Keith Robinson's Blog, page 17

March 9, 2013

Late edits to Chamber of Ghosts

About a week ago, I was ready to hand out Chamber of Ghosts to beta readers. But I allowed Brian Clopper a head start, and he immediately pointed out the error of my ways.

Recently I had commented on one of his unfinished novels to say that an opening chapter lacked "umph" -- that is, it started out by filling in the reader with a lot of background before getting to some action in real time. And what happened? I did the exact same thing with Chamber of Ghosts. Looking at it again, I can clearly see that my first two chapters are really not needed. Some of the content is necessary as quick reminders, but I can sprinkle that stuff into the third chapter where there's some real action going on.

And so I've now lopped off two chapters and made my third into Chapter 1. I'm currently adjusting it here and there, but overall the novel will have about 5000 words cut. The result is a leaner, meaner opening.

This, of course, is what beta readers are for! A writer gets so close to the book that he fails to see the woods for the trees, and a beta reader can come along and point out something that should be glaringly obvious.

While reading Mountain of Whispers just now, I came across a few small but important details that I need to address in Chamber of Ghosts. Nothing major, and very easy to alter in an unpublished book... but these things would have been highly embarrassing if they'd slipped through. Which was, of course, why I decided weeks ago to read all the books again from start to finish. I'm finding all kinds of minor details I'd forgotten about.

There may be other things in this new novel that I need to address, but right now I'm hoping to get this book into the hands of more beta readers sometime during next week. More on that soon.

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Published on March 09, 2013 08:09

March 6, 2013

Website overhaul

Regular visitors might have noticed over the last few days that I've been tinkering with this blog and website. At first glance it looks basically the same, but there are some differences.

One of the biggest differences is the text size. In this age of iPads, Kindle Fires, and other tablets, not to mention smart phones, more and more people are browsing on smaller screens. Although the text is often auto-enlarged or zoomed to a readable size, it still messes with layouts and generally looks like a big old mess.

For a while I had a "mobile phone" version that cut out some of the surplus widgets (like the right-hand sidebar) and made the content simpler. But although the content was shared, it still meant two different website templates.

In the end I redesigned the site so that it has a fluid layout with fairly large, nicely readable text. If you minimize your browser window and scrunch it down so it's really, really narrow, you'll see that the site squeezes down accordingly and the content wraps to fit. It should work on most smart phones without any sideways scrolling or special zooming.

New fluid website layout
See how my ugly mug slides to the left, the text wraps, and the book images shrink to fit.

I've noticed that most blogs these days use large text, perhaps for the reason described above, or perhaps because people are so fast-paced now that they only glance at computers as they're rushing past! Anyway, I too have "gone large" with the text. I've also dropped the right sidebar, which is a nice-to-have on a website but is very rarely included in mobile phone versions. My simple, fluid layout avoids the need to show or hide that sidebar depending on whether it's a computer or handheld device -- which, let me tell you, is a pain to deal with.

The site isn't perfect by any means. I expect to keep tweaking things as I find more bugs and annoyances. Still, it's getting there. There are some snazzy widgets I used to have that I'll miss, but hey, it's a blog. The purpose of a blog is to impart information as easily as possible to the reader.

So what do YOU think? Found any bugs here? Is there anything you like or dislike when viewing this blog on a computers vs. handheld device? Do you even care? :-)

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Published on March 06, 2013 16:30

February 22, 2013

The ISLAND OF FOG fantasy series

I've been quiet on the blogging front lately, but I've been busy behind the scenes. I went to England for a couple of weeks this month and caught up on reading and editing every chance I got. Obviously I was editing Fog Book 6, Chamber of Ghosts, which is scheduled for release on April 24.

But what was I reading?

Why, I'm glad you asked. For the first time, I'm reading my own Fog series from start to finish. Naturally I read each book numerous times while writing, editing, proofing, and publishing, but I haven't read any of them since other than dipping in once in a while to check facts and continuity.

