December | 2014 | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Archive for December, 2014

2015 Writing Goals

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Middle Grade, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing, Young Adult on December 31, 2014| 2 Comments »

For 2015 my writing goals are:

BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3 of the Dual Magics series): Finish the first draft. Revise. Get critiques. Revise again. Polish. Format. And Publish.
Tie-in Dual Magics short stories: “Modgud Gold”, “Hunter and Huntress”, possibly “The Seeker”. These stories expand on the events of the novels. Some things that there just wasn’t room for in the novels. Often from the point of view of side characters.
MAGE STORM: my middle grade adventure fantasy. There’ll be at least two periods when I need to let BEYOND THE PROPHECY rest so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. During one of those, I want to go back over this story. Possibly change the age of the main character. Then give it a try with a small press.
DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING: This one is complete and ready to go. I’ll query it for a little longer, but there’s also a good chance I’ll just decide to go ahead and publish it myself.
BOOK 4 of the Dual Magics series (No title yet): Start the first draft for publication likely in 2016.
At some point, I’m likely going to need to go play in a different sandbox for a while to keep things fresh. That will likely mean work on either DREAMER’S ROSE or that weird Oz story that’s been tickling around in the back of my brain for a while now.

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2014 Writing Goals–How I Did

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Goals, Learning, Multiple Projects, revisions, writing, Young Adult on December 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Well, it’s that time of year. Time to look back and see how well–or poorly–I did in meeting my goals this year and look ahead to what I want to accomplish next year.

My 2014 goals were:

Publish THE BARD’S GIFT.Done.
Query my middle grade novel, MAGE STORM. Well, I did. This one will turn up again on my 2015 goals.
Complete and publish THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and THE IGNORED PROPHECY (since retitled THE VOICE OF PROPHECY). Oh, yes.
Complete what was then called MAGIC AND POWER–now DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING and query that. Yes. This one will also turn up again on my 2015 goals.
Write something new. Well, I’ve started BEYOND THE PROPHECY. I really think I meant something in an entirely different world, though. Maybe next year.
Continue to learn and improve. Always.

All in all, I think I did quite well on last year’s goals. Wednesday, I’ll lay out my goals for next year.

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Christmas Crush–and Fails

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Multiple Projects, Real Life on December 21, 2014| 2 Comments »

The Voice of Prophecy is living up to my dreams for it, so far. Thank you, all my wonderful readers.

Meanwhile, I’m squeezing work on Book 3, Beyond the Prophecy in with the final Christmas preparations. There’s still a lot to do. Handmade gifts that still need to be finished. And I haven’t even started the baking, yet.

And, of course, there’ve been more than the usual number of Christmas fails.

Top of that list has to be the tree that I’d set up in my office. I really enjoyed having my own little Christmas tree in here while I write. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of that tree, either before–or after. But it was basically like this one, but red rather than silver:

Except, of course, it was decorated differently. This one had all the dog and cat ornaments and a handful of hummingbird ornaments on it. Yes, I said had. Thursday–one week before Christmas–I came home to find that tree on the floor. It had been set up on the auxiliary desk, which now looks like this:

(Having already cleared the space for it, I combed the Christmas closet for something else seasonal to put there after the disaster.)

Apparently, the base of the tree had cracked and wasn’t able to support the weight. Fortunately, only one hummingbird appears to be terminal–unless the other wing turns up somewhere, anyway.

Meanwhile, the projects. I’ve still got one of these to finish embroidering–and put that and another set of ornaments together.

That’s doable. I’ve been putting together some little chain mail ornaments as a back up, just in case.

The one that’s giving me real trouble is this one, which I’d intended as a gift. The problem is: it’s a non-standard size, so I haven’t been able to find a frame for it. I wasn’t worried. There is–or was–a very good art supply store in town. I figured I could always swing by and pick up some stretcher bars and make a frame. I’ve done it before. Only that store has recently moved–into a place that’s almost impossible to find at the back of an industrial park. (What were they thinking?) And they reduced their stock before the move. So . . . no stretcher bars. I may, possibly, be able to put it together as a throw pillow, if there’s time.

On the subject of Christmas fails, I thought I’d throw these two up, too, even though they’re from a couple of decades ago.

