The Tower of Marlowe

Last post on this blog

2008-01-18T16:06:00.002-06:00

The Tower of Marlowe is no more.

While this blog will no longer be updated, it's new incarnation will live on at my web site. It's now the core of my web site, in fact. Sorry for those who subscribe to the Tower via rss, but please update your feed using this new feed.

Thanks.

FREE E-BOOK: Robin Hobb, SHAMAN'S CROSSING

2008-01-14T20:29:00.001-06:00

Sure, give it away for free after I just bought it all of 2 weeks ago (if that).

Eos Books - The Next Chapter: FREE E-BOOK: Robin Hobb, SHAMAN'S CROSSING

New Blog

2008-01-14T20:23:00.001-06:00

I'm working on a new blog. I've been wanting to get off Blogspot for a while now. Mostly cause I want the ability to customize things more than Blogspot allows for, but also because I've been wanting to put together a site based on ASP.NET and AJAX.

Anyway, it's in process and will be tightly integrated into my web site. I'll get the new feed out when I get the site finished.

Meanwhile, I'm also trying to wrap up some software consulting work so I can get back to my novel. The first draft is completed and I've definitely taken enough time away from it where I feel I can really look at things objectively: That character that I just couldn't bring myself to do that nasty thing to... well, let the nastiness begin, cause she's going down.

Shaman's Crossing

2008-01-14T20:16:00.001-06:00

I just finished Robin Hobb's Shaman's Crossing and all I can say is... wow, great book. I'm not saying it's her best, but it kept me reading and reading and reading so that I wound up finishing it in less than a week (or something like that). I've already started Book 2, Forest Mage, then I need to pay back Eos Books for the free ARC of the 3rd book with a review.

Some giveaways

2008-01-04T19:14:00.001-06:00

Since I was asked to give the heads up when I came across some giveaways, here's a few:

Auralia’s Colors, by Jeffrey Overstreet’s
signed ARC's of Gail Martin's Chronicles of the Necromancer series plus some other goodies
and, ugh, Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy--not of much use to me since I just bought books 1 and 2 after getting the 3rd as an ARC

Enjoy and good luck!

Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy

2007-12-22T12:42:00.001-06:00

Courtesy of Eos Books, I received an ARC of the third book in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy, Renegade's Magic.

The unfortunate thing is that I have not read, nor do I own, either book 1 or 2. So, the other day I bought both books from Amazon and plan to jump into book 1 the moment it arrives.

I also ordered a copy of Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods and Techniques. Figured it couldn't hurt to learn something about medieval swordsmanship, right?

For more info on Eos Books' upcoming release of Renegade's Magic, go here.

WEIRD TALES: Holiday trial special: 3 issues for $10!

2007-12-09T18:39:00.001-06:00

Seems like a good deal to me. I'm in for the 3 issues. Perhaps more if I like what I read...

WEIRD TALES: magazine of the gothic, fantastic & bizarre » Blog Archive » Holiday trial special: 3 issues for $10!

How much do agents make?

2007-12-03T08:04:00.001-06:00

The gist of it: not much.

The upside of not being salaried is, in general, that the more you work, the more you make. Oftentimes you can make much more than a salaried employee doing the same type of work simply b/c you control your own destiny much more so than someone who works for The Man.

The downside is that sometimes you make much less than the salaried employee who, at minimum, gets his/her bi-weekly paycheck regardless of how much 'real' work was done. Believe me, I know all about how that works. ;-)

As new writers, we put in a lot of hours with little if any guarantee of any financial return. Especially if you're working on a novel. Think about it--you spend an entire year (or more) of your life writing away, getting that first draft done, polishing, polishing, polishing, then finally get it sent out to an agent or publisher who, statistically speaking, is going to turn you down. Depressing, huh? This is probably why a lot of people never become writers!

Fortunately for many of us writing is about more than just making a living at it. We have to write, because it calls to us, because it's in our blood, cause there's no other suitable outlet for our creative energies.