For the most part, I'm pleased. I found Island of Fog to be a little rough around the edges in places -- sentences that I'd write differently today, a number of minor technical faults and typos, that sort of thing. Nothing major, but I still managed to come away with a list of 69 tiny edits. Most of these were missing or incorrectly used hyphens, or repeated words, or clunky phrasing. Anyway, I went through the book and put things right.

I also noticed on Amazon recently that a certain phrase in the book has been highlighted by readers. Kindle users can do this. They can highlight something they liked or disliked and make their highlight public. In the case of Island of Fog, four people highlighted one particular sentence. Taken out of context, I have to admit it's pretty funny:

Amazon Highlights

Clever readers will know that this is a scene in the classroom when Hal spoke to his friends right after he belched up fire and burnt the back of Lauren's chair. It made sense when I wrote it, but okay, I admit, it's a funny comment for Hal to make when taken out of context like this. I've altered it slightly to avoid ridicule, and this new version of the book (sans typos) will be live in the next week or so. I'll be interested to see if the highlight remains on Amazon once the text is altered!

Overall, I liked the story. It's not perfect, and I do see it for what it is -- a debut novel. But I stand by it and have no plans to change anything other than those minor typos mentioned above.

Labyrinth of Fire is, I think, better written, at least from a technical point of view. I breezed through page and page without finding a single word out of place (in my opinion anyway). That's not to say it's a literary masterpiece, just that I'm really happy with my own work.

Someone recently mentioned that it was slow to start, and it is a little, but I think that's a problem more for older readers than young. I recall reading Enid Byton's mystery and adventure books when I was around 9-12, and I loved all the stuff that happened before the story got going. The young adventurers would spend a good quarter of the book just reuniting and going on a picnic and catching up, and infuriating the village policeman, and so on -- all before the plot kicked in. It was brilliant. Today, all that stuff seems superfluous. Similarly, in Labyrinth, I guess older readers might be less interested in the initial scenes where Hal and his friends are checking out the village and settling in. That said, I didn't really spot anything that was unnecessary.

The action scenes with the harpies and dragons were (again, in my opinion) top-notch! Hehe. And then there's the glass faerie ball. Two much-respected readers suggested this was a case of deus ex machina, where a seemingly unresolvable plot problem is solved by a lucky break. I never saw this when I wrote it, nor later when it was mentioned, and not now either, having read the book fresh. So although I understand and respect the point of view, I still don't agree with it. The reason is because I planned it this way from the very start, and there are plenty of references to the glass ball from early on. So it doesn't feel forced to me at all. The trick, though, is convincing the reader that it was planned. It really was, and it makes sense to me, but... well, that's not to say I'm right about it.

Anyway, again, so far I'm pleased. I can't wait to get stuck into Mountain of Whispers, and I have it all cued up and ready to go on my Kindle.

All this re-reading, by the way, is something I always planned to do before I launched Chamber of Ghosts. I wanted to make sure there was nothing I'd forgotten, no threads left untied. In re-reading the books, I'm finding small details I'd actually misremembered, or details that have since evolved, and there's one thing in particular -- fairly minor -- that I want to adjust in Chamber to avoid a continuity problem for sharp-eyed readers.

So as much fun as it is to read my own books for a change, I still consider this work, work, work.

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Published on February 22, 2013 11:12

January 17, 2013

Collaborative novel writing

Writing a novel is hard work. Writing a novel in collaboration with another author is something else entirely. Splitting the work does not necessarily make it easier and quicker to get that book written! But if you're collaborating with the right author, it can be a very interesting and rewarding experience.

So Brian Clopper and I are three quarters of the way through our first collaborative novel, Fractured, and looking to finish the first draft in the next week. How's it going? Let's ask myself some questions...

What the heck is the novel about anyway?

It's a sci-fi/fantasy mash-up. My character resides in a futuristic sci-fi world ("the city"), and Brian's lives at the far end of the land in a simpler, magical kingdom ("the enclaves"). My character Kyle, and Brian's character Logan, both end up in the vast area between, known as the Ruins or Broken Lands, and eventually cross paths. That's all I'm prepared to say at this moment!

