Monthly Archives: December 2006

Lots of musing. Remember “SOTM”

I figured out that thing with the Danica story.  I have a title for it now too, “Devils and Dreams”.  It’s currently about 60k, which is about half of a typical “Danica” chapter.  That’s also approximately the length I’m planning for the chapters of “Sisters of the Mists”.

So, this transition story is also going to come in chapters, and that means that the first one is done.  I’m going to wait and release the story when it’s finished, however, so you’ll get a nice big dose of Danica, day after day, until the whole story has been told.  Lit releases chapter stories submitted all at the same time one per day by default.  It will be good practice for me with the new chapter length.

This is closer to my typical chapter length on everything else ( about 30-40k ) so I’m finding it easier to write than I did the final few chapters of Danica.  I was geared for 100-120k in the beginning, but that has changed now.  With a little luck, that means there won’t be too many delays once I launch SOTM.

(Remember that abbreviation, I’ll be using it frequently to shorten the title of Book II)

I’ve also started on the follow-up to “Deified” ( Laresa’s World Ch. 15 ) finishing out Nathifa’s story.  This was originally supposed to be part of the official chain, but the story was already so long, I decided to cut the official chapter short and just finish the story later.  If you check out the Laresa’s World page on my website, you can see the cover to “Of the People” there =)

Likewise, I have a tiny bit of the follow up to “The Blinding White” ( Ch. 10 ) started, finishing James’ story as well.  On top of that, I’ve pretty much brainstormed my way through the next chapter ( 21 ) and have my central plot points set in stone.  I just need some inspiration for a setting, and a new Master to weave them in with.  I even have a starter in my head for a tale from “Outlaw’s Redemption” ( Ch. 5 ) telling some stories about the decade Laresa spent with Clint.  Those are likely to be website exclusive stories, not posted on Lit or Storiesonline.

Obviously, my Laresa muse is in full gear.

Never fear, my Danica muse is running well too.  Obviously D&D ( haha! ) is already started, but I have a good outline of the first few chapters of SOTM ready to go too.  I’ve already mentioned that the next two Arts Ardane stories are also ready to roll.

The new Arilee story, the sequel to “Blackhawk Hall” has also been crystallizing in my head, so I could pretty much start writing that one at any moment as well.

All in all, it’s been my motivation, and time, which has been holding me back lately.  I certainly don’t have anything remotely resembling writer’s block.  I have more stories floating around in my head, ready to go, than I could type out in a week if I did nothing else when I was off work.  ( and that’s just fantasy stories.  That doesn’t count the ideas to post as Les Lumens or LST3Ks )

My time isn’t improving much, but my motivation appears to be recovering.  I’ve written quite a bit the last few days, and I’m actually picking up steam, rather than losing it.

Now, it’s just a matter of whether Roust can keep up with me *laugh*  He’s posting his own work ( finally! ) and has taken on another excellent author, Sweet Witch, so he has a wee bit of a workload now.  His work is worth the wait, though, so no complaints from me.  I’d rather wait a couple of days, and have him give a story the full treatment, than have him rush through it.  I don’t want to push his other authors, or his own work, out of the way either.

That’s all for now, I’m back to writing.

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Danica and Laresa

Something is feeling a little off to me in the new Danica story.  It just doesn’t feel like it has a solid enough central theme to be a standalone story.  If it were a chapter in one of the greater books, I think it would be fine, but this is supposed to be a transition story.

I stepped back from it for a bit, to let what I already have finished simmer.  I’m going to go back and review it as soon as I complete the changes my editor sends back on something else I just finished under my alternate pen name.  I’m steadily working through how to tie everything together into a standalone story.  I shouldn’t have to rewrite much, I think I just need to get a couple of scenes in there and reword a few passages.  I’ll keep everyone posted.

I’ll be working on some new Laresa stuff soon too, for those who are fans of our beautiful Djinn.  I just updated the Laresa’s World page with the new Chapter 16, for easy reading linkage.

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It Cuts Both Ways in editing

“It Cuts Both Ways” is in Roust’s hands for editing.  17k words, 52 Word pages, and four chapters.  This is my first venture into the world of cheating spouses, so we’ll see how it’s received.

If you want a preview look at the cover before the story hits, you can do that right here.

It Cuts Both Ways Cover

It Cuts Both Ways Cover

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Cover for Finding Karen

I was having a bit of a logjam in my head on the fantasy story I was writing, so that cheat story I mentioned earlier is underway.  I have the setup written, and I’m about to hit the first conflict of the story, setting up the cheating.  I’ll probably be writing it side-by-side with the new fantasy story, whichever is striking my fancy at any given time.

I also created a cover image for “Finding Karen” which you can find linked on the My Work page or right here.

Finding Karen Cover

Finding Karen Cover

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New Cover Images

Still chugging along on the new Danica transition story.

Just updated the website with cover images for Thakkor and Ebon.  These can be found on the My Work and Thakkor on the Short Stories page.  That leaves only the Danica stories without covers.

Got photochop skills?  Have artistic skills?  Think you can do me up a cover for Danica from some photos of my Baileykins?  Drop me a line!  I’d really like to have covers for the core story taken from photos of Bailey.  If anyone has the talent, drop me a line, please!

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