great Fall.

11) One side was led by Samyaza, leader of the Grigori. One side was led by Michael in defense of Heaven. Then there was a third side, my side, those of the Us who wished to remain with Our families and yet still remain in the service of Elohim. We fought not to be taken and We fought to keep Samyaza and his issue from taking over Heaven as We knew it.

12) In the end, Samyaza was cast from Heaven and into the dominions of Hell. With one less battlefront We turned Our swords toward Heaven and wept to raise them high. With Our tears We watered the seeds of Elohim’s Divine mercy and Heaven ceased trying to take Us back. The doors were shut but We were always welcome to return. We fell from Heaven but not from grace.

13) We are The Forgiven. And Our battle has come anew.
~From the Hand of Eldan, Keeper of The Forgiven, Beloved of Elohim





Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Please SIGN your comments and LEAVE YOUR LINKS so others can find you. 

1)Miss Meliss, 2)Nicole Austin, 3)No Nonsense Girl, 4)Secret Agent Mama, 5)Moondancer Drake, 6)Tempest, 7)Joely Sue, 8)Christine, 9) Susan Gottfried, 10)Lorelei James, 11)Carrie Lofty, 12)Single Parents Unite, 13)Harlekwin, 14)Ann Aguirre, 15)The Gal Herself, 16)Pussreboots, 17)Natalie, 18)Busy91, 19)Darla, 20)Vixen, 21)Kelly McCrady, 22)Impworks, 23)Morgan, 24)Nicolas, 25)Tommeia, 26)Ann, 27)



 


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!





 
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Date: 2007-11-08 07:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] missmelysse.livejournal.com
Ooooh, fascinating. More please.

Date: 2007-11-08 11:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thank you! If I can pick out more excerpts without giving in to the desire to edit, I shall share as the month goes on. Glad to know it was properly intriguing. :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 10:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nicaustin.livejournal.com
Wow! Terrific start. I really enjoyed reading the prologue. :D

Happy TT!

Date: 2007-11-08 11:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'll share more when I can get past wanting to edit. (Or over-edit at least).

Thanks for the encouragment. :)

~X

TT

Date: 2007-11-08 11:09 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
That's a great TT. Hav a good week!!!

http://thenononsense.blogspot.com/

Re: TT

Date: 2007-11-08 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thank you. :)

May you have a good week too.

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 11:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moon-chylde.livejournal.com
That's really RILLY good.

And now you've got me wondering if you're going to send it to me as you get it written or make me wait for the whole thing...

Date: 2007-11-08 10:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
You'll have to wait at least until December when I can edit a bit and send you something that makes sense. You remember how BloodSprite went where I skipped around at different points because other scenes came to mind and I had to bridge them later? That's happening to me now.

The edits skipped me ahead and there's a hole I have to write my way back to filling in. Not now of course, because that's editing. Right now I'm dedicated to forward movement. Mostly. Almost. Sorta?

But worry not, you'll get the first bits and pieces as they become semi-lucid in a month. *wink*

~X

WOW

From: [identity profile] moon-chylde.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-11-09 02:04 am (UTC) - Expand

Re: WOW

From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-11-09 02:21 am (UTC) - Expand

Secret Agent Mama says:

Date: 2007-11-08 11:54 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Ohhh I loved that! You write brilliantly.

I hope you get your black beans; they are my favorite! Just this past Monday I made bean, rice and cheese enchiladas and used Frijoles Negros. :D

Hope you stop by again. I know I will!

http://www.secretagentmama.com/blog

Re: Secret Agent Mama says:

Date: 2007-11-08 10:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thank you for the compliment! :D It will be invaluable in another week or two when I start thinking I should give up writing and go to school for pharmacy or some such. *grin*

So far it looks like I might not get my black beans, but red beans and rice are in the forecast. :)

I'll definitely stop by again.

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 12:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moondancerdrake.livejournal.com
Where the heck were you worried about edits? This is amazingly good.

http://moondancerdrake.livejournal.com/

Date: 2007-11-08 10:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
I'm just put together that way it seems. But I'm working on going with the flow and getting fully into the NaNo spirit.

It took everything in me to post the above as it was without endless tinkering. I like it as is, but that submission mindset is hard to shake where you feel you need to go over something 10 times just to have it beta read.

