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Posts Tagged ‘Multiple Projects’

My 2015 Goals

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

For 2015 my writing goals were:

First: BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3 of the Dual Magics series): Finish the first draft. Revise. Get critiques. Revise again. Polish. Format. And Publish.

Yes.

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Second: 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.

Of those, I only completed “Modgud Gold.”

Modgud Gold Cover New

I guess the other stories will just have to get pushed to next year. Honestly, any time I have to decide between working on a novel-length story and a short story, the novel is likely to win. They’re just more fun.

Third: 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.

Yes, but no luck. Middle grade is a really tough market, whichever way you try to go with it. I have a different plan for this one now. And its three sequels.

Fourth: 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.

Yes. I did decide to just go ahead and publish it.

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Fifth: BOOK 4 of the Dual Magics series (No title yet): Start the first draft for publication likely in 2016.

Yes. And it now has a title–WAR OF MAGIC. And a cover.

WarOfMagic5

Sixth: 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.

Yes. What was DREAMER’S ROSE is now BECOME: TO CATCH THE LIGHTNING. Weird Oz is still fermenting.

I guess I did pretty well against my 2015 goals.

Here’s hoping I do as well next year. I’ll be setting those goals in the next few days.

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The New–Or Old–Bright Shiny

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on October 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

It’s so tempting to run after the new, bright, shiny idea. Every author knows this.

So, officially, I’m working primarily on the final book of the DUAL MAGICS series, WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicBlank

And I am.

But, when I took that short break to refresh my enthusiasm for this project, I was working on the first draft of the first book of another epic fantasy series, BECOME. And that file is still open on my computer. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If, for any reason, I get temporarily stuck on WAR OF MAGIC . . . well, I can still be productive by getting a little work in on BECOME. Just as long as I don’t mix up the characters’ names. I prefer it when my second project is in revision phase, but this can work, too. I’ve done it before.

Now, in my brain-idle time–you know, all those times while your walking the dog or washing dishes or . . . well, you fill in the blanks. Those times when your mind doesn’t have to be completely engaged in whatever you’re doing and you can let your imagination run a little. That’s when a lot of the creation of stories happens–at least for me. Often, that’s when I figure out what happens next in a story I’m working on.

But I already know that for both WAR OF MAGIC and BECOME. So, in those idle times my subconscious has been chewing over another story of mine. One that had been written a few years ago but needs a complete rewrite. And Friday, my subconscious threw up several opening paragraphs to the newer, more epic, version. Which, of course, I put in a new file for this story, MAGE STORM.

So, now, I have three works-in-process. Plus, of course, the final steps to get BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC out there.

By Sword Boxed Set

Yeah, I’m probably crazy. But, I’m still going to focus most of my attention on WAR OF MAGIC.

And all you other stories in the back of my head clamoring for attention, please, please go to sleep. I don’t want you to go away. I’ve jotted down notes on all of you. But I just can’t, right now. Okay?

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Projects

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

As I posted (sort of) on Wednesday Thursday, I’m working my way back into WAR OF MAGIC, the fourth (and final) book in my DUAL MAGICS series.

WarMagicBlank

Having decided on a title, I guess I can go ahead and finish the cover now.

I’m redoing the first couple of chapters because I just didn’t feel they were doing what I wanted or needed for the beginning of this book. This dissatisfaction may have been part of what was keeping me from making progress before. This is where taking a short break can really help.

It doesn’t help much with the other issue, though. Which is that I really think I’m going to have to kill off at least some of my characters at the climax of this one. It’d feel like cheating to get to this huge war and have everyone survive unscathed. But . . . I really don’t want to. Writing is hard, sometimes.

Meanwhile, I’m still tossing around the idea of putting together a boxed set of my three stand-alone young adult novels: FIRE AND EARTH, THE BARD’S GIFT, and DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING. But I’m still stuck on a cover image for these three disparate stories. So, I thought maybe coming up with a title would help. Right now, I’ve got:

BY SWORD, TALE, OR MAGIC:

Three Girls Who Changed Their Worlds

(Referring to the different weapons used by the heroines of these stories.) Not sure about that yet, though.

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Boxed Set Covers

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

So, having decided to explore boxed sets, the next logical step was to figure out how to make a boxed set cover.

The only “boxed set” I currently have is the CHIMERIA OMNIBUS, which includes both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER. The original cover was a sort of mash-up of the individual covers, but flat, like a regular book cover.

