Barbara Eberhard's Blog
October 20, 2024
The Power of Acceptance
Yesterday, I spent the first couple of hours working on my side company, developing new trainings and recording others.
When I went to write, however, the words wouldn't flow. It's rare that happens to me - for which I'm very grateful. But it did.
I was at a critical point in the book about Hallas, where he finally knows who he is. He needed to find out who his mentor was meant to be and where she was. And I was struggling with how to make that happen. I didn't want to make it easy. It had to come in a way that made sense.
Today, I figured it out. I figured out that, now that Hallas knows who he is, he tells someone else. And in telling someone else his truth, he is - for the first time - admitting to another human that he is a chosen one, meant to be part of the prophecy.
And so the prophecy "tells" him what he needs to know, by connecting him telepathically with his new mentor. Just long enough for Hallas to find out who she is and where she is.
He still has a long road to get there. And once he's there, has a long to fully accepting being a mage and not being afraid of his magic.
But his finding out what was next because he finally acknowledged his role made complete sense organically.
Whew.
When I went to write, however, the words wouldn't flow. It's rare that happens to me - for which I'm very grateful. But it did.
I was at a critical point in the book about Hallas, where he finally knows who he is. He needed to find out who his mentor was meant to be and where she was. And I was struggling with how to make that happen. I didn't want to make it easy. It had to come in a way that made sense.
Today, I figured it out. I figured out that, now that Hallas knows who he is, he tells someone else. And in telling someone else his truth, he is - for the first time - admitting to another human that he is a chosen one, meant to be part of the prophecy.
And so the prophecy "tells" him what he needs to know, by connecting him telepathically with his new mentor. Just long enough for Hallas to find out who she is and where she is.
He still has a long road to get there. And once he's there, has a long to fully accepting being a mage and not being afraid of his magic.
But his finding out what was next because he finally acknowledged his role made complete sense organically.
Whew.
September 21, 2024
Audiobooks!
KDP has developed "Virtual Voice" - an AI-driven program to allow you to create audiobooks. I had created audiobooks for my women's fiction a while back. But today, I created audiobooks for my two fantasy trilogies and nonfiction works, as well.
Interesting thing about audiobooks for the two fantasy series, Reunion and Jewels and Gods, is how different the AI voice pronounces words I completed invented for these books. The world is, by definition, completely made up. And so are most of the names. So, I wondered how the AI would say them.
For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised at how the translation worked. But there were a couple of instances where I had in mind one pronunciation and the AI had another. Fortunately, there's a function in the Virtual Voice system to allow you to tell the AI how to pronounce words. It took me a few tries to get the system to say the words the way I wanted, though. There's no way to, for example, tell the system to emphasize the second syllable over the first. I tried capitalizing the second syllable; no go. I tried separating the two syllables, but that just put a pause in the middle of the word - very odd. So, in some cases, I had to go with what the system could produce versus the word I've heard in my head for almost 10 years.
Someday, when I'm rich, I'll get official audiobooks recorded. But for now, it's great to have another avenue for revenue.
Interesting thing about audiobooks for the two fantasy series, Reunion and Jewels and Gods, is how different the AI voice pronounces words I completed invented for these books. The world is, by definition, completely made up. And so are most of the names. So, I wondered how the AI would say them.
For the most part, I was pleasantly surprised at how the translation worked. But there were a couple of instances where I had in mind one pronunciation and the AI had another. Fortunately, there's a function in the Virtual Voice system to allow you to tell the AI how to pronounce words. It took me a few tries to get the system to say the words the way I wanted, though. There's no way to, for example, tell the system to emphasize the second syllable over the first. I tried capitalizing the second syllable; no go. I tried separating the two syllables, but that just put a pause in the middle of the word - very odd. So, in some cases, I had to go with what the system could produce versus the word I've heard in my head for almost 10 years.
Someday, when I'm rich, I'll get official audiobooks recorded. But for now, it's great to have another avenue for revenue.
September 1, 2024
More on Breadcrumbs
In today's writing, I spent a good part of the time tracking down breadcrumbs across all three books of the trilogy.
Breadcrumbs - as I've written about before - are the details that recur from one part of a book to another. Things that you write that resonate later on.
In a normal book, breadcrumbs are key to creating continuity and consistency. You establish each character's features, for example, and then are sure to reference them time and again. This hopefully creates a vision of these people in your readers' eye, making them more real. Likewise, things that happen early in the book often set the context for what's going to happen. Breadcrumbs.
