I haven’t written a post for a while now, but I have a really good excuse.
I’ve been finishing up my first novel, ‘The Vanishing’. It’s finally come together and I’m really happy with the result.
The link is below to pre-order. It’ll be released on the 19/03/15 (o:
…this delicious vignette from my good pal, Author, John W. Howell garnered First Prize at the Kurt Vonnegutfestival in 2013… have a wee read and yeez’ll see why…
I want to thank Seumas for the opportunity to guest post here today. This story was entered in the Kurt Vonnegut festival in 2013 to celebrate the launch of So It Goes a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut published by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. The rules were to write a chapter from one of the fictional books written by Kilgore Trout the fictional author in many of Kurt’s books. I wrote the fifth Chapter of Kilgore’s book The First District Court of Thankyou. I hope you like it. Oh yes, I almost forgot it took first place.
The First District Court of Thankyou
A Novel by Kilgore Trout
Chapter Five: A House Within by John W. Howell ©2013
No sooner had Madame…
View original post 2,071 more words
First of all, let me direct you to all of the guest posts I’ve had this week:
John W. Howell- Maintaining a Character’s Core in a Series
Leigh Michaels- Writing a Lengthy Series
Oloriel Moonshadow- Mentally Maintaining a Vivid Fantasy World
Thank you to everyone who hosted me and submitted a guest blog in return. (Typing this would be easier if the laptop stopped zooming in and out of the screen. Think something is stuck here.)
After a month of being busy or blue or downtrodden or exhausted, I finally stepped back into Legends of Windemere. The 7th book, ‘Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue’ is going to start its editing run in a bit and I’m hoping for an April debut. As usual, I expect the universe to mess with me. Alongside this, I’m starting to write ‘Tribe of the Snow Tiger’, which is Book 10. I did spend last weekend examining the outline and fine-tuning it to get my head where it needed to be. That’s one that I’ve found to help me write 1 chapter per day. At least if that chapter is 3 sections or less, which is most of the time. This means I got 4 chapters done this week. I lost Friday to errands, an important meeting, and attempting a new recipe. So my time management skills are rusty and they weren’t that great to begin with. My goal is to get this done before the Spring Break that begins on April 1st. That gives me a week and a half with the little guy to go over the outline for Book 11 and then I’ll start that one up. Basically, I want to get Books 10 and 11 in first draft mode before summer starts. I won’t be getting much done during that period beyond Book 8’s release (hopefully) and the short story adventures (hopefully).
I’m still a little nervous about touching the books. I get over it as soon as I start up since I’m exploring two new regions of Windemere. Also, Timoran Wrath gets to take the spotlight for once. He’s very low key, which is helping me get back into the swing of things. Nyx is proving to be difficult since she’s in a rather ‘immature’ moment after the events of Book 9. Kind of overcompensating for one thing and hiding her emotions about another. Maybe that’s for the best since I’m in the same boat. The two of us can get back to our centers together. Same goes for *redacted*, but I’m not really sure what to do about that situation.
Other than that, there’s really nothing else that went on. Sales ranged from meh to nada, which made the ranking jumps even more confusing. Not sure what to do about marketing at this rate being trying to push the next book, but that’s not an easy thing to do without cover art. I finally got an appointment next Sunday to get a new, more professional author photo. This means that a new marketing site that I wanted to sign up with will have to wait. I need to look over new blurbs for the books too. So far, I’ve had positive responses. The new one for ‘Beginning of a Hero‘ has been up for a while and no complaints. Those are all the small things going on. As usual, I get into writing a book and not much else happens. Though not writing a book tends to mean I’m just outlining or reading or goofing off with the kid, which isn’t really blog worthy either.
Goals of the week!
As a lover and reader of the fantasy genre, I am always fascinated by books sprouting in serials. I am amazed and fascinated by the vivid worlds and characters and creatures they offer, and I often find myself wondering what is it in the writer’s way of writing that makes those worlds survive their daily lives, lack of inspiration or the influx of new ideas. That is why I asked Charles to chime in and share some of the secrets he uses to make Legend of Windemere such an enticing universe.
Thank you to Oloriel for letting me be a guest on her blog. She asked me to write about how I’ve maintained a vivid world in my head for so many years. For those that don’t understand the topic, I’m writing a lengthy fantasy adventure series called Legends of Windemere. The world that these stories take places began…
View original post 534 more words
Somewhere along the line, the love triangle became one of the most hated plot lines in existence. It’s as if such a thing doesn’t happen in real life, but that’s probably part of the problem. Such situations inevitably result in at least one person getting hurt and that’s not counting the people who choose sides. It’s a recipe for heartache and tragedy . . . which is the point of it.
I think love triangles touch on the messy part of romance and it’s in a way that starts with no apologies. It’s like saying ‘only one can win and the other is going to crumble’ and most people don’t really enjoy heartbreak. Especially when it is being caused by the happiness of others. Sadly, a reader will take a side if they don’t despise the storyline outright. So you’ll have people rooting for the one that will lose. To be honest, I think many authors try to counter this issue by making it blatantly obvious who will be together at the end. Yet that never seems to stop the complaints.
