Dreams and Visions : Fourteen Flights of Fantasy

Chapter One BLOCKED { JOAN BAUER } Chloe, the author in this story, is bogged down by writer's block. She has lost her words. But just as she is about to give up all hope, her computer mysteriously beeps and blinks. Her characters kick in and come to her rescue. With humor and irony, Bauer takes us through a writer's angst until the words come back to her. The problem is, my princess isn't working. I've stuck her on a mountain in the middle of winter. I've shut her up in a cave with greasy, irascible creatures. I've given her a cool sword to fend off encroaching evil, and I really hate to say it, but she's coming out flat. Normally, I'd be able to work through thisI've created enough princesses. There was Lady Katarina Wellingcott of the Kingdom of Rottenburg, basically a rotten place to be except for Katarina, who kicked butt and got the lazy royals to start cleaning up the towncaring about things, pulling a vision together, etc. There was Princess Drusilla, my personal favorite, who could ride on a whale's back and turn into a butterfly when needed. Everyone loved her, especially the hunky Ian the Bold, who proposed in twenty-four hours. They lived happily ever after, too, with only a few minor glitches brought on by that dysfunctional dragon, Larry, who kept threatening to set the kingdom on fire at inopportune times. Dragons think the world revolves around them. There isn't time to go into detail about my other princesses who wrestled lions, saved the masses, and used their riches to help the poornot a damsel-in-distress that couldn't get out of a fantastic fix among them. I am proud of my contributions to the world of fantasy. I am proud to be the coeditor, along with Murray Lowengard, of the first-ever fantasy anthology to be published by my high school writing club, Pen and Ink (a challenging name since we all use computers)an anthology which we will sell for money. I was sure I could just toss this story off, too, but the fair Princess Adriana of Nottingswood-Glouthshire, is, alas, boring. I don't know why I can't get into her character. It's not like I don't understand her plight. Her father is a demanding king who thinks he's God's gift to the region. This cuts close to home because my father lives to control everyone around him. When it comes to all those toady suitors pledging their devotion, I feel her painparticularly in the scene with Prince Duller, who bears a distinct resemblance to my last boyfriend, Lewis. She is the middle princess, too, with a crabby older sister and a younger one who is sweet but clueless. It is up to Adriana to keep the peace, handle her father, and be wise beyond her years without seeming overbearing. The Middle Ages was not the most empowering time for women. I have droopy dialogue to contend with, too, like the exchange in the scene where Adriana has been locked in the dark chamber by the vile reptile, Listernum, who has bad breath that knocks you flat. He is roaring in stark hostility, telling her how he has come to avenge the death of his uncle, who was killed by her father years before when he was out scouting the region for evil. Listernum roars that he is going to kill Adriana by one of three methods. She gets to pick between: fire starvation never sleeping. This is where a princess's true grit should come out, but all I can think for Adriana to say is: "You'll never get away with this, Listernum. All that is good will save me before all that is evil will engulf me." And what, really, can a vile