writing | Meredith Mansfield, Author

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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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Lessons Learned About Pre-Orders and a Sale

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, events, fantasy, Learning, marketing, sequels, series, Special Events, writing on November 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My pre-order for THE VOICE OF PROPHECY is only about a week old. I’m sure I’ll learn more before I’m done, but here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The week before Thanksgiving may not be the best time to start a pre-order. Things started off pretty well and then dropped over Thanksgiving, Black Friday, etc. There are signs they may be picking up again, now. Nevertheless, next time I’ll plan around a period with fewer distractions.
Next time, I’ll also allow myself more time. That wasn’t practical this time. I’d already set the release date before Amazon even made pre-orders possible. Getting a book ready to publish just takes a certain amount of time. I’m feeling a bit stressed right now because I have to get the final edits done by Friday or miss Amazon’s deadline. The reason for a deadline ten days before the release when a release without pre-order can be published within 24 hours are best known to Amazon.
Next time, I’ll also allow myself more time to prepare for some ads. I really haven’t had the time to pursue that as I should. Also, this is a really tough time of year to get into the ad queue in most places. The spots are already taken. In fact, next time, I’d like to have the final version ready when I put it up for pre-order so I can concentrate on getting an ad or two.

Sale:

However, I have got one free promotion going. THE SHAMAN’S CURSE will be part of Clean Indie Reads Christmas Sale starting tomorrow. Check it out. There’ll be a lot of books for very good prices.

For one week, the price will go back down to $0.99, the same as the pre-order price for THE VOICE OF PROPHECY.

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It’s Here!

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, edits, fantasy, marketing, pre-order, revisions, sequels, series, writing on November 26, 2014| 3 Comments »

THE VOICE OF PROPHECY is now available for pre-order here.

The pre-order price is just $0.99. That’ll go up when the book goes live on December 15th.

Now the stress begins for me, because I only have until next Friday, the 5th, to get the final version up. That means I’ve got to start the polishing edit now, even though I’d rather let it cool a little longer. And, if I’m going to include a map, I’ve got to get on that, too. This one just isn’t quite good enough:

Oh, and find some time to try to get the word out so people even know it’s available.

And Thanksgiving is at my house tomorrow.

So, yeah, no stress. I think I need to learn one of Vatar’s calming and focusing exercises.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Almost There

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, editing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on November 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’ve finished the revisions on THE VOICE OF PROPHECY and done the formatting for Kindle and Print. I’ve even uploaded and ordered the proof of the print version. (That’ll take a couple of weeks to come.)

Now, that doesn’t mean it’s finished. It’s not. There are several things still to do. It just means that I think it’s close enough that what I do from here on won’t disturb the formatting too much. Also, this will allow me to get the Kindle version up for pre-order in the next couple of days and still make those final changes before it’s actually available.

The major revisions are done, but I still need to do the polishing edit. This is where I go through and try to catch any last minute typos. I may–in fact I plan to–alter some of the dialog beats (little actions that accompany dialog to let the reader know who’s talking). Less facial expressions and more interaction with their environment to ground the dialog will be the goal there. But that’s just changing two or three words for maybe three or four other words. Not something that should alter the formatting. And I’ll be looking for places where I’ve said the same thing twice or said things in too-similar ways. These things can creep in during revisions and need to be killed.

Unfortunately, I need to leave a little time, a week or so, before I start that. Otherwise, I won’t really see the things I need to because I’ll still be too close to it.

Meanwhile, there are a few changes I need to make to the first chapters of BEYOND THE PROPHECY, which will be included at the end as an excerpt. I may spend some time trying to create a professional-looking map to include, too. That’s a potential problem, though. The map wouldn’t affect the formatting of the kindle version, but it could mess up the formatting of the print version. Unless I do something non-standard and put the map at the back. Hmm. Well, we’ll see.

Either way–with or without a map–THE VOICE OF PROPHECY will go live on December 15th.

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I Broke It

Posted in writing, tagged blurbs, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on November 19, 2014| 3 Comments »

Don’t worry. I’ve fixed it again.

What I broke was the end of THE VOICE OF PROPHECY. You see, one of my critique partners had what sounded like a really good idea. I tried it. It didn’t work.

