I was wrestling with the idea of this topic since this year has been horrible. Writing this on July 2nd too, so I don’t know what will happy leading up to today. Many people have lost loved ones, so mourning and grief are clear in some minds. Yet, it is a theme in War of Nytefall: Ravenous. Among the action scenes, comedic lines, sexual innuendo, and vampire antics are scenes of utter pain and anguish. You will see it handled differently and how some actions can cause fellow mourners to react in certain ways. I won’t go into details since you need to read the story. For those who finished Eradication, you know who is involved. Our heroes didn’t get out of that adventure unscathed.
People might be scratching their heads and wondering how I can talk about mourning in regards to vampires. After all, these are monsters that feed off the blood of others and live for eternity. If they lose someone then they move on or seek revenge, but there isn’t any real grief in them, right? Immortality does make loss fleeting, right? Well, the people thinking this might have missed a few things I’ve said on this blog. It’s why writing the Dawn Fangs is both fun and challenging. They are monsters, but they have the emotions of mortals thanks to the change. It’s even noted that Dawn Fangs might be more susceptible to darker emotions since they have that monstrous side. Also, a mortal might get through grief believing that life is short and they need to live for the ones that they lost. It isn’t a coping mechanism that an immortal can use, so Dawn Fangs have fewer ways to handle grief than one would think.
Still, characters do find ways to move on. You will see some that fall into denial and manage to create something that makes them believe the loss never happened. Others will have gone through the stages between books and talk about it with sadness. They will make mention of the loss, but it will be clear that they have found a way to come to terms with it. Then there’s the character who will be going on a self-destructive spiral that is clear from the beginning. People might roll their eyes at this one, but it was a story line that I couldn’t avoid. Not part of the original plan, but I saw that I had no choice after the events of Eradication. Maybe I’ll write a post about this specifically when I feel that enough time has passed for spoilers to be okay. (Yes, I know nobody is buying the book, but I don’t want sabotage it yet.)
When writing the mourning and grief parts, I had to take a step back and examine each character for their response. I realized that you can’t have one method work for everyone because that’s not reality. It’s why a story feels wrong if every character moves on instantly or at the same time after a death. Doesn’t work if they’re all permanently in depression and acting out in the same manner. You can have them all sad and down, but characters are individuals. They will turn to different things to cope with the pain. You have to make it work for them as well. There were times when I attempted to have someone mourn in a way that didn’t suit them. I’ll be doing a ‘7 tips’ post on Wednesday to go into more detail.
Writing this book after my own losses was a little therapeutic. I found where I would fall on the spectrum and even used some scenes to release pent up emotions. It was nice to get it out in some form, which sounds weird to say given the topic. Long history of authors using fiction to overcome dark times and understand themselves.
So, what do you think about writing about mourning and grief in fiction? Have you ever tried it?
It’s the last full week of the August Binge-Worthy Book Festival by N.N. Light! That doesn’t mean the fun is over though. There are still books being posted and authors to be discovered. Not to mention the contest to win Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift cards. Let’s finish the summer off with a blast.
(Kind of funny how I’ve been pushing this Sunday post back for about 2 months. I keep having other things that I need or want to post. Sorry if things are bit off here.)
My mind is already inching towards the series that I’m going to tackle once I retire Clyde and the Dawn Fangs. Hey, everything comes to an end eventually. War of Nytefall will have 8 books by the time I’m done, so I expect to finish the publishing side by the end of 2021. I’m unsure of what my free time will look like after Grad School begins, so take these dates and plans with half a grain of salt. Now, what comes next?
Tales of the Slumberlord
This series is going to be taking place after Legends of Windemere, so you’re going to get some classic cameos. It stars a character I played in a D&D game and he’s way different than Luke Callindor and Clyde. With Luke, it was my first time playing a story-based game and I went for true, but inexperienced, hero. He used swords and was a half-elf, so I wasn’t straying into challenging territory. Clyde was created a little after that as my anti-hero, dark side persona. I mean, he’s a violent vampire who enjoys fighting even though I toned him down for his books. Both of them had been retired by the time I hit this new game and I wanted to be something other than a warrior. I was always focusing on fighting, so I wanted to play with magic. Little did I know, I was in for a really wild and confusing ride.
