Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 73

DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER excerpt

Now 70,000 words into DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER.

Let’s have a brief, spoiler-free excerpt.

The character of Dietmar was inspired by recent versions of Alfred from the Batman movies. Like, originally, Alfred was basically Batman’s eccentric English butler who brought him tea and made occasional deadpan remarks. In recent versions of Batman, Alfred has evolved from a butler to a former special-operations officer who runs Batman’s logistics from behind the scenes and is an expert in a dozen different fields from cybersecurity to nuclear engineering. Like, if Batman dies, this version of Alfred could probably secretly run an urban insurgency to take down whoever was responsible for Batman’s death, and no one would be the wiser.

Anyway, since Gareth and his friends were young, I thought it would be a good choice to include an older, wiser sidekick, and I think the dynamic has worked out pretty well. Though Dietmar would get along pretty well with the Michael Caine version of Alfred.

###

“I daresay,” said Gareth, and a ghost of a smile went over Dietmar’s face. “Well, let’s cast the dice one more time.”

“We shall make a burglar of you yet, sir,” said Dietmar.

“You can be the one to explain that my mother.”

-JM

meeting 2022’s writing goals & writing goals for 2023

Let’s take a look at how I did with 2022’s writing goals, and what I am hoping to do in 2023.

I have to admit 2022 was my weakest writing year since 2015.  Of course, it wasn’t some great mystery as to why this happened, and nor was it from any one thing. It was the cumulative effect of a lot of different things. Specifically (and not limited to), traveling a long way for a funeral, a whole lot of home repair (including teaching myself how to do numerous things I had never done before but really, really needed to do this year), a hailstorm, a new roof, and considerably more travel than 2020 and 2021 combined. I know some people find travel energizing and even relaxing, but I sure don’t – I’ll travel for family and professional reasons, but usually come home out of gas and it takes a couple of days before I feel like myself again.

The most humorous of my many home repair adventures was the squirrel. I’ve had squirrels get into the walls before, and once they’re in, getting them out is an ordeal. Around September, the squirrels start looking for places to nest for the winter, and one squirrel in particular zeroed in on the front porch. Somehow the thing could sense every weak point on the porch and started gnawing a tunnel into them, and because of the age of my house if a squirrel gets through the porch, it’s going to find a way into the wall. So three days in a row I had to replace some porch boards and paint them, and eventually the squirrel gave up and went in search of easier nesting grounds.

So my nemesis had become a woodland creature. Like I was a Disney villain or something. But I had to trade writing time for home repair, because I really didn’t want squirrels getting in the wall again.

That said, if 2022 was my weakest year since 2015, I still sold 2.5x as many books as in 2015. Perspective is important.

So I had eight writing goals for 2022, and let’s see how I did with them.

1.) Write one million words of fiction.

That didn’t happen. I wanted to write a million new words, but for the reasons enumerated above, I only made it to 814,000. Which is still a lot of words, granted. It’s only 81% of what I wanted to do, but 81% is still a passing grade.

2.) Continue the DRAGONSKULL series.

I did that – DRAGONSKULL: BLADE OF THE ELVES, DRAGONSKULL: CURSE OF THE ORCS, and DRAGONSKULL: FURY OF THE BARBARIANS came out in 2022. I would have liked to have gotten one more DRAGONSKULL in 2022, but it didn’t work out. But DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER will be my first book of 2023.

3.) Continue the CLOAK MAGE series.

We actually ended up with a lot of new Nadia books this year – CLOAK OF IRON, CLOAK OF SHARDS, CLOAK OF SPEARS, and CLOAK OF MASKS. So that went pretty well. I am hoping to start on CLOAK OF DRAGONFIRE in February.

4.) Write a third CORMAC ROGAN mystery.

I didn’t do this one, I’m afraid. I got about 40% into it and stopped.

The problem is that like everyone else in 2022 I’m concerned about money. If I published a third Cormac Rogan book, I know about how much money it would make. I also know that a new SILENT ORDER book would make 5x as much, a new Nadia book would make 8x to 10x as much, and a new DRAGONSKULL book would make 10x to 12x as much, and all for about the same amount of work.

So I thought it was best to set the third Cormac Rogan book aside and do SILENT ORDER instead. Maybe I’ll have a chance to work on it again at some point.

5.) Write the eleventh SILENT ORDER book, SILENT ORDER: RUST HAND.

I ended up doing two SILENT ORDER books – SILENT ORDER: RUST HAND and SILENT ORDER: WRECK HAND. The advantage of SILENT ORDER books is that they’re shorter and so easier to squeeze in when Real Life gets busy. I am hoping to start on SILENT ORDER: THUNDER HAND in February, and as with the previous two books, I’ll squeeze it in when it looks like I’m going to have a busy Real Life month. There will be a grand total of 15 SILENT ORDER books, and THUNDER HAND will be #13.

