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Posts Tagged ‘research’

Blog Changes

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I attended a webinar yesterday evening about creating successful author websites. I haven’t begun to internalize all the information, yet, but I’m starting to plan some changes to this blog. Some things covered in the webinar won’t work for me. In the first place, this is a blog, not a full-on website. Still, there are things I can do better.

The first change is planned for next week. I bet a lot of you hadn’t discovered some of the other pages on this blog. (In fact, WordPress’s stats tell me this is true.) If you look up at top, you’ll see that there are other pages. One has just been retitled “Free Stories” (used to be just “Stories”). Okay, right now, there’s only one story there. I was already planning to put another one up next week, anyway. (Just in time for the end of the Mayan calendar, next week be on the lookout for “Apocalypse Cruise”.)

Now, I’m trying to plan a bit more than that. I’m going to look into (and I’m not sure yet how well WordPress supports this) providing a couple of download buttons for those stories (Kindle and ePub). That way, even though both stories are short, you don’t have to read them on my blog. I’m also going to experiment with that audio file thing again. Precisely because these stories are short they may be a really good place to start. And, again, I’m not sure how well WordPress supports making those audio files downloadable.

There’ll probably be some other free stuff from time to time as well.

Updates will still be Wednesdays and Sundays, though. That schedule seems to work pretty well for me.

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My Wildest Moment

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on November 14, 2012| 4 Comments »

Today, I’m joining in Krystal Wade’s Wildest Moments Blogfest celebrating the publication of Wilde’s Meadow, the third of her Darkness Falls trilogy. 

Now, I haven’t exactly led a wild and crazy life. Tame, really, in many ways–especially right now as caregiver for my elderly mother. Still, there have been moments. And those moments seem disproportionately to have happened away from home. Hmm.

When I started thinking about this post, I thought I’d write about a certain cruise to Southeast Alaska I took a number of years ago. No, it wasn’t that kind of cruise. This was on a really little boat, the MV Sea Bird (run by Special Expeditions) and we got off the boat, usually by zodiac and then wading ashore at least once every day.

 

This is an example from that cruise. We had to cross the river on this bridge, which was really only a log. The crew did put the rope up for use to hold onto. Among the things I did on that cruise:

  1. Take a helicopter up to the top of a glacier and walk around on it (miraculously without falling). By the way, there is absolutely no color like the crystaline, aquamarine blue in the depths of a glacier.
  2. Go ashore on Admiralty Island to look for brown bear. We did watch a three-year-old fishing for salmon. That is also the place where I did fall into the river.
  3. Go out in a zodiac among humpback whales.
  4. Go ashore in Juneau on a Saturday night. It gets rowdy in Juneau on Saturday night.

Lots of inspiration there. My current story involves fjords and glaciers. I’ve been in fjords (although we call them inlets on this coast) and I’ve seen and even walked on glaciers.

By the way, the photo at the top of this blog was taken on another cruise with the same company, this time aboard the MV Sea Lion, in Princess Louisa Inlet, British Columbia. That’s someplace the big cruise ships can’t go. Even the Sea Lion, with a draft of less than ten feet, can only cross the sandbar at the mouth of the inlet at high tide. Once we were in, we were there for twelve hours. That place was the inspiration for the world building for my third novel, DREAMER’S ROSE. (Someday, I’m going to go back and rewrite that story.)

That’s what I was going to blog about, but thinking about that reminded me of an earlier trip. This one wasn’t a cruise. It was a trip with the Nature Conservancy to Santa Cruz Island. One day, we boated from Prisoners’ Harbor to Pelican Bay (no not that Pelican Bay), where we climbed a trail up the face of a nearly vertical cliff. Eek. (I have a more than moderate fear of heights, carefully instilled by my mother.)

We spent an interesting morning at Pelican Bay and then had a choice either to boat back to Prisoners’ Harbor (from which it was a short jeep ride or walk back to the ranch, where we were staying) or to walk back. I still can’t say whether I decided to walk back because I really wanted to see more of the island (I did) or because I didn’t want to go back down that cliffside trail. (Down is always harder than up. You’re looking right at where you’re going to fall.)