Morpheus . . . Sorry, the DM threatened me if I kept that name. Yeah, that’s the comedy we started with here and that was character creation. I actually picked a favorite spell before anything else and it ended up being the underutilized ‘sleep’ spell. This is a level 1 enchantment and it gets used, but it’s kind of just there for sneaking around and gags. I couldn’t get my brain away from this gem, so I made it a focus of the character: DARWIN SLEPSNOR! I never played a halfling before, so I went with a halfling. Never played a caster before, so I was a sorcerer to skip training since the game had already been going on for a bit. Needed a familiar, so I gave him a hamster since I had one in my dorm room. Then, I was reminded that I had to pick one high and one low stat, which is what caused things to go in an odd direction.
Now, D&D has six stats that are Strength, Dexterity/Agility, Constitution/Durability, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. For Darwin, I gave him a high charisma because that’s what his magic was fueled by. I figured I would get into trouble, so I left his physical stats as average or a little above average. So, the low or negative stat meant that he would get minus points on rolls in regards to mental abilities. I went with wisdom, so he was adorable with the common sense of a child. For example, the group came to a bridge that was destroyed by a boulder. While everyone else figured out that the boulder rolled down a hill, Darwin failed the check and went with ‘a dragon dropped it here’. Any attempt to correct this was met with an adamant and logical rebuttal that continued the belief of a dragon-based sabotage. He was very impulsive and made very black/white connections. I remember getting a glove that was blessed by a Destruction God who uses lightning. Of course, I put it on and grabbed a door that had a lightning spell because ‘a god would never kill his own people even if he stands for destruction’. Somehow, I survived the entire game and was also the only hero to have wanted posters around the enemy city.
This is where I have to step back and consider how to write Darwin. He’s brave like Luke and Clyde, but mostly because he doesn’t really known any better. He’s helpful, honest, and fairly innocent. After getting his magic, he’s going on a grand adventure because he’s an omen that Gabriel the Destiny God doesn’t like. Every story will have him working alongside one or two other characters in an almost sidekick role because his presence changes the destiny of those around him. Like Gabriel and Clyde, Darwin is an anti-destiny being, but he has no idea how to work with that or why anything goes on around him. In fact, he’s entirely unaware of his status and simply wants to help people because that’s what those with magic are supposed to do. So, I have to write a hero who isn’t marching towards a goal or even aware of the events he’s in the center of until it is practically stapled to his face. I’ve been struggling to pinpoint how I played him because I can’t take away his foolishness and innocence without ruining his character, but those can get on people’s nerves. What to do?
It hit me recently that Darwin Slepsnor might be autistic. High-functioning, but his mindset reminds me a lot of my son. They both take things literally or come up with a crazy explanation for something simple, which is logical to them and technically true once you think about it. While weak in some areas, there are one or two that they are able to excel in even with a lot of work. There is a habit of panicking when things change too much, which I might enhance for Darwin. Not sure I want to give him meltdowns, but maybe confusion that leads to mistakes and making a big mess. He will be in his early 20’s at this point, so he can be more mature. He can’t lie very well and he’s quick to trust anyone he runs into including a demon at one point. I’ll admit that I’m nervous about openly making him autistic even though the term won’t be in the book. People are sensitive about such things and I’m one of those types because of my son. Once I get over this hurdle, I should be able to pinpoint the other issues though. What do other people think about this?
There’s still one full week and then a final day left of the Binge-Worthy Book Festival, so click on the banner to check it out. New authors appearing every day.
Well, here we are again. I’m leery about bringing up the grad school drama again because that seems to be what everybody reads then jumps to the comments. All I will say is that it isn’t over like I thought because of outside interference. Not really in my favor either, but next week will see what comes of it. Honestly, I’m having such a difficult time trying to balance everything else that I know I shouldn’t go near it. I’ve established that though, so no reason to repeat myself. I only do that with book-based frustrations since this is predominantly an author blog.
I had my son this week, so that was where all of my time and energy went. There might have been only one day where he went to bed before 9 PM. Not sure if that’s a good thing since we need to get him onto a school schedule. I think. We’re still trying to figure all of that out. The main part was having fun, which much was had:
The rest of the time with my son is going to be relaxing and getting his school supplies. I promised him more drawing since we did Articuno and Moltres, so we’re only missing Zapdos, Lugia, and Ho-oh for the legendary birds in Pokemon. He’s talked about switching to anime characters at some point too. This love of drawing is going to be very helpful when the weather gets cold and I want to keep him away from video games. Winters are always the toughest with entertaining him because you can’t go outside without getting cold.
