Anthony Lowe's Blog, page 4
December 15, 2014
Holiday Progress!
Since the completion of City of Blades, I've been making decent progress on what'll eventually be the final, publishable draft. Still catching typos, still working in some feedback from my beta readers/friends. My sister, Alexa, will be giving the story a read herself in the days to come and will (hopefully) be able to get the cover art ready during our winter break.
Aside from that, I've been a tad inundated with school-related stuff, since this will be finals week for me. Also a lot of short story writing for contests, class, and Kindle. The Lore of the Reluctant short story, "None Shall Pass," is in progress -- as is a short story anthology of sci-fi and fantasy that I'll be publishing with my friend, fellow writer, and editor, Chris Buchanan.
Progress is a bit more steady since this becomes a kind of group project during the editing phase, but I hope to have more frequent updates over the break.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Aside from that, I've been a tad inundated with school-related stuff, since this will be finals week for me. Also a lot of short story writing for contests, class, and Kindle. The Lore of the Reluctant short story, "None Shall Pass," is in progress -- as is a short story anthology of sci-fi and fantasy that I'll be publishing with my friend, fellow writer, and editor, Chris Buchanan.
Progress is a bit more steady since this becomes a kind of group project during the editing phase, but I hope to have more frequent updates over the break.
Happy Holidays to you all!
October 14, 2014
None Shall Pass
Just finished my first round of edits last night on City of Blades. Happy to report that there weren't too many things that needed to be added or changed. Basically, it wasn't the mess in the structural sense that I thought it was going to be. Whenever I break from my habit of on-the-spot editing, I keep thinking things are going to get crazy when I read through the next time.
Luckily, that wasn't the case!
While my friends are reading through the second draft, I'm going to be working on None Shall Pass, a prequel novella to The Outcasts of Vampire Flats and City of Blades. It'll pick up just after Jasper's death and follow our three adventurers as they struggle to make their way over the Backbone of the World--and on top of that, convince themselves that they should be the ones to save the world.
This story will be up on Amazon for free eventually, as an introduction to the series.
I'll also be getting a printed copy for myself pretty soon for more edits, and so the artist can read through and get some ideas for what she wants to do for the cover.
Later!
Luckily, that wasn't the case!
While my friends are reading through the second draft, I'm going to be working on None Shall Pass, a prequel novella to The Outcasts of Vampire Flats and City of Blades. It'll pick up just after Jasper's death and follow our three adventurers as they struggle to make their way over the Backbone of the World--and on top of that, convince themselves that they should be the ones to save the world.
This story will be up on Amazon for free eventually, as an introduction to the series.
I'll also be getting a printed copy for myself pretty soon for more edits, and so the artist can read through and get some ideas for what she wants to do for the cover.
Later!
October 9, 2014
Finished!
The first draft of City of Blades is done!
Now comes the first wave of edits which shall begin after a celebratory slumber. =D
Now comes the first wave of edits which shall begin after a celebratory slumber. =D
September 21, 2014
Inching Towards Daylight
Thought I'd title the blog with a line from Matthew Stover, because I'd like to think it's apt. It's been a long year, filled with delays and ulterior obligations, but we're closing in on the final section for City of Blades.
Jubilations!
I'm really happy with the way it's been turning out. Even if you get an outline going, sometimes you can never tell where the story's gonna take you. The second and third acts are entirely different from how they were originally plotted out, and I'm hoping it's a little less predictable because of that. Even though the entire premise of the story is predicated on our three main characters going up against your standard fantasy tropes and reacting in odd ways, I still want it to have a few twists and turns!
But as to the goals that I set for myself before starting the sequel, I would like to provide a rundown in terms of what I think I've achieved so far, and what I still have left to do:
1. Create a Standalone Adventure: I've been working and reworking City of Blades so that if this is the first book in the Lore of the Reluctant series you happen to pick up, you won't be scratching your head and wondering, "Vampires?" I do want to give the impression that Acys, Jasper, and Kalen have been through the wringer, and that this certainly isn't their first adventure in Shiloft. Part of the reason I made Jasper a woman (who was previously a man before getting completely owned by that rogue necromancer) was to give an immediate cue to the reader that stuff has most definitely gone down.
