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

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-04T07:08:00.001-05:00

In honor of my country's Day of Independence, I'm reading Redcoatby Bernard Cornwell. While it may seem counterintuitive to read a book seemingly about a British soldier on such a day as this, the story does involve the Revolutionary War and, in fact, deals with both sides of the conflict: the British through a particular redcoat named Sam Gilpin and the Americans through the Becket family of Philadelphia.

Of course, Cornwell is the author of the much-loved Richard Sharpe series of historical fiction novels about Britain's war against Napoleon. I've been a big fan of Cornwell's ever since reading Sharpe's Tiger,a fast-paced, thoughtful escapade in which Private Sharpe (he moves up through the ranks as the series unfolds) campaigns in India on his first foray as a redcoat himself.

Rain, Rain, Rain

2007-06-28T09:23:00.001-05:00

Nothing but rain here in Dallas with the same in the forecast all the way into next week.

This little guy, who I spotted crossing our front yard, doesn't seem to mind, though.

Acknowledging those that matter

2007-06-27T20:42:00.001-05:00

For those of us who remain unpublished, have you ever thought about who you'd thank or acknowledge on that first page that everyone who buys your book will first open to? Or what you'd say? I have. Not everything or exactly what I'd say so much, but I know I'd thank my wife for putting up with all the time I spend huddled away in my study. It's the price us writers pay, and it behooves us to remain thankful for the contribution our SO's make in our endeavors. Writing is a lonely road only because it's a one person job, but there comes a time when the job ends and then that person is there (we hope).

So, anyway, my wife is the first person I intend to thank when that first book makes it.

Hedge Witch?

2007-06-27T19:59:00.001-05:00

OK, back for a sec...

Anyone know what a "hedge witch" is, and how does it differ from a normal, everyday witch?

The Five Elements: Writing Progress

2007-06-27T19:58:00.001-05:00

I'm about 2100 words into chapter 23 of 24 now. Just that quick update and I'm back to writing...

Google AdSense

2007-06-27T19:57:00.001-05:00

I signed up for Google AdSense a while back. The ads are located way, way, way down at the bottom of the blog page where they're the least obtrusive that they can be (and probably the least effective!). I figure what the heck. They're out of the way and maybe someone will actually click them (<shameless plug>feel free to go click them now</shameless plug>).

Hey, if Wil Wheaton can do it, so can I!

Damn, I just went to his site and he took the AdSense stuff down. Oh well.

Writing Progress

2007-06-22T18:08:00.001-05:00

Completed chapter 22 of 24 of The Five Elements the other day and I'm about 1,000 words into chapter 23. Almost there...

The Blog's New Look

2007-06-21T11:10:00.001-05:00

A while back, without announcement or fanfare, I changed the look of my blog. I also renamed it to "The Tower of Marlowe". What do you think?

I like it. It's cleaner, wider, and I think more professional.

Also, there's no need to update your RSS feed since the feed URL is tied into my name, not the name of the blog.

Summer?

2007-06-21T11:08:00.001-05:00

My wife tells me this is the first day of summer. I'm looking outside, going 'huh?". It's overcast and rained this morning. Very un-Dallas-like weather. I'd like some blue skies and sun, if only so I can get into the pool...

Thieves' World

2007-06-16T17:58:00.001-05:00

I read a lot when I was younger. Before college, before my first job back in California, before a move to Texas, a house & new job, marriage, dogs, another new job, realizing that I'm not getting any younger and if I really want to have a book published I better get on it... back when it seemed I had nothing but time (relative to how hectic life is now, anyway). I do still read, of course, just not as much. Where before it might have taken me a week or less to plow through a book, now it takes me 2-3 weeks if not longer.

Of those books I read when I was in my more formative years were such classics as Robert E. Howard's Conan series, Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Pyrdain, C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Terry Brooks's Shannara books, and, last but not least, the series which will always have an honored place on my bookshelf, the 12-book anthology known as Thieves' World.

Let's go back a little. The original Thieves' World series began in 1979 with the debut book generically named Thieves' World. Later anthologies came out about once/year (or more) and ran until 1989 when the series went on hiatus, which basically means the authors/creators/editors all (or singly) decided it was time to take a break and devote time to other projects. Thieves' World was a "shared-world" anthology, meaning multiple authors had a hand in its creation, evolution, and in its cast of characters. As you can imagine, when you throw in such authors as Lynn Abbey, Robert Asprin, David Drake, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Poul Anderson, C.J. Cherryh, and others, you've got something special and, more importantly, a playing field fit for some real competition. You see, the authors were continuously trying to one-up the other, pitting the characters they created against those created by the other authors. Theft, extortion, kidnapping, blackmail, torture... all of these things were allowed. The one thing that was not allowed, the "golden rule" as it were, was that no author could kill another author's characters. Barring that, anything goes, and did.

Thieves' World was an inspiring series, both then and now. As I read through Sanctuary, revisiting the city of Sanctuary where much, if not all, of the storytelling takes place, I find myself longing to go back and re-read the first 12 books again. The Street of Red Lanterns, the Vulgar Unicorn, characters such as Shadowspawn, Tempus Thales, Molin Torchholder... by the gods, this is the stuff of legend! Imagine a boy first getting his glimpse of this wondrous place... a city where gods walked the streets, thieves and assassins plied their respective trades, priests, witches and hazard-mages met for a quiet drink or to do battle, the S'danzo read the future, and the walking dead ruled in a section of the city called The Shambles.

Of course, the reason I'm going on about this series is because I'm currently revisiting it via the novel, Sanctuary. Written by Lynn Abbey, who is one of the original editors and contributors of the series, Sanctuary is a novel that bridges the time-gap between those original 12 books and what appears to be a new shared-world series with multiple contributing authors. I won't say a whole lot about the novel Sanctuary right now other than that I like it. I'll save the rest for a future review.

Look at your own world in your own fiction and see if you think you might invoke such nostalgia and wonder 10, 20, or even more years from now when some reader is reminded of your work. All too often fiction of all kinds comes and go's, forgotten as it falls out-of-print. Even the original Thieves' World books are out-of-print, though there is a movement to revive the series through a reprint.

For now, though, if you don't own a previous run of those first 12 books and can't find them on eBay, you'll have to satisfy yourself with Sanctuary and the books that come after.

For those seeking more info about Thieves' World:

http://www.thievesworld.info/novels/12base.htm

http://www.lynnabbey.com/TW/thieves__world.htm

Free excerpt from Chadbourn's World's End

2007-06-11T10:35:00.001-05:00

Fantasy author and mythsayer extraordinaire Mark Chadbourn has released an excerpt from his The Age of Misrule series, specifically from Book One, World's End.

Take a look at the cover. All I can say is: Wow. Very nice. The story is equally captivating:

When Jack Churchill and Ruth Gallagher encounter a terrifying, misshapen giant beneath a London bridge they are plunged into a mystery which portends the end of the world as we know it. All over the country, the ancient gods of Celtic myth are returning to the land from which they were banished millennia ago. Following in their footsteps are creatures of folklore: fabulous bests, wonders and dark terrors.

Pasted with permission, here's the excerpt. Enjoy.

From the author: To set the scene, the central character Church and his friend Ruth have been plunged into an escalating mystery. After being attacked by a shape-shifter, they picked up bad-tempered old hippie Tom and are currently heading west along the M4 motorway out of London. On to the extract...

'What's wrong?' Church asked.

Ruth leaned forward to peer through the windscreen. 'What's that?'

'What's what?' The traffic was too heavy for Church to take his eyes off the road.

'A flash of light in the sky over to the South-west.'

'A UFO? I can give you Barry Riggs' number if you like. I'm sure he'd like to take you to his secret base.'

'Maybe it was lightning,' Ruth mused, still searching the skies.

'Actually, Salisbury Plain's over there somewhere,' Church continued. 'They had a big UFO flap down near Warminster in the sixties when all the believers and hippies used to gather on the hilltops to wait for the mothership to come.' He glanced in the mirror to see if Tom would rise to the bait, but the man ignored his gaze.

Another flash, and this time they all saw it: among the clouds, lighting them in an orange burst like a firework. 'That's not lightning,' Church said. 'It's more like a flare.' His attention had wavered from the road and he had to brake sharply to avoid hitting the car in front, which had slowed down as the driver saw the lights.

'How long until you can get off this road?' Tom asked sharply.

