Mea Culpa! -- An author's dark secret

Almost every writer is guilty of it though many will deny and even fabricate long and complex stories to cover up the fact—after all we are writers famed for a high dosage of imagination. Sometimes we’re so clever we actually convince ourselves of our innocence.
Hah!
The truth and bitter reality will eventually reassert itself and force us to face the facts and neither denial nor sheer bloody bullheaded self-induced amnesia (for which I am not guilty of, no sirree) will ever get us away from the shocking reality.
Almost every writer; and that includes you Mrs. J.C. from Hammersmith, VA. (Aha, you didn’t think I’d notice that little burp on the Quillsquatters page did you?) I repeat, every writer from the icicle-dipped-in-heated-ink-on-sheets-of-ice Inuit to the scratch-with-a-nail-on-a-stone-block Falkland’s sheep herder is guilty of this one thing.
We all have at least one skeleton in our laptops.
Shamefully I admit I am as guilty as the rest of them and I’ve attempted for longer than most to keep this affair secret. Since I was eighteen years old when I was a mere uneducated and easily corrupted teen I’ve gone out of my way to divert any attempt to pry this secret out of my wonderfully electric pink and fluffy closet. After all isn’t it much cozier huddled up with the cheap Walmart parka’s and worn out wellingtons than it would be bouncing around bare-naked in the full light of day?
Did I say bare-naked?
Uhm, please excuse me. I didn’t mean to put it quite like that, after all it’s not anything to do with baring…, well..., baring one’s soul perhaps.
Okay; dammit, I’ll confess to being guilty of having something I am truly ashamed of. Although in this case it’s not so much a skeleton in the laptop since such things didn’t exist at the time of my deed (laptops that is—skeletons have been around a little longer I’ve been told.) So it’s more like an apparition in a typewriter; a cadaver in the keys or a revenant in the ribbon. An act so heinous even a liberal apologist such as myself still cringes at the memory.
Perhaps this acknowledgement and an act of contrition will bring about a cleansing of my soul and free the overburdening weight of guilt which has hung over me for the last thirty-two years.
And so I announce now…
*cough*
Ah, a glass of water please.
Yes.
Thank you, So, that’s it…right?
What?
I didn’t say anything—
Oh dear, well…



Here goes…





I just want to say…









iwrotethisfirstnovelanditiscompleteandutterlyembarrassingtrash .

Okay! There, now you know and the first one to laugh gets…gets…gets a free copy of it. Hah! So there.
I don’t mean the first “it’s the first I’ve published first novel”. Cyberius III was my first published novel and was actually my fifth written novel though it is currently “out of print” and unavailable from the publisher; a somewhat odd state of affairs for an electronic publication but hey, what do I know, I’m only the author.
Poseidon VII was actually my seventh completed novel and Dante I my tenth. (Novels two to four are either still being edited or are difficult sales to shrinking markets.) I’m talking about the foremost, truly mind-numbing first ever typed words on paper kind of story. (Trust me I’m not even going to include the cringe, curl up and die stories I had to write for English class. My adolescent stories can be most easily equated to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Vogon’s Poetry.
The thing is; it is true isn’t it? All writers have first writtens or experimentals which we keep locked in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet, stuffed under the bed, hidden in an old shoebox crammed into the bottom of the bathroom cleaning products under-the-sink storage. Yellowed copy for which we’d die if it was espied and read by even our nearest and dearest; yet somehow is too precious to offload into the nearest furnace or shredder. (Throwing it in a trashcan is out of the question, some one may pull it out to read.)
My no-title masterpiece was a glowing example of a Marty Stu. One shy little nobody (with brown hair, glasses and a wicked smile) building a worldwide secret force for good and saving the entire world from nuclear destruction while simultaneously re-educating the world leaders in the ways of peace and harmonious living.
*ick*
Think about it. Would you really buy a book which started with the sentence:

White edged sky edged toward sleepy Houndston as dawn chased away the lingering shadows of another sleepless night.

