And we're on number six of this series which means I'm actually working on Novel 8. This one was a re-write of a novel I hand-wrote (yeah) way back in the summer of...sometime in the late 90s. I think. Anyway, it was a long time ago and a lot has changed in the way I write from then until now.
The original version and this new version are so different that the only thing a person would recognize are the character names. It's a good thing though, trust me. The old version will be printed out and burned in a bonfire one day as a sacrifice to the Writing Gods.
Genre: Fantasy/Romance. (Written May 6 to June 7)
Word Count:
Prompt: It was a re-write. I had the basic concept of the trouble my MMC and FMC had to go through because they were lovers then said "screw the original concept, whatever the heck that was, let's throw in a war and a crazy King that wants to kill all the immortal breeds. Yeah, that should make a difference." And it did.
Main Characters: Gabriella, Kyan, Miya, Sesshoba, Rikay, and Lycor.
Minor Characters of note: Nero, Milinco, Kerasuan, Kikan, Gunter, Hollan, Jeritha, Cloud and Starslight.
Summation: Gabriella is a healer elf. Kyan is the Heir to the Throne of King of the Skies. Their race and huge difference in caste dictates that they are not allowed to fall in love but they do. They're caught and have to flee Kyan's older brother, King of the Land Kerasuan, who wants to destroy the "impure" breeds (elves, dwarves, fairies, etc). Kerasuan sends the Seeker elf Sesshoba to track down Kyan. Their sister Rikay has also decided to fall in love with someone lower in caste so the assassin Miya is sent to bring her in. Enter in the Dragons of the First Clutch and suddenly there's a freaking war to stop.
High Points: Miya. She's awesome and kind of took over the story-line. She's also physically based off my BFF so it's a double bonus.
Low Points: Miya's unrequited love. Poor girl.
The World: Humans have the number advantage and have this belief in a Golden Rose and the Three Kings (Air, Land, Sea). When the three Kings have created peace the Golden Rose will bloom and make that peace everlasting.
Elves, fairies, dwarves, dragons, vampires, werewolves and the myriad of immortal breeds don't believe in the Golden Rose, especially the dragons. There are dragons old enough (Nero, Cloud and Starslight) who have seen the Golden Rose bloom and the destruction it causes when it dies.
Magic is rampant and dragons are about the size of horses and used like horses. The only dragons who aren't (and can't) be trained are the Dragons of the First Clutch who are said to be sleeping legends.
For the past few generations the three Kings have wanted to obliterate the immortal breeds, calling them impure because of the blood that flows through their veins. They think that superior speed, reflexes and what not is an insult to their God.
Major Plot Twist: Miya. Yep, that's all.
Thoughts: I didn't expect Miya to be such a star player. In the original she was an elf Mage who could shape-shift into a squirrel who annoyed the heck out of Gabriella as she travelled. The original Miya fell in love with Milinco while the new Miya was saved by Milinco in prior events to the novel starting. She still falls in love, but not with the Mage. If you followed my Twitter account while I was writing this, you'll figure out who she falls for.
Besides Miya, the entire thing was refreshing to write. It was like renovating that old house you love and making it new, up-to-date, and awesome. It'll be funny to compare the original draft with this new one. I also broke my "first drafts aren't always bad" rule. I know, I know, I'm horrible.
Memorable Lines:
"Father is dead." "Well that's rather unfortunate." "Unfortunate is an understatement, don't you think?"
"You should be more aware of where you tread, Prince Kyan."
"Knock Kyan, knocking is good."
"The Laws of humans are nonsense. No one is better than another because of what family they were born into or what they have decided to study. You and your brother are not better than a peasant because of your royal blood. The Higher Power will treat us all the same when we die. You and your brother will be judged by your actions, not your blood. Blood or birthright means nothing to the Higher Power." "The Laws of Elves are better?" "Our only law is to treat everyone as your equal and to gain as much knowledge to help as you can. Many assume that is why our race is dying. I do not think that is the case."
"Lycor put nothing in her head to make her leave. She left of her own free will."
"With respect, my Lord, if not for a woman you would not be here."
"I will find someone to send after Rikay and Lycor. They will be brought back to this castle and if Rikay will not uphold her duties as heir to the Throne of the Sea she will perish along with Lycor."
"There are caves in this canyon. I will hold them back. Run you fool."
"Thank you, my King. I'll bring back your sister in one piece. I won't make the same guarantee on the pirate."
"You elves are all the same: you think you're better because of your pointy ears and pretty frames. But trust me when I say that we all bleed the same red and our bodies are made of the same tissue that I know how to destroy in more ways than years you've lived. Well, except giants. They bleed a lovely shade of blue."
"I never put much faith into the Three Thrones. They did not exist in the beginning and the world was better off without them. I commend you on falling in love with whom you pleased and leaving the foolishness of the Three Thrones behind."
"Your words will mean nothing. Your life is not even a drop in the ocean that is my life."
"Humans do not put much worth into attempting to think like their quarry."
"Let's think about this for a moment, shall we? I just stabbed you and broke a few fingers before asking my question. What do you think I'll do to you if you don't answer?"
"Life is not about the positive. It was never set up that way. Every moment that passes every creature gets closer to death. Every creature's innate want to be the best causes lives to end sooner then they should and challenges creatures to waste their time learning things that may or may not save them. We were born to die."
"Well then, let me show you around! Watch your step and don't touch anything. It may blow you to smithereens or turn you pink. Both are pretty hard to clean up so let's not make a mess of things, all right?"
"Of course I can talk. I'm not actually a cat in my true form. I just like the cat form better."
"There was a rule passed by your father and the other two Kings about thirty years ago. It allows any mortal to "eliminate" an immortal child or babe as they see fit. With this, you mortals can eventually destroy the immortal breeds. We may have immortality but without children we cannot continue our lines."
"Silence is just as informative as words you know."
"I'll kill anyone who gets in the ay of my assignment: even you."
"It's quite a boiling pot of water you've got yourself in. That's why I like being a cat. No one expects anything from me but sleeping, eating and the occasional meow."
"Ignorance to world issues does not mean they cease to exist. Locking yourself away will do nothing but make you stupid."
"I think everyone in Galeah knows I'm insane. That's a stupid question. As for killing you, dwarf, I'm not too concerned."
"You have pretty hair. I want to scalp you and keep it on my belt to look at."
"That is what you get for being such a despicable human begin." "And that is what you get for thinking my contact would actually kill me. He knows better."
"No. My father did horrible things to you: dousing you with blood-magic and forcing pure breed blood into your veins, breaking limbs and making it so you wanted to end your own life. I would have felt worse if I'd left you to die."
"This so-called eternal peace died once. It took seven of my siblings and my parents in the destruction that followed, so sever it was. Only I or my siblings will see if this peace is truly eternal."
Showing posts with label 12in12. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12in12. Show all posts
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Novel Series #5: Lies
As I stated in the last "Novel Series" this is the only novel that has prompted me to write an alternate ending. Why? Well, the ending was way too sad for me to leave as it was. Plus I kept thinking of ways it could have ended differently which prompted me to actually write it. Technically what I wrote was a continuation but that probably won't ever be read even if I do become exceptionally popular. It was for me because I couldn't let go of a character like I normally can.
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 115,327
Prompt: Amanda Hanson marries a man that isn't who she and her team thought he was.
Main Characters: Jasper, Amanda Hanson, Rob Sanchez, Dylan "Twitch" Martin, Glitch, Dragon, Don.
Minor Characters of note: The One Ruler of the World, ID, Joe, Greg Hanson
Summation: Jasper is the Boss of Team D, a Special Response Unit team in the future. When his team-mate gets married and her new husband killed, he and the team discover something is not right with The One, Don or the Dragon.
High Points: Glitch taking Dragon shopping.
Low Points: I can't say or I'll reveal THE PLOT TWIST
The World: Sometime in the future with hover cars, cyborgs, people being able to move with cyborg legs/arms/organs, a being that's able to use nano-technology to fly, entire human gentic code has been discovered, far in the future. Not sure how far.
Major plot twist: It involves the Dragon. Twice.
Thoughts: This is the first novel I've written this year that's gone over the 100K mark significantly. It's tense all the way through (except for chapter 12) and the last four chapters are just...urg. I couldn't even write them one right after another because of emotions.
Memorable Lines:
"So I said to him that he needed a new AI chip." "What did he say?" "That he was human and couldn't get a chip." "And you said?" "That is was unfortunate that he couldn't get a new brain."
"It's morning. There isn't anything good about it."
"Well no one's ever seen the Dragon's face and for all we know the Dragon could be a woman."
"Let the Dragon go. It's not his, her, whatever's fault that Don told the Dragon to follow us" (This is the line that makes everything go to Hell.)
"You stopped your cyborg unit from coming after me. That takes a lot of guts and shows that you care about your team. The other people here, they don't care too much. They're after points and bragging rights of being the best. You're not like that though. I mean, you're still after points sure but you genuinely want to help people."
"Check it out? You want to do an SRU level background check on my husband?"
"I'll probably have to neutralize him and I'm apologizing in advance. Sorry."
"Well If I'm using logic that a child would then I don't see why you can't understand it."
"I only take it off whem I'm alone. I have a mystic to keep up, you know?"
"The Dragon has no friends and is not allowed to leave the premises unless on a mission."
"Jasper taught me what it's like to be human and I want people to keep being human."
"Does anyone else realize that we just gave a person who's never had caffeine or sugar a soda?"
"Well since I'm in a female clothing item: I'll be she. When I'm in male clothes: I'll be he."
"Stop, stop. I know this sand bar." "Can you buy an apple martini at it? I'd kill for one of those."
"You can have a great ass too if you're a genetic experiment."
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 115,327
Prompt: Amanda Hanson marries a man that isn't who she and her team thought he was.
Main Characters: Jasper, Amanda Hanson, Rob Sanchez, Dylan "Twitch" Martin, Glitch, Dragon, Don.
Minor Characters of note: The One Ruler of the World, ID, Joe, Greg Hanson
Summation: Jasper is the Boss of Team D, a Special Response Unit team in the future. When his team-mate gets married and her new husband killed, he and the team discover something is not right with The One, Don or the Dragon.
High Points: Glitch taking Dragon shopping.
Low Points: I can't say or I'll reveal THE PLOT TWIST
The World: Sometime in the future with hover cars, cyborgs, people being able to move with cyborg legs/arms/organs, a being that's able to use nano-technology to fly, entire human gentic code has been discovered, far in the future. Not sure how far.
Major plot twist: It involves the Dragon. Twice.
Thoughts: This is the first novel I've written this year that's gone over the 100K mark significantly. It's tense all the way through (except for chapter 12) and the last four chapters are just...urg. I couldn't even write them one right after another because of emotions.
Memorable Lines:
"So I said to him that he needed a new AI chip." "What did he say?" "That he was human and couldn't get a chip." "And you said?" "That is was unfortunate that he couldn't get a new brain."
"It's morning. There isn't anything good about it."
"Well no one's ever seen the Dragon's face and for all we know the Dragon could be a woman."