I'm mellowing out though. And thank you for the compliment, it means a great deal to me. This'll be the post I come back and read when I start to wonder if I should really try to do this for a living...

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 01:08 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Oh... these are intriguing...

- Tempest
http://midnightmooncafe.blogspot.com/

Date: 2007-11-08 10:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thanks Tempest. Intrigue is a good thing. I can be happy with intriguing :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 01:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joelysue.livejournal.com
What a great beginning! I didn't know you were doing NaNo--good luck! I'm a NaNo virgin this year. :-D

Date: 2007-11-08 10:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thank you Joely. I'll have to swing by and keep up with your NaNo efforts so I can play the voice of encouragement. :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 01:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bombaysapphire.livejournal.com
Very intresting, I'm intrigued!

Oh, and my most played on my mp3 player is a mash-up of the Dresden Dolls, Johnny Cash, Jonathan Larson and Lady Sovereign :D

Have a great Thursday!

Christine at chaoticcrafter (http://chaoticcrafter.wordpress.com/)

Date: 2007-11-08 10:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Another one intrigued! Wonderful! This is definitely the post to come back and read when Writer's Depression sets in. :)

I'll have to search YouTube for the mash-up, it sounds like a "must hear".

~X

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] bombaysapphire.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-11-09 12:57 pm (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2007-11-08 01:52 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
I can see why you can't get that out of your brain, yeah. The possibilities for this world and the people in it are fascinating!!!

I loved your comment about the people around you being so bundled up, they all look alike. OMG, I can't believe I didn't think of that and make a point of it!!! I guess because it's not that cold here yet.

Happy TT, babe! Keep on NaNoing so well!

--Susan Helene Gottfried
http://westofmars.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 10:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Yeah, so many options that my head just can't let go. But of course, that means swimming in options and wanting to take more paths than you can in one story, or even one series. I'm settling in though. Mostly.

We've dropped into the 40's here so the bigger coats are already coming out and I'm starting to see that blend of humanity again. It's a wonderfully equalizing time that last pretty long in the Midwest. People won't crawl back out of their cocoons until April or May, so for a time we get to all be the same. It's the one thing I'd miss about winter if I moved someplace without snow and true cold.

Great to hear from you as always, Susan.

Happy Thursday and see you again soon!

~X

TT

Date: 2007-11-08 02:24 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Good luck with NANO -

Gutsy to put up the chaps :)

Lorelei James
www.loreleijames.com

Re: TT

Date: 2007-11-08 10:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thanks for the luck!

I blame temporary insanity for the sharing. But I figured it was going to be the excerpt on my website so no harm/no foul in the end.

It's all in how you spin it to yourself. ;)

~X

From Carrie http://lovelysalome.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 03:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] carrielofty.livejournal.com
I agree with Lorelei. It's brave to put up stuff out of context!! Fascinating imagery, tho.

Re: From Carrie http://lovelysalome.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 10:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Without moments of bravery we never reach our full potential.

At least that's what the motivational poster on the side of my harddrive says. *wink*

Thanks for the compliment.

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 04:45 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Sounds awesome...is that a book you are writing?? I thought there was already a movie or something with that title. You will have to let me know when you're done...Id like to read it:) Happy TT and thanks for stopping by. Its always nice to see you.

http://singleparentsunite.blogspot.com/

Date: 2007-11-08 10:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
To my knowledge there is a movie called Unforgiven and one called The Forsaken, but I don't know of one called THE FORGIVEN. But if there is one floating out there it will have to deal with being confused with my book since for now "It's my story title and I'm sticking to it". *Wink* LOL

Thanks so much for the compliment. I will indeed remember this when I comes time to recruiting beta readers. :)

Thanks for the return visit. Seeya next week if not before.

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 04:48 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Oh WoW! You are such a tease! This was fantastic. When its published, can I have an autographed copy? You're off to a tremendous start.

Happy TT!!

