Scott Appleton's Blog, page 6
March 2, 2020
Fan fiction or not?
Several years ago I remember having a conversation with a fellow author. He also writes fantasy and he was concerned about the impact that fanfiction would have on his brand. Recent battles between major film studios and fan films have brought this back to my mind and I wanted to address it.
As a creative, I totally understand the value of our own work and protecting that. But I think there’s a major difference between someone trying to portray their work as an original (if it is a rip off of someone else’s) as opposed to someone creating a piece of fan fiction and not monetizing it.
A couple of years ago, some of the cast from the original Star Trek series became involved in a rather impressive amateur video production. The online-only TV episode that resulted sought to continue the story that the original television series had never completed. Fans had been producing Star Trek fan videos for a long time, but this one stole the spotlight because it incorporated original cast members and satisfactory special effects. To us Trekkies it was a far better direction than the new films had taken the franchise, because it held true to the fictional universe that is Star Trek the original series, The Next Generation, and others. The studio that owns Star Trek sued the fan fiction producers and, inevitably, won their suit. I think the studio considered it to be a major victory, but from the standpoint of an ordinary citizen it soured the Fanbase, and I think that base is still trying to recoup its former enthusiasm for new Treks. And prior to that Star Trek fans were the greatest advocates for producing new Star Trek television.
Conversely, there is this guy I watch on YouTube, and his fan-fiction for Star Wars hit a historic level in the last couple of years when he produced an impressive 16-minute episode that continued where the movie Revenge Of The Sith left off. He was recently contacted by the studio that owns Disney’s rights and they basically threatened his products, and began to monetize his short film for their own profit. My first reaction upon hearing this, of course was to say, “Oh no, here’s another Star Trek.” But instead of a Trek scenario, Lucasfilm stepped in and shut down the studio’s action! What had been a divisive action, has now been turned into an excellent marketing story that showcases the relationship that Lucasfilm wants with their fanbase. It is, quite frankly, a beautiful thing to see. You can check out the awesome fan film here: Vader: Shards of the Past Maybe, in the future, this YouTuber will be given an opportunity to work with Lucasfilm on high budget Star Wars productions. What better way for them to find talent?
The comparison of these two scenarios, confirms for me that it is better to encourage fans to add to the story worlds that we create. Let them make films, let them write stories, let them create artwork. This doesn’t mean that what they create will be considered canon, but it does mean that they will be marketing the stories they love, and that the stories we create as writers will inspire many more creative minds. Even at its most basic, just allowing for a spirit of generosity and positivity in our story worlds will engender far more success, rather than the hostility generated in situations like CBS with Star Trek. I admire Lucasfilm all the more now.
Q: How does fan fiction impact you?
February 12, 2020
Expanding availability for my fantasy novels
Since getting Swords of the Six and Dragon Offspring published, I have been moving toward a wider availability that will reach as many readers as possible. Currently you can purchase the books exclusively through Amazon.com in either Kindle or paperback format. That’s about to expand.
In recognizing the need for a wider worldwide distribution for my novels, I am going to release the ebooks first to Apple Books, and to Kobo. Apple Books is the second largest retailer of e-books in the United States. And kobo is the largest overseas, particularly in Europe, according to my research. I know that I have many international readers from my days with AMG Publishers, and I want to make the books available to them again as well.
In addition to this, I am going to set distribution through Ingram. This is how my first novel was set up when it was published back in 2009. It will again be available for all booksellers, online retailers, and also libraries. For you this means that if you prefer to purchase at Barnes and Noble Booksellers or another retailer (one of my personal favorites is 2nd & Charles) you will soon be able to do so.
The only downside to this, and it is a small one in my opinion, is that the books will no longer be available on the Kindle unlimited program. But that program is limiting (pun intended) because it does not allow me to reach all of the readers on other ebook formats. Amazon requires exclusivity in order to use that program.
I’d love to get feedback from you! Where do you buy your fantasy novels, and what is your preferred format?
February 3, 2020
It’s Not the Action! What makes a great fantasy epic?
