Lloyd Hall's Blog, page 2

Inspiration - Redwoods

There’s something about the redwoods that lend themselves perfectly to a science fiction setting. Perhaps in my mind some of that had to do with the number of times (hundreds) I watched the Star Wars movies as a kid. It’s hard to separate the California redwoods and the forest moon of Endor. But I think there’s also something about how massive they are that really make them feel like they’re from another planet.

   

While working on Wardenclyffe, I knew I wanted the character of Bit to be travelling across the western coast of the US and as I plotted out her journey, I realized it would take her directly through the redwood forests. An android walking among the redwoods felt like the perfect science fiction setting. So naturally, I wrote it into the story. And while she doesn’t spend an extended time in the “Red Woods” as they’re referred to in her time, it’s still one of my favorite parts of the story. So much so that one of cover designs I strongly considered for the book featured the redwoods and a small, overgrown cabin from another scene that ultimately ended up getting cut from the book.

   

Then, I started writing Book 2. Rather than being set on earth, this one was set on a big colony ship in the middle of space, half a galaxy away from the earth. And I found myself thinking, it’s a shame I can’t put the redwood forests into this book too. But then I paused and considered that thought for a second. Why couldn’t I put a redwood forest onto a spaceship? In a spaceship that’s the size of a city, it’s conceivable that they brought along some trees too. And ultimately, the idea of the colony ship in my story was about the human race wanting to preserve and bring parts of the old earth with them as they left for the stars. And what would be more worthy of preservation on their ship than a redwood forest? So just like I did for the first book, I wrote the redwood forests into the story again.

But despite having written these massive forests into two of my books, I had never actually seen them in real life. My redwood inspiration came from movies like Jurassic Park and Star Wars and from all the photos I had seen of them online and in books. But something still felt like it was missing. But fortune smiled on me and shortly after I had a nice draft of book 2 finished, I moved out to California and my first weekend here I took my car and drove out to see the redwoods in person. Despite all I had seen of them in media, the experience of seeing these towering trees in person was absolutely unmatched.

   

I was blown away by every single part of the forest. The height of the trees was hard to wrap my head around, the smells felt so fresh and clean, the sounds of the steam train horn in the distance every couple of minutes, this was the exact kind of inspiration I needed for my story. When I got home, I went straight to my computer and completely rewrote the entire story, beginning with the redwood forest. I took all the feelings I had had walking among the trees for an entire day and put it into my story. For me, this trip was the catalyst that brought my story to it’s next level.

   

Announcement - Mercury

   

Exciting news! Mercury, the second book in the Wardenclyffe Series, will be releasing this upcoming fall! Keep your eyes open for more news and upcoming giveaways over the next couple of months!

Aboard the colony ship, Mercury, 19-year-old Lucy yearns to know more about her deceased father, much to the ire of her mother, the captain.

When a mysterious meteor strands Lucy twenty years in the past, she finds herself face-to-face with her teenage mother and realizes they may have more in common than she originally thought.

As rifts in space threaten to destroy the Mercury, Lucy looks for a way to save the entire ship and, with any luck, get back to her own time.

Celebrating Wardenclyffe's Bookaversary!

   

One year ago today Wardenclyffe was officially released to the world! It has been an absolutely incredible journey so far and I wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my book. I hope everyone enjoyed the story and please know how much your support means to me!

And hopefully before too long I’ll have more news to share about Book 2 in the Wardenclyffe Series!

Adventures in Bookbinding

Earlier this year I uprooted myself from my home of nearly 30 years, Connecticut, and moved across the country to take a new job in California. The move itself was fairly painless but as I began to settle in, I realized how unfamiliar everything here was. My life in Connecticut inspired so many parts of my first book and as I was working on the second one, I fell the well of ideas starting to dry up. I needed some kind of inspiration again.

