P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 270

Scrivener Tips Pt. 1: Tracking Progress

I’ve recently written about Scrivener templates and different types of content that could be developed using this software. In fact, I’m using it as I write this blog. But for new users, finding information and tracking projects can be confusing. Here’s a short post with a tip to help other new users track their content.

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Where Is Everything?

Learning robust software like Scrivener can appear daunting when you first start using it. You jump right in and start creating folders and text containers. The binder isn’t too hard to master and writing is writing.

But how much did you write? How do you set goals and track them? Fortunately, there are tools available in Scrivener that meet these needs.

Words written appear in the bottom bar of Scrivener. This count and amount cover just the container in which you are writing. That’s simple enough. But what if you need more specifics?

The Projects Menu – Project Targets

The answer is the built into Scrivener. Click the Projects menu and then choose Project Targets.

Want to set and track goals? Use these Project settings.

You’ll note that I’ve set this goal to 500 hundreds and my session target to 500 hundred words. If I were writing more later in this same container (for example, if this were a long scene in a book/chapter), I would have another session goal later. By checking my current session I know if I’ve reached my daily goal if that’s important. So that’s an easy way to know how much I’ve done already and what my goal is.

The Projects Menu – Project Stats

But what about seeing more about my project statistics? On the Projects menu select Project Statistics and this is what’s displayed:

You’ll see what the whole project statistics in words and pages. In my example what is showing is my whole Blog 2015 project which is quite new. But if this were a book that total would be more meaningful. For my current purposes I would be concerned with the second displayed section – Selection. This indicates how many words I have in my current blog. At this point, it’s actually several hundred more words than this screenshot but you get the point.

Want to change some of what is displayed? Click the Options tab:

The Projects Menu – Text Statistics

Need more information about what you’re writing? Just click the Projects menu again and choose Text Statistics. Click the arrow beside Word Frequency. This displays information about the your word usage which is very handy to see how often you are repeating words.

So there are a few tips on viewing and managing your goals and content. Want to read more of my Scrivener-related posts. Check some of my recent posts or click the Scrivener category near the end of this page. And yes, I did meet – and surpassed – my set goal for this post!

Got any Scrivener tips of your own to share? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

I’ll make an appearance on 8/13 in RRBC’s Book & Blog Block Party. Then I’ll be on The Lost Bow Blog Tour from 8/14-20. I’ll post more news about the tour as it becomes available.

And one final tidbit – for those who might have seen it on my Twitter feed, I’ve been contacted by a teacher about including The Bow of Destiny in her curriculum. I don’t know much at this time other than it’s being considered. If it is, I’ll share more information ASAP. It’s interesting news at this point and another great reason to write!

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

       

      

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.

Scrivener screenshots from my 2015 blog project.

Cover art for The Black Bag licensed from iStockPhoto.

Filed under: Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fiction, Indie Publishing, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tips, Twitter, Writing Tagged: blogging, Coverart, creativity, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Launch, P. H. Solomon, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Twitter, writing

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY: Books I Feel Differently About Now

An interesting take on these books. I hope to get to them at some point. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim.

Today, the guys in the Goodreads Top 5 Wednesday group had a great topic: Books You Feel Differently About Now!   This can be books that you feel differently about after you’ve re-read them or just had more time to think about them.  It can be books you gave a low rating to initial but now appreciate more, or a story you loved when you first read it, but now see many problems with it.

Obviously, this topic is a fairly broad one, and so I narrowed it down by deciding to focus on books I read for the first time in the last five years.  No need to go back any further than that, since we all know our opinions about books from our younger years will definitely have changed quite a lot.  So, let’s get to it!

5. DRAGON HUNTERS

After having loved When the Heavens Fall, I had…

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P.H. Solomon

Today, I’d like to welcome P.H. Solomon, author of “The Bow of Destiny” to The Thursday Interview. Before we get started, a quick intro! P. H. Solomon writes fantasy where the elements may so…

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P.H. Solomon

An interview of yours truly on The Thursday Interview blog!

The Thursday Interview

Today, I’d like to welcome P.H. Solomon, author of “The Bow of Destiny” to The Thursday Interview. Before we get started, a quick intro!

P. H. Solomon writes fantasy where the elements may sound familiar but the story doesn’t follow well-trod paths. The first book of his debut series, The Bow of Destiny, is currently available. He has two speculative fiction anthologies upcoming. The next two books in the series, An Arrow Against the Wind and The White Arrow, due out in September of 2016 and late 2016 or early 2017 (tentatively).

OK – HERE WE GO !!

No.1 Would you break the law to save a loved one? .. why?
This depends on what it is and the situation. We’ve all seen something like this in movies and TV shows but that’s Hollywood. That being said, I once knew a fellow whose wife suffered an aneurysm. He…

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Reader Response from Twitter

I was just having a conversation with a reader today on Twitter and got this nice feedback. What a nice compliment!