There will be references to past adventures, scars from previous losses, but on the whole I don't believe City of Blades leans on any of those incidents to tell its own story. This was one of the major criticisms from The Outcasts of Vampire Flats, that readers had felt like they'd missed something. This is definitely something I want to correct to a point, and I hope I've succeeded.
2. Keep the Story Brief: As I've pointed out in other posts, I really feel like stories that try to be heavy on the funny work best when they stick around only for as long as they need to. Outcasts was around 47,000 words, which is probably as short as a novel can get and still be called a novel. City of Blades will be decently longer, maybe as much as 70,000 words depending on how I taper off the ending. And the increase in length directly correlates to...
3. Show More of Shiloft: Even when I was writing Outcasts, I had much of the Realm of Shiloft already plotted out in some form or another, but not a whole lot of it made it into the actual story. This was due to my commitment to making the story as streamlined as possible, and because I thought excessive worldbuilding would feel out of place in a novel that sported dick and tit jokes. But after looking at some of the feedback, I decided that I would draw a lot more of the world to the surface, and throwing our adventurers into the city of Elsingr seemed like just the way to do that.
It's certainly a far cry from Mythrin Forest, I'll say that!
4. Maps: I've been gradually working out a map of the North, the region of Shiloft in which these two novels have taken place, as well as a detailed-ish map of the city of Elsingr. I'm hoping to have them finalized concurrent with Book 2 itself, and I'll also be researching the obvious: how to incorporate them into the ebook itself.
5. Short Story: I mentioned before that I'd like to get some kind of novella or short story onto the Kindle Store that I can give away for free as a kind of entryway to the series. At this point, I do have something in the works that I'll be poking at gradually. As of now it's titled "None Shall Pass," and it will begin just after Jasper's resurrection in Endarin and follow the three as they make their way over the Backbone of the World.
--
I think that's everything I wanted to cover! I'll be tinkering with the progress bar, since it doesn't properly reflect where the story's at. I was using 50k words as a goal, but I'm well past that now.
Oh! And I caught that I had somehow posted the same excerpt for City of Blades twice, so I'll be posting another one within the next week or so. Just gotta nail down the right part.
Later all!
Jubilations!
I'm really happy with the way it's been turning out. Even if you get an outline going, sometimes you can never tell where the story's gonna take you. The second and third acts are entirely different from how they were originally plotted out, and I'm hoping it's a little less predictable because of that. Even though the entire premise of the story is predicated on our three main characters going up against your standard fantasy tropes and reacting in odd ways, I still want it to have a few twists and turns!
But as to the goals that I set for myself before starting the sequel, I would like to provide a rundown in terms of what I think I've achieved so far, and what I still have left to do:
1. Create a Standalone Adventure: I've been working and reworking City of Blades so that if this is the first book in the Lore of the Reluctant series you happen to pick up, you won't be scratching your head and wondering, "Vampires?" I do want to give the impression that Acys, Jasper, and Kalen have been through the wringer, and that this certainly isn't their first adventure in Shiloft. Part of the reason I made Jasper a woman (who was previously a man before getting completely owned by that rogue necromancer) was to give an immediate cue to the reader that stuff has most definitely gone down.
There will be references to past adventures, scars from previous losses, but on the whole I don't believe City of Blades leans on any of those incidents to tell its own story. This was one of the major criticisms from The Outcasts of Vampire Flats, that readers had felt like they'd missed something. This is definitely something I want to correct to a point, and I hope I've succeeded.
2. Keep the Story Brief: As I've pointed out in other posts, I really feel like stories that try to be heavy on the funny work best when they stick around only for as long as they need to. Outcasts was around 47,000 words, which is probably as short as a novel can get and still be called a novel. City of Blades will be decently longer, maybe as much as 70,000 words depending on how I taper off the ending. And the increase in length directly correlates to...