'We don't need to get off this road.'

'How long?'

The tone of his voice snapped Church alert. 'Not long. I remember a junction somewhere on the outskirts of Swindon. Why?' Church glanced in the mirror, but Tom had his face pressed against the passenger window scanning the night sky.

There was another burst of light somewhere above them, so bright that Church saw the ruddy glare reflected on the roofs of the cars around. Ruth gasped in shock.

'What's going on?' Church thumped the horn as another distracted driver strayed across the line into his lane. 'There's going to be a pile up in a minute!'

Ruth tried to crane her neck to see upwards through the windscreen. 'I think there's something up there,' she said.

'Probably the army on helicopter manoeuvres with no thought for anyone else as usual,' Church said. 'Jesus Christ!' He swung the wheel to avoid hitting a motorbike weaving in and out of the traffic. The rider kept glancing up at the sky in panic as he gunned the machine. Cold water washed up Church's spine. The traffic had become more dense, with no space to overtake. He was glad he was in the slow lane, with the hard shoulder available for any drastic evasive action.

Tom was becoming more anxious by the second. 'We must leave this traffic as soon as possible,' he stressed.

'I'm doing the best I can,' Church snapped. 'Do you think I can pick up the car and run with it?'

Ahead of them something big swept across the motorway about thirty feet off the ground. It was just a blur, a block of darkness against the lighter night sky, but its size and speed made Church catch his breath.

'What the hell was that?' he exclaimed.

'My God,' Ruth whispered in awe. 'Was that alive?'

The shock rippled back through the vehicles in a slewing of wheels and a sparking of brake lights. A red fiesta gouged a furrow along the side of a beetle before righting itself. There was a burst of exploding glass as a car in the centre lane clipped the one in front. Both cars fishtailed, but miraculously kept going.

Church was afraid to take his eyes off the road, but he had the awful feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He wound down the windows; above the rumble of traffic he could hear an odd noise, rhythmic, loud, like the rending of thick cloth. After a second or two he suddenly realised what it sounded like: the beating of enormous wings.

He shifted the rearview mirror. Reflected in it was Tom's troubled face, his jaw set hard. 'What's going on?' Church barked. 'You know, don't you?'

Before Tom could answer, a column of fire blazed from the black sky on to a blue Orion, shattering all the windows with one tremendous blast and a split second later, igniting the petrol tank. The car went up like it had been bombed. And then all hell erupted.

A shockwave exploded out, driving chunks of twisted metal and burning plastic like guided missiles, shattering windscreens, careening off roofs and bonnets, imbedding in doors and wings. The vehicles closest to the blast were the first to go. Some were travelling too fast and simply ploughed into the inferno. Others, attempting to avoid it, swerved, clipped other vehicles and set off a complex pattern of ricochets that rippled across the motorway. A lorry, its windscreen a mass of frosted glass, crushed a Peugeot before slamming into the side of a coach. The coach driver fought with the wheel as his vehicle went over on two wheels, then back on the other two, before toppling over completely in a bone-juddering impact that crushed two more cars. Church caught sight of terrified white faces through the glass and felt his stomach churn.

And then there was chaos as vehicles thundered into each other, smashing through the central reservation, piling up twisted wreckage in a deafening Wagnerian cacophony of exploding glass, screeching tyres and rending metal until it seemed all six lanes were filled with death and destruction. The flames leapt from collision to collision, feeding on ruptured petrol tanks, until a wall of fire blazed across the whole of the motorway. Another column of fire lanced down from the heavens, blowing up a living fountain of flame that soared high above their heads.

Their ears rang from the noise, and the sudden, awful smell of thick smoke and petrol engulfed them as Church threw the car on to the hard shoulder; the accident had happened too fast for the vehicles ahead to attempt the same route. Behind them and to the side, cars were still smashing into the carnage. Ruth thought she could hear terrible screams buried in the mounds of wreckage, but she convinced herself it was just an illusion. A juggernaut jackknifed and was lost to the fire. A motorcyclist skidded along at ground level, his arms raised in a futile attempt to ward off the inevitable. And more, and more, too much to bear. They turned their heads away as one, and Church hit the accelerator, launching the car forward. The nearside wheels churned up mud and grass on the bank; the rear end skidded wildly, but he kept his foot to the floor. As they approached the inferno at breakneck speed, Ruth screamed and threw her arms across her face, Tom dropped flat on the seat and Church closed his eyes and whispered a prayer.

The heat made his skin bloom and he half-expected the glass to implode, but then they were through it and racing across the empty motorway ahead.

'God,' Ruth said in shock. She clasped her hands together in her lap to stop them from shaking.

Church slowed down and headed towards one of the emergency phones on the hard shoulder.

'Don't stop!' Tom yelled. 'The worm will still be here. It doesn't give up easily!' Then he added with exasperation, 'Don't you see? It's after us.'

Church swung the car in a wide arc until they faced the wall of fire. Vehicles had backed up on the other side of the central barrier. In the distance came the sound of sirens.

'What are you doing?' Tom snapped.

'I have to see for myself.' Church leaned forward over the wheel and searched the skies. He and Ruth saw it at the same time, just a glimmer at first, high above the billowing grey smoke. But as it came lower it fell into focus and they both froze in their seats. They saw glints of copper and gold and green as the red glare of the fire burnished its scales. A scarlet eye as bright as a brake light. Enormous, leathery wings that beat the air with a slow, heavy rhythm, and a long tail that writhed and twisted behind it as if it had a separate existence. As it swooped low, it opened its mouth wide and belched a gush of golden-orange fire that sprayed into the inferno and sent another torrent of flames spouting high. Its movements were fluid as it soared on the air currents, terrifying and majestic at the same time.

'I don't believe it,' Ruth said in hushed, incredulous tones. Church's head was spinning.

'They have been away too long, excluded against their will. They miss their old places,' said Tom.

'I don't believe it,' Church echoed with a mix of wonder and fear.

Tom rested a hand on his shoulder. 'We have to be away. It will soon realise we've escaped its first strike.'

'What the hell's going on?' Church spun round in a rage. 'You know. Tell us!'

'I told you.' Tom's tone was darker than he intended. 'They've recognised you. They won't let you live.'

'Stop procrastinating—'

Ruth caught his arm, signalling that it wasn't he time or the place. 'Where will we go?' she said in dismay. 'Look at the speed of it. It won't take long to catch us, however fast we're driving.'

'There's only one place we can be assured of safety until dawn comes,' Tom replied. 'But it's still a long journey from here. We have to get the wind behind us and pray to God we reach there first.'

An interview with Steven Erikson

2007-06-05T14:00:00.001-05:00

A most awesome interview with Steven Erikson, author of The Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series.

I've only thus far read the first book in the series, Gardens of the Moon, though I aim to rectify that at some point in the near future.

Bridlington Today - Book Reviews - An interview with Steven Erikson

Storyboarding

2007-06-04T13:25:00.001-05:00

The Truth About Writing blog has an interesting take on storyboarding for writers. We all know movie directors make great use of the concept, and since many of us play out scenes in our book as if they were a movie, why not give the storyboarding idea a try next time?

The Truth About Writing » Blog Archive » Novel Writing Part VI: Scene Storyboarding

A milestone on The Five Elements

2007-06-03T19:44:00.001-05:00

Today I surpassed the 500 page count on my current WIP, The Five Elements. I don't know how significant this is given it's a first, rough draft, but I'll take it.

I'm about done with chapter 22 which then leaves just 23 & 24, so almost there...

Book Review: The Serpent Bride

2007-05-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

I received Sara Douglass' The Serpent Bride as an ARC from Eos. It was both unexpected and exciting b/c I'd forgotten I'd even signed up to receive it and it just looked and sounded good. Unfortunately, in this case, such merits were not nearly enough to win the day.

The Serpent Bride is the first book in a new series but by no means is it the first book to deal with the major characters therein. This winds up being the first problem with this book. We're dropped into a wholly new tale, but, on the same hand, each character has a lot of history that, much to my annoyance, was brought up or referred back to time and time again. Perhaps had I already read the books that came before I would have a different take on this, but The Serpent Bride is my first foray into Douglass' work.

The second problem I had with this book was the writing. I'll give an example or two:

From the first line of Chapter 2:

The man hung naked and vulnerable, his arms outstretched...

I don't need to be told he's "vulnerable"--you've already shown me that based on his being naked, arms outstretched, etc.