If you’ve seen the blurb:

When the two kinds of magic combine in one person, unexpected things happen.
Sensing the presence of lions is one thing. Any member of the Lion Clan could do that. When Vatar sees the hunt through the eyes of one of the big cats—well, that’s something else altogether. And that’s only the beginning of the unusual manifestations of his magic.

When a mysterious voice only he can hear volunteers ancient wisdom, Vatar knows he’s in trouble. After enduring an Ordeal to prove he isn’t haunted by an Evil Spirit, Vatar thinks he may be possessed after all. Or losing his mind. Or cursed.

He must hide his Talent from his magic-fearing people or face consequences that don’t bear thinking about. But he has to control it in order to keep it secret. And now he’s not sure he can. It’s enough to make him want to give up on magic altogether.

But he’s going to need all his wits—and all the magic he can muster—to defeat those who want to use him and his unique abilities for their own ends.

You know that the main conflict of this story is The Voice. What is it? What can it actually do? And what does it want? Those questions aren’t answered until the very end of the book, though hopefully there’ve been enough clues sprinkled in that the reader knows the answer before my characters overcome their blind spots and preconceptions to figure it out.

The change sounded like a great idea, mostly because it was what the source of The Voice would actually do. But I read through it again yesterday. In the execution it just falls flat. It’s not supposed to be the climax, but I don’t want it to be completely anti-climactic either.

This is where having those online backups helps. I can get back what I had before that change. I won’t be going back completely to the original version. I like some of the things that I added. And I intend to cut some of what was there in the original version. It’ll end up better.

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Deadlines

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, revisions, sequels, series, writing on November 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This week I was reminded of a quote I heard a long time ago.

A worried investor once asked J. P. Morgan for investment advice, saying that his portfolio was keeping him up at night. Morgan’s response was “Sell down to the sleeping point.”

Well, that’s what I’m doing with my purely internal deadlines for THE VOICE OF PROPHECY.

I have every confidence that I’ll have it ready by December 15. That’s the important date and it hasn’t changed. But if I was still trying to put this up for pre-order tomorrw, I wouldn’t be sleeping. (And that just might impact my ability to finish it to my satisfaction. I don’t write as fast or as well when I’m tired.)

Partly, this is due to the rules surrounding pre-orders on Amazon. Specifically, you can’t upload new versions within ten days of the release date. That makes the deadline for having everything as perfect as I can make it December 4th, not just to finish revising and polishing the story, but to get all the formatting done, and to have a polished excerpt from Book 3 to include. (Without pre-order, I’d normally be uploading my final version on the 13th or 14th.)

A lot of it is to do with my own tendency to get a little compulsive about deadlines.

Now, I’m still planning to use pre-order and I very likely will have everything done well before the 4th. But, I’ll have a lot better chance of doing that if I’m not making myself crazy with a pre-order deadline. And as soon as I have it ready, I’ll put it up for pre-order.

Lesson: Next time, I need to plan much farther ahead for a pre-order. Amazon only made pre-orders available for self-publishers after I’d already set the release date for THE IGNORED PROPHECY. I just didn’t really have the time to set myself up for it. I’ll be better able to take it into account with the next one.

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How Many Times Have I Revised This?

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing on November 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s not that I’m tired of revisions. Well, I am beginning to be just slightly tired of this story, but that’s normal at this phase.

No. It’s because I got to a chapter yesterday and just had to sit back in awe. It was a complete hot mess. And how many times have I been through this story?

Well, to be fair, at least part of the reason it was such a mess was those earlier revisions. I’d cut a lot of stuff surrounding these scenes. But that left me with about five mostly unrelated scenes in a single chapter. They weren’t bad scenes on their own. But they didn’t really fit together very well, either. In fact, they felt a bit like being the ball in a pinball game, bouncing off the bumpers.

So, a couple of those scenes are no more. (Don’t worry. THE VOICE OF PROPHECY is still going to be longer than THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.)

What information I need from those scenes will be worked in elsewhere. It’s a bit smoother now, but I’ll want to revisit that chapter before I call the revisions done.

That, and the first five or so chapters. I want to do some judicious pruning there to get to the really good parts sooner.

It’s coming along.

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