So, keep writing--the money will (hopefully) take care of itself.

The Rejecter: Agent Salaries

Friday Writing Quote of the Day

2007-11-30T13:56:00.001-06:00

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."-- Richard Bach

Happy Friday, everyone, and good weekend to you.

Four Bit Stories

2007-11-24T08:50:00.001-06:00

Paul S. Kempis trying something: write a short story, put it out on the web site for all to enjoy, then, if the reader feels so inclined, he or she can throw four bits (50 cents) into the hat.

The story is One Thousand and One Words. Blanketed with overtones of Lovecraft, One Thousand and One Words takes a reporter digging through the mysteries that are one Howard Doyle, a reclusive "rich as God and as secretive as Lucifer", and plunges him into the man's darkest secrets.

The experiment is not all so different from my own where I put The Hall of the Wood out for public consumption. Of course, Mr. Kemp has the advantage in that he's had many novels published and already has a built-in audience.

I hope it's an experiment that goes well for Mr. Kemp. For my part, I tossed in 8 bits. If enough people do the same, we might just see another story come out of this.

Four Bit Stories

Imaro Revisited

2007-10-31T19:46:00.001-05:00

About 2 months ago I blogged about Imaro, a book by Charles Saunders that NightShade Books had decided to pull the plug on. I wanted to do my part to help cause (1) the books sounded cool and (2) it's always good to help out a writer, right?

Well, sad to say, I made it about 2/3's of the way through Imaro and had to stop. It's the writing. The character of Imaro is fine--sort of a homeless Conan when you get right down to it. But while Conan could care less about acceptance, Imaro wants it deep down more than anything. Not a bad premise to base a character on, and it largely works in the context of Imaro's world: sort of a pseudo-Africa, where magic exists and the peoples are fantastic, strange, and heroic in their own ways.

But the writing. It suffers from tellicitous--that is, it does far too much explaining immediately after something has happened where it's oh-so-obvious what's going on so why in the world does the author then explain to us what's going on? That, unfortunately, is what drags this book down, and might have something to do with the sluggish sales.

Yep, still here

2007-10-30T21:28:00.001-05:00

Since setting aside my work-in-progress, The Five Elements, I've been swamped... with my "regular" job, where I received a pseudo-promotion (don't ask), with stuff around the house, with a side gig having to do with medical imaging software, and with trying to catch up on some long overdue reading.

On the bright side, it looks like the side gig is going to turn into more work (which means more moo-la). The other side of that, of course, is less time for writing (not to mention less time for the wife, dogs, house, and exercising). My situation makes me wonder if my writing is going to fade... When I got out of college in '94 (actually before that) I had decided to devote myself to the wonderful world of software--it is what I have my degree in, after all. Now, I'm kind of faced with the same decision. While I've been fairly successful (not Google successful, but I've done OK), there's always the drive to do more, and, of course, make more money. I love writing--the challenge, the ability to let my imagination loose, just the pure creativity of it. It's by far the more difficult of the roads to go down at this point in my life.

Not that I'm giving it up! It may just take a little longer than I'd originally planned.

Iron Man

2007-10-09T15:11:00.001-05:00

Lookin' good.

What Ails the Short Story

2007-10-09T07:53:00.001-05:00

Great little essay by Stephen King on the state of the short story. It's been a while since I've read anything remotely close to what anyone might consider a classic, or even something literary. When King rattles off names like "William Gay or Randy DeVita or Eileen Pollack or Aryn Kyle" I start to really feel like I'm out of touch or that I'm missing some great aspect of the writing world. But there's only so much time in a day, and my reading has been focused of late on just keeping up with the latest fantasy novels. I don't think there's any easy solution to that particular problem, but check out the article. King is amusing and interesting and everything in between, as usual.

What Ails the Short Story - Stephen King - Books - Review - New York Times

Advice for first-time sff novelists

2007-10-04T12:56:00.001-05:00

The gist of it is write, write, write.

kateelliott: Advice for first-time sff novelists?