In this trilogy, the breadcrumbs not only have to be tracked across a single book, but across all three books. But because each story is from a different character's perspective, their "take" on the breadcrumb may be slightly different than the other two.
So, today, I spent a couple of hours noting breadcrumbs in each book, writing them done on 3x5 cards, and put comments in the documents, as well. In this way, when I'm finished with each book, I hope to be able to say each breadcrumb was introduced and resolved, and each breadcrumb manifests in each book, as appropriate for that story.
It's a lot to manage.
Breadcrumbs - as I've written about before - are the details that recur from one part of a book to another. Things that you write that resonate later on.
In a normal book, breadcrumbs are key to creating continuity and consistency. You establish each character's features, for example, and then are sure to reference them time and again. This hopefully creates a vision of these people in your readers' eye, making them more real. Likewise, things that happen early in the book often set the context for what's going to happen. Breadcrumbs.
In this trilogy, the breadcrumbs not only have to be tracked across a single book, but across all three books. But because each story is from a different character's perspective, their "take" on the breadcrumb may be slightly different than the other two.
So, today, I spent a couple of hours noting breadcrumbs in each book, writing them done on 3x5 cards, and put comments in the documents, as well. In this way, when I'm finished with each book, I hope to be able to say each breadcrumb was introduced and resolved, and each breadcrumb manifests in each book, as appropriate for that story.
It's a lot to manage.
August 18, 2024
The Storytelling of Fantasy
The trope of fantasy is that one person or group of people have to save the world. Or themselves. And the trope continues that they will have a prophecy to follow and that, at the beginning, no one will believe them. And then someone will - or the prophecy make people believe - and then good things start to happen. The heroes rise, and they save the day.
But the other part of fantasy - another trope - is fantasy as allegory. As a form of truth telling when the truth is hard for people to listen to. Or as a form of social commentary wrapped in knights and magic. In Narnia, Aslan (and Edmund) must be a willing sacrifice to be reborn of "old magic", allegory for Lewis' Christian beliefs. In Camelot, White uses the story of Arthur's world as an allegory for the rise of fascism in Europe.
My own fantasy trilogy - Dichotomies - addresses the feeling of other and the need to recognize that just because someone doesn't look like you or like the same things you do, doesn't mean they are somehow evil. There are sea people and land people, and how their divisions have created an "us vs. them" when really they are the same. Or were. And must be again, to save humanity. The message is thinly veiled, but nevertheless a truth that should be acknowledged.
But within this larger allegory are smaller truths. My last blog post spoke to Hallas' finding of community; of feeling ostracized and the power of feeling accepted. In today's writing, Kymri had to "tell truth to power". A blind warrior, she inhabits her strength and, unwittingly, creates converts through the courage of her own convictions. Tyagi's very existence shows the power of unifying the dichotomies, as she is the first mage among humans in generations precisely because she is both Canian and Resani - land person and sea person. Her role is to spread the prophecy among all people, as one who represents all people, to share the message that differences are good.
While the largest allegory - that people aren't really so different despite what exterior aspects might imply - is obvious from the name of the trilogy, I think it's the smaller allegories and their truths that hopefully give the stories their true power.
Hallas Finds His Voice, not only by finally accepting his singing as a gift, but also by sharing the power of music to move people and change minds. Kymri Knows Her Peace, not only by bringing peace to a troubled land, but also by coming to terms with her blindness and seeing her strength beyond her sight. Tyagi Uncovers Her Light, not only because she embraces the bioluminescence that is her birthright as a Resani, but also because she embraces who she is and lets all that she is shine.
But the other part of fantasy - another trope - is fantasy as allegory. As a form of truth telling when the truth is hard for people to listen to. Or as a form of social commentary wrapped in knights and magic. In Narnia, Aslan (and Edmund) must be a willing sacrifice to be reborn of "old magic", allegory for Lewis' Christian beliefs. In Camelot, White uses the story of Arthur's world as an allegory for the rise of fascism in Europe.
My own fantasy trilogy - Dichotomies - addresses the feeling of other and the need to recognize that just because someone doesn't look like you or like the same things you do, doesn't mean they are somehow evil. There are sea people and land people, and how their divisions have created an "us vs. them" when really they are the same. Or were. And must be again, to save humanity. The message is thinly veiled, but nevertheless a truth that should be acknowledged.
