New character profiles added

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Counterpunch

As of today I have began updating the site with information pertaining to The New Potential.

The two small updates on the site are for the characters Eric Sturgg and LeLayhilani. I have yet to really nail a format down for these pages so they may evolve over time to something I am more content with. For now they serve as a brief bio and introduction with a little of what went into the process for creating/designing the character.

I’m sure this sort of thing will be looked at more carefully when and if I manage to get these books out to market. ^_^”

Another Day and New Potential

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Counterpunch

The story begins here.

This week saw the culmination of a project began earlier this year. My follow up work to Master of the House finished its initial draft. Initially the book was to be titled “Children of the New Potential”. I’ve decided to change that and use the series title along with a shorten version of that tentative title. That being said, I am happy to announce Legacy of Shadow: The New Potential (TNP) is complete and ready to face the challenges of the market.

So, how do I explain this book? TNP is the story of a group of characters who make a similar decision to walk away from the lives they are leading into the unknown. Each of the characters does this for a different reason but as they end up on the same path, together they are given a warning that the answers each of them seeks rest at the top of a frozen mountainous wasteland at the top of the world. Over the course of a week these characters fight against the forces pursuing them, against their own fears, and against the fear of passing the point of no return.

Laylani is an Elf of Deep Shadow who has taken up a burden that was not her own. Her arrival in Britania spells doom for its people and spreads fear that the City State is under attack from the undead forces at its door. She has come seeking refuge after her failures in the northern lands. Laylani finds no refuge in Britania but manages to regain control of her destiny and perhaps the friends who will see her through it.

Eric is a Templar in the service of Britania. He is smart, skillful, and has a promising career ahead of him however a nagging sense of worthlessness and isolation leave the warrior feeling as if there should be something more. When he comes face to face with Laylani and senses something familiar and kindred in the supposed threat to his homeland, it becomes the catalyst that will either ruin his life or save his soul.

Vavian is a free-wielding mage who works and lives outside the control of Britania’s Magi Guild. He is a sought after criminal. He is a threat to the social order. He knows what the Guild has in store for the downtrodden of Britania. Using the chaos around Laylani’s arrival to move on his own plans, he becomes hopelessly wrapped up in a struggle that he could have never imagined.

Dempsy is a wealthy ‘Copter pilot with a keen eye and a strong distaste for the law. He plans to help Vavian escape Britania and life a life of comfort, ease, and coin but when his friend returns to him and reveals that their plans have changed, Dempsy has a choice to make.

I never could have imagined how difficult writing this book would be. It was not that the actual writing, typing, and plotting were hard, overcoming doubt was the challenge. Master of the House lent itself to an ever tightening plotline and left plenty of room for character evolution. TNP is a lead off book, meant to spark a whole series but still be self contained.

I had to capture a world, introduce new characters, justify motivation… Of course every book does this. I’m not complaining, not at all. What I wish to express here is that this book is the first step in a bigger story. This overall story is something I have captured in my mind and now had to find a way to condense the important parts into an opening act.

I was not even sure I liked my own characters as I wrote the book. That’s a hard pill to swallow. (Rest assured they ARE awesome and the book turned out great.) It’s simply that when you are inside a story, crafting it and setting the stage for later, you know who these characters WILL be. As you write them, you see them only as they are on the first page or first chapter and it feels wrong.

The further along I traveled in this book, the better it felt. Not only were my own fears unjustified but many of them were incorrect too.

I plan to do some site expansion and add information about these characters in the coming weeks. I will also post my query that I will send out for this book for anyone to see and comment on.

I should really take a lesson from Dempsy. He pretty much nailed it:

“You can never bake the same cake twice. That’s a life lesson. Don’t forget it.”

Giving It Away

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Counterpunch

Character knowledge versus reader knowledge, what is the proper balance?

The title of this post references the idea of giving away your “catch” in a story. How does the author do this? When is the right time for the author to drop knowledge? When one character is in possession of more information than others, how long can the author strike a balance between giving away the major plot points and keeping a reader interested?