3. Show More of Shiloft: Even when I was writing Outcasts, I had much of the Realm of Shiloft already plotted out in some form or another, but not a whole lot of it made it into the actual story. This was due to my commitment to making the story as streamlined as possible, and because I thought excessive worldbuilding would feel out of place in a novel that sported dick and tit jokes. But after looking at some of the feedback, I decided that I would draw a lot more of the world to the surface, and throwing our adventurers into the city of Elsingr seemed like just the way to do that.
It's certainly a far cry from Mythrin Forest, I'll say that!
4. Maps: I've been gradually working out a map of the North, the region of Shiloft in which these two novels have taken place, as well as a detailed-ish map of the city of Elsingr. I'm hoping to have them finalized concurrent with Book 2 itself, and I'll also be researching the obvious: how to incorporate them into the ebook itself.
5. Short Story: I mentioned before that I'd like to get some kind of novella or short story onto the Kindle Store that I can give away for free as a kind of entryway to the series. At this point, I do have something in the works that I'll be poking at gradually. As of now it's titled "None Shall Pass," and it will begin just after Jasper's resurrection in Endarin and follow the three as they make their way over the Backbone of the World.
--
I think that's everything I wanted to cover! I'll be tinkering with the progress bar, since it doesn't properly reflect where the story's at. I was using 50k words as a goal, but I'm well past that now.
Oh! And I caught that I had somehow posted the same excerpt for City of Blades twice, so I'll be posting another one within the next week or so. Just gotta nail down the right part.
Later all!
August 30, 2014
Book 2 is officially titled...
Center justified! Italicized! Emboldened... Boldened? Emboldened! Underlined! Book 2 of the Lore of the Reluctant series is officially titled:
City of Blades
Time to celebra--Dang it. Time to celebrate!
And here's the rough synopsis that will eventually go up on Amazon/Goodreads/what-have-you:
City of Blades
Time to celebra--Dang it. Time to celebrate!
And here's the rough synopsis that will eventually go up on Amazon/Goodreads/what-have-you:
Acys, Kalen, and Jasper are a long way from home. Take abruptly from their camping trip in the Sierra Nevada, they've been plunged into a new world with fantastical tendencies -- the Realm of Shiloft. Granted new bodies by mysterious means, with new lives and memories to match, the three lifelong friends wander the world as very hesitant sellswords, hoping to someday find their way back home.
In this adventure, which the trio have desperately tried to avoid, an unexpected detour on the long road to Vellonae drops the companions in the middle of the labyrinthian coastal city of Elsingr, where the old ways are paved over wholesale in favor of the new, and the gods and goddesses of the Starfall are unwelcome. During their mid-journey festivities, the trio are attacked by the most vicious, most regicidal assassins guild in the land: the dreaded Backblades.
Now, they must plot their way through the winding roads of Elsingr, and survive long enough to determine who paid such a large price for their heads... Also, they're suffering from hunger, sleep deprivation, and they're generally pretty annoyed with each other, so there's a good chance they'll kill each other off before the Backblades can.Still aiming for a late September/early October release window. Hope to see you then!
August 26, 2014
More Writing. More Shadowrun.
Back to college. Back to making more progress on Book 2!
I've updated the progress bar to reflect a rough estimate of where I am as far as writing goes. We're definitely closing in on the end, and I think now that summer fun is over and I have more time to crank out some chapters in the library, that percentage will rise drastically over the next few weeks.
I'll also work on getting another sample from the story going in the near future, along with a proper post to "lock in" the final title for Book 2. At this point, I've let it sit for long enough and it still seems right, so I'm gonna take the leap and stick with it for the duration.
On the promotional side of things, I would also like to get some kind of free ebook up on Amazon that serves as an introduction to Lore of the Reluctant. Stories like Wool have proven that having that low barrier of entry is ideal.
So just to break everything down:
1 - Lock in the final title for Book 2.
2 - Finish Book 2!
3 - Begin the editing process. Call in those old favors. Send my editor friends on guilt trips.
4 - Research the possibility of getting The Outcasts of Vampire Flats on CreateSpace (physical copy), iTunes, and B&N Nook. Consider doing the same for Book 2.
5 - Write an "Introductory Story" for the Lore of the Reluctant series to publish for free.