But within this larger allegory are smaller truths. My last blog post spoke to Hallas' finding of community; of feeling ostracized and the power of feeling accepted. In today's writing, Kymri had to "tell truth to power". A blind warrior, she inhabits her strength and, unwittingly, creates converts through the courage of her own convictions. Tyagi's very existence shows the power of unifying the dichotomies, as she is the first mage among humans in generations precisely because she is both Canian and Resani - land person and sea person. Her role is to spread the prophecy among all people, as one who represents all people, to share the message that differences are good.
While the largest allegory - that people aren't really so different despite what exterior aspects might imply - is obvious from the name of the trilogy, I think it's the smaller allegories and their truths that hopefully give the stories their true power.
Hallas Finds His Voice, not only by finally accepting his singing as a gift, but also by sharing the power of music to move people and change minds. Kymri Knows Her Peace, not only by bringing peace to a troubled land, but also by coming to terms with her blindness and seeing her strength beyond her sight. Tyagi Uncovers Her Light, not only because she embraces the bioluminescence that is her birthright as a Resani, but also because she embraces who she is and lets all that she is shine.
July 28, 2024
Finding Community
There's nothing worse than feeling like you don't belong, like you are so different from everyone around you that there must be something wrong with you.
This is a feeling Hallas has had his whole life. He's musical, living among engineers and fishermen. The Resani, his people, are not interested in anything artistic. They believe in being practical, and the arts have no place in their society.
But Hallas has music in his bones. He can't help but hum and sing, even among those who tell him to shush. There are songs in his head; words and music he can't help but express.
When he lived among his family, he was ostracized for wanting to be who he was. For wanting to have his music accepted.
Now, he's being punished for his use of wild magic and has been stripped of his magic and of knowing who he really is. In fleeing from his crimes, Hallas left home and traveled from res to res, trying to hide who he was, but also trying to find forgiveness. But the nagas weren't satisfied with Hallas' self-flagellation. Some wanted to kill him. Saner voices prevailed, and instead, they took away Hallas' knowledge that he had been a chosen one.
But even without the knowledge of who he is, even without his magic, Hallas' music will not be suppressed. It's the core of who he is. And ultimately is how he will bring magic back to humans. In another 200 pages or so.
For now, Hallas will have to be content with finding an underground of the arts among the Resani. And finding community among those who, like him, can't help but be who they are.
This is a feeling Hallas has had his whole life. He's musical, living among engineers and fishermen. The Resani, his people, are not interested in anything artistic. They believe in being practical, and the arts have no place in their society.
But Hallas has music in his bones. He can't help but hum and sing, even among those who tell him to shush. There are songs in his head; words and music he can't help but express.
When he lived among his family, he was ostracized for wanting to be who he was. For wanting to have his music accepted.
Now, he's being punished for his use of wild magic and has been stripped of his magic and of knowing who he really is. In fleeing from his crimes, Hallas left home and traveled from res to res, trying to hide who he was, but also trying to find forgiveness. But the nagas weren't satisfied with Hallas' self-flagellation. Some wanted to kill him. Saner voices prevailed, and instead, they took away Hallas' knowledge that he had been a chosen one.
But even without the knowledge of who he is, even without his magic, Hallas' music will not be suppressed. It's the core of who he is. And ultimately is how he will bring magic back to humans. In another 200 pages or so.
For now, Hallas will have to be content with finding an underground of the arts among the Resani. And finding community among those who, like him, can't help but be who they are.
July 14, 2024
Music Finds a Way
In Hallas Finds His Voice, Hallas' musical ability is taken away by the nagas, as part of the consequences for what his wild magic wrought. The nagas are trying to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy, in which Hallas is the singer who find his voice. They take his music and his memory, rather than his life.
But Hallas is a musician at his core. It's part of what has set him at odds with the rest of the Resani, who don't value the arts. They are engineers and fishermen. They find no virtue in painting, dance, or music.
So, when the nagas decide to take away Hallas' gift of music, he's almost not sorry. After all, he did do bad things when his wild magic created chaos on the Moc. And he's always been an outsider, with songs in his mind. Maybe he'll fit into Resani society better without his singing.
But in my experience, as a sometime singer myself, you can't really get away from music if it's part of who you are. I can't imagine a day without song.
And so, despite the magic that took his gift away, eventually Hallas' music returns. And with it, the rest of who he is.
But even having his voice back is not enough to fulfill the prophecy. The prophecy demands more. And Hallas isn't sure he can deliver.
