Donald B. McFarlane's Blog, page 10
December 17, 2017
December
It’s the 17th of December, and some time has passed since my last blog. I blame myself for this tragedy. In the last two months work on Standish has continued at a fairly regular pace, and while the target word count of 90,000 words was reached by the end of November, it is clear that there is more of a story to tell than would be allowed in such a length novel.
As of today, Standish sits at 132,672 words. I have a rather clear idea of what adventures and scenes need to be told to reach the end of the journey, but I do not have a clear picture or estimate of how many more words it will take to get there. As my good friend Zach pointed out, Standish is already almost 17% longer than my longest currently published novel, Remnants of Empire. A reason for the increased word count in Standish is unlike other novels I’ve written, this is a stand-alone story, and there will be no sequel. It has a beginning, a middle, and a clear end.
I can’t say I see the novel being finished this year, there is just too much left to add, and there are considerable sections of the book that need a bit more meat added to them to make the story worthy of telling. I’d like to think this could be the best novel I’ve written so far, the most complete story.
In addition to work on Standish, I’m having the wonderful Ivan https://www.instagram.com/i.bats/?hl=en develop a new helmet as concept art. This is a rough design of the Dynamic Operations helmet for Standish. Some work yet to be done, but it is coming along nicely.
At the same time my close friend B (we shall keep his identify classified for the time being), is working on a video game first-person-shooter adaptation of the Earth Saga Series. A single ‘proof of concept’ level is being built and will focus on the first encounter Major Joe Hunt has with the crew of the Epsilon in Minus Epsilon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HHDXFGY
If all goes well, the sky is the limit. I am very excited about this project, as I hope it will help create awareness of the Earth Saga brand, and help drive not only book sales, but also increase the prospects for the entire project’s future.
And a final thought on this rainy Sunday in London would be about 2018. Clearly steps need to be taken to increase book sales and brand awareness. In 2018 I need to think about re-engaging with literary agents, possibly getting Standish printed out and selling copies from the website, and give serious consideration to where this entire franchise is going.
Once Standish is complete, the Earth Saga still has books 6-9 remaining. I believe that these novels will return to the 90k ballpark size. Once the series is complete, it will be on to another project that will be in the Earth Saga universe, but may or may not tie directly to the characters and events of the original series. Only time and my imagination will tell.
No more wordsmithing today, but I’ll be punching the keys again on Monday. The adventure continues.
October 19, 2017
The Middle of October
It’s the middle of October, and things are moving along. Book V, Edge of the Vortex, is finally out. Standish is just under the 60,000-word mark. Ideally, I’d have it finished this month, then up on Amazon in November. That will depend on a variety of factors.
Got some great work recently from Luke West. His revamped Remnants of Empire cover is a big improvement over what I had, and I am very happy with his Edge of the Vortex cover. He’s currently working on a cover for Condition Zero (book VI), which is due out in early 2018.
It’s autumn in London, which means it’s getting dark earlier, which doesn’t help so much with the wordsmithing motivation. I’m worried that my expectations for early 2018 in regard to productivity may be too high. Time will tell.
I’ve recently added some new albums to my working mix.
Soulless Computer Boy and the Eternal Render- Trevor Something
Atlas- FM-84
Utopian Sounds Recollections- Duke Starwalker
These albums really help get the juices going, block out distractions. Help get the words on the page.
Additional thoughts take me back to what it’s all about, selling books. I’ve tried a free run of Minus Epsilon on Amazon for a few days. Not sure how that will turn out. I’ve had some new reviews, which is good, but my overall sale to review ratio is still very low. Frustrating.
Regardless, we must push on, knowing that I am making a product that is worth the price of admission. I’ll also have a few updates soon to www.donaldbmcfarlane, thanks to my main-man Asa.
Anyway, time to get back to what matter: the art of storytelling.
October 11, 2017
Edge of the Vortex
After much struggle, we’ve got there. Book V, Edge of the Vortex, is now live on Amazon.
