The Spice Must Flow! And Pass the Chips...

I recently went to a small convention featuring 70s and 80s pop culture.  It was pretty neat.  There was the whole cosplay thing, which I'm really not that interested in--but I do have to admit that the people in costume add to the overall ambiance quite a bit.  And then there were the vendors peddling ancient artifacts from these lost decades.  I purchased a few items.  First, I bought a box containing someone's old Dungeons and Dragons collection.  I only intended to buy one book, but the guy insisted on selling the entire box together.  I looked over everything in the box and made a reasonable offer which he accepted.  It was a pretty good haul with some nice 1st edition books, a really nice 1st edition DM screen and even one of those character folders with the blue adventure logs.  I suppose I could auction off some of the stuff, but at least D&D books don't take up a lot of space.  I also purchased some Dune snack plates that were clearly a tie-in to the 1983 David Lynch film.  I love Dune, so I found the idea of Dune snack plates to be strangely irresistible.  "Father, the sleeper has awakened!  And he wants some Doritos!"  They were even in shrink wrap that appears to be original.  Looking at the fine print on the plates I can see the image was licensed from the Dino De Laurentis company and the plates were produced by Merchandising Corporation of America, Inc.  The power of the Schwartz at it's finest!

On the writing front, I've started working on the next Hemlock book, but I'm taking it relatively easy.  I need to build up some writing "mana" after the push to finish Book Three. 

I'm currently reading "World Without End" by Ken Follet.  It's a pretty good book so far and I admire his writing a lot.  My only comment is it reads a little bit like an HBO series screenplay in that there's a surprising amount of graphic sex popping up at regular intervals--more than in any book I've read in recent memory.  OK, so maybe reading history books and books about finance and mathematics mean I lack perspective on what the sexual content of a modern novel is like.  And I haven't read 50 Shades of Grey or anything like that.  Still, it's surprising me a bit since I didn't recall that type of content in the book's predecessor ("Pillars of the Earth").

I'm sorry about the short post this month.  I will try to post more frequently as time and inspiration allow.  And thank you for your support of my new release: "Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress"!

Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress released!

I'm very excited to announce that Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress, Book III in The Maker's Fire series, has been released!  It is available via the below links.

Smashwords
Amazon - US
Amazon UK

The book will be available on other sites like Barnes and Noble and Apple as soon as Smashwords distributes to them.  This process may take a few more weeks.  I will post an update when it is complete.

Heating Up for a Summer Release!

The heat of the summer is upon us on the east coast of the U.S.A.  But this sweltering environment hasn't prevented the manuscript for Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress from nearing its final form.  The manuscript has finally been shipped off to the editor.  I've got everything done at this point except for the final eBook formatting for Amazon and Smashwords.  This should mainly consist of creating a table of contents and re-integrating the edits once I get them back.  The editor is planning to start in a week or so, and should be done in another week's time after that.  I can confidently say that we are looking at a solid August release date. 

I've been taking some time off from writing like I usually do after I complete a book.  I'll be putting my marketing hat on soon and starting to promote the release.  Not that I'm any kind of marketing dynamo or anything.  But I'll be doing a few things.  I'll be running an August ad on the Indie Book Blog.  And I'll be running some promo ads on Twitter.  I'll probably create a press release and send it to some blogs.  The rest will have to be word of mouth or divine intervention (if you believe in that sort of thing). 

I'm not really sure what to expect out of Book III in terms of sales.  My main beta reader observed that this book is potentially the "all-in" point for readers of the series (the follow up to that statement was "so make sure it doesn't stink").  If you are reading this, I hope you are "all-in".  That's a wonderful concept for an author, and it warms my heart to even consider I could earn that level of "carte blanche" trust from a reader.  This series has been about trying to develop that trust.  I recognize that Book One--even after all the revisions I've done--still has its stylistic flaws.  That's why it's permanently free.  Book Two was an exercise in trying to tighten up my writing and establish some trust with the reader in terms of quality.  And I think Book Three is about cementing that trust in terms of quality, and showing the reader that the overall story arc for the series is on an interesting course.  I believe I've succeeded in achieving both of these goals, but readers will ultimately be the judge of that (please leave reviews, if you read it).

Thanks for reading my post.  I guess I'll be getting back to some more philosophical blog posts once this release is behind me.  Until then, I hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Book III Cover Art Revealed!