Another one:

She turned to face him, her lovely face drawn and pale.

Adverb alert! Besides, what in the world is the word 'lovely' doing here? It adds nothing, and is distracting.

Moving on...

We have a scene where Ishbel (one of the main characters) has doubts about the task set unto her by her god. But wait! The god speaks to her, providing reassurance in a motherly sort of way. Not so bad at the surface, but this god is a serpent god. This god demands her priests cut open the bellies of innocent victims to read the future in their entrails. Why the heck is this serpent god so motherly? It's a dichotomy I couldn't get past, especially as we learn the serpent god actually has a vested interest in fighting the true evil thing which just happens to be waking from a long slumber or is about to break free from his eternal prison... yawn... excuse me, getting tired... need a nap.

Also, Douglass spends a lot--too much--time filling us in on what happened to her characters in all the previous books even though this is supposed to be the start of a new series. It really dragged and was distracting and just plain didn't work for me.

Anyway, I've only scratched the surface of some of the things I didn't like about this book. I made it about 100 pages into it and that was it for me.

Interesting Words from The Serpent Bride

None this time.

Over 1,000 downloads

2007-05-22T13:45:00.001-05:00

About two months ago, I decided to release my first novel, The Hall of the Wood, as a free/shareware download on my web site. As of a day or two ago, I surpassed 1,000 downloads. Kind of cool. Along the way I've gotten some encouraging and dare I say enthusiastic comments. In fact, here's one I found especially nice:

Just a quick note to let you know that I finally printed out the first few chapters of Hall of the Wood, and read them, and LOVE them! Right from the first pages, especially when the Mama-in-law is quietly crying at the table, I was emotionally drawn into the story, and I haven't strayed since. You can seriously paint a vivid picture with your words, and I'm truly surprised this is not published! Printing more out tonight... Thank you again for sharing this.

- Cindy on MySpace

Thanks, Cindy!

I also sometimes wonder why it didn't get picked up. It may not be a great American classic, but I say with some certainty that it's better than some of the other stuff out there. Looking back, I think my presentation had some flaws in it, and perhaps I could have represented myself better to prospective agents.

In any case, writing The Hall of the Wood was a great learning experience and I think that my new project, The Five Elements, is already better for it.

Chapter 20 & 21... done!

2007-05-19T09:52:00.001-05:00

Looks like I skipped making a post for chapter 20, so this update includes writing progress on both chapters 20 and 21 of my work in progress, The Five Elements. 21 is done as of last night, and I'm about a page or two into chapter 22.

I'm also almost on the last page of my outline with only chapters 22, 23, and 24 remaining. I'm almost there!

Book Review: Lord Darcy

2007-05-16T15:03:00.001-05:00

I picked up a copy of Lord Darcyby Randall Garrett a while back as part of my research into a potential future project that would blend the genres of fantasy and mystery. Lord Darcy is just that: alternate historical fiction blended with mystery. It's a world where Richard the Lion-Hearted didn't die on the battlefield, but instead went on to build the foundation of the greatest empire the world had ever seen.

Lord Darcy is Chief Special Investigator for the Duke of Normandy and, as such, he's called in to solve particular crimes perpetrated against members of the aristocracy. Much like Holmes had his Watson, Darcy has his O'Lochlainn: Master Sorcerer Sean O'Lochlainn, to be precise. Magic works in a sort of alchemy meets science manner. There are Laws of Magic and symposiums, all regulated by the government to the point where sorcerers must be licensed to practice else face severe penalties. There is also Black Magic, outlawed and dangerous as one might expect, and which Darcy and O'Lochlainn have a tangle or two with practitioners of the dark form of sorcery.

Lord Darcy (the book, not the character) is a collection of short stories. While some are clever, others are so brief it's hard to immerse oneself in them. There is the novella "Too Many Magicians" which I found kind of droll--much of it is told through dialog and it quickly wore me down and I really found it confusing at times.

Now, Lord Darcy (the character this time) and others come across as flat, and I think this is the biggest flaw with the entire collection. The characters have histories--Darcy himself is in his 40's (I'm guessing)--but we're never given much of a glimpse into his past or anything about his personal life. It's all about the crimes and the ease at which he is able to see what no one else can. This unfortunately is the fatal flaw in this book for me. I never cared a whole lot whether the crime was solved or not, the murdered discovered, or the conspirators brought to justice. Hey, and that's just not good.

Interesting Words from Lord Darcy

I keep a Word doc full of what I refer to as "Interesting Words". They're basically words I mine from books I'm reading. They can be strange words, or cool words, or useful words, or (most often) words I've simply never seen before or whose meaning completely eludes me. I've gotten to taking a piece of blank paper, folding it in half, and using that as a bookmark rather than one of the "real" bookmarks I have cause then I have something to readily write on when I come across one of these words.

Here are the words I mined from Lord Darcy:

arras
pince-nez
chirurgeon
elucidate
cooper
aperitif

Making a Best Seller

2007-05-13T09:55:00.001-05:00

I don't have any time to highlight anything specific (we're off to the Belo Mansion in a little while for Mother's Day brunch), but here's an interesting New York Times' article about the elusive best seller.

Link to The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller - New York Times

R & R

2007-05-12T15:50:00.001-05:00

This is one of those weekends where there just isn't any time to get any writing done. My wife and I spent the morning and early afternoon buying flowers and some other stuff then planting those flowers and we're soon off to meet my brother and his wife for tonight's Brad Paisley concert at Smirnoff.

Tomorrow, of course, is Mother's Day, so we'll be doing the family thing for brunch. When we get home, we need to mow. That takes 4-5 hours (we own 3 acres). By the time all this ends, we'll be tired and I doubt my brain will be working enough to actually get any productive writing in.

But, hey, sometimes some R&R is just what the brain needs to jump back into action come Monday.

Later.

Thinking Blogger Awards

2007-05-05T18:01:00.001-05:00

I've been remiss in announcing that Adrian Swift has awarded me with the Thinking Blogger Award. Thanks, Adrian! It's nice to know someone out there is reading my blog and finding something useful from time to time to boot.

Participation in the Thinking Blogger Award states:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote

So, here are my five blogs that make me think:

1.) Pub Rants, agent Kristin Nelson. Kristin Nelson is a literary agent based in the Denver area of CO. Besides for living in a beautiful area, her blog provides much useful information about what's happening in the pub'ing industry and, most importantly, she provides a lot of insight into the relationship between authors and their agents.

2.) Whatever, author John Scalzi. John Scalzi posts a lot. Most days he hits 2-3 posts easy, sometimes more. That adds up after a while. While every one of his posts doesn't engage me, he has entries of great significance (like this one) which are very informative. Thanks, John!

3.) A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, author J.A. Konrath. I've been following Joe Konrath's career from a distance since I first read about his exploits in a Writer's Digest article he wrote shortly after the first of his Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thriller novels came out. From there, I discovered his blog and web site, and it's been an informative, inspiring ride ever since. Joe has gone on to secure another book deal on top of his original 3 book deal and he's a marketing maniac, recently wrapping up a monumental 600 bookstore tour called The Rusty Nail 600. That's beyond dedication!

4.) Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. Patrick writes some nice fantasy book reviews and does an excellent job of keeping me informed about what new books are out there and what's in the pipe. Also, he holds a lot of book giveaways. I haven't won anything yet, but I keep trying!

5.) Flogging the Quill, author/editor Ray Rhamey. Ray Rhamey has an ongoing critique thing going called "Public Floggings" in which authors send in chapter one of their prospective novel for review and Ray asks the simple question, "Do I turn to page 2?" It's both informative to see other writer's openings and to peruse Ray's comments.

Link to the thinking blog: Thinking Blogger Awards

Call It What It Is

2007-05-05T15:30:00.001-05:00

This is laughable. It's not sci-fi, it's "fleshed-out reality". He's not a sci-fi author, he's a "mythmaker". Oh please. Obviously marketing trying to attract a broader audience. As if they're fooling anyone.