Thanks for stopping by to read today.

I’ll make an appearance on 8/13 in RRBC’s Book & Blog Block Party. Then I’ll be on The Lost Bow Blog Tour from 8/14-20. I’ll post more news about the tour as it becomes available.

And one final tidbit – for those who might have seen it on my Twitter feed, I’ve been contacted by a teacher about including The Bow of Destiny in her curriculum. I don’t know much at this time other than it’s being considered. If it is, I’ll share more information ASAP. It’s interesting news at this point and another great reason to write!

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

       

      

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.

 

 

Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Reviews, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Book Reviews, ebook sale, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, News, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Reviews, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing

FUNDAY MONDAY, OR THE BOOKS THAT WILL HELP ME SURVIVE THE WEEK AHEAD (AUGUST 1, 2016)

Missed this yesterday for some reason – reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

The work week begins. I quickly slip into my business suit and head back into the office to save a few innocent people. But while I try to fool myself into being excited about the grind, deep down, I’m not, so I’m going to escape dreary reality by reading some great books.

Real life commitments (work specifically) has really put a major brake on my reading this summer, but it is a new month, and I’m optimistic things will turn around.  So to start things out I’m going to read something a bit different for me, then head back into my comfort zone with an epic fantasy offering.

Red Right Hand by Levi Black 

Genre: Horror – Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor (July 26, 2016)

Length: 304 pages

Charlie Tristan Moore isn’t a hero. She’s a survivor. On a night when her demons from the past are triggered…

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A Dream & The Forge Pt. 2

Hello everyone! Today’s, post is the second of two shared from The Bow of Destiny. This part involves the excerpt at a forge. Enjoy!

The blacksmith’s hammer rang distantly through the clamor of conversation.

Ralda touched his arm.

Athson stirred and realized the giant had spoken to him. “What?”

“We go Auguron morning?” The giant crooked two fingers and motioned them over his fist.

Athson recognized the signal as meaning tomorrow. The following gestures stumped him. “Yeah.”

“Eat. We go food.”

“Get food for our trip? Yes.”

The giant waited until Athson finished his meal. Then the two of them gathered supplies and put the cost on Safforn’s supply tab. A gracious offer for Ralda. They returned to the barracks and stowed their goods.

They planned an early start, so they readied themselves for sleep soon after packing. Sleep eluded Athson, but he soon heard Ralda’s steady breathing. They had to find Gweld. A lump rose from his chest into his throat.

More than Gweld’s safety nagged Athson. He rolled over and examined his pack in the darkness again. Why did the inheritance follow him? It was worse than Spark. The unanswered question sat in his pack, unknown to anyone else but him. Could it be real? He doubted it. He had burned it, and it appeared again.

Athson rummaged in his pack. He pulled out the inheritance and stared at it. His life had lurched out of control since the Withling pushed this package on him. Discarding it did him no good.

Ralda stirred and rolled in his sleep.

Athson slipped out of the barracks, the inheritance in his hand. He crossed the yard to the smithy. Heat lingered from the coals along with the smells of ash and worked metal. Athson stared at the remaining glow.

He squeezed the inheritance.

Burying the inheritance had failed – so had fire. If only this heat could sear it and other memories from his mind.

Clang! The hammer rang from his earlier dream. Athson glimpses his father’s sword, the stag’s ten-tined rack etched on the guards flashed red in flames. He groaned. Depenburgh’s fires flamed like a forge. The weapon gleams with angry crimson on one edge and soft blue on the other but silver along the length of the blade.

Athson’s arm shook and he squeezed the package. The inheritance and his past were linked. This truth tracked him like a troll. The day his father taught him to use a bow proved it.

They finish and collect their gear. His father stops and takes a knee, staring intently at Athson. “There’s something you must know, son.”

“What, father?”

“I can’t tell you everything but you are old enough to know some of it.”

Athson stands attentive, waiting.

“Our family comes from far away, the land of Hart. We were one of the great houses that fell into evil under Rok’s sway, under Magdronu. Withlings helped an ancestor break this hold. Since then we’ve been hiding ourselves and an item the old dragon and his wizard, Corgren, want.”

Athson swallows and nods.

His father ruffles his hair. “I’m telling you since you’re old enough to learn the bow. But you must swear not to reveal any of this to anyone – ever. Trust no one beyond our family with this.”

Athson’s voice is hoarse in answer. “I swear, father. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I swear I haven’t told anyone – and I won’t.” Athson’s jaw clenched and he squeezed the inheritance. It opened old wounds and left new ones, but it also answered old questions. The bow was what his father guarded.

Athson gazed at winking stars. “I need my father’s – my sword so I can keep these secrets safe, or they will kill me. I need – no, not that…” He whirled and walked away from the smithy but stopped. “If only I could pry that sword away from Sarneth.”

