P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 296
July 18, 2015
You Blog With What?
Scrivener is a widely used software among writers and people who write frequently. Since it is used for a wide variety of reasons the software is extremely versatile. It can be used for developing fiction and non-fiction books. Also it can be used for short stories, articles and other forms of shorter writing projects. You can download a trial copy here.
Additionally, the software can be used to manage writing projects so it’s up to the user to adjust their development habits to suit what they are writing. Scrivener easily allows writers to break their books into chapters and scenes using the Binder. But not only can these be divided easily they can also be moved around in the scheme so that it serves as a functional outline tool which allows an author to re-organize edit by simply moving containers around. This makes for great structural editing on a book.
Among the uses some people put Scrivener to is blogging. After all, a blog is really just an article written for a website. With the research folder in the Scrivener’s Binder writers can develop their ideas with references, artwork and a host of other files that can be added for use later or just reference. I, and many other, use this to “cast” characters with photos of real people to help visualize their fiction.
But as a blogging tool, Scrivener is much more powerful than just developing a blog. If you are planning a blog series, Scrivener is very handy for the reasons noted above. Folders can be created in the Binder that represent individual blog posts. It’s a great way to write a post which is what I’m doing now. I’m also using Scrivener in just the way I’m describing to develop two new blog series which I will start this week. I anticipate the work-flow to be very organized and organic so that my posts will flow into one another and read consistently throughout each series.
However, there’s more to this organization than just a simple way to develop a whole series of posts. I can also look ahead with this basic organization to develop the content further than the blog. If I see that the posts are useful and there is more information to cover I can easily add more posts than I’ve already planned – or reduce as needed. Additionally, I have a ready-made outline to further develop these into short e-books for publication. Since Scrivener also compiles content into e-book formats I can save the blog posts as Word, pdf or full e-book formats. Of course there is other pieces to fit with the content such as cover and proper formatting but with Scrivener I have my content ready to develop into something else beside blogs.
Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!
If you haven’t tried Scrivener, why haven’t you? If you already use this powerful software what other tips to you have for its usage?
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
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This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).
You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.
I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.
This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).
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Filed under: Blogging, Creativity, Editing, Fiction, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, Tips, Twitter, Writing Tagged: blogging, creativity, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Scrivener, Short Stories, Social Media, The Black Bag, Tips, Twitter, writing
Nicholas and Ralph Fitzherbert – a glimpse of the Wars of the Roses.
PHS:
History isn’t just for the past – it’s great source material for fantasy. The Wars of the Roses is especially rich with intrigue and twists. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!
Originally posted on The History Jar:
Norbury in Derbyshire is mentioned in the Domesday Book. By 1125 it was in the hands of the Fitzherbert family who initially rented the estate from Tutbury Priory. The remains of the Fitzherbert’s medieval hall stands next door to the church. It was in this building, according to George Elliot’s imagination that milk maid Hetty Sorrel could be found. Historically speaking the building is a mishmash of reconstruction including a beam dated to 1483. One side of the beam is beautifully worked the other, not meant for public view, is still covered by bark.
The Fitzherberts built a fine hall and an even finer church. The glass dated originally from the beginning of the fourteenth century – not much of it remains but the chancel is a beautiful ‘lantern’ flooded by light on three sides. Three alabaster tombs dominate the church. The stone came from just nine miles away and…
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Want to Come to a Fantasy Sci-Fi Dystopian Steampunk Bargain Books Party? Then Read On – Meet the author – Nicola McDonagh
PHS:
Meet another fantasy author – Nicola McDonagh. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!
Originally posted on Nikki McDonagh - author and photographer:
Prior to the Facebook Extravaganza – Fantasy Sci-Fi Dystopian Steampunk Bargain Books Party I am spotlighting each author taking part. Today, the day of the event, I am spotlighting – Myself!
In June, my publishers closed down and I gained the publishing rights to my YA Dystopian/Sci-Fi series The Song of Forgetfulness. So I self-published the books with an addition of a Prequel, Whisper Gatherers.