Writers, Directors Fear 'Sci-Fi' Label Like an Attack From Mars

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/news/2007/04/scifighetto_0412

Even when clearly appropriate, film studios and publishers avoid the phrase "science fiction." So do the novelists, film directors and editors in their employ. McCarthy's book, which is about to become a blockbuster -- Oprah Winfrey will tout it on an upcoming TV show as part of her book club -- is just another example of how the powers that be dodge the term, especially when it applies to "serious" fiction or cinema.
You won't find the words "science fiction" in Random House's bio of Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author China Miéville. Instead, he's called the "edgiest mythmaker of the day." Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep? It's classified as comedy, drama, romance and fantasy, but not sci-fi, at Amazon.com.
Even Battlestar Galactica, the flagship show of (hello!) the Sci Fi Channel, keeps a distance. "It's fleshed-out reality," explains executive producer Ronald D. Moore in the sci-fi mag SFX. "It's not in the science-fiction genre."

Source: Writers, Directors Fear 'Sci-Fi' Label Like an Attack From Mars -

Highlight those words

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

A Place for Strangers and Beggars led me to this post about using a highlighter to accentuate particular words in your manuscript. What a great idea.

How often have you wondered how many times you've used the word 'was' or such passive verbs as 'should' or 'could'? This not only takes the guessing out but also allows you to see quite clearly by use of color how often one of those offending words has appeared.

I'm not one to actually print something out and spend valuable time actually using a highlighter, though. Fortunately, MS Word provides a handy, easy way to replace text with its highlighted equivalent.

I'm using Word 2007, but find your "replace" functionality. Under "advanced", select "Format" and "Highlight". Mine looks like (click for bigger image):

Now, I took a sample from The Hall of the Wood. Here it is in all its highlighted glory (I searched for 'was'):

Kayra led her destrier on foot to the front of Jay's Tavern where a sparse crowd of Homewood's citizenry gathered to see the would-be saviors off. The people stood back as she passed, giving the armored knight and her steed a wide berth. As she walked through their midst, Kayra studied as many of their faces as she could, trying to catch a glimpse of what went through their minds. She sensed more than saw the fear that gripped them, and she reminded herself that these people had been through this before, seeing off others only to never see them again. There was no doubt they knew the stakes, for if Goblins had overrun the Hall, Homewood would be their next destination.

Why do they stay then?

The answer was in their faces. These people had made a life from the wilderness, toiling and suffering to make something from nothing. They had made homes for themselves here within Homewood and in the outlying farmlands, raising families and carving out their own niche in the world. They would not simply pick up and leave. Not without a fight. Kayra both admired and pitied them their courage, for she knew if the Goblins came in force, the citizens of Homewood wouldn't stand a chance.

Ahead, Kayra saw Jed, Murik, and Holly. The sorcerer sat on the porch steps, his staff held close as he watched Jed checking over the pack mule Billard had procured for them. Jed's dog was playing with a group of children who found great sport in trying to grab the poor animal's tail. Ash was handling himself well enough as he stayed one step ahead of the young miscreants.

As Kayra drew nearer, a soft tune filled the air and she saw Holly strumming her mandolin with a delicate touch. The bard accompanied the melody with a common song of well-wishing and good luck for those about to embark from home and hearth. Kayra was thankful she had been able to recover the instrument for her friend and herald; it was good to see Holly happy and smiling again. The bard was her charge, her responsibility, and she had felt immeasurably bad about the robbery. She knew the journey thus far had not been easy on her, and Kayra had found herself more than once wishing she had not asked her friend to join her. Holly was a competent song-spinner, and well-traveled, but she remained untested under real pressure and possessed no weaponry skills. Holly hadn't led an easy life, that much Kayra knew if only because the two had been fast friends for so long now. But neither had she led a hard life, and Kayra knew the road ahead might prove more challenging than Holly's ability to cope. There was little to do about it now, though, for Holly was as committed as the rest of them.

Kayra brought Aurum to a halt when she reached her comrades. Holly ceased her playing, smiled, and gestured to the knight's left. Kayra returned a quizzical look, but turned anyway to find a nervous, young girl standing there before her. The girl was slight, probably no more than six years old, and dressed much like the other womenfolk of Homewood in a long sleeved blouse, an ankle length skirt, and toed sandals. She stared up at the knight with fragile eyes framed beneath thin eyebrows and bangs in need of trimming. Kayra sank to one knee.

Looks like I start out OK, then... whoa! That second to last paragraph has 6 instances alone. Maybe that's not so bad, but there's always a better verb than 'was', right?

Try this one some of your own writing. It's bound to help.

Afterburn SF - The Very Best in Speculative Fiction

2007-05-02T08:19:00.001-05:00

Nat Thomson is heading up Afterburn SF now, and they've just released their first issue with him as Executive Editor. They're looking for action, action, action, but well-written, of course. They span fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Looks like some good stuff.

Link to Afterburn SF - The Very Best in Speculative Fiction

The Pyr Newsletter

2007-05-01T20:40:00.001-05:00

Pyr has a newsletter now. Go sign up for it!

Link to Bowing to the Future: We Have Newsletter!

I feel like I won something!

2007-05-01T20:38:00.001-05:00

I feel like I won something cause I sent an email in response to this call for reviewers from Eos Books and they selected me!

So, since I just finished Lord Darcy over the weekend, The Serpent Bride is next up. I have until early June to get through it and hopefully come up with a halfway decent review to send off to Eos and to post here.

I actually received an ARC from I think it was Bantam for Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora, but I say with shame that I put it aside b/c of other commitments at the time and didn't get back to it until long after the promotional period for the book was over.

I can only strive to do better this time.

Link to Eos Books - The Next Chapter: Early Readers Wanted for THE SERPENT BRIDE

Back!

2007-05-01T20:33:00.001-05:00

You probably didn't even know I was gone, but my wife and I just got back yesterday from a long weekend vacation which not coincidentally was also our anniversary. We went out to beautiful Hot Springs, AR where we stayed at the equally beautiful Lookout Point Inn, a B&B I would highly recommend.

So, since getting back, I've been plowing through email (personal, work--my day job--and more work--writing related), trying to catch up on MySpace messages and comments, trying to sift through the many blogs I follow, and catching up on the handful of comments I've gotten here on my own blog. All that from only being gone 4 days!

An excellent review of The Children of Hurin

2007-04-26T19:43:00.001-05:00

Crawford Killian has penned an excellent review of Christopher Tolkien's new novel based on his father's work, The Children of Hurin. The review is called Homesick for Middle Earth.

I highly suggest reading the review.

Afterburn SF - The Very Best in Speculative Fiction

2007-04-24T07:46:00.001-05:00

Huh, imagine that. A zine that wants action. Not literary spew, but honest-to-god, in your face, kicking butt and taking names action! By Crom, it's just beautiful.

Types of stories we want - For Fantasy, we want action-driven traditional fantasy stories - knights, dragons, sorcerers, elves, dwarves, magic swords, skulking thieves...you get the picture. For Science-Fiction, we want exploding spaceships, aliens, cyber-ninjas, rogue AIs, space marines, etc. For Horror, give us blood chilling tales that make us sleep with the lights on.

Link to Afterburn SF - The Very Best in Speculative Fiction

Writer’s quote of the day

2007-04-23T11:15:00.001-05:00

From Zebra Communications free newsletter:

“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

-- Thomas Jefferson

It's International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day

2007-04-23T10:14:00.001-05:00

No idea what the title means exactly, but I'm apparently suffering from allergies (or so my wife tells me; I don't have allergies, I keep telling her), so my head is a little stuffy and my brain a little slow.

John Scalzi offers his take, which is more or less where I found out about this momentous occasion.

I've put my fantasy novel out on my web site for free. That's my contribution as an official webscab.

Link to papersky: Welcome to International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day!

Staffs & Starships

2007-04-23T08:05:00.001-05:00

There's a new genre magazine coming this summer. It's called Staffs & Starships. On their About page they say:

Staffs & Starships will only ever publish stories that are within the science fiction or fantasy genres and will typically only publish stories that are along the lines of hard science fiction and traditional high fantasy. That means that there is a sincere interest in not publishing works that contain a great deal of gore, violence, sex, graphic content, or vulgar language. While all of the above have their place in fiction, they don’t have a place in Staffs & Starships.

If only I wrote short fiction... It looks good for those who do, though.

Link to About Staffs & Starships | JB Dryden Company

Taking Stock

2007-04-19T21:10:00.001-05:00

You know what 'taking stock' means. It's when we stop and look around or think about where we are on a project or what goals we've accomplished or what we have or just where we're at right now.

