R.A. Finley's Blog, page 3
February 25, 2016
Progress Report
Long time, no post—and no “coming soon” announcement…yet. Book 3 in The Wheel of the Year series is coming along, but won’t be available until later this spring (or possibly very earlysummer; even should everything go smoothly from here on out, there are some built-in delays in the publishing process itself).
So, this post is essentially a “I’m working on it, it’s coming” assurance. That now done, I will get back to work on Book 3: The Vale of Silence.
Oh—I will also mention that I put my Aut...
August 19, 2015
Book Cover: In Progress (part 2)
I’ve updated the initial post for the cover artwork for The Vale of Silence, but since that was something created over at the previous incarnation of this blog, I thought I’d give the latest front-and-back version of the cover a brand new post.
The printed versionsalways come out darker than expected, so I try to make the front artwork something that would be eye-catching even if it were 10-20% “muddier” than it appears onscreen. (I would be shocked if it printed lighter, but there’s always a...
August 14, 2015
Genre Musings (more to come) plus Chapter Excerpt: The Stone of Shadows
I have in mind a blog post on the vagaries, necessities, and nuisances of “genre” in writing (or, more particularly, publishing)…but I also need to get a lot of work done on Book 3 today, so that post will have to wait.
But I’m excited to have this new blog location, so the temptation to postsomething is strong. I thought I’d pick a random paragraph or two from Book 1 (aka The Stone of Shadows; link also found in this site’s main header, above), and I opened the file to do just that—and reali...
August 13, 2015
Location Photos: Orkney
To those who have readThe Stone of Shadows(or just Chapter One), the settingsmay seemfamiliar. To those who have not yet read it (or even just the first chapter), this is just a bit of what you’re missing:
Near St. Magnus Cathedral
Ditto
View of Bishop’s Palace
Then,sansLettie’s satchel:
Inside Bishop’s Palace
August 12, 2015
Welcome
I am in the process of writing the third book in my series, The Wheel of the Year, and of moving (or at least trying out) my blog from Blogger to WordPress. It’s a design thing, mostly, plus one of interface and features.
It’s not like Blogger has been horrible. I’ve enjoyed it for many years of sporadic posts, and created several spaces for people there. But WordPress…it’s got a smoother feel overall (despite some frustrations in the “free” account and design areas). But with my Blogger blog...
August 9, 2015
A Comment Made Elsewhere, But Here with Photo
Over atChuck Wendig’s super-active blog, he made agreat (timely) postabout how this constant checking of mobile phones that so many of us do is causing us to check out of our lives.
I wrote in a comment that, perhaps, got a bit off track, or what have you.
But it felt wonderful to write, and it brought back memories of that wonderful adventure — the whole amazing trip from start to finish, plus the person I felt to be before, during, and after, in a kind of “oh, yeah, thatwasamazing, wasn’t...
July 24, 2015
Flash Fiction Challenge: Why I Write
Chuck Wendig(author and author guru) postedanotherchallenge at his website,Terrible Minds,and it sounded…well, not exactly like fun in the way ofthe previous one…but fun in an important, know thyself sort of way.
And so here it is: 1,000 words (exactly!)
WhydoI write?
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some sort of writing implement either in or at hand. I squiggled my fingers through paint and pencilled loops and wavy lines on scraps of paper. “What did I write?” I’m sure I asked my...
July 21, 2015
Flash Fiction Challenge: Random Phrase
Chuck Wendig, author and author guru, posted a challenge over at his website,Terrible Minds,and it sounded like fun.
1,000 words that must incorporate arandomly generated phrase.
I’ve revealed mine on the challenge’s page (in an attempt to lure people over), but for those of you who found this post by other means, I’ll let you find it on your own…inbold, below.
To say that she noticed it straight off would be to lie. Truth was, she didn’t know for certain when it had begun: all the hoverin...
June 8, 2015
Book Cover: In Progress
In the midst of working on the book itself (which I can’t share yet), I am also at work on the cover (which I can share, and so here it is):
This isn’t final, and could change drastically, but I’m happy so far. I may hate it tomorrow…or I may not.
If you see any glaring errors with light and/or shadow, please let me know. The text is particularly not-final, since the only program that can alter the kerning as needed lives on an old, packed away computer.
January 24, 2015
And So It Begins
The Wheel of the Year: Book 3
I’ve got scribbled notes, an intriguing quote for the opening page, lots of loose ends from the first two books, and can feel the ideas beckoning me into the wood (or in this case, the depths of a blank, digital page).
It’s time to get going.
While I’m at it, I’ll try to post progress and other (perhaps more) interesting things here and onFacebook,Goodreads,Booklikes, andTwitter. Also,here is the book’s official pageon this site. Not much on it now, but check bac...
