WarStone Quartet Progress

Posted on 24 May, 2014 in New Releases, Production

I found an author’s site that had progress indicators.  Perhaps I should install one on this site.  Here is an update on my current project:  The WarStone Quartet.moonstone

 

Moonstone:  Drafted and two revisions.  This is the first volume and needs to be read first.  I’ve added some continuity with the other books.  I wrote this one first before the others were done, so some of the sequencing of the events had to be updated.  Most of the plot remained intact from my first draft.

sunstone

Sunstone: Drafted and one revision.  I increased the  number of words in this book to over 100,000 by increasing some character interaction and filling in some plot holes.  I changed a few relationships to make the mercenary phase of the plot work better and a section of the book needed to be redone for continuity.

BloodstoneBloodstone: Drafted and one revision.  This volume has the most vivid romantic element and I reworked the romantic arc a bit.  There still needs to be some more tweaks on the part of one of the characters.  The stakes need to be raised a bit.  This has a lot of battles and I might need to choreograph them with more action.

 

Darkstone:  Drafted and one revision.  This still needs some more content. This is the last volume and I’m somewhat pleased how it came out.  This volume contains the end of the romantic arc started in the Bloodstone.  I had to work on a number of elements in the rewrite to extend a sparsely written first draft.  More internal thoughts on the part of the MC and I reworked the exciting climax a bit. I might need some more slam bang action.  The ending was reworked a little, but came out pretty much as intended.

I intend on one more revision to each volume to add some additional character and some color (description).  Then I run them through a grammar/spell checker for a final perusal. They should be ready for book production and proof edits and then RELEASE!

I’m currently cogitating over what approach to take on the covers.  All four of them need to be coordinated

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Anthologies Promotions

Posted on 24 May, 2014 in Distribution, Marketing

Sorry I didn’t mention about the free promotion for The Purple Flames.  It went free for about a AngelBronzeCvrThmbweek.  The next free promotion will be in June.  Angel in Bronze will be free on Amazon for one week.  It’s scheduled for June 4th through June 10th.  It’s a good time to see what the three anthologies are like before you buy the other two.

I’m still looking for contest participants.

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Guy Antibes Anthology Contest

Posted on 1 May, 2014 in Marketing, New Releases, Writing

Your favorite character in a full-length novel!

Guy is going to have a contest and you are invited to participate!aliensmall

Guy will write a novel-length story about the character that readers like the most.  If you vote and your favorite character is chosen,  Guy will sent you a free e-book version of the novel.

Characters from the three 2014 anthologies, The Alien Hand, The Purple Flames, and Angel in Bronze will be eligible.

Voting goes until December 31st, 2014.  You can vote here at the official Guy Antibes website.   Guy will announce the winning character by January 7th, 2015 and the novel should come out in the summer of 2015.

Click on the Anthologies on the top Menu Bar to get to the Character Contest entry form.

 

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The Purple Flames, The Alien Hand, and Angel in Bronze – All Now Available Exclusively at Amazon!

Posted on 1 May, 2014 in Marketing, New Releases

All three of my three anthology volumes have been published by CasiePress and will bubble onto the scene this month.  The Purple Flames is short for Demise of the Purple Flames and is a steampunkish story PrpleFlameseCvrThmbof a young man who is transformed for the specific reason to eliminate the magic in the leader of the Order of the Purple Flames’ arch enemy.  The cover art is of a Purple Flame member in his regalia.  It’s a fun start to the rest of the stories which are a combination of Steampunk and Paranormal stories with a few touches of horror mixed in.

Of the eleven stories, here are a few snippets:

A detective works on a reservation in New Mexico, except the reservation is for ghouls, demons, ghosts, zombies, and the paranormal.  A succubus whose mission in life is to destroy the last vampires that have infested the earth.  The grisly story about Tommy Tonsil.  In a post-apocalyptic world, two mutants find out about themselves when facing dire peril.

The other two anthologies are described in the Anthologies section on the Pages menu bar.  These anthologies will begin life exclusively available on Amazon.

 

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Warrior Mage – Now Published!

Posted on 25 April, 2014 in Distribution, Marketing, New Releases

CasiePress has just announced the publishing of Warrior Mage.  It’s available on Amazon as an e-book or in print.  Here is the blurb:

A SWORD OF SPELLS novel, at last!
The world of Kellar has only one warrior mage. That’s okay, since there really aren’t any wars. So WMeCvr2ThmbBrull, our warrior mage, makes his living hunting down evil magicians as a bounty hunter. But as his personal life begins to change, and not to Brull’s liking, the world begins to crumble as his evil nemesis, Heron, assembles all of the magicians to help him bring a god down to Kellar to rule the earth with Heron by his side. 
What makes matters worse is that Brull’s sister has been called to serve as Abbess at the Healer’s Temple in the very city that Heron will perform his evil deed. The good gods are on Brull’s side, but he finds that there is little they can do. It’s up to him and a select band of others to save the day.

It is in the process of coming up at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple iBook store and other outlets.

The Three anthologies are in the final proof stages and will start their releases in May.

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Three Guy Antibes Short Story Anthologies in Production

Posted on 30 March, 2014 in New Releases, Writing

Old Guy is pleased to announce that in the next few months, THREE short story anthologies are in the hopper undergoing editing.  Titles and covers aren’t pinned down yet.