I'm in my study, the window is open, letting in the cool, early evening breeze. I'm listening to the sounds of toads, frogs, insects--what the heck are those things in my pond making that racket!? The dogs and I just got back from a 3 mile walk which we all thoroughly enjoyed (my wife is still working, otherwise she would have enjoyed it, too). I'm taking the day off work tomorrow to get some stuff done around the house, which also means I should be able to fit some writing in. Speaking of writing, I'm on chapter 21 of my new fantasy novel, The Five Elements, which I'm happy about. I also spent the past few nights re-working the remaining chapters as detailed in my outline, the end result being I knocked it down from a total of 27 chapters to 24, which in turn means I'm closing in on being done with the first draft.

I've also been busy promoting The Hall of the Wood mostly via MySpace. I think I had over 700 downloads as of a few days ago, so I think offering it for free has been a good thing so far (except I've been labeled a 'webscab'. Oh no!).

There's other things I'm taking stock of: I like my day job (even though I'd like to kiss it good-bye and write full-time), I've got a beautiful wife who I love very much, I've got 2 crazy dogs I can't imagine living without, nice house, cars... and I don't have to deal with the VA Tech shootings beyond seeing it on TV or reading about it, both of which I've been doing a lot of lately. The whole tragedy makes me angry and sad. It's hard to imagine what the victims' families are going through. The worst part of the whole thing is I have a hard time seeing what anyone is going to be able to do to prevent another such massacre, and that makes me incredibly frustrated.

So, I'm taking stock. Basically being thankful for what I have going and what I have.

That's it for this time. Good night.

Webscabs!

2007-04-16T13:57:00.001-05:00

I guess I officially fall under the category of "webscab" since I'm offering my first novel, The Hall of the Wood, for free (more or less) on my web site.

What's a "webscab" you ask?

Here's the source from one Howard V. Hendrix and the text from which it is drawn:

I'm also opposed to the increasing presence in our organization of webscabs, who post their creations on the net for free. A scab is someone who works for less than union wages or on non-union terms; more broadly, a scab is someone who feathers his own nest and advances his own career by undercutting the efforts of his fellow workers to gain better pay and working conditions for all. Webscabs claim they're just posting their books for free in an attempt to market and publicize them, but to my mind they're undercutting those of us who aren't giving it away for free and are trying to get publishers to pay a better wage for our hard work.

John Scalzi does a nice job of responding.

My own thoughts are this: It's offending and displays quite nicely the technophobic attitude of Hendrix to say such a thing, but he's entitled to his opinion. It doesn't actually bother me that much, but I think he's obviously missed the boat on what the Internet is all about. Instantaneous sharing, collaboration, marketing... without the need for any middlemen. As Scalzi, Martha Wells, and others point out, we aren't killing the traditional publishing world by offering free content. We're establishing a fan base which instills hunger... hunger for more of our work, which equates to going out or online and buying more books.

Course, I don't have anything pub'ed yet, so, for me, offering my novel for free is a way to garner feedback, spread my name around a bit, and just connect with others trying to accomplish a similar goal.

Hendrix is a dinosaur, and we all know what happened to them.

It's a perfect day for writing

2007-04-07T13:58:00.001-05:00

Just one of those grand ol' days for writing. It's too cold to do anything outside--40 degrees as I write this--and there's nothing else so pressing that it has to get done right now. So, I've been spending the day so far writing away. Almost done with Chapter 20. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can get through it today, but there's a Giants/Dodgers game on at 3pm which I intend to watch. We get MLB Extra Innings on DirecTV for free until tomorrow, so this is a rare opportunity for me to see my team (Giants) on TV, playing the hated Dodgers no less!

Now, back to writing for another hour...

The Hall of the Wood & MySpace

2007-04-05T08:03:00.001-05:00

The great experiment, in which I've put my completed novel, The Hall of the Wood, out on my web site as a free download, continues and, in fact, is going great thanks to MySpace. Here's why:

I've been adding friends. Lots of friends. I'll probably surpass 1,000 today. That may seem like a lot, but guys like JA Konrath have got over 13,000! There's different philosophy's about this. Some people have small, tightly-knit circles of MySpace friends. Some people are more liberal with their self-described add policies. I'm leaning towards the latter for the simple reason that it enhances my exposure to other fantasy fans. I see someone who also reads Terry Brooks, and I add them. I see someone who likes Salvatore, and I add them.

So far, the results have been overwhelmingly positive. I've had over 400 downloads of my novel and my web site has seen a five-fold increase in traffic. I've even had one person who downloaded my book who actually finished it already!

Not only that, but I've met and emailed with some great people. Good fans of fantasy, some of which have enthusiastically responded that they plan to read my book.

I have gotten some spoilers... one guy got on me for giving away "free" stuff. A couple of others were hesitant to add me as a friend--guess they thought I was a spammer selling stuff! I am, sort of, but I'm not spamming anyone beyond adding them as a friend. So far, that in itself has been enough to pique interest in my book.

That's it for now. Good luck with your own writing! I need to get off MySpace and get back to mine...

Hugo Nominations

2007-03-30T12:20:00.001-05:00

Everyone's abuzz about the Hugo Nominations. Let's break the "Novel" category down from the perspective of a budding writer trying to figure out what's being nominated/published these days.

But, first, let me just say it's far more difficult to find the actual listing on the web than it should be. I've seen it all over blogs, but as for an honest to goodness web site... I found this, which led me to this, but, sorry, there's so much info there that, after a quick scan for "Hugo's", I gave up.

Here's the nominations for "Novel" (Best Novel, Worst Novel, Most Mediocre Novel... no idea since all it says is "Novel"):

Michael F. Flynn, Eifelheim (Tor)
Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon (Del Rey)
Charles Stross, Glasshouse(Ace)
Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End (Tor)
Peter Watts, Blindsight (Tor)

At first glance, I've only heard of one of these writers: Naomi Novik. I've also heard of the Temeraire (sp?) series though I have not read any of them. Also, I notice that 3 of the 5 were pub'ed by Tor. Conspiracy, luck of the draw, or are those 3 books just that good? <shrug> No idea.

Let's dig deeper by trying to figure out what each one is about:

1. Michael F. Flynn, Eifelheim(Tor)

A present-day scientific odd couple who are longtime domestic partners, physicist Sharon Nagy and historian Tom Schwoerin, look into the fate of the Black Forest village of the title, which apparently vanished in the plague year 1348, in Flynn's heartbreaking morality play of stranded aliens in medieval Germany.

2. Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon(Del Rey)

In this delightful first novel, the opening salvo of a trilogy, Novik seamlessly blends fantasy into the history of the Napoleonic wars. Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle.

3. Charles Stross, Glasshouse(Ace)

The censorship wars "during which the Curious Yellow virus devastated the network of wormhole gates connecting humanity across the cosmos" are finally over at the start of Hugo-winner Stross's brilliant new novel, set in the same far-future universe as 2005's Accelerando.

Note: I thought these were the "nominations". Apparently this one already won.

4. Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End(Tor)

Set in San Diego, Calif., this hard SF novel from Hugo-winner Vinge (A Deepness in the Sky) offers dazzling computer technology but lacks dramatic tension.

5. Peter Watts, Blindsight(Tor)

Canadian author Watts (Starfish) explores the nature of consciousness in this stimulating hard SF novel, which combines riveting action with a fascinating alien environment.

OK, so I see 4 sci-fi and 1 fantasy. As a fantasy writer, I find this disturbing. Granted, I always thought the Hugo's were intended more for sci-fi than fantasy, anyway, but this also tells me perhaps there isn't enough quality fantasy out there right now.

But, wait! We all hear about the Lynch's and the Martin's and the Erickson's... what about these guys? Scott Lynch garnered himself a "Best New Writer" nomination (which is actually the Campbell award), but the other guys who are making waves... I suppose much like the Oscars, popularity does not necessarily equate to "Oscar gold" as they say.

Despite all of this, what does this mean for us wanna-be writers still slogging away in the pit? It means we have to focus on quality and originality and... and... and... basically doing what we already should be doing...

Penguin Podcast with Patrick Rothfuss

2007-03-27T14:02:00.001-05:00

Penguin's got a podcast featuring author Patrick Rothfuss of The Name of the Wind fame.

You think if I mention Patrick's name enough and the title of his book Penguin will send me a free copy? :-)

Fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss talks about his debut novel, The Name of the Wind.

Source: The Penguin Podcast - Penguin Group (USA)

Interview with Patrick Rothfuss

2007-03-26T20:50:00.001-05:00

Great (long) interview with Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind.

