short stories | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘short stories’

Cover Art and Fonts

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, series, short stories, writing, Young Adult on April 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Possibly the single most important factor, especially for indie-published books, is the cover. It’s the first thing potential readers see. If it doesn’t intrigue them, they won’t click through to read the blurb or buy.

I started out doing my own covers because I couldn’t afford to do anything else. And my early covers weren’t just bad. They were horrible. I had to learn to do better.

Now, I probably could afford to hire at least some of my covers done, but I find I actually enjoy doing my own. But, of course, they still have to be good. I’m still learning. (I got a book on graphic design for my birthday, which I haven’t finished reading yet.) I also belong to a couple of cover art critique groups, now.

One of the areas it’s clear I’ve needed to work on is typography. With the cover for the upcoming BEYOND THE PROPHECY, Book 3 of the Dual Magics series, I changed the font to something less standard.

Which, of course, means I now have to change the other covers to match.

Here’s the first cover for THE SHAMAN’S CURSE:

Not bad. But here’s the newer version, which just went live yesterday:

I also changed the font on the cover of “Becoming Lioness”, which is a tie-in short story. And on the cover of “Modgud Gold”, another tie-in short story that I expect to release in the next week or so.

I’m also very happy with the font choice for DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING, which is available for pre-order. It releases May 18th.

Love that font for the title.

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News

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Goals, Multiple Projects, Real Life, revisions, series, short stories, Young Adult on April 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

And no, none of this is an April Fool’s joke.

First Item:

I am now officially a member of SFWA, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Knock one item off the bucket list.

Second Item:

Daughter of the Disgraced King is now available for pre-order. It releases May 18th. I’m waiting for the print proof.

Keep your head down. Don’t draw attention. Above all, don’t make yourself a target. Those are the rules seventeen-year-old Ailsa lives by. It’s just part of being the daughter of the disgraced ex-king and living too close to his more-than-slightly paranoid successor.

Ailsa isn’t the only one affected by the new king’s insecurities. The mages backed her father. Now the new king’s repressive policies drive the mages out of the kingdom–and with them the magic that her desert country desperately needs to survive. Ailsa sets out to study magic so she can help keep Far Terra green.

Her plans are nearly upset when her oldest friend, Crown Prince Savyon, proposes. Marrying him would mean giving up her magic. Her family history proves that the barons will never accept a mage as queen. A year of training won’t make her a mage—unless she has insanely powerful magic. And there’s been no sign of that. But at least she’ll know what she’d be giving up before she makes a decision.

A magic-tinted kiss from Jathan, her cheerfully annoying study partner, makes her question what she really feels for Savyon. She and Jathan could do great things together–except that he never wants to go near the desert.

Are magic and love forever mutually exclusive for Ailsa?

The ebook is only $0.99 during the pre-order.

Third Item:

I’m making good progress on “Modgud Gold”, the tie-in short story for the Dual Magics series. I’ve added a scene to the beginning and will add another to the ending to pull it together better. Right now, I’m tightening up the middle. Streamlining a bit. I expect to have it up in a week or two. Of course, I’ll have to redo the cover to match the new fonts on the Dual Magics covers.

Probably should change the cover for “Becoming Lioness” while I’m at it. Make them all look like they belong together.

“Becoming Lioness” is free just about everywhere.

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Romantic Story Lines

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, sequels, series, short stories, writing on January 18, 2015| 2 Comments »

Those of you who’ve read anything I’ve written can probably tell I don’t seem to be able to write anything without squeezing in a little romance along the way. I once wrote a short story that had literally one character (man-against-nature) and I still got a little romance into it if only in the character’s thoughts and motivations. (That story has ties to my Dual Magics series and may get a brush up and see the light of day–be published–sometime in the next year or so.)

Romance, while not absent, isn’t usually a huge element of Epic Fantasy or Sword and Sorcery, yet there’s been a consistent strain of it in my Dual Magics series, too.

THE SHAMAN’S CURSE had a romance threaded through it that actually played a major role in the main character’s ability to overcome his inhibitions about magic–which, in turn, allowed him to finally triumph.

Romance was a smaller element in the second book, THE VOICE OF PROPHECY, but there was still a mostly behind the scenes love story between two of the side characters.

The parts of that romance that were cut from the book may also make an appearance some day as a tie-in short story.

Now, in writing the third book, presently titled BEYOND THE PROPHECY, I get to write another romance that, like the first, is more central to the overall plot. This one is between two of the younger characters. (If you’ve read “Becoming Lioness” you know which two.

“Becoming Lioness” is free, by the way.) This is the early part of their relationship and they’re going to have more to overcome before their Happily Ever After. Still, it’s a lot of fun writing this part.

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Finding My Way into a Story

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, inspiration, sequels, series, short stories, writing on January 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Another thing about being a discovery writer is that sometimes it takes a while for me to find my way into a story. It’s not that I don’t know what happens in the story. It’s just that sometimes I don’t know what happens next.

