This is my new logo. I love it, and it’ll be on my business cards once I get the cash to get business cards.
This is my book cover. The book has just been sent to the publisher. We’re hoping to get it published and out there on October 1. I need a few copies for myself, to sell to the people at work.
Marc Ducrow did the artwork for the book cover and the logo. If you have a chance, and need graphic art done for your book or logo, contact him. He’s on twitter @MarcDucrowart
I outline, barely, what I need to do when I write. I just started to outline with these past two novels. Normally I’m a total pantser, and I write whatever the muse tells me to do.
So I did a very general outline when I first started War Mage. It was like “Meets dragons”, “Black Lions”, “Meets <Ware>”. Then I go off and write.
It seems, sometimes, that the characters do their own thing. Okay, I let them, figuring that’s what rewriting is for.
I’m deep in the middle of the first draft, transcribing it as I’m going along. Already one entire scene appeared out of nowhere (because I wasn’t utilizing a character enough) into the second draft, and a huge scene that I wrote in one 2-hour stretch disappeared. I’m not sure if I’ll use that scene or not. Ever.
Today, I listened to a podcast that I won’t listen to anymore because the hostess takes over the entire conversation for blocks of minutes leaving her guests to say, “Oh, that’s nice.” The hostess, of course, said that nobody makes their characters grow in romance fiction anymore. And that got me to thinking, did I make Brent grow at all? Because right now, War Mage reads like a series of vignettes, a bunch of scenes, where he’s reporting on what’s happening but we don’t get what he thinks. Hell, half of the people he talks to have no names.
Like the scene I wrote last night – it’s total reporting of what happened. No inner dialogue, no reaction on his part. And it was supposed to be a powerful scene.
This is what I’m deathly afraid of. I’ve made a two-dimensional main character.
So once I transcribe the first/second draft, I’ll try to make him grow.
But in the meantime, my outline is getting too short. What does this mean?
I have to brainstorm. This is where index cards come in handy. Because I’m a character-driven writer, I start stories with characters, not plot (sometimes I have a Point A to Point B story, and nothing in between).
I’m going to try this: I’ll get some index cards and write a backstory, quick and dirty. Name, age, where they’re from, what branch/division/company they’re in, physical description. How they interacted with MC. I should have a nice healthy stack.
Then I’ll pull one out. Would this character show up again? If so, how? What would he do next with Brent?
If nothing comes to mind, I have some writing prompt books and a couple of characterization books to help me through.
Plot will find its way out then.
Oh, by the way, I’m up to 23K words. I do have a bare bones of a plot, but, like I said, the outline is getting too short and there’s no end in sight.
13,000 words into the new novel, and I still have no idea what the plot is.
So far I have introduced:
I will admit I’m swiping from some books I’m reading in addition to Fighting Season a documentary on Direct TV about the war in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, I think, it takes place after my character is there.
A book I’m reading, Siren’s Song, is about one first lieutenant platoon leader in the Kunar Provence. It takes place in 2008, but it mentioned FOB Blessing which I was happy to see. FOB Blessing must have been there for quite some time by the time Siren gets there; it’s relatively new when my MC is there.
-Usually by 5K words, I have a plot. Or at least a theme. Here, I got nuthin’ but an outline.
It bothers me. It bothers me that 13K words are going to be a total waste.
Book One’s cover is off to the artist, and I can only hope that he’ll have it done in time. However, as I’m going through Book One, I’m wondering whether or not it’s actually any good. It’s honestly not my best work in the world.
Now, Book Two…that cover’s coming out nicely and that story is flowing well (though I have no idea where it’s going). Should I not even bother with Book One and instead try to put out Book Two?
Why did the dragons join the Americans? Are they the only dragons? What can an RPG do to one (we’ll find that out), and what can Brent do?
What about the press? How come they’re not in there in force?
Some questions for my book journal, I think.
Maybe it’s the honeymoon of Book Two, that since this one’s going so well, it’s going to be better. It is going to be better. 7000 words into it and I’m liking the outline so far. But 7000 words of only dragons is not going to carry this – I have to think of something else.
“Homecoming” is finished, and off to the beta reader.