Bold heroes, wise heroines, terrible beasts, and insurmountable odds. What could be better than a fantasy epic that embraces good versus evil? For me, what makes a fantasy great versus mediocre is a little more precise.
When I was growing up the stories that grabbed my attention were the stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable, and those similar. Brave knights battling dark magicians to rescue beautiful maidens . . . To my thinking, this is the epitome of a great story, and it is missing in a lot of the politically-charged stories that make it into publication today.
I am all for strong female characters. Just look at my second novel for an example of that, my heroine is the lead in that story. But what I don’t appreciate is the reducing of the masculine and the destruction of the feminine.
The stories that stick with me are the ones that esteem beauty, even physical beauty, but they also place hard consequences on those that commit crimes. And that includes crimes of passion, crimes of physical violence, anarchy, and crimes against God.
I find it fascinating to look at the works of authors whose worldviews are very different from my own. Let’s take for example Terry Goodkind and his series The Sword of Truth. I have read and absolutely adored the story and the characters in several of his novels. I think it is the values that he and I share that make me connect with him as a reader. His hero finds a beautiful woman and of course falls in love with her, but they are unable to fulfill the desires toward one another without releasing her destructive power. Monstrous creatures fill his pages and the hero surmounts incredible odds to defeat both them and the most vile villains.
To name off some other examples: RA Salvatore and J. K. Rowling. Both excellent writers with vastly different worldviews to my own.
Could it be that all of these stories share western ideals that were born out of Judeo-Christian and Arthurian values? I think there is definitely an argument to be made for that.
Over the Christmas season this year I went out to see the latest Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker. I am a Star Wars nut, and I greatly enjoyed the wrap to the Skywalker saga. I am not going to give any spoilers here, just in case you haven’t seen it yet. But, while I did enjoy The Last Jedi, it missed the mark for me in many respects. Looking back at it, the story does not have the same coherence of good versus evil that the George Lucas films did. There was very little heart in it. Lots of forced humor, and big explosions. The Rise of Skywalker attempted to fix some of the last film’s mistakes, and I think it effectively did so. We went back to having faith in our heroes, instead of dragging them through the muck of regret.
So let me say that I am unabashedly a fan of classic good versus evil, and of knights rescuing fair maidens. I don’t think we have enough of those kinds of stories being produced today. And there are so many of those stories that we can tell. I want my children to aspire to be the best of themselves.
I will be the first to admit that the Arthurian legends or not the factual events but are vastly romanticized. But isn’t that the beauty of it? It is a fictional world where we can pit our darkest desires against the consequences of our actions. It is a recognition of the reward of a good soul and the quest for great beauty. It is the desire, nay! the intention, to fight with our last breath against tyrants and monsters.
So be unabashed in your quest for authentic knighthood, and the winning of a great love. If you’re a man, enjoy the fact! If you are a woman, throw in the world’s face the fact that you enjoy your feminine characteristics.
Great heroes and heroines come from the battle because they do not back down from cultural expectations. They stay true to their God and their convictions, all the while exercising grace and forgiveness to those around them.
Q: How is your cultural background affecting how you perceive the stories you read?
January 18, 2020
Dragon Offspring available in paperback and kindle now!
Finally it’s here, and it looks great! I’m going to start working on the matching edition of Key Of Living Fire next.
Follow these links to get your copy of Dragon Offspring: https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Offspring-Sword-Scott-Appleton/dp/195067701X/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?keywords=dragon+offspring&qid=1579358729&sprefix=dragon+offs&sr=8-8
[image error]Dragon Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon series book 2) The Extended Edition
January 13, 2020
Dragon Offspring is here!
The Hemmed Land is changing . . . and so is the daughter who was born out of the ultimate sacrifice.
With Ilfedo’s beloved wife buried, the Hemmed Land is destined to change, as is he.
The sea serpents have again invaded the land, and Ilfedo must discover the power behind the sword of the dragon, even as he accepts his people’s call to become the Lord Warrior.
From its original 120,000-words to the expanded 154,500-words, here it as last, the revamp of book two in The Sword of the Dragon series. It released today on Kindle (with an exclusive piece of megatrath artwork) and next week the paperback will be released! Many hours went into revising and expanding this book, and it was worth it.