"Let the Dragon go. It's not his, her, whatever's fault that Don told the Dragon to follow us" (This is the line that makes everything go to Hell.)
"You stopped your cyborg unit from coming after me. That takes a lot of guts and shows that you care about your team. The other people here, they don't care too much. They're after points and bragging rights of being the best. You're not like that though. I mean, you're still after points sure but you genuinely want to help people."
"Check it out? You want to do an SRU level background check on my husband?"
"I'll probably have to neutralize him and I'm apologizing in advance. Sorry."
"Well If I'm using logic that a child would then I don't see why you can't understand it."
"I only take it off whem I'm alone. I have a mystic to keep up, you know?"
"The Dragon has no friends and is not allowed to leave the premises unless on a mission."
"Jasper taught me what it's like to be human and I want people to keep being human."
"Does anyone else realize that we just gave a person who's never had caffeine or sugar a soda?"
"Well since I'm in a female clothing item: I'll be she. When I'm in male clothes: I'll be he."
"Stop, stop. I know this sand bar." "Can you buy an apple martini at it? I'd kill for one of those."
"You can have a great ass too if you're a genetic experiment."
Friday, June 14, 2013
Novel Series #4: Dragon Knights
By the time this thing actually gets posted I'll be about two novels ahead. Why? Well, because I suck at remembering to post blogs so I've scheduled like two months in advance. This post was written in April. It is now June. Yeah. Onward into my lateness of talking about things.
Genre: High Fantasy (Written from March 3rd - March 17)
Word Count: 90,352
Prompt: There wasn't really a main prompt. I wanted to explore the relationships between two cousins forced to live out lives that they don't really want. Rayth should be heir to the throne but Aldtia is the heir. No one wants her to be heir because of a physical deformity and would rather Perbela (her younger sister) to be Queen. Yeah, it's a mess.
Main Characters: Rayth, Aldtia, Perbela, Yin, Yang, Emessa, Tuvino, Kellan, Erine.
Minor Characters of Note: Rismund, Teacher, Amun, Marissa, and Batty.
Summation: Rayth is the first born son of the second son which puts him out of direct heirship when Aldtia, the first born of the first born son is born. Rayth is orphaned shortly before Aldtia's birth so has no one to turn to. He resorts to pulling pranks and being a general jerk before Kellan (the King and his Uncle) sends him away to train with an elite group of warriors known as the Dragon Knights. Rayth must make a dragon accept him to become a Dragon Knight. He has a 10 percent chance. If he fails, his uncle will win and Rayth does not want that to happen.
High Points: Yin and Yang in general. Oh and Rayth finding love. I don't know why this keeps happening in my novels because I'm not normally a romance type of person. And there's the scene where Rayth gets Tuvino drunk.
Low Points: Rayth is betrayed but not by his family. Oh and a few people he cares about get hurt or die.
The World: There isn't really much magic in this one and it kind of has an ancient Asian feel to it. All the characters from Rayth's country are dark haired with dark eyes while those across the ocean are blonde and blue eyed.
The common dragon is not large. It's about seven feet long from head to the tip of the tail and weighs about 350 pounds. I used Kimono Dragons as a base. The huge dragons are rare and thusly called "Grand Dragons."
Dragon Knights are considered the most powerful warrior and to become one is difficult. There are many different factions of Dragon Knights, each with their own oaths, weapons, and colors.
Kingship in Rayth's country is given to the first born which he (and most others) think doesn't make sense. The Kings across the ocean are elected out of the prince/princesses rather than it going instantly to the oldest one.
Kings rule over a mass of land and can barter with goods, daughters or warriors to gain immunity from a war with a neighbouring King. Wars still happen of course and there is a big one in the book.
Major Plot Twist: The betrayal Rayth faces.
Thoughts: I love Rayth, Yin and Yang, I really do. Despite everything that happened to him Rayth was still a sarcastic, funny, SOB and toughed it out. Any normal person would have said screw it at some point but not him. It's also kind of like a fantasy soap-opera but not as dramatic since I don't watch those things.
Memorable Lines:
Rayth's first line: “Is there a specific way to eat? I had no idea.” It sets up his attitude.
“Well, you and I both know I should be first heir. The people wish it, most of the Royals wish it and if someone could actually speak with God, he would likely wish it. But you’re a stubborn git and refuse to pass the crown to your brother’s son even if your brother saved your life. I think that’s more than enough reason.”
“I never get to see the city without guards. I’d like to disappear one morning and see what really goes on.”
“This is Rayth. He has been sent here by his uncle, King Kellan to become a Dragon Knight. He is not allowed to return to his home of Gailsmith or leave until he completes this task.”
“You are Number 66. You have no past, no name and own nothing until you prove that you are worth of it. Breaker, take 66 to a room and show him where he can obtain the proper gear.”
“You always do have to be the odd one.”
“Cockiness is only a bad thing when it can’t be proven.”
“Oh, I thought we were stating obvious facts. You know, the sky is blue, you have a really long beard, and dragon claws can render a man to little more than mush.”
“Life is always interesting with dragons.”
“I get that a lot. I guess I’m just special.”
“Oh I don’t know. Between running for my life in a stinking, dark, place and trying to avoid fire, I’m sure I can remember well enough to get a good artists rendition.”
"Friends are human and humans are fickle creatures that can turn on you faster than a dragon can fly."
"Wars happen and people die because of them. I’m only glad that I managed to survive this long.”
“No matter what happens to me, remember to love this country. Fight for it as I fought for it. Love it as I love it. Grow up and marry a beautiful woman as I did and have a son as strong as you. Live but do not look upon the past with sadness. It is what will make you stronger than I am.”
“Everyone says I’m special and I realized I am. I’m special enough that the fates love to beat the hell out of me and make me think that it’s good fortune."
“Well yeah but now I’m an ass with a dragon. People respect that.”
This was book four in three months and I finished it with 16 days in March to spare. During that 16 day no-writing stint, I went a bit crazy and wrote some short stories about me talking to my Inner Editor. Yeah. I know. Anyway, next up in this series will be Lies which is probably one of the most interesting sci-fi books I've written and the ONLY novel that made me write an alternate ending.
Genre: High Fantasy (Written from March 3rd - March 17)
Word Count: 90,352
Prompt: There wasn't really a main prompt. I wanted to explore the relationships between two cousins forced to live out lives that they don't really want. Rayth should be heir to the throne but Aldtia is the heir. No one wants her to be heir because of a physical deformity and would rather Perbela (her younger sister) to be Queen. Yeah, it's a mess.
Main Characters: Rayth, Aldtia, Perbela, Yin, Yang, Emessa, Tuvino, Kellan, Erine.
Minor Characters of Note: Rismund, Teacher, Amun, Marissa, and Batty.
Summation: Rayth is the first born son of the second son which puts him out of direct heirship when Aldtia, the first born of the first born son is born. Rayth is orphaned shortly before Aldtia's birth so has no one to turn to. He resorts to pulling pranks and being a general jerk before Kellan (the King and his Uncle) sends him away to train with an elite group of warriors known as the Dragon Knights. Rayth must make a dragon accept him to become a Dragon Knight. He has a 10 percent chance. If he fails, his uncle will win and Rayth does not want that to happen.
High Points: Yin and Yang in general. Oh and Rayth finding love. I don't know why this keeps happening in my novels because I'm not normally a romance type of person. And there's the scene where Rayth gets Tuvino drunk.
Low Points: Rayth is betrayed but not by his family. Oh and a few people he cares about get hurt or die.
The World: There isn't really much magic in this one and it kind of has an ancient Asian feel to it. All the characters from Rayth's country are dark haired with dark eyes while those across the ocean are blonde and blue eyed.
The common dragon is not large. It's about seven feet long from head to the tip of the tail and weighs about 350 pounds. I used Kimono Dragons as a base. The huge dragons are rare and thusly called "Grand Dragons."
Dragon Knights are considered the most powerful warrior and to become one is difficult. There are many different factions of Dragon Knights, each with their own oaths, weapons, and colors.
Kingship in Rayth's country is given to the first born which he (and most others) think doesn't make sense. The Kings across the ocean are elected out of the prince/princesses rather than it going instantly to the oldest one.
Kings rule over a mass of land and can barter with goods, daughters or warriors to gain immunity from a war with a neighbouring King. Wars still happen of course and there is a big one in the book.
Major Plot Twist: The betrayal Rayth faces.
Thoughts: I love Rayth, Yin and Yang, I really do. Despite everything that happened to him Rayth was still a sarcastic, funny, SOB and toughed it out. Any normal person would have said screw it at some point but not him. It's also kind of like a fantasy soap-opera but not as dramatic since I don't watch those things.
Memorable Lines:
Rayth's first line: “Is there a specific way to eat? I had no idea.” It sets up his attitude.
“Well, you and I both know I should be first heir. The people wish it, most of the Royals wish it and if someone could actually speak with God, he would likely wish it. But you’re a stubborn git and refuse to pass the crown to your brother’s son even if your brother saved your life. I think that’s more than enough reason.”
“I never get to see the city without guards. I’d like to disappear one morning and see what really goes on.”
“This is Rayth. He has been sent here by his uncle, King Kellan to become a Dragon Knight. He is not allowed to return to his home of Gailsmith or leave until he completes this task.”
“You are Number 66. You have no past, no name and own nothing until you prove that you are worth of it. Breaker, take 66 to a room and show him where he can obtain the proper gear.”
“You always do have to be the odd one.”
“Cockiness is only a bad thing when it can’t be proven.”
“Oh, I thought we were stating obvious facts. You know, the sky is blue, you have a really long beard, and dragon claws can render a man to little more than mush.”
“Life is always interesting with dragons.”
“I get that a lot. I guess I’m just special.”
“Oh I don’t know. Between running for my life in a stinking, dark, place and trying to avoid fire, I’m sure I can remember well enough to get a good artists rendition.”
"Friends are human and humans are fickle creatures that can turn on you faster than a dragon can fly."
"Wars happen and people die because of them. I’m only glad that I managed to survive this long.”
“No matter what happens to me, remember to love this country. Fight for it as I fought for it. Love it as I love it. Grow up and marry a beautiful woman as I did and have a son as strong as you. Live but do not look upon the past with sadness. It is what will make you stronger than I am.”
“Everyone says I’m special and I realized I am. I’m special enough that the fates love to beat the hell out of me and make me think that it’s good fortune."
“Well yeah but now I’m an ass with a dragon. People respect that.”
This was book four in three months and I finished it with 16 days in March to spare. During that 16 day no-writing stint, I went a bit crazy and wrote some short stories about me talking to my Inner Editor. Yeah. I know. Anyway, next up in this series will be Lies which is probably one of the most interesting sci-fi books I've written and the ONLY novel that made me write an alternate ending.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Writing is Breathing
As I was sitting around between stories figuring out what to write I found this in my "Writing Goals 2013" file:
I was asked the other day: "Why do you spend so much of your time writing?"
After soul-searching for something deep and meaningful to respond with, the best I could come up with was:
"For the same reason you spend so much of your time breathing."
I'm not sure who said it (though it was likely from the NaNoWriMo forums) or why it was said or in what context but it obviously struck something for me to copy it and save it in a place where I'd eventually find it.
