A quick update
Posted on May 12, 2008
Filed Under Writing | Leave a Comment
I want to apologize to everyone who might be following my progress on Heir of Fire: Book 2 of the Sundered Breath trilogy. Progress is moving along, but it is very slow. Real Life has sidetracked me as I work to move from one career to another in the professional life.
For the last 17 years or so, I’ve been in the Civil Engineering field. Not the engineer himself, but the person who draws up the plans and does preliminary design on most of the project. As time has drawn on I’ve come to realize a few things. First, is that there is really no place left for me to go in this field. I’m at the top position in the firm, and there are no more rungs up the ladder to work toward. It has made working in the field a bit monotonous and very un-inspiring.
The second thing is that I want to do work that I have a passion for. While I would love for that to be writing, I’m not at a place in my career where I can even begin to contemplate that. Heck. Most writers have other jobs that support them. I know that someday I will get to that point, but I don’t want to survive the day job and have the life sucked out of me until that happens.
So I’ve been doing freelance web-design for the last couple of years, working it until a point where both my skill and my contacts will support me. Well, the good news is that I’m getting close. I’m even in talks with another entrepreneur to become a partner in his design company. I’m thrilled by this. It would give me a job I can enjoy, as well as free up time at nights to dive back head first into my writing, as well as a couple of side projects that I’m looking forward to getting completed, including an e-course on writing powerful fiction. (More on that later when we’re a bit closer).
I have not forgotten you. I have not dropped the series. It is still a world I want to see more of. Still a place that fills me with passion and wonder as I explore the world from the eyes of the “children” from the series. You all have been on my mind lately. I keep telling myself I should post here more, but a huge freelance project has had me tied up (as well as a smaller site or two taking up time that I should be working on that big project.)
I will be back here more often. I miss you all too much not to be.
A New Beginning
Posted on August 6, 2007
Filed Under Writing | 4 Comments
I’ve been fighting with the opening for Book 2: Heir of Fire, for quite a while now. I know what is supposed to happen throughout the book in broad strokes. I have the ending and I love it. But I’ve tried 3 different versions of the opening and it’s always fallen flat. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved each of them in their own way, but they each had their problem. There’s a lot of information that I have to setup, and it’s been a struggle doing it in an entertaining and entrancing way.
I think I’ve solved the problem, though, and in a very unique way. I hope it works as good as I think it will….
I know for a fact that it would play well in a movie or a TV show. I am a little worried though about how it will work on the page.
When I wrote Daughter of the Sun, I wanted to write a fantasy with a thriller aspect to it. I wanted to up the pacing of the standard fantasy fare, and utilize some of the suspense of a great thriller to pull the writer along. According to most of the feedback I’ve gotten, it worked. But it’s still not as taught and action packed as a standard thriller. I think this one may end up a bit more that way, from the way the opening is taking shape.
Let’s go on a little experiment for a moment. I’m going to tell you a little bit about the opening and the shape it’s taking, and I want to hear what you think. Do you think it will work on the page? Do you think it might throw you off too much, or help pull you along?
—–WARNING! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BOOK 1, YOU MIGHT WANT TO SKIP THE REMAINDER OF THIS POST.—–
The book starts with Joss trapped in a room, dressed in nothing but a silk robe. She’s terrified of the ceremony that will make her an official part of the Duke’s new family. But she’s not sure why. She tries to escape, but can’t. And then the door opens and the Duke is standing there, holding an old bed sheet covered in blood in his hands.
The story will cut back and forth on this ceremony. It has some very dark overtones, and hints at sexual elements that never come to fruition, but will be much like the healing scene when Joss first arrived at the Duke’s camp. Each chapter starts with the next portion of the story that leads us through the ceremony, always ending on a small cliff-hanger.
The rest of the chapters are 1 or 2 scenes that take us through past events right up to the moment the Rebels attempt to overthrow the ceremony. We see tense moments in the Overlord’s past that explain things that happen later in the book, and sets up things that will be important in the ending. We also get to see Rickward and Johan’s fight as Johan is hell bent on saving his daughter - to the point that he can’t pay attention to his new child in front of him. We get to learn more about Raven and the Nekodah and what terrible things their choice to leave the care of the Temple of the Sun has had on them.
So let me know your thoughts, please!
300
Posted on July 9, 2007
Filed Under General | 2 Comments
I finally got a chance to see 300 this weekend. What a fantastic ride! I had read a behind the scenes on the 3D and the look in general, and I’ve got to say, the graphic novel feel was what really made this movie. It was over the top in such a delightfully entertaining way. And that soundtrack rocked. Literally.
Daughter of the Sun - Chapters 47 & Epilogue
Posted on July 9, 2007
Filed Under Podcast | Leave a Comment
You made it! All the way to the end! Congratulations -
And a big, huge, thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their lives to listen to my story. I’m thrilled and honored, and hope that you have enjoyed the journey as much as I have.
This week, we get to wrap the story up - see who lives and who dies, and what sort of a pickle little Joss has managed to get herself into.
If you have any questions, please send them in for the Q&A episode at the end of July. You can do that either by email or voicemail.