The entire novel is written with alternating chapters, so we're each able to write our stories as separate mini-novels, but when merged together, the reader gets to enjoy a complete, intertwined story.

Has the novel's plot gone the way you both intended, or has it veered wildly off course?

I'm happy to say it's gone exactly as intended. We had plotted the story beforehand, writing a brief paragraph per chapter to explain what will happen where and when. Sure, some of the details have evolved, including some background history stuff, but overall it's the same story we planned from the beginning. The biggest change is the length. The first part of the novel was intended as four chapters each, after which the real journey would begin. But it quickly became six chapters each, and the novel grew.

Then our characters got so involved in the journey itself that we added to those chapters as well. And the novel grew. We've now written the crossover section and are on the final leg of the journey to each other's world.

Wait. What? Your characters are swapping places?

Yes indeed. My sci-fi character Kyle ends up in Logan's enclave, and vice versa. How will they deal with this complete switcheroo? More importantly, how will the two authors deal with a world created by the other? Well, so far, so good. We're respectful of each other's work to the point that yesterday Brian asked me what my road-cleaning droid looked like, and I sent him a picture and some basic notes that I had stored in my head. In turn, I asked him how big his canyon clacker monsters are, and what Glider-spirits look like.

This is an interesting exercise, and a little scary in places. Up until our character crossed places, we were involved in our own journeys in our own halves of the world, and could invent and create whatever we wanted within the rules of the game. Now we're feeling our way through territory created by the other, and for that we need to read the other's work very carefully and ask for clarification where necessary. And if one of us gets something wrong, it's up to the other to say so. For instance, in one place I described long grass, and Brian said, "No, actually it's short grass just there." Hey, it was his vision, and he'd actually written short grass, so I'm happy to go with it.

Likewise, Brian asked me if a certain campsite is to the north of the lake, and I confirmed that it was. Honestly, it might have been weird to imagine one thing and have Brian write something entirely different. This attention to tiny details is important -- but on the other hand, sometimes it really doesn't matter. Unless there's a direct conflict in the plot or continuity, or it's something we're particularly hung up on, then it's okay for the other author to take liberties.

What's this 'crossover' scene you mentioned?

It's where the two characters cross paths. Up until this point, we've timed our separate threads so that they come together at an exact time on the third day. After they split and continue their journeys, the timing is again planned so that the climax of the novel ends at the exact same moment.

The entire novel is written with alternating chapters, but the crossover chapter involves both characters at once, so we alternated scenes within that single chapter. It's a long chapter compared to the others, but it works.

How is it to work with another author?

I can't speak for other authors because this is my first collaboration, but I've found that it's very easy working with Brian. We appear to be on the exact same wavelength, so conversations easily yield ideas that we both like. Being respectful and ready to compromise is the key, I think. We haven't really had to do any major compromising, but there are occasions when one or both has had to adjust something. I planned to have my character wake up at dawn in Chapter 34, but Brian's story continued at nighttime in Chapter 35. From the reader's point of view, it would have been weird to have a morning scene and then go back to night again. So I adjusted my thinking slightly and will now write Chapter 36 as a continued nighttime scene rather than a morning scene. No big deal.

Brian writes faster than me (or he's had more time to write), so I've been struggling to keep up. On the other hand, I think my pieces are slightly more polished, so perhaps I'll have less editing to do. We've sent a ton of emails back and forth during this process, most of them quick questions and answers -- about 55 emails each through January so far.

The way we're doing this collaboration is not the same way that others will do it. It's just the way that works for us. We planned and plotted for three months, then set aside January to "knock it out." This has worked well. I don't think it would work anywhere near as well if we wrote this on and off for a year.

So is it nearly finished? Will it be published soon?