But Hallas is a musician at his core. It's part of what has set him at odds with the rest of the Resani, who don't value the arts. They are engineers and fishermen. They find no virtue in painting, dance, or music.
So, when the nagas decide to take away Hallas' gift of music, he's almost not sorry. After all, he did do bad things when his wild magic created chaos on the Moc. And he's always been an outsider, with songs in his mind. Maybe he'll fit into Resani society better without his singing.
But in my experience, as a sometime singer myself, you can't really get away from music if it's part of who you are. I can't imagine a day without song.
And so, despite the magic that took his gift away, eventually Hallas' music returns. And with it, the rest of who he is.
But even having his voice back is not enough to fulfill the prophecy. The prophecy demands more. And Hallas isn't sure he can deliver.
July 7, 2024
Timelines and Travel
When the world you're writing in is one you also created, knowing how far it is from Point A to Point B is challenging. You can't just look it up on a map someone else created; the map is yours. Likewise, knowing how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B is difficult for many of the same reasons.
What I've tried to do is just to be consistent. I look at the distance between two places, and I think that's about the same distance as two points in the real world - some amount of miles (because I'm American, so I think in miles). And so I think it will take X amount of time to get to the second place. This not knowing is compounded by mode of transportation. In this world of fantasy, people generally get around by foot or by horse. Sometimes I have to look up how long it takes to travel a certain distance by walking or on horseback.
In my current trilogy, half the world is on the water. So to add to the fun, I have to know how long it takes to sail (the Resani are sailors, not rowers) from one place to another. Or take an educated guess.
Again, my working theory is that, as long as I'm consistent in approximate measurements and approximate timelines, then that as good as I can do.
Just for fun, there's also magic. And using spells, the mages can "bend" distance. It doesn't make travel instantaneous - that feel like cheating - but it does make the distances faster to travel.
At the beginning of the process of writing the Dichotomies trilogy, I made a timelines document. Each main character, where they would go on their journey - which I crafted using the map of the world - and then approximately how long it took to get from place to place. And how long each would be in each place.
Because Kymri, Tyagi, and Hallas have to come together at the end of each book to fulfill the prophecy and bring magic back to humans, those timelines had to end up in the same place at the same time.
Fun!
What I've tried to do is just to be consistent. I look at the distance between two places, and I think that's about the same distance as two points in the real world - some amount of miles (because I'm American, so I think in miles). And so I think it will take X amount of time to get to the second place. This not knowing is compounded by mode of transportation. In this world of fantasy, people generally get around by foot or by horse. Sometimes I have to look up how long it takes to travel a certain distance by walking or on horseback.
In my current trilogy, half the world is on the water. So to add to the fun, I have to know how long it takes to sail (the Resani are sailors, not rowers) from one place to another. Or take an educated guess.
Again, my working theory is that, as long as I'm consistent in approximate measurements and approximate timelines, then that as good as I can do.
Just for fun, there's also magic. And using spells, the mages can "bend" distance. It doesn't make travel instantaneous - that feel like cheating - but it does make the distances faster to travel.
At the beginning of the process of writing the Dichotomies trilogy, I made a timelines document. Each main character, where they would go on their journey - which I crafted using the map of the world - and then approximately how long it took to get from place to place. And how long each would be in each place.
Because Kymri, Tyagi, and Hallas have to come together at the end of each book to fulfill the prophecy and bring magic back to humans, those timelines had to end up in the same place at the same time.
Fun!
June 29, 2024
I've Written a Book!
Well, I've now written the equivalent of one book across the three books of my new trilogy Dichotomies. A total of almost 300 pages.
Tyagi Uncovers Her Light is the furthest along, at 130 pages. Because her book happens first in the timeline, it became necessary to write it first. It's meant to the last of the trilogy though. Maybe that will change as I write. But that was the original plan.
Kymri Knows Her Peace is the next most complete at 100 pages. This is intended to be the first book in the series, and it's the one I started first. I'll probably work on it tomorrow, after the two chapters in Tyagi today.
Hallas Finds His Voice is only 77 pages. It's had the hardest scene to write so far. Not because it was hard to know what to write, but because there is violence - and I'm not good at having violence in my books. Bad things happen, of course. But not usually involving a death.
As I've written before, I probably won't publish any of this trilogy until all three books are finished. There's too much overlap since the stories are happening in parallel, each with its own main character and each with its own quest.
So, only 600 more pages to go!
