Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 153

Letters to Kel: UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I don't know what to tell you here.

Maybe the lesson is that you gotta do what feels right for you -- and you gotta be willing to admit when you need to change your approach.

Here's the thing: with my Commonwealth Universe, it's been growing kind of "organically." They started out as individual books, and as I rough drafted them and put them aside to work on something else and came back to them and made revisions and put them aside again ... I realized that some of my SF books kind of fit together, belonging in the same "universe," sharing the same history. Sometimes I "discovered" that one book was ancient history for another book. All it took was some tweaking of details, changing names, adding other details, and ... viola! ... the Commonwealth was born.

As I wrote some of the books, I mentioned historical events, which gave me ideas for more books, and as I got to know my characters better, I was "introduced" to their friends and relatives and ancestors, who had their own stories to tell.

Right now there are nearly 30 Commonwealth books, either published or waiting for publication. I have titles and outlines -- sometimes just a thumbnail sketch -- for a total of 58 Commonwealth books. At this point, I am announcing that the Commonwealth is UNDER CONSTRUCTION. What does that mean? Well, for one thing, I'm gonna stick with the planned titles, and I'm going to write in chronological order from now on. If I get ideas for books that happened earlier ... well, I'll have to think seriously about writing them. Maybe I'll do short stories, shorter episodes in Commonwealth history, and kind of insert them into the timeline.

My longsuffering publisher, Writers' Exchange, is going to re-issue the books as we go along, some of them with new cover art, but more importantly with a new numbering system to make it easier for people to know exactly where each book is in Commonwealth history. It seems some people haven't been too happy not knowing where in time they are, and hearing that there are other books that happened before the one they just read ... but those books haven't been written yet. (some people .... there's just no pleasing them! )

I'm a big proponent of being flexible, but sometimes you gotta set out a plan and stick to it, no matter what. In the next few years ... probably the next 5 or 6, we'll have all the "holes" filled in. Then I guess we'll be writing forward in the Commonwealth instead of jumping all around in history. A new adventure! I hope everybody will stick around -- and feedback is more than welcome. If you meet someone in a book and want to know what happens to that character later, or what happens to their descendants, ask! Give me more ideas for the Commonwealth. I don't want to leave it any time soon.

SPOTLIGHT: Sunsinger Chronicles #10, SCOUTS

Today's Spotlight is on the 10th book in the YA science fiction series, Sunsinger Chronicles: SCOUTS.

The adventures of Bain Kern and the Free Trader ship, Sunsinger, are part of the Commonwealth Universe science fiction novels from Writers Exchange.
Bain and Gorgi lead the newly formed Scout Corps and are still in training. It is time to take a test flight of the first Scout Corps ship.

Rhiann and Herin K'veer come looking for Bain with grim news: Sunsinger has been bombed, Ganfer the ship brain might have been destroyed ... and Lin is missing.
The Scout Corps's first mission might be its most important mission of all.

Off the Bookshelf: FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX by RL LaFevers

I love the Theodosia series by RL LaFevers -- brilliant little girl who sees Egyptian-related magic things, knows how to counter the evil influences and assorted supernatural things running amok in the museum her parents work for -- so I've been tempted for some time by the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series.

The first book, FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, was on sale on Kindle, so this was a good time.

Charming book. Fun illustrations. Somewhat reminiscent of Roald Dahl, launching with the story of a boy being ignored by the adults in his life, then tossed about to suit their schedules and conveniences, until he lands in the custody of an aunt he didn't know he had ... and then his adventures begin!

The Fludds are mapmakers from ancient times, and at one point in their history they are charged with documenting and protecting and understanding the fantastical, mythical beasts of the world. Hence the phoenix of the title. Despite believing himself unsuited for adventure, and lacking any of the necessary training that should have started years before, Nathaniel does admirably in the face of danger. Plucky hero, destined for greatness.

My only complaint is that this book was waaaaaay too short. I devoured it in no time at all and wanted more. Fortunately, there are three more books. I hope LaFevers will be writing more books about Nathaniel -- oh, and if she's listening, more Theodosia books, too? Please?

SPOTLIGHT: Sunsinger Chronicles #9, GEMAR

Today's Spotlight is on the 9th book in the YA science fiction series, Sunsinger Chronicles: GEMAR.

The adventures of Bain Kern and the Free Trader ship, Sunsinger, are part of the Commonwealth Universe science fiction novels from Writers Exchange.
It's Bain's birthday, and Lin and Branda have given him the day off to do whatever he wants on the planet Gemar, while they prepare a big birthday feast. Bain goes to the Gemar History Museum and meets up with Rhiann K'veer, daughter of Leap Captain K'veer. He joins Rhiann, her mother and sister for lunch -- and is injured saving Rhiann's life when a ship attacks the spaceport and the restaurant sitting on the top floor.

