Last night, I wrote out two pages of the second draft of "Her Black Prince." I didn't get as much done as I wanted due to the holiday rush, but it was progress. I did it by hand because I was tired of staring at computer screens and it was nice to revert back to my childhood days, where everything I did was in pencil and pen.
Once I finish "Her Black Prince", I have another short story titled "Ten Thousand Suns", which I want to complete next. After that, I am going to try to get "Innocent" and "Ecgtheow's Way" published again. I am still surprised that "Daughter of the Seven Seas" got accepted before those two works. Although the former was excellent, I personally felt the latter two were better written.
I've also been working more on the backstory of "Fionnuala." Both "Her Black Prince" and "Ten Thousand Suns" resulted from excerpts that I had written to discover what happened in the lives of my characters before my novel begins. I'm almost finished, but there are about two or three more events which I need to develop before I can write another draft of the book.
That's it for now. Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
"Her Black Prince" Outline Finished
Merry Early Christmas Everyone!
After spending the past few weeks in North Carolina, I've come back to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family. Since I've been back, I created a brief outline for "Her Black Prince", in which I added an additional character to create a greater dilemna for Magnus.
One valuable lesson I learned from writing is that it's important to throw your characters into the worst situation possible in order to generate as much intensity and excitement possible for your readers. This works not only in books, but films and even television as well. Granted, you don't want to torture your character as though they were an animal. That's not excitement. That's sadism. What you want to do is throw them into an extremely difficult scenario that will test the very core of who they are and force them to decide whether they will stand strong like men and women or fall apart like sissies. For example, a man of God lives in a hostile culture where he is given an ultimatum: give up his faith, or watch his family die. He has two choices: lose his loved ones, or lose his soul. What will he do? Will he turn his back on his savior? Will he sacrifice his family? Will he rely on God to deliver him? Will he try to handle this in his own power? Now you have intensity! Now you have excitement! Now you have a "super glue" story, one that will keep readers stuck to the edge of their seats!
Enjoy your Christmas, everyone, and be sure to remember the greatest gift that mankind ever received during this season: Jesus Christ, our Lord!
After spending the past few weeks in North Carolina, I've come back to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family. Since I've been back, I created a brief outline for "Her Black Prince", in which I added an additional character to create a greater dilemna for Magnus.
One valuable lesson I learned from writing is that it's important to throw your characters into the worst situation possible in order to generate as much intensity and excitement possible for your readers. This works not only in books, but films and even television as well. Granted, you don't want to torture your character as though they were an animal. That's not excitement. That's sadism. What you want to do is throw them into an extremely difficult scenario that will test the very core of who they are and force them to decide whether they will stand strong like men and women or fall apart like sissies. For example, a man of God lives in a hostile culture where he is given an ultimatum: give up his faith, or watch his family die. He has two choices: lose his loved ones, or lose his soul. What will he do? Will he turn his back on his savior? Will he sacrifice his family? Will he rely on God to deliver him? Will he try to handle this in his own power? Now you have intensity! Now you have excitement! Now you have a "super glue" story, one that will keep readers stuck to the edge of their seats!
Enjoy your Christmas, everyone, and be sure to remember the greatest gift that mankind ever received during this season: Jesus Christ, our Lord!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
New Fionnuala Origins Story: Her Black Prince
It's been far too long since I have posted. Anyways, things are finally settling down now that I have moved to North Carolina. I've found a good church and am making friends and getting to know people, including at my local library, where I have come in so much to use the computer that the librarians are signing me in before I even reach the desk!
Anyways, as far as writing goes, I've been working on Magnus a lot more, figuring out what his life was like before "Fionnuala" begins. I've written an excerpt which I will turn into a short story titled "Her Black Prince", that takes place when he is fifteen. It will take place in the same world as "Heart of Flesh" and "Daughter of the Seven Seas", only in a different country and twenty-five years before Cassandra is born. I hope to have it ready for publishing next weekend so that I can start submitting it.
Anyways, as far as writing goes, I've been working on Magnus a lot more, figuring out what his life was like before "Fionnuala" begins. I've written an excerpt which I will turn into a short story titled "Her Black Prince", that takes place when he is fifteen. It will take place in the same world as "Heart of Flesh" and "Daughter of the Seven Seas", only in a different country and twenty-five years before Cassandra is born. I hope to have it ready for publishing next weekend so that I can start submitting it.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Preparing for the Month of Fionnuala
In preparation for resuming my revision of "Fionnuala", I am continuing to develop Magnus and his backstory. For inspiration for villains, I've studied the people that Joshua defeated when he and the Israelites conquered the Promised Land. Needless to say, creative liberties shall be taken to bring in the dark fantasy element. I'll be bringing in aspects from pagan cults in the ancient world to make them richer and more menacing, rather than just having a bunch of elderly men in togas randomly shooting lightning bolts for the mere sake of being evil.
Additionally, I took down notes regarding a scene regarding the most feared woman ever to debut in my series. It provided a lot of insight into her murderous hatred of Cassandra and Max, a hatred so all-consuming that she is willing to die in the process of destroying them. I'm at the point where just writing this woman's name makes me tremble! I can't wait to unleash her on my readers.