I mean to buy and read it!

From Pat's Fantasy Hotlist:

Rob Bedord and I teamed up yet again for another interview, this time with the man who may have written what will be considered the best fantasy debut of the year, Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind.

Source: Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

An experiment - The Hall of the Wood released in its entirety... for free!

2007-03-25T14:12:00.001-05:00

Let's start with some background...

I wrote The Hall of the Wood a few years ago with every intention of having it published. Like any writer, I had my delusions of grandeur, delusions which were readily tempered by the harsh realities of the publishing world. So, after the list of publishers and agents had been exhausted with no takers, I stuck my book in a drawer and moved on to the next project.

I've since decided, however, that rather than have my book languishing with no purpose that I would instead make it available via my web site as shareware.

What this means is this: I want people to read The Hall of the Wood, so I'm offering it as a free download. If, in the process of reading it said person finds it an enjoyable read or would otherwise like to demonstrate their appreciation, there's a PayPal button on the download page where donations are accepted. $1, $2, $100,000 ( ;-) )--I don't care how much. Any and all gestures would be appreciated! Even if you just want to send me a comment, that will work!

This is a no pressure sales tactic... download for free, then there's no further obligation to do anything. How can you lose?

So what's it about?

Good question. It's a fantasy adventure novel. Nothing too deep, but hopefully a fun read with some humor, some action, some cool happenings, some magic.

Here's the blurb on my web site:

Jed's wife and unborn child are dead, killed by a legacy he dare share with no one. Seeking a reprieve from his guilt, he sets out for his former home, the Ranger Hall of the Wood. Along the way, he discovers all is not well. Aliah Starbough, a friend from Jed's past, sends him a chilling warning: the rangers are dead, the Simarron Forest, thrown into peril. Nearby Homewood has issued a plea for help, a summonings which Kayra Weslin, knight errant, and her chronicler, Holly, answer. Along with Murik Alon Rin'kres, an Eslar sorcerer who harbors a secret purpose all his own, the four attempt to unravel the mystery of the missing rangers. They soon find tales of their disappearance frighteningly untrue.

Sound interesting? Check it out here.

Also, let me know what you think of this move. Thanks.

Chapter 19... done.

2007-03-25T13:39:00.001-05:00

I forgot to send out an update last week after I finished Chapter 19 of The Five Elements, so consider this the update. On to chapter 20...

The next big thing in advertising?

2007-03-25T13:37:00.001-05:00

Joe Konrath blogs about product placement in books. We already see it plenty in TV shows and movies, so why not books, too?

Here's an excerpt:

What if, in ORIGIN, my characters drank Coke? What if, in THE LIST, my hero drove a sporty new Mazda RX7? What if, at the end of each book, there was a nice full color ad for Alberto VO5? And what if each of these companies gave me a few thousand bucks to do this? What if they also distributed the books for me, reaching more readers than I ever could?
Advertisers pay for TV and radio. Advertisers help pay for movie production with product placement. Advertisers make Google worth a billion dollars.
What if advertisers paid authors for product placement in their books? On author websites?

You can argue for literary purity, which is fine, but we can also talk about the dinosaurs who were unable to cope with climate changes and died as a result.

Change is unavoidable; you either adapt to it or perish. The change here is the difficulty booksellers/publishers are having selling books. Store closures, layoffs, reorg's... these things are happening cause they aren't selling enough product to offset their costs. What Joe proposes would help offset some of the costs associated with the production and distribution of books and, even better for consumers, might actually lower the cost of books. Imagine only paying $3.99 for your favorite paperback or something less than the ridiculous $24.99 most hardcovers sell for. Ingenious, I say! Kudos to Joe and less expensive books for the rest of us!

Source: A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Future What Ifs

Spring Reading Challenge

2007-03-23T13:25:00.001-05:00

I'm taking part in the Spring Reading Challenge. Here's my (modest) list... oh, and I'm listening to Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys on CD... does that count? ;-)

Nemesis, Isaac Asimov
Redcoat, Bernard Cornwell
Apex #8, digest mag
Lord Darcy, Randall Garrett
Apex, Fall 2006
F&SF Mag, Mar 2007
Jim Cramer's Real Money, Jim Cramer
F&SF Mag, Apr 2007

I'm supposed to finish reading by Jun 21.

Anyone have any other suggestions should I actually make it through the above???

Heather Harper: How Fast Is Fast?

2007-03-22T11:09:00.001-05:00

Heather Harper says:

My daily goal is not twenty pages if any of you were wondering. It is ten. That is Stephen King's daily quota, and that works just fine for me.

I'd be quite happy with 10/day also, though my goal is a much more humble 2/day (after already working a full day) or 4/day on weekends. ;-)

Source: Heather Harper: How Fast Is Fast?

Common Errors in English

2007-03-22T08:45:00.001-05:00

Cool (and useful) site.

For example, I use 'moreso' every once in a while. Oops, it's actually 'more so'.

“More so” should always be spelled as two distinct words.

There's a plethora of others there!

Link to Common Errors in English

Show and Tell

2007-03-21T15:59:00.001-05:00

Show and Tell over at The Write Snark. Check it out.

Link to Telling and Showing... and Layering « The Write Snark

colds

2007-03-21T08:02:00.001-05:00

Colds are a conspiracy to keep the tissue companies in business. I swear they are.

The Five Elements and I'm sick

2007-03-20T19:21:00.001-05:00

Not much progress on my book, The Five Elements, since my brother's wedding and the subsequent arrival of Spring weather which has awakened the sleeping giant that is our property. Of course, once the giant has been awoken, he requires mowing, like weekly, cause if you let it go for more than a week the grass gets so tall and thick it's murder... I've got a John Deere tractor mower with tres 48" blades and it still sometimes takes mowing some areas twice to get it all cut.

However... it looks great once it's all done. I'll take a pic and share when I'm not reeling from a cold my wife gave me. Head stuffed up, sneezing, just started on a new box of tissues... I'm working at home tomorrow in hopes of kicking it ASAP... come this Sat. I need to mow...

The Privilege of the Sword

2007-03-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner. I liked it, though I have to say I'm split. But, first, a brief summary:

Lady Katherine Talbert goes to live with her Uncle, the Mad Duke, who has it in for Katherine's mother (the Duke's sister) and vows to leave her alone should she commit her daughter to living with him for six months. In that time, the Mad Duke completely changes her perspective on life and her place in it, having her trained as a swords(wo)man. Once she has mastered the sword, she can no longer go back to the life she would have otherwise led. It's as much a coming-of-age story as it is about the sordid politics the Mad Duke has immersed himself in. In the end, it's up to Katherine, with her Uncle's help, to save the day.

Now, on to my analysis...

On one hand, it's written exceptionally well. The writing flows naturally, the prose are very concise, never once does she launch into pages and pages of backstory or what I term 'excessive exposition', which is when a writer goes overboard dealing with a character's internal emotions or conflict. She keeps the story moving along from page-to-page, never really slowing with the exception of a page here and there where she gets a little too much into the intricacies of the lives of the young female aristocrats and their oh-so-harried social lives. The book was a delight to read, especially from the perspective of trying to learn, learn, learn everything I can so I can hopefully someday find success of my own with my own writing. Chalk this one up as a great learning experience.

On the other hand, there's not enough story there for my tastes. Kushner throws in a few smaller plotlines, one of which ties into Katherine's expertise with the sword, but the main plot didn't give me enough to sink my teeth into. I understand there are two other books which came out before The Privilege of the Sword (Swordspoint, The Fall of The Kings), but neither is necessary to understand this one (I haven't read either). So, what we have is Katherine learning the sword, her using her expertise to avenge a friend's honor, and the Duke playing a sort of chess game against one of his main rivals in the city. I'm afraid even that might be pushing it as the third point only comes into play towards the end.

In summary, The Privilege of the Sword is very well written but just didn't give me enough to truly enjoy it.

Interesting Words from The Privilege of the Sword

Here are the words I mined from The Privilege of the Sword:

curios
senescent
effulgence
coiffures
epergne
parquet
lineament
forsythia

"So when are we going to hear from you?", says Lori Perkins.

2007-03-14T20:09:00.001-05:00

It's agents like this that make me wonder why I bother sending out query letters to "established" agents. On the other hand, it's the harsh reality of the biz.