Edge of the Vortex covers a period of roughly six months after the conclusion of Remnants of Empire, and while it doesn’t answer many questions, it does put in motion some major keys to the future of humanity, and the War of Succession.
With the conclusion of Book V, there are four more novels remaining in the Earth Saga Series. Stakes are getting higher than ever before, and scope of the adventures will increase with each coming story.
Enjoy.
Donald
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf?ref_=kdp_TAC_TN_bs
September 22, 2017
Beyond the Earth Saga Series
Trying to keep one eye on the horizon isn’t easy, but it is critical to ensure that there is some flight-plan for the future of my sci-fi series. It’s the 22nd of September 2017. The Earth Saga currently has four books on-line: Minus Epsilon, Defiant Order, Horizons, Remnants of Empire. Book V is complete and awaiting final edits. Books VI, VII, VIII, and IX have the broad-strokes figured out for overall storyline, and just need to be put to paper.
There are plans for a few stand-alone books. The first to be titled Standish, should be out in October. Another book, with the working title Reyn is on the drawing boards to follow book IX.
Looking beyond the Earth Saga Series, I have working titles for the three follow-up series. These series will be comprised of three books each, and the current titles are as follows: Epoch of Chaos, The Reconstitution, and Humanity’s End. These books will all be part of the Earth Saga universe, but won’t necessarily include any of the main characters from the present series, or operate in the same time-line. We are talking about projects that lay several years away, but getting the concepts down and the URLs secured is never a bad thing. Hopefully the people that enjoy reading the series will have many more years of entertainment to come.
September 20, 2017
Late Summer 2017 and the Future
The end of the summer has seen a flurry of activity on book V (Vortex) and Standish. Book V is complete, and has been edited once, and has gone through a beta-test. Standish is over the 50% mark, and awaiting completion. I have also recently scrubbed books 1-4 and relaunched them on Amazon. In some respects, they could all use another set of eyes on them, but that will require the hiring of a professional, and at the moment, that’s just not an option.
I’m at a point with the books where I have a substantial amount of product in the field, and probably a more pressing need to start focusing on figuring out how to sell books than just keep writing them, but that is a different kettle of fish, and hopefully some of my advisors can help me with that realm.
Moving forward, the objective is to get Standish online no later than the end of November and then to immediately transition to Book VI, which will probably go with the title Condition Zero. I’ll be targeting 90,000 words for that book, with the option to go longer always available. I have always wanted to keep the novels at a fairly manageable length, but I’m leaving the door open to increase the length of future books.
Looking towards the middle/end of 2018, I’m hoping to bring the original 9 book Earth Saga series to an end. This will hopefully be followed by a standalone book with the working title Reyn, a name that might be familiar to some readers.
Once that is complete, there are several directions I could head. I am interested in examining the Empire prior to the War of Succession, going back who knows how far. There are lots of options on the table.
There are also some developments planned for book VII that might dictate where I head after book IX. I do feel confident that the Earth Saga, with our primary cast, will find a natural conclusion at the end of book IX.
Time will tell where the story goes. Somethings are already certain. Some fates already sealed. The adventure continues.
August 29, 2017
Standish
So, working on Standish again, and I wanted to use Ivan as a cover designer, and go with a helmet as the cover image. This is the final result.
What you are looking at is a helmet for a Rescue Technician of the Imperial Fleet, Pre-War of Succession. The helmet has several optical sensors and systems, which explains the multiple lenses on the front.
I hope you like it. Standish should be available towards the end of October.
https://www.instagram.com/i.bats/?hl=en
August 24, 2017
Book V Cover
Finally picked a cover image for book V.
Going to modify it a bit, then it should be good to go.
August 23, 2017
2018 Flight Plan
2018 Flight Plan
The plan for next year is to write five novels, roughly 450,000 words, and finished the Earth Saga Series, or at least the first nine books. That means 2018 should look like this:
Jan/Feb: Book VI- Condition Zero
Mar/Apr: Book VII- Title Classified
May/Jun: Book VIII- Title Classified
Jul/Aug: Book IX- Title Classified
Sep/Oct: Unspecified Stand-Alone Novel- Title To Be Determined
I think we’re going to change the title of Book V, and use Condition Zero for Book VI.