Complicating the matter further, at the beginning of a complex narrative, how does the author establish a basic understanding with the reader for the book to move forward?

These were all easy questions for me to answer when writing Master of the House. That book being heavily character based allowed me to pair up the reader with Julian from the beginning. As the reader developed questions, so did Julian. There was parity there. To keep things interesting for the reader, to keep them feeling intelligent and as if they were in a superior position, Dori would reveal other information in scenes apart from the main cast. Turnbill also served this purpose but in a contrasting way and after the crux of the conflict was revealed, Envy participates in this dialog with the reader as well. From a writing standpoint, the questions at the beginning of this post were never an issue.

Now, my follow up work, tentatively titled Children of the New Potential, faces a far more challenging method for delivering information and foreshadowing.

In this new book, I have the challenge of informing the reader of a vast and sweeping plot/concept and at the same time, I have characters who are learning the same things as the characters. The difficulty comes in how to deliver plot information and still have it be believable. This applies both to the reader and characters as well.

I am working within a fantasy realm here and the crux of any issue has to be…well, fantastic. Trying to preserve character motivation and rationality in this environment is difficult. If one character reveals critical information but does it such that it is presented flatly as an explanation, it sounds crazy. I don’t mean “crazy” to the reader, they are reading a fantasy novel and have already suspended their disbelief. I mean that a character is just as likely to say, “Right, right, end of the world…dragons, wizards, threat to all mankind… Piss off you crazy kook” as they are to say, “Let me go get my sword”.

So, to move a complicated plot forward, information has to be presented in a sane manner to the characters so that the reader can understand their motivation in context of the situation. Think about Star Wars. Even with Luke’s desire to leave his home planet, Obi Wan’s initial offer to travel away for adventure is rejected as “impossible”. Only when it is shown that Luke has nothing to stay around for because his family has been killed does he make the decision to leave. That example carries through this whole discussion despite Luke’s final choice being so obvious. (Removing ALL other choices is a somewhat blunt way to show motivation but it works)

For plot driven stories, the author must strike a balance between showing and telling. Too much telling and you give away not only the plot but all the suspense that builds up to the conclusion. Too much showing robs your characters of an ability to mold the events in their own perception. Go back to the above example of Star Wars. Obi Wan tells Luke a whole lot in the scene after rescuing Luke but he tells the events from his perspective. There’s clearly more to what’s going on than the viewer knows and there’s more going on than Luke knows but the plot has moved more into focus. We know that this character Darth Vader is not only bad but is tied to Luke’s history from what we have seen and now heard.

Children of the New Potential has a character named Laylani in it. She is an Elf of Deep Shadow much the same as Rozalin and LeShaitan from Master of the House. Her role in the story is that of messenger. She knows far more than any of the other core characters in the book. The adventure that Laylani will lead them on is based on this knowledge. To advance the plot, Laylani has to act on what she knows.

Laylani becomes my voice as the author amongst the group where plot is concerned. She understands the threats they are facing and knows enough to explain the immediate problems that they are facing. Just like Obi Wan from earlier, the information she reveals is colored by her own perception of things. In her case, she thinks that she knows more than she really does.

This becomes for me, what I started to question at the beginning of this post, how to strike a balance. Laylani reveals what she knows to the other characters and to the reader. However, the reality of the world and the threats they face become the “showing” that keeps the plot from being revealed too early or too easily. The “showing” also reveals that Laylani may not have as tight a grip on things as she first thought.

A far reaching and plot-centered as Children of the New Potential is, my main method for delivering information to the reader and other characters is preserved from merely being a plot device by her own vulnerability of not having the story as correct as she thinks she does. Slowly, she will come to find that the clear lines she has established in her head to go about her tasks, are not so clear. The understanding of it all that she shares with the readers becomes a point of sympathy for her when the reality of the situation is shown to differ from the reality in her mind.

Tough subject matter to be sure and writing about it without the source material being available for review at this point is even more difficult. I apologize for that. Much of what appears here and what will appear in this blog is a way for me to organize thoughts as I write and look back on it to explain my thought process as it moves forward.