No. It's true that we're three quarters of the way through the book, and will finish in the next week, but that's just a first draft. Do you think it'll be ready to publish right away? No sirree! We have a lot of editing and cleaning up to do, both individually and as a whole. The editing process itself will be interesting. I'll carefully go through mine and edit as I go, trying to add in or alter details based on what Brian wrote. And he'll do the same. Then we'll probably read the entire thing again as a whole and both make line edits wherever we spot them, then correct our own pieces afterward. Then we'll probably put it out to proofreaders, etc.

We're looking to publish in May or something like that. And it will be a free book, available to all from our websites, readable on the screen, on devices, and maybe even in print (at cost).

More soon!

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Published on January 17, 2013 07:29

January 2, 2013

Fractured - a free sci-fi and fantasy novel

I have two writing projects for January 2013. One is to commence editing work on Chamber of Ghosts, which I've started and have already completed five chapters. The second project is to start writing Fractured. I'm a little ahead in that respect because I cheated and started a week ago!

Fractured is my first collaborative novel, written with author Brian Clopper. We've been discussing it since October via email and phone, and have slowly been putting together a chapter summary to use as a fairly rigid guide.

I've read a few collaborations over the years, but although the books may be conceived, planned and edited by two authors, it seems to me that they're actually written by just one. For instance, Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff wrote the Dragon's Gold series, but who wrote the initial draft? I always wondered how two authors can claim equal status with the actual writing of the novel. The Tunnels series is written by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, but it looks to me like Gordon wrote it and Williams did the illustrations, while both most likely planned the series and edited it.

Just to be different, Brian and I came up with a truly level playing field. We would write a novel that follows two distinct characters on a journey that culminates in them crossing paths. Each journey would parallel the other. So we would create our own individual stories and alternate the chapters throughout the novel. This means the authorship is truly equal.

Fractured mockup

I won't give away the plot, but we have two different worlds -- one a futuristic sci-fi setting and the other a fantasy land full of spirits and creatures. I'm writing the sci-fi world, and my character is thrown into a situation that mirrors what's happening to Brian's. So while they're ultimately trying to achieve the same thing, their obstacles are wildly different.

The cover you see here is a mockup only. The finished cover will be different in the details but overall something along these lines. Our characters won't be bald. It's not two men but two 14-year-old boys. The mention of "one soul" is irrelevant. So there are things to change, but the finished version will look roughly like this.

The reader will see this as a traditional novel with Chapters 1-31 or thereabouts. My story will start at Chapter 1, Brian's at Chapter 2, and then I'll continue mine with Chapter 3, and so on, and Brian will end with Chapter 31. (The mathematically inclined among you will spot a flaw here. This is because there's a special chapter near the end where our characters cross paths, and that chapter is actually a joint effort where we alternate scenes, thereby tightening the to and fro between characters.)

I'll be really interested to learn whether readers will notice the difference in writing styles, and whether the difference will be interesting or off-putting. And whether one story will be more interesting than the other! There's no competitiveness here; we both want a single, solid novel with each thread working equally well, and of course we'll be proofreading and editing each other's work, which will help blend our styles.

As the month goes on, we'll both be blogging about our progress, especially as we intend to finish our halves by the end of January. This is a fairly short novel, and we're splitting the workload, so the first draft is going to fly by!

Look for publication around May, if not sooner. And this book will be available TOTALLY FREE for anyone who wants it. Apart from the complexities involved with splitting profits for sales, we just decided that this would be an interesting experiment and a good way to get both our names out there. There will be links to our other books in the afterword, so maybe readers of this free sci-fi/fantasy novel will want to pay a few bucks for some of our others.

More soon.

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Published on January 02, 2013 09:22

December 26, 2012

First draft of Chamber of Ghosts is finished

I had always aimed to get the first draft of Chamber of Ghosts finished before Christmas, and I just about did it. It's not finished finished; I need to wind down with a few more pages, perhaps even write an epilogue, but the final important scenes are in place.

The next step is to walk away. I'm putting this aside for a month while I work on something completely different. Then I'll come back and start the editing process. Currently the novel is over 105,000 words, which is longer than it needs to be. I expect to cut 5,000-10,000 words during the editing.

