A land forged from the fires of strife, blood of heroes, and touch of the gods.
Where deeds of great valor, vile evils, and blazing passions intertwine
to shape the course of elven and human history within.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Here We Go!

OK, by order of my Book Pimp, I must resume blogging once more, so here I am.  First, some old business.
You know by now I don't like to blog just to hear (figuratively) myself talk. I want to have something relevant, or at least reasonably interesting, to say, and I want it to deal with the craft of writing, how I approach it, and what I've learned over the last six-plus years of doing this.  I'll keep to that pledge and try not to bore you or make you gag with my pontifications; that is to say, I'll try to keep it brief, to the point, and timely.  So let's move on.
Kaanan's Way (that's Book Four of the Ardwellian Chronicles, for those of you keeping score at home) is in Second Draft, about 190,000 words total, making it the shortest Second Draft book I've turned out so far.  I don't know if this means the story was just shorter (didn't seem that way when I was writing it, believe me), or if I've gotten better with tightening up the story in my first draft.  I'll find out soon enough when I start the slash-and-burn editing process.  Let nothing remain afterward that the manuscript can honestly do without.  That's the purpose of slash-and-burn. 
In the meantime I'm finishing up the cover art, back art (yes, I have a very nice piece of artwork for the back, done by a fine artist by the name of John Garner who has waited patiently for 5 years for me to get to this book), and the back blurb, so when you see the cover, the art, and the words on the back, you might actually be tempted to BUY A COPY. What a concept. 
Other stuff; Kindle awaits.  I'm in the process of publishing the First Trilogy in Kindle format, and I'll probably dabble in Nook as well.  All the published books, and Kaanan's Way when it's published, are in standard e-book format, so anyone can download a copy to their computer (that's desktop, laptop, netbook, or tablet) and read them in standard e-book format.  Ain't technology grand?
For the moment, that's it.  I'm going to give it my best to blog once a week, and I might just tie it into our weekly Monday Night Writers meetings.  That should give me topics that are timely and get me back up to speed.
Keep reading.  My stuff, their stuff, it doesn't matter.  Just read.  It will expand the muscles of your mind and make you think.  Anyway, it works for me.

2 comments:

VROUK said...

Good Work!

Rachel Ellyn said...

The Book Pimp is a wise woman! Technology awaits you! ;)