The Point of No Return

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Counterpunch

The point at which it is further to go back than it is to continue forward. ^_^

My “second” book, such as it is for the moment (dependent on whether or not Master of the House is broken into two books at some point) is now over 50% complete.

I’d be lying if I said that this was easier or even as easy as Master of the House was to draft. Working within the confines of a planned length and moving through knowing that a full revision would be required have been very trying on my creative style.

I often have to accept the fact that my page count per day is around half of what it normally is due to this, but the grind continues. The biggest challenge really has been the structuring of chapters. Previously, I would write chapters under a theme that would run clearly through. This time around, chapters are presented more in a scene format with shifting to another location or into another obstacle as the call for beginning or ending another chapter.

If I wasn’t in the middle of it all, I would think that smaller bites and more concise sections would make for easier writing. Working towards creating something that is “market ready” has proven to be anything but.

That being said, sometime in June this work should be complete and I will be in the midst of editing (and more regular site updates).

Villains

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Counterpunch

Most stories live and die by the worth of their villains. They are in one way of looking, the reason for telling stories. There are rare exceptions. Stories of self exploration and mastery, biographies, etc can all circumvent the need for an outside actor to move the plot along. When it comes to fantasy fiction the need for an evil, an obstacle, or person of ill intent is key to the genre.

I think it can be very easy to slip into the trope of the mustache twisting black hat villain in fantasy fiction. To avoid this, I think that rooting your story in the antagonist motivation is critical. When I began conceptualizing the Legacy of Shadow series, I honestly did not have a set direction for it. The world came first and presented me with problems that really bothered me and somewhat ruined the rationale for such a place.

I knew that I wanted some omnipresent force to oppose the heroes. I knew that I wanted this force to be something that did not have to confront them directly, but that could corrupt their very reasons for stepping into the field of conflict. My first attempt at the character who would become my ultimate villain for this series was known only by title: “The White Witch”. Please bear in mind that at the time, I had absolutely no knowledge of The Chronicals of Narnia. Seriously. I didn’t.

This character was aloof and distant and somehow responsible for the trials and tribulations of the world I created in the Legacy of Shadow series. She was generic and…boring.

So, I began to ask myself questions about her. What had she done to be responsible for the undead curse placed upon the land? Stepping back, I had to ask, what is she to begin with? ”Elf” was the answer. More specifically, a “Light” elf when compared to the thus far heroic “Dark” elves that this world and its characters encountered. Then came the inversion, the typically heroic by nature good-guy forest elves would somehow be responsible for…what? Or should it even be all of them? Why not just one? What if one member of this otherwise pristine race of creatures did something so terrible, that…

That what? What could one character do that would be so condemning to vilify that character for all time? The answer was: she is responsible for the death of her entire race. Already there were no light elves in the story but there were uncountable undead creatures. So, this character became responsible for the death of her entire race and that genocide resulted in a world ravaged by undead hordes of elves.

Now we were getting somewhere. It wasn’t very far down the road but the wheels were spinning.

What would make a character commit genocide on their own race? Would it be purposeful? Or would it be accidental? Well, one thing that was certain in my mind was that this villain would be something that a reader could understand however, sympathy was not something I wanted to extend to her. Accidental was right out. Purposeful? This was a more difficult thing to accomplish.

I was stuck. I needed something beyond petty vengeance, something grand something…that was eluding me. That’s when Jimi Hendrix happened to me. That’s when I turned up the music in my car and happened to turn my ear at the right moment to hear the lyrics that unlocked the remainder of my story.

“Anger he smiles, towering in shiny metallic purple armor. Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him. Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground…”

It wasn’t much but the idea of sins personified struck me just the right way. It’s been done countless times, sure. This time though I felt I had found a unique hook. This “White Witch” became Envy in my mind, the personification of a unique and deadly power. (Her color happily changed in my mind as well.)

What would the personification of Envy possibly find herself jealous of? What would a creature with immense power and a hatred of anything more powerful than it turn its attention towards? God. That personified sin would turn its rage towards the one thing that truly held dominion over it, in this case God. Now the genocide of a entire race could make sense within the context of one powerful entity looking to dethrone another.