Next week, don’t forget about the behind the scenes essay, Inside the Temple. Though, if you look around long enough, you can find it on this site. (Okay, you don’t really have to look that hard!) 
Thanks again for listening! Never stop chasing your dreams!
Daughter of the Sun - Chapters 45-46
Posted on July 3, 2007
Filed Under Podcast | 3 Comments
I know everyone is anxious to get to the story after last week’s cliff hanger. So I made sure to get this posted before holidays. Chris had asked if I could get both of the final episodes up before the holiday. Unfortunately, that won’t be working out.
This week, Elena duels the Overlord in the great beyond, while Johan and finish their battle inside the Temple of the Sun.
Don’t forget to get your questions in either by email, or voice mail for the Q&A session at the end of July!
[PROMO] Murder At Avedon Hill, by PG Holyfield
A Quote to Remember
Posted on June 29, 2007
Filed Under Making Life | 4 Comments
Hey guys, I had to share this. My girlfriend was watching the movie Coach Carter last night and there’s a quote that she loved so much she had to share. After reading it, I can see why.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world – there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were all meant to shine as children do. Its not just in some of us, it’s in everyone; and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from out own fear, our presence automatically liberates other.
If we could all just grasp this concept - that by us being the absolute best we can, we make the world around us a better place - then we would all find the happiness we deserve. I wrote a post a while back about our passions that was similar in concept to this, but this just puts it so much more eloquently. I don’t know about you, but this is going on my dream board and will be read every day.
I hope you find as much hope and courage from it as I have.
Daughter of the Sun - Chapters 43-44
Posted on June 26, 2007
Filed Under Podcast | 1 Comment
We’re are definitely in the home stretch now. No, wait. I think this is sliding into home base. Enough of that.
This week Elena faces the Overlord inside the Temple of the Sun, Johan and the Rebels are attacked by the Duke and the Wolves, and we all wrap up in the Temple of the Sun. I think, after this one, you’ll probably be screaming at me, but don’t worry - you’ll find out the ending next week! And the week after that, I’ve got a special little ‘cast all about the trials, tribulations, and stuff I learned while writing the book.
I am taking calls for a Q&A episode for anyone that wants to write in or call me - so get your questions in now!
The promo this week is for Heaven Part 3: Earth, by Mur Lafferty. She’s the Grande Dame of podcasting, and has been a huge inspiration to many of us.
Daughter of the Sun - Chapters 41-42
Posted on June 21, 2007
Filed Under Podcast | Leave a Comment
Alright, if you Remember last time: Elena was reunited with her son and suffered a crisis of faith in her ability to do what she believes needs doing. When we left them, they had just met back up with Pierce after the corpses had attacked and Elena fried them in order to save her son.
What’s happening this week? Well, I’m only going to tell you this much: we finally make it to the Temple of the Sun.
Daughter of the Sun is now on Amazon.com and a number of other online retailers. Find out where here.
And don’t forget the PodiobookChat interview that posted a week or so ago.
[PROMO] Shadow Falls: Badlands by Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
Good News!
Posted on June 20, 2007
Filed Under Podcast | 2 Comments
I took 3 hours last night and plunked myself down in front of the microphone and managed to get all of the remaining chapters for the book recorded. Three hours of talking, though, and my mouth was seriously dry. But it’s done and all that is left is the editing. Whew!
Look for a new episode soon.
What about your website?
Posted on June 17, 2007
Filed Under General, Writing | 1 Comment
I’ve been thinking about re-designing my website for quite a while now. The current one that you’re looking at is because I didn’t like the one I had before, but never had time to completely revise it and do it right. The itch is becoming stronger of late. There’s things that I realized never got added to this website during the quick redesign - like the newsletter signup. The site feels cluttered, and like a huge mass of links that don’t have a great organization to them. I’d like to switch over to using Drupal to run the site off of, because it opens a lot of doors for the future - whatever that may hold.
I’ve started browsing around at a lot of different author’s sites, especially fantasy and sci-fi authors, and I have found that I’m really not impressed. Now, I do freelance web design, so I may be a bit pickier than the next person, especially since I’ve been working with a very talented graphic designer, but the majority of websites out there do not express a really good feel for the author or book. Many are very old-style web and, generally, not very pretty.
It has also gotten me to thinking a lot about what a writer’s website should be. And I’ve come to the same conclusion that many other types of “celebrities” are realizing: it’s about building a community around your self, or your brand. If you are a band, you can include them in a fan group, and a street team that makes people feel a part of it all. TV shows like Lost are starting to create rabid fan-bases by online, immersive story lines. And I think that is awesome. That is something I would love to be able to do, but they have lots of people working for them that can help with this. I don’t have that luxury, and I don’t do writing full-time, so it’s a challenge just to find time to get the writing done, let alone create that type of community.
Which leaves me stuck. What is the best way to create a community with limited financial and time resources? I don’t know. I do know that I need to get better at posting on both more interesting topics, and much more frequently. Outside of that, though, I want to hear your thoughts. What makes you return to an author’s (or band, tv show, etc) site and become a part of the community?
I’m very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
keep looking »-
My Novel