Many people call love triangles cliches, but one has to wonder what the alternatives are. If you have an established relationship and want to challenge it then this is one of the easiest ways. Introduce another competitor, make the couple work to stay together, or show that they weren’t strong enough to survive. Many will claim adultery is another challenge that can be used, but isn’t that overdone too? It’s a love triangle as well, so we still keep going back to the basic premise. Two people are interested in the same person who might have feelings for one or both of them. It’s competitive human nature in the arena of romance, which is about as rare as oxygen. Fiction simply amps it up a few notches and brings it to the spotlight. In real life, many people won’t even realize their in the situation or make the connection to something fictional.
Will I ever do a love triangle again in my books? Probably not in the same way that I did Kira/Luke/Sari. They’re part of a longer series that gives me plenty of time to toss the subplot around until the conclusion. It also helps cement parts of their personalities that would otherwise go unnoticed. Then again, I get the feeling that some readers don’t pick up on it at times. Can’t win them all. Shorter series may have some competitions, but it’ll be more of a third party butting into a strong relationship.
One final note on these types of stories: THEY ARE A BALANCING ACT! Seriously, you do want readers to be unsure of the winner for a little bit. Otherwise, the third person seems to have no real purpose beyond a twist that won’t go anywhere. Also, you could always end it with nobody winning. People rarely seem to go in that direction for some reason. Too tragic?
Hey, all! Some of you know Lori through her blog, and she’s one of the wonderful people who posted Torn’s cover reveal for me on Monday.
Her new book Lady, Thy Name is Trouble is described as a sword and sorcery epic adventure, with a side of romance.
I haven’t read this one, but it sounds like my kind of thing. 🙂
The book releases today in e-book. Congratulations , Lori!
Details below…
Trouble is Tara Triannon’s middle name. As swords for hire, Tara and her sister Laraina thrive on the danger. But a surprise invasion throws them into chaos… and trouble on a whole new level. Pursued by the Butcher, a terrifying assassin more wolf than man, Tara and Laraina must get a prince marked for death and a young, inept sorceress to safety. There’s only one problem – eluding the Butcher has never been done. Aided by a…
View original post 71 more words
Now I’m attempting to get this connected to a question I asked on my Facebook Author page. I would repeat it here, but I’d much rather get it on that medium where more people can interact with each other. It’s in regards to the following:
Basically, discuss a childhood show or really anything that you would like to see make a comeback. Again, I kind of want this to happen on my Facebook page. So click on link that says ‘Post’, which is what happened when I embedded the thing. I don’t really know what I’m doing here.
(Small request: Please don’t rant and rave about the horrors of reboots. Let’s be positive and work off the hope that this will be good . . . and lead to the return of Darkwing Duck.)
Thank you to John W. Howell for writing an insightful post!
CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE
Last week Charles asked me a question, and I took some time to think it over. His question was a request. Here is the quote, “tips to making a thriller hero who isn’t a well-trained badass.” He was also nice enough to say he liked the fact that John J. Cannon the protagonist in my book My GRL (got the book promotion out of the way early) was a normal guy who gave the reader the feeling he wouldn’t go all Schwarzenegger on people.
The way I developed the average guy character was to:
First of all the writer must imagine what it would be like to be an ordinary person faced with extraordinary circumstances. We all know the Hollywood version of a hero. They are the ultimate fighting machine. They can be shot, knifed, beaten up, tortured and wrapped in chains but still manage to rally to save the day. An average guy is by nature afraid of death and will try hard not to entice those who mean him harm to go ahead and act out their aggression. The character is forced to bide his time until the danger passes, or things get significantly worse. There is no percentage in rising up with a couple of automatics and blasting out of a situation. The odds are such the hero would be cut down, and the story would be very brief.
Second the hero must also be crafted with the kinds of tools an ordinary person would have when placed in a dangerous situation. Among the tools would be humor, intelligence, personality, patience and the desire to stay alive. To do this effectively, the writer makes a list of those traits the character has at the time the danger presents itself. Once in a situation it is not fair to add more qualities that have not been part of the original package. For example, my protagonist is a lawyer. When he finds himself kidnaped and in the presence of terrorists, he will not automatically transform into a scientist and produce some chemical solution to a problem.
Third the story must be developed in the context of the protagonist’s ability to survive. If the danger is so overwhelming that there is no possibility of escape for the hero, then the story won’t go far unless the hero is a well-trained badass. The danger must be in keeping with what is feasible in the real world and more or less solvable by regular means. This third way to develop an average guy character needs to carry throughout the story. There can’t be a change in the situation that makes the job easier and, therefore, solvable.
Finally, the character needs to remain stable throughout the story. If he is calm in the beginning, he can’t magically turn into a raving lunatic unless you carefully write how the change happens. If he is scared that fear doesn’t go away magically. It has to be written away logically so the reader can understand the transition. If he is brave in the beginning, he must be brave until something is introduced to change him. Long story short the character personality needs to remain intact.
Thank you, Charles for the question, and having me with you today.
John W. Howell spent over forty years as a business person and in 2012 finally began his lifelong dream to be an author. His first novel named My GRL is published by Martin Sisters Publishing. It is a fiction thriller telling the story of one man’s efforts to save a symbol of America’s greatness from destruction by a group of terrorists and the first of a trilogy. It is available in e-book and paper. The second named His Revenge is in line for May of 2015, and the third titled Our Justice is in the final editing stage with publication in 2016. In addition to his novels, John also writes short stories, and some of them are features on his blog Fiction Favorites at http://www.johnwhowell.com. John lives on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico off the southern coast of Texas with his wife and assortment of rescue pets.