6 - Hire Lexy to get started on the cover art.
7 - Publish Book 2!
And, of course, since I promised myself that I'd write/publish at least three stories using this setting, I'll eventually start plotting out Book 3, which is really just a vague idea at this point.
I'll keep this blog updated as I go through the steps! And I do want to thank everyone who has an interest in this story for being patient.
--
I've been hopelessly addicted to the Shadowrun universe lately, and there's 20 years' worth of material waiting for me to read through. This is gonna get dark, I can already tell!
I've updated the progress bar to reflect a rough estimate of where I am as far as writing goes. We're definitely closing in on the end, and I think now that summer fun is over and I have more time to crank out some chapters in the library, that percentage will rise drastically over the next few weeks.
I'll also work on getting another sample from the story going in the near future, along with a proper post to "lock in" the final title for Book 2. At this point, I've let it sit for long enough and it still seems right, so I'm gonna take the leap and stick with it for the duration.
On the promotional side of things, I would also like to get some kind of free ebook up on Amazon that serves as an introduction to Lore of the Reluctant. Stories like Wool have proven that having that low barrier of entry is ideal.
So just to break everything down:
1 - Lock in the final title for Book 2.
2 - Finish Book 2!
3 - Begin the editing process. Call in those old favors. Send my editor friends on guilt trips.
4 - Research the possibility of getting The Outcasts of Vampire Flats on CreateSpace (physical copy), iTunes, and B&N Nook. Consider doing the same for Book 2.
5 - Write an "Introductory Story" for the Lore of the Reluctant series to publish for free.
6 - Hire Lexy to get started on the cover art.
7 - Publish Book 2!
And, of course, since I promised myself that I'd write/publish at least three stories using this setting, I'll eventually start plotting out Book 3, which is really just a vague idea at this point.
I'll keep this blog updated as I go through the steps! And I do want to thank everyone who has an interest in this story for being patient.
--
I've been hopelessly addicted to the Shadowrun universe lately, and there's 20 years' worth of material waiting for me to read through. This is gonna get dark, I can already tell!
August 2, 2014
Excerpt from "Book 2"
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get posted! Got offered some summer hours at my old place of business, so I took advantage of that. Still writing, changing up a few things on the outline, and writing some more. This excerpt is from Chapter One of the story. Enjoy!
The assassin wasn't on a job, and she hadn't been for some time. Every now and then, she questioned whether that still made her an assassin and if she could even rightly claim that title these days. Over the regular course of the last few years, she had certainly killed people—multitudes, even—but it had always been in combat, in self-defense. She couldn't even remember the last time she had cut a contract.
On those off days, she questioned further: Did she even have it in her anymore? Could she kill a man or woman for no other reason beyond their names being scrolled across the wrong sheet of parchment?
It took people like their driver, Jacob, to make her revisit those questions with marked intensity.
Jacob, who preferred to be called “Jake,” who made his own liquor once, who departed university early because “those boneheads couldn't teach him nothin',” who could break any horse, who could win any bare-knuckle fight with any chump south of the Portis Freeholds. It couldn't have been more than a half-hour since Acys had gone into the shop, but it felt like flimsy concepts like time broke down around the ramblings of someone like Jake—not Jacob.
“So, I wandered the North for a time, mostly bouncing from job to job between the Freeholds. They always said I could stick around on a permanent basis if I cared to. I was that good at what I did, but I couldn't put down roots like that. Never seemed right. Like I knew I was needed elsewhere, you know?”
“Mmhm,” the assassin said, hearing a pause.
“Got it in my mind to head south, happened to pass through Trevarun before hitting the Red River and met up with a man running some stables near the edge of town and got a job breaking horses. You ever head out that way, go to the Reiser Stables and ask anybody there. I was the finest horse trainer they'd seen in years. Years, I'm telling you. Old Mr. Reiser said I was the best he'd ever employed. Go ahead and ask him.”
“Mmhm.”
“Would-a stayed longer than I had. Stars above, the Reisers practically begged me not to leave, but it was just like before. Got that same damn feeling that I wasn't quite where I needed to be. You ever get that feeling, Jasper?”
