sequels | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘sequels’

Future Projects

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Middle Grade, Multiple Projects, sequels, series, world building, writing on February 3, 2016| 2 Comments »

While I continue to grind out the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC (and some days it really does feel like grinding), I’m also starting to look ahead to what projects I’ll be taking up after I complete the DUAL MAGICS series.

WarOfMagic7

One project, which is already started, is currently titled BECOME, based (very) loosely on the Greek legend of Hercules, but turned on its head. This story has changed immensely from its first (very bad) incarnation. (It started with the name DREAMER’S ROSE and was mostly about another character, whose story was based on the fairy tale “Toads and Diamonds”.) I’m excited about the new version. This one will likely be either a duology or a trilogy.

The other will begin with a rewrite of another story of mine, MAGE STORM. The first version skewed too young. Middle grade, actually. I’m going to rewrite it more for a general audience. There’s plenty of material there. And I’ve always had ideas for at least three sequels, building off of events in the earlier books.

That’s the plan. Of course, I have several other stories fermenting. It’s always possible one of them will ambush me and insist on being moved up in the list. It’s happened before.

Read Full Post »

Timelines

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Learning, sequels, series, writing on January 31, 2016| 3 Comments »

The bigger–and longer–a story gets the more it needs a timeline to help the author keep things straight. At least, I certainly need a timeline.

In WAR OF MAGIC, the fourth book in the DUAL MAGICS series, I’m currently writing in Year 9 of the story.

WarOfMagic7

I started this timeline way back with the first book. It helps me keep track of how old each of the characters is–especially the characters who get less focus in the story. It also helps me figure out how long ago a particular event happened from the characters’ perspective. Don’t want to say something happened five years ago when it was only three. Some reader somewhere will call you on that.

As I work towards the climax of WAR OF MAGIC–and the series–I’ve started to realize I’m going to need another timeline for just the few months leading up to the big battle. The exact time of year–specifically how early or late it is in the summer–is going to matter. And work in how long it takes to get between certain places on foot or on horseback, which will also matter.

This is not something I need right now, while I’m writing the first draft. I wouldn’t go back and change things to fit the timeline right now anyway. In the second or third draft, chapters or scenes can easily be moved around to where they need to be, possibly with just a little revision. That’s when I’m going to need to lay out this detailed timeline.

Read Full Post »

Every First Draft Is Different

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, events, fantasy, first drafts, paranormal romance, sequels, series, writing on January 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Every first draft presents different challenges. And takes its own time.

One memorable first draft (BLOOD WILL TELL) came flowing out in about six weeks. That was quite a roller-coaster ride and I haven’t had another story do that since.

My current first draft for WAR OF MAGIC is way past the six-week range. But it is proceeding at its own pace. And one of the things I’ve had to learn is that I can’t hurry that.

WarOfMagic7

(Yes, by the way, that is a new version of the cover I’ve been playing with. I think I like this one, though it still needs a couple of tweaks.)

The important thing is that the first draft is proceeding. And this week I passed the 80,000 word mark. Which is probably somewhere between three-quarters and four-fifths complete. So, while I’m not going to finish this draft by the end of this month, the end is coming in sight.

Don’t forget the ongoing CIR Mid-Winter Sale.

or the

CIR Fantasy Winter Escape Giveaway, still going on.

Enter the rafflecopter giveaway here.

Read Full Post »

Merging “Becoming Lioness” and WAR OF MAGIC

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing on January 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’ve reached the point in WAR OF MAGIC,

WarOfMagic5

where the plot line intersects with my already-published short story, “Becoming Lioness”.

You’d think that’d make this section easier, because I’ve sort of already written it. And in some ways, it will. But it’s also going to be . . . interesting to manage, because there are some noticeable differences between the two, as I’ve blogged about once before. I realized there’d be an issue back then, but now that I’m up to the actual writing of that part, the problems are a little clearer.

Some things are just minor points that changed between the time “Becoming Lioness” was published three years ago. Mostly small things, some of which I can fix with minor adjustments to “Becoming Lioness”.

The birth order of three siblings has changed in the interim, for example. That’s not a huge deal. I can just leave the second brother out altogether. That’ll mean deleting all of one or two sentences.

One thing that’s changed won’t be quite so minor: how a character whose ability to use her magic was blocked, gains the use of her magic after all. That’s not necessarily insurmountable, but it’s sure going to be interesting to deal with.

I’m already planning a revised version of “Becoming Lioness” to deal with some of this, but I’ll eventually want to put together a boxed set of the DUAL MAGICS series. And if I include the couple of tie-in short stories already published, plus a couple that I haven’t pulled together yet–well, that’ll put the two versions side by side.

And that’s an issue for all of the short stories. Because the main thing I have to change to make the short stories work at all is to reduce the number of characters. The cast appropriate–and necessary–for a four-book series of epic fantasy novels is simply unmanageable in a short story.

