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Indecision

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on August 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

So, in starting to format the boxed set of the first three books in the series,

Dual Magics 1-3 Boxed Set

I ran across another decision point. See, in the original–pre-critique–revisions, I’d changed the order of the early chapters. So, I need to update the excerpt of WAR OF MAGIC

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at the back of the boxed set (which is currently the one found at the end of BEYOND THE PROPHECY.)

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It’s always something.

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Round 1.5 Revisions Complete

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

And about half way through the clean-up round of revisions on WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

So things are moving forward. Looks like probably September after all, though probably mid- to late September.

And I’ve started formating a boxed set of the first three books in the series.

DualMagics1-3

So, progress is being made.

Also, a brilliant new cover for “Heart of Oak” by Victorine Lieske.

Heart-of-Oak

Isn’t it beautiful?

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Book Surgery

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Last time I blogged about a problem I’d found in my first pass on the post-critique revisions for WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

Very simply, too much of the last half of the book moves away from the main characters way too much. Not away from the main problem–or not completely. But it’s still a problem. Now I understand why one of my critique partners–the only one who hadn’t read any of the previous books–wondered who the main character was supposed to be. Yikes! Now I understand that comment.

Now, some of that can be fixed by possibly deleting some of the other points of view, or recasting them into the main characters’ pov. I will probably need to add at least a little to that part of the book–from the main characters’ pov.

But I had another idea, too. You see, right now part of that problem is in winding up a subplot established in the earlier books–especially BEYOND THE PROPHECY.

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Now, I need to wrap that up, but it doesn’t have to be a distraction. In fact, it shouldn’t be. By moving a few events around and adding a little, I can turn that into an obstacle, which will be much better.

It’s going to require a little more surgery than I was planning to do at this point. And, of course, another read-through to make sure that things fit seamlessly into their new places. But I think it will be well worth it in the end.

Wish me luck.

 

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80%

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on August 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

That’s how far I’ve gotten on the first round of post-critique revisions on WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

I’ve been noticing something. A lot of this section–from about the midpoint–is taken up with chapters from other pov characters, not the main characters. And I’m going to have to figure out how to deal with that.

Part of that is because that’s where a significant subplot plays out, and part of it is actually building toward the part those other characters will be playing in the climax. But I don’t like having so much of the focus off the main characters during this part of the story.

I’m going to have to think about how to handle that though. Most of those chapters can’t be moved–or, at least, can’t be moved very far–without messing up the timeline. Some might be cut, or at least reduced. I might need to add a new chapter or two, taking the story back to the main characters.

It’s this kind of thing that slows down the revision process. But that’s why revisions are necessary–to make the story stronger.

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Slow Down

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »

It was inevitable, I suppose. The first part of the revision process on WAR OF MAGIC went so fast I thought maybe it was going to be easy.

WarMagicNew

But revisions are never that easy. And now the revisions are not going as smoothly or as swiftly. Now it’s plugging along.

Even so, I’m as close as makes no difference to two-thirds done with the first round. The second round won’t require a full read-through. It’s purpose will be to go back to the comments I hadn’t fully addressed the first time. Then the polishing edit and it will be ready to go.

Even if the last bit is something of an uphill slog, the end is in sight.

Also, my last few answers for the A to Z favorite fantasy characters game #FellowshipOfFun as we get down to the really difficult letters are:

  • W is for Willow. Yes, you have to use the way-back machine for that one.
  • X is for Charles Xavier, Professor X.
  • Y is the only easy one from this batch. Yoda, of course.
  • Z is the hardest. The only character I can come up with is Zorro, and that’s neither fantasy nor science fiction. But . . . I could write a fantasy story using those elements. Hmm.

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Progress Report

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on July 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’m closing in on half-way through the first round of post-critique revisions on WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

And I’ve actually already tackled most of the more difficult structural changes that I thought would probably have to wait until the second round. I’ll still have some things to go back and address in a second round. And then on to the polishing edit.

It’s looking good for a September release.

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Starting Revisions–For Real

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on July 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Well, I finally finished the markup. So now I’m starting revisions on WAR OF MAGIC for real.