Captain K'veer is killed, and the situation immediately poses a grave problem for the Commonwealth: the help of Leaper ships is vital to commerce and exploration, but the law is that if a Leaper is injured or killed, the entire universe where it happened will be boycotted by the Leaper fleet. Lin and Bain and the fledgling Scout Corps become involved in the investigation, determining who was really commanding the ship -- where the ship is now -- and why the attack happened at all.
Along the way, Bain and Rhiann learn some interesting details about the Hoveni, the ancient race of shapeshifters who formerly inhabited Gemar. Some odd things that happen might just indicate that shapeshifters are still alive, and living in hiding among Humans ...
** Note: events in "Gemar" are mentioned in the Hoveni novel, "Hoven Quest."

Off the Bookshelf: NO QUEST FOR THE WICKED, by Shanna Swendson

The 6th book in the Enchanted Inc. series.

Loved it. Major fun. More frustration on poor Katie Chandler's part, but at least she got to spend the entire day with the love of her life, Owen Palmer.

Poor Owen -- his heroics at the end of the previous book burned out his magical powers. That kinda-sorta saved him from being considered magical Public Enemy Number 1 by most of the magical world. But of course you know some people will never be reassured. Especially when the "quest" of the title is to get custody of the most powerful magical item Merlin created. So powerful he realized no one should have it, but he wasn't able to destroy it. Supposedly the item has been lost ... until now. Being magically immune now, Owen and Katie are the perfect choice to hunt for the item and put it somewhere it can't influence the power-hungry of the world. Destroying it would be nice, but there's no Mount Doom available to destroy this particular "one ring to rule them all" problem.

Maybe.

Another lovely romp by Swendson. I raced through it in two days, and wished it would have lasted long. If you haven't picked up this series yet, DO start with book one and devour your way through to the end. Well worth the effort ... which is really no effort at all.

SPOTLIGHT: Sunsinger Chronicles #8, ARAMAR

Today's Spotlight is on the 8th book in the YA science fiction series, Sunsinger Chronicles: ARAMAR.

The adventures of Bain Kern and the Free Trader ship, Sunsinger, are part of the Commonwealth Universe science fiction novels from Writers Exchange.
Lin and Bain are invited to the world of Aramar, a lost colony from the Downfall Era, which survived and thrived through the centuries. The people of Aramar have been independent, but now they stand on the verge of a major decision: join the Conclave, or the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth's ambassadors to Aramar are old friends of Lin's, and they want to ask a very large, important favor of Sunsinger and its crew. Civil war could break out on Aramar at any moment. The ambassadors need a sure means of escape -- and other very important people on Aramar could be depending on Lin, Bain and Ganfer for their very lives.

Letters to Kel: ORGANIZATION, PREPARATION -- THE LIFE YOU SAVE COULD BE YOUR OWN

An apology to those who were terrified by that howl that reverberated across the northern/northeastern US last week. That was not the Polar Vortex settling down around Ohio and spreading eastward. 'Twas ME.

What happened? Disaster. Tragedy. Frustration. Messed up organization -- or an unreasonable facsimile.

I had a book due March 1, the 7th Tabor Heights Year Two book. I thought I was doing so great -- way ahead of schedule, giving me the rest of February to devote to a book I have had in storage for years and plan to revise and turn in to another one of my publishers. Part of the responsibility of authors at Desert Breeze is to insert the cover page and copyright information and about-the-author info before we turn in the book. I copied and pasted all that information from the previous Tabor book, and as I glanced through the list of titles, I realized a BIG mistake. I was turning in "Truck Stop Angel" ... and the book due March 1 was/is "The Teddy Bear Dancer."

NOT a good scenario, on the 12th of February.

Fortunately, "Teddy Bear" is one of those books I've had in my files for years, revised and polished -- and submitted for sale -- multiple times before turning it into a Tabor Heights book. It didn't need much work at all to make it ready to turn in. WHEW! The up side to this disaster is that I now have both my Tabor Heights books DONE for the year. I can concentrate on the Quarry Hall books under contract for the year, and do more work on books for the Commonwealth and my new series coming out, Wildvine.

But I wouldn't have had a "rescue" in this disaster if I hadn't planned ahead, if I didn't do what a lot of writers advocate -- Write the book, put it aside, work on something else, come back to it and revise, put it aside, work on something else, come back to it, etc.

Always have several projects in various stages of roughing, revising, and polishing. Never focus solely on ONE project from start to finish. You might turn around one day and realize that you thought you were on schedule for one deadline, but another book was actually due.