Follow this link to purchase the Kindle copy of Dragon Offspring .
[image error]Dragon Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon series book 2) The Extended Edition
November 30, 2019
Fantasy Writing for the Holidays
It’s really hard to believe that my first book was published back in 2009. Over a decade ago this publishing journey begin, and finally I am getting all of my books back on the market. Happy holidays! And, yes, soon to be merry Christmas as well. Let’s talk about fantasy writing during this season of family, generosity, and kindness.
Although progress has been slow this last month my second novel will soon be re-published. The new title is Dragon Offspring and so far it has expanded by an astounding 20,000 words. Much of the story is exactly the same as it was before, with small alterations that greatly enhance the characterization and dialogue. I cannot wait to publish this for you guys! At last the original artwork will be used just as I had originally intended.
In addition to this, you may have seen my announcement that I now have a dedicated home office. I have set up audio recording equipment and started audiobook recordings. My time is so limited and I am trying to manage that better, but my first project is an audiobook of Neverqueen. Some of you might be wondering why I didn’t start with Swords of the Six, but that’s because that is such a large novel and I want to make sure that I get my audio feet wet on a smaller, more manageable project.
There has been much to celebrate this year! Including the publication of the extended edition of my first novel. For the first time I am seeing real growth in my ebook market, which is really exciting. That format of my books has always lagged far behind my paperback sales and I know there is a huge fantasy ebook readership that has yet to be introduced to The Sword Of The Dragon series.
The past four months of this year has been filled with selling our old house and moving into the new one. That slowed down my writing and publishing considerably but has set me up for success in 2020.
My favorite writing tool this year has been my Surface Go. I used it extensively in the rewrite of Swords of the Six, and am employing it with equal effectiveness to Dragon Offspring. It is such a basic little machine but incredibly portable. My only complaint about it has been that it is significantly less efficient where battery power is concerned. I am only getting a few hours of writing in with the keyboard attached before the battery needs to recharge. The solution has been to always keep my charger handy!
I want to thank all of you for your patience as I republish the material that was originally available with the traditional publishing house in Tennessee. This has been a long journey but with every step I have learned what didn’t work and determined what works best to deliver you stories that will inspire our lives.
The best fantasy stories encourage us to be better people than we are now. We need heroes to whom we can aspire, not heroes who we see as more flawed than ourselves. We want to expect a higher standard from ourselves and from others.
Thank you for being a part of this journey!
October 13, 2019
Dragon Offspring and updates!
This has been a crazy busy couple of months for my family and I! We sold our house and are in the middle of buying another one. Our house is not topsy-turvy, but I’ve been doing a lot of moving and preparation work. In the midst of all that I have made excellent progress on the second book for re-release in my primary fantasy series. Dragon Offspring (The Sword Of The Dragon book 2).
Originally I planned to just give the original edition a polish and quickly re-publish it. Dragon Offspring will now release in an Extended Edition like I have done with Swords Of The Six! The story made a couple of time-jumps in its original published form. The jumps did not originally bother me too much, but they were in part a result of the traditional publishing process. The publisher had asked, for the sake of production costs, that I keep it under 120,000-words, which is exactly where the word count ended up.
Now that I have full creative control again, I have decided to flesh out the story as it originally could’ve been. I must say I am very pleased with the results. This expansion is deepening the interactions of Ilfedo, the Warrioresses, and Ombre. Instead of an author narrative it now has scenes so that you can picture the events as they play out.
In my new house I will have a dedicated writing office. Something I have dreamed of for a long time! A spot that I can surround myself with everything that lends to my creative flow. Also, I will be able to set up my audio recording equipment and start fiddling more with that. I have so many projects to do and such limited time to do it each week, but if I chip away at it the work will all get done.