“Mmhm.” The assassin, Jasper, unsheathed one of the twin daggers at her hips and used it to scratch the dirt out from under her fingernails. “Shit happens.”
“It's like there's gonna be a place on the road where everything's just gonna work out perfectly, and then I'll be able to put down roots and do so with a smile. I'm sure they want me back in the ring already. There's a guy down in Winterset who would pay me fifty zayl a fight because of the crowds I drew in.” He slapped the door of the coach. “Just taking this job as a driver to help pay my way back down there. Bet he's willing to up my pay just for showing up—”
“Hey, dude...” Jasper sheathed the dagger and opened the door out of the coach. “Listen, I'm gonna stretch my legs and see what the others are up to, all right?”
Jake-not-Jacob looked at her blankly from the driver's seat, twisting the reins as if he hadn't heard. “What was that?”
She sighed. “Me go that way, check on others. I'll be back in a bit.”
“Oh... okay.” He waved at her. “I'll be right here, then.”
“More's the pity.”
“What?”
“I just saw a kitty.”
“Oh...”
Jasper rolled her eyes and walked past the general store. Whatever was keeping Acys, she really didn't want to interrupt. Also, she didn't really care. Instead, she pressed on into the small town of Oliver's Field.
There wasn't all that much to the place. She guessed the general store had been built here first to catch some of the travelers from the Tempest Run and the rest of the town had eventually gathered up around it. Passing the store, she was already well within the town square.
To her left were a few shops that catered directly to travelers. A cobbler's shop for those people who insisted on moving about on foot, a tailor for anyone looking to mend the wear and tear from the road, and a small carriage shop with a set of new wheels already set out for display, along with a sign that read, Axles, Wheels, Covering... Repairs and Sails.
“Don't they mean 'sales'? I wonder how no one's corrected that yet,” Jasper murmured... then a thought came to mind. “Am I even reading these in English? Do I even know English anymore?” She gave herself a headache almost instantly. “Christ...”
The sound of a blacksmith's hammer drew her attention to the other end of the square. She could see Kalen practically standing over the blacksmith, saying something that was most likely antagonistic. The blacksmith was trying his hardest to focus on his work, but Kalen had the kind of demeanor that could make a monk break a vow of silence just to vocalize their rage.
Jasper walked over, hoping to save the blacksmith from the ranger's trademarked form of “encouragement.”
The assassin wasn't on a job, and she hadn't been for some time. Every now and then, she questioned whether that still made her an assassin and if she could even rightly claim that title these days. Over the regular course of the last few years, she had certainly killed people—multitudes, even—but it had always been in combat, in self-defense. She couldn't even remember the last time she had cut a contract.
On those off days, she questioned further: Did she even have it in her anymore? Could she kill a man or woman for no other reason beyond their names being scrolled across the wrong sheet of parchment?
It took people like their driver, Jacob, to make her revisit those questions with marked intensity.
Jacob, who preferred to be called “Jake,” who made his own liquor once, who departed university early because “those boneheads couldn't teach him nothin',” who could break any horse, who could win any bare-knuckle fight with any chump south of the Portis Freeholds. It couldn't have been more than a half-hour since Acys had gone into the shop, but it felt like flimsy concepts like time broke down around the ramblings of someone like Jake—not Jacob.
“So, I wandered the North for a time, mostly bouncing from job to job between the Freeholds. They always said I could stick around on a permanent basis if I cared to. I was that good at what I did, but I couldn't put down roots like that. Never seemed right. Like I knew I was needed elsewhere, you know?”
“Mmhm,” the assassin said, hearing a pause.
“Got it in my mind to head south, happened to pass through Trevarun before hitting the Red River and met up with a man running some stables near the edge of town and got a job breaking horses. You ever head out that way, go to the Reiser Stables and ask anybody there. I was the finest horse trainer they'd seen in years. Years, I'm telling you. Old Mr. Reiser said I was the best he'd ever employed. Go ahead and ask him.”
“Mmhm.”
“Would-a stayed longer than I had. Stars above, the Reisers practically begged me not to leave, but it was just like before. Got that same damn feeling that I wasn't quite where I needed to be. You ever get that feeling, Jasper?”