The Five Elements... first draft complete!

2007-09-18T10:39:00.001-05:00

Wow... been a while since I've posted. Blame it on my writing, a promotion at work, and other things like rodeos, birthdays, and anniversary parties (not mine).

In any case, I'm still alive and happy to say I completed the first draft of The Five Elements a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, I'm not celebrating yet, cause I have a "To Do" list of about 20 items I need to start in on--mostly things like this character's appearance changed so I need to go back and fix previous references or this character has a more (or less) relevant role so there's some cleanup work to do there. Maybe I need to make sure that clothing or possessions remain consistent. That sort of stuff.

Once the to do list is complete, I'll either dive into the editing or, more likely, start some new projects--thinking about trying my hand at some shorter work, something I can actually finish in a reasonable amount of time. We'll see. I have lots of ideas for other pieces, and some time away from The Five Elements might do me some good.

Reader Reviews for Sara Douglass's THE SERPENT BRIDE

2007-09-18T10:33:00.001-05:00

Huh. My review didn't make it in there. Imagine that. :-)

Eos Books - The Next Chapter: Reader Reviews for Sara Douglass's THE SERPENT BRIDE

Save Imaro!

2007-08-24T07:26:00.001-05:00

The editor of Black Gate put out a call for help to save Imaro, Night Shade Books' reprint of Charles Saunders' classic sword-and-sorcery tales set in darkest Africa. It seems sales have not been what the publisher expected, and while volumes 1 and 2 are already out, they're considering killing the series before they get to number 3. Though I'm a little late to the party, I just purchased Book 1. It's a small contribution that I hope helps keep the series alive. Of course, if I like it, I'll get the next one and so on as long as the series survives.

A little more about Imaro:

Imaro is heroic fantasy like it’s never been done before. Based on Africa, and African traditions and legends, Charles Saunders has created Nyumbani (which means “home” in Swahili), an amalgam of the real, the semi-real, and the unreal. “Imaro” is the name of the larger-than-life warrior who travels across Nyumbani, always the outcast, searching for a home.
This novel tells the story of Imaro’s childhood, his exile from his tribe, how he grew to manhood, and how he found and lost the love of his life. Charles Saunders has followed in the footsteps of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber, creating an iconic hero along with dazzling, exotic, and mysterious world for Imaro to inhabit.

Sound good? Go buy your copy now!

bg_editor - Save a Sword-and-Sorcery Legend

Keep it moving

2007-08-23T12:07:00.001-05:00

Good advice over on SlushPile.net where we're told to hold off on research when writing the first draft. It's easy to "get so caught up in finding some esoteric data for your story that you don’t actually write the story".

Of course, the main point is here is something I'm always trying to keep in mind: Keep moving forward. Get the first draft done. Doesn't matter if there's some "to do's" left at the end. Get it done first, then go back and tidy up those things you intentionally left behind just so you could finish in the first place. I think this is a big reason why people who start a novel never finish it. I used to start a chapter 1, then go back and revise, then start chapter 2, then start revising chapter 1 again, and so on until I'd spent so much time just trying to get the first few chapters perfect that I grew despondent and gave up.

Not so with The Hall of the Wood. I finished it. That first draft wasn't perfect. But it was a complete first draft. So, like I started with, keep it moving and get it done.

SlushPile.net » Just Say No to Research

So, you call yourself a writer?

2007-08-22T14:03:00.001-05:00

Colin Brush over at The Penguin Blog writes today about who is qualified to call themselves a "writer". Some people think simply writing allows one to call themselves a writer. Others may feel one has to actually have writing accomplishments before taking on the label. Hey, I'm writing right now--guess I'm a writer! ;-)

Colin asks:

In the art world, would you call yourself a painter if you'd never sold a painting? Or would you simply say you paint? Two different statements, clearly.