What I didn’t know at the time was that the “trail” we’d be taking had been created by feral sheep (which had all been removed from the island by that time) and was maintained by feral pigs (which hadn’t). Both four-legged creatures with a low center of gravity and little imagination. There were places on that “trail” that really had my heart pounding. Places where I had to scramble over rocks with nothing to hold onto where a slip would likely have sent me over the cliff into the ocean. Places where I could look straight down and watch the bright orange garibaldi’s (California’s state marine fish) swimming in the rock-strewn cove below.

I don’t think I relaxed once until we got back to the jeeps. And yet, I have seldom been more aware of my surroundings and I saw a side of the island I would never have seen otherwise. I’m glad I did it. (I don’t think I’d do it again, though.)

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From Romance to Capers

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 24, 2012| 4 Comments »

My last post was about rereading Lois McMaster Bujold’s A CIVIL AFFAIR to help me work out some of the kinks in the romance part of my paranormal romance BLOOD IS THICKER. I’m still working on BLOOD IS THICKER, though I’m in the last quarter, now and my focus has shifted.

Now I’m working on a little mini-caper plot point. In this case, I haven’t read or re-read anything exactly. I’ve relied more on this episode of Writing Excuses. This caper will only last through a couple of chapters, but hopefully adds a bit of action and suspense to the story leading up to the action surrounding the final resolution.

This is something new for me. I’ve written action scenes before, but never tried anything resembling a caper before. I’m sure that this will need more tweaking in the next draft. That’s okay. It’s good to try new things and stretch yourself a bit.

Meanwhile, I’ve also started the second draft of THE BARD’S GIFT, which is a young adult alternate history. It’s interesting to be working on two such different stories at the same time. We’ll see how that works out, too.

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Reading as Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

As I’ve been working through the first round of revisions to BLOOD IS THICKER, I’ve also been rereading parts of A CIVIL CAMPAIGN by Lois McMaster Bujold. Not just because it’s my favorite of the Vorkosigan Saga books, though it is. Also because it’s a good model for how a smart man can blow up his own love life–and then fix it again by realizing his own mistake.

That’s one of the things that happens in BLOOD WILL TELL, although obviously in a very different way, and it didn’t come off quite right in the first draft. It was too flat and a bit stereotypical. So, how to fix it. Well, it never hurts to try to pick up pointers from somebody who handled a similar situation extremely well.

I think I’ve made it better. It still may need some tweaking, but that’s what revisions are for.

BTW, I’ve finally built up some momentum in this one. I’ve passed the half-way point in this revision. Yay!

That’s good, because I’m very soon going to have three revision projects going at once:

  1. The ongoing revisions to MAGE STORM as critiques come in.
  2. BLOOD IS THICKER
  3. And the start of the first round of revisions to THE BARD’S GIFT.

And that doesn’t count three (soon to be four) short stories that need some attention.

Well, at least I know I won’t get stuck. I’ll always be able to switch to something else if I do.

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Marketing and Book Covers

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 3, 2012| 2 Comments »

My main goal in e-publishing some of my stories has been to get a feel for marketing–on a shoestring (as in free and I-can-do-it-myself are essential). I’ve tried my hand at making book covers and trailers. The good new there is that at least I’m getting better at those. I’ve still got a long way to go on twitter and my facebook author page, but at least I’ve put a toe in the water there. And I know myself well enough to know I wouldn’t have without some skin in the game.

Almost everyone agrees that the cover is the most important thing in marketing a book. Well, my early covers leave something to be desired. The cover for “Heart of Oak” isn’t bad–until you try to view it in black and white. Then it’s just blobs. I’ll have to redo that one soon. The cover for BLOOD WILL TELL is . . . well, it’s busy. And the lavender background is somewhat questionable. I’m pretty happy with the cover for “The Music Box”.

So, task one is covers. I’ve got a pretty good idea what the cover for my next story “Becoming Lioness” will look like:

I also want to redo the cover for BLOOD WILL TELL. Here’s what I’m thinking about so far:

Much simpler. (The gold foot print on the right is meant to be a dragon track. Needs more work.)