Thanks for stopping by to read today.

I’ve got an ongoing sale for The Bow of Destiny for the next several days. You can find it at one of the buy links below.

Also, I’ll get the following tidbits posted soon on the News page but I’ll make an appearance on 8/13 in RRBC’s Back to School Blog Tour. Then I’ll be on The Lost Bow Blog Tour from 8/14-20. I’ll post more news about these as it becomes available.

And one final tidbit – for those who might have seen it on my Twitter feed, I’ve been contacted by a teacher about including The Bow of Destiny in her curriculum. I don’t know much at this time other than it’s being considered. If it is, I’ll share more information ASAP. It’s interesting news at this point and another great reason to write!

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

       

      

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.

Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blog Tour, Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Book Reviews, ebook sale, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, News, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Reviews, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing

A Dream & The Forge Pt. 1

Hello everyone! Today’s, post is the first of two that I’ll share from The Bow of Destiny. This part involves a dream that leads up to tomorrow’s excerpt at a forge. Enjoy!

He rolled over on the bed and saw his pack. The inheritance, Eagle’s Aerie, and the visions. Everything had gone wrong after meeting the Withling in spite of his attempts at avoiding their trouble.

Athson yawned. His father’s sword. The elves found it broken on the Funnel when they found him while searching for survivors. He blinked and then closed his eyes.

The broken sword pieces gleam before him.

“Run, Athson, run!” His father’s worried shout and Corgren’s mockery echo as he whirls in darkness. Athson runs as brambles and tree limbs catch at his arms and legs. He stops at his father’s broken blade. He runs and halts at the pieces shining in the darkness.

“A curse broke it.” Enlath repeats the same words, fading into whispers each time.

Then the pieces slide together and fade into the gloom.

Athson hears the rhythmic clatter of a blacksmith’s hammer. Bursts of light shatter the darkness with each hammer blow.

“Blessing on this edge,” a voice says, “judgment on the other.”

The hammer rings on the steel and sparks fly.

Athson sat up in bed. A hammer rang from the smithy across the yard. Dusk drifted with the dust in the air and caressed the walls. Ralda was gone. The elven blacksmith worked with hammer and tongs at a horseshoe. Athson watched the sparks in the smithy. Those words – blessing on one and judgment on the other. No, it was just a dream. He shook his head.

I’ll post the next part tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by to read today.

I’ve got an ongoing sale for The Bow of Destiny for the next several days. You can find it at one of the buy links below.

Also, I’ll get the following tidbits posted soon on the News page but I’ll make an appearance on 8/13 in RRBC’s Back to School Blog Tour. Then I’ll be on The Lost Bow Blog Tour from 8/14-20. I’ll post more news about these as it becomes available.

And one final tidbit – for those who might have seen it on my Twitter feed, I’ve been contacted by a teacher about including The Bow of Destiny in her curriculum. I don’t know much at this time other than it’s being considered. If it is, I’ll share more information ASAP. It’s interesting news at this point and another great reason to write!

To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

       

      

About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.

Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blog Tour, Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Book Reviews, ebook sale, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, News, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Reviews, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing

ARABELLA OF MARS: REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

Another book that gets my attention as a future read. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim…

Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine 

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor (July 12, 2016)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 320 pages

My rating: 3 stars

Set on an alternate earth where Isaac Newton discovered the means for man to reach the stars in the late 1600s, Arabella of Mars captures the romantic, optimistic feel of classic science fiction.  The environment of 1800s English society adding an elegant veneer to a thoroughly spacefaring journey of self-discovery by our heroine, Arabella Ashby of Mars!

When human’s venture forth into space, Mars is naturally the first planet explored.  Mankind discovering that not only is its atmosphere breathable, but it has a native tree vital to future interplanetary travel as well as crab-like denizens who are able to be communicated with and dealt with in the same manner as other indigenous races in the British Empire.  This revelation…

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MURDER AT THE KINNEN HOTEL

I’ve seen this cover around and now I’m interested in it. Thanks to Bookwraiths for a helpful review. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Murder at the Kinnen Hotel by Brian McClellan

Genre: Fantasy – Flintlock

Series: Powder Mage #0.3

Publisher: Self Published (November 24, 2014)

Author Information:Website | Twitter

Length: 74 pages

My Rating: 4 stars

I have a confession to make: I wasn’t too excited when I began this novella.  Why?  The main character.  Adamat was an okay guy in Promise of Blood; his plot line a nice addition to the other, more important events swirling around Field Marshal Tamas and Taniel; and, of course, the information the good detective uncovered in his investigation was vitally important.  However, for me, Adamat just wasn’t as exciting to follow along behind as the other characters, so as I began Murder at the Kinnen Hotel and discovered it was focusing on an episode from our good detectives early career, I was certain it wasn’t going to be for me.  Imagine my surprise when…

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