My own designs. They probably don’t look bad enough to be called fails–until I tell you that “the softball” is about five inches in diameter and the “chinese lantern” is seven inches long. Yeah, they don’t really quite work on a Christmas tree.

Back to work.

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Reviews

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, reviews, sequels, series, writing on December 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

The Voice of Prophecy

only became available three days ago and it’s already got four reviews. Good ones, too.

This makes me very happy. It’s really hard to overestimate the importance of reviews to a writer–especially an indie author. Reviews act as a kind of social validation for new readers that other people have read this and liked it. It makes it just that bit more likely that they’ll buy it.

They might help the book get onto certain lists at Amazon, which increases visibility. (The Voice of Prophecy has been doing well on both the Top 100 and Hot New Releases lists for Sword and Sorcery and Epic Fantasy, too.)

Reviews also help to make certain types of ads possible. Most of the better performing sites won’t even consider a book without a minimum number of reviews. Again, visibility.

The less-good reviews and even a (hopefully) few bad reviews will come, too. I try to take those philosophically. No story works for everyone. And the bad reviews serve to validate the good ones–or so they say.

These reviews are a great early Christmas gift. So, thank you to everyone who takes the time to leave a review.

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Getting Back Into the Swing

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Real Life, sequels, series, writing on December 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The Voice of Prophecy is all set to release tomorrow.

In celebration, The Shaman’s Curse will be free tomorrow only. So, if you haven’t read it, here’s your chance.

And now I’m beginning to build up momentum on the third book in the series, currently titled Beyond the Prophecy (subject to change, just like The Ignored Prophecy became The Voice of Prophecy).

I’m on the second scene of Chapter 11: Escape. (See how I just threw that title in there to pique your interest? Who’s escaping? And from what?) And I’m really excited about a couple of the upcoming chapters. So, full steam ahead–or at least as much as the demands of the season permit. I’ve got a couple of weeks off coming up, so I hopefully will make some real progress during that time. (Of course, there are some other projects around the house that need to get done–or at least started–during that time, too.)

Back to work, now. Well, after I take the dogs out, anyway.

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Shifting Gears

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, sequels, series, writing on December 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Now that The Voice of Prophecy is all set to be sent out into the world on Monday

–and I’ve had a short break–it’s time to get back to work on the first draft of the third book in the series, Beyond the Prophecy.

I started by reading through the first ten chapters I’d already drafted to get back into that story. There’s a problem with that, though. I had to restrain myself from revising as I went. Editor brain was still active and that won’t work for writing a first draft. I settled for making a couple of notes.

I did start writing Chapter 11. Barely. Like, I’ve written one whole sentence. Still, it’s a start. The shift from editing to drafting is always hard.

I have some really good ideas about what happens in some of the chapters immediately ahead though. I can already feel the excitement starting to build.

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Cover Reveal – Prophecy of the Six

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, fantasy, sequels, series, writing on December 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Three of my writing friends also have a book launching soon. Also the second book in a series. And it even also has Prophecy in the title. I’ve had a chance to read both books in this series and they’re really, really good.

I’m excited to host the Cover Reveal of Prophecy of the Six, Book Two of the Prophecy Breakers series by Sheena Boekweg, Melanie Crouse, and Sabrina West. The cover was designed by Darren Boekweg of Boekweg Books Publishing and Cover Design.

We didn’t know how much we had to gain by being infected with magic. We found a purpose, we found a destiny, and we found each other.

But California isn’t the new start we were promised. Dr. Child may be gone, but now we must face a military school, dangerous secrets, and a prophecy that has half the country wanting us dead. When the line between enemies and allies blurs, Sam, Juliette, Ana and I need to choose between love and sanity, between magic and survival.

Paradise has a cost. When the authorities are suddenly giving you whatever you want, they’re going to demand everything in return. And that’s a price not all of us are strong enough to pay.

Freedom feels like safety, but it’s not. There are no walls here. No place they won’t be coming for us.

No place we won’t destroy.

About Alchemy

Book 1 in the Prophecy Breakers series

We didn’t know how much we had to lose until we were infected with magic. Sam was in love, Juliette was the main caretaker for her siblings, and Ana and her dad planned the best parties in New York. But we lost it all when we were shipped to Chebeague, an exclusive school for newly infected mages.