To some extent, that’s been my problem with BEYOND THE PROPHECY. I knew what the story is about. I knew, broadly, what would happen. I just didn’t know what happened next. Makes it hard to write the next chapter.

But now I do. I can see the next three or four chapters clearly at last. All that noodling around with character relationship diagrams and synopses let my subconscious play around and then give me the answers. I should be able to build momentum and really get this story moving at last.

Of course, I may have to cut some of what’s currently in the early chapters. That goes with being a discovery writer, too. We’ll see. I’m pretty sure I need to move one chapter much earlier. Those are problems for after I get the first draft done. Now, it’s just make a note and move on.

I stumbled on some things I think are pretty good while I was trying to find my way into this story. If I have to cut them, maybe they’ll find their way into something else–a tie-in short story, perhaps.

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Outlining vs. Discovery Writing

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Learning, sequels, series, short stories, writing on January 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I know I’ve blogged about this before. I consider myself a modified discovery writer. Modified because I once wrote a whole novel-length work that didn’t come out to be a story. I knew it wasn’t a story as I was writing the end, though it took me–back then–a few tries to figure out why.

The reason was because it wasn’t organized around a central conflict. Once I figured that out, I knew how to fix it. (I’ll confess here, that not-a-story, written back in 2009, was actually the very earliest version of what became THE VOICE OF PROPHECY.)

See, you really can fix anything in the revisions. I need to keep reminding myself of that as I work on the first draft of Book 3 in the DUAL MAGICS series, BEYOND THE PROPHECY. Part of my brain keeps wanting to slow down and make it like a revision, not a first draft.

Just get the story down. Fix it later.

After that experience, I no longer just launch blindly into a story. (Well, sometimes I will on the rare occasions that I write a short story, but that’s not nearly the same investment of time that a novel is.) I try to at least map out the central problem and the high–or low–points of the story. Not anything like a real outline. Just a few paragraphs to guide me along the way.

I’ve done that for BEYOND THE PROPHECY, but that doesn’t stop me from getting things a little out of order.

Sometimes, that central problem is the antagonist. The Dark Lord (whichever particular variety of Dark Lord appears in a given story) must be stopped. And the main character’s internal journey and growth is a secondary plot. But sometimes that’s reversed and the internal journey is the main conflict, while the antagonist is more of a complication. THE VOICE OF PROPHECY was like that, which is probably what threw me off years ago and why it took me becoming a better writer to be able to pull it off.

BEYOND THE PROPHECY is not like that. In Book 3, the antagonists come back to the fore. Yes, I meant that to be plural. There are two. If you’ve read the excerpt of BEYOND THE PROPHECY included in the (ebook version) of THE VOICE OF PROPHECY, then you know Gerusa’s back and making more trouble–and not just for Vatar. The other antagonist is actually someone (or someones) from the first book, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. (No, it’s not the shaman come back to life.) And, eventually, they’re going to join forces.

The reason this topic came up today is that I started to write that chapter, then realized I was making that alliance way too early. That’s got to happen much nearer the end of this book.

That’s okay. I’ve written the chapter (or most of it) and it’ll probably stand as is, at least for the first draft. Just not where it is. Now I have to go back and figure out what does happen in that space. My few paragraphs of proto-outline don’t cover everything.

And remind myself, it doesn’t have to be perfect in this draft. That’s what the final draft is for.

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2015 Writing Goals

Posted in writing, tagged critiques, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Middle Grade, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing, Young Adult on December 31, 2014| 2 Comments »

For 2015 my writing goals are:

BEYOND THE PROPHECY (Book 3 of the Dual Magics series): Finish the first draft. Revise. Get critiques. Revise again. Polish. Format. And Publish.
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.
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.
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.
BOOK 4 of the Dual Magics series (No title yet): Start the first draft for publication likely in 2016.
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.

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Halfway Home

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing on October 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Revisions on THE VOICE OF PROPHECY are going well.

In fact, I’m just about at the halfway point. It really is mostly downhill from here. Most of the revisions for this round were in the first third or so of the book. I’ve been picking up speed over the last couple of days after I passed that point.

With any kind of luck, I should be able to finish this round by mid November, maybe sooner. Which means, I’ll feel comfortable (I think) putting it up for pre-order on Amazon. Watch for it.

There’ll be a celebration of some kind at that point.

I also now have a good idea what I need to do to make the tie-in short story, “Modgud Gold”, ready. I think it’s doubtful that I’ll be able to publish that next month as I’d originally hoped. More likely sometime after the first of the year. I already have a good idea what the cover art will be.

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Revision Plan

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, e-publishing, fantasy, Goals, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing on October 19, 2014| 2 Comments »

Revisions on THE VOICE OF PROPHECY are proceeding well.

The first thing I did when I started this round of revisions was make a plan. It started with going through the various critiques I’d received (three and a half–one person didn’t finish) in detail. I marked up each comment in my master manuscript. (Well, except for the ones I addressed immediately, like the few typos.) I also put some thought into the more extensive comments made at the end of those critiques (partly in response to some questions I’d posed, partly volunteered) and marked those up either at specific places in the document or at the top. I asked one of my critique partners some clarifying questions.