Well, that’s what happened this week. The upcoming week is going to be a little less exciting. I’m aiming to start War of Nytefall: Eulogy, which is the final book of the series. I might be able to get 7 of the chapters done before school starts in September, which would be nice. Once this is done, I can switch to Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) for writing time and begin crafting the outlines for Tales of the Slumberlord. I think tomorrow involves that third series, which I have to really think about. I might make another Sunday post that reveals the titles. Sure, I have 4 more books to release about Clyde and the Dawn Fangs, but it doesn’t hurt to present the future and get people to realize that I’m not out of ideas yet.
Speaking of outlines, I finally finished the plot breakdowns for The Ether Thief series. I have to do the same for two off-shoots though. This is a long series that overlaps with a few others. I might have to stop Sin’s adventures for a year to do another 4-part series that explains an event that changes the world. He isn’t involved in the event, which makes me wonder how I can pull this off without losing momentum for him. I could always do the Elysium Saga first and then The Ether Thief. The real concern is that Sin interacts with characters and places from the other series at one point in a later book, which is a spoiler issue. Tough decisions.
Speaking of tough decisions, I’m trying to figure out what to do with the release of War of Nytefall: Ravenous on Labor Day weekend. Seems nothing I do can get a book to move unless it’s the free one. I’ve been wondering if I should drop all of my book prices to 99 cents, but I feel like I could never bring the price back to $2.99 if I do that. I wonder if this would increase sales too. I’d lose the 70% royalties and make only .33 cents or so from every sale. So, I’d be sacrificing royalty money for the possibility of a person buying and reviewing the book. By the way, I mean everything in Legends of Windemere and War of Nytefall would drop to 99 cents. Maybe I should do this in December since I don’t know if I want to debut a book at that price. Times like this, I wish I was rich and could afford all the pricey promos that I see or not be concerned about the money side of things.
Goals of the week?
Riddick
This might be a shorter post than intended, but I always introduce my new characters. I can’t leave Renald out for how I made him. War of Nytefall: Ravenous wouldn’t work without him. Sure, his scenes are limited and the way Desirae does business means he is highly restrained. There’s really only one part where he gets to cut loose and it’s the favorite one I’ve written for him. All that being said, he can be an interesting figure if you do a comparison.
Renald is a Dawn Fang created by Desirae Duvall to be her bodyguard, enforcer, hitman, and manual labor source. His powers aren’t essential to the overall plot like Desirae’s, so I can explain them. They differ in usefulness. He can turn his mind over to pure instinct, which makes it hard for telepaths to sense him. He can turn his skin into stone, which he doesn’t do very often because it can slow him down. The big one is that he can create 2-3 doubles that can travel far away from him and he gains their experiences when he reabsorbs them. The big thing with him is that he’s a highly skilled fighter, so he depends more on his combat ability than his powers. You get the sense that he doesn’t even acknowledge that he’s a Dawn Fang. At least, you could if he showed any emotion, which is why he is a challenge to write about and use.
I went with the cold, stoic killer with Renald, which means he is simply there a lot of the times. He reveals a presence when intimidating or fighting, but many of his scenes are him being talked to by Desirae. With her being highly emotive and vivid, he probably pales in comparison and fades further into the background than I realized. I tried to improve on this, but giving him emotions didn’t feel right. So, I stuck with him being almost robotic and to the point. This doesn’t really allow for a character to be the focus of a scene, but I found a few good uses for him. Beyond the fighting enforcer that trounces several other characters. Guess there are just some character personalities that work for the story, but the downside is limited exposure. Then again, he’s a sidekick/minion type, which means he won’t be around as much as Desirae. Personality of a cinder-block definitely functions better for him in this capacity.
It’s similar to Dean Pendrac in War of Nytefall: Rivalry. Renald and Dean are both sidekicks to the main villain, but there is certainly more of a story for the latter. Dean was ostracized from vampire society and joined with Jewelz to teach her about their society, but she went in another direction. He has stayed with her out of loyalty and tried to redirect her when he can. There’s some independence with him. Renald follows orders and occasionally counters Desirae. It isn’t even that he has no personal thoughts, but he doesn’t care. He got his position by winning a tournament of death matches and does come off that he’s happy to kill even if he doesn’t show it. That’s why an alternate name I used for him is the ‘killer’ or ‘serial killer’. Renald picks his targets carefully and sees murder as a job, but I do sense that he enjoys it. Similar to Archillious, but Renald knows now to display his glee. So, one could say he’s a combo of Archillious and Dean, but that doesn’t fully work.