Thus my Deadly Sin Envy, the Queen of Jealousy was born.

The reasons that surround her actions and the way in which she achieves her goals are all details that play out in the book but the important thing here is that the villain’s motivations are genuine and even though a reader would not agree with her actions, they can understand those motivations never the less.

I began this by commenting that a villain’s actions are the driving force for most plots. While this is true for Envy’s actions as the story moves forward, she is still a somewhat distant, a force that can not be engaged for most of the tale. Her motivations and the way by which she seeks to achieve those goals create a dread and even outright fear in other characters lending credence to their own actions. This does not even speak to the ways when Envy does reach out into the moral realm, how characters who are directly touched by her actions take on a villainy all of their own.

Creating a complex villain on an epic scale has allowed me to tie characters, places, and most importantly a plot of epic scope into a story that has its roots in a concept that everyone can identify with “Too much is never enough”.

Status Update

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Counterpunch

As of today, my second planned work has surpassed the 30% mark for completion. I have a tentative title for this book: Children of the New Potential. That title may have to change because there’s a real chance it’s too long. I don’t mind. One thing that will not be too long is the actual length of this book. After the initial difficulty I found in getting Master of the House to market, I have carefully plotted the length of my follow up work to ensure it is what those in the industry refer to as a “marketable length”.

I really only quote that because it seems to apply only to first time authors.

Soon enough I’m going to have to open up some new space on this site and begin outlining this new book in the same way that Master of the House is cross referenced. Tomorrow will mark 21 days since I started working on this second book. 40,000 words in three weeks has left me very tired if I’m honest. I did not even notice that my pace was moving along this quickly until my buddy told me not to burn myself out. (Hi Rob)

Gotta keep moving while I have the time to do so…

I will be posting a preview section of the new book tomorrow.

120 Thousand Words or Bust

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Counterpunch

I never thought the problem facing me would be having too much content.

As I read more about the industry and what it takes to bring a book to market, I find that almost anything written over 120 thousand words is considered to be unmarketable.

With my first efforts coming in at twice that, I am left with some decisions to make.

The first option is to edit the book down, essentially cut it in half. The second option is to split it into two different books. The third and final option is to forgo the traditional publishing route and publish to the digital market.

If I’m honest about this and what I’ve written so far, the first option is right out. The narrative works, the characters grow and are completely realized by the end of the work, and the story leaves nothing unfinished. Gutting a considered work merely to bring it under an arbitrary standard will play out either by removing characterization or by requiring logic leaps on the part of the reader to get from one point to another. I’ll have none of that.

Splitting the work down into two separate books is a viable option. It’s not really the way I had planned for the story to unfold but it could be made to work. Very close to the mid-point in Master of the House is a point of strong rising conflict and resolution that sets the stage for the final act. With some reasonable editing and a slightly reworked ending to Chapter 9 of the book, I think this is a possibility.

Digital publishing is a topic I’ve discussed recently. It’s an area of possibility that becomes more and more appealing the longer I look into these kinds of things. Setting aside the “Is it good for your career” discussion, I feel that we’re on something of a digital frontier. It seems that the time is right for embracing a new marketplace. The way I look at it is like this…When was the last time you went to your home encyclopedias for information? When was the last time you went to Wikipedia for the same information? The digital realm takes a lot of heat from older methods of doing things but when there’s a legitimate platform to work from, the field of possibility opens itself. If I ever move towards digital publishing it will be to give myself more options, not as a means of retreat.

Your Worst Reviewer

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Counterpunch

I’m almost convinced that I am unable to judge the strength or weakness of my own stories. Not because I don’t have a good mind for storytelling, but because I either doubt what I write too often or on the other side I think too highly of something I have not transferred from my mind to paper properly.

Very frequently I find I have difficulty when coming to critical points in a narrative. The difficulty presents itself in the form of hesitation. I don’t want to move forward in writing because I hesitate about going one way or another. It leaves me second guessing the route I went after the fact. I imagine this is something every writer deals with.