Two other things I’m considering working on in the near future:

Voice recordings–I have the equipment to record myself reading part or all of these stories. Now that allergy season is fading, I need to get back on that. Worst case, I could use it as a marketing tool. Best case, maybe add audio books to my portfolio.  We’ll have to see. Maybe I’ll try that with “Becoming Lioness”. That’s one that would lend itself well, I think.

I’ve also heard the advice to keep putting out more work. “Becoming Lioness” will probably be e-published in November.

I’ve started work on revising the sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL, but that one is likely to take a while. Probably not until next year. Originally, I’d hoped to have it done by now, but the first draft of THE BARD’S GIFT took longer than I expected. That’s okay. Maybe that’ll be the one that helps me break into traditional publishing.

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Authenticity vs. Accessibility

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on August 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Another new issue for my YA alternate history project. Do I go for authenticity or reader accessibility and is there any middle ground.

I put the first part of the first draft of THE BARD’S GIFT up for critique on one of the writers’ forums I frequent. The first response I’ve gotten back indicates that certain words are causing a problem. Interestingly enough, not the ones I would have predicted. There are a couple of jaw-breaker words that I expect to have to reconsider.

The story is set against the failure of the viking colony in Greenland. In places, I’m using the actual terminology that these people would use–hopefully with enough context and/or explanation to let the reader know what is meant. A cargo ship is a knarr, for example. Other terms, because of their similarity to English words, seem to be more of a problem.

So, now the question I have to consider is whether I stay with the actual historical term for accuracy or change to something more recognizable to a modern audience. And whether an alternate history ought to try to be as accurate as possible.

These aren’t problems I’ve faced with straight-forward fantasy. When I get to build my own world for a story, the only issues are consistency and not doing anything that throws the reader out of the story. Then again, maybe terms that are confusing because they look too much like English words with different meanings will throw the readers out of the story.

Well, it’s still a first draft. I’ve got time to figure some of this stuff out.

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In the Flow

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , on July 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Oops. Got busy writing and almost forgot to blog.

It’s taken a while with this story, but I’m finally in the flow. I’m cranking out a chapter or a bit more every two days. It may not last, but I’m sure going to enjoy it while it does. I cranked out the last scene of one chapter and the first scene of another today, about 1800 words.

I needed some help from some writing buddies about something I didn’t know enough about. It’s great to have people with a variety of knowledge and experience in your online groups. That online discussion fueled some ideas that I think will improve the story. It also seems to have really gotten the juices flowing.

This is my YA alternate history, so I’ve often been slowed down by the need to do specific research. I had some on this bit, too.

Now, back to writing.

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Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , on July 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I find that my current work in process, THE BARD’S GIFT is going more slowly than is usual for me in a first draft. Sometimes, I find this frustrating. Then I remember the difference between my other stories and THE BARD’S GIFT: it’s not a straight fantasy in which I can make many of the details up to suit myself. It’s an alternate history.

That means that periodically, I have to stop what I’m doing to research something. Oh, I did plenty of research before I ever started the story. In fact, the trick with the initial research is not to put all of it into the story, like writing a term paper.

But it’s amazing how many little details you don’t realize you need until you get there. Some of them, I can just mark and go on to fill in the details later. Others are more critical to the flow of a scene or chapter and have to be addressed before I can go on.

At this point, I’m having to go back to the Vinland Sagas themselves to find some of the answers. The thing is, something that I plan to turn into a chapter–like the voyage from Greenland to Iceland–is given perhaps a paragraph in the sagas. And at that it’s usually backwards–the voyage from Iceland to Greenland. It does give me some pointers, at least. Landmarks, in the literal sense.

Having to stop every few pages to look something up does interrupt the creative flow, though.

And I haven’t even gotten my characters to North America, yet. Wait until I have to start doing spot research on thunderbirds.

Back to work.

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Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

First an update: “Heart of Oak” is now available on Amazon as well as Smashwords. It’s still working its way through Smashwords’ review process for inclusion in the Premium Catalog which would make it available in other markets.