I took to writing short stories to hone my writing skills.  So these stories are, in a sense, all experimentsPanix-Hand in writing.  Some are good and some are goofy.  One thing that I’ve learned about short stories is that they are prime examples of ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’.  One story may thrill one person and do nothing for another reader.   So you get what you get.  Hopefully among the stories, you will find one that appeals to you.

So I’ve separated my stories by genre, so here are the descriptions:

  1. Steampunk and Shockers – This has a lot of different kinds of stories.  There is a reject from a Magical Academy story,  a detective who works in a reservation in New Mexico, except the reservation is for ghouls, demons, ghosts, zombies, and the paranormal.  Another is a steampunk story about a woman whose mission in life is to destroy vampires that have infested the earth.  The story about Tommy Tonsil is a little grisly.  This anthology is definitely PG-13
  2. Science Fiction – You can read stories that contain action, romance, drama, thought provoking situations.  A glutton gladiator is in peril, a man searches for magic on a ruined planet, a boy yearns for a special toy,  a young man has invented a unique tool for espionage.
  3. Fantasy – This group is a bit more in my wheelhouse.  A wizard attempts to destroy a seven-hundred-year-old curse.  A boy is appalled by the truth of his parents’ midnight disappearances.  A Captain’s coat is much more than it seems.  A healer must decide if the maxim that he has held to his entire life is still valid.

I’ll get some titles figured out for these, but I do intend on publishing one in April, May and June.

 

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Warstone Quartet Drafted!

Posted on 26 March, 2014 in New Releases, Self Publishing, Work in Progress, Writing

ManscrptAfter some time, I’ve finally completed the first drafts of my Warstone Quartet.  The four novels total 387,000 words and approximately 1,200 pages.  That’s without any pictures.

I wrote Moonstone some time ago, thinking that I would write them sequentially, but after an idle summer last year, I had to amp up my production so I completed Sunstone in December, Bloodstone in February, and Darkstone in March.

Now I let them cool off a bit.  My April will be filled with getting Warrior Mage produced and I’ll be rewriting this summer.

I’m satisifed with the way the plot came together.  Lots of characters and settings.  I have romance in all of them to one extent or another.  An epic sword and sorcery adventure.  The Darkstone, in particular, is a little battle heavy, but that comes along with the ‘sword’ part.

I still intend on releasing at least Moonstone this year.

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Tangential Outlining

Posted on 26 March, 2014 in Work in Progress, Writing

brickpaversWhen I started writing, I thought I was a pantser.  Pantser is short for seat-of-your-pants.  That means you sit down to write and words flow.  I attended a short story-oriented online workshop in my early days and that worked.  Then the administrator had a summer of structured writing.  it ended up being the best workshop I’ve been in on line.  We started with the snowflake method and outlined the novel with all kinds of add-ons for characters, weather, setting, plot progression.  All great stuff.  I even conducted the workshop the next year.

Sounds great… but for me it was too much work.  That much structure seemed to overshadow the writing.  So I took what I liked best.  That was taking the overall idea and develop a scene outline.

What is a scene outline?  It’s a few sentence descriptor of all the scenes.  I took that approach and used it to write eight novels.  The scenes kept me on track, but I always found that I would deviate, but the scene outline… which was my version of an outline always kept me headed in the right direction.

In my last draft novel, something crazy happened.  (It’s happened before, but just not as drastically.)  I had my scenes all structured and as I wrote, my fingers rebelled and popped an entirely character in my book.  Now this is the last book of my Warstone Quartet, so I sat there wondering what direction to take.  I really liked the shocking development so I had to go off on a tangent and rewrote the rest of the scenes.  That was half of the book.  The ending’s flavor ended differently as well.

I’m pleased with the result.  What the experience taught me is that while I can be a ‘planner’ (a writer who outlines), I need to hear my creative side and when the opportunity hits become a pantser and let the scene outline go off on a tangent.  It’s okay to deviate.

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Covers & Blurbs

Posted on 7 March, 2014 in Marketing, New Releases, Production

I’ve got three major initiatives that will consume March and beyond.

  • Finish the last draft volume of Warstones.  I’m at 20K words.  that’s 20%
  • Publish Warrior Mage.  I redid the cover so I’m about ready to design the inside.
  • Redo Covers and Blurbs.

Covers & Blurbs

IDghtr-BereavedCvrMedf someone looks at the other two Sara Featherstone novels, something is happening that matches the tone of the books that readers are looking for – spying in Disinherited and a sword and a gun in Betrayed.  I’m happy with those, but I need a better cover for the entry book, Bereaved.  She’s got to be doing something in the book.  Perhaps holding a smoking firearm.  Those aren’t really developed until Disinherited, but I will see what I can pull out of the book.  More drama.

I like the Panix cover, but again, it doesn’t present the tone I need to show.  Panix rowing a boat twelve inches off of the ground is subtle, but I’m afraid PanixCvr3Medit’s lost on potential readers.  So he’s got to be doing something.  Maybe the explosion at the tractor factory or throwing a light globe in the cave.

Blurbs need more work… every one.  There’s not enough sell in them.  I’ve got to get more.  When Warrior Mage comes out, I should get a few more hits and everything has got to be just right, so more sell in the blurbs at Amazon and everywhere else.

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