6.) Finish FROSTBORN in audio.

People have been asking for this for years, and 2022 is the year we finally did it! FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT and FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON came out this year, completing the FROSTBORN series in audio, all excellently narrated by Brad Wills. As an added bonus, we also got MALISON: THE COMPLETE SERIES in audio, which sold really well when the ebook version had a Bookbub in November.

7.) Finish GHOST EXILE in audio.

We also did this as well! We had GHOST IN THE INFERNO, GHOST IN THE SEAL, GHOST IN THE THRONE, GHOST IN THE PACT, and GHOST IN THE WINDS all come out this year, all excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy. I need to sit down and figure out how long the combined GHOSTS/GHOST EXILE series is, but I think it comes to like around 220 finished hours.

Looking back, I did a LOT of audio in 2022, and by autumn, combined with everything else that was going on, it was becoming overwhelming. So I think I’m going to take a break from producing new audiobooks until spring or summer 2023.

8.) Lose one pound.

LOL, no.

I actually lost like 500 pounds – it was just the same pound over and over and over again.

So those were my 2022 writing goals.

I don’t think I’m going to set any really big goals. The last two years have shown the folly of long-term planning, so my goals will be more along the lines of “Stay The Course.” Though I do want to try something new. More on that below!

Let’s see what I would like to do in 2023!

2023 WRITING GOALS

1.) Write as many words as possible, but try to hit one million new words. The last time I hit a million words in a year was 2020, when I did 1.27 million words. Of course, that was the year of the Great Rona Freakout, so there was nothing else to do but write (and take Photoshop classes, as it happens). I also wrote the entirety of the WRAITHSHARD series and about half of DRAGONTIARNA that year, which seems crazy in hindsight. Like when you look back at stuff you did in high school and college and wonder how you lived through that, though WRAITHSHARD was only two years ago.

But I would like, if possible, to hit over a million words in 2023. We’ll see if it happens or not.

2.) Continue DRAGONSKULL.

The DRAGONSKULL series will be nine or ten books long, so I might finish it in 2023. At the very least, I definitely will continue it – DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER should come out in January if all goes well.

3.) Continue CLOAK MAGE.

If I could get a couple more CLOAK MAGE books out, that would be great. I’m going to start on CLOAK OF DRAGONFIRE in February. I do have very specific ideas for the next few books, so I’m looking forward to getting to them. Nadia is going to be very busy!

4.) Continue SILENT ORDER.

I would like to at least get SILENT ORDER: THUNDER HAND out in 2023.

5.) Write in a new genre of fantasy.

I am definitely going to do this, and I’m actually 12,000 words into it.

I realized that I hadn’t created any new settings since 2017 when I started SILENT ORDER. You could say that MALISON was a new setting, but it was really part of the FROSTBORN universe.

I decided to try writing a LitRPG book. Let’s be honest, I’ve played a LOT of games, so I have the background for it. Also, LitRPG/Gamelit and Progression Fantasy seem to be more popular with the younger generation than traditional epic fantasy and sword & sorcery, so I thought it would be a good idea to try one. One of the keys to success as an indie author is to find the overlap on the Venn diagram between “Things that will sell” and “Things that I enjoy reading & writing”, and LitRPG might fall into that overlap for me.

We’ll see – I have a specific sales figure in mind, and if the LitRPG book hits it, I will write sequels.

More details to come after DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER is done.

Finally, thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the books over 2022, and I am looking forward to writing more in 2023.

Unless the squirrels really get out of hand, of course.

-JM

The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 139: Plottr Interview With Troy Lambert

In this week’s episode, I talk with Troy Lambert of Plottr, who discusses ways that writers can use Plottr to outline their books and prepared story bibles for longer series.

You can see Troy’s “Thursdays With Troy” videos about Plottr on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/@Plottr

This week the coupon is for the audiobook of GHOST IN THE STORM. As you might know, GHOST IN THE WINDS came out in audiobook recently, and narrator Hollis McCarthy said that of the eighteen Caina novels (and two short stories) she narrated, GHOST IN THE STORM and GHOST IN THE WINDS were her two favorites. So you can get 75% of GHOST IN THE STORM at my Payhip store with this coupon code:

DECSTORM

The coupon code is good through January 9th, 2023. Get GHOST IN THE STORM here!

https://payhip.com/b/T9Lk7

As always, you can listen to the show on Libsyn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Amazon Music.

-JM

 

Coupon of the Week – 12/19/2022

It’s time for Coupon of the Week!