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743This seemed like the logical place to start learning how to take this cover and turn it into a boxed set. And . . . I did!

Chimeria Box 2Yes, I did make a couple of changes to the cover, too. It doesn’t make much sense to have the individual book titles both on the cover and on the spine.

Now, on to considering a possible boxed set of my three young adult stand-alone novels. The sticking point here is in figuring out a cover image that works for:

I don’t think that’s going to be as easy as figuring out how to make a boxed set cover.

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Boxed Sets

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

BookBub Partners put out a very interesting post on boxed sets this week. It’s made me think.

There’s already, sort of, a boxed set of the first two books in the Chimeria series:

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743It probably needs a new cover–or, well, at least to have this cover made to look more like a real boxed set. (There are sites to help you do that.)

I’ve always intended to do a boxed set of the Dual Magics series after I finish it. This post has made me think a little harder about exactly how I’m going to go about that.

I had never before considered the ideas of a boxed set of the first books in different series (which wouldn’t work anyway until I have another series or two out) or of doing a boxed set of unrelated stand alone novels, like my three YA stories–FIRE AND EARTH, THE BARD’S GIFT, and DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING. That . . . sounds kind of interesting, actually.

There’s always another angle to think about. That’s part of what keeps this indie author thing interesting.

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Progress

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I’ve made good progress on the very rough draft of BECOME, the first book of my next epic fantasy series. But I’m starting to get the itch to go back to WAR OF MAGIC, the final book of the DUAL MAGICS series.
WarMagicBlank

This is exactly what I was hoping for when I took a short break to work on something else. Getting my enthusiasm for a project I’ve been working on for so long back up to the level I need to make the climax work.

I may work on the two in tandem for a while. I’ve done that before and the protagonists and stories are enough different that I think the risk of calling Vatar by Gaian’s name, or vice versa, is probably small. But I expect the momentum to carry me forward on WAR OF MAGIC before long.

Here’s a very early look at the first page of Become. This is part of the prologue. Gaian’s very first appearance shown from the point of view of one of his antagonists:

Queen Carala hung on tight to the railing at the top of the staircase for balance and scowled at the spectacle below her, clearly visible through the great doors, which had been flung wide for the occasion. A procession of priestesses, led by the High Priestess herself, climbed sedately up the broad steps of the Palace and were met by Carala’s husband of less than a year, Leradan, the Year King.

If she weren’t so heavily pregnant, she’d be down there herself. Not to welcome the priestesses, but to monitor whatever foolish promises Leradan made to them. Not that she’d have been able to sway him. Goddess knew she’d talked herself hoarse last night trying. But no one could change that man’s mind once he’d made it up. And he’d decided to let himself be thoroughly gulled about this.

Carala sighed. Much as she wanted to be there, it took two of her husband’s strongest guardsmen to see her safely down the steep staircase at this point. She’d just have to rely on her half-sister, Lady Damina, to let her know what ridiculous oaths the High Priestess extracted from Leradan.

Below, the High Priestess accepted a small, blanket-wrapped bundle from one of the other priestesses and passed it to Leradan. The infant squalled at the transfer and Leradan, blast the man, put the baby on his shoulder and rocked, completely oblivious to the effect on his dignity. Not that the demonstration that he would be a good father wasn’t reassuring. Carala placed a hand on her own swollen belly. But there was a time and place for everything. And the great hall, with the doors wide open to the whole kingdom, was not the place.

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New Ideas

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

For some reason, it always seems to happen this way. (I think it’s just that this is the oil that gets my subconscious story factory running.)

I’m working on part of a rough draft of the next series before I go back (soon) and write the final book in the current series. So, of course, now is the time I start getting ideas for new stories. Stories that I cannot possibly write this year and probably not next.

I just jot the ideas down and file them away in my story ideas folder. Which isn’t exactly empty to begin with. Well, I’m not likely to run out of things to write for a while.

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Brief Respite

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Well after bashing my head against the keyboard repeatedly, I’ve decided that the problem with getting back into Book 4 (probably to be titled WAR MAGIC) is that I just need to give myself a break. I need to let my creative battery recharge.