Obviously breathing is important to everything. If you don't breath, you don't live and if you don't live, well obviously you're dead and dead is never fun (unless you're undead but that's entirely different).
Anyway, for some people writing isn't important. There are those few on the NaNo forums that write only during November and the two camps simply for fun. They don't intend to get published, they don't intend for anyone to see their work, they simply want to complete a challenge. If they miss entire months and never edit, that's fine for them and they don't mind.
Then there's those who write because it's a hobby. If they get published, awesome, if not, that's okay too. They don't actively seek publishing and for them if they miss a few days/weeks/months, it's not a big deal either.
Finally there are those who cannot live if they do not write. They may or may not be looking to publish but they know that they have, let me repeat that: THEY HAVE to write. It's not a matter of "I'll only write during NaNo months" or "eh, I'll write next month when life is less busy." It's more of: "If I don't write something I'm going to go FREAKING NUTS."
For those in the last category writing is just as important as breathing. If you haven't figured it out, I'm one of those last category people. I cannot go for long without writing something. Even during a 10 day stint where I stupidly said to myself that I'd only write a book a month *snorts at self* I wrote two short stories. I cannot, let me repeat that I CANNOT stop writing.
Writing is an escape from all the things in life that are not going so well (or going suspiciously too well). It's not just something to occupy time because if that was what was wrong we'd be watching more Netflix. It's something ingrained into our hearts, souls, minds and bodies that has to be done. We cannot and will not stop until our hearts, souls, minds and bodies no longer function.
It's that one thing that makes us, well, us. We are writers. Our imaginations are forest fires and little campfire sparks. We cannot stop thinking "What if?" We cannot live if we cannot write.
So the next time someone asks you "Why write?" ask them why they do the thing they're most passionate about. Watch them stutter, watch their eyes go wide while they really think about it and when they finally come up with something you can feel pride in saying: "Exactly."
And if they can't come up with something productive, then the above "Why do you spend so much time breathing?" is appropriate. Heck, it's an appropriate answer to all those silly questions about why you like/do the things you do. It's a poetic way of saying: "Because it's important to who I am" or "It keeps me alive."
So, what category of writer do you fall into?
I was asked the other day: "Why do you spend so much of your time writing?"
After soul-searching for something deep and meaningful to respond with, the best I could come up with was:
"For the same reason you spend so much of your time breathing."
I'm not sure who said it (though it was likely from the NaNoWriMo forums) or why it was said or in what context but it obviously struck something for me to copy it and save it in a place where I'd eventually find it.
Obviously breathing is important to everything. If you don't breath, you don't live and if you don't live, well obviously you're dead and dead is never fun (unless you're undead but that's entirely different).
Anyway, for some people writing isn't important. There are those few on the NaNo forums that write only during November and the two camps simply for fun. They don't intend to get published, they don't intend for anyone to see their work, they simply want to complete a challenge. If they miss entire months and never edit, that's fine for them and they don't mind.
Then there's those who write because it's a hobby. If they get published, awesome, if not, that's okay too. They don't actively seek publishing and for them if they miss a few days/weeks/months, it's not a big deal either.
Finally there are those who cannot live if they do not write. They may or may not be looking to publish but they know that they have, let me repeat that: THEY HAVE to write. It's not a matter of "I'll only write during NaNo months" or "eh, I'll write next month when life is less busy." It's more of: "If I don't write something I'm going to go FREAKING NUTS."
For those in the last category writing is just as important as breathing. If you haven't figured it out, I'm one of those last category people. I cannot go for long without writing something. Even during a 10 day stint where I stupidly said to myself that I'd only write a book a month *snorts at self* I wrote two short stories. I cannot, let me repeat that I CANNOT stop writing.
Writing is an escape from all the things in life that are not going so well (or going suspiciously too well). It's not just something to occupy time because if that was what was wrong we'd be watching more Netflix. It's something ingrained into our hearts, souls, minds and bodies that has to be done. We cannot and will not stop until our hearts, souls, minds and bodies no longer function.
It's that one thing that makes us, well, us. We are writers. Our imaginations are forest fires and little campfire sparks. We cannot stop thinking "What if?" We cannot live if we cannot write.
So the next time someone asks you "Why write?" ask them why they do the thing they're most passionate about. Watch them stutter, watch their eyes go wide while they really think about it and when they finally come up with something you can feel pride in saying: "Exactly."
And if they can't come up with something productive, then the above "Why do you spend so much time breathing?" is appropriate. Heck, it's an appropriate answer to all those silly questions about why you like/do the things you do. It's a poetic way of saying: "Because it's important to who I am" or "It keeps me alive."
So, what category of writer do you fall into?
Friday, May 31, 2013
Novel Series #3: Model
This started right after The Harmonizer which was strange. Why was it strange? Well The Harmonizer and The Bonehemmer Princess are both high fantasy types with magic, half-human hybrids and other funky things. Model, not so much. This was written from mid-February until about March 2nd or 3rd. I can't remember.
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 88,305
Prompt: Models uncovering a government conspiracy. Yep.
Main Characters: Cassia Thomas, Star Von Vette, Misaki Ito, Jay Thomas, Demon, Jammer, and Minko.
Minor Characters of Note: Cassia and Jay's parents, Eddie Mayers, David Fargan (I don't know where that last name came from), Keith Rander, and James Pearson.
Summation: Models Cassia, Misaki and Star stumble upon a government plot that wants to replace everyone famous in the world with a machine.
High Points: Star in general. He's freaking hilarious.
Low Points: The ending, more specifically the last chapter and epilogue.
The World: It's 2080 with hover cars, foldable computers, and cyborgs with a few normal things mixed in. Society is accepting of most people (except the random few) and the world is normal. No magic. No weird hybrid human/animals and full of technology.
Major Plot twist: Jay and Cassia find out something that changes them completely.
Thoughts: Star made this story awesome to write. It still would have been fun without him but he gave it that extra something for me. Jay, Demon, Jammer and Minko (the Hackers) weren't supposed to be as involved as they were but it works. Also there are four full relationships in the end which never happens with me.
Memorable lines:
“I didn’t claim to be homosexual. I strutted out of the closet and haven’t looked back. I won’t ever be interested in a woman in that way.” (This is probably my favorite line out of the whole book)
“Right, right. Okay. So your friend’s a cyborg.”
“Demon, it’s not nice to go around asking people if they’re a guy or a girl.”
“I think this is what they call girl-talk. You know the stuff you fail at despite having the double X chromosome.”
“Well it’s a good thing we know the God of Hackers.”
“Get out now Jay. I can handle this. I am God.”
“Okay, that was one for the record books. You just fought yourself.”
“Oh yeah, she totally caught the gay from me.”
“You know there’s this cool new thing people are doing. It’s called slowing down.”
“Yeah, no one’s perfect. I mean, they’re close, but no one’s perfect and that’s a good thing.”
“It’s the freedom to be who I am without repercussions, without judgement and without worry.”
“It’s because of you that we’ll always be human.”
Next up will be The Dragon Knights which went back to fantasy. I like to bounce around a lot. Good or bad?
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 88,305
Prompt: Models uncovering a government conspiracy. Yep.
Main Characters: Cassia Thomas, Star Von Vette, Misaki Ito, Jay Thomas, Demon, Jammer, and Minko.
Minor Characters of Note: Cassia and Jay's parents, Eddie Mayers, David Fargan (I don't know where that last name came from), Keith Rander, and James Pearson.
Summation: Models Cassia, Misaki and Star stumble upon a government plot that wants to replace everyone famous in the world with a machine.
High Points: Star in general. He's freaking hilarious.
Low Points: The ending, more specifically the last chapter and epilogue.
The World: It's 2080 with hover cars, foldable computers, and cyborgs with a few normal things mixed in. Society is accepting of most people (except the random few) and the world is normal. No magic. No weird hybrid human/animals and full of technology.
Major Plot twist: Jay and Cassia find out something that changes them completely.
Thoughts: Star made this story awesome to write. It still would have been fun without him but he gave it that extra something for me. Jay, Demon, Jammer and Minko (the Hackers) weren't supposed to be as involved as they were but it works. Also there are four full relationships in the end which never happens with me.
Memorable lines:
“I didn’t claim to be homosexual. I strutted out of the closet and haven’t looked back. I won’t ever be interested in a woman in that way.” (This is probably my favorite line out of the whole book)
“Right, right. Okay. So your friend’s a cyborg.”
“Demon, it’s not nice to go around asking people if they’re a guy or a girl.”
“I think this is what they call girl-talk. You know the stuff you fail at despite having the double X chromosome.”
“Well it’s a good thing we know the God of Hackers.”
“Get out now Jay. I can handle this. I am God.”
“Okay, that was one for the record books. You just fought yourself.”
“Oh yeah, she totally caught the gay from me.”
“You know there’s this cool new thing people are doing. It’s called slowing down.”
“Yeah, no one’s perfect. I mean, they’re close, but no one’s perfect and that’s a good thing.”
“It’s the freedom to be who I am without repercussions, without judgement and without worry.”
“It’s because of you that we’ll always be human.”
Next up will be The Dragon Knights which went back to fantasy. I like to bounce around a lot. Good or bad?
Friday, May 17, 2013
Novel Series #2: The Harmonizer
The Harmonizer is the sequel to The Bonehemmer Princess, described in the Novel Series #1. Orginally there was not supposed to be a sequel but as the story progressed I learned more about what or who the Harmonizer was and how horrible the Kings of the world actually were. I couldn't leave it as I did and trying to tie up the issue with the Kings would have made for either an excessively large book or a rushed ending. This was written in February
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: 107,411.
Prompt: Continuation of The Bonehemmer Princess
Main Characters: Raven, Aspen Bonehemmer, Maverick, Havoc and Solara Liores.
Minor Characters of note: Adar, the Princess, Alexia, Audra, Mikin, Yahanna and King Graymore.
Summation: Aspen and Raven are essentually forced to work together with the other clans to stop the Kings from destroying the world.
High Points: Raven and Havoc talk to one of the Monks about the religion differences between the Clans and Humans.
Low Points: Everybody dies. Not really but there is a lot of death in this one.
The World: Same as in The Bonehemmer Princess.
Major Plot twist: Solara Liores is intergral to the plot.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed how Aspen transforms again in this novel. She goes from horrible person to responsible leader. I like the older version of Maverick as well because he's great for comic relief as well as a good equalizer in the final battle of the book. Raven and Havoc work well off each other and despite being a minor character, Yahanna has a nice scene that shows people how much the clans (and Aspen) are changing for the better. This is also probably going to be one of the few novels where I have a full-fledged couple from beginning to end.
Memorable lines:
“I am not having this discussion right now. It’s late, I’m cold and I’d much prefer to be in my nice warm tent, lying in my nice warm pillows with my hot man right here. Good night.”
“I love him. He makes me happy. I’d rather live alone in a cold dark cave, blind and deaf with him then in this clan without him.”
“Watch it, fluffy. I can kick your ass.”
