An Update - On Fame and Magic

First, I want to give a little update as to how the new book is coming along.  Sadly, I haven't been able to work as much on it over the past week as I'd have liked.  I made a little progress, but it's not nearly as much as planned.  Mostly, I blame a busy schedule, but admittedly, there was a fair amount of laziness rearing its ugly head.  I hope to break out of that funk over the next week or so, and really make good progress.  I know there are a quite a few people out there who are waiting for Volume Two. 

I'm not a terribly successful author.  I think, to date, the book has only been downloaded around two-three thousand times.  To some people, that might seem like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, it's really not.  I'm fine with that, though.  I'm not going to say that I haven't dreamed of "hitting it big," but it's not my primary motivator for writing.  No, I write because I enjoy the creative process (as arduous as it is, sometimes).  However, it is nice to hear from fans - which brings me to a fun little interaction I recently had with my niece.

She's only nine years old, so my stories are a little over her head.  She's aware that I had a book published, but beyond that, she doesn't know much about it.  The other day, she was looking over my shoulder while I was making notes, and asked some questions about my story.  So, I decided to show her a picture of my map, and explain the geography a little.  It wasn't anything detailed - just a brief overview like "the bad guy lives here," or "this is where the good guys are."  She got a kick out of it, and in the end, we came up with an idea for a tertiary character for the third book together.  I won't say what it is, but I can say that it involves a young queen named Melea and evil merpeople. 

While we were talking, though, she told me that one of her friends was terribly impressed that I was her uncle.  The friend's mother had read my book,and had described me as a "famous author."  Of course, it's not true, but it did make me feel all warm and fuzzy.   I just thought I'd share that fun little tidbit. 

So, I guess the next order of business is to start with the first in a series of descriptions of magic users in my world.  So here it goes...

I guess before we get into it, I should go into a little detail in regards to magic in general.  Basically, it all comes from the same place, and it's all the same thing.  I know that for each person, it manifests itself differently, but in theory, any magic user should be capable (with the proper training) of doing any sort of magic.  However, it doesn't happen (except for a handful of times) because mastering a single manifestation of magic is difficult, and takes a lifetime.  Mastering more than one requires an inhuman (or indwarven, inelven, etc.) focus, work ethic, and lifespan.  So, while it's possible, it's as close to impossible as one can get without plunging over the edge. 

The irony, of course, is that most magic users of a particular field (wizards, sorcerers, etc.) have a tendency to hold other magic users in contempt.  None are more guilty of this than wizards. 

The first thing you need to know about wizards is that there aren't many of them, and with the death of Grith, there is only one true master in the world.  The other wizards (of which, there are only a few) are far, far below that benchmark, and aren't nearly as powerful or knowledgeable.  The mechanics remain the same, however. 

Basically, wizards are telepaths.  They can project the power of their minds in such a way that they can read others' thoughts, and for the most powerful, control the weak willed.  A master wizard can control dozens of people at a time.  Some have even claimed that the truly proficient wizards can effectively stop time (by putting the surrounding people into a trance-like state). 

Wizards are a notoriously arrogant sort, and oftentimes, their grasp outgrows their considerable reach.   Because of this, they are often very competitive with one another, and only rarely congregate. 

It's rumored that, among the mysterious Wa Suy, there is a contingent of extraordinarily powerful wizards who once plunged the entire world into a state of calamitous war.  When they were at last defeated (by an alliance of necromancers), they sealed themselves into a tomb.  Through a series of complicated spells, they put themselves into a deep, magical stasis.  Among the Wa Suy, there is a prophecy that one day, the world will need these powerful (if mad) wizards. 

The rift between two powerful wizards (Grith and Vincent) is a centerpiece of Heartkeeper: Volume One.


I suppose that's it for today.  I hope that shed a little light into one type of magic user in my world. 

An Update on Volume Two - My Writing Process

I haven't updated in a little while because, quite frankly, I've been incredibly busy.  Between writing and working my day job, I really  haven't had a lot of time to post to this blog.  However, I have been working on Volume Two, and I think it's shaping up quite nicely.  Today, though, I wanted to talk a little about how I let a scene take root and grow.