I’m considering two more short works that I might decide to e-publish in the next month. Another novelette and a novella I shelved for being more romance than fantasy. But hey, romance sells.

Then, at the end of April, I will most likely e-publish my first (publishable) full novel, BLOOD WILL TELL, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy. To be followed by its two sequels: BLOOD IS THICKER and BLOOD STAINS. I have a draft of BLOOD IS THICKER, but it’s nowhere near ready for publication yet, so that full slate would likely take a year or so.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing to seek traditional publication for my middle grade fantasy, MAGE STORM, and I’ll probably start querying my young adult fantasy FIRE AND EARTH (formerly known as SEVEN STARS) next month.

Now, on to future works:

I’m continuing the research for my young adult alternate history story THE BARD’S GIFT. The research is not only giving me the appropriate background for the story, but helping me to crystalize what the major conflicts–internal and external–will be.

The research is necessary of course to fill the place of world building. In an ordinary fantasy, I get to determine the various elements of the culture–what they wear, what they eat, what kind of shelter they live in, what the rules and mores of their society are, etc. In an alternate history, most of that should be as close as possible to the real historical culture. Of course, given the addition of dragons, some things are going to have to change at least a little.

For those of you who may be wondering, THE BARD’S GIFT is set against the failure of the Viking colony in Greenland. As far as history knows, the settlers all died, probably of starvation, during the cold spell known as “The Little Ice Age”. But there were at least three other things they could have done, if they’d chosen to, including sail to that part of the map marked “Here Be Dragons”.  And that’s where THE BARD’S GIFT will start.

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Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

As a fantasist, this isn’t something I deal with all the time. Usually, I get to take bits and pieces from all over and fit them together in new and interesting ways, glued together with a little imagination. That’s how my world-building usually works.

I did a bit of research on my very first (now shelved) novel, because the protagonist was a blacksmith. I needed to know at least enough about blacksmithing to not make any really obvious mistakes, like setting the forge out in the open. (Always at least partially enclosed so the smith can see the color of the heated iron he’s working on.)

Now, however, I have two projects on which I need to do a bit of research. One is a current project and the other is a future project.

BLOOD IS THICKER is the sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL. As a paranormal romance/urban fantasy, it’s mostly set in either a world I created out of whole cloth or the world I actually inhabit. However, there’s one element in this story that’s going to force me to do a bit of research into, of all things, geology. That’s because the central conflict of this story revolves around someone’s attempt to import geothermal energy technology to Chimeria without proper safeguards. It’s endangering something very near and dear to the protagonists’ hearts and they have to find a way to fix the problem. Obviously, I’m going to have to know enough about geothermal energy to not make an idiot of myself. Not there yet.

The other project is THE BARD’S GIFT. This one will be an alternate history, so the need for research is pretty obvious. Actually, I don’t need to research any historical figures and I don’t need much more than the broad brush of (then) current events. This story will take place far from the centers where such things are happening. But what I do need to know is the daily-life stuff about these people: What kind of houses did they live in? What did they wear? What did they eat? Who was in charge and why? What would their relationships have been like? Basically, all the stuff I usually get to make up to suit myself.

In this case, there really isn’t a lot of information available on my real target (the original Norse Greenland settlement). But there is information on the next-best surrogate–Iceland of the same time frame. Most of the Greenland settlers came from Iceland, so it’s a reasonable assumption that they at least tried to establish the same way of life.

I got lucky and found a book that is intended to document Icelandic life during the saga age. That’s about as close as I’m likely to get. Will it be enough by itself? Maybe not. But at the least it will point me in the right directions and tell me what further questions I need to ask.

By the way, THE BARD’S GIFT does not actually take place in Greenland (although it will probably start there). It actually takes place in a Norse settlement of Vinland (or possibly Markland) in the New World that never actually happened–at least as far as we know. Of course, it’s a fantasy, so there will be some elements that no Norse explorers would have encountered. Dragons, for example.

It’s amazing how dragons of all different kinds seem to show up in so many of my stories. Couldn’t be those three dragons surrounding one end of my computer desk, could it?

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