“We don’t condone selling your body. Our bodies are our temples but temples have to be worshiped from time to time or they rot. Who does that worshipping is not the High Mother’s concern as long as the worshipping is wanted.”
"You can’t erase the past; it makes you who you are. You can only forge ahead to the future and try to live without regret.”
“People change, the world keeps spinning on its axis, and can we enter a room and talk privately?”
“The situation must be dire if the Harmonizer is taking his Oaths fully to heart. Vita est mors et mors est vita. Life is death and death is life. We shall not kill unless there is no way to change the mind of the one disrupting the balance.”
“I’m the Harmonizer. Doing things that are impossible for others is expected of me.”
"Belief and talent go hand in hand. If you don’t believe in your talents then you don’t have your talents.”
“Deep down everything is simple. If you think it’s difficult than you’re not thinking the right way.”
“Who knew a little belief could change everything?”
“You were blinded by things that no longer cover your eyes.”
Next up in this series of sorts will be Model which means I went from High Fantasy to Sci-Fi. Yeah. I got confused too and for the first few chapters wondered why there wasn't any magic.
Comments, questions, remarks (good or bad), you know what to do.
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: 107,411.
Prompt: Continuation of The Bonehemmer Princess
Main Characters: Raven, Aspen Bonehemmer, Maverick, Havoc and Solara Liores.
Minor Characters of note: Adar, the Princess, Alexia, Audra, Mikin, Yahanna and King Graymore.
Summation: Aspen and Raven are essentually forced to work together with the other clans to stop the Kings from destroying the world.
High Points: Raven and Havoc talk to one of the Monks about the religion differences between the Clans and Humans.
Low Points: Everybody dies. Not really but there is a lot of death in this one.
The World: Same as in The Bonehemmer Princess.
Major Plot twist: Solara Liores is intergral to the plot.
Thoughts: I really enjoyed how Aspen transforms again in this novel. She goes from horrible person to responsible leader. I like the older version of Maverick as well because he's great for comic relief as well as a good equalizer in the final battle of the book. Raven and Havoc work well off each other and despite being a minor character, Yahanna has a nice scene that shows people how much the clans (and Aspen) are changing for the better. This is also probably going to be one of the few novels where I have a full-fledged couple from beginning to end.
Memorable lines:
“I am not having this discussion right now. It’s late, I’m cold and I’d much prefer to be in my nice warm tent, lying in my nice warm pillows with my hot man right here. Good night.”
“I love him. He makes me happy. I’d rather live alone in a cold dark cave, blind and deaf with him then in this clan without him.”
“Watch it, fluffy. I can kick your ass.”
“We don’t condone selling your body. Our bodies are our temples but temples have to be worshiped from time to time or they rot. Who does that worshipping is not the High Mother’s concern as long as the worshipping is wanted.”
"You can’t erase the past; it makes you who you are. You can only forge ahead to the future and try to live without regret.”
“People change, the world keeps spinning on its axis, and can we enter a room and talk privately?”
“The situation must be dire if the Harmonizer is taking his Oaths fully to heart. Vita est mors et mors est vita. Life is death and death is life. We shall not kill unless there is no way to change the mind of the one disrupting the balance.”
“I’m the Harmonizer. Doing things that are impossible for others is expected of me.”
"Belief and talent go hand in hand. If you don’t believe in your talents then you don’t have your talents.”
“Deep down everything is simple. If you think it’s difficult than you’re not thinking the right way.”
“Who knew a little belief could change everything?”
“You were blinded by things that no longer cover your eyes.”
Next up in this series of sorts will be Model which means I went from High Fantasy to Sci-Fi. Yeah. I got confused too and for the first few chapters wondered why there wasn't any magic.
Comments, questions, remarks (good or bad), you know what to do.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Novel Series #1: The Bonehemmer Princess
I know I don't normally post much but I'm going to try and remedy this. Since I'm doing Milwordy again I will be attempting to write a million words by November 30th. My year is running from Jan 1 to the end of NaNo2013. It's a well known fact that I'm a bit crazy. I've decided that because I'm trying to write so much this year that I might as well give a brief glimpse into what I've worked on.
Each novel I've completed will get its own summation post similar to this one. Hopefully, in between these Novel Series posts, will be other posts about other things. Let's not hold our breath on that shall we?
Anyway, first up in the novel series is The Bonehemmer Princess which was written in January 2013:
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: 107,701. I just realized now that is a palindrome. Ha.
Prompt: Good guys are bad and bad guys are good.
Main Characters: Raven, Aspen Bonehemmer, Gold, Maverick, and Ulric Bonehemmer.
Minor Characters of note: Adar, the Princess, Alexia, Audra, Havoc, and Joab Bonehemmer.
Summation: Aspen Bonehemmer is next in line for the Chief-ship of the Bonehemmer clan. It has fallen to her to bring in the Illegal, Raven, and rid the world of his disregard for the rules of the Kings. Unfortunately for her, Raven unintentionally saves her life. Now she must protect his to return the favor.
High Points: Raven gets startled by a giant spider, falls off a cliff and lands in water.
Low Points: Two of the main and one of the minor characters die. I'm not saying which but it won't be hard to figure out when The Bonehemmer Princess' sequel is described.
The World: Magic based society with a heck of a lot of rules for said magic. Raven is a Bead Master: one who can control multiple elements by channeling power through different colored beaded bracelets. Bead Masters are only allowed six beads but Raven has, well, a lot more. Fun fact: when a Bead Master learns to control all 16 elements (yeah, there are that many) they become a Harmonizer. Because of the rules, there are no Harmonizers left in the world.
Society does not accept homosexuality as it goes against the humans' higher power. The Bonehemmers are part of the clans, that is, human/animal hybrids and don't believe the High Mother cared about homosexuality enough to ban it. Society is also degrading to women (have to be married at certain age or a husband is found for them, can't take certain jobs, etc) and the disabled. The countries (and world) are run by Kings who are corrupt and ascend to the throne by birth-right.
Raven not only Illegal for having more beads as he likes men too. Interestingly enough Aspen doesn't understand why society's rules are so restricting.
Major Plot twist: Aspen finds out that through an odd twist of fate that her position as Chief could be threatened through no fault of her own.
Thoughts: This was a lot of fun to write solely because of how much the reader's perspective of Aspen and Raven will change from beginning to end. Aspen starts off as a "good" character who is trying to bring in someone who's broken the law and ends up in a position where people might outright hate her. Raven starts off as this law breaker who didn't really do anything too horrible to anyone. It turns out that he's a decent guy.
Memorable lines:
“Life is what you make of it. I wanted excitement so I went out to find it. I wanted freedom so I achieved it. I wanted mushrooms for breakfast so I’m eating them. It’s really all about what I want.”
“Shush, I’m sleeping now. I’m frolicking in a dream land with big muscular men who are hung like bears.”
“An idiot is one who does not do what they enjoy in life.”
“It’s all about balance, really. One must be strong in the body, mind and spirit in order to manipulate the world around them.”
"Who am I to take the life of someone else to better my own?”
“I know but life isn’t about what we want. Life doesn’t care what we want or need, it just pushes us into the direction we have to go in even if we’re kicking and screaming at it not to. We have to go with it and hope it knows what it’s doing.”
“I’m going to force you to see even if it takes my life to do it.”
“Life is death and death is life. The Harmonizer’s oaths make sense in ways the laws of the Kings never could. Life is about balance and the Kings have disrupted that balance. "
Each novel I've completed will get its own summation post similar to this one. Hopefully, in between these Novel Series posts, will be other posts about other things. Let's not hold our breath on that shall we?
Anyway, first up in the novel series is The Bonehemmer Princess which was written in January 2013:
Genre: High Fantasy
Word Count: 107,701. I just realized now that is a palindrome. Ha.
Prompt: Good guys are bad and bad guys are good.
Main Characters: Raven, Aspen Bonehemmer, Gold, Maverick, and Ulric Bonehemmer.
Minor Characters of note: Adar, the Princess, Alexia, Audra, Havoc, and Joab Bonehemmer.
Summation: Aspen Bonehemmer is next in line for the Chief-ship of the Bonehemmer clan. It has fallen to her to bring in the Illegal, Raven, and rid the world of his disregard for the rules of the Kings. Unfortunately for her, Raven unintentionally saves her life. Now she must protect his to return the favor.
High Points: Raven gets startled by a giant spider, falls off a cliff and lands in water.
Low Points: Two of the main and one of the minor characters die. I'm not saying which but it won't be hard to figure out when The Bonehemmer Princess' sequel is described.
The World: Magic based society with a heck of a lot of rules for said magic. Raven is a Bead Master: one who can control multiple elements by channeling power through different colored beaded bracelets. Bead Masters are only allowed six beads but Raven has, well, a lot more. Fun fact: when a Bead Master learns to control all 16 elements (yeah, there are that many) they become a Harmonizer. Because of the rules, there are no Harmonizers left in the world.
Society does not accept homosexuality as it goes against the humans' higher power. The Bonehemmers are part of the clans, that is, human/animal hybrids and don't believe the High Mother cared about homosexuality enough to ban it. Society is also degrading to women (have to be married at certain age or a husband is found for them, can't take certain jobs, etc) and the disabled. The countries (and world) are run by Kings who are corrupt and ascend to the throne by birth-right.
Raven not only Illegal for having more beads as he likes men too. Interestingly enough Aspen doesn't understand why society's rules are so restricting.
Major Plot twist: Aspen finds out that through an odd twist of fate that her position as Chief could be threatened through no fault of her own.
Thoughts: This was a lot of fun to write solely because of how much the reader's perspective of Aspen and Raven will change from beginning to end. Aspen starts off as a "good" character who is trying to bring in someone who's broken the law and ends up in a position where people might outright hate her. Raven starts off as this law breaker who didn't really do anything too horrible to anyone. It turns out that he's a decent guy.
Memorable lines:
“Life is what you make of it. I wanted excitement so I went out to find it. I wanted freedom so I achieved it. I wanted mushrooms for breakfast so I’m eating them. It’s really all about what I want.”
“Shush, I’m sleeping now. I’m frolicking in a dream land with big muscular men who are hung like bears.”
“An idiot is one who does not do what they enjoy in life.”
“You two are released from my
services. Go carefully and do not get yourselves into trouble. I will have to
see for myself what has become of my daughter.”
“Anyone stupid enough to willingly break the law
should be punished. There are other ways to get food or shelter then breaking
the laws set out by the Kings.”
“You’ve got a lot to learn
about life and this world. Everything is gray and nothing is ever so black and
white. There are things that make people truly bad and it has nothing to do
with rules some pompous King sets out. Remember that.”
“It’s all about balance, really. One must be strong in the body, mind and spirit in order to manipulate the world around them.”
"Who am I to take the life of someone else to better my own?”
“I know but life isn’t about what we want. Life doesn’t care what we want or need, it just pushes us into the direction we have to go in even if we’re kicking and screaming at it not to. We have to go with it and hope it knows what it’s doing.”
“I’m going to force you to see even if it takes my life to do it.”