It’s okay to scream, I understand. If you haven’t clawed your eyes out by now it’s safe to open them again.
With a twisted and totally unrealistic plot this amazing science fiction/action thriller suffered from multiple name changes and physical characteristics of the secondary characters; superhuman capabilities of a main character who could fix anything and never made a mistake; randomly moving body parts; intensely yucky pseudo romancey scenes and probably every single mistake it was possible to make in all its literary forms. With camels regularly coming to a sweet end in the roving dunes of the Arabian desserts the Novel with No Title was my very own Eye of Argon simply waiting for the chance to entertain myriad SF convention attendees along with three pints of beer and a brandy—triple shot on ice with some white fluffy cream and a bagel.
Fortunately this two-hundred and forty-three page; single spaced; yellow aged; typewritten monstrosity is the only embarrassing attempt I’ll admit to. Having learned enough from the one failed attempt to edit, re-edit and edit again up to the tenth generation edit. Yet, I find I’m still unable to completely give up on no-title and every eighth year I pull it out from the cobwebs and add another gallon of red ink or two to the edits I’ve already added to the impossible.
Truthfully, in spite of the terror of seeing what my original writing skills amounted to I am still quite proud of that piece of work. I know it will never be published. Even after massive edits and rewrites it would be simpler just to write a completely different book with a similar story idea.
The important thing is I did write it. I managed a ninety-seven thousand word typescript, plotted, planned, researched and completed it. And you know what? It’s not something which a lot of people can do. Completing even a cringe-worthy manuscript which has no chance of being published brought me a great sense of satisfaction—not to mention the boost it gave to my writer esteem. Once I knew I could complete a novel it became easier to do the next, and the next.
Also there is a certain amount of self-teaching to be found within the historical first time. Like the highly embarrassing first time sex, reviewing the fumbling and bumblings of my first typescript reminds me that I wasn’t always as proficient a writer as I am now and helps me relate more easily to today’s beginning authors.
It is a very humbling experience to look back and see how little I knew then compared to how much I know now. Encouraging too since it’s similar to looking back over your baby and childhood photos and seeing how you grew and developed. My one major regret in life is how in a fit of teenaged pique I threw away dozens of notebooks containing over nine years of childhood poetry—I’d turned into an adult, see, and didn’t need their constant reminders of how silly and childish I’d been.
How many authors have closets like mine (minus the electric pink) and their secret not to be discovered first writtens? I don’t know, after all some skeletons may look better in a closet with a big red bow tie holding them firmly into place—with the occasional, locked in the bedroom airing.
What do you think?

S.J. Willing
Proud Author of the PIACT undercover agent series.

S.J.Willing
S.J. Willing's Forum
Dante I
Poseidon VII

Thursday Thirteen: Thirteen Reasons to Save our SJ

SJ Willing, one of our favorite people and the author of the frame story for Dunvegas, is in trouble. Five years after pancreas surgery that was supposed to fix things, but didn't, his pancreas has shut down completely. With proper medication, he can thrive. Without it, he will die. Soon. The problem is he doesn't have insurance to cover it and the meds cost over $250 a month.
The rest of us at Beyond the Veil are doing a number of things to help out. We'll announce them as they go live. But there's one thing you can do right now. If you've ever read Dunvegas--or if you're even thinking about it--please, click on the new Donate button we've added to the Dunvegas cover page. Here are thirteen reasons why:

1. Without SJ's tale of Roger Ing and Amanda Uhndame there wouldn't be a Dunvegas to enjoy.

2. In the close quarters of Dante 1, SJ's most recent sexy futuristic romance about the undercover agents of PIACT, everything the hero and heroine have is stripped away. Secrets. Lies. Clothes.

3. Dante 1 provides a happily ever after for its hero and heroine, but there's still another major romance left to be resolved. C'mon, you can't leave them hanging that way forever.

4. Agent Double D3, whose advice is crucial to helping us keep those special relationships with the werewolves, vampires, zombies, ghosts and mummies as, um, special as they need to be.

5. You don't have to give much. This really is a case of little things add up.

6. The new cover for Poseidon VII, the second in SJ's erotic futuristic series about the sexy and romantic agents of PIACT, deserves some cover love.

7. The bath scene in Poseidon VII deserves... well, let's say you'll enjoy it--and the elevators--a lot.

8. Free fiction--SJ shares a lot of it, both on Beyond the Veil and his web site.

9. Every dime of the money donated will go to SJ.

10. He needs to stick around to see Space Burps, his hilarious (really, I've beta read it) science fiction comedy get published and make the USA Today bestseller list.

11. Cyberius III, the award-winning first installment of the PIACT undercover space agents series.

12. All the wonderful novels he hasn't finished yet.

13. Because if we don't help each other, who will help us?

###

Ideas: Concepts and Generation

(or:- What would happen if the buttered toast landed edgewise down?)


Welcome to the literary crucible.