“Mmhm.” The assassin, Jasper, unsheathed one of the twin daggers at her hips and used it to scratch the dirt out from under her fingernails. “Shit happens.”
“It's like there's gonna be a place on the road where everything's just gonna work out perfectly, and then I'll be able to put down roots and do so with a smile. I'm sure they want me back in the ring already. There's a guy down in Winterset who would pay me fifty zayl a fight because of the crowds I drew in.” He slapped the door of the coach. “Just taking this job as a driver to help pay my way back down there. Bet he's willing to up my pay just for showing up—”
“Hey, dude...” Jasper sheathed the dagger and opened the door out of the coach. “Listen, I'm gonna stretch my legs and see what the others are up to, all right?”
Jake-not-Jacob looked at her blankly from the driver's seat, twisting the reins as if he hadn't heard. “What was that?”
She sighed. “Me go that way, check on others. I'll be back in a bit.”
“Oh... okay.” He waved at her. “I'll be right here, then.”
“More's the pity.”
“What?”
“I just saw a kitty.”
“Oh...”
Jasper rolled her eyes and walked past the general store. Whatever was keeping Acys, she really didn't want to interrupt. Also, she didn't really care. Instead, she pressed on into the small town of Oliver's Field.
There wasn't all that much to the place. She guessed the general store had been built here first to catch some of the travelers from the Tempest Run and the rest of the town had eventually gathered up around it. Passing the store, she was already well within the town square.
To her left were a few shops that catered directly to travelers. A cobbler's shop for those people who insisted on moving about on foot, a tailor for anyone looking to mend the wear and tear from the road, and a small carriage shop with a set of new wheels already set out for display, along with a sign that read, Axles, Wheels, Covering... Repairs and Sails.
“Don't they mean 'sales'? I wonder how no one's corrected that yet,” Jasper murmured... then a thought came to mind. “Am I even reading these in English? Do I even know English anymore?” She gave herself a headache almost instantly. “Christ...”
The sound of a blacksmith's hammer drew her attention to the other end of the square. She could see Kalen practically standing over the blacksmith, saying something that was most likely antagonistic. The blacksmith was trying his hardest to focus on his work, but Kalen had the kind of demeanor that could make a monk break a vow of silence just to vocalize their rage.
Jasper walked over, hoping to save the blacksmith from the ranger's trademarked form of “encouragement.”
June 27, 2014
Word Count!
My overall goals I hoped to achieve the Lore of the Reluctant series have always included the following:
1) Create fun fantasy stories that can be read as standalone adventures, but likewise take place in a greater storyline. Much like the old Conan stories, you can certainly read them out of order, but reading them chronologically gives you a greater sense of his journey.
2) Have fun with the genre, but don't make fun of the genre. I'm writing as a fan, not as a critic.
3) And lastly, keep them short so they don't wear out their welcome. I'm writing fantasy, but I'm also writing comedy, which I feel works better when it sticks around only for as long as it needs to. As an added bonus, it also allows me to make meaningful progress on the stories, despite my rickety schedule.
But to that last point, I promised myself (in a blog post, no less!) that I'd try to flesh out the world a bit more, and I feel as though I'm doing just that with Book 2. There's a lot more lore packed into this story, and because of that, I don't think I'll be able to keep it confined to the 50,000 word count that I was aiming for.
So, as a tentative heads-up, Book 2 might be a tad longer than I'd planned, which might kick it's overall progress back a bit, but hopefully not that much. In the coming days, I hope to have another excerpt from Book 2 here on the blog, but I will say that I recently had to write a "Lockpick Rap" for Jasper, which is every bit as silly as it sounds!
~~
As for what I've been up to outside of writing, I've gone back to work at the used bookstore here in town, which, as always, is an absolute joy. I might also be taking a free online course at Coursera, since it happens to be Lord of the Rings Online-centric. It's an honor system thing, so it's not for college credit or anything beyond the experience. Sounds like fun, and it comes highly recommended by the people who've tried it, so I'll probably give it a shot.
Here's the link for those interested.