On December 1, I will write another draft of "Fionnuala." I hope to be completely finished with the novel by August of 2011, although I believe I will finish earlier as long as I work steadily.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
Additionally, I took down notes regarding a scene regarding the most feared woman ever to debut in my series. It provided a lot of insight into her murderous hatred of Cassandra and Max, a hatred so all-consuming that she is willing to die in the process of destroying them. I'm at the point where just writing this woman's name makes me tremble! I can't wait to unleash her on my readers.
On December 1, I will write another draft of "Fionnuala." I hope to be completely finished with the novel by August of 2011, although I believe I will finish earlier as long as I work steadily.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
Monday, October 18, 2010
"Daughter of the Seven Seas" now published!
Hello everyone!
"Daughter of the Seven Seas" is now published in Mindflights online magazine! It's at the link below:
http://www.mindflights.com/item.php?sub_id=6833
I am particularly fond of the story because it is the debut of my most mysterious and intriguing character: Maxine Njalsdottir. Known simply to her friends as "Max", this beautiful, cunning, and fearsome girl with "reptilian abilities" is Cassandra's complete opposite. Cassandra is kind, forgiving, gentle and loving while Max is...not. However, just like Cassandra, there is a lot more to Max than meets the eye, and I look forward to revealing that in "Fionnuala."
In other news, I'm currently developing the backstory of a knight named Magnus, who, along with Cassandra and Max, is a major character in the novel. I will not reveal anything else because I hate giving away spoilers, but suffice it to say that the more I write about Magnus, the more awesome he becomes, and I can't wait to debut "Fionnuala" and unleash him on the public.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
"Daughter of the Seven Seas" is now published in Mindflights online magazine! It's at the link below:
http://www.mindflights.com/item.php?sub_id=6833
I am particularly fond of the story because it is the debut of my most mysterious and intriguing character: Maxine Njalsdottir. Known simply to her friends as "Max", this beautiful, cunning, and fearsome girl with "reptilian abilities" is Cassandra's complete opposite. Cassandra is kind, forgiving, gentle and loving while Max is...not. However, just like Cassandra, there is a lot more to Max than meets the eye, and I look forward to revealing that in "Fionnuala."
In other news, I'm currently developing the backstory of a knight named Magnus, who, along with Cassandra and Max, is a major character in the novel. I will not reveal anything else because I hate giving away spoilers, but suffice it to say that the more I write about Magnus, the more awesome he becomes, and I can't wait to debut "Fionnuala" and unleash him on the public.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Taking The High Road With "A Valiant Effort"
Shortly after completing the first draft of my Peace Corps Memoir, I was contacted by my friend, Abe, who had also served on Kosrae as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We talked over my previous title, "Island of Devils", which he felt was going too far. I took a few weeks to think it over and, after being contacted by my good Kosraean friend, Heinson, I decided that Abe was right. So I've now retitled my memoir "A Valiant Effort: How God Enabled A Peace Corps Volunteer To Give His All In The Caucasus And The Pacific." The title is a lot better and also captures the spirit I want my memoir to have.
Besides, despite my negative experience there, I did make some Kosraean friends. Heinson and Shrew are the best ones, but my vice principal also was amazing. I still remember the time when my children were getting rowdy in computer class and one of my students started blaring music from the speakers. It was right when my vice principal walked in, and I thought I was going to get my butt kicked. However, he turned and screamed at all my kids in rapid Kosraean and then turned to me, saying, in a very soft and reserved voice, that he just told them that they had to listen to me or they would lose their computer privileges, before turning around and walking out. My students were far better behaved than their American counterparts, due to the fact that Kosraean parents are actually allowed to discipline their kids without getting arrested or having them taken away by Social Services. That being said, I still had to go through some mild hazing as the new foreign teacher, but it was awesome to know that my vice principal was in my corner. In particular, I made the mistake of admitting that I had a crush on a local girl and every chance my students got, they teased me for it. It was all in good fun, though.
I finished typing up the first few chapters of "Air Wars" and hopefully will get to work on it a little bit each day. That being said, I don't have a lot of free time since I am getting used to being in a sales job again. I'm not worried because it's ADT Security; what I'm doing is the equivalent of a sales rep in the computer industry trying to sell Microsoft products. It's inevitable that someone is going to buy a system!
Anyways, "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is coming out on October 17, 2010. I'll post the link as soon as it comes out. You all will love it: it's awesome!
Besides, despite my negative experience there, I did make some Kosraean friends. Heinson and Shrew are the best ones, but my vice principal also was amazing. I still remember the time when my children were getting rowdy in computer class and one of my students started blaring music from the speakers. It was right when my vice principal walked in, and I thought I was going to get my butt kicked. However, he turned and screamed at all my kids in rapid Kosraean and then turned to me, saying, in a very soft and reserved voice, that he just told them that they had to listen to me or they would lose their computer privileges, before turning around and walking out. My students were far better behaved than their American counterparts, due to the fact that Kosraean parents are actually allowed to discipline their kids without getting arrested or having them taken away by Social Services. That being said, I still had to go through some mild hazing as the new foreign teacher, but it was awesome to know that my vice principal was in my corner. In particular, I made the mistake of admitting that I had a crush on a local girl and every chance my students got, they teased me for it. It was all in good fun, though.
