Of Birthdays & Bedlam

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

First, I just realized that goal posts like these never show the music video in Twitter.  It takes a picture if I put one in the post or my black & white author photo from a few years ago.  Learn something new every day.

So, this week came and went fairly quickly. Maybe not that quickly, but my brain is a slight blur.  I’m still getting used to the oral appliance, so my sleeping isn’t improved by much.  I think last night was the first one where I felt like things were getting better.  The problem is that the top still hurts and I think one side of the bottom part needs to be tightened.  The other is on there good, but it feels like I can wiggle the other like it’s a loose tooth.  Tuesday is adjustment day, so we’ll see what happens.

Writing-wise, I made some major progress on Derailing Bedlam.  I could feasibly finish it by the end of next week if nothing goes wrong.  That and I get to write a section tonight and tomorrow night.  Even if I don’t finish, I’ll get it by the following Monday or next weekend.  Then I have a week and a half to prep the September posts and start working on the December guest posts.  Can’t believe the summer school is already down to 2.5 weeks left.  I don’t know what I’ll be working on between that and the first day of regular school, which is another 2.5 week span.  Maybe outlining?  All I need for Path of Traitors is one more piece and then I’ll have a September release.  I’ll only have nights, so outlining will probably win unless I still have guest posts to write up.  When the kid is home, parenting takes the lead.  Speaking of parenthood:

I no longer have a 7-year-old.  He’s 8 and we had his bowling birthday party today, which is why this post is late.  Wanted to have the real fun to talk about.  All of the kids had a blast bowling and my son even got a few strikes.  This is very impressive considering he never aims and is too busy jumping in place out of excitement.  There was no stopping this, but why would you?  We spend so much time trying to get him to act calm that one day of letting him give in to his hyperactivity isn’t bad.  He even got to wear the crown his teacher made for him.

Here is where the writing and parenting collide a bit.  I’m going to have to type with really sore thumbs.  Partially self-inflicted.  My son is big into superheroes and asked for a lot of superhero Lego sets.  Also, an ultra-soft Batman plush blanket that makes me wish for colder weather, so we can share it.  Seriously, it’s one of those blankets that cause you to get drowsy just by putting it to your cheek.  Where was I?  Ah . . . Here is the Lego haul that we’ve yet to tackle:

  1. Wolverine & Magneto Micros
  2. Lego Batman Movie: Clayface
  3. Lego Batman Movie: Joker’s Lowriding Limo
  4. DC Superheroes: Brainiac Attacks (Only set with Martian Manhunter)
  5. Avengers Tanker Turmoil or Something
  6. Spider-Man Robbery

It doesn’t end there.  He got enough gift cards and a check to cover one that I’ll admit to wanting myself.  You see, I only get to put these together with him.  Once the sets are complete, I can’t touch them without permission.  So, building is fun for daddy.  We’re heading out tomorrow to get:

7.  Lego Batman Movie Batcave (1,047 pieces)

Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship was 940 pieces.  That took 4 hours and an entire morning.  We’re thinking of getting this in the morning and tackling it all afternoon.  I’ll admit that I mentioned getting a small 8th one just because it feels weird stopping at 7 when he turned 8.  Might be a little masochism at work here too.

My hope is to get all of these built by next weekend and do a post with all of them.  Figure that would be more interesting than me talking about writing a bit  more of Bedlam and the oral appliance.  Not unless something amazing happens at his first swimming class, which is going to make the Lego Bonanza difficult to maintain.  Maybe I’ll do a goal post and Lego post on Sunday.  Anyway, let’s look at the goals:

  1. Write more of Derailing Bedlam
  2. Put together 7-8 Lego sets with son.
  3. Ice thumbs
  4. Get oral appliance adjusted
  5. Wonder why my thumbs are twice their normal size
  6. Mix up the Batmen masks (he’ll have 8) and female hero’s hair when he isn’t looking.
  7. Read more Claymore.  What is keeping #24?
  8. Contemplate the fate of humanity
  9. Admit that I should watch a lot less news and act accordingly
  10. Learn to live without functional thumbs
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Ichabod Brooks: A Character with a Long and Mysterious Past

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

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Ichabod Brooks has had a long and exciting life that could fill many books with adventures.  His youthful years were reckless, but he survived and gained the skills that would make him a legend.  The middle of his career showed that he had no fear and he developed his reputation with a little help from bards.  Now, he’s a seasoned veteran who is mellow and hard to truly surprise.