So like I’ve done many times in my life, I turned to one of my favorite books, the Atlas Obscura - a tome featuring the most weird and unique places around the world. In searching for cool new places to help inspire my writing, I saw a place that instantly caught my attention, The San Fransisco Center for the Book. As a writer, anything writing or book-related tends to catch my attention and after exploring their website for a few minutes I found they offered a whole series of classes about bookbinding which I promptly signed up for.

   

When I first started my self-publishing journey I had to learn a LOT about how books were printed in order to format all the materials for my first book. But these classes were a step back to the basics, not focusing on publishing books, but focusing on the artistry of creating books with a range of historical to more contemporary techniques. Each class I walked away having learned new binding techniques, book terminology, and even some fun history about bookbinding techniques.

   

My original intent while looking through the Atlas Obscura was to find some inspiration for my stories, but with these classes I found a new kind of inspiration instead. I found myself inspired to want to create my own book from scratch, a custom edition of the Wardenclyffe Series made by hand. Now, while I am currently nowhere near being ready to make something like that, I hope that if I continue learning more about bookbinding techniques, I’ll someday be able to make the book that I’m envisioning in my mind.

   

Eric Hoffer Book Award - Honorable Mention

I’m so happy to announce that a few months ago Wardenclyffe won an honorable mention in the Young Adult category of the Eric Hoffer book award and was also a finalist for The Da Vinci Eye Design Award. To learn more about the Eric Hoffer award, check out their website www.hofferaward.com.

   

It feels incredible to have my first book recognized like this and it certainly makes me excited to keep working on the next books in the series. For winning an honorable mention in the Eric Hoffer Award, Wardenclyffe also received a short blurb in the US Review of Books.

   

Development - Searching For Inspiration

What’s the best way to write a new book? I feel like the answer is completely different depending on who you ask. I’ve often heard of writers who will find a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere to write their new novels. As I started to think about the next book in the Wardenclyffe Series, I decided to book myself a cabin and see how it worked for me. I found a tiny house up in the far-north corner of Maine, nearly nine hours north of where I live. 

   

To break up the drive, I stopped at my family’s place outside of Boston where I caught up with my family, saw my cat, and poured over books about lighthouses and a copy of the Atlas Obscura where I looked for interesting landmarks to visit on my trip through Maine. After a couple of days there, I departed for Maine. The drive was long and filled with podcasts I hadn’t had the time to catch up on in the past few months. The only interaction I had with other people was the various tollbooth operators I paid along the way. After many hours I finally arrived at the Apple Tree Cottage, the perfect writing retreat.

   

The boardwalk leading up to the cottage was lit by an old red lantern, welcoming me to my home for the next few days. I stepped inside and found a warm cozy interior, built from natural wood logs and decorated with vintage tins and plates, the types of things you’d find littering the shelves of any antique store in the northeast. As I climbed further into this tiny house I found the sleeping loft and I instantly knew I was going to spend most of my time up there. The loft was separated from the rest of the space by large curtains and featured a king size bed filled with a mountain of large pillows. After many hours of driving I quickly found myself asleep in this loft.

   

I woke up the next day ready to start writing. I grabbed my laptop, climbed out of the sleeping loft, and set myself up at the breakfast nook with some tea and toast, ready for the words to flow. But they didn’t. Despite having the story fully outlined, the words just weren’t coming to me. Extremely disappointing considering how far I had travelled to find this location and seclusion. But instead of giving me focus it had rather the opposite effect. I found myself unfocused and completely lacking inspiration. I managed to get out a couple thousand words before continuing on to my next destination.

   

On my way down to my next stop on the coast of Maine, I decided to make a couple of detours along the way. While driving along the highway I saw a sign for Bangor, Maine and remembered a page I had read in the Atlas Obscura about Stephen King’s house. I asked my GPS to change the route and entered the address for his house instead. I pulled up on an empty street piled high with leaves waiting to be collected. I’ve seen a lot of houses in my day but something about this one instantly felt unnerving. Maybe it’s because it’s Stephen King’s house but in all honestly I think it was all of the Do Not Trespass signs and security cameras standing guard around the house. That being said, it was a beautiful place. The deep-red house was surrounded by a black wrought-iron fence. In the sideyard was a tall, twisted yellow wooden sculpture adding another level of uniqueness to the house.