I finished typing up the first few chapters of "Air Wars" and hopefully will get to work on it a little bit each day. That being said, I don't have a lot of free time since I am getting used to being in a sales job again. I'm not worried because it's ADT Security; what I'm doing is the equivalent of a sales rep in the computer industry trying to sell Microsoft products. It's inevitable that someone is going to buy a system!
Anyways, "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is coming out on October 17, 2010. I'll post the link as soon as it comes out. You all will love it: it's awesome!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The Novel That Started It All
Now that I have finished writing up the first draft of "Island of Devils", I am typing up my handwritten manuscripts so that I have an electronic copy of everything I have written. The experience has taught me that secretaries are seriously underpaid. So far, I've only typed up fourteen pages of the book that first revealed the world that Cassandra lives in, which culminated in the publishing of "Heart of Flesh." I would gladly pay someone who could type over 90 wpm to do the whole thing for me if I had the extra cash on hand, since, at tops, I can only do 35 wpm. Maybe I can get one of my friends to do it in exchange for me picking up the tab at dinner or giving them a gift card to TGI Friday's. I'll just have to ask around and see.
Typing up my first sci-fi/fantasy novel brought back a lot of memories. I first started it when I was thirteen, and it was a serial in a newsletter my mom was trying to start with my brother and my friend Chris. The newsletter never really took off, but "Air Wars" (which was the first name of my series) soared. While heavily influenced by "Star Wars", it was really tongue-in-cheek and humorous, featuring people who were half an inch tall battling it out in paper airplanes, toy cars, and with superheated pins called "heatsabers." It grew into a book that had over 170 chapters and, near the end, inadvertently turned into a Christian work. I had no intention of writing Christian fantasy at first, but I read the final chapters over and liked the deeper meaning of the spiritual motifs and metaphors and added those in my later writing. I know that "Lord of the Rings" similarly did not start off as a Christian work, but was later "commandeered" by Tolkien's faith and he went back and deliberately weaved Christian symbolism into the book. I want to make it clear that I am a far cry from J.R.R. Tolkien. He was a genius who, through over fifteen years of hard work and careful revising, created one of the best literary works of all time, not to mention a linguistic mastermind. That being said, I think it's cool that Jesus decided to take over my work like he did with "Lord of the Rings" and to show me that writing to worship and honor Him would truly unleash the talent He blessed me with. It also helped that he gave me an amazing mother without whom Yangvaad and the other nations of my world would not exist.
Cassandra herself did not appear in "Air Wars." In fact, she was not supposed to be a main character in my Christian fantasy series at all. She was created simply to be the master of a young knight named Zarrah, who was far more integral to the series. I only wrote "Heart of Flesh" out of curiousity to see what Cassandra was like as a child, but she wound up becoming the main heroine of the entire series (which is no longer called "Air Wars", by the way). Although I am still taken aback at how much she changed the series, I am very happy with the direction it is going in now, and, once "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is published this month, I will focus on revising the novel which explains the origins of the greatest heroine of my world.
Typing up my first sci-fi/fantasy novel brought back a lot of memories. I first started it when I was thirteen, and it was a serial in a newsletter my mom was trying to start with my brother and my friend Chris. The newsletter never really took off, but "Air Wars" (which was the first name of my series) soared. While heavily influenced by "Star Wars", it was really tongue-in-cheek and humorous, featuring people who were half an inch tall battling it out in paper airplanes, toy cars, and with superheated pins called "heatsabers." It grew into a book that had over 170 chapters and, near the end, inadvertently turned into a Christian work. I had no intention of writing Christian fantasy at first, but I read the final chapters over and liked the deeper meaning of the spiritual motifs and metaphors and added those in my later writing. I know that "Lord of the Rings" similarly did not start off as a Christian work, but was later "commandeered" by Tolkien's faith and he went back and deliberately weaved Christian symbolism into the book. I want to make it clear that I am a far cry from J.R.R. Tolkien. He was a genius who, through over fifteen years of hard work and careful revising, created one of the best literary works of all time, not to mention a linguistic mastermind. That being said, I think it's cool that Jesus decided to take over my work like he did with "Lord of the Rings" and to show me that writing to worship and honor Him would truly unleash the talent He blessed me with. It also helped that he gave me an amazing mother without whom Yangvaad and the other nations of my world would not exist.
Cassandra herself did not appear in "Air Wars." In fact, she was not supposed to be a main character in my Christian fantasy series at all. She was created simply to be the master of a young knight named Zarrah, who was far more integral to the series. I only wrote "Heart of Flesh" out of curiousity to see what Cassandra was like as a child, but she wound up becoming the main heroine of the entire series (which is no longer called "Air Wars", by the way). Although I am still taken aback at how much she changed the series, I am very happy with the direction it is going in now, and, once "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is published this month, I will focus on revising the novel which explains the origins of the greatest heroine of my world.
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