And it was only that third stage that I bothered writing about because I liked the idea of a protagonist with a history.  The only problem was I didn’t know how much of it I should plan out beforehand.  Too much detail would take away from the current story and I didn’t want to have him start at the beginning of his career.  It would undo the desire to have a hero who had a family life.  Not to mention the amount of time I’d be putting into crafting stories that I didn’t plan on writing.  Those days/weeks could have been better spent writing the things I planned on publishing.  So, what did I do?

Dug right into the third stage of life stories and crafted pieces of a history as I went along with outlining and writing.  Every character he works with brings their own tales to share with Ichabod.  Just reminiscing about the old times as they add more adventures under their belts.  I like how you get to piece his experience together and it doesn’t take away from what he’s doing.  Just like with his wife, Ichabod’s past is a puzzle that you get to discover as you read along.  It helps fill out a character who has already lived a good portion of his life too.  You don’t so much see him evolve, but see how he did it to become to person you see now.

Maybe I’ve spent so much time writing stories about heroes starting out in their careers, so this still throws me.  The champions are all met at the beginning of their grandest adventure.  Cassidy and Lloyd are introduced to each other at the same time the readers meet them.  Clyde will be met when he becomes the first Dawn Fang and kicks off that event.  Ichabod Brooks doesn’t fit with these characters because he’s not on an epic adventure and is older.  I don’t need to bother with him training or learning the ropes of adventuring.  It’s a little disorienting at times too because it means he keeps a cool head and can connect to a previous experience.  As much as I can have Ichabod be surprised, it isn’t the same as someone who is new to the life.

This mystery past of Ichabod is another thing that keeps me coming back to him for more adventures.  What I write about him now will reveal where he’s been.  It’s almost like two adventures in one, which I hope the readers feel at times too.

Learn more about this hero in THE LIFE & TIMES OF ICHABOD BROOKS!

Cover Art by Circecorp

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Swift Six Character Interview – Ser Colin

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

eranamage's avatarLibrary of Erana

Character Name: I am Ser Colin i’Nola, of the Order of the Morning

Which book/world do you live in? I was born and raised in the kingdom of Kholast, and I fight in the service of King Boris III. (In the novella, With a Broken Sword)

Tell us about yourself: I am the newest, and youngest, Knight of the Morning, which none of my fellows will let me forget. I squired for Ser Jane i’Julia for four years. First blooded at the Battle of Winter Creek. Knighted for valor at the Stone Hills Betrayal.

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Ser Jane would say my greatest weakness was “exuberance.” Usually, she meant impatience to prove myself.

As for my greatest strength, it feels boastful to answer such a question myself. If I must answer, then determination. Though I am the last knight between the Berledthi invaders and…

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Buster and Moo, on #LisaBurtonRadio

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

Welcome to this week’s edition of Lisa Burton Radio. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and with me in the studio today is a beautiful Jack Russel, Stafforshire cross known alternately as Buster and Moo. “Welcome to the show, and how would you like me to refer to you?”

“Is it okay to lick you, Lisa? I kind of have this thing about holding out my paw all the time and shaking it. Then if you don’t give me a treat I’m probably going to slobber into the microphone. What was the question? Oh, my name. Currently Moo.”

“How did you come to have two different names? Is one an alias of some kind?”

“Ha! Two names? I’ve had, let me see? Six? Maybe seven. There was the one my mother gave me, the one the guy who brought my dad to meet mum that time – she said…

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Smorgasbord Guest Post – The Power of Positive Affirmations by Julie Lawford

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz
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It Takes a Village to Launch a Book…

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

by, Joel Pitney  , on The Book Designer site:

Some of us are natural born networkers. You know the type . . . they never lunch alone, they seem to specialize in connecting people in ways that benefit both parties, they have no problem promoting themselves or their projects or ideas in ways that aren’t off-putting.

In my experience, most authors aren’t natural born networkers (if you’re an exception, my apologies). We tend to be more of the wallflower types, happy to write and create and let others do the talking and promoting.

But in this day and age, most authors can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and more and more is being demanded of us to actively promote our own work. In fact, when it comes to launching a book, networking—or learning how to best leverage your networks—is perhaps the single most important factor driving your success. As…

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The Friends and Allies of Ichabod Brooks

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

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In each story of The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks, he has a friend, ally, or partner of some kind.  Well, almost each story because I can think of one or two that don’t really have a friend.  Traveling companion might work for one and another is a surprise for those that haven’t read the collection yet.  Actually, there’s a really short one that he’s solo on, so I’ve officially ruined my opening line.  Anyway, I wanted to highlight a few of them and maybe explain the relationship/partnership.

