Writers are also working even when they appear to be just staring at the wall–or out the window. And I’ve been doing an awful lot of that kind of working on this problem chapter of mine.
Hopefully, my subconscious will throw me a bone soon and I can start making more measurable progress.
Posted in writing | Tagged e-publishing, fantasy, inspiration, rewrites, series, writing | 2 Comments »
When I rewrote the original versions of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE
I was essentially polishing and tightening a story that was already there. Essentially, just applying the improved writing craft I’d learned since I first wrote those stories.
MAGE STORM is turning out to be a different problem. For one thing, I’m making the main character a bit older in this version. And so, some things that worked before, with a younger character, have to be significantly changed for this version because the character’s reactions would just be different.
I’ve been stuck for days on a particularly thorny chapter near the beginning. Actually right around the Key Event (in the Three-Act Story Structure). In case you’re not familiar with that, the key event is what makes the hero (who may have been pushing the story problem off for others to solve up ’til this point) becomes personal to the hero. So, it’s not a trivial place in the story. It’s one of those turning points that need to be really, really right.
It’s not that I haven’t been making progress, though it feels like two steps forward and three sideways, some of the time. But some of what was there just really won’t work that well in this version. And they tie to other places, so any change proliferates.
This isn’t going to be as quick or as easy as I was hoping.
Then again, what is? Ever? And what fun would that be?
Posted in writing | Tagged e-publishing, fantasy, rewrites, series, world building | Leave a Comment »
. . . and a dollar short, as my father would have said. Oh, well. Yesterday was not one of my best. Time to get back on track.
I have some new ideas for the cover art for MAGE STORM. Nothing finalized yet.
And so now it’s time to dive back into the rewrite. I’ve got a scene ahead that needs some real work. And one (one I really like) that might have to be deleted. Maybe I can find a way to make it work. We’ll see.
I’d really like to get most of the way through this rewrite this month. Ultimately, I’d love to be able to put an excerpt and a preorder link in the back of WAR OF MAGIC when I publish that, hopefully in September.
Posted in writing | Tagged Cover Art, e-publishing, fantasy, rewrites, series, writing | Leave a Comment »
WAR OF MAGIC is ready to go out to beta readers.
And now I’m trying to get back into the rewrite of MAGE STORM. I also have to come up with cover art for that very soon. I have an idea of what I want to do for the cover(s). (This will be the first in probably another four-book series.) But I’m having the usual amount of trouble finding background and foreground images.
Working on the cover may be a way to transition into the new story.
Let the cover demos commence.
Posted in writing | Tagged Cover Art, critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, rewrites, sequels, series, writing | 4 Comments »
Second or third pass, depending on how you count. At any rate, I’ve reached the point where continuing to fuss with the WAR OF MAGIC manuscript right now is more likely to do harm than good. Sometimes it’s important to know when to quit–at least for a while.
It’s time for it to go out to my beta readers next week.
And time for me to get back to work on the rewrite of MAGE STORM.
Posted in writing | Tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, writing | Leave a Comment »
Celebration. The process of making an audio book of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE has officially begun.
New world for me, but I’m really excited about this.
Posted in writing | Tagged audio book, e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, series, writing | 2 Comments »
I finished the first pass of revisions on War of Magic.
I moved a chapter and added/revised a little around it to tie it in better to the rest of the story.
Now, for the second pass, I’m trying to address all those annoying little notes I left myself in the first draft. And there is at least one place where I’ll need to write a new scene or two. Something I skipped over in the first draft.
Aiming to have this out to my beta readers at the beginning of June.
Posted in writing | Tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, Young Adult | Leave a Comment »
For me, the first revision pass is mostly about trying to read through the manuscript as much like a reader as possible.
To read in a matter of a couple of weeks what took me months to write. Of course, it’s never quite like a reader would, because:
Still, I am trying to go through it as quickly as I reasonably can, to get a feel for the pacing and find any little inconsistencies that crept in over the time it took to write the first draft.
In the case of WAR OF MAGIC, I’ve also been slowed down by trying to fill in some of the gaps I left in the first draft. Places, mainly, where I knew I needed something, but I just didn’t have a clear enough picture of it in my head. And didn’t want to halt progress on a first draft that had already taken longer than I expected to figure it out.
I’m roughly three-quarters through that first pass. I’ll still have some of the notes I left myself in the first draft–and a few I’ve made in the first round of revisions–to go back and deal with before it’s ready for my beta readers.
Still trying to aim for a September release, though it may be late September.
Posted in writing | Tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, revisions, sequels, series, writing | Leave a Comment »
September 25, 2000 – May 10, 2016
This is the first picture I have of Aliza, before she came to me at 15 months old–and stole my heart from the very first day.
Aliza was a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. Yes, her legs were supposed to be that short. Cardis were originally bred to herd cattle (short legs helped them duck kicks from the cows) and be general farm dogs, able to herd the cattle, guard the farmstead, take care of rodents, and play with the children.
Aliza was all heart–the heart of a lion–from the very beginning. And willing to try anything I asked of her.
For fun, we did a herding instinct test.
She passed.
But what we both enjoyed–and what helped keep me sane during the years I was caregiver for my mother–was agility.
That NJP after her registered name is an agility title–Novice Jumpers Preferred. The CGC stands for Canine Good Citizenship.
She got along with just about every dog or cat she ever met.
She helped raise an abandoned kitten.
She was over the moon when I brought home a cardi boy.
She was not well over the weekend. Very not well on Sunday, refusing to eat. Monday, the vet diagnosed kidney failure. Tuesday I let her go on ahead, though it broke my heart. She was fifteen and a half, and a little bit more.
I will be turning around, looking for her in all her usual places for a long time.
Fly and be free, Miss Ears, my Bear, my best girl. I miss you.
Posted in Real Life | 6 Comments »
So, last week’s promotion was the first time I’d tried a free promotion. Here are the results:
For THE SHAMAN’S CURSE:
I gave away 914 copies, including books in two markets I’d never “sold” to before–Italy and Japan. Now, if only a quarter of those continue on to buy THE VOICE OF PROPHECY, BEYOND THE PROPHECY, and (eventually) WAR OF MAGIC, that will have been well worth it. Especially if they go on to leave reviews.
I’ll have a better idea how well this worked by the middle of next month, when the royalty report for May comes out. Of course, that won’t be complete. I’ve certainly downloaded a free book–or two–and not gotten around to reading it immediately.
BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC didn’t fare quite as well, even at three books for $0.99.
Only 15 sales. Still, hopefully those are new readers of my work. Hopefully they’ll go on to read some of my other books. Or at least leave a review. BSToM doesn’t have any reviews, yet. (Which may be part of the reason it didn’t sell better.)
Posted in writing | Tagged boxed sets, e-publishing, events, fantasy, Learning, marketing, revisions, sales, sequels, series, writing | Leave a Comment »
Meredith Mansfield, Author 