   

Having been taken considerably off-course from my trek into Bangor, I found myself driving along a series of backroads through towns I had never heard of. I saw the leaves beginning to change color on the trees along the roads, random painted murals, train cars that had been converted into diners, and enough interesting things to fill a book. I saw a cool building and right across the street I drove up to a parking spot. It seemed like I was supposed to stop here. And of course, it ended up being an small library with a little gazebo next to it. I walked up to the front door and saw a sign that read “Use the bottom entrance” but as I looked there didn’t seem to be anything lower than this building.

   

I walked around to the back of the building but was met with another curiosity. Instead of an entrance I found old steps that had been overgrown with plants and an unused fountain with a metal statue in the center. It started to feel like something straight out of a book itself, right down to the giant marble compass on the ground near the stairs. I continued walking around but from all angles, there didn’t seem to be any way to get inside this mysterious library. I explored further and it just kept getting weirder. I found a muddy set of steps which led down to what seemed like an outdoor performance space complete with massive metal planters on top of pillars, strange brick buildings, and giant wrought-iron gates just like the ones at Stephen King’s house. I followed this new area out onto the sidewalk where I was met with the true entrance to the library.

   

Much to my surprise, the entire library was built underground. And the section I had encountered was actually the third floor, poking up above the ground. It’s certainly one of the most interesting libraries I’ve encountered and really felt like something out of a fantasy book. And that’s when I started to realize what I was missing up in the cabin. These experiences of getting lost and finding a cool building to explore are exactly what I want to put into my writing. So with that in mind, I continued on through the town towards my next destination.

   

And like all of my stories, there was a lighthouse. I remembered back to the book of northeast lighthouses I had read in my family’s house and decided to make a stop at a nearby lighthouse before settling into my next stop. I followed the road as far as it would take me before having to park and get out. I walked along a muddy path which took me along a steep cliffside full of tall trees. Beyond the trees was one of the most incredible views of the ocean I’d ever seen. Further along the path I arrived at the entrance to the lighthouse, an old coast guard building and a set of steps climbing a large hill up to the lighthouse itself. After the climb I spent some time taking photos and just enjoying the view.

   

My next stop was a stone’s throw away from the lighthouse. It felt like an old barn building that had been converted into a family’s house. The house was filled with eclectic decor and family photos. It was one of those houses where you stepped inside and instantly knew what types of people lived there. They were artsy, loved to travel, and had spent their lives curating a house full of objects that clearly had a lot of meaning to them, including possibly my favorite frog statue ever. 

   

I found a comfortable leather chair in the corner of the living room which I set myself up in for the next couple of days and continued working on my book. I found the writing much easier now. The journey to get here from the other cabin had left me full of new inspiration for the story. I had visions of characters climbing rocky cliffs, exploring old lighthouses, and of libraries built into the earth. The words flowed from my hands and the new book started to come together.

   

After a few days of writing I moved on to my last stop on the journey, Vermont. The place I had spent a number of summers as a kid, and where I attended my first year of college. It always feels right coming back home. I stayed with my cousins at their place where we ate good food and caught up after a few years of being apart. We reminisced about old times and talked about the future. The next day we even spent some time out gathering moss and again I found myself gathering inspiration again. After two weeks of being on the road I returned home and prepared to integrate back into my regular routine again. But luckily I was returning home filled to the brim with new inspiration and the first draft of Book 3 of the Wardenclyffe Series. Now I can get ready for the journey of editing these next two books and getting them out into the world!

   

Wardenclyffe Book Launch

This past weekend marked the official launch of Wardenclyffe - the culmination of nearly five years of writing and editing. It feels incredible to have reached this point where my book is finally out in the world. As I talked about in one of my other blog posts, it feels like everything has come full-circle with this book. I signed books in the same place where nearly twenty years earlier I had decorated gingerbread houses as a kid.