This week the coupon is for the audiobook of GHOST IN THE STORM. As you might know, GHOST IN THE WINDS came out in audiobook recently, and narrator Hollis McCarthy said that of the eighteen Caina novels (and two short stories) she narrated, GHOST IN THE STORM and GHOST IN THE WINDS were her two favorites. So you can get 75% of GHOST IN THE STORM at my Payhip store with this coupon code:

DECSTORM

The coupon code is good through January 9th, 2023. Get GHOST IN THE STORM here!

-JM

GHOST IN THE WINDS now in audio!

I missed a bunch of my writing goals this year, but two of those goals were to finish the FROSTBORN and the GHOST EXILE series in audio. We already finished FROSTBORN (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), and I am pleased to report that we also finished GHOST EXILE (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy).

You can now get GHOST IN THE WINDS in audio at Audible, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon AU, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Scribd, Chirp, and Payhip.

I think I’m going to take a break from producing new audiobooks until Spring or Summer 2023. Partly for budgetary reasons, and partly because the amount of work involved became really overwhelming towards the end of summer and the start of fall this year, especially with all the other things that were going on in Real Life.

But things are at a good place to take a break with audio – FROSTBORN, SEVENFOLD SWORD, and DRAGONTIARNA are all complete in audiobook, and THE GHOSTS and GHOST EXILE are both finished.

-JM

DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER progress

I’m now on Chapter 11 of 21 of the DRAGONSKULL: TALONS OF THE SORCERER rough draft. Almost halfway there!

It’s time to mention that I’m also 10,000 words into what I’m going to call “New Project” for now.

What is New Project? It’s a genre of fantasy that I’ve never written before, and I hope to have New Project out next year.

More details to come when I talk about my writing goals for 2023.

-JM

Vector Map of Andomhaim

Long-time reader Jurgen was kind enough to make a vector map of Andomhaim, which you can see below:

-JM

The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 138: 5 Tips To Solve Sequel Escalation & Discussing AI Artwork

In this week’s episode, we discuss 5 tips to solve the Sequel Escalation problem. We also talk about the validity of AI-generated artwork.

This week the coupon is for one of my favorite books, SILENT ORDER: ECLIPSE HAND! I wrote ECLIPSE HAND entirely on Ubuntu Linux to prove that it could be done, so five years and five thousand copies sold later I still get a sense of satisfaction looking back at it.

You can get 75% off ECLIPSE HAND at my Payhip store with this coupon code:

12ECLIPSE

The coupon code will be valid through December 31st, 2022.

As always, you can listen to the show on Libsyn, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Amazon Music.

-JM

Coupon of the Week – 12/12/2022

It’s time for Coupon of the Week!

This week the coupon is for one of my favorite books, SILENT ORDER: ECLIPSE HAND! I wrote ECLIPSE HAND entirely on Ubuntu Linux to prove that it could be done, so five years and five thousand copies sold later I still get a sense of satisfaction looking back at it.

You can get 75% off ECLIPSE HAND at my Payhip store with this coupon code:

12ECLIPSE

The coupon code will be valid through December 31st, 2022.

-JM

De-escalating Sequel Escalation

A common problem of long-running fantasy and science fiction series is Sequel Escalation.

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the longer the series runs, the characters need to face more and more powerful antagonists in order to up the stakes. Like, in the first book, the protagonist defeats an orc chieftain. The next book, an orcish king. The book after that, a dragon. Then a demigod. Then an evil god. Then, like, an entire group of evil gods!

It becomes increasingly difficult for the writer to think up appropriate scenarios to challenge the protagonists, and that might start to strain the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Like, the characters saved the world in the last two books! Do they really have to save the world yet again? Or do they save the solar system? Then the galaxy? Then the universe?

So Sequel Escalation can quickly become a problem in long-running fantasy and science fiction series. Since I’ve written quite a few long-running series, I’ve given some thought to the problem. Here are five tips and tricks to keep Sequel Escalation from escalating out of control.

1.) Decide on the scale of the conflict.

Before each book, decide on the scale of the conflict that will drive the book’s plot. Not every conflict has to be “if we do not stop this thing, the world is DOOOOOOOOMED” or to avert some kind of global catastrophe. Smaller-stakes conflicts are equally significant if handled properly. For that matter, adding in complications can quickly make a smaller-scale conflict into a spiraling problem.

Like, for example, say in the previous book a paladin killed a mighty dragon. Does that mean the paladin has to fight an even more powerful foe in the next book, like a demigod?

Maybe – or the conflict can arise out of the consequence of the dragon’s death. Maybe two different kingdoms claim the gold in the dragon’s hoard, and both demand that the paladin hand it over to them. Or maybe a tribe of orcs, realizing that the dragon’s demise has created a power vacuum, decide to invade and claim the dragon’s territory for themselves. Or perhaps an evil wizard seizes a powerful magical item from the dragon’s hoard and uses it to go on the warpath.

