Thanks to Norman and Vicki Pollack, several evil typos have been expunged. Yay! The Kindle Edition has been updated. It’s still only 99 cents– what a bargain! At that price, you can’t afford not to buy it!*
For those of you who already bought Flow on Kindle, you ought to get an email from Kindle support in next few days offering to upload the latest version at no charge. You’ll lose your bookmarks if you do this, but ooo it’s worth it.
*It’s a figure of speech. Please don’t correct my math.
This is a long chapter and the first big turning point. The guilds are trying to recruit the top talent– but the most talented girl of all really doesn’t seem very interested in the traditional guilds. What does that have to do with dog breeding? Read on to find out!
We’re well into the meat of things– things that may not be as they seem. What’s up with that crazy mayor? Who’s killing off the Wands, and how? And what happens when a Staff tries to fly? Questions, questions…
There’s been a spike in visitors here, (not sure why, maybe just good karma, or maybe Google confused Benawrite with JKRowling.com. Yay!
Panic at the docks– churning Flow, a Wand is attacked, and suspicions fly. Back at school, tossing stones to pass the time. That guy Vix is a real jerk (he was named before the Falcons quarterback was arrested for torturing dogs, that’s just an eerie coincidence.) I’ll have fun messing with him later!
What a steal! At that price, you’re almost making money by purchasing the book!
What you can buy for 99 cents:
Honestly, at this price, you’re making money every time you buy a copy.The more you buy, the more you save! And a penny saved is a penny earned! Ask any economist!
Thanks for your support! If you’re waiting for a paper edition, do not despair– we’ll have it ready soon.
The Mayor shares one characteristic with me: when I’m frazzled, I run my hands across my scalp, and it makes me look comically big-haired. Really. My head grows four inches taller on a bad day.
Unlike the Staffs– big meat-oriented guys– Wands are narrow and pointy and focused. Makes sense to me. Get to know the Wands, then take a few steps backwards to fill in a bit of back story about how the guilds recruit young kids. Not many are chosen– children get just a moment to show off their talent, and there’s no congeniality prize.
You’ll then meet the Rings– the third and last major Guild. They’re kind of goofy. Keep in mind that all characters and names are entirely fictional. If you notice any resemblance to real people, it’s entirely coincidental and a product of your imagination.
Suspicions start to grow…
Chapter 2 is focused on the Staff Guild, a bunch of big guys who like to eat.
Here first appears a recurring motif about the importance of names. Is your name really who you are? For those of you less interested in heady literature (ie, if you’re not a high school English teacher), just read the chapter. It’s funny.
Flow begins!
It starts with a dark glimpse into the future, a short foreshadowy prologue type of thing that doesn’t make a lot of sense the first time you read it. Yes, I know prologues are supposed to recount events that occurred in the past. This one oddly looks towards the future. I’ve thought of getting rid of this part, but it was the first thing I wrote. For sentimental reasons, it’s staying! After the prologue comes your first glimpse of our hero, Violette, acting goofy. That wand guy with the long arms? You may see him again!
Then, it’s time to meet a few more characters. Sal and Cabrese are lurking in Violette’s school, watching her, and wondering what power she has over Flow. Just what is this girl capable of? They’ve never seen anyone quite like her. She’s got a friend, Libby, who’s somehow aware of Flow, too– though she can’t control it like Violette. What can Libby do? She doesn’t even know, yet.
Ahh… spring is in the air! (I know it isn’t. Just stay with me, here.) A time for renewal. A time to re-organize my book!
I decided that Flow had too many short, choppy chapters. So I’ve reorganized it from a previous 41 chapters into a new version, with only 19. I also redid the chapter headings to make them look more professional and, well, booky. Or bookish. Whatever the adjective is, that’s the look I’m going for here.
So: I’m going to delete all of the current posts on this site with the past versions of chapters, and start over. The new “chapter 1” contains the old chapters 1, 2, and 3. You get the picture. I’ll get the first new chapters out quick, to get back to the point in the story where we were.
For those of you who downloaded and saved the PDFs of the old versions: I’m sure they’ll be collectors items, probably worth big bucks someday! You’ll want to print them out on acid-free paper and place the pages in UV-protective sleeves before you use them to line the bottoms of bird cages. Safety first!
This would be a great time to share the site with your friends!
Also: a revised Kindle Edition will be out in a few days, with a radically revised price. Enjoy!
Benawrite 