This book is definitely on track for release in April 2013. After that, you can expect a number of other releases throughout the year, including one or two standalone novels and several Island of Fog short stories.

While Chamber of Ghosts wraps up the primary story of Hal and his friends, it also introduces a new important character named Chase and paves the way for the prequel novel. Actually, today I decided that the prequel novel might have to be a trilogy instead! It's not my fault, honest. The plot of the first prequel novel is already firmly fixed in my head, but then I want to know what happens right after that story is told... and that's where Books 2 and 3 come in. So although the prequel is initially about Miss Simone and her classmates first transforming at eight years old, the story moves on and follows Chase into territory that even Miss Simone knows nothing about to this day.

Those of you who have read the series so far may have picked up on a small detail regarding Miss Simone's class. At the end of Chapter 11 of Labyrinth of Fire, Charlie Duggan mentions that there were twelve of them in that class. In later books, Miss Simone insists there were actually ten of them, not twelve. Both are correct, but in Miss Simone's view, only ten made it through the shapeshifter program and so only ten are worth mentioning. But what happened to those other two? We'll find out in the prequel trilogy.

Starting in January, I'll be embarking on a collaboration novel with fellow author Brian Clopper. This novel, entitled Fractured, is a serious sci-fi and fantasy mash-up. And it will be free for all. So stay tuned!

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Published on December 26, 2012 20:54

December 13, 2012

Dragon book series

Island of Fog

What would YOU do if you found out you were a dragon shapeshifter? This series of fantasy books for all ages deals with that issue... and a whole lot more.

Hal Franklin is a twelve-year-old boy with a worrying and embarrassing secret: he has a green, itchy rash on his arm, and it's starting to turn scaly! It comes and goes, but it's definitely getting worse.

When Abigail, an annoying girl from his class, turns up at his house one night, he reluctantly goes out to the garage to see what she wants... and she tells him something startling, something that he refuses to believe. She says they're all turning into monsters.

This news is difficult to swallow, but he can't deny that something weird and frightening is happening...

      As he stood there, candle held high, he noticed with a shock that the back of his left hand was covered with the same dark green rash as his forearm. His mouth dropped open. Candle wavering, he pulled back his sleeve. The rash, or whatever it was, had spread fast and now encompassed his entire lower arm. It had crept up past his elbow and was almost to his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but it itched.
      His heart hammering, Hal knew he'd have to tell his mom about it in the morning -- if he dared wait that long. He'd surely have to go see Dr. Porter, for this was no ordinary rash. It felt tough and smooth, and scaly in the center where it had started.

The knowledge that he might be turning into some kind of lizard-boy is hard enough. But what's beyond the fog that's covered the island all their lives? Are Hal and his classmates really all that's left of the world? Have their parents been telling the truth about that, or is there something else going on?

Could it be that the children on the island are subjects of a sinister experiment?

Island of Fog is the first book in a fantasy series for readers of all ages nine and up. It features unwilling shapeshifters and all manner of creatures from myth and legend including (but not limited to) a faerie, an ogre, a dragon, and a manticore as shown on the book cover.

If you like creepy mystery and adventure, imagine an island smothered in fog where classmates are, one by one, transforming into monsters...

Buy Island of Fog for your Kindle at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. Print editions are also available.

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Published on December 13, 2012 07:11

December 6, 2012

Four FREE Kindle books for Christmas

As the title suggests, on this page you'll find FOUR fantasy/sci-fi Kindle books that will be available for free on December 11-12.

Gift Gremlin offers FOUR FREE EBOOKS! Island of Fog by Keith Robinson Download Flight of Blue by A. E. Howard Download Not the Norm by Becca Campbell Download Graham the Gargoyle by Brian Clopper Download

I hardly need to introduce Island of Fog to regular readers of this blog, but I will anyway just in case a welcome stranger chances across this page...


