Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 239

The FROSTBORN Outline

Steve writes to ask:

A question… when you start something as big as Frostborn, do you have the whole plot laid out in your head for 15 books, or is it a bit more organic than that?

I totally outline everything in advance. I plotted out the entire FROSTBORN series in 2012, something like six months before I even started writing it.

That’s not to say some things haven’t developed organically over time.

I’d say the biggest changes are the role of Morigna, Imaria Licinius, and Mara. Originally, Morigna and Imaria were supposed to be the same character (more or less), but after I finished writing FROSTBORN: THE UNDYING WIZARD, I realized there was no way that would ever work. Fortunately, Imaria would serve the role just as well, given her massive grudge against Ridmark, which was why she appeared in FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF.

Mara’s change had an even bigger impact on the series. Originally, I basically planned her as Jager’s somewhat dimwitted but good-natured girlfriend. But when I got to her first scene in FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF, I was bored with her character, so I threw in that she was half-dark elven and used to be an assassin.

And THAT really changed the series, because I hadn’t originally designed the world of FROSTBORN to have half-elves. So the Artificer, the Anathgrimm, the Traveler, and Third, all of that came from that one impulse decision to make Mara’s character half dark elf.

Antenora was also a later addition to the series (her character was originally supposed to be male, but I didn’t think that worked and changed it at the last minute), and I didn’t think of the idea of the Sculptor until I was about halfway through FROSTBORN: THE FALSE KING.

But the overall arc of the series was planned out in 2012, and I’m looking forward to finishing at last in 2017!

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE now available!

Available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play, and Smashwords.

Click here to read the first chapter.

Ridmark Arban is the Gray Knight, and he leads the battle against the powerful and deadly Frostborn. But the Frostborn are winning, and without allies, the men of Andomhaim have no hope of victory.

The power of the dwarves of Khald Tormen might turn the balance, but the dwarves face their own ancient enemy.

And that ancient enemy has plans of his own for Ridmark…

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE book description

Here is the final description for FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE:

Ridmark Arban is the Gray Knight, and he leads the battle against the powerful and deadly Frostborn. But the Frostborn are winning, and without allies, the men of Andomhaim have no hope of victory.

The power of the dwarves of Khald Tormen might turn the balance, but the dwarves face their own ancient enemy.

And that ancient enemy has plans of his own for Ridmark…

-JM

CLOAK GAMES: SHATTER STONE update

6 chapters of CLOAK GAMES: SHATTER STONE down, 6 to go.

Once FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE is ready, I think I’ll be able to wrap up SHATTER STONE quickly, and have the fifth installment of CLOAK GAMES out before the end of 2016.

-JM

FROSTBORN excerpt

A short excerpt from today’s editing:

“You must be wondering why you are here, human Ridmark,” said Agataph. “We kobolds do not usually treat with humans, save to use you as food or slaves.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” said Ridmark.

Agataph grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. “I am wiser than many of my kindred. Do not your own scriptures say that there is a time to kill and a time to heal, and a time to eat your foe and a time to talk with him?”

“Something like that,” said Ridmark.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE table of contents

Here is the finalized Table of Contents for FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE!

I always enjoy picking the chapter titles.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE update

It looks like the final version of FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE shall be 100,000 words long, which puts it at about 4900 Kindle locations, 254 Nook pages, and roughly 350 Kobo pages.

If all goes well, we should have it out before (US) Thanksgiving.

-JM

Star Trek Beyond

Watching STAR TREK BEYOND tonight. It only got so-so reviews, I recall, but I liked it – a good space opera adventure. I always think STAR TREK is at its best when it stays away from the heavy-handed moralizing and keep things fun, and BEYOND did a good job of not overthinking things.

My two favorite parts:

-The Franklin. Obsolete technology FTW!

-This line: “Is that…classical music?”

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE cover image

Editing is underway on FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE, so let’s take a look at the cover image!

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE writing time

The chart shows how long it took to write FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE’s rough draft.

Amusingly, I finished it the day before NaNoWriMo started. I always seem to be editing during NaNoWriMo, never writing something new.