I have a bit of an organic writing style.  That means that I let the overall story arc, the situation, and the characters dictate how each chapter develops.  There isn't a lot of rigidity or structure to how I write.  It's intended to flow, almost in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way.  It's not as meandering as that might imply, though.

Generally, I start with a phrase or sentence which describes the scene's main purpose.  Typically, it's something like, "Flikk imprisoned/character development."  That leaves quite a bit of leeway as to where that chapter can go.  That's how my first outline looks; it's just a series of one sentence/phrase descriptions. 

Once I've mapped out the whole story like that, I go back into it, and do a detail of each chapter.  It usually looks something like this:

I.  Flikk Imprisoned/Character Development
         A. Introduction
                    1. Setting - Void Prison
                              i. Physical Description of the cell (size,shape, materials, etc.)
                              ii. Tone 
                    2. Time Frame - A few days after capture
         B. The Point
                    1. History
                               i. Intro to the character
                    2. Finding the Gap in the wall/Making Contact with Aime
         C. Conclusion
                    1. Hope vs. Despair

This sort of outline gives me a good idea where I want the story to go, but it doesn't really restrict my writing.  If I want to go off onto a tangent, there's room for it.  However, it makes sure that I set the scene properly, I remember what the point of the scene is, and I conclude the scene in a way that sets up the conflict within the next chapter (dealing with that character).

Now, this is a really short scene, so it's a very simplistic outline.  With a longer scene, though, it can get quite a bit more complicated.  However, I use the same general form.  Here's a sample of a long chapter from Volume Two (I don't really reveal that much, but if you want to avoid spoilers, quit reading):

SPOILERS AHEAD *** SPOILERS AHEAD *** SPOILERS AHEAD

I.                    Flikk/Drea reach their destination/find out about Orryn

a.       Introduction

                                                               i.      Castle in disrepair

1.       Feeling of Decay

                                                             ii.      Time Frame

1.       A few Days After the event

b.      The Point

                                                               i.      Greeted by a trio of elderly guards

1.       Want no trouble

                                                             ii.      The reason for the visit – need to see Orryn

1.       Not going to get much

                                                            iii.      Greeted by Orryn’s Wife

1.       Takes them to see Orryn of Aston Peak

a.       Blithering idiot.  Spouts nonsense.

                                                           iv.      The Explanation               

1.       Introduction

a.       The Setting

                                                                                                                                       i.      Land at war

b.      The time frame.

                                                                                                                                       i.      Three Generations past.

2.       Reason

a.       Elna the Cruel laying waste (winning)

                                                                                                                                       i.      Explain the Witch

1.       Dread Powers (curses, blood magic, demons)

2.       Motivations (power)

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Explain why she would cast the curse.

1.       The Resistance (Mace of Aston Peak)

3.       The Curse

a.       How it works (thirty-third birthday for every male heir)

                                                                                                                                       i.      Fading intelligence

b.      The Implications

c.       Conclusion

                                                               i.      The Witch Lives

1.       Imprisoned

a.       Wandering Mountain

                                                             ii.      The Quest

1.       Take Care.  Evil Witch.

This isn't the longest chapter, but it kind of shows how quickly the scene can grow.  I haven't written this chapter yet (it's about halfway into the book), but I estimate that it will be anywhere from 15-20 pages long (typed - in book form, probably 30-35).  The first scene was about two - three pages (it's from Volume One).  I don't think I'm surprising anyone by saying that Volume Two will be quite a bit bigger (in both the length and scope of the story).  

In the next update, I plan to start recapping the different types of magic users in my world.  I hope it's informative and adds to your excitement for Volume Two.

As an aside, I've made Volume One as a free e-book through SMASHWORDS in anticipation of the release of Volume Two.  I'm not sure how long I'll continue to offer it as a free e-book, so download it now if you're interested.  You may find it HERE .  I only ask that if you do download and read it, please rate or review it.  There have been a couple of thousand of them sold/downloaded since Volume One's release, but I've only seen a dozen or so reviews.  I write these things mostly for myself, but it really is exciting to see how someone reacts to my work.  That feeling keeps me excited about writing, so hopefully, the reviews will continue to come in.

Thanks, and I hope you all enjoy my work!