Read Full Post »

Prologues

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, sequels, series, world building, writing on January 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’ve never (yet) written a prologue that I’ve kept in the final story. I don’t tend to like them much. But there’s a first time for everything, they say.

No, WAR OF MAGIC doesn’t have a prologue (exactly), though it will have an epilogue.

WarOfMagic5

But BECOME, the next epic fantasy I’m planning to write, will have one. Or maybe more than one.

I’ve been getting some feedback from my critique partners on the parts I’ve got written while I keep working on the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC–setting myself up to work on BECOME while that first draft rests before I start the revisions.

The first–very short–prologue that I’m almost sure I’ll have is the only one I haven’t written some version of. That one will basically be just a prophecy and the fact that it’s been carefully hidden. That prophecy–once discovered–will be the reason the antagonist does some of what he does. And the prologue will help set up something that will take a little while to develop as the story is currently working out.

That one might be so short it might not even need to be labeled a prologue.

I have another prologue written that helps set up the background for this story, but at least one critique partner had some issues with it that might cause me to scrap that one, though.

Read Full Post »

Killing Characters

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, sequels, series, writing on January 6, 2016| 4 Comments »

I’m still in the trenches on the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC, Book 4 (and last) of the DUAL MAGICS series.

WarOfMagic5

And there’s no way I can honestly get out of this story without killing off a few characters. In fact, I’m coming up on having to kill off the first one in this book. May be why my progress on this chapter has been so slow.

I haven’t killed a character in this series since the first book, when I killed one off in the first chapter. (One nobody, including me, had had a chance to get too attached to.) I’ve wounded a few, sometimes pretty badly. Even permanently. But I haven’t killed off another one since.

But this book is called WAR OF MAGIC. And some of them are going to have to pay the ultimate price. That’s making this draft more difficult than the earlier books.

Read Full Post »

The Holidays Are Over

Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Multiple Projects, Real Life, sequels, series, writing on January 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Well, not quite. There’s still a lot of Christmas stuff to put back up, though the big stuff is taken care of. And one more family celebration.

But tomorrow I have to go back to work after two weeks off and that’s been messing with my mind today. Funny how, just as I start to sleep in, it’s time to set the alarm again. That, and they’re promising a week of unpleasant weather, to boot. Couldn’t have happened this week when I didn’t have to go anywhere but grocery shopping once.

Add to that I upgraded my PC to Windows 10 last night, which turned out to be more involved than I expected. It was one of the too-many things I’d had on my list to take care of while I was off so I figured I’d take care of it. I was prepared for the change to cause problems with some of my non-Microsoft applications. Never expected it to mess with Microsoft Office, though. That took a little time–and considerable angst–to work out. Oddly, so far all of the non-Microsoft products appear to be unaffected. Not that I’ve tried them all.

Nevertheless, I have managed to get some writing on WAR OF MAGIC done anyway.

WarOfMagic5

I’m really going to try to have this draft finished by the end of the month. No promises, though.

Read Full Post »

2016 Writing Goals

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Goals, Multiple Projects, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, short stories, world building, writing on December 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Here are my 2016 Writing Goals:

WAR OF MAGIC: Complete first draft, revisions, get critiques, revise again, polish, and publish
Revise the already-published “Becoming Lioness” and publish the new edition. Pull together the tie-in short stories, “Hunter and Huntress” and “The Seeker”. Put them through the same revision process.
Publish a boxed set of the DUAL MAGICS series.
MAGE STORM: Rewrite this as an epic fantasy. Same revision process as above. Try to publish in 2016 or early 2017.
BECOME: TO CATCH THE LIGHTNING: Get a first draft done.
Planning, world-building, etc. for some of the other stories on my back burner:
1. Another story in the same world as DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING.
2. A set of fairy-tale retellings I’ve been playing with.
3. The prequels to the DUAL MAGICS series that explain how the world got that way.
4. The sequels to MAGE STORM.
5. My Weird Oz story.
6. The last novel in the Chimeria series.
I would dearly love to be able to get to a writers’ conference somewhere in there, but that will depend on both time and finances.

I think that should keep me busy.

Read Full Post »

My 2015 Goals

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Middle Grade, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing, Young Adult 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.

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.”

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.

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.

Read Full Post »

Goals

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, sequels, series, writing on December 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

No, we haven’t–quite–reached that point of the year where I assess how I did against my goals for the year and set new ones for next year. Soon.

But I don’t just set annual goals. I also set weekly and monthly goals–and I publish them on two online writers’ forums I belong to. This week if the first time in quite a while that I’ve actually exceeded my weekly goal on the first draft of WAR OF MAGIC.

WarOfMagic5

I’ve been setting a goal of three chapters a week. This morning I actually started the fifth chapter this week. I may not finish it by tomorrow night (those goals are set Friday to Thursday), but I’m still ahead of the game for this week, at least.

Woo hoo! Time to celebrate small victories.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »