Ian S. Bott's Blog, page 16
April 7, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors April 8
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall.
Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall. She called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd. Shayla rescued Tanya from humiliation but in turn is expected to provide entertainment. She instructs one her colleagues to find an operatic piece to play on the public address system.
=====
A lieutenant sitting nearby in full ceremonial regalia leered at her. With a murmured "Thanks," Shayla leaned over and relieved the startled soldier of his short sword. She held it in her right hand, appraising the balance. The gleaming weapon was anything but ceremonial. With her left hand, she drew her own knife.
Shayla strode to the center of the hall, and nodded to Bo. She stood, barefoot and head bowed, with the blades crossed over her heart.
The first chords of the aria filled the room like a distant lament carried on the wind across a wilderness of ice.
Shayla slowly slid her left foot up to her thigh, while spreading her arms wide, blades outstretched.
=====
The Ashes of Home, sequel to Ghosts of Innocence, is now available!
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall.
Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall. She called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd. Shayla rescued Tanya from humiliation but in turn is expected to provide entertainment. She instructs one her colleagues to find an operatic piece to play on the public address system.
=====
A lieutenant sitting nearby in full ceremonial regalia leered at her. With a murmured "Thanks," Shayla leaned over and relieved the startled soldier of his short sword. She held it in her right hand, appraising the balance. The gleaming weapon was anything but ceremonial. With her left hand, she drew her own knife.
Shayla strode to the center of the hall, and nodded to Bo. She stood, barefoot and head bowed, with the blades crossed over her heart.
The first chords of the aria filled the room like a distant lament carried on the wind across a wilderness of ice.
Shayla slowly slid her left foot up to her thigh, while spreading her arms wide, blades outstretched.
=====
The Ashes of Home, sequel to Ghosts of Innocence, is now available!
April 6, 2018
Aaand ... it’s out there
Yes, The Ashes of Home is now on sale. I uploaded and published last weekend, but it takes a little while to become visible at online stores. The e-book and paperback are now available for sale at most outlets.
March 31, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors April 1
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall. She called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd. Shayla rescued Tanya from humiliation but in turn is expected to provide entertainment.
=====
"That, I will provide." Shayla leaned across the table to Bo Branson. "Access the public music library for me."
Bo's scroll appeared from the depths of her sleeve. She unrolled it on the table.
"Find 'The Serpent's Passing' from The Dragon Prince."
Jojo smiled. "My favorite opera."
"Be ready to send it to the dining room's public address when I say so." Shayla removed her boots and threw off her heavy robes, to reveal leggings and a close-fitting tunic.
=====
Exciting news! Nearly there! The paperback proof copy of The Ashes of Home arrived last week. I’m working through it this weekend, and if all looks good I am ready to hit ‘Publish’.
Ghosts and Ashes side by side
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall. She called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd. Shayla rescued Tanya from humiliation but in turn is expected to provide entertainment.
=====
"That, I will provide." Shayla leaned across the table to Bo Branson. "Access the public music library for me."
Bo's scroll appeared from the depths of her sleeve. She unrolled it on the table.
"Find 'The Serpent's Passing' from The Dragon Prince."
Jojo smiled. "My favorite opera."
"Be ready to send it to the dining room's public address when I say so." Shayla removed her boots and threw off her heavy robes, to reveal leggings and a close-fitting tunic.
=====
Exciting news! Nearly there! The paperback proof copy of The Ashes of Home arrived last week. I’m working through it this weekend, and if all looks good I am ready to hit ‘Publish’.
Ghosts and Ashes side by side March 24, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors March 25
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff (Tanya) to sing to the crowd. Note: Tanya is from one of the northern fishing provinces, the same ethnicity as Shayla’s adopted identity.
=====
Tanya edged into the center of the hall, one reluctant step after another, each step accompanied by jeers and catcalls.
"Hold!" Shayla stood. With a jerk of her head, she motioned Tanya to sit. "If my staff's talents displease you, I pay this bail from my own purse."
Mabb snarled as Tanya scuttled back to her seat. "Fishlanders swim together, hmm?" Her lips formed a thin line. "We still need entertainment, Master of Circuses."
=====
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff (Tanya) to sing to the crowd. Note: Tanya is from one of the northern fishing provinces, the same ethnicity as Shayla’s adopted identity.
=====
Tanya edged into the center of the hall, one reluctant step after another, each step accompanied by jeers and catcalls.
"Hold!" Shayla stood. With a jerk of her head, she motioned Tanya to sit. "If my staff's talents displease you, I pay this bail from my own purse."
Mabb snarled as Tanya scuttled back to her seat. "Fishlanders swim together, hmm?" Her lips formed a thin line. "We still need entertainment, Master of Circuses."
=====
March 17, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors March 18
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd.
=====
Shayla looked along the rows of people filling the hall. Is nobody going to speak out? Some faces showed glee or anticipation, some people whistled and stamped their feet. But many eyes were downcast, haunted, shamed, relieved not to be the focus of attention themselves.
"Or maybe voice hoarse today?" Mabb's mouth twisted in glee. "If you want out, I set a bail at..." she pursed her lips, "fifty francs."
Some people gasped. Others cheered. The bestial din grew.
=====
Writing news: I’ve just received PDFs back from the book designer for The Ashes of Home. I’ll be proof-reading them carefully over the next few days, in the hope of completing and publishing by the end of the month!
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a very reluctant member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd.
=====
Shayla looked along the rows of people filling the hall. Is nobody going to speak out? Some faces showed glee or anticipation, some people whistled and stamped their feet. But many eyes were downcast, haunted, shamed, relieved not to be the focus of attention themselves.
"Or maybe voice hoarse today?" Mabb's mouth twisted in glee. "If you want out, I set a bail at..." she pursed her lips, "fifty francs."
Some people gasped. Others cheered. The bestial din grew.
=====
Writing news: I’ve just received PDFs back from the book designer for The Ashes of Home. I’ll be proof-reading them carefully over the next few days, in the hope of completing and publishing by the end of the month!
March 10, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors March 11
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd.
=====
A young woman at the next table stood. Shayla's eyes narrowed. She recognized her, a clerk from Colin's staff. Her red skin and rounded features suggested a Traplinki provincial, like Brynwyn.
Even from where she sat, Shayla could see her tremble. Tanya faced the head table, tears welling in her eyes.
"What? New Master of Circuses not taught you to sing yet?" Mabb shook her head. "Sad times, how she make spectacle fit for Emperor when own staff not sing?"
=====
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall, and has just called on a member of Shayla’s staff to sing to the crowd.
=====
A young woman at the next table stood. Shayla's eyes narrowed. She recognized her, a clerk from Colin's staff. Her red skin and rounded features suggested a Traplinki provincial, like Brynwyn.
Even from where she sat, Shayla could see her tremble. Tanya faced the head table, tears welling in her eyes.
"What? New Master of Circuses not taught you to sing yet?" Mabb shook her head. "Sad times, how she make spectacle fit for Emperor when own staff not sing?"
=====
February 24, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors February 25
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall.
=====
A waiter removed Shayla's barely-touched plate, and returned with a dish of mousse molded in the shape of a swan.
"Is it always like this?" Shayla asked Jojo.
He frowned. "She normally picks on more people, but her barbs cut unusually deep tonight."
Mabbwendig looked up from her plate. Her eyes roved across the sea of faces like a hawk surveying a meadow. "Time for music, I think." Her face creased into a smile. "Tanya."
Jojo groaned under his breath. "Poor Tanya, not again."
=====
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has previously fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall. Mabb has been tormenting a series of unfortunate individuals among the hundreds of people crowding the hall.
=====
A waiter removed Shayla's barely-touched plate, and returned with a dish of mousse molded in the shape of a swan.
"Is it always like this?" Shayla asked Jojo.
He frowned. "She normally picks on more people, but her barbs cut unusually deep tonight."
Mabbwendig looked up from her plate. Her eyes roved across the sea of faces like a hawk surveying a meadow. "Time for music, I think." Her face creased into a smile. "Tanya."
Jojo groaned under his breath. "Poor Tanya, not again."
=====
February 17, 2018
Chaptering
The Ashes of Home is into its final rounds of reading and editing. I’m at the stage where I’m kinda thinking how many more times do I have to read this thing? Let’s just get it off to the book designer!
However, my pre-publishing process this time around included a new step that I’ve not gone through before - and almost forgot about in the excitement! Inserting chapter breaks.
I’ve talked about this approach a couple of times before, where I’ve written the draft as a series of scenes without bothering too much how to break it up into chapters. It certainly paid dividends during rounds of edits where I’ve been able to easily move things around and even insert whole new threads.
Now I’ve got past that point, and decided the text and order was settled, it was time to break the story out into chapters. This proved an interesting exercise in its own right. I flipped back and forth between my scene summary list and the actual text, looking for suitable chapter units.
It was a bit of a back-and-forth game, trying to ensure chapters were logically coherent, and not too long or too short. There were some points where I felt a natural chapter break should occur, and I tried to work around those.
While I was drafting, I broke the text into more scenes than I strictly needed to. Anywhere there was a natural potential break, I put in a scene break. Some of these I ended up rolling together - with a regretful sigh ... yes, this would have been a great cliffhanger, but the real chapter break comes just a little later. Let’s not make it too disjointed.
While I draft, I divide the manuscript up into a dozen or so separate documents for ease of editing and navigation. I have always expected those major divisions to also signal new chapters. In this case I surprised myself a couple of times by continuing chapters from the end of one document into the next. I don’t think I’d have even considered that possibility before.
I even did a couple of last minute scene order swaps at this late stage. It’s surprising what a different perspective on things like flow you get when you take this aerial perspective.
One last thing I noticed, which I really didn’t expect, was a lot of pleasing patterns and symmetries in the point of view switches within many chapters ...
However, my pre-publishing process this time around included a new step that I’ve not gone through before - and almost forgot about in the excitement! Inserting chapter breaks.
I’ve talked about this approach a couple of times before, where I’ve written the draft as a series of scenes without bothering too much how to break it up into chapters. It certainly paid dividends during rounds of edits where I’ve been able to easily move things around and even insert whole new threads.
Now I’ve got past that point, and decided the text and order was settled, it was time to break the story out into chapters. This proved an interesting exercise in its own right. I flipped back and forth between my scene summary list and the actual text, looking for suitable chapter units.
It was a bit of a back-and-forth game, trying to ensure chapters were logically coherent, and not too long or too short. There were some points where I felt a natural chapter break should occur, and I tried to work around those.
While I was drafting, I broke the text into more scenes than I strictly needed to. Anywhere there was a natural potential break, I put in a scene break. Some of these I ended up rolling together - with a regretful sigh ... yes, this would have been a great cliffhanger, but the real chapter break comes just a little later. Let’s not make it too disjointed.
While I draft, I divide the manuscript up into a dozen or so separate documents for ease of editing and navigation. I have always expected those major divisions to also signal new chapters. In this case I surprised myself a couple of times by continuing chapters from the end of one document into the next. I don’t think I’d have even considered that possibility before.
I even did a couple of last minute scene order swaps at this late stage. It’s surprising what a different perspective on things like flow you get when you take this aerial perspective.
One last thing I noticed, which I really didn’t expect, was a lot of pleasing patterns and symmetries in the point of view switches within many chapters ...
February 10, 2018
Weekend Writing Warriors February 11
Weekend Writing Warriors is a weekly blog hop where participants post eight to ten sentences of their writing. You can find out more about it by clicking on the image below.