Oddly enough, when I send story chapters out for review, it is frequently the ones I have the most doubt about that come back with the strongest positive reviews.

There could be any number of reasons for this. Those chapters are often the ones that get edited an extra time or two before going out. Or perhaps the deliberative process in creating them really hammers out the inconsistencies that I see while writing. Never the less, I’m happy to be wrong in these instances and its a great relief when something you’ve gone over again and again comes back with positive reviews.

Of course, the other side of the coin is when something you felt really strongly about misses the mark entirely. There are rare occasions when I think I’ve nailed a chapter and idea only to find that there were key things in my mind that did not translate to words. At least then the solution is somewhat easy to incorporate, after all, your reviewers are able to tell you exactly what it is you were unable to see the first time through.

Concept and Setting Presentation

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Counterpunch

How do you even begin to explain something like this?

A very fair question was asked about the story I’ve put together in Master of the House. Thank you to SJ21 for posting it.

“One thing keeps popping up in my head though. In what time period is this story set? There are various references to old-style weapons, clothing, and armor. The characters seem to do a lot of walking to get where they are going. It seems that the story is set during a time of limited technology, but then there is a reference to a helicopter. A little more clarification of what is going on here would be helpful.”

This question may be the result of only having one chapter available to read upfront or it may be the result of a failing of my writing to explain the place and setting. I’ve heard it asked of me on two different occasions, so I thought I might put some thoughts down and see if I can justify what I’ve written.

To answer the question directly, the setting of the book takes place in a time and location completely set apart from any other. Conceptually, the book is a non-traditional fantasy setting with an emerging steam-punk bend to it.

I remember back to reading Dune for the first time and the way that the book unabashedly put you in the setting and allowed explanations to come about as it developed. It was unapologetic about introducing concepts and words that were not explained by narrative at first. I think in many ways, that is what I do here. Explanations for the way these people live and the way that limited technology exists come about as they are necessary to the character interaction.

The book does ask you to roll with the premise for a while. Perhaps that is a bad thing? Perhaps it makes it difficult to follow, I am not entirely sure yet. The solution is simple, concepts can be explained as they appear. I may need to do this.

My eventual answer is that all of these things are explained fully as the book continues. My question in response to anyone reading or viewing this is:

“Are new concepts within a (story) fictional story troublesome or distracting if the answers are not presented promptly upon their introduction?” Or ”Do these fictional concepts move you to turn the page and look for the answer?”

Thanks for taking time to read and to consider my material SJ21!

Digital Publishing?

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Counterpunch

One question that has begun to turn over in my mind s that of whether or not to publish in a digital format prior to traditional publishing.

This is something that I can do right now. My first book is completed and ready to go. I suppose I need to pull some cover art together if I decide to go this route, but I could have it ready in a matter or two or three weeks.

For those that don’t know, there’s been a stigma associated with any form of self-publishing in the past. It can prevent an agent or publisher from picking you up later.

Or so I’ve heard.

But there’s a growing number of other voices saying that time has passed. Publishers have evolved and accepted the digital market and that it’s not a problem any more. I am going to simply need to make a call on this one day. Right now, I’m leaning towards putting the book up on Amazon.

I have no doubt at all about the narrative or the prose of the book. It’s good. The issue is possibly the length. At 250k works, it’s twice as long as what I understand publishers will take on for a first time author. I’d roll my eyes at this, but I have no idea about the validity of such claims. When I sat down to write the book, I just wrote. I took the space necessary to tell the story. There’s not a lot of fluff or cut-able content before you can begin punching holes in the plot.

Digital publishing offers me the opportunity to put the book out there without the over-head costs. I’ve even considered putting it in the market in two parts. There’s a very good point at which the book could be split. It’s a lot to consider honestly.

With so much being made of creating a platform for your work and building a reader base, I can’t help but see the digital publishing format as an option I may look a little more carefully at.

That leaves the question for anyone reading this, what is the break point in terms of cost that you will or will not spend on a digital book?

How many of you even have eReaders or tablet PCs?

Legacy of Shadow

Building a world, one story at a time…

Tag Archives: The Writing Process