What happens after that is up for serious consideration. As I mentioned in the previous blog, there is the strong possibility of an almost endless number of spin-offs and sequels or new storylines with other characters. It’s a large universe I’ve created, so there are lots of options. It’ll all come down to how sales go for the current run of books.
There is always the possibility that I will move onto an entirely new subject matter, but probable that I’ll stay in the sci-fi genre. There is external pressure to write a book that is not science fiction, and I do have several ideas for books that do not fall into the sci-fi realm.
Time will tell. The long-term objective would be to increase work-rate even more for 2019. With any luck, I’ll be able to keep producing fun, quality literature for some time to come.
Stay thirsty my friends.
Wrapping up Book V
Well, book V is finished. Not 100% finished, but done. It’s currently out with a Beta-Tester, my good friend Nick, who was read the first four books. Hopefully he’ll give me some good feedback, then I can make any changes to it, then have it on the digital shelves before October. It’s been work, but once I got into a good writing routine, it went quite quickly.
After having my old HP crash and I lost a substantial amount of work on Standish I decided to crack on with book V. Getting out of London also helped. I popped over to my parent’s place in France twice to help blow the cobwebs off. It helped.
I also found motivation from the film Trumbo, about Dalton Trumbo with Brian Cranston. A good film, but also an inspirational film for myself. I upped my daily word count to roughly 3k a day, and from there, knocking out the book was rather easy.
Right now, however, I’m not sure about the title for book V. Condition Zero is good, but might not fit into the story-line at this point. It’s something I need to think about. Tough decisions.
Other than that, It’s business as usual. I need to finish Standish as soon as possible, then edit, test etc.
The plan for the rest of 2017 is to get all my ducks in a row for 2018. 2018 is going to be the year where I put my foot down and try and write 5 books. No easy task. We’ll see how things go, but 450,000 is the target number of words I’d like to get down. The plan is to write a book in January, edit in February. Then repeat four more times. Take November and December off. We’ll see how things go, but at that rate, I’ll finish the Earth Saga and need a new project. Perhaps a few more spin-offs about The War of Succession or maybe a story about a time before the war. Perhaps a pre-war series on the Empire. Lots of options. Let’s see how early 2018 goes first.
May 26, 2017
Sentinel Commander
After much delay, I had an artist do a rendering of the Sentinel Commander. I’m not saying that this is the definitive look, but it’s very close to what I have in mind.
The Sentinel Commander is a title bestowed on the senior and most advanced robot/droid assigned to warships in my series: The Earth Saga. The Epsilon has four Sentinels, and are responsible for the ship’s defence. Here is a list of some of the capabilities and specifications of the machine. Possible spoilers ahead.
Standing roughly 10 feet tall, the Sentinel Commander is humanoid in shape and is grey in colour and covered in extremely durable and impact resistant armour. The SC has an Advanced Sinus Six Tactical Command Computer that allows it to remotely command other Sentinels, and in an emergency, override flight systems on the Epsilon. Like almost all of the Sentinel’s in service of the Etelainen, the SC was built on Darjk.
The green line on the forehead is the only visible indication of its position, while Sentinel 2 from Minus Epsilon has a green line half the length of the SC. Green is the colour of the Etelainen, while red represents the Pohjois, light blue the Emperor and other Royal ships/forces, and white represents the Core.
The Sentinel Commander has a holographic display system in its right forearm and eventually has an energy shield installed in its left arm. Carrying a micro-fusion reactor, the Sentinel Commander has the ability to move incredibly fast and can utilise a variety of enlarged weapons specially built for Sentinels.
Throughout the novels, the Sentinel Commander develops a close relationship with Major Joe Hunt. With the ability to speak any language given enough references, the SC is a vital member of the Epsilon crew and growing into one of the main characters in the series.
Many thanks to Ivan Batsalov for his work. @i.bats on Instagram.