Dex Guzbern

This Dwarven mountaineer is one of my favorites because he just flowed out of my fingers as I wrote Ichabod Brooks & the Starwind Egg.  I wasn’t sure how he would come out, but he had this interesting combination of friendliness and gruffness.  He developed the same sarcasm as Ichabod, which quickly established them as best friends with a long history.  Oddly enough, he never really locked himself in as a fighter and seems more likely to hold his own.  Dwarves are naturally tough, so he depends on that and is more at home in a bar fight than a battlefield.  Hoping to give him a little more story time down the road.

Morgan

She probably should have come first since she was the sidekick in Ichabod Brooks & the City of Beasts.  She is a young monster hunter and a calico, which is a type of cat-person in Windemere.  Morgan looks human, but has ear tufts, a cat-like tail, retractable claws, and the natural agility of cats.  Also, a few of the cleaning habits.  I like using her because she’s both tough and takes on the role of Ichabod Brooks fangirl.  She can hold her own and he trusts her, but she still has a case of idol worship, which makes for some interesting interactions.  There’s a sense that she’s always trying to prove herself to him and occasionally emulating since she’s now sporting magical equipment.  Morgan is a character who might branch out from Ichabod and get something of her own.  The problem is that the only monster hunter story I have involves the main character being cursed by an unknown creature to share a body with a partner of the opposite gender.  I did consider having her and Ichabod’s grown up son being the two, who switch control when certain things happen.  Too much rambling?

Corso Felgrass and Pepper

Corso is the elf who trained Ichabod in archery and Pepper is a retired calico thief who went from enemy to friend.  I put these two together because they have a similar role in the stories that they appear in.  Like Dex, they have a history with Ichabod and help to flush that out.  The difference is that they aren’t active any more, so they take on a more casual relationship with him.  Almost like the two kind of show the life that Ichabod can achieve or wants to achieve.

Jet Orphanmaker

 I don’t want to reveal too much about Jet because he grew a lot in the story.  He’s more rival than friend, which made for fun exchanges.  In fact, the only reason I’m bringing him up is because I wanted to reveal his last name.  For the life of me, I couldn’t find a way to get that into the story.  Nobody was in a position to say it.

Tevy

This is a halfling priestess of Neberith the Healing Goddess and a woman who has a connection to Ichabod’s non-work life.  She’s a tough one to explain because she isn’t an adventurer.  More the person that Ichabod, and his wife, go to when they need to get patched up or have an undead problem.  There’s an almost sisterly relationship that they have, but it’s hard to tell who is in the role of older sibling.  I like writing her because she’s very blunt to her friends and kind to her patients.  It’s something that she can transition from in the middle of a conversation too, which was fun to write.

Meg Velringer

I have to be honest, I don’t know much about Meg’s past with Ichabod.  They know each other and have worked together.  She is a gnome inventor who specializes in the ocean, so she can’t come up too often.  I don’t think she has the same relationship with him that Dex does, so it’s more of a working connection than friendship.  This might change if I have her turn up again.  Right now, I don’t know if I have any more ocean adventures, but I’d like to do something.  Be interesting if her real connection is with his wife.

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Pre-Order Announcement: The White Arrow!

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

Unknown's avatarArcher's Aim

Today, I’m celebrating a little. Well, maybe a lot. It’s not release day yet for The White Arrow but it’s getting very close and there are a lot of details rounding into shape around the book.

As I mentioned a few days back, The White Arrow is now making its editing rounds. However, I’ve chosen to make good use of the time while it’s away and put it into pre-order everywhere. Since I had the cover and I have 90 days to finish up, I wanted to go ahead and begin pre-release activities.

For anyone who missed it, here’s a look at the cover as well as all the shiny new retail links along with the blurb (still working on that so there will be several changes). Also, I post a short excerpt from the rough draft that I’ve also shared at the end of the other book including the…

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Short Stories vs Novels: A Taste of Both Worlds

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

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With The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks, I’ve stepped more into short stories than I did before.  Normally, I’m more of a novelist with a love of series as you can tell from Legends of Windemere.  I dabbled a bit because you can’t get away with full-length novels in English classes.  You have to keep things short and tight since there are multiple students to grade.  Now, would I say one is better than the other?  No because they each have their own strengths and weakness.  Here are some from my own experience, which I’ll admit is limited.