Island of Fog  by Keith Robinson
Middle-grade fantasy
FREE ON KINDLE DECEMBER 11 AND 12

A lonely, foggy island is home to eight families. Twelve-year-old Hal and his friends have always wondered what happened all those years ago on the mainland, that unseen place Out There beyond the fog, and after an astonishing discovery in the woods the children are more determined than ever to find out what their parents are hiding. But their lives are turned upside down when Abigail reveals her closely guarded secret. According to her, the children are slowly changing into monsters! Are they freaks of nature, or subjects of a sinister experiment?

Each child reacts differently to his or her unique monstrous transformation; after all, one may feel proud to be a dragon, faerie, or centaur, but who in their right mind wants to be a sadistic manticore or cowardly harpy?

ISLAND OF FOG is a story of intrigue and conspiracy. The reader follows Hal Franklin as he struggles to accept that he and his friends are something more than ordinary children, and that their parents have been covering up the truth the whole time. With their trust shaken and the unexpected arrival of a strange woman from Out There, the children hide their frightening shapeshifting abilities and pretend nothing is wrong.

"I love it! The story is interesting throughout, and builds nicely to a reasonable explanation for all mysteries. Congratulations on a fine juvenile novel." —Piers Anthony's July 2009 Newsletter

"This is a well written sci-fi novel. There is that 'it could happen' quality that you find in Dean Koontz novels. The suspense works and doesn't frustrate the reader. It makes you want to read the next installment!" —Writer's Digest

Download ISLAND OF FOG for Free!


Flight of Blue  by A. E. Howard
Middle-grade fantasy
FREE ON KINDLE DECEMBER 11 AND 12

A cursed traffic light. A rip in the fabric of the world. A possum sorcerer injured on a quest for revenge.

Kai and Ellie embark on a journey to return the sorcerer to his home. Entangled in events that could destroy the world, Kai must choose whether to accept the role he was born to play, but isn't sure he wants.

"Great adult reading in the tradition of Madeleine L'Engle and her A Wrinkle in Time series and Austin Family Chronicles." —Elizabeth Munzert

"Flight of Blue transcends my usual reading experience..." —Julie Jordan Scott

"There was something so magical about it..." —V. Cano

Download FLIGHT OF BLUE for Free!


Not the Norm  by Becca Campbell
Science fiction/Speculative fiction
FREE ON KINDLE DECEMBER 11 AND 12

Eden has a dangerous secret.

In a world where GenEns (enhanced humans) are the norm, her own ability is flawed. If anyone found out about the glitch in her genetic code, she'd be deemed a sub-norm, as one unfit to exist in the human race. Her certain fate would be extermination.

She always thought keeping her defect secret was her biggest struggle. That concern vanishes when her life is put in danger. Suddenly, fighting back is her only option, and she's completely unprepared.

Her only chance for survival is by wielding her damaged power. But fear and painful memories threaten to hold her back. What will happen to her if she unleashes the terror within?

A Sub-Normal short story. Approximately 6500 words.

"I loved this story. Campbell has succeeded again in populating her world with characters that I care about. I have read a lot of really bad writing recently, so it was with great pleasure that I read this story and was swept up in Eden's story." —Jason Sharp

"Becca J. Campbell has a knack for human connection and a driving interest in the individual flaws that do so much to define characters. As an author, she loves exploring these utterly mundane aspects of the human condition in fantastically imaginative environments." —Aaron Pogue"

Download NOT THE NORM for Free!


Graham the Gargoyle  by Brian Clopper
Middle-grade fantasy
FREE ON KINDLE DECEMBER 11 AND 12

For Graham, his first flight is sure to be a disaster. Expectations are high for him to fly. Teased for his puny wings and fear of heights, his only friends are an equally picked-upon troll named Ot and his grandfather who has hardened so much he may not make it to Graham's rite of passage.

When his grandfather must leave Cascade to ascend to his final resting place atop a church tower, Graham makes a heart-wrenching decision and sneaks through a dimensional portal with him, keenly aware he may have just trapped himself alone on Earth. Will he make it back in time to attempt his first flight? Will Blord, the village bully, prove to be be too much of a thorn for the earnest young gargoyle? And what does his sister's volcano project have to do with saving his rocky hide?