When I have a series planned, I take time to rough draft the whole series -- when I got my contract for Year Two of Tabor Heights, I made sure I rough drafted all 8 books. This let me know what was going to happen, so I could make reference to what else was going on in town, or foreshadow what would happen from one book to the next, when I went back and started making revisions. This is a very helpful thing -- it avoids the tragedy of writing yourself into a corner and contradicting yourself because you said one thing in Book 1, but by the time you got to Book 4, the event or the people involved or the props ... weren't there anymore!

Always look ahead. Always plan ahead. Take projects in small bites. Work ahead. NEVER fall for the line that, "Deadline pressure makes me so creative and productive!" Nuh uh. The only thing deadline pressure guarantees is gray hair, stress-related trouble, and no rescue in sight when you mess up. Plan ahead. The writing life you save WILL be your own.

Off the Bookshelf: MUCH ADO ABOUT MAGIC, by Shanna Swendson

Fantasy and laughter and characters whose stories never end -- some of my favorite things.

Shanna Swendson's Enchanted, Inc., series holds a special place in my heart. The day I got my Nook -- one of the first batch sent out by B&N -- the first book in the series was the first book I bought. I had picked up a bookmark for the series at a writers conference and I loved the whole concept: magic in clear view in New York, but only a few people who aren't magical can see everything ....

Our heroine/narrator, Katie Chandler, is an immune -- magic does not affect her. Despite all the illusion spells cast by the magical community to hide their presence -- and their ears, wings, and other magical attributes -- she sees it all. That makes her very valuable to the magical version of Microsoft, developing and overseeing all magic through the world. So she gets hired .... and I fell in love with the series and character and situation from the first chapter.

MUCH ADO ABOUT MAGIC is the 5th book in the series. It's been a while since I checked for a new book because, hey, when you keep looking for something and it isn't there, you kind of get discouraged. MAN, was the wait worth it!! Yes, I bought books 6 and 7 at the same time because Swendson delivers, consistently. I devoured MUCH ADO in about a day and a half (hey, I had to deal with all that snow hitting Northeast Ohio ...) Lots of fun! Essentially, Katie and her boyfriend, Owen, probably the most powerful wizard in the world after Merlin -- and yeah, he's in the story too -- are up against a new corporation competing with theirs, selling spells people can use to hurt others, and then selling spells to protect against the first ones, and manipulating situations to make Katie's bosses look like slackers. Then things get really nasty when the smear campaign gets personal: Framing Owen to make him magical Public Enemy Number 1.

Lots of fun, lots of cheering for the good guys, laughter, and booing at the bad buys. You really need to start with the first book, but I guarantee you'll zip right through all of them and then you'll be like me, restraining yourself from writing to the author and begging her to WRITE FASTER! We want MORE!

SPOTLIGHT: Sunsinger Chronicles #7, LEAP SHIPS

Today's Spotlight is on the 7th book in the YA science fiction series, Sunsinger Chronicles: LEAP SHIPS.

The adventures of Bain Kern and the Free Trader ship, Sunsinger, are part of the Commonwealth Universe science fiction novels from Writers Exchange.
Lin and Bain are doing some exploration, trying to find new areas of space on the other side of Knaught Points, when they meet up with visitors to the Commonwealth: Leapers.

Centuries ago, during the Downfall Era, Khybors fled First Civ because they were endangered by people who considered them less than Human and wanted to make them a slave class, or destroy them altogether. Now, their descendants, the crews of Leap Ships, have returned to the universe of their ancestors to see what has happened over the centuries -- and see if it is safe to return to their ancestral home.

NEW BOOKS!!!! Commonwealth and Tabor Heights novels

TWO new books have been released today.
Two different series.
Two different genres.
Two different publishers.

From Desert Breeze Publishing comes BWU STORIES, the 6th book in Year Two of the Tabor Heights, Ohio series. This is the 18th book set in Tabor Heights overall -- just 2 more books coming out in the series, both to be released this year. Look for big blast ads in BTS Emagazine to celebrate at the end of this year/beginning of 2016.

BWU STORIES follow two theater students, Kristen and Kat, through winter semester and summer term -- their fears and dreams, adversaries and struggles, and discovering the tears and joys of love. Well, yeah, it's a romance, right?

For more information about Tabor Heights and BWU STORIES, you can check out the Tabor Heights Today blog, where you can also read excerpts and get a taste of what's waiting for you inside.



AND ....

From Writers Exchange of Australia comes the next Commonwealth Universe novel -- a tale of the
Downfall, and prequel to the SF romance novella, "The Saddle and the Sleuth" -- THE TALON: The Adventure Begins.

What's it about? Well, THE TALON is essentially my "Zorro on an alien world" story, and follows young Edrian Rensler, younger son of the governor of the colony, as he prepares to play a part in defending their colony from inimical forces that will threaten them during the turmoil of the Downfall as the Central Allied Worlds and its galaxy-spanning government slowly implodes. Watch a boy learn what it means to be a hero from the shadows.