“Life is death and death is life. The Harmonizer’s oaths make sense in ways the laws of the Kings never could. Life is about balance and the Kings have disrupted that balance. "
The next Novel Series post will be about the sequel: The Harmonizer. That one's interesting solely because The Bonehemmer Princess was supposed to be a stand-alone book. Technically there could be a third but I feel like these two have said everything that needed to be said in that world.
Feel free to leave thoughts and questions. I'll answer where appropriate. Until next time: Remember, ninjas like to hide in closets.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Is it 2013 all ready?
I'm just as shocked as everyone else that it's 2013. It seems like a few days ago it was still November and I was hacking away at NaNo.
Speaking of, I never did put up a NaNo Week 4 blog, did I? Sorry time got away from me again and I failed to catch it until recently.
Anyway, I accomplished my NaNo2012 goal of 200,000 words on the 26th of November. Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object clocked in at about 152,000 words so I had to finish the novel I started in October to get my final goal. I was supposed to take last month off to edit all eight (yeah EIGHT. I'm shocked about it too) novels that I wrote last year but that didn't go as planned.
I did re-read every novel I wrote last year as well as the two NaNo novels from 2010 and 2011. I also spell-checked, grammar checked and made a few little adjustments to plot and consistency. It wasn't the major editing I was planning but at least I know where they all stand.
Onto new things since this is a new year and all. I'm making a list of goals this year. No, not resolutions. I forget about resolutions within a week of making them. If I call the following my goals then I'm more likely to get them done. My goals for this year:
1) Write 1 million words from Jan 1 to Nov 30: Otherwise known as Milwordy except I'm doing it in 11 months instead of a year. I'm also using a nifty online tracker called Write Track and keeping a running month tally through Notepad (because I'm special). The Notepad file will also have the stories I'm working on and goal reminders that I can't keep in the tracker. Going along with this goal is the goal of finishing about nine (9) novels this year. Why nine? Well, I figure that's how many it'll take to get to a million words.
2) Write 225,000 words for NaNo13: I have to beat the 200,000 from 2012. I made it my goal when I first started NaNo in 2010 that every year after I'd beat my goal by at least 25K. Why? Because I'm freaking nuts like that.
3) Finish Tale of the Twins: URG! Book one was finished in 2009. Book two finished in 2010. Book three? It's still stuck on chapter 6 or something. This was also my goal for last year (September more specifically) but I wasn't feeling it. I know I'll have to read right from the beginning to understand what's going on. I know the basics but there are details I'll probably have to remember at some point.
4) Promote (Blogging, twitter, etc): I need to but I'm not entirely sure where to start. Posting more is obvious but I tend to lack a memory when it comes to logging into things and posting random bits of information. Plus my life is relatively boring (besides writing) so I don't have much to talk about. Unless of course people want to hear about my random musings which may or may not include unicorns.
5) Get into shape, preferably something other than round. I don't mind being round really but I'd like to have the energy I used to when I wasn't so round. Plus I'd like to be able to fit into all my old summer clothes from the year before last.
6) Get my finances in order. This may require finding a new job. As much as I love my job it's not enough anymore and I hate having to choose between paying a bill or buying things I need.
So those are my goals for this year. I know 1 and 2 I can complete without issue so long as I don't break both arms or something crazy. The other four will be challenging for different reasons. Now I know someone out there is wondering why 'Get published' isn't on there. Technically I am published. Self-published yes, but published.
I know I'm not famous but I'm not really aiming to be. It's enough that I get the stories out of my brain. I know, I know, I'm weird for writing without thinking of publishing. Writing is my main interest. Just because it's something I do in my spare time doesn't mean that I want to be famous for it. I'll always write because it's something I do.
I'm going to stop right there simply because I'll get onto a long ramble if I keep going and this blog post will take up fifty pages. Well, not literally but it would be close enough. This is good-bye for now. I'm sure I'll be back eventually so long as time stays where I last put it. It's a tricky thing, time. It tends to wander off when you least expect it or hide when you really want it. Good night and don't let any nasty critters wander off with anything important.
Speaking of, I never did put up a NaNo Week 4 blog, did I? Sorry time got away from me again and I failed to catch it until recently.
Anyway, I accomplished my NaNo2012 goal of 200,000 words on the 26th of November. Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object clocked in at about 152,000 words so I had to finish the novel I started in October to get my final goal. I was supposed to take last month off to edit all eight (yeah EIGHT. I'm shocked about it too) novels that I wrote last year but that didn't go as planned.
I did re-read every novel I wrote last year as well as the two NaNo novels from 2010 and 2011. I also spell-checked, grammar checked and made a few little adjustments to plot and consistency. It wasn't the major editing I was planning but at least I know where they all stand.
Onto new things since this is a new year and all. I'm making a list of goals this year. No, not resolutions. I forget about resolutions within a week of making them. If I call the following my goals then I'm more likely to get them done. My goals for this year:
1) Write 1 million words from Jan 1 to Nov 30: Otherwise known as Milwordy except I'm doing it in 11 months instead of a year. I'm also using a nifty online tracker called Write Track and keeping a running month tally through Notepad (because I'm special). The Notepad file will also have the stories I'm working on and goal reminders that I can't keep in the tracker. Going along with this goal is the goal of finishing about nine (9) novels this year. Why nine? Well, I figure that's how many it'll take to get to a million words.
2) Write 225,000 words for NaNo13: I have to beat the 200,000 from 2012. I made it my goal when I first started NaNo in 2010 that every year after I'd beat my goal by at least 25K. Why? Because I'm freaking nuts like that.
3) Finish Tale of the Twins: URG! Book one was finished in 2009. Book two finished in 2010. Book three? It's still stuck on chapter 6 or something. This was also my goal for last year (September more specifically) but I wasn't feeling it. I know I'll have to read right from the beginning to understand what's going on. I know the basics but there are details I'll probably have to remember at some point.
4) Promote (Blogging, twitter, etc): I need to but I'm not entirely sure where to start. Posting more is obvious but I tend to lack a memory when it comes to logging into things and posting random bits of information. Plus my life is relatively boring (besides writing) so I don't have much to talk about. Unless of course people want to hear about my random musings which may or may not include unicorns.
5) Get into shape, preferably something other than round. I don't mind being round really but I'd like to have the energy I used to when I wasn't so round. Plus I'd like to be able to fit into all my old summer clothes from the year before last.
6) Get my finances in order. This may require finding a new job. As much as I love my job it's not enough anymore and I hate having to choose between paying a bill or buying things I need.
So those are my goals for this year. I know 1 and 2 I can complete without issue so long as I don't break both arms or something crazy. The other four will be challenging for different reasons. Now I know someone out there is wondering why 'Get published' isn't on there. Technically I am published. Self-published yes, but published.
I know I'm not famous but I'm not really aiming to be. It's enough that I get the stories out of my brain. I know, I know, I'm weird for writing without thinking of publishing. Writing is my main interest. Just because it's something I do in my spare time doesn't mean that I want to be famous for it. I'll always write because it's something I do.
I'm going to stop right there simply because I'll get onto a long ramble if I keep going and this blog post will take up fifty pages. Well, not literally but it would be close enough. This is good-bye for now. I'm sure I'll be back eventually so long as time stays where I last put it. It's a tricky thing, time. It tends to wander off when you least expect it or hide when you really want it. Good night and don't let any nasty critters wander off with anything important.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
NaNoWriMo: Week Three
I got distracted by a lot this week hence the late post. I didn't even remember about the NaNo update until 11:30PM right after I shut off the lights and went to bed. Ha. Anyway:
Word Count: 161,194
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 38,806
Key Plot Points:
It's over. Yep, I've written the last two words every novelist strives for: The End. It became official at 9:59PM on the 18th. The Forbidden Object was destroyed. Two people died and everyone else lived happily ever after. Oh, I did forget that Gary wears glasses so during editing either this month or next month I'll have to add that in which will bring up the word count for the Chosen Ones. I'm not going to get into too much detail here because I can't remember most of it.
Thoughts on Week Three:
I didn't really have much of a week three. Once I finished Chosen Ones I took a long break. I didn't actually start writing again until Thursday night when I pumped out about 3,000 words. Last night I managed 5,000 which isn't much considering. This weekend I plan to get my 200,000. That's right: I'm going to write 38,806 words before Sunday at midnight.
I'm fairly certain I can do this. I might need to take an extra few hours Monday since I'm not going to be starting to write for another half hour or so then I've got another hour to two hours I have to take out of the day for various things. I'm not too concerned though.
I'm making up the other words by finishing a novel I started back in Oct. It's a big switch going from a Lord of the Rings Parody to a modern day, serious, character-growing fantasy. I want to add commentary but it's not allowed. I think this is what's slowed me down the past few days but I'll get over it.
This novel has the unofficial title of Protectors and is about five men who stumbled upon amulets that gift them with special powers. The catch is the five have to grow up in order to use their powers. For instance, Paul, the lawyer is a perfect candidate for Anger Management. In order to use Serenity's powers (yes the amulets have names) he has to learn to become cool, calm and collected. It's a big task for someone with such a hotheaded personality.
Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story without a bad guy so there is a nice little twist in there that I have to thank the NaNo forums for giving me. I'm about half way done with this story so getting the other 38,806 words will not be a problem. The problem might be getting it before Sunday at midnight.
As I said in the beginning, I've been distracted by the internet, namely the muse that kind of inspired Andre in Chosen Ones. I've also had a lot of self-doubt issues to deal with this week that made my writing slow down to a crawl. I think I'm over both. We'll find out, won't we?
Thus ends the week three update. Hopefully I'll remember to get week four up on the right date. Until then, good night and don't let the monsters of doubt bring you down.
Word Count: 161,194
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 38,806
Key Plot Points:
It's over. Yep, I've written the last two words every novelist strives for: The End. It became official at 9:59PM on the 18th. The Forbidden Object was destroyed. Two people died and everyone else lived happily ever after. Oh, I did forget that Gary wears glasses so during editing either this month or next month I'll have to add that in which will bring up the word count for the Chosen Ones. I'm not going to get into too much detail here because I can't remember most of it.
Thoughts on Week Three:
I didn't really have much of a week three. Once I finished Chosen Ones I took a long break. I didn't actually start writing again until Thursday night when I pumped out about 3,000 words. Last night I managed 5,000 which isn't much considering. This weekend I plan to get my 200,000. That's right: I'm going to write 38,806 words before Sunday at midnight.
I'm fairly certain I can do this. I might need to take an extra few hours Monday since I'm not going to be starting to write for another half hour or so then I've got another hour to two hours I have to take out of the day for various things. I'm not too concerned though.
I'm making up the other words by finishing a novel I started back in Oct. It's a big switch going from a Lord of the Rings Parody to a modern day, serious, character-growing fantasy. I want to add commentary but it's not allowed. I think this is what's slowed me down the past few days but I'll get over it.
This novel has the unofficial title of Protectors and is about five men who stumbled upon amulets that gift them with special powers. The catch is the five have to grow up in order to use their powers. For instance, Paul, the lawyer is a perfect candidate for Anger Management. In order to use Serenity's powers (yes the amulets have names) he has to learn to become cool, calm and collected. It's a big task for someone with such a hotheaded personality.
Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story without a bad guy so there is a nice little twist in there that I have to thank the NaNo forums for giving me. I'm about half way done with this story so getting the other 38,806 words will not be a problem. The problem might be getting it before Sunday at midnight.
As I said in the beginning, I've been distracted by the internet, namely the muse that kind of inspired Andre in Chosen Ones. I've also had a lot of self-doubt issues to deal with this week that made my writing slow down to a crawl. I think I'm over both. We'll find out, won't we?
Thus ends the week three update. Hopefully I'll remember to get week four up on the right date. Until then, good night and don't let the monsters of doubt bring you down.
Monday, November 19, 2012
One Million Feelings
A little while back I wrote a blog post that talked about the six novels that contributed to the 1 million words I wrote this year. It came to my attention that while I mentioned the six novels that made up those million words I never actually talked about how I felt about it. The main reason for this post is last week someone from NaNo messaged me with questions about the million words. It then dawned on me: while I thanked all my characters and plot bunnies, I never talked about how, why or what the heck was going through my mind doing it. So, here's a little Q&A thanks to Azalea E:
How has the experience of writing a million words been for you?
It's been one heck of an experience. Oddly enough, I had not set out on Dec. 1 2011 to write a million words by Nov. 30 2012. I had spotted a thread in NaNo in and around July 25th and decided 'What the heck, let's do this.' I only know the exact date because it's in my 12in12 tracker file.
Do you feel mentally exhausted?
Oddly, no, I'm not mentally exhausted. I would write for a few days in a row hitting 5-10K words a night, take a day or two off then write a few days straight again. I'm not sure if that actually helped but I'm not mentally wiped.
Has your literary stamina increased?
I don't know about literary stamina but I do know I can now get 2,000 words in an hour. If I'm really going I can get 10K in four hours.
It's said that after writing a million words or so, you'll become a better writer. Do you think that's the case? Have you noticed any improvement in your writing from 12 months ago till now?
There has definitely been an improvement in my writing. My stories and characters seem more real, there are more subplots, and things generally tend to make sense and feel alive. I've also learned to work with my Inner Editor and I don't make the same mistakes I used to a year (or so) ago. My writing style has matured and changed a lot from 2011 to now.
How did you manage such a thing? Do you write in all your spare time? Are you a fast typist/thinker?
At the risk of sounding like some kind of anti-social freak: I don't have much of a social life and that doesn't bother me. I hang out with friends once a week (sometimes twice a month) and write any other time. There have been certain situations in my life that has attributed to me not having an active social life so I turned to writing as an escape. Usually I write from 6PM to midnight every night. When I'm really into a story my word count and brain power increases.
What are the Pros and Cons?
Pros: I wrote six novels in a year. I know some professional authors have done more than that but I wrote six novels with a 9AM - 5PM job from June to September. This is awesome because I have 50 more novel ideas on various back burners that I want to write. The past year has taken a huge chuck out of my 'story list'.
Bragging rights. Anyone who tells me that I'm not a real writer I can honestly say I've hit my million words/10,000 hours of practice then KEPT GOING.
My first drafts have improved greatly and read more like a second or third draft. This means less re-writing. I know what works and doesn't work. I can plot out entire novels in less time.
It increased my writing output by leaps and bounds. Before I was lucky to get 1000 words in an hour. Now I've doubled it.
I seem to be inspired by the oddest things. Before I started taking the million word challenge seriously, I wouldn't get an idea for months. Now a sentence can send me into a 'what if?' thing and BAM! Idea.
Cons: I have to EDIT those six novels. That's probably the biggest one I can think of. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con but I can survive on 6 hours of sleep.
Final thoughts:
This is one challenge that is worth it to do. Not to say that anything else is worthless but this is definitely something that will give anyone a work out, especially if they have a day job and other commitments. But in the end, it can improve your writing by leaps and bounds so it's completely worth it. It might make people go crazy, throw their social lives out the window, live off caffeine, and learn to function on little sleep but it can improve a writing style by leaps and bounds.
Would I do it again? Heck yes. In fact, I'll start up my second 1 million in 1 year challenge in January. For those of you who are curious: that's 83,333 words a month. Yes, MORE than a NaNo challenge every month to get that goal. I'm looking forward to it.
Until next time: Good night and don't let Gollum take the precious.
How has the experience of writing a million words been for you?
It's been one heck of an experience. Oddly enough, I had not set out on Dec. 1 2011 to write a million words by Nov. 30 2012. I had spotted a thread in NaNo in and around July 25th and decided 'What the heck, let's do this.' I only know the exact date because it's in my 12in12 tracker file.
Do you feel mentally exhausted?
Oddly, no, I'm not mentally exhausted. I would write for a few days in a row hitting 5-10K words a night, take a day or two off then write a few days straight again. I'm not sure if that actually helped but I'm not mentally wiped.
Has your literary stamina increased?
I don't know about literary stamina but I do know I can now get 2,000 words in an hour. If I'm really going I can get 10K in four hours.
It's said that after writing a million words or so, you'll become a better writer. Do you think that's the case? Have you noticed any improvement in your writing from 12 months ago till now?
There has definitely been an improvement in my writing. My stories and characters seem more real, there are more subplots, and things generally tend to make sense and feel alive. I've also learned to work with my Inner Editor and I don't make the same mistakes I used to a year (or so) ago. My writing style has matured and changed a lot from 2011 to now.
How did you manage such a thing? Do you write in all your spare time? Are you a fast typist/thinker?
At the risk of sounding like some kind of anti-social freak: I don't have much of a social life and that doesn't bother me. I hang out with friends once a week (sometimes twice a month) and write any other time. There have been certain situations in my life that has attributed to me not having an active social life so I turned to writing as an escape. Usually I write from 6PM to midnight every night. When I'm really into a story my word count and brain power increases.
What are the Pros and Cons?
Pros: I wrote six novels in a year. I know some professional authors have done more than that but I wrote six novels with a 9AM - 5PM job from June to September. This is awesome because I have 50 more novel ideas on various back burners that I want to write. The past year has taken a huge chuck out of my 'story list'.
Bragging rights. Anyone who tells me that I'm not a real writer I can honestly say I've hit my million words/10,000 hours of practice then KEPT GOING.
My first drafts have improved greatly and read more like a second or third draft. This means less re-writing. I know what works and doesn't work. I can plot out entire novels in less time.
It increased my writing output by leaps and bounds. Before I was lucky to get 1000 words in an hour. Now I've doubled it.
I seem to be inspired by the oddest things. Before I started taking the million word challenge seriously, I wouldn't get an idea for months. Now a sentence can send me into a 'what if?' thing and BAM! Idea.
Cons: I have to EDIT those six novels. That's probably the biggest one I can think of. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con but I can survive on 6 hours of sleep.
Final thoughts:
This is one challenge that is worth it to do. Not to say that anything else is worthless but this is definitely something that will give anyone a work out, especially if they have a day job and other commitments. But in the end, it can improve your writing by leaps and bounds so it's completely worth it. It might make people go crazy, throw their social lives out the window, live off caffeine, and learn to function on little sleep but it can improve a writing style by leaps and bounds.
Would I do it again? Heck yes. In fact, I'll start up my second 1 million in 1 year challenge in January. For those of you who are curious: that's 83,333 words a month. Yes, MORE than a NaNo challenge every month to get that goal. I'm looking forward to it.
Until next time: Good night and don't let Gollum take the precious.
Friday, November 9, 2012
NaNoWriMo: Week One
So the first week of National Novel Writing Month is complete. It's been a hectic week with work, trying to work on NaNoWriMo as well as promoting. Here's my stats and the introduction to what the heck I'm writing:
Word Count: 70,422
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 130,000
Finished NaNoWriMo challenge: Sun, Nov. 4th.
Yes I'm one of those crazy people known as an over-achiever on the forums. Moving on:
Novel: Fantasy Parody of Lord of the Rings (yeah I went there, ha)
Title: Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object
Plot so far: The farmer Ed was whacked in the head with the Forbidden Object while it was being transported by a dragon to Mr. Omega (the Big Bad). Ed of course, didn't know what it was so decided to hang on to it. He was tracked down by the Nine Riders of the Abyssal Planes, chased from his home town, tried to settle in a new town, was chased from there and almost killed. Fortunately (not according to Ed) Bob the valient elf warrior and his steed Pinkie saved him.
Bob brought him back to his home of Clear River where they met up with the other members of what would be the Chosen Ones to destroy the Forbidden Object. These others are Hulkael the Giant Prince (slow moving, slow talking and slow witted), Alina a fairy (a bit on the drunk side with random items in a ridiculously small bag), the Dragon Prince Ridam (a dragon who can't breathe fire and is afraid to fly), the Wizard Gary (a bit crazy), the Dwarf Prince Dreh Cairnbeard (a self-proclaimed ladies man), and the reluctant Bob with Pinkie.
So the group started off and found out quickly that Ed is not the hero they need for this. He complains, wets himself in the face of evil, sleeps when he should be listening and in general is not a good guy. This is even more evident when giant wolves attack and Ed screams, wets his pants, and falls into a fetal position. Of course the giant wolves are defeated and the group moves on.
The next challenge are bats with tentacles that Ridam (in a high-pitched teen dragon voice) takes out and the Nine Riders of Hell. The baddies are defeated putting Mr. Omega into an anger management class. The group is forced through a mountain where they meet Jedris (think Gollum) who wants the Forbidden Oject. He's knocked out by a well found cannon from Alina's bag and the group moves on.
Mr. Omega then releases the tigers. During the battle Bob and Alina fall in love (bah) and Mr. Omega mourns his tigers. The group has to climb over some cliffs where Ridam has to fight another dragon in a game of chess. Mr. Omega becomes bored and makes cute, fluffy kittens with bat wings.
The group gets off the cliffs and comes into a desert, walked through it and surived. Now they're taking a break while Mr. Omega teaches his kittens how to fly.
That's where I am so far. I'm mostly making this thing up as I go along so as for what's next I don't even know for sure. I do know there is a major battle between Mr. Omega and the Chosen Ones but that's the last chapter. I also know there's going to be a war of somesort that side-tracks the group in the later chapters. I also know this thing is going to be HUGE.
Anyway, my thoughts on this week: It started out awesome and the fourth wall lays in dust at my feet. On Sat, the 3rd I got my highest word count in a day: 18,333. On Sun. the 4th I got 16K words to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. By Tuesday I hit a wall. My parody was no longer a parody and becoming way too serious. This came from Bob and Alina's romance which I'm not too sure about right now. I might break them up or I might pretend it didn't happen.
It's gotten back into it the comedy aspect now which is awesome and I hope to hit 90K this weekend. I'm not sure how that's working out as shortly after the posting of this blog, I'll be out. Saturday I'm out in the morning and the afternoon then Sunday morning is a no-go. But I'm going to try dang it.
Well, that's my week one NaNoWriMo update. Stayed tuned for NaNoWriMo Week 2 Review on the 16th. Hopefully it won't be so rushed as this one. Also for NaNoWriMo I'll be talking about the dreadful Inner Editor and what I do to keep writing despite said Inner Editor. Until then: Good night and don't let any demons from Hell steal your soul.
