Nicholas Forristal's Blog, page 16
February 20, 2013
Book 3 Cover Contest Results...and an update
After weeks of grueling arguments and unprecedented voting, Cover 3 has won the popular vote!
Okay, in all honesty, it won with 9 votes to 4 to 0
I'm currently working on a page for book 3 and doing some slight alterations to the book 3 cover - I'm changing the font size of the title...that's it.
I also added a mailing list to the site, it can be found under the Contacts page OR right on the blog page. It's spam free, monetarily free and I promise not to pester you too much. It'll be used to announce blog updates, guest author posts and occasional sales.
For the time being, that's it for updates. I'll keep you posted on Book 3's progress in another blog update around the end of the week.
Okay, in all honesty, it won with 9 votes to 4 to 0
I'm currently working on a page for book 3 and doing some slight alterations to the book 3 cover - I'm changing the font size of the title...that's it.
I also added a mailing list to the site, it can be found under the Contacts page OR right on the blog page. It's spam free, monetarily free and I promise not to pester you too much. It'll be used to announce blog updates, guest author posts and occasional sales.
For the time being, that's it for updates. I'll keep you posted on Book 3's progress in another blog update around the end of the week.
February 19, 2013
Book 3 Update - 100% Complete
Keep in mind that it's 100% as far as the draft goes. I still have a week, or so of edits and re-reads before it's off to the editor. I'm guessing sometime mid to late March it'll be out.
I'm also going to announce the winning cover for book 3 when I send the draft to the editor. Not much else to say with this posting, it's all pretty standard stuff these days. I've got to contact previous reviewers, look for some new reviewers, do some "upcoming" announcements, post some pics on pinterest to hint at what book 3 is about and probably some other things I can't think of right now. :P
If you're not a writer and you're looking at that list and thinking "Oh, man, that looks like a pain." you would be correct. The writing is the fun part, the rest is the real part of the job.
I'm also going to announce the winning cover for book 3 when I send the draft to the editor. Not much else to say with this posting, it's all pretty standard stuff these days. I've got to contact previous reviewers, look for some new reviewers, do some "upcoming" announcements, post some pics on pinterest to hint at what book 3 is about and probably some other things I can't think of right now. :P
If you're not a writer and you're looking at that list and thinking "Oh, man, that looks like a pain." you would be correct. The writing is the fun part, the rest is the real part of the job.
February 12, 2013
Minor Update of the Day
I added links to all the social networking I'm associated with. You'll find them towards the top of the website on the right. I'll see about enlarging the size of the icons.
I also wrote up a small beginning comic script for book 1 to take to some writers and artists from Marvel that just so happen to hang out at a local comic book store. A friend of mine knows them to some degree (I didn't ask) and I'm hoping they will give me some pointers on how to polish up my script writing for submission. I def. would not expect them to see it and say "OMG let me get this to my editor!!"..not that I would say no if that happened.
I
I also wrote up a small beginning comic script for book 1 to take to some writers and artists from Marvel that just so happen to hang out at a local comic book store. A friend of mine knows them to some degree (I didn't ask) and I'm hoping they will give me some pointers on how to polish up my script writing for submission. I def. would not expect them to see it and say "OMG let me get this to my editor!!"..not that I would say no if that happened.
I
February 5, 2013
Book 3 Update - 70% Complete
Here we are, once again! Book is going well, I have most of the BIG points covered now and now its a matter of piecing it together, slapping some polish on it and sending this turd out! Not really...
It is going well, the story is coming along nicely and I'm very happy with the way this one is turning out. My only issue, and it really isn't one, is that the story is pretty linear. Given the amount of backstory and/or time travel in the previous 2 stories, I almost worry this might come off bland in comparison. I highly doubt anyone else will see it this way since the book is as action packed and goofy as the past 2. Either way, I'm only doing it because I want to finish this first trilogy and backstory always equals more stuff to deal with....so...it'll simply have to wait for the next installment.
It is going well, the story is coming along nicely and I'm very happy with the way this one is turning out. My only issue, and it really isn't one, is that the story is pretty linear. Given the amount of backstory and/or time travel in the previous 2 stories, I almost worry this might come off bland in comparison. I highly doubt anyone else will see it this way since the book is as action packed and goofy as the past 2. Either way, I'm only doing it because I want to finish this first trilogy and backstory always equals more stuff to deal with....so...it'll simply have to wait for the next installment.