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has already fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall.
Shayla was forced into upstaging Mabb at the start of the meal. Skipping ahead a few paragraphs, Mabb is making her displeasure felt.
=====
From time to time, Mabb's voice rose above the hubbub. "Yama, hair looks like rats' tails."
A wide-eyed girl looked like she'd been slapped. She stared at Mabbwendig, lower lip trembling. A lustrous river of immaculately-groomed hair hung to her waist.
"Shave it off." Mabb waved her hand dismissively. "Farouk, rose beds in Fountain Court are a disgrace. Tomorrow, you personally inspect and groom each plant. Emperor must have beauty to look on while he works."
=====
Continuing a scene from my first book, Ghosts of Innocence.
Shayla has stolen the identity of a newly-appointed senior public servant, and infiltrated the Palace in disguise. She has already fallen foul of her new boss, Mabbwendig ap Terlion, Master of the Emperor’s Domestic Household, and is confronting her again in the cavernous staff dining hall.
Shayla was forced into upstaging Mabb at the start of the meal. Skipping ahead a few paragraphs, Mabb is making her displeasure felt.
=====
From time to time, Mabb's voice rose above the hubbub. "Yama, hair looks like rats' tails."
A wide-eyed girl looked like she'd been slapped. She stared at Mabbwendig, lower lip trembling. A lustrous river of immaculately-groomed hair hung to her waist.
"Shave it off." Mabb waved her hand dismissively. "Farouk, rose beds in Fountain Court are a disgrace. Tomorrow, you personally inspect and groom each plant. Emperor must have beauty to look on while he works."
=====
February 3, 2018
Ward or wards
I’m looking for opinions on this stylistic choice.
I’ve always written ‘towards’, ‘forwards’, ‘upwards’ etc. with the ‘s’. In critiques on The Ashes of Home, there were a few spots where critiquers picked up on this and said it was incorrect.
I’ve never given this a thought before, and certainly never had anyone question it, so I did some research. Grammar sites seem pretty consistent in saying that both forms are correct, but there is a preference for dropping the ‘s’ in America and keeping it in Britain and Australia.
Most of my sales tend to be American so I decided - with some reservations - to go with the flow and dropped all the ‘s’s. Now I’m re-reading, it sounds plain wrong to me. I believe I’m going to revert back to what sounds natural to me, but I thought I’d also sound out some opinions on your preferences as readers.
(1) Do you think it odd when you see ‘towards’, ‘forwards’ etc. rather than ‘toward’ or ‘forward’?
(2) Do you expect the author to be consistent - all one form, or all the other - or does it depend on what sounds best in context?
The reason for (2) is that some contexts seem to beg one form rather than the other. e.g. I would say “He ran forwards” but “He looked out of the forward viewport”.
I’ve always written ‘towards’, ‘forwards’, ‘upwards’ etc. with the ‘s’. In critiques on The Ashes of Home, there were a few spots where critiquers picked up on this and said it was incorrect.
I’ve never given this a thought before, and certainly never had anyone question it, so I did some research. Grammar sites seem pretty consistent in saying that both forms are correct, but there is a preference for dropping the ‘s’ in America and keeping it in Britain and Australia.
Most of my sales tend to be American so I decided - with some reservations - to go with the flow and dropped all the ‘s’s. Now I’m re-reading, it sounds plain wrong to me. I believe I’m going to revert back to what sounds natural to me, but I thought I’d also sound out some opinions on your preferences as readers.
(1) Do you think it odd when you see ‘towards’, ‘forwards’ etc. rather than ‘toward’ or ‘forward’?
(2) Do you expect the author to be consistent - all one form, or all the other - or does it depend on what sounds best in context?
The reason for (2) is that some contexts seem to beg one form rather than the other. e.g. I would say “He ran forwards” but “He looked out of the forward viewport”.