Everyone knows about the mages, those who survive the infection and end up with magical abilities. We’ve seen the power of magic, the high-paying jobs, and the world fame. But we never saw the cost. We didn’t know we’d be forced to give up everything: sanity, family, even the right to talk on the phone.

We didn’t know mage was just another word for prisoner.

In 2014, Alchemy was named on of the top 50 self-published books worth reading. On December 8,9, and 10th you can buy it for free on Amazon.

For a limited time, Funny Tragic, Crazy Magic and Hidden Magic are also available for free.

About the Authors

Sheena Boekweg, Melanie Crouse, and Sabrina West met online, (which isn’t as weird as it used to be) and blog together at The Prosers.

Their first collaborative project, Alchemy (Prophecy Breakers #1), was voted one of the top fifty self published novels worth reading by Indie Authorland.

Sheena Boekweg is the author of Funny Tragic Crazy Magic, and The Waxling (forthcoming). She is a mom of three from Utah and is prepared to survive a zombie apocalypse.

As a mom of four, Melanie Crouse thinks that parenthood is exactly like a zombie apocalypse. Melanie Crouse is the author of excuse notes, thank you cards, and the novel Hidden Magic.

Sabrina West is a writer and wildlife biologist living in San Diego, California. Her short fiction has appeared in markets such as Cover of Darkness; Strange, Weird and Wonderful Magazine; and Kayelle Press’s Night Terrors Anthology.

We love hearing from our readers, so drop us a line at theprophecybreakers@boekwegbooks.com, on facebook, twitter, or Internet stalking Benedict Cumberbatch.

Add it on Goodreads HERE

There’s also a rafflecopter giveaway. Unfortunately, that code is incompatible with WordPress. Just go over to The Prosers to enter.

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All Set

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, Real Life, sequels, series, writing on December 7, 2014| 2 Comments »

The Voice of Prophecy is all ready to go.

The final files have been uploaded for the Kindle version, which will release on December 15th. You can get it for only $0.99 during the pre-order.

Yesterday, I approved the proof for the print version. That will most likely be available from Amazon sometime this week (Wednesday to Friday).

So, this weekend, I’ve been taking a little time to decompress before diving back into Book 3, Beyond the Prophecy. (It always takes a few days to turn off the editor part of my brain so I can write a first draft again.)

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on the Christmas decorating.

The pre-lit strand on this tree burned out. (Actually, it was the controller that used to make it do interesting effects.) I’ve supplemented for this year with what I had. For next year, I think I’ll get another rope light. I like the garland effect.

Many of those ornaments are hand made, either by me or my mother.

Btw, those are just empty boxes underneath. Just part of the decorations. The tree just always looks more finished with something under it.

This little one sits in the corner next to the entertainment center. That’s actually also another (much shorter) rope light strand. I have no idea why it photographed that way. Notice the very old-style tree topper (in pink). That used to be on my Christmas tree when I was little. (My very own little tree in my room because that was the only way they could get me away from the lighted Christmas tree in the living room to put me to bed.)

Oh, and those stockings hanging next to it? Those were knitted for my brother and me for our first Christmases by a family friend. It’s all about tradition in this house.

This fiber-optic tree sits on the other side of the entertainment center. (I love fiber optics.)

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Yay!

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, edits, events, fantasy, pre-orders, Real Life, revisions, sequels, series, writing on December 3, 2014| 2 Comments »

This is a good morning, despite the rain and the fact that I’m going to have to go out and stand in it in about an hour.

The pre-order for THE VOICE OF PROPHECY is working!

As of this morning, TVoP is #18 in Sword and Sorcery Hot New Releases, #23 in Epic Fantasy Hot New Releases, and #78 on the Amazon Best Sellers list for Sword and Sorcery.

This makes me very happy.

Also, I’ve finished the polishing edit. I just want to revisit a couple of chapters that required a little more than average revision and then I can upload the final file. So everything will be done well before Amazon’s deadline.

Then I can get back to work on the first draft of Book 3, BEYOND THE PROPHECY.

Also, the Clean Indie Reads Holiday Sale is still going on. THE SHAMAN’S CURSE is only $0.99 thru December 7th.

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