It was a splendid evening of catching up with old friends and making some new ones as well. Those in attendance heard me do a reading of the first chapter of Wardenclyffe (with my best attempt at an android voice) and talked about some of the inspiration behind my book. It was the perfect way to introduce Wardenclyffe to the world.

And now that Wardenclyffe is out, that begs the question - what’s next? Well the answer to that is pretty simple, book 2! The first draft of book 2 was finished at the same time as Wardenclyffe however unlike Wardenclyffe, it has not had the year of editing and polishing that Wardenclyffe has. There’s still a large amount to be done for the second book. And in the meantime there are other things still on the horizon for Wardenclyffe (ebook coming soon!).

   

Lastly I’d like to thank everyone who came to support the book launch at the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library and I hope to see you all again at the next one!

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Development - Full Circle

As I sit down to begin editing the second book of the Wardenclyffe Series and prepare for the imminent release of the first book, I can’t help but reflect back on my writing journey over the past couple of years. I’ve been working on my first book in some form for the past five years, usually between the random jobs that I was working at the time. But no matter what I did, this story was floating around in the back of my mind. I would jot down ideas on my phone or whatever random notecards were sitting around my room at the time. I still find these random notecards around the house from time to time and every new project I tend to go out and buy another stack of notecards to store all my ideas on.

   

As with anything that’s been in your life for five years, I ended up putting a lot of myself into this story. As you read Wardenclyffe you’ll find that there are many parts that are grounded in my real life. From trolleys and lighthouses, to the characters themselves. For me, these connections to something real help to ground the story and make it feel believable. When I read through the scenes again I can see them pictured vividly in my head, blurring together with all my old memories that inspired them.

In much the way that a story comes full-circle, it feels like the process of writing this book has also come full-circle. I’ve ended up back in the town I grew up in, getting ready to publish my novel from that same place. The bookstores that I grew up with are now the places I’m asking to carry copies of my book. The libraries I grew up with have copies of my book on display for all the local patrons. Even the post office I ship my books out from is the same one I lived a block away from for 18 years of my life. The exact same place where I used to wait in the early-morning hours for my school bus to pick me up in high school.

   

As I plan my book launch event at the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library here in my hometown, I think back to the integral part it’s played in my life. From going there to build gingerbread houses as a kid, to renting out the audiobooks for The Hobbit on cassette and being introduced to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. Coming back to this space to launch my book feels right. If my writing journey was a series of books, then this would be the conclusion of the first story. And now I’m coming back to finish it in the place it began, just like bookends.

   

But as much as things have come full circle for many parts of my writing journey, there are also so many new things that I’ve discovered along the way. I met incredible people through my writing group, met other incredible authors through various writing communities, and even discovered new stories as I searched for inspiration for my own. And this discovery of new things is what I’m channeling into my second book, looking to all these new experiences and seeing how they can help shape my writing. So here’s to the next chapter of my writing journey!

   

Inspiration - Data in a Sundress

Throughout the course of writing Wardenclyffe there were many stories that helped to inspire my writing. There were books that helped me figure out my characters, tv shows that inspired the worldbuilding, and even playlists of songs that I would make myself to help inspire the overall feel of the writing as I worked on it.

When originally drafting out the story, I knew I wanted it to revolve around the character of an android who yearned to be more human. The character of Bit went through many iterations before the one who finally made it to the page. And while writing her I took inspiration from some of my favorite science fiction stories. Before I even put pen to paper I went back and rewatched Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (as well as the lesser known anime adaptation), picked up a copy of I, Robot, rewatched My Life as a Teenage Robot, and caught a late-night showing of Blade Runner at my local theatre. I felt that it was important to see how these other stories had written androids and all of them helped me understand where I wanted to take my own character.

   

But perhaps the biggest inspiration for Bit was Lieutenant Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. We used to joke in my writing group that Bit was essentially ‘data in a sundress’. An affectionate nickname for her since their two stories were very similar. Both androids had a desire to become more human and learned more about being human by meeting different types of people on their journey.