Short Stories

Pro–  Takes less time to outline, write, and edit.  This makes it a great project when I have limited time and want to flex the imagination.

Con– Too many plot twists can ruin it because of the short length.  I love throwing curve balls and surprises, but I can only do 1-2 in a short story.  Otherwise, the plot collapses and the effect of the twists disappears.

Pro–  Helps focus on one character that might be overshadowed in a longer work.  The limited time and page amount means I can’t wander off to investigate another character or a fleeting idea.  The protagonists need to remain the focus.

Con–  A single short story is hard to rationalize for buying cover art and publishing.  This is more about the return since a single short story shouldn’t really be priced higher than 99 cents.  You won’t make your money back here.  Doing a collection can help, but then you’re pricing higher.

Pro–  You can experiment with short stories more than in a novel.  I can test out monsters, traps, style changes, and other things that I’m not sure about for a novel.  Some of these require that the short story be in the same world as the novels though.

Con– Limited page amount means my imagination can work against me.  My typical desire to follow every rabbit hole and see how the network connects could turn a short story into a messy novel.  So, I have to rein myself in at times.

Pro– Readers need less time to read the book.  Self-explanatory.

Novels

Pro–  More space for developing characters and world-building.  This is the big one for me because I love this part of writing.  Short stories can do this if you only have one protagonist to work with, but a group can flourish better in a bigger work.

Con– Takes longer to outline, write, and edit.  You can’t just do a novel on a whim even if you’re a pantser.  It takes more time that you have to carve out and I’m talking more than a 15-30 minute period.  Novels require longer stretches of time and a more winding continuity that you have to keep in mind.  The more breaks, the higher the chance of derailing.

Pro–  You can let your imagination run wild at times because you aren’t trying to keep the story in a small page amount.  Adding 15 pages because you found a spot where the hero can deal with a side problem that connects to the plot is okay.  You don’t have to feel like you’re casting good ideas aside and hoping something else will come along to absorb them.

Con–  The longer length means you have a higher chance of making a mistake.  The wide and expansive nature of a novel requires that the author remembering everything that happened previously.  Even a stand-alone needs you to connect the events of Chapter 12 to Chapter 1 without leaving any gaps.  It’s easy to get lost in your own ideas as you travel along the path.

Pro– You can pull more excerpts, quotes, and topics for promotions.  There is less of a worry about spoilers since you have more to work with.  Even if something slips out, there’s a higher chance of missing context turning it into a mystery.  You can stretch out a novel’s promotion for a lot longer than a short story.

Con–  Just as the author needs time to write it, the readers need to invest more time in a novel than a short story.  Attention spans are shorter these days and it seems like everybody is wishing they had more time to read.  So they gravitate toward short stories and graphic novels.

Pro–  You can have a more winding character and plot development since you have more time.  A short story can only have so many rises and dips, but a novel is able to have as many as are needed.  For example, a hero in a short story getting betrayed halfway through probably won’t have much time to escape, train, and/or get revenge as well as finish the original quest.  It can feel rushed while a novel can show it all at a slower pace.

Final Thoughts

I’ve found that I do prefer novels for some ideas and that’s my more comfortable wheelhouse.  Yet, I also like the use of short stories in a compilation format.  I’m looking at a few series that were giving me problems and putting them in a short story compilation style.  I think it helps a lot with series that aren’t as endgame-focused as Legends of Windemere.  Characters who are going about their business being heroes can be put in a book where every short story is a new enemy to fight.  Hopefully, this is the key to solving my superhero problem and giving Ichabod Brooks a few more outings.

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What’s Stopping You?

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Charles Yallowitz

Joan Hall's avatarStory Empire

Happy Monday, SE Readers. Joan here today. This post is directed more toward beginning writers, although many of us can relate to the subject matter.

If you read Craig’s post last week, he shared a bit about how he came to be a writer later in life. Like him, I waited a long time to fulfill my dream of becoming a published author even though I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was ten years old.

What stopped me? Fear.

Fear of sharing my work with others. Fear that I would never be good enough. Fear that people won’t like what I write. If someone rejects my work, does that make me a failure?

Fear can cripple us and stifle our creativity. But once I took that first step, which was more like a leap of faith, my fears began to diminish. And when I finally became…

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