This week I’m paying the artist for the cover, that I hope he can get done in a month.
Next month, I’ll be out of survivor’s benefits, so I won’t be able to do a lot of the things I used to. Like commission artwork. The more I go through my budget, the more depressed I get. I’m not thinking that the book will make money hand over fist – it would be nice, but I don’t think so.
Steven sent me a royalty calculator, and it would be nice if I sold ten books, but I doubt that I would. I didn’t the last time. I have to come up with an author page for Amazon. I have to prepare myself for getting possibly interviewed.
Launch date is October 1.
Man, I’m nervous.
I’m puttering along on War Mage, and decided that I’m going to have to publish these out of order. I’m going to call this one “Homecoming: a War Mage novel” and it will be 2nd in the order of the books, but first to be published.
Something like this was done with the Repairman Jack series. Books were published out of order. I suspect that putting them in order will be a challenge for the reader.
The other option is that I start the series with this story, and have him go back to Afghanistan, and continue the series there. I could do short stories of when he first starts with the team. In this book I state that he never worked with the Marines, but the Marines are going to be the ones who have the dragons.
Of course there’s going to be dragons!
I think I’m going to have this artist do the work. I have a picture and position in mind, I just need to come up with someone that he looks like.
I’m up to 20K transcribed, probably another 5K written in longhand for War Mage. I’m testing out my book cover person with Grim and Scott from Champions.
I have to do a pinterest board for War Mage.
Here’s Grim’s.
I wrote for three hours this whole weekend – yes, I know that’s not much, considering I wrote a whole weekend at first. I tried to read Gentlemen Bastards to at least finish it – I’ve got about 100 pages to go – and then realized that my right eye decided to pull a double-vision on me, in addition to me being nearsighted and I can’t read normal 10 point font. So I can’t see the words, they’re doubled (black on top, gray on the bottom).
That, along with a very scary episode in which an ambulance had to take me to the hospital in the early morning hours last week, kind of put a damper on my writing.
So I ended up mindlessly gaming, looking through builds and trying them out. I’ve still been writing daily, but not as many words. I need to get back into it.
I’m just afraid that after I do this plot point, I don’t have another plot point to go to until the hero meets his nemesis (at least for this book). And then the book ends, because I don’t know what to put my hero through after that.
Pantsing is tough in that way. It’s always scary to keep jumping from rooftop to rooftop, hoping you can get the other side, or at least land safely. Maybe some of my plot cards/cubes/apps can give me some ideas.
I will admit, the war in Afghanistan seemed to be more a war of reaction.
I’m reading a book about the Green Berets in Afghanistan called Gentlemen Bastards by Kevin Maurer (he also wrote about the Navy SEALs). This gives me a good overview of the Special Forces Army in Afghanistan. Although the men went out on patrol, they weren’t always hit by snipers, IEDs, or RPG’s. There was often constant fire on their bases or constant threat of fire. However, it didn’t happen all the time. It was always a surprise. They were always on edge.
I can only hope that I do this book justice. I know I’m not a war correspondent, that I’m going entirely by research, that this probably won’t pass a military sniff test. But I’m trying to not end up like I did with WW2, and have three bookcases full of books on the Waffen-SS.
I’ve gotten back together with Al and hope that we can collaborate on more book covers. I’m redoing Grim’s book cover to be simple purple silk with gold sigils embossed over it. The second book is Grim looking up at an old Victorian mansion (Dottie’s house). I haven’t finished the third book so I don’t know what I’m going to do.
I’ve also commissioned the first book of the War Mage series, the one that will take place in Afghanistan. It will involve dragons, a female Marine dragon rider, and the first introduction of the Black Lions (Al-Asad Sud).
I’m also commissioning concept art for War Mage himself. He will have the usual Army armor, but I want him to have specialized weaponry. The walking stick (aka “pimp stick”) is one. The formal “dress robes” will be necessary.
I still haven’t gotten around to a conflict. Well, I did have a conflict when push came to shove with Sarah’s boyfriend Boz, which I have to rewrite. And I suppose Sarah was a conflict. I’ve set up how Brent will be captured (oops, spoiler), set up another possible conflict with a vampire. I’m trying to figure out how to involve a shifter.