By deciding on the scale of the conflict before starting the book, you can keep from having to escalate the conflict’s scope to challenge your character.

2.) Not all forms of power are equally useful.

I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating.

Let’s say that your main character is a mighty paladin,  or a powerful wizard, or the Lord Commander of the Space Navy. After multiple books, they’re powerful, maybe rich, and have a network of friends and allies to call upon. How do you present a challenge to such a character?

By recognizing that there are different forms of power, and not all of them are suitable for handling every kind of problem. Like, the Lord Commander of the Space Navy can win battles, but that won’t help much if he’s brought up on misconduct charges. (As many veterans will tell you, historically senior general and flag officers are often very suspicious of competence in their subordinates and don’t like it.) The paladin’s holy sword that destroys undead might not be useful when fighting a thieves guild. A wizard might have the ability to summon firestorms and lightning bolts, which isn’t all that helpful when tracking down thieves or attempting to solve a murder.

This technique can work for simpler character attributes as well – put a socially adept character in a situation where their social skills aren’t useful, like surviving in the wilderness. Or put a physically powerful character in a situation where physical strength has no bearing, like a legal case of some sort.

Placing the protagonist in a conflict where their chief strengths aren’t helpful and perhaps even a liability can create intense conflicts.

3.) Make the conflict emotionally significant.

This is an important rule of thumb for both conflicts in general and de-escalating conflicts in a long-running series – the conflict has to carry an emotional significance for the protagonist. This means that the protagonist has to be emotionally invested in what is happening. A common (if occasionally overused) technique is to have the protagonist’s spouse or small child kidnapped. This has become overused enough that it’s something of a cliché, but you can also have emotional investment in smaller-scale conflicts.

I happened to watch an excellent example of that before I set out to write this post. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY is a comedy about a failing public school in inner-city Philadelphia. Anyone even remotely acquainted with the manifold dysfunctions of the American education industrial complex will probably find it funny. Anyway, in this episode, the protagonist, the most cheerful of the school’s teachers, gets food poisoning and has to take a day off. Due to the lack of substitutes, the principal has to step in and teach her class. The principal is a self-centered con artist who is more interested in selling medically questionable beauty products and creating TikTok videos, but is forced to rise to the occasion to keep the class from falling apart.

Ultimately, of course, who teaches a particular class for a day isn’t all that big a deal. But the conflict is emotionally important to all the characters, and therefore it makes for a compelling story.

4.) Make the stakes consequential.

You can have your protagonist save the world, but they can’t do that every book. Therefore, the stakes of the conflict have to be consequential to the protagonist. Emotional significance, as we just discussed, is usually the easiest way to do this. Like, instead of having to save the world, the protagonist needs to save the life of a single child, or perhaps the family of one friend. Many writers go for the big scale conflicts where the hero saves the world in order to rouse emotion from the reader.

However, the flip side is also true – it’s hard to visualize and care about millions of people you’ve never met and will never meet. It is much easier to care about people you know personally and with whom you have had good interactions. This truth can work for your protagonist. Instead of having your hero save the world, have him or her save someone they’ve met that they come to care about – say the friendly innkeeper in a fantasy novel, or perhaps a small colony farm in a science fiction novel. This will satisfy points 3 and 4 simultaneously – the conflict will be emotionally significant because the protagonist cares about the people in peril, and the stakes of the conflict will therefore be consequential.

5.) Make the antagonist/villain suitable.

Not every villain has to Sauron, trying to take over the world. Or Professor Moriarty, the greatest enemy of Sherlock Holmes. You can have a really effective antagonist for the story without the villain presenting a world-ending threat. The key to doing that is to look back at points 3 and 4 that we already discussed. If the conflict has consequential stakes and is emotionally significant to the protagonist, that means the villain is the one creating the conflict that is putting those stakes in peril, which in turn will make the villain effective.

It can also be challenging to make the villain a threat to the protagonist in a long-running science fiction or fantasy series. The way to do that is to place the villain in such a way that he or she is outside of the hero’s area of power. For example, the Lord Admiral could be threatened by a corrupt Senator who isn’t subject to his authority. The honorable paladin could face an assassin who can turn himself invisible, thereby neutralizing the paladin’s ability in open combat. A powerful wizard could face a foe who is immune to magic, or impossible to track with magic.

But so long as the villain is instigating a conflict that is emotionally significant and consequential, he or she should work in the story.

So those are my tips for de-escalating Sequel Conflict Escalation. I have to admit I thought about this a lot lately – CLOAK OF SHARDS and CLOAK OF SPEARS both had pretty high-stakes conflicts, so I tried for a more focused yet significant conflict in CLOAK OF MASKS. You can read the books and see if I succeeded!

-JM