I wanted to give you guys and gals an update on my planned projects, so here goes:
The Sword Of The Dragon series: After I publish the Extended Edition of Dragon Offspring, hopefully in time for Christmas, then I will start polishing Key Of Living Fire. Followed immediately by The Phantom’s Blade. Finally with all of those books re-published, I will delve into finishing the next book, the one that everybody has been clamoring for for the last five years. “In Search Of Dragons” will pick up where TPB left off.
Neverqueen audiobook. I really want to produce audio versions of each novel, but the production costs are prohibitive at this time. If I can manage to record and produce it myself in a professional manner then that will greatly expedite the process.
Besides these fantasy projects I will get back to writing my YA sci-fi series Star Train.
Q: Feel free to offer feedback or your hopes for what comes next!
September 6, 2019
Story perception and Star Wars
The other night I was sitting down on my couch just enjoying a few books. One of them was my collection of marvel Star Wars comics. As I was leafing through the story of A New Hope I started showing my three sons a couple of scenes that were not included in the movie. As soon as they acknowledged that I was correct, I pulled up the deleted scenes of that original movie. They were quite fascinated to see that the concept was based on unused footage from one of my most loved films.
Have you ever wondered why Luke Skywalker greeted his friend Biggs as if he was an old friend at the end of A New Hope? Well originally Biggs had a larger role in the film, specifically a rather detailed interaction with Luke Skywalker while he was on Tatooine. But all that was removed in the final cut and never included in the 1998 version. But you can still find it in the old comics and of course in the deleted scenes on the Blu-ray.
I think this offers an excellent example of the superiority of written story over a film. You can include so much more detail because your screen time is not limited. It offers greater character development and a vaster universe.
Star Wars bridges every media now. Whether it is video games, books, movies, tv shows, audiobooks, or comic books Star Wars is represented. It is fantastic! It offers a view into that story world that is the envy of many a creator, including myself. But it also serves as a model of success.
For fans of all the older Star Wars content I am thrilled to enjoy it in its many forms. I will admit that I have played the games, watched the movies, read some of the comics, and of course I have read many of the books!
Depending on which media a new fan finds Star Wars through, their perception of the story will be different. For someone who picks up the comic from the original Star Wars they will understand the whole story of Luke Skywalker and Biggs. But for someone like me, who first saw the movie, I was missing the opening of that story. Once I found it it was like seeing the story again for the first time.
Eventually I plan to do similarly with The Sword Of The Dragon series. I would like to add comics, audiobooks, and who knows?
The variety of material now available Star Wars makes it a vast fictional universe. With the addition of the Mandelorian live action television series I am curious to see what happens next. Personally I’m anticipating the Obi Wan Kenobi series also. Not all of the material has been excellent, but the originals were and it gives me hope for the future of those stories.
Q: Which storyworld with several media types do you get absorbed in?
August 28, 2019
Swords of the Six (extended edition) now available in paperback!
At last it is here! A substantial 500-pages of epic fantasy to open The Sword of the Dragon series. Swords of the Six (the Extended Edition) brings you a more intimate perspective of your beloved characters and reveals more fully some of the events that the original edition glossed over. You can purchase your copy on Amazon. Click here: Swords of the Six on amazon.com
July 31, 2019
Swords of the Six (extended edition) now available on Kindle
It’s here! At last the extended edition of Swords of the Six is up on Amazon, and priced at just $2.99 as an easy intro to The Sword of the Dragon series. Purchase link for Swords of the Six extended edition.
A warrior from the distant past is brought back to protect the daughter of the dragon prophet.
In a time when wizards are growing in power, a fabled warrior will return to bring about their downfall by protecting an innocent child.
The world of Subterran has been torn apart by the war of the Trantureen, a trio of deadly wizards who arrived out of nowhere. Only the prophets can guide the world back into a lasting peace.
The dragon’s life is in his blood. In a world torn apart by betrayal, Xavion is tasked with protecting what is most precious to the prophets: the human daughters of a dragon.
With the life of the dragon flowing in her veins, Dantress holds the future of mankind in her womb. But for a daughter of the dragon to fall in love and give birth to a living child, she must be willing to give up her own life.
The world’s fate hinges on Xavion’s steady loyalty to the prophets and Dantress’s love for an unborn, innocent life.
