As in “I took the plunge”… … and submitted Orchids Ablaze to an online writing contest. I almost didn’t post about it at all! I thought I might wait to see how it turned out first. It was somewhat a leap of faith for me being my first effort, especially because I’m going to have […]
Count After several starts and stops, and a few dozen bad words, the first cut of chapter 2 is complete! It’s currently in the 1900 word range. I’m concentrating more on narrative and action than description, so that will likely increase. After Orchids Ablaze it feels like a very long chapter! I even pulled out […]
Exercises One of the lessons that I’ve read and heard about writing is the need to use only the words necessary. One of my early English teachers always taught that there is one, exact, word that precisely expresses what the writer intends to convey for any specific purpose. Part of that challenge is, naturally, the […]
Cartoon or Opera? Lethality in the superhero genre is an interesting phenomenon. Heroes and villains (apparently) may perish, but their eventual return is all but guaranteed. One of the factors in bringing The Jagged Earth to life is how to deal with death. Characters – good, bad, and other – need to resonate with readers […]
Story Worlds In my quest to entertain readers, I have several different “alternate reality” scenarios in addition to The Jagged Earth on the planning books. Just to tease… there’s a place where werewolves roam and one with an invasion from outer space. That doesn’t include a few classic fantasy and cyberpunk worlds on the boards! […]
Sequel Complications I completed a basic revision on Chapter 1: Staging/Diagramming review (narrative combat and exploration matches set construction drawings) Basic dialog check (character dialog matches their specific form) Costuming & powers (match costume details and power descriptions to character definitions cross-checked against Orchids Ablaze). I already had an outline for Chapter 2, so I […]