Even with all of these inspirations, Bit was probably the part of the story that changed the most through all the different drafts. When the story was told from 3rd person point of view Bit came across very differently. She was only ever seen from an outsider’s perspective and I wrote endlessly about frivolous things like what she wore and what her hair looked like. Then things shifted when I started writing from her point of view and she started to come together as a character. Suddenly all her features, clothing, overall appearance were left completely up to the reader’s imagination and her story became more about her trying to understand humans.

   

This was always the intention of the story too. I wanted to show how Bit experienced humanity and tried to learn from the different people she met. I introduced her to types of people that she had never encountered before and didn’t know how to properly socialize with. It gives her chances to learn more about all the different people and continue in her quest to become slightly more human herself.

Out of all the characters I’ve written, Bit really holds a special place in my heart. I’ve been writing her for close to three years now and it’s hard not to be attached after that long. And while she originally had many inspirations from other characters, I no longer think of her as ‘data in a sundress’, I just think of her as Bit.

Development - Self-Publishing

My foray into the world of self-publishing began almost 21 years ago when I was in kindergarten. I would spend all my free time making up stories, drawing illustrations, stapling them together and reading them to anyone who would listen. Every story featured the same cast of characters - a ghost, a pumpkin, three whales, a witch, a bird, and a monster (with the occasional Pokemon joining the story). Most of those stories now live in boxes at the back of my closet but I think even then, the idea of making my own books was something that really appealed to me.

   

When I first started writing Wardenclyffe it was just a short story told from the point of view of an android. As I wrote more I continued to add to the story and it felt like I was overflowing with ideas for other stories. Eventually I had so many other ideas that were starting to form into a solid story of their own. This second story followed a young girl named Lucy living on a spaceship far from earth. I started a new word document and began dropping all the story ideas I had for Lucy into that document until it started to feel like it could stand on its own.

My first instinct was to write each story as a short novella that would pair together. But as I continued to write, I decided to merge them into one story. Each chapter of this new combined book would flip between the two different characters, Bit the android and Lucy on the spaceship. In a way, setting the story up like this helped to balance the tone of the story. One story’s slower pace was balanced out by the action of the other story and it seemed to be working.

Once I had finished the first draft of this combined Wardenclyffe I did one pass of edits and then began querying literary agents. But as I sent out queries, something just didn’t feel right. In my mind the two stories just felt better on their own. It felt like I was trying to force them together to make them more marketable. I went back and forth trying to decide what to do with them. Until I finally decided to split the stories up again and publish each separately.

The second I made that decision was also when I made the decision to self-publish. I began by setting myself a deadline, October 1st. At the time it was almost a full year off and I felt confident I could pull everything together. I knew there would be a lot to learn in order to self-publish but I love learning new things and challenging myself so this felt like a perfect new journey for me.

I think the other thing that helped me make the decision to self-publish was thinking of my grandfather, Ted Hall - another writer in the family. He moved up to Minnesota and started his own printing press where he published his own books as well as a weekly newspaper named The Rainy Lake Chronicle. I looked at the books on the shelf and something just felt right about diving in on my own and figuring out how to publish my own books.

   

I began my journey to self-publish Wardenclyffe by reading every single guide I possibly could. I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could before starting anything of my own. I made lists of things I would need; an editor, cover artists, printing company, ISBNs, website, and a whole bunch of other things. My to-do list was close to two pages long when I first started. I slowly started knocking off items one by one until the list was down to a much more manageable size. And now months later, I’ve got the copies of my finished book in hand gearing up to release it to the world.

I’m so happy I made the decision to self-publish and grateful for the amount of new things I was able to learn through the process. It wasn’t always easy but I think for me it was absolutely the right call. My only hope is that Wardenclyffe lives up to my earlier work about a ghost, a pumpkin, three whales, a witch, a bird, and a monster. But just like that story from two decades ago, I’m just as excited to share this story with anyone who will listen.