February 3, 2013
Chronicles of M - Book 1 to Comic series
Something I considered from day 1 of writing this series was having it published in a comic format. As far as the content goes, it's always been in the realm of possibility. Even as I come up with the ideas and get them to paper I see them in my mind more like a movie (or comic) than I do a book. Why did I handle this as a book series then? Simple, I can't draw much more than a smiley face. Due to that, I played to my (potential) strengths and came up with a plan.
I needed to do a few things before I started branching out: get my name out there, see just how far I was going to go with this story and really consider a simple question. Is this what I want to spend my free time doing?
Book 1, since its publication in August of 2012 has been picked up by (roughly) 3600 people - the majority of them were given away during freebie promotions. So, even if I haven't made tons of money off this, my name is still out there. Given I'm a no name indie author in a vast ocean of no name indie authors and im NOT writing YA or romance, I'd say 600 books a month is pretty good. Not to mention the second book is being purchased at a much faster rate than the first book and the reviews for both have been very positive.
It seems the sky is the limit with how far I'm going with this series. As I finish writing the 3rd book more and more ideas pop up that I jot down for future use. I enjoy writing and I don't see much reason to stop at this point.
That all being said, I've decided to start formatting the first book, or at least a sample, to send out to comic companies (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, etc) and see what happens. As I am NOT an artist and don't know any, or even how to go about publishing an indie comic series, I think it's in my better interest to submit to the pros and see where it goes. Worst case is all of them say no and I continue writing paperback/ebooks.
For those of you keeping up on the series, mostly the ones who talk to me regularly, this is in no way slowing down the writing of Book 3. I'll have a blog posting about that in the next few days. so :P
I needed to do a few things before I started branching out: get my name out there, see just how far I was going to go with this story and really consider a simple question. Is this what I want to spend my free time doing?
Book 1, since its publication in August of 2012 has been picked up by (roughly) 3600 people - the majority of them were given away during freebie promotions. So, even if I haven't made tons of money off this, my name is still out there. Given I'm a no name indie author in a vast ocean of no name indie authors and im NOT writing YA or romance, I'd say 600 books a month is pretty good. Not to mention the second book is being purchased at a much faster rate than the first book and the reviews for both have been very positive.
It seems the sky is the limit with how far I'm going with this series. As I finish writing the 3rd book more and more ideas pop up that I jot down for future use. I enjoy writing and I don't see much reason to stop at this point.
That all being said, I've decided to start formatting the first book, or at least a sample, to send out to comic companies (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, etc) and see what happens. As I am NOT an artist and don't know any, or even how to go about publishing an indie comic series, I think it's in my better interest to submit to the pros and see where it goes. Worst case is all of them say no and I continue writing paperback/ebooks.
For those of you keeping up on the series, mostly the ones who talk to me regularly, this is in no way slowing down the writing of Book 3. I'll have a blog posting about that in the next few days. so :P
January 27, 2013
Book Idea - spin off to Chronicles series
One of these days I need to decide on an abbreviation for "Chronicles of M" so I don't have to continue typing it out. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into an established hashtag that way. :P
Anyhoo, I've been thinking about writing a solo book centered around Mai (semi-important character for books 2 and 3) where it shows her life as a Japanese demon hunter and how she came to possess Oni, her Katana that may or may not be sentient (no spoilers here, suckers). If I do this, I'll probably spend a good chunk of time prior to writing it sitting around reading japanese folklore and watching their insane action movies. Not to steal ideas, mind you, but to get a better feel for the presentation. So, if you have any suggestions or fun ideas centered around Japanese demons, spirits or anything really, let me know. I love researching this kind of stuff!
Anyhoo, I've been thinking about writing a solo book centered around Mai (semi-important character for books 2 and 3) where it shows her life as a Japanese demon hunter and how she came to possess Oni, her Katana that may or may not be sentient (no spoilers here, suckers). If I do this, I'll probably spend a good chunk of time prior to writing it sitting around reading japanese folklore and watching their insane action movies. Not to steal ideas, mind you, but to get a better feel for the presentation. So, if you have any suggestions or fun ideas centered around Japanese demons, spirits or anything really, let me know. I love researching this kind of stuff!
January 15, 2013
Website update - Barnes and Noble, Kobo
B&N and Kobo have posted copies of my books on their sites. Oddly enough, Book 1 has made it to B&N and Book 2 made it on Kobo, but not both. The front page of this website has a link to the search by author name, so once both books are posted on each website that will be auto-updated. I've also sent copies to Sony's ebook site and Itunes (via Smashwords), as soon as those post I'll update the site.
CORRECTION: Book 1 is on Itunes now :D
CORRECTION: Book 1 is on Itunes now :D
January 9, 2013
Book 3 update - 50% complete
I figured putting the percentage completed in the title was an easier marker for these updates. I'm tired of going back through the old ones and counting.
