I’m fairly certain that this school year is one where students, teachers, and parents are all happy to wave goodbye to. Covid-19 made it a nightmare on so many levels. The stress, fear, and frustration soaked into everything. Had to keep going though and our reward is to reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Doesn’t matter if a person crawled to the finish line either. It’s done.
My body and mind are sure of that. Writing this Friday around 6 PM and I’m barely staying conscious. My son is full of energy, so I don’t have the luxury of going to bed until he says I can. Well, I could go to sleep, but then I know he’s not going to do what he has to and I’ll stir at midnight to find him bouncing around. We both need rest for a busy weekend. A fun celebration with a zoo trip, old friends we haven’t seen for nearly a year, bowling, and being able to sleep in. That last one is going to be so glorious.
Writing was nothing more than finishing the ‘Slumberlord’ outlines and tinkering with another idea. Exhaustion was my friend this week, which meant the only writing I did was in my head. Trying to figure out a few things too. My mind has been a mess after hearing a few statements about what I should do in regards to ownership rights. Things like:
- At your age, you should just sell off whatever you’ve written to get some money.
- Just sell it for money and who cares about the connected stories. Just make money.
I understand both of these mentalities, but it’s tough. I need to think more because nearly all of my series connect to each other. If I sell one then can I no longer use the characters and setting for future stuff? If I can’t then that means most, if not all, of my future ideas are useless. I can’t design another fantasy world when Windemere is created by everything I have. Remove one block and the whole thing crumbles, which is why I can’t do things solely for money. What’s the point if I sell a book for immediate money and sacrifice long-term stability?
Think another issue is that it reminds me how odd I am even among authors. People don’t seem to get that I’ve connected my stories so thoroughly. So, I get advice that treats all of my series as if they’re individual rules. No, I can’t kill Mab off in ‘Nytefall’ because she shows up in ‘Legends’, which takes place afterwards. I can’t change the aura system of one book when it’s the same world. It’s like I’m speaking an unknown language when I try to explain my dream of creating a vast world of stories. Is it that they don’t get it or think it’s impossible and I’m an idiot for trying? This has been gnawing at me for years too because I keep wondering if it means I don’t have nearly as much support as I thought. This felt really true when I lost most of my audience from ‘Legends’ because nobody wanted to jump over to ‘Nytefall’. People saw ‘vampires’ and jumped to conclusions instead of realizing that they’ve seen Dawn Fangs before and it was the same world.
Obviously, my head isn’t in the best place. I won’t be doing much writing next week, but I might start editing War of Nytefall: Anarchy. If I can do that in July then I can start writing Tales of the Slumberlord: Darwin & the Fate Bracelet. I’ve got 2 months before the next school year when I can get some work done. Not sure when I’m going to publish again though, so we’ll see what happens. I still have to contact someone about the pictures of Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) too. So many pokers in the furnace, but I lack the energy to pull any of them out right now. Heck, I got dizzy from a sneeze just now. That might have to be the big focus, especially since I have my son.
Nothing else I can really think of happening. Finished the blog posts for July and August as well as Teaser Tuesdays going through October. I need to figure out what to do for Sunday posts. That’s always a fluid day. Might be whatever whim I get at some point during the week. Tomorrow is a funny one. I might pick a random topic and get funny pictures for it. I was thinking of future idea posts, but I don’t know if I have it in me to do those. The doubt and confusion is acting like a shield, which is another reason editing might help.
Television . . . I know I watched ‘The Devil is a Part-Timer’ and enjoyed it. Could have sworn there was another series before that, but I was really tired. So, I might have gone slow on those 13 episodes. After that I began watching the animated ‘Devil May Cry’ show. It’s not bad. I’m enjoying the characters and how Dante eats nothing more than pizza and strawberry sundaes. Just biding time until the series finale of ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ debuts on Monday. Oh! I watched ‘Demon Slayer: Mugen Train’, which is a movie sequel of an anime series. It was really good and I was impressed that it took place entirely on a train. Ending makes me excited for the the next season.
Goals?
- Rest and ease into summer break
- Time with son
- Get sleep
- Try to get back into biking
- Editing War of Nytefall: Anarchy
- Notebook if I need a screen break
- Dentist appointment
- Puzzle time
- Lego time
- Write a few Sunday posts
Legends of Windemere 
Gotta wish the summer break gives you some mental time to pull a few of those pokers out of the furnace. I hope next week is a good one.
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I’m hoping it works out. Forgot that me having a break is a siren call to those who are determined to kill me through exhaustion.
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Hahaha. Here’s hoping you can lay low.
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Hope people pay attention to the word,”Break,” in Summer break, and you actually get some rest time. Enjoy the time with your son.
We all get those feelings to some extent, and I’m sure it’s even more difficult to ignore those doubts when everyone around you is determined to voice them. You’ll never please everyone, and it’s pointless trying, but it would be nice if you had someone who you could really feel believed in you… I’m sorry you don’t seem to have that outside of the writers you connect with online. Hang in there.
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Some are paying attention. Others see opportunity to have me do stuff.
I think the statements that I’m too old to have that dream hurt the most. It’s like I’m being told my time is over and I should cash out.
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Charles, Your time is most certainly not over by a long way. You aren’t old. I published my first book when I was well into my 60s. Now I have 10 books published and am still going with lots more ideas. I hope you ignore those silly people who, if not actually saying so, are behaving in ways to make you think that’s what they mean.
As to your series. (Serieses?) if they are all in the same world, what’s wrong with that? I would have thought that people would welcome not having to learn how a nwe world works.
And don’t forget to have a break. The writing can wait.
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I’m trying to ignore, but it’s tough when I have more of those voices around me than supporters. Barely having time to write doesn’t help.
As far as the same world, that’s where the issue comes in. If I follow advice that says to sell ownership of my first series then I don’t know if I can use the world for my connected series. Not all publishers look that far ahead, so it’s a risk. It could mean that I’d have to create a new world to use my other stories. In some cases, that’s not possible because of the right connections.
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😦
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The idea of selling it all out made me laugh. (Sorry) Someone assumes it’s simple to find a buyer for our fiction. If it were that simple we’d all have agents and big publishing deals. Maybe Netflix will come knocking, but I doubt it. You also touched upon the idea of just walking away from what you’ve created. I have some things I could do that with, but there is one series that I want to keep writing. I understand where you’re coming from completely.
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Basically, it’s been noted that selling ownership might be my best option and open doors. That’s true, but I have to consider if I’m willing to walk away or have what I created be heavily influenced by others.
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How do you even do that? I can’t imagine who the buyer might be. I’ve had similar ideas for my older works, but how do you find this amazing purchaser? That’s aside from whether you want to.
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From what I’ve read, it’s just how an offer can be made. A publisher likes the story and asks to buy ownership. The author may still work on it in some cases. Other times it seems the author gets credit, royalties, and not much control over where things go.
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I would never want to relinquish control of my work. Who knows what someone else might do with it.
Every piece of advice I’ve read about contracts etc. says you should not hand control to someone else. They can do anything they like with it if you do.
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That’s what I’ve heard too. Yet, I know people do it enough to make it a norm.
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