Get the sense that I’m not painting Renald with the best brush. It’s because he’s really hard to explain since he’s always been a secondary character. Usually, I had him working for Desirae or he’d be a one story agent hired by Xaiver. His purpose was always to be a killer that squared off against one Clyde’s friends instead of the main hero himself. I could never get him to rise higher than that without losing something. There were a few times when I retired him, but I always brought him back when I needed a physical threat that didn’t eat away the time with dialogue. Sometimes, you just need a fighter type to be used by the higher ranked villains. Doesn’t make them any less important than characters like Titus Winthrop, Luther Grathan, and Bob.
Thinking about it, the influence of Renald might be another part of the issue. The same friend who played Kenneth Decker designed an assassin in ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ to use later. I wasn’t in the game for long, but I remember the character started very cold and emotionless like Renald is. Then, he began acting like a soldier (Decker) and the original concept wasn’t really assassin-like. I had to leave the game right around that time, so I never got a feel for the original. All I remember is that having a vampiric killer with no emotion would be an interesting concept. Just never got the hook that I did with other characters. Oh well. Renald does what I need him to do. That’s really all we can expect from some of the voices in our head.
Who here is a fan of root monsters? Haven’t heard of them? I have good news for both groups. First, they’re back. Second, if you haven’t had the …
#NewRelease: HMS Lanternfish by C.S. Boyack #fantasy #pirates
Image courtesy of bigstock.com
Hello SErs. Harmony here. As promised, here is part fourteen in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.
If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links at the end of this post.
So, here’s Part Fourteen: How to Review and Preview your Paperback.
From your KDP dashboard, click on ‘Edit Paperback Contents’, if you’re not in that screen already.
With your interior and cover uploaded, you can now use the online previewer. This will show you your front cover as well as the book’s content. It will show you the guides so that you can enure that no essential images or text fall outside the trim line.
Ensure no text or images…
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(Previously on Immortal Wars.)
(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality. Everyone groan in unison.)
Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school. I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books. That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins. FYI- I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day. Enjoy!
“Impressive. So, how tall is this thing and which of the ship weapons do you plan to put on it?” asks Adriana as she looks up at the half-finished tower. Most of the slick, black walls have not been attached yet, so the super structure can still be seen. Parked behind the tower is the warship where several aliens are unhooking laser cannons, missile launchers, and other long-range weapons. From the back of the warship, the other immortals are unloading their personal belongings.
“The tower is about one hundred feet tall as of right now. I may want to add some more floors on later, so there are structures on the top in order to make extra connections. As for weapons, I will just attach some of the warship’s launchers, lasers, and bombers. It isn’t like they can do much against immortals. And nothing else would be insane enough to attack us. But you really disappoint me, Adriana,” Mindtrigger replies while continuing to draw more details on the tower schematics. He is leaning on a solid metal table, which has several dents in it that resemble fist marks.
“I disappoint you? How?”
“With your reaction. You stand in the dark shadow of one of the greatest constructs in this entire galaxy and all you can say is impressive. There is no way to use a single word to possibly come close to describing such an evil masterpiece as the Black Tower. Your lack of words just wounds me, Adriana.”
“Shrink your ego, old man. You’ll get a better compliment on your building once the Black Tower is fully completed and operational. Right now it looks like a children’s building set. But this project will have to wait for a little time. I have something for you to do that is much more urgent. I need something that will keep most of the guardians out of commission while I play with the others. I want a cage of some kind to keep them around, but out of my hair. Finish it and then return to the Black Tower.” She walks over to a large drilling machine and sits down on the tread. Mindtrigger simply leans against the table while scratching his head and rising an eyebrow.
“Now, I’m confused. What do you mean by play and keep? I assumed that we were just going to kill them off in a huge battle. Everyone has been thinking that would happen since we decided to build the Black Tower and stay on Pluto. Psylon has been drooling from dreams of the battle all week. My janitor robot has taken to following her around to clean the drool up. So, what exactly do you have planned for our enemies? You can’t be considering keeping them as prisoners. They are much too dangerous.”
“Calm down. We will kill them like I promised. Eventually. I just want to have some fun and torture them for a few days. I’d really prefer to avoid a massacre like everyone is expecting. Those things are long, boring, tiring, and usually ends with my clothes getting dirty and ripped in important places. And that’s just unacceptable.”
