vox audita perit, littera scripta manet
[the spoken word perishes, the written words remain]
Littera Scripta Manet [LSM v.4.5]:
"not so pretty in pink"
new version © 2002 k.d.Rankins

Welcome to my domain. LSM v.4.5 contains what I'm proud of: my poetry, short stories, novella, novels, general artwork, photography, and Harry Potter fan art.

This site should be viewable on all browsers and settings, but it was designed on a 1024x768 screen resolution with Internet Explorer in mind.

So sit back, relax, enter my world and read. And feel free to send me comments on my writing and the new site design. You can reach me at:


updates, et cetera
10 August 2002: No updates. Just a notice: I have halted writing on Versailles. At present I am not at all happy with how it is, nor am I pleased with the premise of the book - it's far too unreal for me to be comfortable with. The rest is still up here, and I will probably continue with it, but for right now it is at a standstill while I gather my ideas together and try my hand at other projects - because when I'm not happy with the piece I've been working on for over a year, I get very down on my other work. So I'm pretty much wondering if I'm wasting my time, writing. At least writing Versailles. Right now it's not important if I have "fans" of the book (sorry guys) - I can't write if I'm not comfortable with my writing or where I'm going with it, because my writing suffers for it.

02 August 2002: Wow, it's been a really long time. Sorry about that! Alas, I don't have any more to Versailles and I would write more, but I'm in too much of a poetic quirky mood. In fact, I have five new poems - that are actually all under one title: you & i. Expect more in this style - I really like it, and after reading plenty of e.e.cummings I'm just in that mood to use strange spacing and parentheses all over the place.

11 June 2002: Whoo! Added the two new chapters to Versailles.

05 June 2002: New poem, Stars glare to green. Don't ask... I wrote it without knowing what the hell it was supposed to mean. You take from it what you want. :)

14 May 2002: Still haven't published 04.05.02's updates. Oops. And others. New poem: bus stop. Made new diary entries on top for easier reading of new things.. blahblah.. Yeah. I should be doing homework. ::pops off to do::

an introduction to the major works
If you haven't seen already, LSM is home to short prose, poetry, artwork, an online diary, and three major works: In Pursuit of the Thief, Olivia, and Versailles. While summaries are on their corresponding pages, I thought that I'd take the time to give you an introduction to each piece, give you my thoughts on them, and explain a little bit about them.
In Pursuit of the Thief (1999-2000) is the shortest of the three. It's a short novella, rather than a novel, and was written mostly by hand during French class my freshman year. Based on Maurice Leblanc's now-obscure "gentleman burgular" Arsène Lupin, and on characters my friend Sarah and I created, it is my most comical work to date. It isn't a comedy, but it's light-hearted throughout most of the narrative. It's also the first time I've written in three different voices, having three narrators to the story. At some point I intend to rewrite this to be in novel form, and expand it. And no, the Philippe Pascal in this is not the same as the Dauphin Philippe in Versailles. :)
Olivia (2000) is my first complete novel. A short novel, but a novel nonetheless. It took me nine months to complete, and another six to finish editing (because I'm lazy). The character of Gwen Minton is based on my friend Brie Garner, to whom it is dedicated. At one point I was extremely happy with this work. I'm not nearly so pleased with it now. However, it was my New Year's Resolution to get this book published, so I'm going to work on it some more, have book editors take a look at it, and see what I can do. I might also expand this one. As of now, it's simply a storyline. It's very simple. I may add more to it, at some time, to give it more flavor and life. I was thinking of abandoning the project, actually, and not send it off, but I've gotten very positive reviews from people who have read it, and they recommend publication. Your encouragement and comments are very much appreciated, so if you do read Olivia, please send me a review of what you think.  Update: I have recently submitted Olivia to Be-Mused Publications, for possible publication of the novel in Fall 2002. Have yet to hear response. Update: Have heard no news from Be-Mused. At all. February now and feeling should give up. That's okay, since I intend to fully rewrite it some day.
Versailles (2001- ) is my most recent project. My biggest undertaking to date, the work is planned to take four years to complete. The book is actually four smaller books, and I haven't decided whether they will be separate novels, like a series, or one very large book. It depends on how long the books are. I've just finished the first one.. However, I have the entire plot entirely mapped out. It's the kind of book where I want people to be really engrossed by the characters, even the minor ones. I took special care in making each person mentioned in the story a real person that's memorable and able to stand out. Because of her considerable help with plot and characters (online roleplaying does wonders for authors needing ideas), Versailles is dedicated wholeheartedly to Sarah Miller, who gave me several souls, including Sarah and Aupin. The characters are quite old, and the story of the Dauphin Philippe and the Gypsy Sarah goes back to my original roleplaying days when I was twelve. One of my earliest characters, Kaliakra, is finally brought back to life in this novel after years of neglect. I would really and truly appreciate encouragement and comments for Versailles. Write me reviews, keep me going on this. I'll need it.
I do need it.
Come on. This is hard. Pleeeeeease. :)

contact information
e-mail: kdrankins@litterascriptamanet.cjb.net
guestbook: sign \\ view

"come, i dare you. turn the page."
-quills

Littera Scripta Manet, and all custom graphics © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 by k.d.Rankins. LSM v.4.5 "not so pretty in pink" © 2002 by k.d.Rankins. All written and artistic content is property of k.d.Rankins.
All photographs are from Tony Stone Images (except for the Main, Authoress, and Artwork pages © 2001 Sarah Miller) and are copyright to their respective owners.