Revel in the answers as you read this heartwarming tale of friendship and faith.

"Author Brian Clopper does a great job in weaving a story that, with its relaxed style and genuine affection for the characters, will definitely appeal to middle-grade and younger readers." —Roger Eschbacher

"Brian Clopper is a natural-born genius storyteller – creative, witty, and always able to share the unexpected surprise with his readers! ... Perfect bedtime story for the kids." —MichelleV"

Download GRAHAM THE GARGOYLE for Free!


So get 'em for free while you can, folks! And if you like one or more of these books, please consider posting reviews on Amazon. Reviews don't have to be very long, and ratings are REALLY helpful to authors.

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Published on December 06, 2012 08:01

December 4, 2012

Piers Anthony reviews Roads of Madness

As usual, I sent my latest Island of Fog book to Piers Anthony, author of bestselling fantasy such as the Magic of Xanth series as well as numerous sci-fi novels. And as usual he reviewed it in his monthly website newsletter (see the third paragraph):

I read Roads of Madness by Keith Robinson, www.UnearthlyTales.com. This is the fifth novel in the Island of Fog series, featuring shapeshifting twelve year old children. This time four of them, Hal (dragon), Abigail (faerie), Robbie (ogre), and Emily (naga) have been stranded off the island, without their magic. That means that they can't assume their fantasy forms; they are stuck as they are. Worse, Emily is deathly ill. Worse yet, there are people in the vicinity who have been reduced to zombie-like savagery they call scrags. A deadly virus has crippled those it did not kill. The four are desperate to get back to the Island of Fog, where they may recover their magic and be safe, but how can they get there when hunger, thirst, and a helpless girl prevent them from even walking there, let alone getting across the water to it? They try their best, managing to more or less hijack a supply truck, until the scrags get the truck and burn it. The scrags have a teenage prisoner, Ryan, who is immune to the virus, therefore worth something in trade for experiments. Hal foolishly risks himself to free Ryan, who later joins their party and is a considerable help. The five plow on together, but somehow it just keeps getting worse. This is a tough, harsh, brutal story, compelling in its ugliness; nothing is easy here. It is nevertheless well worth reading, as are all the novels in this series. I think there is one more to go. I hope that an intriguing character, the lovely evil Queen Bee, turns out not to be dead; more needs to be known about her.

Hehe. No, I'm pretty sure Queen Bee snuffed it. However, that's not to say she won't show up in some form in a separate prequel later. The series provides no end of possibilities for spin-off novels!

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Published on December 04, 2012 05:07

November 23, 2012

Writing schedule

The stars are beginning to align and I'm seeing an actual writing schedule ahead. At the moment I'm working on Chamber of Ghosts, the sixth Island of Fog book, and it's going well -- currently about 66% through. But I have other things in pipeline as well. My schedule for the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 is something like this:

December:

Finish first draft of Chamber of Ghosts and send to beta readers.

January:

Write my half of Fractured, a 30,000-word sci-fi/fantasy novella with author Brian Clopper.Time permitting, also start edits to Chamber of Ghosts.

February:

In England the first half of the month, but continue edits to Chamber of Ghosts when I get back.

March:

Finish edits to Chamber of Ghosts and send out to ARC readers.Start edits to Quincy's Curse, a 65,000-word fantasy novel, and send to beta readers.

April:

Do any final edits to Quincy's Curse and send out to ARC readers.Publish Chamber of Ghosts (April 24th).

May:

Publish Quincy's Curse.

I would like to think I'm being conservative with my time here and can get more done than listed. I have other things to do, like polishing and publishing Fractured (with collaborator Brian Clopper) and starting work on a completely different project, either Sleep Writer or a book that I like to call Robots in Trousers (working title). And then there's the Island of Fog prequel... and Caleb's World... So much to do and not enough time to do it!

But this is a rough guideline. I reserve the right to update the schedule at any time.

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Published on November 23, 2012 10:02