Now, as I proceed through the revisions, I have three main goals.

Clarifying. This is especially the case for those critique partners who had not read the first book, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. This involves mostly minor revisions, often just a sentence or two, to provide a little background to those readers who didn’t read THE SHAMAN’S CURSE first, or who might have forgotten certain aspects. This will mostly be in the first quarter or so of the book. One or two scenes that I’d deleted earlier may make it back into the book.
Tightening. Especially in the first part of the book, I may need to just cut a bit more, move the plot along a little more briskly. In fact, I’ve just gotten to one chapter in particular that I need to look at seriously for this. This goal, of course, is slightly at odds with the one above. That’s the way it sometimes goes.
Upping the Central Conflict. The first two will likely be completed in one pass. This one is more likely to require two passes. The heart of this book is essentially a mystery concerning the magic. Something (actually some things) happen that either aren’t supposed to be possible or are very disturbing to the main character. This is, in fact, where the issue of the Dual Magics comes out into the open. There are probably at least two things I’ll need to do to fix this. In some places, I’ll need to just make everything scarier. Others I’ll need to drag out for longer. (I allowed part of the mystery to be resolved too quickly. Need to fix that.)

That issue with the conflict is also the reason for the title change. I think some readers just had the wrong idea about what kind of conflict they’d be getting in this book. Of course, there are quite a few supporting conflicts that demand the use of magic–and sometimes spears–too.

When I feel like I’ve got a good handle on these revisions (possibly after I finish the first pass), I’ll put THE VOICE OF PROPHECY up for pre-order. This will be my first experiment with pre-order on Amazon, so I’ll be interested to see how that goes.

So, that’s what I’ll be doing for the next month or so. I also need to do the same thing for the related short story “Modgud Gold”, which needs some work before I can publish it.

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Tie-In Shorts and Reviews

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, reviews, Romance, sequels, series, short stories, world building, writing, Young Adult on October 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’ve received (some time ago, actually) a three-star review for “Becoming Lioness”. The story is perma-free, so it’s not like this review has a major effect on sales. However, the reason “Becoming Lioness” is free is to provide an easy introduction into the world of the Dual Magics series. There will be more short stories (also, hopefully, free) in this series between releases of the novels. In fact, I’ve got one that will hopefully be ready in November and two more on deck.

The review complains of inconsistencies between “Becoming Lioness” and THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. They tell you to never respond to a review–good or bad. And they’re right. So this isn’t a response. This reader’s experience is perfectly valid and right for them. It’s just not–from my point of view–complete. But, then, you see, there are things I know about this world that readers don’t–yet.

What this reader sees as inconsistencies come from two sources, I think.

The first is just that this is a short story. In order to make that work without bogging the story down, some things are simplified. Characters who would normally be present, aren’t there because each additional character adds approximately 1,000 words. In a short story that should be in the range of 7,500 words, that comes with quite a premium. (“Becoming Lioness” is technically a novelette and closer to 11,000 words.) So this plot is narrowed down to just the two characters who matter for this story. Some of the finer points of the magic system that don’t really matter for the plot are reduced, too, for the sake of brevity.

But the main “inconsistencies” I think come from the fact that the events of “Becoming Lioness” take place in the time frame of the fourth (as-yet untitled) book in the series. So, for example, Kiara is aged 7 – 10 in THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. She’ll be several years older–about 17–by the time we get to Book 4. That alone accounts for some significant differences.

So, I hope you do enjoy “Becoming Lioness”–and “Modgud Gold” when it becomes available. If you’ve read THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, “Modgud Gold” takes place in the same time frame and focuses on what Arcas was doing while Vatar was an apprentice blacksmith.

Speaking of bargains, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and FIRE AND EARTH will both be part of Clean Indie Reads Fall Sale from October 5^th thru the 11^th. They’ll both be $0.99.

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Progress

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Multiple Projects, revisions, sequels, series, short stories, writing on August 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I’ve made good progress so far this month, in spite of some real-life distractions. All of it, so far, related to the first book in the DUAL MAGICS series, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

I’ve completed the first draft of the DUAL MAGICS short story “Modgud Gold” (actually, it’s not that short). It’s one of the things I’ll be working on while beta readers go over THE IGNORED PROPHECY next month. I’d hope to have beta readers on it in October and release it in November, ahead of TIP. I’ve even started looking at potential cover art for “Modgud Gold”.

I’ve also blocked out another DUAL MAGICS short story (this one really is short) that might be one of two to be published between THE IGNORED PROPHECY and the as-yet-untitled third book in the series.

I’m also making good progress on THE IGNORED PROPHECY. This pass, I’m trying to read it more or less as a reader would–quickly. I’m fixing some things as I go, but mostly marking a few chapters that I’m going to need to come back to for a closer revision. I’m on schedule, I think, to get this into the hands of beta readers next month.

I am still immensely pleased with the performance of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. Thanks to all the readers who’ve made that possible. And especially to the ones who’ve left reviews.

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