Dan Davis's Blog, page 19

How To Make Medieval Plate Armour

Literally everyone holds the English nobility in contempt, right? What use are they? What are they for? Useless and nothing, correct. The only good thing any of them ever did was pay for and wear all that totally sweet plate armour. I’m not into war. As much as I love to read and write about it, I […]

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The History of China Podcast

China, what’s it all about, eh? Wouldn’t you like to know how it got to where it is today? Wouldn’t you like to hear some of the magnificent stories from its 5,000 year history? But where do you start? I am fascinated by Chinese history but my knowledge is piecemeal. There’s just so much of […]

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Vampire Crusader Out Now!

Oh my gosh, my friends. The day is here. Vampire Crusader is available on Kindle ebook right now! Get it here: Kindle US Kindle UK What’s it about? England, 1190. Earl William de Ferrers and his six knights slaughter everyone at Ashbury Manor. The victim’s throats are torn out. Some of the dead are drained […]

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Richard the Lionheart’s Massacre

You are defending against a siege. For two whole years you have held your city against thousands of enemies. Cut off from resupply, you are starving. Your family is in the city with you. If the city falls then your wife and children will be killed or sold into slavery. But there is hope. Your […]

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New Historical Horror Series

I love history. I love dark fantasy. Why wouldn’t I write a historical dark fantasy horror novel series, huh? (I know you didn’t ask me why I wrote it, this is a rhetorical device.) It is not released yet. It is being proof read but I am too excited to wait to tell you guys […]

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Freedom! A New Author Website

I am moving from Wordpress.com to a self-hosted website at http://dandavisauthor.com

I really loved the Wordpress.com community and had lots of interaction on my blog but there was functionality I wanted to implement right now and down the line so I decided to go for it now rather than later.

It's up now with much of the previous content and new stuff so please take a look and I'd love to hear what anyone thinks of the design and stuff. It's early days yet but I am quite pleased with it so far and can't wait to get stuck in and build a really quality author website.

I just need to get this next book out first and then the one after...

The Awesome Power of Beta Readers

You got to get other people to look at your writing and give you honest feedback before you publish, you just have to. They can tell you what stuff they liked and what stuff they thought was boring. They can tell you what works well and what doesn’t make sense. You might think your characters are amazing and full of life but to a reader your hero might be a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, placed inside a wicker puzzle underneath a dense thicket of sphinxes atop a mountain of cryptoglyphs. They can also point out where you’re overwriting.

I started writing the third book in the Gunpowder & Alchemy series before publishing book 2 (Dark Water Breaking, out now in all good… Kindle). In fact, I had finished a rough draft of book 3 two days before book 2 was published. That was on 14th June and I sent off the finished draft to my beta readers on the 6th July.

It took a while to get all the feedback in and I was happy to wait for it. I have now had all the notes and comments and am ready to get a final draft done and then send it for proofreading. My beta readers really came through for me. I even have chapter by chapter notes, which is really fantastic. Not every beta reader will do that and you are more likely to get an email with a bullet point list for the whole book – which is also wonderful.

It’s great if your beta readers are also writers. This support is “free” in terms of cash exchange but you can return the favour with your own time and expertise to review and critique their books; not only a fair exchange, this is an exciting and enriching experience for both parties. If you’re a beta reader you get to add value to and shape someone’s creation and if you’re an author you get invaluable input and someone who is bought into your success. Both of you build a reciprocal relationship that should make both of your lives better. The harder they work for you, the harder you work for them.

If you’re looking for someone to beta read your books or if you would like to read mine (hey, you get an almost-finished book to read for fee!) then let me know at dandaviswrites@outlook.com . No obligations, we’ll just start the conversation.

Another typical beta reader reading a book in typical fashion using the Distant-Raise Style of book-grasping combined with the Fractional Head Tilt Method which demonstrates keen interest tempered by the healthy scepticism of a Level 1 Beta Reader (an Alpha).

So anyway, while I was waiting for the beta reader feedback I was not twiddling my thumbs. I spent the time writing another story. This will be the first part of my Immortal Knight Chronicles dark fantasy vampire series and I really, really can’t wait to release this one. In fact, I was so excited I sent off an early draft to one beta reader already and he was so into it he reviewed it and sent me notes within a couple of days. They’re sitting in my inbox right now and I can’t wait to go through them. I had a couple of emails over the last week that were along the lines of “this is awesome!”.

I also wrote the first two chapters of my planned sci-fi series and outlined the first few books of it. It’s going to be very epic and also fun. And I have roughly outlined my pure historical fiction series (ancient history) which I have been thinking about and researching for years. My productivity has soared the last few months and I am focusing on getting the content completed. I have outlined a production schedule for the next twelve months which is pretty ambitious but doable as long as I knuckle down.

But right now I have two books currently waiting for their final drafts and polishing. I find writing first draft stuff to be incredibly easy and quick. I do love rewriting but it is a very slow process that demands a lot of time and focus if you want to produce quality work (and I do).

Okay, I’m going to go look at my feedback now and get back to writing.

Thank you, beta readers, you are the best.