Word Count: 70,422
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 130,000
Finished NaNoWriMo challenge: Sun, Nov. 4th.
Yes I'm one of those crazy people known as an over-achiever on the forums. Moving on:
Novel: Fantasy Parody of Lord of the Rings (yeah I went there, ha)
Title: Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object
Plot so far: The farmer Ed was whacked in the head with the Forbidden Object while it was being transported by a dragon to Mr. Omega (the Big Bad). Ed of course, didn't know what it was so decided to hang on to it. He was tracked down by the Nine Riders of the Abyssal Planes, chased from his home town, tried to settle in a new town, was chased from there and almost killed. Fortunately (not according to Ed) Bob the valient elf warrior and his steed Pinkie saved him.
Bob brought him back to his home of Clear River where they met up with the other members of what would be the Chosen Ones to destroy the Forbidden Object. These others are Hulkael the Giant Prince (slow moving, slow talking and slow witted), Alina a fairy (a bit on the drunk side with random items in a ridiculously small bag), the Dragon Prince Ridam (a dragon who can't breathe fire and is afraid to fly), the Wizard Gary (a bit crazy), the Dwarf Prince Dreh Cairnbeard (a self-proclaimed ladies man), and the reluctant Bob with Pinkie.
So the group started off and found out quickly that Ed is not the hero they need for this. He complains, wets himself in the face of evil, sleeps when he should be listening and in general is not a good guy. This is even more evident when giant wolves attack and Ed screams, wets his pants, and falls into a fetal position. Of course the giant wolves are defeated and the group moves on.
The next challenge are bats with tentacles that Ridam (in a high-pitched teen dragon voice) takes out and the Nine Riders of Hell. The baddies are defeated putting Mr. Omega into an anger management class. The group is forced through a mountain where they meet Jedris (think Gollum) who wants the Forbidden Oject. He's knocked out by a well found cannon from Alina's bag and the group moves on.
Mr. Omega then releases the tigers. During the battle Bob and Alina fall in love (bah) and Mr. Omega mourns his tigers. The group has to climb over some cliffs where Ridam has to fight another dragon in a game of chess. Mr. Omega becomes bored and makes cute, fluffy kittens with bat wings.
The group gets off the cliffs and comes into a desert, walked through it and surived. Now they're taking a break while Mr. Omega teaches his kittens how to fly.
That's where I am so far. I'm mostly making this thing up as I go along so as for what's next I don't even know for sure. I do know there is a major battle between Mr. Omega and the Chosen Ones but that's the last chapter. I also know there's going to be a war of somesort that side-tracks the group in the later chapters. I also know this thing is going to be HUGE.
Anyway, my thoughts on this week: It started out awesome and the fourth wall lays in dust at my feet. On Sat, the 3rd I got my highest word count in a day: 18,333. On Sun. the 4th I got 16K words to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. By Tuesday I hit a wall. My parody was no longer a parody and becoming way too serious. This came from Bob and Alina's romance which I'm not too sure about right now. I might break them up or I might pretend it didn't happen.
It's gotten back into it the comedy aspect now which is awesome and I hope to hit 90K this weekend. I'm not sure how that's working out as shortly after the posting of this blog, I'll be out. Saturday I'm out in the morning and the afternoon then Sunday morning is a no-go. But I'm going to try dang it.
Well, that's my week one NaNoWriMo update. Stayed tuned for NaNoWriMo Week 2 Review on the 16th. Hopefully it won't be so rushed as this one. Also for NaNoWriMo I'll be talking about the dreadful Inner Editor and what I do to keep writing despite said Inner Editor. Until then: Good night and don't let any demons from Hell steal your soul.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
The Six
I mentioned in my 'One Million Words' blog post that I wrote six novels. I also mentioned that I might talk about the six novels. Hey guess what? I REMEMBERED!
The reason I want to talk about these novels is because four of them are a part of a series. One can become a series and the last has been planned to be at least three books. Without these six books I would have never made it to the million so this is my thank you to them. I know that sounds really weird but I'm a writer so weirdness is kind of needed.
Moving on:
Book 1: The Warriors Eight
Length: 165,278
Inspiration: Television.
Plot: We follow the story of the young boy who decides to save the world. Archard is our main character with the P.O.V. He lives in a country ravaged by war because the four kings cannot get along. He doesn't know that though because at the tender age of three he is kidnapped and forceed into becoming a special kind of warrior. It's not as awesome as it seems and he's beaten, tortured and a few other things. Archard escapes and decides to form a group of warriors to save the innocent people from bloodshed. There are a whole bunch of other things going on but I don't want to give up too much of the plot.
Thoughts: I loved writing this, I really did. It's not close to being finished as there are quite a few edits to do and some things don't make sense. It can become a series simply because of how it ends.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully within the next two years or so.
Book 2: Glory Hole
Length: 145,012
Inspiration: I'm not entirely sure...
Plot: This is erotica. Yeah, I went there. Ha. Anyway, Samuel falls in love. The problem? Samuel is a stripper who can't admit his feelings and his lover is a high-profile business associate who can't admit he likes men. Yes I like to make things complicated.
Thoughts: Samuel is one of my favorite characters to write. He's witty, cute, lovable and just so darned full of anguish over the whole situation that he seems real. The interactions (clothed and unclothed) between the duo were so natural to write. They really fit.
Release Date: Probably never. This was something solely for me. But yes, there are two more books planned for this.
Book 3: The Land of Cara, Book 1: The Otherworlder
Length: 139,050
Inspiration: I used to hang a lot of posters on my ceiling. One day, one of them (a dragon poster) was falling off the ceiling. I had a really bad day and in a fit of rage, ripped it down and tore it up. Then I thought:"What if that had been a real dragon? I just killed it!"
Plot: Emily is our main character and the story starts with her jumping off a bridge. She's then transported to Cara, the country unknowingly under war. She meets Magalia, the Elemental Mage and Ayla, the last Ahkas Metalweaver. What they don't know is the Dark Mages of Cara are planning a coup to take over the country. Again, there's a lot more going on but I don't want to reveal too much.
Thoughts: I recently found out that I'm not so creative with Ayla's name. Look it up. I also never expected this thing to morph into a series. It was supposed to be a stand-alone book but I fell in love with Xeros.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully in the next two years.
Book 4: The Land of Cara, Book 2: The Dragons
Length: 142,782
Inspiration: Xeros, one of the characters from Book 1.
Plot: Fifty years have passed and Emily has grown into a powerful Mage. The bad news? The Dark Mage Coup did not end. The good news? Emily is in a much better position to stop it. The best news? She's not the only Dragon Summoner in Cara anymore.
Thoughts: I have no idea where some of the plot came from. The whole thing with Drake and Xeros...OMFG! Then Pheobus. Really? I mean, REALLY? It blew my mind and I was the one writing it.
Release Date: TBA, again within the next two years.
Book 5: The Land of Cara, Book 3: The Red-Eyed Mage
Length: 102,777
Inspiration: The final fight in Book 2.
Plot: We meet the fourth Dragon Summoner who turns out to be a lot more important than people first think. I can't go into much detail without destroying the surprises in Book 2. Sorry.
Thoughts: It's way too short but I can't make it any longer. Well I might be able to now that I've left it alone for a bit but it's short. This is probably the shortest novel I've ever written. I think everything just happed so effortlessly because I had most of it planned out.
Release Date: TBA, within the next two years.
Book 6: The Land of Cara: Final Travels
Length: 136,504
Inspiration: The final scene in Book 3. This book never would have existed if my characters had done their job and finished like I wanted them to.
Plot: Sorry, I'm not even getting into it. There's SO MUCH going on and all of it will be spoilers for the prior three.
Thoughts: Awesome. Heart-breaking. THE FREAKING END.
Release Date: TBA, see the others.
These six alone totalled: 831,403 words. That's eighty percent of my 1,000,000 words. That is why I decided to list them. That was my thank-you speech to all the characters (I can't even begin to count how many) in all six and all the little plot bunnies.
I have to say that I'm a bit sad I won't be going into the Cara world again. I could write some side-scenes but I don't think my heart will be into it. As for the other two, I can still have fun with them.
Anyway, that is the summary of what I was working on this year. Until next time: Good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.
The reason I want to talk about these novels is because four of them are a part of a series. One can become a series and the last has been planned to be at least three books. Without these six books I would have never made it to the million so this is my thank you to them. I know that sounds really weird but I'm a writer so weirdness is kind of needed.
Moving on:
Book 1: The Warriors Eight
Length: 165,278
Inspiration: Television.
Plot: We follow the story of the young boy who decides to save the world. Archard is our main character with the P.O.V. He lives in a country ravaged by war because the four kings cannot get along. He doesn't know that though because at the tender age of three he is kidnapped and forceed into becoming a special kind of warrior. It's not as awesome as it seems and he's beaten, tortured and a few other things. Archard escapes and decides to form a group of warriors to save the innocent people from bloodshed. There are a whole bunch of other things going on but I don't want to give up too much of the plot.
Thoughts: I loved writing this, I really did. It's not close to being finished as there are quite a few edits to do and some things don't make sense. It can become a series simply because of how it ends.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully within the next two years or so.
Book 2: Glory Hole
Length: 145,012
Inspiration: I'm not entirely sure...
Plot: This is erotica. Yeah, I went there. Ha. Anyway, Samuel falls in love. The problem? Samuel is a stripper who can't admit his feelings and his lover is a high-profile business associate who can't admit he likes men. Yes I like to make things complicated.
Thoughts: Samuel is one of my favorite characters to write. He's witty, cute, lovable and just so darned full of anguish over the whole situation that he seems real. The interactions (clothed and unclothed) between the duo were so natural to write. They really fit.
Release Date: Probably never. This was something solely for me. But yes, there are two more books planned for this.
Book 3: The Land of Cara, Book 1: The Otherworlder
Length: 139,050
Inspiration: I used to hang a lot of posters on my ceiling. One day, one of them (a dragon poster) was falling off the ceiling. I had a really bad day and in a fit of rage, ripped it down and tore it up. Then I thought:"What if that had been a real dragon? I just killed it!"
Plot: Emily is our main character and the story starts with her jumping off a bridge. She's then transported to Cara, the country unknowingly under war. She meets Magalia, the Elemental Mage and Ayla, the last Ahkas Metalweaver. What they don't know is the Dark Mages of Cara are planning a coup to take over the country. Again, there's a lot more going on but I don't want to reveal too much.
Thoughts: I recently found out that I'm not so creative with Ayla's name. Look it up. I also never expected this thing to morph into a series. It was supposed to be a stand-alone book but I fell in love with Xeros.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully in the next two years.
Book 4: The Land of Cara, Book 2: The Dragons
Length: 142,782
Inspiration: Xeros, one of the characters from Book 1.
Plot: Fifty years have passed and Emily has grown into a powerful Mage. The bad news? The Dark Mage Coup did not end. The good news? Emily is in a much better position to stop it. The best news? She's not the only Dragon Summoner in Cara anymore.