Tyagi Uncovers Her Light is the furthest along, at 130 pages. Because her book happens first in the timeline, it became necessary to write it first. It's meant to the last of the trilogy though. Maybe that will change as I write. But that was the original plan.
Kymri Knows Her Peace is the next most complete at 100 pages. This is intended to be the first book in the series, and it's the one I started first. I'll probably work on it tomorrow, after the two chapters in Tyagi today.
Hallas Finds His Voice is only 77 pages. It's had the hardest scene to write so far. Not because it was hard to know what to write, but because there is violence - and I'm not good at having violence in my books. Bad things happen, of course. But not usually involving a death.
As I've written before, I probably won't publish any of this trilogy until all three books are finished. There's too much overlap since the stories are happening in parallel, each with its own main character and each with its own quest.
So, only 600 more pages to go!
June 23, 2024
Late-Night Revelations
Most nights, as I'm falling asleep, I review where I am in my books to distract myself from whatever work things might have happened. Work things tend to give me insomnia. Book ideas do not.
But what thinking about my writing does do, often, is prompt thoughts of things that need changing or updating. And so, as I'm falling asleep, I sometimes wake up enough to send myself an email to remind myself of the revelations I had.
For example, last evening, I realized that I had described how the nagas had learned of the prophecy in Kymri Knows Her Peace. While I don't want to repeat exactly the same text in the other two books of the trilogy, the same information should appear in both Hallas Finds His Voice and Tyagi Uncovers Her Light. This morning, I copied the text as a comment into the other two books, to be used in some fashion later.
Naming conventions are another staple of fantasy novels. For example, I've created the Kels and the Res - those are the countries of this world of Dichotomies. And the once-paired cities have names that are parallel, such as Lincan and Linres. "Can" is the Canian - or land people - name for city. Res is the Resani - or sea people - name for city.
Part of last night's decisions was that female nagas will have names that end in "i'. Most of them already did, but I needed to change a few others to match that convention. The male nagas all have short names - and will continue to do so.
Updates made this morning. This evening might bring new revelations.
But what thinking about my writing does do, often, is prompt thoughts of things that need changing or updating. And so, as I'm falling asleep, I sometimes wake up enough to send myself an email to remind myself of the revelations I had.
For example, last evening, I realized that I had described how the nagas had learned of the prophecy in Kymri Knows Her Peace. While I don't want to repeat exactly the same text in the other two books of the trilogy, the same information should appear in both Hallas Finds His Voice and Tyagi Uncovers Her Light. This morning, I copied the text as a comment into the other two books, to be used in some fashion later.
Naming conventions are another staple of fantasy novels. For example, I've created the Kels and the Res - those are the countries of this world of Dichotomies. And the once-paired cities have names that are parallel, such as Lincan and Linres. "Can" is the Canian - or land people - name for city. Res is the Resani - or sea people - name for city.
Part of last night's decisions was that female nagas will have names that end in "i'. Most of them already did, but I needed to change a few others to match that convention. The male nagas all have short names - and will continue to do so.
Updates made this morning. This evening might bring new revelations.
June 19, 2024
The Question of Money
Every author, particularly those writing fantasy and science fiction, has to deal with questions of money.
Most fantasy novels involve a quest of some kind. And some band of people and creatures trying to fulfill it.
And doing so involves travel - horses, inns, etc. So the question is - how do the questors pay for their travels? And other incidental costs that might arise.
Authors have taken different approaches to this. One series I've read has the main sorcerer find a gold mine early in his life. He's been using that money for a long time. Another series involves dragons' gold - gold the dragons make when they are born by burning their shells. Then there's Star Trek, where the Federation has eliminated the need for money. Except other cultures still use it.
In my world, in this trilogy, the nagas have been saving for the chosen ones, knowing they would need to move around in the world. How the nagas get the money in the first place? I leave that unexplained.
Most fantasy novels involve a quest of some kind. And some band of people and creatures trying to fulfill it.
And doing so involves travel - horses, inns, etc. So the question is - how do the questors pay for their travels? And other incidental costs that might arise.
Authors have taken different approaches to this. One series I've read has the main sorcerer find a gold mine early in his life. He's been using that money for a long time. Another series involves dragons' gold - gold the dragons make when they are born by burning their shells. Then there's Star Trek, where the Federation has eliminated the need for money. Except other cultures still use it.
In my world, in this trilogy, the nagas have been saving for the chosen ones, knowing they would need to move around in the world. How the nagas get the money in the first place? I leave that unexplained.
