At last, my book is finally available in Kobo. Many thanks to my publishers for making this happen.
Shadow Over Avalon now available from Kobo.
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The good, the bad and the wonderful!
The good is that my office reno is progressing and I expect to finish this weekend. I also expect to finish my picture of a Green Man for my office wall. If I can find my camara, I will post a picture of this. It got lost in the renos.
The bad is certain people, who are professionals, told lies. This is causing me a lot of stress when it should have been a slam dunk and no, this isn’t writing related. The result was that I had to light a cyber bomb under that person’s ass and report them to their boss, who is now doing damage control. The people he needs to liaise with are out of the office until Monday. More stress. Added to which, I stupidly let one of my paint rollers dry up and this has put my reno back to the weekend.
The wonderful? Awesome people are collecting their pre-orders of signed copies of Shadow Over Avalon. I shall soon be able to remit money owing to my publisher for these units. Incidentally, the lion’s share goes to the printers, who have done a wonderful job with the printing and translation of the cover work. Much thanks to Eveliin Enorkson and Ken Dawson for a fantastic cover. So what is this book about?
Avalon conjures up images of King Arthur. At the end of the legend, he was mortally wounded by Mordred and with his last breath, he promised to return at the time of his people’s greatest need. Now fast forward into the far future where there are methods of extracting D.N.A from peripheral descendants. The newly created person is not connected to his past, excepting for fleeting dream images of ancient times. He gradually becomes aware of his purpose and those who would thwart it. Nothing is as it seems. The stakes are the survival of humanity faced with unspeakable odds. Can Arthur achieve his ultimate purpose, or will he succumb to the plans of a hidden enemy? This is not about what happened before: this is what happens next. This epic length book is not for the faint of heart. Lives are broken. Romances shattered. Life continues, or does it?
Shadow Over Avalon is the first book of a series. The next book, Sword of Shadows, is due for release by Kristell Ink next in 2014. The saga continues.
Work day.
Editing and writing are intensive, so I tend to space them out with none cerebral activities to make sure my concentration is at the maximum when I need it. My non-writerly projects? I am redecorating my office, something that is about ten years overdue. Unfortunately, this involves painting the ceiling, which is popcorn. Yes, I know. So retro, but I am not about to scrape it off. First, I don’t do heights well and scraping it off would involve a lot of ladder work. This is not going to happen. I have to steel myself to getting on a two-step. Second, I have no idea what messes it might be covering up. That is a can of worms best left unopened, so paint it is. I don’t have a problem with the walls as I have an extension stick for my roller and edger.
Project #2 is a picture of a Green Man made of leaves I collected and pressed from a vacation in the Rocky Mountains. I used the eyes I had drawn with chalk pastels as a teaching exercise for the kids way back when. I have them in digital format now, so printing them off was easy. The general shape of the head is there, but I now need to paint a background before I put on his beard. For this, I need elusive daylight. A blizzard today didn’t help in either project. Four hours of decent daylight? Stroll on. Still, both projects are going ahead in between work sessions. I shall wait until after xmas before I start ripping out nasty rug and underlay. Have box knife: will happen.
The Hobbit, Part One.
I had mixed feelings before watching this movie. The Hobbit book was so much smaller than Lord of the Rings and I know they have made three movies out of it. How, I was thinking? Yes, there were extra bits in there. It has been a long time since I read ‘The Hobbit”, but I have a very long memory.
Without giving out any spoilers, this was very true to Tolkien all the way through. I wouldn’t say it was as good as Lord of the Rings, but it is only a gnat’s whisker behind. Amazing cinamaography and of course, the return of the wonderful Gollem. The sound quality could have been better for me, but there again, I was watching a DVD and not a full screen projection. That was my choice as I find I always get stuck behind huge and fidgety people, who cause enormous distraction. This is why I now prefer to watch movies at home.
Would I recommend this? Oh yes, in a heartbeat. I will be looking forward to the next ones. Hope I don’t have to wait too long.
Religion in world building. Should it be there?