Here is the cover art for Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress!  As you can (hopefully) tell, Elena Dudina has outdone herself again!

I fully completed the first draft of Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress yesterday.  I had completed what I'll call the core narrative several weeks before, but I had an idea for an additional chapter to help flesh out the novel.  As often happens, the writing took on a life of its own, and I can safely say that this "bonus" chapter is now one of my favorite in the book.  I noticed something while writing this chapter--which consists of a battle and the events leading up to it.  Battle sequences are exhausting to write!  I tend to imagine them at breakneck speed, so I am usually typing as fast as I can trying to keep up with my thoughts.  I'm sure my writing gets a little more streamlined during these sequences because of the pace, but I suspect that probably helps the reader get more in sync with the tempo of the rapidly unfolding events.

I've continued to have little ideas here and there that have really added to the novel.  It's amazing how a random idea will come to you, and then you realize that it just fits with the rest of the story like a puzzle piece slipping into place.  A puzzle piece you didn't even know existed until that moment!  I think these experiences are what keeps me writing--it's just a rally rewarding feeling to "architect" these stories.  Especially when you consider that the blueprint for the story is usually blank!  It's magic!

The tasks remaining before publication of Book III are the following:  beta reader input, editing, layout, and updating the map.  There are quite a few items to complete, but none of them are herculean tasks.  One task that I'm kind of dreading is updating the map.  I am using software called Campaign Cartographer, and I since I only use it once every eighteen months or so, I tend to forget how to use it in the interim.  And let's just say it's not the most intuitive software out there.  Fortunately, I left myself some notes after I struggled up the learning curve for Dead God's Legacy.  We'll see how effective those notes are, and whether I end up pulling more hair out this time around.

I'm in that anxious period awaiting feedback from beta readers.  I am bouncing back and forth between feeling sky high about the novel and then coming back to earth and hoping it's not X, where X is whatever insecurity about my writing I happen to be indulging in at the time.  Am I right on track with this first draft, or is there a serious flaw like there was in the early draft of Dead God's Legacy?  Only time and the generosity of my beta readers will tell.  If the manuscript is right on track then I expect to release sometime in July.  If there are re-writes required then it could be delayed, but rest assured Book III will release this summer.  Word count is sitting at 53K now--short by fantasy standards.  It will be priced accordingly at $1.99.  I'm taking the profit margin hit (books under $2.99 only net 33% on Amazon instead of 66%) because I want to make sure people don't feel cheated by the shorter length.  Despite the length, I think it's a rousing adventure tale with a few epic events sprinkled in for good measure. I hope you're having a great start to summer, and thanks for reading!

More on Dread Sorceress

Early work in progress images for the cover of Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress are starting to arrive in my mailbox (teaser at left).  It's always a thrill to open up a new revision and see it getting closer to the final product.  It's also a tangible sign that a new novel is really on the horizon.  A novel may ultimately be a collection of words, but a cover somehow makes it seem more tangible--even in the case of an eBook.

I am continuing to get amazing ideas for the final part(s) of the Maker's Fire series.  At this point I am seeing one more book in the series, but who knows--it could be two.  The idea I got today was really amazing.  As I imagined it, I had that simultaneous feeling of pride and humility that often accompanies what I consider to be my best concepts.  I feel that I am not creating these ideas but channeling them from some higher order.  It may sound far fetched, but that's how I feel about my process.  So there is humility, but my ego is still sated in the process.  I do experience pride at being the "vessel" for a good concept.  But, oh woe is me, the idea I had today is still so far along in the story.  I am anxious to get to it--but I don't like to write scenes out of sequence if I can avoid it.  I'll just have to keep writing, and try to get to it as soon as I am able.

This idea I got today strikes me as being more profound than most because it ties in to some dream images that I've been experiencing for years.  Could this story have been connected to me for all this time and only now manifesting?  I'm trying to stay somewhat grounded here, but the magnitude of this latest idea, and the sense of catharsis that it's producing are really significant.  If I'm not destined to be writing these books at this time, in this place, and in the way I'm going about it then I must be really self delusional, because it is proving to be an amazing journey.