In my world, shifters and vampires could work together. In my world, vampires can come out during the day (though they prefer the evening because they don’t have to explain their complexions). In Massachusetts, they have legal rights to exist, but it’s not federal. In some parts of the country, they’re hunted down. There are some asylum cities or states, such as California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Louis and New York City.
Vampires work in different places. Dr. Bates is a slightly unusual case in that he can be in a room full of blood and doesn’t go nuts. He’s an old, old vampire, so the mere smell of blood doesn’t make him crazy. Younger vampires, however, are not allowed to work in hospitals or as EMT’s, police or firemen. That means a lot of them are entrepreneurs, managers, bouncers, you name it.
Shifters are mostly werewolves, although there are some werebears, wearleopards, or other were-creatures. None are of less mass than the person they are shifting from. So there are usually no were-birds or smaller were-animals.
So I’m staring at the Story Cubes that I bought, trying to see if I can shoehorn how Brent finds out Tony is a shifter…
I’ve entitled my next (maybe) series to be War Mage.
So far I’ve done more writing than researching. (Did you know the Afghan war is STILL going on? Since 2001?????) 13,727 transcribed words, another 2K or so left to transcribe in my notebook.
I outlined. God help me, I actually outlined. Not anything major, because I knew darn well that if I detail-outlined, I’d never write the book. I just put in one or two words of what the plot points are and put them in the outline. The muse then takes a look at it and we write. She knows, for instance that “Sarah” is when the main character meets his old flame. What happens? How does he treat him? How does he treat her? Do they still care?
I’ve noticed that as long as I got some semblance of an outline, that I will follow a set group of plot points or action points I want to hit. I also need to write in my notebook the beginning of the scene, at least the first two lines. So that when I sit down and start the writing, that I will know where I need to start and what plot point I may need to hit.
The other thing is, I’ve realized, that this book is not the first in the series. The first in the series really needs to take place in Afghanistan. Maybe a few of the books in the series need to take place there. But it starts in Afghanistan, goes to the States, then ends back in Afghanistan.
I’m wondering if this character is any good. He seems flat to me. He’s got power and ability, doesn’t use it often unless he’s angry (“You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”) or passionate or has extreme emotion. He has a short fuse, the power to back it up, and he’s got luck on his side – until…
That’s the problem. Nothing seriously bad has happened to him yet. I know what the big bad is. I’ve been working on developing him as a powerful mage so much that I haven’t made bad things happen. Or if they do, they just roll off him.
Well, something’s gotta give. 13K words, and nary a conflict.
Okay muse, let’s go to sleep and think about this.
Ok, so I finally broke down and paid for someone to look at my query letter. Now, the thing is, I decided to toss my old query letter and start a whole new one (since I rebooted Grimaulkin, I might as well).
I got an excellent critique back. No, not a request for more chapters. But an excellent idea that I think I’m going to use when I rewrite Grim yet again. However, this time, I’m not going to squeeze it all into one book like I did with the second rewrite. This third rewrite, I’ll go back to the original and tear it apart again.
I’m ready to do the rewrite, except…
I had a really awesome dream one night. What if the US Army used wizards? What if there was a special corps of wizards, the Magic Corps? What if they were in modern-day Afghanistan?
The dream was told from the POV of a young (21 y.o.) powerful wizard. He’s different than most wizards, in that he doesn’t even have to utter the spell – he just waves his hand and people go flying. In the dream, the platoon is ambushed and he’s captured, and I force the dream to end there.
I forced myself awake and wrote the dream down. The next morning, it was scribblings, but I could make out some things and most of the dream returned to mind. I started to write it.
I haven’t stopped.
I’ve decided to write it in longhand. It’s got a lot of padding, and I can see where I can tighten it, but I’m going to get it out on the page first. That’s the important thing, no?
Transcribed, it’s 7,000 words with maybe another 2,500 to be transcribed. So maybe 10K over 3 days. Pretty slow, if you ask me. But writing longhand slows me down and gives me a minute to think about what next. Or what down the road. Or what I’m going to use as Chekov’s gun.
I’m looking at the notebook here, and there’s a plot point I’m burning to hit…