Harlekwin at Boho Rhap (http://bohorap.blogspot.com)

Date: 2007-11-08 10:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thank you so much, this was among my favorite comments to come from someone who isn't familiar with my writing. It was so sweet to hear not only that you liked it but that you have every confidence in it being published. :)

Your autographed copy is on the list! :)

Happy TT

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 05:05 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Great idea for a TT. And a very interesting excerpt!

http://www.annaguirre.com/blog.html

Date: 2007-11-08 10:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thanks Anna. I shall make sure to swing by yours to read up on your urban fantasy in full!

~X

From The Gal Herself at One Gal's Musings

Date: 2007-11-08 05:10 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
These 13 excerpts are elegant and impressive! Doesn't read like you're just tossing words down (as some NaNoWriMo participants seem to imply they're doing). Keep going! (And thanks for visiting my TT)

Re: From The Gal Herself at One Gal's Musings

Date: 2007-11-08 10:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
(((Thankful Hugs)))

Wonderful to know it doesn't read like I'm just typing for the hell of it. I think it starts to feel like that when you can't edit the way you want to and spend a week nailing down a single concept to momentary perfection.

But I'm willing to bet that most who throw in with NaNo for the long haul are actually producing better stuff than they give themselves credit for.

I shall indeed keep going and thanks for the return visit. :)

~X

Thursday Thirteen

Date: 2007-11-08 05:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pussreboots.livejournal.com
When I write, I normally write long handed but for Nanowrimo I end up typing directly. Thanks for sharing some of your Nano work. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by my other site. :D

Re: Thursday Thirteen

Date: 2007-11-08 10:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
I don't know if it's just me, but there is something different in the creative flow of longhand versus typing. The process of creating the words by dips and swirls of the wrist and fingers has an intimacy to it that makes up for being slower way to produce.

I've disliked falling behind, but I've liked the process of being intimate with the story.

Thanks for the return visit. :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 05:26 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
You're a great writer, it's very intriguing.

Natalie a.k.a. redsoxmommy.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 10:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thanks wonderfully sweet of you, Natalie!

I'll make sure to swing by your blog when I'm done with comments.

Happy TT :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 05:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] busy91.livejournal.com
Sounds like an interesting read. Happy TT!
Mine is up:
http://bdmeme2.blogspot.com/

Date: 2007-11-08 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
An interesting read is what I'm hoping to produce.

I'll be off to read yours in the not too long. ;)

Thanks for the visit.

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 05:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tommiea.livejournal.com
Sounds very interesting!! Thanks for visiting my Tt

Date: 2007-11-08 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
Thanks for the return visit and the compliment. :)

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 05:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] msmoby.livejournal.com
Interesting premise! It hooked me--now where's the rest of the book? :)

--Darla
http://nichtszusagen.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
...It hooked me...

Music to my ears!

The rest of the book is coming as quickly as circumstance and obsessive compulsive dedication will allow. *Wink*

~X

Vixen

Date: 2007-11-08 05:55 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Great! I do wish I could write like that! I can hardly wait for more.

http://vixensden.wordpress.com

Do you mind that I added you to my blogroll?

Re: Vixen

Date: 2007-11-08 11:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
I'm honored that you added me to your blogroll!

Thanks for the add and the compliment :D

~X

http://kellymccrady.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 06:53 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Cool prologue. I'm really intrigued by this story. Thank you for sharing with us!

Re: http://kellymccrady.blogspot.com

Date: 2007-11-08 11:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
You're welcome, I loved sharing. And someone else intrigued, wonderful!

Everyone's compliments have firmly achored me in the mindset of finishing The Forgiven over switching stories.

Of course...I could write both. No, wait, that's madness.

But still...

~X

Date: 2007-11-08 08:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sroit.livejournal.com
You know why I like this one so much...
Ah. A bit nostalgic in a way.

Date: 2007-11-08 11:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
As you can imagine, I had a bit of nostalgia myself. A bit that keeps growing and will eventually demand a place to be explored and perhaps revived to its former glory.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'....

~X

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] sroit.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-11-09 04:30 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-11-09 05:59 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2007-11-08 09:35 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
The compulsive thank you for the numbering as it saves us counting to check there are 13 ;-)

Great TT :-)

Mark

{ http://impworks.blogspot.com/ )

Date: 2007-11-08 11:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xakara.livejournal.com
As one of the compulsive, I couldn't let my people suffer. I had to add in the numbers for all of us. *Grin*

~X
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