Certainly someone who is published is a writer, but what constitutes being published? I had a short story published years ago in a small press publication (long before the Internet is what it is today), so does that mean I'm a writer? What about those who've been published online? Does one online publisher rank higher than another? If I'm published by Baen's Universe as opposed to some smaller, lesser known ezine, can I call myself a writer? Or does online not count? There's obviously a lot of subjectivity here.

My interpretation of being a writer is this: a person is a writer if they write regularly. It doesn't matter what the form of writing is, or if those words ever see the light of day. If you write daily, or weekly, you're a writer.

To look at it from another perspective, I consider myself a cyclist. Not a professional, for sure, but someone who gets out on the bike regularly. "Regularly" being the key, and meaning at least once/week. Someone who goes for a ride a handful of times in a year... sorry, not a cyclist. Similarly, someone who writes one day out of year... not a writer.

Of course, having that published stamp of approval erases all questions, so let's all get back to that goal and we won't have to worry about what we call ourselves.

The Penguin Blog: A writer by any other name

New Conan movie

2007-08-14T15:21:00.001-05:00

By Crom, it had better be good.

Variety.com - Millennium wins rights to 'Conan'

What's in a Name?

2007-08-01T15:02:00.001-05:00

Popping back in to comment on something I've been thinking of a little off and on lately. My first novel, The Hall of the Wood, yet unpublished by available as a shareware download from my web site, has rangers in it. Think about the word 'ranger'. What does it make you think of? A forest ranger? An army ranger? Strider? Dungeons & Dragons??? For me, it's always the latter, and I wonder how many others this may be the case for.

Unfortunately, I wonder if this negative connotation (yes, negative, cause in my mind literature and dungeons & dragons don't mix well unless you're writing a Forgotten Realms book) hurt The Hall of the Wood's chances of getting published.

With that in mind, and given that I'm willing to make compromises if it means getting published, I'm considering changing the word 'ranger' to something more original or at least something different. I don't know what at this point. I was thinking something like 'walkers' or 'forestwalkers' or 'forestrunners' or something.

Anyone have any thoughts?

some more writing progress

2007-07-15T13:04:00.001-05:00

My posts will probably be curt and concise the next week or longer until my book is finished. I just dove into Chapter 24 of 25; about 4 pages or 1,000 words done. I'd like to write all day, but the brain needs a break and I have some outside work that needs doing. It's a beautiful day also, so who wants to sit in front of the computer all day, anyway? I have to do that all week, remember...

Blogspot and Email Notifications

2007-07-11T20:39:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note that, normally, when someone posts a comment (yeah, I get a few) I get a notification via email. Not so lately. I usually respond to comments, but without an email it can be hard to track them down sometimes, so if you don't get a response, I'm not ignoring you.

Back to writing... I had a particularly evil idea for the end of The Five Elements and need to flesh it out some...

Building a Scene

2007-07-05T14:48:00.001-05:00

Paperback Writer's got a good post out on Scene Building with some accompanying links at the bottom.

To throw in my 2 cents: I outline my scenes with a few brief paragraphs, but, from the perspective of my outline, I don't break things down at the scene level. Rather, I use the chapter as the logical unit. Each chapter gets a few criteria listed (mostly so I can keep the timeline of events straight) so I know, for example, who's in the chapter and whose viewpoint it's being told from. I also like to list the place in which it happens and even things like the weather, especially when I'm dealing with a novel like my current WIP, The Five Elements, which takes place over 10 days and deals with two diverging and then intersecting plotlines. Consistency with weather, whether a scene takes place during the day or night, and other things become important when you're maintaining a linear sequence of events where the order has to happen in a certain way. You don't want things getting too scrambled, after all.

My "911 call" approach is usually more to the point of looking the scene or chapter over, making sure everything is still consistent (my outlines are living documents which can change at any time), and, if it isn't, chopping it right then and there. No use in writing a 5,000 word chapter if it isn't necessary.

Post your own responses over on Paperback Writer's site. Let's see what other ideas people have.

Paperback Writer: Scene Building 101