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White Wind Rising Free on Amazon right now!

WHITE WIND RISING Gunpowder & Alchemy Book 1 is free on Amazon right now through until the end of Monday (22nd June)!

Download now from Amazon US and Amazon UK  and enjoy!

Gunpowder and Alchemy Book 1 available now on Kindle

All Archer wants is to ask the Alchemist for more food for his family. Instead he is thrown into prison and must escape Bede’s Tower with nothing more than his bow and his wits.

Inside he meets Writer, Weaver and Keeper who are children like him and Burp, who is not. If they can defeat Bede then their only means of escape is by dragon-powered balloon.

To survive the perils of the journey home they will have to tackle magic storms, face the guardian wolves and battle the dangerous redcoat who lurks in the Moon Forest.

If they are to have any hope of victory then they must learn to bend the elements to their will, unearth the secrets of their own origins and discover that together they could be more powerful than even the greatest alchemist the world has ever seen.

DARK WATER BREAKING Gunpowder & Alchemy Book 2 is available now on Kindle from Amazon US and Amazon UK 

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How Come You Write So Slowly?

I wrote Gunpowder & Alchemy Book 1 in one month. And then I bragged about it. So how come it took me six months to get Book 2 released?

Give me a break! Sheesh. I’ve blogged along the way but here’s what’s been happening since January (it’s mid-June now). Then I’ll list what I learned from it (you love bullet point lists, right?).

How I wrote it

Book 2 was more ambitious.

There was more plot to get through
Historical research was required
I was aiming for about 70-75,000 words (Book 1 = 65,000)


I whizzed through the first two-thirds. By mid-Feb, I had about 55,000 words.
The plotting of the final third was tricky. The book crept up in length as I worked through the detail of how everything would come together for the big final battle.
First draft finished by the end of March and it was 90,000 words.
I sent it to my first beta reader right away and kept working on it. His feedback was that he loved it and it needed more description.
I write every night from 10pm until “however long I can stay awake” o’clock. I moved house in April and that required a TON of time and hard work. I’d say I had about 8 weeks where I didn’t do much because I was passed out exhausted by 10pm. And that delayed me, big time.
Over that period the second draft grew to over 100,000 words. I had been adding all he detail my beta readers had asked for plus filling out all the gaps in logic and adding period detail and whatnot. This WAY longer than I had intended and now my gutment began…
I cut it down to 90,000 again by the end of May. I cut and combined chapters. I cut people and events.
It was in okay shape but then I cut it to 85,000. Then I cut it to 80,000 and that was as far as I could go without making more work for myself by requiring big rewrites.
Then when it was totally done and couldn’t cut any more I cut it down to 78,000. By this point I was in danger of cutting the personality and “voice” out of it so I stopped.

What I learned from it

I had too much plot. Not that the plot was unnecessary; everything that happens is awesome. Just from a practical point of view it needed to be a longer book than is normal for this readership. I considered cutting out sections before I started (even dividing it into more books but I have 4 characters and they get a book each). I didn’t cut too much big plot stuff because I knew I could get it all in. And I did. It just took frickin ages to cut it to shape. Next time I am streamlining from the start. I built Book 1 upwards from first draft instead of cutting down at the end and that was loads more efficient. So I’ll do that again.
Too much research. I wanted authenticity but I this is historical fantasy so I was already changing history loads anyway. I guess because I love history so much I got engrossed in 17th Century England and was soaking it up instead of writing. And THEN I ended up cutting most of it out anyway. I went to Colchester Castle. I walked the Roman walls of Colchester. I’d have been better off writing. Next time I am doing just enough, no more.

I finished book 2 a few days ago and while it was being proofread I started the first draft of book 3. I’m 10,000 words in now which is a great start. I can write 1-2,000 words a day or more so I hope to get it out within a couple of months. Let’s see how I do!

If you have any tips or insights on writing / planning / editing efficiently please let me know!

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Dark Water Breaking is published! Gunpowder & Alchemy Book 2 available now!

In 1640s England, Writer is arrested in the night and put on trial by the Witchfinder General. Can she unlock her latent powers and free herself before the murderous Trial by Water?

At the other end of the Vale, Keeper and his dragon are brutally seized by redcoats and carried to Coalschester Castle on the orders of Cromwell, leader of the rebellion against King Charles I.

The ancient Cedd arrives in Morningtree and claims to have once been an ally of the Alchemist Bede a thousand years before. But is he all that he seems? What is he really fighting for?

Archer and Weaver must now battle to rescue their friends before it is too late. But to fight the alchemists, the redcoats and their steam-powered landships, they may have to start a rebellion of their own.

Amazing cover by artist Lombus who agreed to do the whole series. I LOVE this more every time I see it.

I’m so excited to be sharing the story with you and I can’t wait to hear if people love what happens to the characters as much as I do. I really loved the first book but this one is so epic!

Buy it now on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Please let me know what you think!

And if you missed it, to get WHITE WIND RISING Gunpowder & Alchemy Book 1 click for US & UK

Okay, I’m going to get on with Book 3 now…

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