Link to Agent in the Middle: 3/11/07 - 3/18/07

Mr. Market giveth, and Mr. Market taketh away

2007-02-28T08:52:00.001-06:00

I love that saying.

Yesterday was a bad day in the stock market. Today is supposed to be better (I guess we'll find out in about 5 minutes...). I'm not selling a thing. I wish I could buy, to tell you the truth, but there ain't no money sitting around the Marlowe household that can be applied to spur of the moment stock buying. Ah well, what can you do? Borrow against the house and buy stock? Hell no! I'm not that stupid (or daring)...

All of this has nothing to do with writing, of course, other than that it teaches us a vaulable lesson about humanity and the herd mentality and human emotion in general.

Fasten your seat belts. Market is about to open...

Link to CNNMoney.com Pre-Market Report - Feb. 28, 2007

Sinister, indeed

2007-02-27T08:47:00.001-06:00

Everyone's doing this. Not sure why, but here's mine:

Get Your Monster Name

Whatever: The Money Entry 2007: Science Fiction Income

2007-02-26T21:03:00.001-06:00

John Scalzi gives us a good look into his writing income, with an annual breakdown and everything. I can't say I would ever be so forthcoming with my own income, but thanks, John. It's interesting to see how much someone in the field makes.

Link to Whatever: The Money Entry 2007: Science Fiction Income

The First Three Weeks

2007-02-26T15:27:00.001-06:00

Good post from JA Konrath on the First Three Weeks when promoting your book and how it's the before time that's really the most important.

What a weekend

2007-02-26T14:59:00.001-06:00

It's been four or five days since I've done any writing. I feel like I might go into withdrawals at any moment!

Just a busy last half of last week and a busier weekend. My brother stayed over Th. night cause his wedding was Friday. I was the best man, which required me to do some prep work for my toast (which I thought turned out great), and then with all the ceremony, reception, friends and family visiting... I barely had time to get on the laptop and check email let alone blog or actually work on my book.

Here's me doing my best man thing:

However, now I feel energized and ready to dive back into it. It's going to take some reviewing of where I left off, but I'll be back in the saddle tonight (I'm blogging this from work where we're having a major outage cause of a rampant virus!)

President's Day

2007-02-19T07:31:00.001-06:00

Ah, President's Day... a day to honor our past (and current, I suppose) commander-in-chiefs, a day to remember that we live in a great country in great times, a day to not have to go to work!

For some of us, anyway. My wife isn't off, so it's just me and the dogs hanging at the house today. The weather has turned nicer, too--supposed to hit 60 today.

Today is going to be about work despite having the day off, though: writing, get a workout in, work outside.

Now, back to writing...

Chapter 18... done.

2007-02-14T11:39:00.001-06:00

I'm behind by about a week and a half, but Chapter 18 is done as of last night. While I was glad to have finished another chapter, I also started feeling kind of strange afterwards... yeah, you guessed it, I got sick. But not a cold. I ate something real bad--basically a couple of sips of some homemade chicken soup which had festered about a week too long, I guess. Long story short, I was up all night feeling nauseous. Not fun. I'm just now starting to feel a little better. I'm taking the day off work--I'm in no condition to be driving anywhere let alone actually being around other people.

Funny thing... as I was laying on the bathroom floor this morning, waiting for my stomach to finally do its thing, I couldn't help but think what great material I was getting for a vomiting scene! Clammy skin, sweating profusely, freezing my butt off cause we keep the heat down at night and it was in the 20's outside... all good stuff! Kind of sick, I know. You just never know when inspiration will strike!

new Realms of Fantasy arrived... sort of

2007-02-08T13:37:00.001-06:00

I got the latest Realms of Fantasy the other day, or at least I got the cover jacket which said it was my last issue (I've already signed up for another year, so it really isn't). Problem was that the magazine wasn't there--just the jacket. :-(

Is it worth trying to contact RoF about it? I went to their web site, and they still have the current issues as Aug 2006. I didn't think I was going to get much help there. I figured the inside cover where they list all the credits and copyrights and co. info would have an email address or something, so I grabbed the previous issue, but no such luck.

Guess I'm out of options short of writing them a letter.

Major Milestone

2007-02-05T13:51:00.001-06:00

I surpassed 100,000 words or about 400 pages last night on "The Five Elements". It's both satisfying and humbling hitting that magic number. But it's also a bit of a letdown cause I still have a ways to go before I finish.

I'm always reminded of the quote "Writing is a marathon, not a sprint." So true.

Quality Over Quantity

2007-02-04T14:16:00.001-06:00

I intended to blog about this sooner but, stupid me, I didn't save the link and then couldn't find it later. Thanks to Rob Siders, who cataloged all of J.A. Konrath's blog entries and was kind enough to send me the link via email once I'd given him a hint as to what it had been about.

So, Joe wrote this blog entry called Blogging Isn't Temporary. I'm going to reword that title as "Quality Over Quantity", cause that's what I think he's getting at.

Let's take a look:

Blogging, like newspaper and radio, is often mistaken for a disposable form of information. Yet I get lots of hits from Google on old blog posts, and many of them continue to accrue comments.

Pay attention to what you're posting today, you bloggers of blogland. Because it will still be around tomorrow. If your posts are topical, or without purpose, you're not doing yourself a service.

'Topical' meaning irrelevant. He makes a good point here, BUT I have to disagree to some extent. I do agree that blog entries should have substance. If I'm reading a blog about digital TV's, it should tell me something about digital TV's. Same goes for writing... I tend to gloss over writing and writer's blogs I read regularly if their post of the day is to tell me they are or aren't going to watch the Super Bowl (kind of like I just did a few minutes ago! ;-) ).

HOWEVER, putting out such posts about football, the weather, your favorite pet, that you've made such-and-such progress today or no progress at all, personalizes one's blog. It also fosters relationships and, for me, let's me know that other people are going through the same sorts of things I'm going through. Writing isn't easy. What is easy is thinking you're the only one slogging through it, having problems generating ideas or prose, or just plain tired of writing.

Let's look at another quote from Joe:

Think about why you blog, and what purpose it's serving. Look at your last fifty entries. Will they be of any interest to someone in 2017? If not, why do you think they are of any interest to anyone now?

Blogging is what you make of it, sure, but most people use it as a public journal. Joe is suggesting we do more, though, since, as writer's, our blogs are an avenue for marketing ourselves. Couldn't agree more, but I think that marketing includes giving our readers a inlet or view into who and what we are. Our blogs have the power to do that.

Football!

2007-02-04T13:55:00.001-06:00

Alright, I'll admit I'm not as excited about today's game as the subject line might imply, but I've found football a good, lazy Sunday diversion sometimes. Today's game should fit the bill nicely.

On the other hand, it's a beautiful day and I've already gotten some outdoor chores done that I haven't been able to get to cause it's been raining most weekends or just too damn cold to want to be outside for too long.

I've found working outside--really just working with one's hands--is a great way to get away from the computer, get away from software (my day job), get away from writing, just plain get away from having to think!

I'd like to get through 1-2 (25-500 words) written today, though, so I need to think a bit longer...

The 'Whatever'

2007-02-01T20:12:00.001-06:00

John Scalzi is a prolific blogger. His blog is called Whatever or The Whatever. Whatever! :-)

I've subscribed to his blog twice now. The reason I stopped the first time? Cause he blogs a lot. So much that I can't keep up with it. I think the last time it was the blog about his taping bacon to his cat which finally led me to axe it from my RSS list. Sorry, John, but bacon is for the frying pan or for my dogs' stomachs!

So, some time went by, and I'm following his blog again. No bacon that I've seen, but his latest book is out. Looks like some good stuff! I've wanted to check out Old Man's War for some time now, which is his first novel (I think?), but, alas, the reading list is long!

Don't worry, John, I'll get to it!

c-c-c-c-c-cold!!!!

2007-02-01T19:58:00.000-06:00

It's damn cold here in Dallas. I mean 'damn cold'. 33 degrees! I know, I know--that's not really that cold, but it is for Dallas. It rained the latter part of the day today... some areas north of us got a 'wintry mix'. It made for some good working inside weather, but unfortunately it was software work and not writing. :-(

Chapter 17... done!

