Martyn Stanley's Blog - Posts Tagged "new-title"

The Blood Queen is coming! It's going to be long and different. We're going to learn what 'Deathsworn' means and we're going to have a much better feel for who Vashni really is. I can't wait to get it finished and out there!

Martyn

I've been busy lately, but I finally got my human genetics assignment out of the way this weekend! So what have I got in the pipeline?

1. I'm about halfway through a second edit of 'Deathsworn Arc 3: The Blood Queen'.

2. I am waiting for my cover artist Isis Sousafor the new book 2 'The Verkreath Horror' Cover. I'm also waiting for my wife to proof-read book 2. I am working on a definitive improved 'blurb' for the back cover too!

3. I have a manuscript out with a publisher! Just book 1, but they sounded genuinely interested.

4. Another publishing contact has asked me for a series synopsis, manuscripts and proposal packages for books 1 and 2 ! I have a series synopsis, but it isn't exact or concise - I need something punchier.

So I have an incredible amount of work up in the air at the moment. I'm hoping the definitive book 2 will be uploaded and available within a fortnight, I expect Book will be May at this point. I can only apologise for the long wait, but I don't want to repeat my early mistake of releasing books before they're truly finished. So bear with me, it'll be worth it!

Now that the end is in sight for Verkreath 'The Definitive Edition' and 'The Blood Queen' I'm thinking about where I should go next?

Part of me really wants to sit down and start 'The Temple of the Mad God', provided it doesn't get another mid-work 'title change'. At the same time, the plot gets very complicated in 'The Blood Queen' and I wonder if I should step back, re-read what I've put so far, write something else, then comeback to Deathsworn with a fresh head?

I have two other series or novels in mind at least. One, an urban fantasy about angels and demons and a war in heaven, and one an NA science fiction story with a slight nod to the Scwarzeneger film 'Total Recall'

I still have a lot of work to do on 'The Blood Queen' but 'The Verkreath Horror' is very, very close now - I might be uploading at the weekend!

Back to it! It's hard as at the moment, I'm finding The Pillars of the Earth very hard to put down. It's a very gripping point right now.

It's drawing closer!

I have an incredible cover, it looks great. Theoretically it just needs lettering - but something seems somehow off with it? I don't know what though! There just seems something isn't quite how it should be?

I love it and in many ways it seems perfect - but there's something I can't put my finger on...

I still need to finish editing and polishing it of course. I need to start thinking about my blurb too. I've never been too happy with my book 1 and 2 blurbs, I don't think they're very enticing - but I don't really know how I could improve them, without spoiling some of the big plot twists.

Book 3 also has the companions facing confrontations with the Isharian Church. I think the atheist aspect of the books is important - yet people don't seem to pick up on it... Part of me thinks I should shout about the atheism, because it's subtle and part of me thinks I should leave it in - but not mention and let people discover for themselves. I am trying to be balanced. The Isharian Church has it's problems, and is responsible for evil in Torea, but I want to portray it as also responsible for good!

I wish I could get it out sooner - I'm really waiting for time to sit down with my editor at the moment, and I need to work out what needs changing about the cover. It's really special though, so I don't want to share it until it's ready.

I will get there! Sorry for the long delay, I just want it to be as good as possible before I release it this time.

Martyn

Well, I didn't get around to reading any more of Clarkson's rants last night.

Instead I was at an event - the Mow Cop Killer Mile assisting with the timing.

It's an interesting event. It's a very, very brutal road running race. It's only 1 mile, so not very long. However every single step is uphill. One section is 1 in 4 that's a 25% incline.

You can read a bit about the event and it's history here:-

http://www.mowcop.info/killermile/kil...

I was timing for 1st, 2nd and 3rd - all went well until they decided to run the last two races at the same time. Meaning taking 12 times and segrating place, race and male and female. No disrespect but sometimes it's tricky to establish whether a runner is male or female!

I have run the grueling event myself. You can see me, number 879 in the red T-shirt here:-

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/h...

It was 2009 and I came in 116th/192 with a time of 12 minutes, 22 seconds.

The fastest in my race was 8 minutes 22 seconds, and the slowest was 21 minutes and 1 second. So I thought my time and place was pretty respectable for an unfit guy who 'doesn't do sport', that started training for his first running event the night before the event!

The fastest man on the night was club runner Steve Vernon at 6 minutes 22 seconds. You can see the event for that year here:-

http://www.mowcop.info/killermile/kil...

You can see a video of the steep part her: - I can't spot me though, that was my year!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDrNN...

I ought to run it again some time. If I do I should prepare a bit more and get fit first!

When I got home last night I managed to actually go through ten pages of edits on the Blood Queen so finally some progress!

If you like running and you can get to Staffordshire in May one year, you should do the Killer Mile, it's a real experience!

Well, I've had a busy weekend. I spent all day outside on Saturday, digging, mixing concrete, barrow-ing concrete, filling skips, driving the dumper and the digger (until the digger burst a hydraulic hose - guess we over-worked it?)

I suppose it's a sacrifice from having a large plot of land, living semi-rurally and developing as you go. It rained heavily all day, but strangely I wasn't miserable about it, I actually found it quite cathartic. We put an 8 foot wooden gatepost in, I put a stone one in last weekend - that was actually harder.

I've pushed on with my edits of 'The Blood Queen' and discussed some interesting plot tweaks with my primary beta-reader, so I can get a bit more character in now, and tie some loose ends up better later.

I've also written over 1000 words of 'Deathsworn Arc 4: The Temple of the Mad God' my main gripe is that I haven't finished my book proposal! I really want to get this done. A publishing deal might not increase my revenue - it might make it go down. However it will strengthen my 'brand' and lend my stories credibility.

I'm really excited about part 4, I changed perspective and started writing from the point of view of the condemned girl who is to be burned at the stake as explained in book 3. It's a great, fresh way to start the book. I think it's going to be really exciting. I can't wait to explore her emotions and fears. I've really enjoyed writing this scene so far.

On a lighter note, I also actually tried to begin tackling my 7 year old daughter's 'Lego Hell' literally for a long time her floor has been 70% covered in bits of Lego, with just a narrow path to her bed. It doesn't help that her 3 year old brother loves to break up her models and spread the bits around, before pinching key components and hiding them in his 'hoarding drawer'. So I spent a couple of hours scouring the floor for bits and re-building models with her, and we cleared most of the floor, built the castle, built several vehicle and generally made a massive impact. There's still LOTS to do. I could spend a week building Lego's with her and we'd still be in a mess. I used to love Lego as a child, I'm learning to hate it and fear it as an adult... Building the castle was fun, but actually pretty tricky when all the bits are mixed, together, mixed with other bits and in some cases built into other random creations she or her brother has thrown up.

I almost feel the best advice to anyone who wants their child to enjoy Lego is not to buy models, but buy sets with no instructions and just let them be creative - although it could mean the sea of painful Lego bricks carpeting the floor ends up even greater and intimidating...

Well, it's here!

The big cover reveal for book 3!

I haven't created the book listing on Goodreads yet, as I don't have the blurb ready. However the cover is I think, READY!

Do you like it?



Let me know what you think in the comments!

Martyn