My mom gave me three new journals yesterday, which was really sweet of her. One can never have too many journals 
Not in this trade.
Thing is, I haven’t had a proper journal in a couple of years – The last one being solely dedicated to Path of Defiance and notes for my short stories. During my corporate communication days, I used to used to store notes in my phone (more convenient in the lrt), a habit which has continued until now. My mom’s gift prompted me to dig out my old notes, and well, I thought I’d share some of them with you guys Here is the collection. There used to be a whole lot more, but these were all I could find last night.
Voila, the journals and sketch book
This was on the first page of my first serious writing journal
A Christmas gift from my friend, Rachel, in 2004
The second picture is of a journal given to me by my friend, Rachel, for Christmas 2004. It had a beautiful velvet cover, with the picture of Gaia on it. Very beautiful book, and one I carried everywhere. Unfortunately, the cover was torn off from hard use (my bad). Sorry Rach!
One of my favorite features about the journal is this book plate I’ve pasted on the front page, right under Rachel’s sweet handwritten note:
A book plate by Janny Wurts
It was a gift by my mentor, almost 10 years ago now I think, and I thought then that since this is my favorite journal, I would take it with me wherever I went. And I did. The journal now rests on top of my bookshelf, and on occasion, especially on days when I’m feeling down and doubtful about my writing, I’ll take this journal out, read its contents, and remind myself how far I’ve come.
This entry was written at 2.30 in the morning when the muse woke me up. Not a strange occurrence by any means, but it’s one that happened quite a lot back when I was younger. Now the muse just is no longer finicky about timing, which can be useful at times (like when you’re not doing something serious like talking to another person or cantering at top speed on a very fast horse).
One of those times when I jerked awake and scrambled to find my journal, just so i could write what I was thinking then. Notice the "I am so sleepy!" note XD
I did a lot of sketching in between too, just for reference purposes. This was before my doodling days.
One of the many sketches in my book This one was for the protagonist's sword design.
Character study – The wolf who was my protagonist’s guardian/character in Exile’s Gambit, the second version of my novel. I removed him completely in the third version, and I’m writing the fourth now. So far there has been no room for him yet, but this might change. He’s quite the imp!
Character study - Ra'kir
Yes, there were dragons in the previous two versions of my novel. They might make a comeback in the fourth version, with more certainty than the wolf – Because after four years working on this damn thing my brain finally matured enough to figure out what was missing with the whole story and what needed fixing.
Character study - Dragons
And here are some sketches of runes designed for the magic system in the Defiance series. It has been incorporated in the story since the beginning, and it wasn’t until Path of Defiance that it took a form that I could work with without qualms.
Basic ideas for the magic system in the Defiance series
And sometimes, I would need to work out what goes where in the story. A blueprint helps tremendously!
And at times, blueprints are necessary
I try to study a broad range of topics – Especially those that would be mighty handy for the story.
Some notes on saddlery
And last but not least, look what I found in my earliest journal?
Me and horses! Go figure
Okay, I guess horses have always had a special place in my heart. The horse in this picture is unfortunately very underfed and overworked but I was too young back then to know any better. Look at the unadulterated expression of pure glee on my face. I was 7 or 8 in this picture, and the girl riding behind is my aunt. This photo was taken in Bandung, Indonesia.
And oh hey, speaking of horses. If you haven’t seen this, take a look (***Music owned by Squirrel Nut Zippers btw)
Anyway,what do your journals look like? 
I’m off to pack for a week long business trip. See you folks when I get back (and hopefully after having a little more sun and fresh air).
Slainte!