We also went to go see Edge of Tomorrow, which was an excellent sci-fi film and way, way better than I thought it would be. I highly recommend it. As for books, I'm currently reading the Japanese light novel the movie was based on, All You Need is Kill, in addition to Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan. I always see Sullivan hanging around /r/Fantasy, and he always toes the line between contributor and promoter very well. He also just seems like a super nice guy, to boot. So I picked up his latest sci-fi/fantasy offering, and it's turning out marvelously. I love books that can strike a good balance between dialogue and worldbuilding without being too wordy, and Hollow World has met the criteria so far.
Really great stuff. It's been a fun summer so far!
1) Create fun fantasy stories that can be read as standalone adventures, but likewise take place in a greater storyline. Much like the old Conan stories, you can certainly read them out of order, but reading them chronologically gives you a greater sense of his journey.
2) Have fun with the genre, but don't make fun of the genre. I'm writing as a fan, not as a critic.
3) And lastly, keep them short so they don't wear out their welcome. I'm writing fantasy, but I'm also writing comedy, which I feel works better when it sticks around only for as long as it needs to. As an added bonus, it also allows me to make meaningful progress on the stories, despite my rickety schedule.
But to that last point, I promised myself (in a blog post, no less!) that I'd try to flesh out the world a bit more, and I feel as though I'm doing just that with Book 2. There's a lot more lore packed into this story, and because of that, I don't think I'll be able to keep it confined to the 50,000 word count that I was aiming for.
So, as a tentative heads-up, Book 2 might be a tad longer than I'd planned, which might kick it's overall progress back a bit, but hopefully not that much. In the coming days, I hope to have another excerpt from Book 2 here on the blog, but I will say that I recently had to write a "Lockpick Rap" for Jasper, which is every bit as silly as it sounds!
~~
As for what I've been up to outside of writing, I've gone back to work at the used bookstore here in town, which, as always, is an absolute joy. I might also be taking a free online course at Coursera, since it happens to be Lord of the Rings Online-centric. It's an honor system thing, so it's not for college credit or anything beyond the experience. Sounds like fun, and it comes highly recommended by the people who've tried it, so I'll probably give it a shot.
Here's the link for those interested.
We also went to go see Edge of Tomorrow, which was an excellent sci-fi film and way, way better than I thought it would be. I highly recommend it. As for books, I'm currently reading the Japanese light novel the movie was based on, All You Need is Kill, in addition to Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan. I always see Sullivan hanging around /r/Fantasy, and he always toes the line between contributor and promoter very well. He also just seems like a super nice guy, to boot. So I picked up his latest sci-fi/fantasy offering, and it's turning out marvelously. I love books that can strike a good balance between dialogue and worldbuilding without being too wordy, and Hollow World has met the criteria so far.
Really great stuff. It's been a fun summer so far!
May 30, 2014
Finally Finished My Final Final!
It's been a busy month filled with graduations, studying, last minute essays, more studying, and final exams. Thankfully it's all over and done with so the summer vacation can begin.
I'm still writing, and I think I'll be able to get the story done over the summer with the (very tentative) goal of publishing in September-ish. Until then, here's a quick short story I wrote for /r/WritingPrompts that includes our three adventurers from Shiloft. On the timeline, it takes place after both The Outcasts of Vampire Flats and "Book 2" during their very, very brief stint in the elvenlands.
Enjoy!
http://amlowe.tumblr.com/post/86977291507/may-26-r-writingprompts-lore-of-the-reluctant
I'm still writing, and I think I'll be able to get the story done over the summer with the (very tentative) goal of publishing in September-ish. Until then, here's a quick short story I wrote for /r/WritingPrompts that includes our three adventurers from Shiloft. On the timeline, it takes place after both The Outcasts of Vampire Flats and "Book 2" during their very, very brief stint in the elvenlands.
Enjoy!
http://amlowe.tumblr.com/post/86977291507/may-26-r-writingprompts-lore-of-the-reluctant
April 26, 2014
Halfway There!
Lore of the Reluctant: "Book 2" is now halfway done!
/desk jig!
/desk jig!