2007-02-01T19:57:00.001-06:00

I actually finished Ch 17 two nights ago and I've since jumped into Ch 18. According to my goal for the New Year, I was going to crank through one chapter per week until my current novel was complete. At this point, I am behind, but I'm battling on. I'm supposed to have Ch 18 done by this Saturday... that ain't going to happen (I got work all day tomorrow, a niece's b-day on Sat. and other errands to run, etc., etc., yada, yada, yada). BUT, I'm making good progress and even if I don't finish Ch 18 by the end of the week, I will finish it by early next week and I might catch up by getting Ch 19 done by the following Saturday.

I'm taking a break from a long day at work, watching this cool show I Tivo'ed called "Knights and Armor". I just love shows about knights, especially when they're called things like "Knights and Armor". ;-)

Back to my show...

Chapter 16... done!

2007-01-21T10:37:00.001-06:00

Writing Update

Wrapped up Chapter 16 last night leaving 10 more to go! I'm only a week behind at this point...

Advice from The Write Snark

The Write Snark wrote a nice post on layering and making your scene feel "real". Let's take a look at an excerpt:

The setting is important. In fact, without it, you have nothing but characters moving around in boring space. Now, when I first write something, that’s pretty much all I get. A little snappy dialogue if I’m lucky, an idea of what they look like and boring tags like smiled, nodded and smirked. Not a lot of imagination in the beginning.

I don't go to that extreme--I felt my first stab at a scene is (sometimes) colorful, with characters gesturing, moving about, external stimuli like birds chirping, water running, insects humming, or even other people walking around doing whatever. But I agree 100% about this:

In fact, I usually print a hard copy of my work several drafts in and layer atmosphere in last. It gives your writing life. I wouldn’t go crazy with long paragraphs of description, but a smart addition here and there does wonders.

Ah, yes, going back and inserting just the right touches here and there. That's what it's all about, baby. You definitely do not want to add long paragraphs, but throw in a detail here and a detail there. I like her use of the word "layering"--it describes the process perfectly, cause that's what you're doing. First, get it down on paper. The absolutely most important thing--just get it done!!! Then, go back, on the computer screen or printed out--whatever!--and put in the characters' oddities. Maybe this guy is always pushing his glasses back onto his nose, maybe she is always fiddling with her hair. These characters live and breath in a real world--if they're on a street there had better be other people walking around going about their business. Bring things to life with small touches--that's the way to do it.

Some more advice from JA Konrath

OK, I was going to comment on one of JA Konrath's blog postings, but now I can't find it. Oh well. If I find it, I'll let you know.

The Memory of Earth

2007-01-12T15:10:00.001-06:00

So I'd never read anything by Orson Scott Card before. Of course I'd heard of him and seen his books all over, but he was just one of those authors I never quite got around to reading. Now, that misstep has been corrected. I ~~finished~~ put down The Memory of Earth last night. I fully intended to read the book front to back as I always do, but something had been nagging me almost since the beginning. Given that I was a newcomer to Card's work, I was keeping an open mind and had no idea what to expect except that he's a prolific author so his stuff must be good, right? The thing is, the book isn't bad, it's just not good. It's a great idea--benevolent supercomputer controls peoples' minds, keeping them from destroying each other like they did literally 30 or so million years ago on Earth. Except that the computer starts to break down and needs help, so it starts to send certain individuals visions (that's how it communicates) saying more or less that it needs help. Sound good, right?

Except the book really lacks two things: (1) execution and (2) complexity. What I basically mean by #1 is that not enough happens, and when something does happen I was just kind of like, "oh, that's nice". Not nearly enough suspense and the characters really aren't engaging enough. #2 has to do with the author's style. He's too simplistic. He tells me that this character is angry, and this one is sad instead of showing it, or something happens where its painfully obvious what's going on, but Card has to come along and throw in an explanatory sentence just in case you didn't get it. Well, let me tell you, I got it and didn't need the explanation!

Is all of Card's stuff like this? If so, I give the rest a "pass".

Chapter 15... done!

2007-01-12T15:01:00.001-06:00

Finished chapter 15 last night, 6 days later than I wanted to, but, hey, its done. Moving on to the next chapter now.

OK, OK, I missed my self-imposed deadline

2007-01-09T17:34:00.001-06:00

This is why I don't make New Year's Resolutions! I'm still working on Chapter 15, which I wanted done by last Saturday. But the Cowboys were 'playing' (I use the word loosely!), then on Sunday other things came up, and then... you know how it goes. I have been writing, which is the most important thing, and I've got MLK Day off this Monday, so there's hope I'll get back on track. I'm kind of at a tricky part in the current chapter, though, which has slowed progress also. The bad guy is revealing some of his plans, and it has to be told correctly and I have to only reveal so much information, so I'm wading through that right now.

I do know this: I am going to finish this book, no doubt about that. Hopefully it will be in the 3 months I've allocated for it!

New Year's Writing Challenge - Chapter 15... not done yet!

2007-01-06T14:26:00.001-06:00

I've got a thousand words in so far today (after sleeping in a little, eating breakfast, and after my wife and I took the dogs out for a walk), but I'm not quite done with Chapter 15 yet!

My New Year's resolution is to write 1 chapter/week until my current project (a fantasy novel I'm calling The Five Elements) is done. I'm hurrying here... I've only got about 4 hours before we're off to my brother's to watch the Dallas-Seattle game!

Back to writing with a final update on this week's progress when I return from the game tonight!

Windows Live Writer

2007-01-05T11:44:00.001-06:00

Testing out a post using Microsoft's Windows Live Writer.

Here's a pic:

I was using this a while back and stopped for some reason. Maybe I'll give it another shot if this post shows up ok.

Here's the link to get it if you want:

http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

My Goal for the New Year

2007-01-04T09:33:00.000-06:00

Last post I was thinking about setting a goal of 1 chapter per week. I've decided to do it. I'm in the middle of chapter 15 now, with a planned 26 chapters, so 12 chapters = 12 weeks if all goes as planned.

I'll post updates at the end of each week. I expect hell or high water I'll have a chapter done each week, but we'll see how it goes!

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T19:42:00.000-06:00

So much for the holidays... Santa was very good to me and I had a lot of fun at family gatherings and hanging out and doing stuff with my wife. I got tons done around the house and some writing done to boot. I'm listening to my new XM Radio while I type this while I also eye an mp3 audio version of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. I've heard good things about it (both the book itself and the audio version), so hopefully it will live up to expectations.

I've been reading a bit here and there about "setting goals". Not surprising given that we're entering into a new year and traditionally people make their New Year's resolutions. I've never liked the whole concept of New Year's resolutions--probably cause I know most people (including myself) aren't going to stick to them. On the other hand, I am in favor of setting goals, specifically writing goals.

With that in mind, I'm thinking of setting a modest goal of one measly chapter/week. My chapters tend to run about 5,000 words each, so that works out to just over 700 words/day. I know I can't meet that daily goal, not day in and out since my current average has dropped below 500 words/day (can you tell I like numbers?). However, I don't necessarily need to write 700+ words/day--I just need to write roughly 5,000 per week. I don't know if this week should count since it's getting late and tomorrow will be Tuesday, but say starting next week I'm shooting for 1 chapter/week. That will get me finished with the first draft of The Five Elements in about 8 weeks. Meanwhile, I'll make this week a get whatever I can get done sort of week.

Back to the day job tomorrow... wish I could write full-time, but the bills must be paid!

writing during the holidays

2006-12-28T12:59:00.000-06:00

So much for all the writing I thought I was going to do while I'm off work... I've been so occupied with the holidays and having fun and doing some projects around the house that I think I've gotten all of 3,000 words in (and that's being optimistic). I cranked out 1,000 this morning, but that was amidst plenty of email interruptions and other stuff that keeps coming up. Take this online traffic school thing... I got a speeding ticket about a month ago and decided to do traffic school this time. I'm doing it online and while it's convenient, what a pain. You have to sit on each screen for a mandated amount of time before you can move on. Ridiculous!

Anyway, I have to finish up some shelves I'm building in our attic, then maybe I can get back to some writing tonight. The joys of homeownership! Actually, I like the woodworking stuff. Just wish I was better at it. Practice makes perfect, just like in writing, right? ;-)

xmas card from sfcrowsnest.com

2006-12-20T06:51:00.000-06:00

I got a virtual greeting card from sfcrowsnest.com this morning...

kinda cool and weird at the same time

2006-12-19T14:53:00.000-06:00

Kay Kenyon's Bright of the Sky. I like!