So far so good. The writing was slowed down from the holidays and being sick in bed/on couch for a week. That being said, I suspect I'll have this new book out by March sometime.
The story is far more linear than in the other books, but that is not to say it doesn't have several things going on: letters between Uhler and another scientist, a serial killer investigation, an escaped android with mental issues, M's preparations for his upcoming fight with A'loc, the fight itself and then all the bs after that. So, like usual, this book is packed with crazy crap.
It's funny, but I feel sort of bad not introducing some new writing concept to this book, as I did with the previous. The problem is that I'm using those other ideas (chance of perspectives/vocabulary, battles being shown from different angles, 3rd person/first person narrative) and aside from the added letters from Uhler, all is pretty consistent in the writing style. Honestly, I'm not sure I should add more to the writing style, it's already pretty wild as it is. :D
So far so good. The writing was slowed down from the holidays and being sick in bed/on couch for a week. That being said, I suspect I'll have this new book out by March sometime.
The story is far more linear than in the other books, but that is not to say it doesn't have several things going on: letters between Uhler and another scientist, a serial killer investigation, an escaped android with mental issues, M's preparations for his upcoming fight with A'loc, the fight itself and then all the bs after that. So, like usual, this book is packed with crazy crap.
It's funny, but I feel sort of bad not introducing some new writing concept to this book, as I did with the previous. The problem is that I'm using those other ideas (chance of perspectives/vocabulary, battles being shown from different angles, 3rd person/first person narrative) and aside from the added letters from Uhler, all is pretty consistent in the writing style. Honestly, I'm not sure I should add more to the writing style, it's already pretty wild as it is. :D
January 6, 2013
Continuity vs Realism
Lately I've been considering the idea of doing some sort of hardback edition at the end of each trilogy. I probably will, but I haven't decided yet. Part of what is keeping from going with it is something that many authors (myself included) have to deal with every time they sit down and write: character continuity. Is this how the character would say this, or do that? Would s/he think that? For a lot of authors this is a HUGE problem. Not because they aren't great writers, but because there seems to be a desire to keep our main characters static. We like seeing our characters fight the good fight, but we really don't want them to grow from it...not much anyways.
I do realize that is a very general statement and just about everyone reading this is thinking "nu uh, I like my character's to grow!" On some level I'm sure you believe that, but then look at what is popular on television and tell me that's true. That being said, we DO like to see characters grow and change over time, but it has to be handled correctly and in the right circumstances.
For example, take something like Farscape (if you don't know, it's a sci-fi show from a while back) where the characters basically didn't know each other, didn't like each other, but because of better options were stuck together for years. By the end of the show these character's had been through so much hell that there wasn't even a question anymore of how they would work as a team and each other's roles in, for instance, a gun fight. They went from a bunch of individuals putting up with eachother to a full on team. The character's didnt simply trust eachother, they knew eachother. Most shows don't do that.
My issue is that i KNOW there's a lack of cohesion in my main characters. They say one thing, and think another in a very different manner. M starts off as..well...a giant a-hole, by the end of book 2 he's a man out of time and a little on-edge and in book 3 he's a very different person still. I wanted these characters to be as real as possible and so far, I think I've done that. The issue is: what happens when you read the books in order, one right after the other? Will the character development come off as development, or will it come off as a jumbled, kerfuffle of a mess?
I do realize that is a very general statement and just about everyone reading this is thinking "nu uh, I like my character's to grow!" On some level I'm sure you believe that, but then look at what is popular on television and tell me that's true. That being said, we DO like to see characters grow and change over time, but it has to be handled correctly and in the right circumstances.
For example, take something like Farscape (if you don't know, it's a sci-fi show from a while back) where the characters basically didn't know each other, didn't like each other, but because of better options were stuck together for years. By the end of the show these character's had been through so much hell that there wasn't even a question anymore of how they would work as a team and each other's roles in, for instance, a gun fight. They went from a bunch of individuals putting up with eachother to a full on team. The character's didnt simply trust eachother, they knew eachother. Most shows don't do that.
My issue is that i KNOW there's a lack of cohesion in my main characters. They say one thing, and think another in a very different manner. M starts off as..well...a giant a-hole, by the end of book 2 he's a man out of time and a little on-edge and in book 3 he's a very different person still. I wanted these characters to be as real as possible and so far, I think I've done that. The issue is: what happens when you read the books in order, one right after the other? Will the character development come off as development, or will it come off as a jumbled, kerfuffle of a mess?