WarMagicNew

Starting with a read-through during which I’ll fix all the small- to medium-sized things I can. Places where readers wanted more emotion attached to a scene or a better grounding either in the settings or the background from the previous books. Stuff like that.

There may be a few bigger, structural changes. Those will come in a second pass, after I have a little more time to think about them. And the read-through will help with that.

In the meantime, just for fun, here are my last few picks on the FellowshipOfFun A to Z favorite fantasy characters game.

  • I is for Ivan Vorpatril. All right, that one’s cheating just a little, since Ivan is from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga, which is science fiction. But I’m sticking with it anyway.
  • J is for Jack Frost from “Rise of the Guardians.” J was difficult, though I was tempted to go with Jathan from my own DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING.
  • K is for Katsa from Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING.
  • L takes us back to LORD OF THE RINGS and can only be Legolas. (In this case I definitely mean the movie version.)

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Still Marking Up

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’m still mired in the markup of my manuscript of WAR OF MAGIC.WarMagicNew

Although, I’m now about a quarter of the way through the third–and last–critique. So not much longer. I’ve gleaned a few interesting ideas in the process. Putting my version of my beta readers’ comments into the manuscript often prompts new ideas. So, while it’s the drudge work of the process, it’s still worth it.

Otherwise, back to the favorite fantasy characters of #FellowshipOfFun:

  • F: Faramir. Tolkien’s version, not the one from the movies. The one who could honestly say that he was not tempted by the ring of power.
  • G: Galadriel, of course.
  • H: Enough LotR, at least for now. H is for Harry Potter. Or maybe for Hermione.

 

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Mark Ups

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Now all three critiques are back for WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

So, I’ve switched back to working on that one.

It’s interesting sometimes to compare critiques. One beta reader found a particular scene slow, while another loved it. That may have been influenced by the fact that the one who found it slow has read all three previous books in the series and the other has only read the second book, THE VOICE OF PROPHECY.

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There’s a somewhat similar–not the same–in the third book, BEYOND THE PROPHECY, so maybe that’s why.

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I’ll have to reread that scene from the third book before I decide what to do.

Meantime, I’m marking up the comments into my manuscript. It’s the slowest, most boring part of the revision process and requires taking frequent breaks. (Good thing my kitchen needs cleaning anyway.)  But it gives me a chance to start thinking about the more major revisions that may be needed.

Meantime, on the subject of taking short breaks, one of the groups I belong to, Fellowship of Fantasy, has an ABC challenge going on on twitter under the hastag #FellowshipOfFun. For each day, a favorite fantasy character starting with a different letter. (Some letters are way more challenging than others.)

So far, my answers are:

  • A: Aragorn, of course. Goes without saying.
  • B: Bran Cornick, the Marrok, from Patricia Briggs series.
  • C: Cazaril from Lois McMaster Bujold’s THE CURSE OF CHALION. One of my favorite fantasies of all time.
  • D: Dag Redwing/Bluefield from Lois McMaster Bujold’s SHARING KNIFE series. Another favorite.
  • E: Eowyn, who slew the Witch King of Angmar.

And, since we didn’t start until the 6th, that’s as far as we’ve gotten.

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Critiques

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on July 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I’ve gotten back the second (of three) critiques back on WAR OF MAGIC.

WarMagicNew

With later books in a series, I always try to have one beta reader who hasn’t read the previous books. They’re the ones who can tell me when I’ve assumed too much after living in this story for a couple of years. When I haven’t reintroduced characters sufficiently–especially minor but important characters. When I haven’t re-grounded the reader in the world or the magic system. Or, in the case of DUAL MAGICS, what the various groups of people feel about magic. When I haven’t established where scattered characters are in this world at the start of the story. Things I’m much too close to the story to judge.

Though I label each book with its number in the series, there’s no way I can control how readers come to them. Some might pick up the fourth book first. Or, someone who’d read the first three books might not read the last for–well, at least a year, because that’s how long it’s probably going to take me to get it published. But maybe longer than that, too.

That’s okay. Each book in this series is meant to stand alone, but they’re also part of a larger story. So I try to make it easy to step back into the story. And there are clearly some places where I failed to accomplish that.

Also, it appears that the first part of the story is too slow. I’ll have to think about how to fix that, too.

 

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