Today we consider one of the most basic elements of fiction writing—The Idea. The other basic elements being, The Plot, and The Writing.


First off let’s start with two definitions of Idea

Idea:- Conception, plan of thing to be aimed at, discovered.
Oxford English Dictionary

Idea:- That concept which, after indeterminable hours; gallons of coffee and
sleepless; sore-eyed; computer staring nights; still evades the probing
mind of the frustrated author.
Author unknown

The frustration of an elusive idea is intense. The need to create and produce a specific piece of work is tantamount to an author’s psyche. Plus it has been known in certain circumstances to provide the check to pay the bills. It is at these moments that the true nature of an author is refined, the literary crucible that will either forge a true all weather author or break the writer down into a motionless, staring mass of idealess jelly.

So how, as authors, can we keep up an almost endless supply of ideas to feed into our clicking keyboards. There are as many answers to this as there are authors on full time pay roll at Greasy Joe’s Sludge Bucket Café, and no one way is particularly right. As part of the nice, helpful guy that I am I’ve gathered together and expounded below a system that I developed over roughly forty years of writing. This system is guaranteed to, with a dose of tremendous luck (and an even healthier dose of stealing other people’s ideas,) to generate your own ideas for any given fictional situation.

Of course what it doesn’t guarantee is getting the ideas in time for that elusive contract…

I’ve concentrated my examples here for fantasy work, fantasy being my main love and my fascination. But the system is transmutable and can be adapted for practically any form of writing you choose. Even Non-Fiction—the system was used in the production of this article itself.

Also, although I tend to discuss the issue in terms of a new idea for a fresh story, the system can be equally applied to sections in the middle, and or end of novels and other long pieces.

I hope you find this process as useful, and as enjoyable, as I have over the years. And use of the system is entirely free provided you deposit in my bank roughly a million dollars per hour usage…


Spend some time in the mad cafe

Regardless of who you are the creative human brain works best when alert but relaxed. Music often helps as some people find it tunes in the creative nature of the brain, though this is indeed a personal thing. It is possible to find many authors who will listen to music as they write for just this reason.

A similar kind of tuning needs to be done for finding and creating ideas. It is very important to find somewhere where you feel relaxed. I've always found that being uptight and fighting through piles of words and papers and forcing myself to find an idea for a particular piece is the most counter-productive thing I can do. By focusing on the fact that I can't find an idea, the solution appears to rapidly become more and more distant.

Where to relax is a personal thing. An armchair in a small room is common, maybe in bed if you can resist the urge to watch TV or sleep. My personal favorite is to go to a local cafe or bar and amidst the bustle of people find a small corner table and sit. Armed with a hot brew or pint of beer, and a cheese Danish I sit and face the throngs. With a pad and paper ready I just let the atmosphere of the others around me draw out the tensions and open my mind to any incoming thoughts.

There are writers I know, who will sit with friends and chat freely about their ideas and plots. This kind of chatter can help tremendously but do take a pad and write the ideas down frequently. Otherwise the majority of the stuff spoken about will be forgotten by the time you've left the bar, kitchen or whatever. Be judicious though, one friend of mine was animatedly discussing various ways to kill off the husband in her companion’s novel whilst treating themselves to a pizza at the local restaurant. Half way through the exercise where they'd been through the list of poisons and found them boring, tried arranging an accident and found it too risky and were working on murdering him in his sleep when an elderly lady from a nearby table stood up and began speaking very loudly and angrily.

"You cold hearted bi...."

The object lesson is, if you will discuss techniques of murder in public it pays to either let your eavesdroppers know it is fictional now and then, or keep a loaded gun in a clearly visible place.

Wherever it is or whatever you do the universal factor seems to be the need to break away from the computer/typewriter and to let your mind clear from the physical act of writing. This spring clean of the mind allows new ideas to form where the old cobwebs used to grow.

To see or not to see

This may have given you the impression that I'm advocating you do nothing to generate ideas. This is not true. I do believe though that ideas are all around us and what we need to do is to train ourselves to see them. Terry Pratchett, famous for his Discworld, was sitting in the airport lounge one day and saw what many of us would see. A tired and haggard tourist pulling one of those suitcases on wheels. This suitcase, like so many, kept going off in the wrong direction as if it had a life of its own.

On the strength of that observation the inimitable Luggage was born. That living travel chest known to eat wizards for breakfast…

So ideas surround us and we need to observe more. How many potential story ideas have we passed today but failed to see because we haven't actually looked to see if they were there.

For one poignant fantasy I remember driving the coast road close to my home. I drove this particular road every day to work and generally thought nothing of it. Yet on this unusual day they'd been an accident and I was forced with all the other drivers to slow the car to a walking pace. It was one of those particularly dreary cloud covered days which gave the sea a kind of grey hue. It occurred to me then that the sea looked lonely. Developing that idea led to my short story The Lonely Sea.

I am embarrassed to admit it took five years and an accident to make me observe, for the first time, the sea in that condition and to recognize that it had an emotion that could be used in a fiction tale. (The Lonely Sea was published years ago in a small press publication in England that I am now far too old to remember the name of.)

The thing is, we see so many things each day that are fuel for a writer’s imagination. And that is why taking a notebook with you and making copious notes is a godsend. Looking at my notes today, I saw the young couple having a tiff in the town mall with girl leaving rapidly, the young man following. There was a lost children's balloon scooting along in the wind under the eaves of town buildings. The strange, dragon shaped incense burner in a local store and the almost worshipful way that customers admired it.

Each of these have potentials for story ideas embedded in them. For example. The young man could chase his lover to apologize and they find themselves stepping through a portal to different parts of another world where they struggle to become reunited. The balloon is blown into the presence of evil and glares on the people below. The incense burner when wielded by the hand of the “faithful” becomes a creature of power and beauty, but little trust.
These germs of ideas would easily become short stories and possibly even novels.

Meet the media men

The media men can be the fantasy writer's greatest friends. Nine times out of ten if you are stuck for an idea for a fantasy story you need turn no further than your daily newspapers, news report or magazine.

Although any newspaper will do I tend to go for the ones which are less up-market. Tabloids would be wonderful if they didn’t appear to be mainly fiction from the get go. The newspapers I love are the ones which contain little paragraphs with snippets of information. These I regularly cut and stick into a scrapbook. Short pieces like:

'Police were baffled today when the missing housewife, XXXXX, was found drowned in her car on a bend off the A45, she had apparently driven through a hedge and trees into the river beyond. The reason that the search took so long [three days] to find the body was that the car had apparently passed through the hedges and trees without harming or breaking even a twig.'
—Now this is definitely fantasy stuff.


Then there's the not quite so obvious news item:

'Police today were praising the bravery of a young stranger who prevented the abduction of a child from the local play park. The assailant, described as in his late thirties, wearing a blue duffel coat and dark green trousers was scared off when the young man accosted him and refused to let him put the child in his car. Police are anxious to find the reluctant hero who disappeared soon after the assailant had driven off in a white....' Bingo! Ideas come tumbling down. Where did the young man come from? Where did he go? Why on earth did he confront the man who could have been the child's father?

I always look closely at everything, even the adverts can spark the odd crazy idea. Take this advert for example (the first one I found in a woman's magazine):

Advanced skincare with the Johnson's Touch.
Thanks to Johnson's you can now boost your skin's natural renewal
with new pH5.5 Healthy difference Cream.....

Advanced skincare? Skin renewal? Possibly a good starting place for a fantasy story and or science fiction. Perhaps even envisage a scifi/fantasy where the space ship is a huge intergalactic creature and a young energetic wizard-scientist discovers a cream which seals, heals and renews the flesh of the huge creatures. An aid to keep them alive in battles and sustain them in adverse space conditions.

Well, it's just a thought....


The question's not in how to try but more in who, how, what and why?

Seeing things and making notes isn't the end of the exercise. I can collect and collate observations until they fill books and books fill boxes. Which they do until I throw them all out, then start again. That doesn't make them a fully fledged idea though. Once the basics have been collected they have to go through a kind of inquisition which will make them burgeon into an idea.

So what if you have a cream that will renew flesh, a balloon which reflects the image of some evil entity it temporarily meets. The next process which these observations undergo will mould them into a basic fantasy plot. The technique is very simple and one that any parent of young children will tell you they recognize with frustrating clarity. I simply ask myself the W questions. (Note How is a W question, it just happens to be written backwards!)

Take the balloon. How does that become a true story?

I’ve already undergone a few questions and answers to get to the image idea any way. So add a few more to flesh out the story idea. Straight forward questions like. What could make the balloon special to be noticed? Would it be the balloon or something else? Would it be something in the building it was clinging to? What could be in that building? Where did it come from? How does it live, feed, contact with humans? This obsrvation became the basis on my wip Red Dragon, Blue. It is a horror tale where a father sacrifices everything in order to summon five revengeful spirits to destroy those who have murdered his daughter.

And this wasn’t the only tale I could fabricate from one observation. As I sat with my handy lil’ notebook and asked myself all of these things. I wrote down all the following answers to my constant interrogation. (Always remember to work within your created, or real world, limitations as you do this)

The balloon is a child's toy. The 'spirit of evil' was attracted to the balloon because it was a child. The spirit is evil because it is in torment. It is in torment because the child it was, was beaten and tortured to death. It feeds off the fear and souls of the living. It seeks revenge. When the story ends it will be avenged. It uses what tools it is familiar with (e.g.. balloons and toys) to create fear and death (balloon taking horrific face. Skateboard placed at top of stairs for someone to step on and kill themselves.) The house it inhabits is a block of apartments and everyone within it lives in a kind of fear without knowing why. No one can move out because they trapped by something indefinable. The child spirit must be appeased and 'destroyed/removed' from this plane of existence. Use the 'Love conquers all' ploy. Who would love the child spirit. A child. How would that child meet him. Originally in his/her dreams....

I won't go any further as I hope this gives a full enough description of how the questioning process works. In fact it is essential to know when to stop the questioning. For a short story it is unnecessary to go into the detail that would be required for a novel. For something the length of this article I used about two 8” by 4” sides of sparsely handwritten notes taken from this process.

I find also that the questioning process helps to weed out story inconsistencies. For example, assume I'm writing a story where the unsung hero suddenly rises from herding his father's pigs to kingship and glorious victory as a famous warrior. The questions would remind me that a pig farmer wouldn't know how to use a sword. In fact all he would know is pig farming. The questions then teach me how to create a character from him that influences those he needs around him, and together they achieve the goals which the plot has set for him.

See the stranger with the glazed stare

This is the process I generally follow:

1. Allow steam from coffee cup to fog up my glasses.
2. Allow sighing waitress to remove yet another untouched coffee mug
3. Wonder if my butt’s been glued to the seat.
4. Is my pen frozen immovably to my hand?
5. Allow thoughts, observations and ideas to mix and meld.
6. Write them down!

Maybe it's a personal thing, perhaps observation/question method is one that only I can use. If that was the case I wonder what would have happened that day in the airport lounge if Terry Pratchett had said,

“Oh, another one of those hard to control suitcases...."

I believe it is the nature of an author to learn to ask questions. In the belief that eventually we’ll ask the right one which will produce that gem of an idea.

Whether you have trouble generating ideas or not, I hope that in the long, dark idea-blanked night of your soul this small monologue has been of some assistance to help speed you on your way.



S.J.'s Third novel Dante I, third in the PIACT undercover agent series will be out sometime in the summer.

Now isn't that exciting news! More details later.

S.J.

Klahdaghoscopes August 5th to August 19th

The Klahdagh is a tile based divination system that works as a kind of mix between Viking Runes and the Tarot. Tiles can be drawn for short reading patterns of five and seven tiles, or a full reading pattern of twelve tiles. Alternately a "snapshot" of three tiles can be used for a "quick peek" reading. Although the seven tile pattern is the standard, I've used the snapshot version here simply because of time restraints and ease of readability. Because the readings below are grouped for people under the astrological signs I call them Klahdaghoscopes as opposed to regular Klahdagh readings. If anyone would like a free seven tile reading for themselves or for a character they are writing please contact me at sjmsmith44@comcast.net, with Klahdagh Reading in the subject line. If you'd like to know more about how a Klahdagh reading is done have a look here.

Please note; these readings are currently for entertainment purposes only since the system is still fairly new.

For more entertainment come watch my movie for Poseidon VII here ,
take part in my contest here ,
or come meet me at my new Forum here.

I look forward to seeing you all and would love to share my PIACT undercover agent universe with you.

S.J.

Now for the good bits!

Aries
Work: Shelea - the comet. There will be a passing influence of someone special or extra capable in your working environment over the next couple of weeks. Gain whatever benefits you can while they are available, this is likely to be a passing phase.
Love : Urld - the world. Unexpected events are going to bring a sparkle to your love life. Smile, be happy and go with the flow.
Wealth : Fetoi - the man. You may need to accept a little directional advice regarding money this month. Think the advice through carefully and choose wisely.

Taurus
Work: Kamen - Northern King. You may need to dig your heels in over policy this week. If you run a family business, events will help bind you closer together.
Love : Tiall - the scroll. Someone you love will be teaching you new things. It will be good and probably pleasureable, for you to learn them.
Wealth : Cisica - Northern Queen. Financial success will come through the careful guidance and care of others. Be confident in your skills.

Gemini
Work: Urld - the world. Be prepared for sudden deadlines and new contracts (or work) to head your way. Grit your teeth, dig in and get it done.
Love : Scoci - the shield. You need to look after yourself this week, someone close to you might hurt your feelings. Try not to hold resentment if they do. But be prepared to let go if the hurt goes too far.
Wealth : Brica - the element of fire. Be prepared to fight for your money this week. Circumstances and people would love to empty your pockets for you.

Cancer
Work: Phel - the element of storm. Things will go surprisingly well at work this week with people coming together and ideas and projects running smoothly. Just keep a careful eye on everything to make sure the path stays smooth.
Love : Leig - the cat. Playful, loving and curious, love is especially fun this month, just be careful not to play too much with the wrong people or someone will be hurt.
Wealth : Amb - the cup. Get together with a trusted friend and chat about your money problems this week. There will be some good advice given.

Leo
Work: Delg - the cage. Work is going to seem a bit of a bind this week, don't let it phase you too much. A little extra hard work will make the problems go away.
Love : Etoi - the woman. A sign of healing and fertility. If you're trying for a child this is an auspicious week for it. If your relationship has been having problems now is the time to mend it. The Goddess is behind you in all your loving endeavor's.
Wealth : Phel - the element of storm. A time to save. And a chance of actually saving this month will come to you. Jump on it before it scuttles away.

Virgo
Work: Palentia - Eastern Queen. With care and nurturing work will be a place of success and peace this week. Encourage your colleagues and things will go well.
Love : Lianche - Southern Page. Loyalty will be strained this week when you discover some things that have been going on in secret. Don't be afraid to be confrontational about it. You have the strength to deal with the problem.
Wealth : Fatala - winter. Things are going to be tough financially for a while but good companionship and trustworthy friends and family will help you through.

Libra
Work: Ematis - Western Queen. Don't push the limits at work. Though it seems that you can get away with almost anything, going over the line will come back in a swift and sure punishment.
Love : Cisica - Northern Queen. Don't expect the same level of devotion from others that you are giving this week. Some people are just incapable of being as loyal as you.
Wealth : Lianche - Southern Page. Take care of your money, there are a few scams/entertainments out there which are just a little too tempting.

Scorpio
Work: Murral - the bard. Be extremely careful at work this week. Don't trust rumors or gossip as you'll be tempted to hear the version you want to hear and not the true version.
Love : Telora - Western Page. Love goes on the back burner for a while, there are other interests and study that are taking over your time.
Wealth : Banil - the ring. Look out for the snappy con man, or distrustful family member. Someone is out to get your money this week.

Sagittarius
Work: Vali - the window. Forward thinking and working outside the box are essential for progress this week.
Love : Urld - the world. Hang on in there, you've got a few nice suprises heading your way.
Wealth : Scoci- the shield. Save. There are indications you will be needing the cash in the near future so make sure you put enough aside now to cope with the need when it comes.

Capricorn
Work: Stexi - fall. Gather your resources in preparation. You have a hectic and difficult period ahead.
Love : Yanig - the necklace. There is a wealth of happiness for you this week. So much love and caring it will make you feel giddy. Enjoy, accept and luxuriate in it.
Wealth : Urld - the world. Those who build on rock can stand when the waters rise. Build up your savings well. Then the floods will never hurt you.

Aquarius
Work: Lianche - Southern Page. There may be problems with supervisors and superiors this week. Lie low, fall beneath their radar and let the bad tempers work themselves out.
Love : Palentia - Eastern Queen. Success, pleasure and wisdom in love are yours this week. Use them well.
Wealth : Stexi - fall. A time of harvest, go out and reap the rewards of all those investments and savings. Don't forget to leave a little behind for those rainy days.

Pisces
Work: Ematis - Western Queen. Don't push your luck this week. Work well and you'll be rewarded, pull a few fast ones and the punishment is swift.
Love : Orkst - the bridge. This is a time of joining, bringing things together. Expect to find yourself falling in love, or falling even deeper in love, this week. Take time to appreciate your partner.
Wealth : Kle - the babe. A long painful wait is coming to an end. Finally you'll see the financial fruits of your labors.