Posted in writing, tagged boxed sets, e-publishing, events, fantasy, marketing, Multiple Projects, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, Special Events, writing, Young Adult on May 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
And also the Flinch-Free Fiction sale by Clean Indie Reads.
THE SHAMAN’S CURSE is free during this sale.
And BY SWORD, TALE, AND MAGIC is only $0.99.
In other news, I’ve finished that new chapter for MAGE STORM and I’m turning back to the revisions on WAR OF MAGIC.
Posted in writing, tagged characters, e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, Point of View, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, writing on April 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’m at the first point in the rewrite of MAGE STORM where I’ve decided to add a new chapter from a different point of view. Not a new character, but one that never had a point of view in the earlier version of this story.
Changing POV characters, especially early in the story, always slows the writing down. It’ll be worth it in the end, though. This way, the reader will get a chance to really understand what motivates this important character. Not just what she tells her friends, which isn’t exactly false. Just . . . not complete.
I want to get this chapter (or two) done before I go back for my second look at WAR OF MAGIC.
Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, Real Life, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, Writer's Block, writing on April 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Not yet. But as of next week, I’ll have three writing projects in process.
The first revisions of WAR OF MAGIC,
which will be my primary project. The rewrite of MAGE STORM. And the first draft of BECOME.
That should be interesting.
Both BECOME and MAGE STORM have been significantly delayed by a whole lot of real-life administrative stuff I’ve had to deal with lately. It’s not writer’s block, but it almost might as well be. Hopefully, I can get that all out of the way before it’s time to get serious about revisions on WAR OF MAGIC.
Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, rewrites, sequels, series, writing on April 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »
While WAR OF MAGIC is still resting for another couple of weeks,
I’ve been working on both MAGE STORM (no cover yet) and BECOME.
BECOME is a first draft. Well, sort of. There was an earlier version of this story, so there area few things I can draw on. But the story has changed immensely from that first version, so most of it won’t apply. Even the main character has changed. (That first version was called DREAMER’S ROSE and was about Rose, who remains as an important character, but not the main character. It really always should have been about Gaian. Now it will be.) Besides, I wrote that first version several years ago and the writing . . . well, lets just say it needs a lot of work.
MAGE STORM is a rewrite of a story that was originally written for a younger audience. The stakes will be higher, more related to the consequences for this world as well as the individual risks. And it won’t stick to a single point of view, either. But the plot is essentially the same. It’s adding and tweaking the age of the main character, mostly. It’s also likely to be ready to publish sooner. And, while it is the first in a series (no name for the series yet, either), the series will be made up of independent stories (rather like a series all about the same detective solving different crimes, though these aren’t primarily mysteries). So, while the stories may work best in sequence, because they’ll build on the earlier ones, there won’t be anything remotely resembling a cliff hanger.
Revision–or rewrite–of one story and first draft of another actually work together fairly well. Better than trying to write to first drafts at the same time, certainly. And the advantage is that if i get stuck, or temporarily get tired of working on one, I can just switch to the other.
As long, of course, as I don’t start typing the wrong character’s name into either story.
Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, writing on April 3, 2016| 1 Comment »
The plan was that I’d work on the first draft of BECOME
during this month while the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC rests.
And I will be doing some of that. But the plan was also that BECOME would be the next thing I publish after completing the DUAL MAGICS series. And that might not be true.
And the reason is that there are some complexities regarding the ASCENSION series that starts with BECOME that make me want to have at least a first draft of the whole series–or at the very least the first two books–before I start publishing it.
And all of that means that I’ll be working on a third story–a rewrite of MAGE STORM–during this month. Too, not instead of BECOME. But that will inevitably slow BECOME down.
And it’s why I spent way too much time yesterday trying to come up with a cover image for MAGE STORM. (One that, hopefully, does not include lightning this time. It’s dramatic and all, but I think I may be overdoing that particular image.)
Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, writing on March 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Celebration time! The first draft of WAR OF MAGIC is finally complete!
Now to get a little work in on BECOME, so that one story can drive the other out of my head and I can come back to the first round of revisions with fresher eyes.
Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, sequels, series, writing on March 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Only two and a half chapters to go to “The End” of WAR OF MAGIC.
Actually, one and a half chapters and an epilogue.
Then, of course, it’s on to the rest of the cycle:
So, yeah. The end of the first draft is in sight. Still cause for celebration.
Happy Easter
Posted in writing, tagged boxed sets, Cover Art, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, sequels, series, world building, writing on March 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I’ve always planned to put out a boxed set of the DUAL MAGICS series some time after I publish WAR OF MAGIC.
A few days ago, I had another thought. I could put out a boxed set of the first three books for a limited time as a lead up to the release of the fourth and final book, WAR OF MAGIC. And, tempting as it is to jump on this, the best time to do that is when I can include a buy link (or pre-order link) at the end of the set. So, this can’t happen until I’m withing three months of publishing WAR OF MAGIC (because that’s how long Amazon currently allows pre-orders to run).
And, as you know if you’ve been reading this blog, I’m still working on the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC. I expect I’ll finish that within the next two weeks, but that’s not even close to being within three months of publication. One of those months is just to let the first draft cool, so I can look at it with fresher eyes. Then I have to do a couple of rounds of revisions before it goes out to critique partners (who usually need about a month to read and critique a full novel). Then another round of revisions and a polishing edit. So, yeah, longer than three months.
Nevertheless, I’ve started to work on cover art for the boxed set.
This will, of course, eventually be replaced by the full boxed set.
And then, someday, I plan on putting out a boxed set of the first books in different series. Of course, that has to wait until I have another series or two under my belt.
Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, sequels, series, writing on March 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Whole books have been written on writing battle and fight scenes. They can be really tricky to write.
And this battle at the climax of WAR OF MAGIC is probably going to need three chapters–mostly short chapters–but still. Some of that is because I want to show the battle from more than one perspective.
I’ve written the first of those three chapters–at least in first draft. Moving forward.
Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, outlines, sequels, series, writing on March 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, I updated my running outline for WAR OF MAGIC.
I’ve been doing this, more or less, for much of the first draft–outlining just the next handful of chapters. As a discovery writer, that works much better for me than trying to outline the whole novel.
This time, that took me right to the end of the story. Seven more chapters. Of course, that may change a little, but not by too much.
The end is in sight. At least, the end of the first draft.
Meredith Mansfield, Author 