Thoughts: I have no idea where some of the plot came from. The whole thing with Drake and Xeros...OMFG! Then Pheobus. Really? I mean, REALLY? It blew my mind and I was the one writing it.
Release Date: TBA, again within the next two years.
Book 5: The Land of Cara, Book 3: The Red-Eyed Mage
Length: 102,777
Inspiration: The final fight in Book 2.
Plot: We meet the fourth Dragon Summoner who turns out to be a lot more important than people first think. I can't go into much detail without destroying the surprises in Book 2. Sorry.
Thoughts: It's way too short but I can't make it any longer. Well I might be able to now that I've left it alone for a bit but it's short. This is probably the shortest novel I've ever written. I think everything just happed so effortlessly because I had most of it planned out.
Release Date: TBA, within the next two years.
Book 6: The Land of Cara: Final Travels
Length: 136,504
Inspiration: The final scene in Book 3. This book never would have existed if my characters had done their job and finished like I wanted them to.
Plot: Sorry, I'm not even getting into it. There's SO MUCH going on and all of it will be spoilers for the prior three.
Thoughts: Awesome. Heart-breaking. THE FREAKING END.
Release Date: TBA, see the others.
These six alone totalled: 831,403 words. That's eighty percent of my 1,000,000 words. That is why I decided to list them. That was my thank-you speech to all the characters (I can't even begin to count how many) in all six and all the little plot bunnies.
I have to say that I'm a bit sad I won't be going into the Cara world again. I could write some side-scenes but I don't think my heart will be into it. As for the other two, I can still have fun with them.
Anyway, that is the summary of what I was working on this year. Until next time: Good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
One Million Words
For those of you that don't know I've been participating in a 12in12 Challenge. Basically this means I was to write 12 novellas (20,000-40,000) words a month for 12 months. I started in December of 2011 and will finish November 30th, 2012. This is the second reason why NaNo is so big for me this year. The first reason is because hey, it's National Novel Writing Month and that in itself is important.
Anyway, the third reason NaNo2012 is so important is that half-way through the year I took it upon myself to take on another challenge: 1 million words in a year. Yes, I decided I was going to write 1 million words between December 2011 and November 2012.
The forth reason has two parts: 1) I want to hit 200,000 words and 2) I've been sitting on this idea for a full year. That's right. I've had the idea for this year's NaNo since last year's NaNo. More on that in some other post.
But let's get back to reason number three: Writing 1 million words in a year. A lot of people (authors and non-authors) have said that it takes a writer 1 million words to become worthy of the title of 'writer'. Well, here are my stats for the year:
December: 22,000
January: 20,000
Februrary: 48,615
March: 147,543
April: 63,380
May: 96,948
June: 80,019
July: 134,023
August: 183,562
September:117,782
October:84,964
Total so far:998,836
This leaves me with 1,164 to write in order to hit 1,000,000 words this year. I will have completed my goal by the time this blog has been posted. Will finishing my million early stop me from writing 200,000 for NaNo2012? Nope. I'm still going to go for 200,000 words in November. Why? Well, I'm crazy. I think we've established that, right?
It's been one heck of a journey, I'll tell you that. Those million words took up six books, multiple shorts stories and a few novellas. If you're so inclined, you can buy the novella through Smashwords, Nook or Kobo. The others aren't done yet and the novel edits take time.
I'll probably talk about the six novels in a seperate blog post because hey, they're part of the journey to 1 million. I do want to mention that this has been the first time I've counted my words. This just proves I'm crazy but I'm okay with that. Until next time: Good bye, good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.
Anyway, the third reason NaNo2012 is so important is that half-way through the year I took it upon myself to take on another challenge: 1 million words in a year. Yes, I decided I was going to write 1 million words between December 2011 and November 2012.
The forth reason has two parts: 1) I want to hit 200,000 words and 2) I've been sitting on this idea for a full year. That's right. I've had the idea for this year's NaNo since last year's NaNo. More on that in some other post.
But let's get back to reason number three: Writing 1 million words in a year. A lot of people (authors and non-authors) have said that it takes a writer 1 million words to become worthy of the title of 'writer'. Well, here are my stats for the year:
December: 22,000
January: 20,000
Februrary: 48,615
March: 147,543
April: 63,380
May: 96,948
June: 80,019
July: 134,023
August: 183,562
September:117,782
October:84,964
Total so far:998,836
This leaves me with 1,164 to write in order to hit 1,000,000 words this year. I will have completed my goal by the time this blog has been posted. Will finishing my million early stop me from writing 200,000 for NaNo2012? Nope. I'm still going to go for 200,000 words in November. Why? Well, I'm crazy. I think we've established that, right?
It's been one heck of a journey, I'll tell you that. Those million words took up six books, multiple shorts stories and a few novellas. If you're so inclined, you can buy the novella through Smashwords, Nook or Kobo. The others aren't done yet and the novel edits take time.
I'll probably talk about the six novels in a seperate blog post because hey, they're part of the journey to 1 million. I do want to mention that this has been the first time I've counted my words. This just proves I'm crazy but I'm okay with that. Until next time: Good bye, good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
So I'm back....mostly
In case you haven't noticed, I dropped off the face of the Earth for quite some time. My last post here was March 28th which is about the same for Twitter and Facebook. This is really horrible for promoting which is funny because one of my goals for 2012 was to promote more. I suck with goals, really I do.
Anyway, I'm back in a sense. I never really left to be honest. I simply did not have the motivation to promote. There I said it: I did not have the motivation to post.
Why? Well, there's a few reasons and I'm going to be completely honest, bording on blunt if you will:
1) I have no idea how to properly promote and the whole thing scares the crap out of me.
2) I'm honestly afraid of what people will say about my work.
3) I kind of became really obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge and forgot everything else.
4) I've been exceptionally depressed.
Let me explain those a bit.
1) I don't know how to promote. Sure I've read Locke's book on how to sell a million ebooks in five months. Yeah, I've read other marketing books on how to use social media to your advantage. I've never really understood it. No, that's not right. I tried and failed a few times and can't seem to pick myself back up. I'll eventually keep trying though. Plus I always feel like I'm spamming people when I talk about my stuff and I don't like spamming people.
2) I'm afraid of what people will say. There are people who have read my work and loved it. They are the reason I started this crazy journey. Then there are the people who comment with "I had to force myself to finish it." For me, that's a pretty big blow. I'll admit, I don't have a tough skin, well, not yet anyway. I mean yes, the accompanying stars on that comment was a 2 and the book does have a 3.5 star rating which is good for something that was written in one month and edited too quickly for my liking. On the same book I get the comment of "I respect this book and the way it was written. It caught my attention and had the perfect amounts of realism that made the ending all the more tragic. I loved this book that was filled with the best memories we could possibly have during the holidays.....and the most horrible..." which makes me feel great. But there's still that nagging fear of what if people don't like it. I have to work on it.
3) Ah, ha, yes. I've become obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge to the point where I've written 6 novels this year. Let me reiterate that: I've written 6 120,000 word (or more) novels this year. Actually, since March. Oddly, none of them were book 3 of Tale of the Twins which I planned to finish this year.
4) I've been depressed. Life has been horrible this year and I can't shake it at all. I'm trying to get out of the funk, really I am. But the only way I can is by writing and staying in my fantasy worlds. This does not help with promoting because it seems like everything I've done in the past two years (going on three in March) has failed and that makes me more upset. I'm kind of half happy and half sad right now reading the reviews on 'Have a Bloody Christmas' on the Nook website.
With all that being said, well, I'm kind of here. I make no promises on how often I will post but I see a scheduler for post settings so that might help. Did I mention I'm forgetful and quite unmotivated when it comes to promoting? Ha.
Anyway, I decided to come back because of the one goal for this year that I refuse to fail: National Novel Writing Month 2012. I will get 200,000 words. I will not let anything stop me.
I will also write about my insane attempts and more of what I've been doing this year in the next month. I'll also put together some blogs (probably tonight then schedule them off) on character design, plot, setting and tone.
I leave you with this quote (varied from person to person over the years): "A good author has written 1,000,000 words." Yeah? I'm 30,000 away from 2,000,000. Am I a 'good author' yet? ;) More on that later. Till then, Happy Halloween, good night and don't let the demons from Hell steal your soul.
Anyway, I'm back in a sense. I never really left to be honest. I simply did not have the motivation to promote. There I said it: I did not have the motivation to post.
Why? Well, there's a few reasons and I'm going to be completely honest, bording on blunt if you will:
1) I have no idea how to properly promote and the whole thing scares the crap out of me.
2) I'm honestly afraid of what people will say about my work.
3) I kind of became really obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge and forgot everything else.
4) I've been exceptionally depressed.
Let me explain those a bit.
1) I don't know how to promote. Sure I've read Locke's book on how to sell a million ebooks in five months. Yeah, I've read other marketing books on how to use social media to your advantage. I've never really understood it. No, that's not right. I tried and failed a few times and can't seem to pick myself back up. I'll eventually keep trying though. Plus I always feel like I'm spamming people when I talk about my stuff and I don't like spamming people.
2) I'm afraid of what people will say. There are people who have read my work and loved it. They are the reason I started this crazy journey. Then there are the people who comment with "I had to force myself to finish it." For me, that's a pretty big blow. I'll admit, I don't have a tough skin, well, not yet anyway. I mean yes, the accompanying stars on that comment was a 2 and the book does have a 3.5 star rating which is good for something that was written in one month and edited too quickly for my liking. On the same book I get the comment of "I respect this book and the way it was written. It caught my attention and had the perfect amounts of realism that made the ending all the more tragic. I loved this book that was filled with the best memories we could possibly have during the holidays.....and the most horrible..." which makes me feel great. But there's still that nagging fear of what if people don't like it. I have to work on it.
3) Ah, ha, yes. I've become obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge to the point where I've written 6 novels this year. Let me reiterate that: I've written 6 120,000 word (or more) novels this year. Actually, since March. Oddly, none of them were book 3 of Tale of the Twins which I planned to finish this year.
4) I've been depressed. Life has been horrible this year and I can't shake it at all. I'm trying to get out of the funk, really I am. But the only way I can is by writing and staying in my fantasy worlds. This does not help with promoting because it seems like everything I've done in the past two years (going on three in March) has failed and that makes me more upset. I'm kind of half happy and half sad right now reading the reviews on 'Have a Bloody Christmas' on the Nook website.
With all that being said, well, I'm kind of here. I make no promises on how often I will post but I see a scheduler for post settings so that might help. Did I mention I'm forgetful and quite unmotivated when it comes to promoting? Ha.
Anyway, I decided to come back because of the one goal for this year that I refuse to fail: National Novel Writing Month 2012. I will get 200,000 words. I will not let anything stop me.
I will also write about my insane attempts and more of what I've been doing this year in the next month. I'll also put together some blogs (probably tonight then schedule them off) on character design, plot, setting and tone.
I leave you with this quote (varied from person to person over the years): "A good author has written 1,000,000 words." Yeah? I'm 30,000 away from 2,000,000. Am I a 'good author' yet? ;) More on that later. Till then, Happy Halloween, good night and don't let the demons from Hell steal your soul.
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