The hell, yes. As a species we are hardwired to know about death and therefore to need an affirmation of faith of an afterlife in whatever way that choses to manifest. Characters in a book are no different as they are a sort of reflection of us. They therefore need some sort of religious framework to function under. Obviously, this doesn’t need to be an accepted Earth religion, but it does have to have standards and rules to live by.
At some point a character might question his/her god as to why bad things happen. Fine, as long as the framework is in place. The religion can be a good one, or a bad one. What matters is the character’s belief in it. A world, however different, must have recognizable structuring. Faith is a biggie.
Playing hooky.
I took time out of work today to finish a craft project for my office. I am busy redecorating it, I want artwork on the walls. Being as how our winter is so long, I wanted one of these to be a harbinger for spring.
A couple of years back we vacationed in the Rocky Mountains and while we were there I collected leaves, which I subsequently pressed. I had an idea on the back burner at the time and knew full well I was right out of luck timewise. So much has happened in this past fourteen months. All of it wonderful, but very time consuming. Now I have treated myself to a few hours crafting as I am revamping my office.
What am I doing? Making a wall hanging of a picture of a Green Man. I kinda want to be reminded of spring in the depths of winter and this project fitted the bill. The eyes came from when I was teaching my then small daughter art. I scanned them and then printed them off. The face is entirely made of leaves. I am at the point where I need to do some watercolor washes for the background before I put on the final leaves. It is fun and it speaks of spring. Now if only my darn rollers hadn’t totally hardened up I could have completed the revamp this week. Oh well, I will get to it at the weekend.
Note: every Green Man picture is different. There is no special format. It just depends on the leaves available. Mine are Rocky Mountain leaves and that is special for me. I will post when I have the thing completed.
Characters.
So what makes a character come alive for me? I have to see the world through their eyes and with their perspective. This is the first step. The second step is immersing myself in their lives. If it is not real to me, then it is not real to my readers, but that is a secondary consideration.
I am not an outliner. I simply can’t stick to that and I have tried. I am a panzer as the story comes to me as it will and through the eyes of the characters. They dictate what will happen next, not me. I just go along with the flow, hoping something reasonable comes out of my musings.
To a certain extent, beta readers also have a huge say in what happens next. I will never, ever, forget the death threats I got as a result of killing off a popular character in the second book of the Shadow series. I found I had to unkill him in an unprecedented hurry. Score? Beta readers one. Me … nil I fixed the problem tout suite. Takes a moment out to thank all those responsible for the death threats. Yep, you were right. .He really needed to be there. The second book, Sword of Shadows, is scheduled for publication in 2014 by Kristell Ink, my publishers. There is a third book in the offing.
Homework.
One of the most important things a writer needs to do is read. Sometimes a book can demonstrate what not to do. I have just read one like that and it had a saggy middle. The beginning and end were stellar, but the middle? Not so much. I waded through as I had bought the book, but I was skimming heavily. No, I will not be reviewing this on any site. For one thing, this is not fair to the author. For another, my take is purely my taste as should not reflect on a story.
Nope, this was not a book written by anyone that I know. All the people I know write masterpieces.
In the meantime, Darkspire Reaches is on offer at the Amazons for a very reduced sum. For the price of a fast food meal, a person could have both Darkspire Reaches and Shadow Over Avalon. Now there is a thought as we approach Black Friday.
What makes a world special?
Why do Blue John stones figure prominently in Shadow Over Avalon? Check the link. This is a special crystal formation with set attributes http://www.crystalsrocksandgems.com/Healing_Crystals/BlueJohn.html
The ultimate cut.
What happens when everything, including their name, is taken away from a person? What happens when those memories start to return and the person knows what they have lost? Rage builds, for there is nothing of value left to lose. A killer is born, and yet can they be salvaged? Should they be salvaged? And how does this impact on a beleaguered humanity with only one last chance left for freedom? The stakes are terminal. Failure cannot be an option, or hope will be gone. How does this resolve? Who will win and who will lose? Find out now in Shadow Over Avalon