Because, let’s face it, if I’m not enthusiastic about what I’m writing, that’s going to show. It’s not that I don’t love the characters, world, and story of the DUAL MAGICS series. It’s that I’ve been living with it 24/7 for at least two years. And the story has been running around in my head for much longer than that. (This is the third version. The first book had been written in full twice, once very badly, once in a misguided attempt to make it YA. And the second had been written all the way through once, again, very badly. It took two complete rewrites of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and one of THE VOICE OF PROPHECY before I felt they were ready for the world to see them.)

Even during breaks–like while a manuscript was cooling before revisions or while it was out with my beta readers–I’ve mostly been working on either the tie-in short stories or the next book in the series. Or just giving another editing to pass to something I’d written earlier and formatting it for Amazon, like DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING, which was actually written just before I started on the rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

Sometimes, you can recharge by taking a vacation. That’s probably something I need to do. It’s a great way to get inspiration, among other things. But it’s not going to be this year. Or probably next.

But there are other ways to recharge the creative batteries. Fortunately, one of them is to allow your mind to play with other toys. So, even though I don’t have a first draft, yet, Book 4 does have a cover. (Well, except for the title, etc., anyway.)

WarMagicBlankAnother way I’m going to recharge is by playing in another sandbox for a little while. So I’ve given myself permission to spend a little time in the world of my next epic fantasy series. Not for long. But it’s amazing how much more writing I can get done on something new. I need to bring that “new” energy back to the final book of the DUAL MAGICS series. Maybe this is the way to do that.

This new series doesn’t have a name yet. I’m playing with THE GODDESS’S OWN, but we’ll see. It’s either a trilogy or a duology. The first book is currently titled BECOME: TO CATCH THE LIGHTNING. We’ll see about that, too. It’s sort of a Hercules story, turned completely–or almost completely–upside down. (Hint: The hero’s not the son of the sky god (like Hercules’s father, Zeus), but of the mother-earth goddess.)

So, Book 4 is coming. But I think it will actually come faster–and better–for just a little break to let my imagination play with other toys.

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Slow Start

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Okay, so this week I’ve mostly been trying to get back into the first draft of the fourth book in the DUAL MAGICS series, likely to be titled WAR OF MAGIC or possibly WAR MAGIC. Maybe WARRIOR OF MAGIC. (But maybe not any of those if I get a better idea. Titles are hard.)

I posted before about the necessary shift in mind set from editing to writing a first draft. The first draft is just to get the story down. I’m not supposed to worry about whether I’ve got the right word or even whether a sentence is awkward. Or whether I’ve put in enough description or too little. Or whether, at the start of the fourth book, readers have enough of a re-introduction to the characters and setting. And a million other things that I worry very much about when I’m revising or editing. Which, of course, is what I was most recently doing–revising and editing the final draft of BEYOND THE PROPHECY.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????I’ve had more trouble than usual getting started again with this story–and it’s because I made a mistake.

When I stopped work on this first draft to do the final revision and polishing edit on BEYOND THE PROPHECY, I didn’t stop when I had a good vision of what would happen in the next chapter, as I should have. No, I stopped at a place where I had to make a time jump (over some boring bits) and I had only a vague idea of what came immediately next. That was a very bad idea. It made it doubly hard to start building some momentum.

I have to keep reminding myself that this draft doesn’t have to be good–or even complete–so long as it gets the story down so I can fix it.

I have–finally–gotten one chapter down. (Though even then, I had to just put a note in saying “More here” and move past a spot that had me stopped for a day.)

Now, I’m going to start getting away from the planning and more into that war promised in the (probable) title. Hopefully, that should let me build up some momentum.

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Transitioning Back to First Draft Mode

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

BEYOND THE PROPHECY is all set.

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Final draft uploaded for pre-order. Print files formatted and the proof ordered. (The print version will go live as soon as I’ve checked the proof and made any adjustments necessary.) I also have to get busy setting up some promotions and maybe trying to get a few early reviews.

So, now it’s time to transition back from revisions and edits to the first draft of Book 4 (likely to be titled either WAR OF MAGIC or MAGIC’S WARRIOR). This will be the last book of the DUAL MAGICS series.

This transition always takes a few days because it’s a complete shift in thinking. I have to stop worrying whether that’s the precisely right word. Even stop worrying about getting the details right. The first draft is to get the story down. Nothing else.

It always takes me a few days to make that shift. Right now, I’m reading through what I’ve already written (while BEYOND THE PROPHECY was with my beta readers). That’s necessary, but the temptation to edit and revise is still strong.

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