“I see. Now, we wouldn’t want that. Your clothes are so much more important than destroying our enemies. And we all know how modest you are when it comes to people seeing the more enticing parts of your anatomy.” Mindtrigger rolls his eyes and just give Adriana a smug smirk before going back to work on the schematic.
“Don’t take that tone with me. I want to keep Solix alive for as long as possible and make sure he sees his new recruits get destroyed. After that, he will be of no consequence and I’ll just cut him in half,” explains Adriana.
“So, it’s vengeance. You still don’t like the fact that he tried to destroy the person that he considered his favored student. What happened between you two that made you so bitter and angry at him?”
“I don’t want to get into it.” Adriana turns to walk away from the frail man, but he jumps in her way. She glowers at him and tries to push past him. Instead, Mindtrigger grabs her arm and tosses her into a nearby chair.
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll make you a cage to contain Solix and any other guardians if you tell me what happened between you and the Sun guardian. Did he give you a bad grade or just his sunny disposition?” asks Mindtrigger. He sits on top of the table as Adriana gets out of the crude chair.
“You know what happened.” She looks like she is about to either cry or rip something apart with her bare hands.
“Nope. Sorry. I must have missed that briefing. The gossip never gets into my laboratory, so I’m left out of the loop.”
“We became close. Student and teacher relationship started out fine. I learned how to use my powers and everything else about the universe. By doing my own private study, I discovered how to destroy another immortal. Solix and SEAS never found my data because I wrote it down instead of putting it on the computer. Then . . . .”
“Then what?”
“Solix has a habit of tricking his proteges into showing their full potential. A nasty situation that forces them to push their limits and then he uses what they accomplished against them. Unfortunately, he ignores how their feelings will be affected by his actions. That’s what he did to me. He tricked me into using my powers the way he expected me to and used me because of it. Understand?”
“Not at all. How did he trick you?”
“Simple. He made me think that I had him under my control and then betrayed me. He pretended that my powers had worked on him. Being young, I thought they had malfunctioned because I never aimed them at him. He assumed that I tried it on everybody. I actually had feelings for that old fossil and he used them against me. That’s why I planned the attack on the original guardians. Well that and I wanted to rule the universe. But that is why I left Solix to be tortured. I didn’t think he would use the Solstar against us. Now will you make me something in order to contain the guardians.”
“No need,” replies Mindtrigger with a smile.
“What!” exclaims Adriana before she leaps at Mindtrigger and picks up the scientist by his nostrils, “You made me tell you one of my secrets and you aren’t going to go through with your part of the deal? You better have a good reason because I’ll kill you if you don’t!” She tosses him into the drilling machine, but his nose gets torn off in her hand.
“Because I already have a machine that can do it. It’s been ready for months and it only has to be attached to a cage. I really get bored in that stuffy lab, so I make little anti-immortal weaponry that should only be used if necessary. Most of them fail, but this one shows a lot of promise.” Mindtrigger wipes the blood off his face as his nose grows back into place. Behind him he hears a loud crash and he turns around to see Hellax on his face with broken china all around him. The immortal cleans it all up and puts it back into the box before running back into the warship.
“Well, he’s in trouble. Psylon loved that china collection. So, what does this new toy do when it is attached to a cage?” asks Adriana. A sizzling sound is heard from the warship, which is followed by Hellax yelping in pain. A large ball of fire runs out of the warship and starts running around in circles.
“I’ll have to be brief in order to go help Hellax get out of his armor. Basically, I have do not remember what this invention does. I’ll have to look into it. I promise to talk to you later about this.” Mindtrigger walks off toward the area that Hellax is running around with fire all over his armor. Adriana starts laughing as she walks back into the warship.
Ciao, amici! It’s been a while since I posted any book reviews. Mostly because it’s been a while since I had a chance to read for pleasure. I know, I know… an author who doesn’t read? Blasphemy!
Believe me, I feel the same way. It’s just been crazy. But that’s no excuse, and I’ve started to carve out some “me” time to get lost in books again.
Today, I want to share my thoughts about my two most recent reads, HMS Lanternfish by C.S. Boyack and I Wouldn’t Be Surprised by D.L. Finn.
My review:
★★★★★ I I I I ! The root monsters are back! And the rest of the gang, too.
When I read the first book in the series, Voyage of the Lanternfish, I fell hard for the root monsters. They’re like the Minions, but on the ocean and a lot funnier. And who doesn’t love humorous…
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Legends of Windemere 