…so many times I get flabbergasted by intriguing Guest Posts… today my gast is flabbered by good pal, Author, Charles E. Yallowitz… we had been discussing material for a piece here, and he asked if it was appropriate to show the comparisons between Role Playing Games (RPG) and writing novels… I’m not a gamer, but I’m sure many of yeez Lads and Lassies have delved into the ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ otherworlds… this post is fascinating, and underlines for me how much thought we quill-scrapers pour into our own masterpieces… enjoy:
Thank you to Seumas for inviting me to write a guest post. I thought long and hard about what to write about. Then I went out for some pizza, watched some TV, and thought up the idea during a commercial break.
I’ve been publishing my fantasy series Legends of Windemere since 2013 and many people have asked me what inspired…
…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.
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!
Write 4-5 more chapters of ‘Tribe of the Snow Tiger’.
Do a little outlining of another story.
Cook dinners.
Bike!
Get new author photo and then switch it out with the old one.
Examine blurbs again.
Hunt for any other interviews, guest blog spots, and marketing avenues.
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…
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…