I'm still struggling with the price point for Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress.  My two choices seem to be: a) price at $1.99, which would seem to be a fair price given the shorter length, but will likely produce a net loss (after cover art and editing) at the lower Amazon profit margin, or b) price at $2.99 and risk alienating readers who purchased Hemlock and the Dead God's Legacy, which is nearly twice as long as Dread Sorceress, at the same price.  When in doubt, I think it's best to side with the reader, so option a) is in the lead.  Another option would be to price at $2.99 on Amazon and $1.99 on other outlets through Smashwords.  Perhaps that is the best option, although it's kind of bending Amazon's publishing rules.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you are doing well!

Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress

I've been dutifully writing over the past few weeks, and wrapping up the first draft of the new novel.  The title is going to be "Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress: The Maker's Fire, Book III, Vol I".  Quite a mouthful, huh?   It looks like the word count is going to come in at a little over 40K words.  So, as I've mentioned in previous blog posts, it's going to be a shorter work.  What can I say about this new book without giving anything away?  How about revealing a first draft of the synopsis!

Hemlock has retreated back into the shadows of the Warrens, content, for a time, to let events come and go as they may.  But she knows that a new enemy is returning to the City: a titan of the past who intends to wrest control from Gwineval and the wizards.  When word reaches the City that the rogue wizards have moved against the eastern mountains, it becomes clear that DuLoc's campaign has begun--even if the man himself has not yet arrived.  Gwineval marshals the forces of the City to resist DuLoc's plans, but Hemlock feels she must take another path.  She makes a radical decision to forgo the initial campaign in order to pursue what she hopes will be a greater boon.  But she doesn't anticipate that another dark presence stands between her and her goals.  She must face this unanticipated foe in order to advance her plans to save the City.

I've contacted the cover artist and plans are in place to start work on the cover toward the end of April.  Assuming I can complete and edit the first draft by the end of May, I hope to release the book sometime in the beginning of the summer.  I hope readers are as excited as I am about this release.  It's funny how every novel I've written so far feels different.  This one is shorter than Dead God's Legacy, and for the most part it is more focused.  This is the first novel in the series that does not use the flashback structure, and therefore it is much more of a straight ahead adventure than the past novels have been.  I've really enjoyed writing this novel and I can't wait to share it with you!

Book III Novella? Serialization and the Art of the Possible

Photo by sidewalk flying .  licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Contrary to the title, this is not a post about politics.  The phrase "the art of the possible" just sprang into my mind when thinking about the actual topic of this post, which is whether to publish a version of my latest writings as a novella/short novel or wait until I complete a longer work.  When I started writing my latest manuscript, I intended it to be the final Book III of the Maker's Fire series (aka: Hemlock series).  I carefully laid out the key plot points over a series of months, and projected that it would result in a novel that would be at least 100,000 words.

But something started to happen as I wrote.  First, I realized I was making slower progress than I'd hoped.  Second, I noticed that the story has a natural 'cut point' about a third of the way in.  Some books have a conclusion with a complicating factor at this point of the narrative.  In my story it is more of a conclusion and then "on to the next challenge".  So it feels like I could stop at this point and call it a stand-alone story without compromising the integrity of the story arc.

It's been over a year since Hemlock and the Dead God's Legacy was released.  I managed to complete that book in about a year's time, but I absolutely killed myself to do it.  After I finished that book I resolved that I wouldn't subject myself to that arduous writing schedule again (I'm only a part time writer, alas).  So, here I sit a year later with about 30,000 words completed on the next book.  But I want to get another story out there.  I think readers can forget about authors who aren't releasing new work in a timely manner.

But 40,000 words (projected length) is short.  Fantasy novels are great because they are immersive.  And as a reader I sometimes find the immersion kicking in around the middle of a novel.  This is the negative of serializing like this--the story could be over just as the reader is getting settled into the narrative.  Of course I would price the work at $0.99 to reflect the shorter length--but my fear is it could be unsatisfyingly short.  Still, despite that fear, I fear being forgotten more.  So, I am leaning toward serializing and getting something out to readers to keep them engaged.  And I think what I've got is a good story.  As long as I make it clear what the length of the book is, I think I can mitigate the risk of reader disappointment.  And I will probably include a foreward that discusses these very points so readers understand why the book is short.

So, I consider this approach the best one possible, under the circumstances.  The alternative is waiting another two years for my next release.  And that seems unacceptable to me.  In this case, the "art of the possible", or, perhaps, the "possibility of art", suggests releasing a serialized novella/novel this spring.

I don't typically have a lot of interaction with my readers, but I welcome any feedback that anyone may have.