So, this is me:
Nicola McDonagh is an author, creative writing tutor, and photographer. She lives in Suffolk, UK, with her musician husband and a plethora of rescued/feral cats. She came to writing prose late in life and is trying to make up any lost time by dabbling in more than one genre.
Nicola won the Suffolk Book League’s Short Story Competition 2011 with her story, ‘Glimmer’. The anthology of short stories – Glimmer and other stories was given a Certificate of Excellence…
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July 17, 2015
Styling Your E-Book With Proper Formatting
Introduction
The use of styles in word processing is a bit esoteric for many users. However, when formatting an e-book, styles can be very handy. With that in mind, I’ll follow-up on last week’s post about formatting by digging a little deeper into what styles are, why they are important to e-book formatting and how to use them. As a reminder, create a back-up copy of your content before formatting so you can easily revert to the original.
Does Your Manuscript Have Style?
So what’s a style and does your book have it? Well, when considering formatting, this is not so much a question of writing style as visual presentation. You don’t want to worry about this while your actually creating your content but when you are formatting styles add, well – style.
Styles, as implied by the term, is a way of changing the appearance of your content. That’s a simple statement but there’s much more to than that. It’s basically using a template of different format settings. In Word this is done via the Styles section of the Home menu. Using different styles means you can change headings, first lines of chapters and other sections of your content when a simple click. It’s very handy when it comes to formatting.
But why should you use it?
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The Importance of Styles
Your e-book needs style. It’s like when Kramer (think Seinfeld) found the wide-brimmed hat when he was wearing the coat from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. It’s just not as gaudy. The use of styles adds effects to your manuscript that improve reader experience.
For instance, if you have a book with headings or chapter titles a different style that’s in bold with larger font size can be helpful. However, you don’t want to just make those changes anywhere since they can create discontinuity if used improperly like I just did. Additionally, the first line of a chapter or scene can be enhanced so that it’s noticeably different from the rest of the text and alerts readers to the change. Styles also set apart other types of content in your e-book such as copyright, end material and block quotes (non-fiction).
So that’s a thumbnail of what styles are and why you need them. But how do you use them?
How To Use Styles
The use of styles can actually range from quite simple to complex. I’ll keep it simple here for the sake of brevity but a more thorough discussion can be found in the Smashwords Style Guide. Let’s scratch the surface to get started.
Pre-set styles are on the Home menu in Word 2007 or later. My screenshots are from Word 2010 so yours may be different. First of all there are several styles of which you may need to make use: First Line of a Chapter, Normal, Block (for non-fiction), etc. These are all changed or created from the Styles Manager. It must be noted that just highlighting and changing formatting to suit your needs may not mean that these are picked up correctly when processed by Kindle or Smashwords. Styles manage formatting on a larger, more consistent scale and allows you to change the style easily with a click or two.
In Word 2010 to modify a style right click on the style and choose modify:
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Next click on the format button in the lower left and choose Paragraph.
The paragraph properties for this style are displayed.
Settings such as indent, line spacing, etc can be changed here. Try to make your “Normal” style consistent with what the whole book will be. If you will be using a first line style to forego the use of indent for the beginning of a chapter try creating a separate style. There are pre-set styles for headings, titles, subtitles, etc so don’t try to re-invent these – just change them to suit your needs. Apply the various styles besides Normal wherever necessary by click to that location and clicking the applicable style and the text will be changed.
That’s the basics of managing and applying styles in Word. Scrivener is similar in that it comes with presets like Word and you can apply them from the format bar. I’ll discuss these in a later post but for now these should help you learn the basics of formatting for e-books. For more information I suggest downloading Mark Coker’s free Smashwords Style Guide.
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
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Privacy Policy
This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).
You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.
I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.
This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).
Filed under: Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Editing, Indie Publishing, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tech Tips, Templates, Tips, Writing Tagged: blogging, creativity, Editing, Facebook, Formatting, Indie Publishing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Styles, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Twitter, Word, writing
Why You Should Begin Using Scrivener Today & How
Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.
I’ve seen several comments from other writers indicating they got Scrivener but just didn’t have time to learn it. I understand the feeling. When I first started with Scrivener there was so much to learn and I needed to do other work that I didn’t have time to work with it. It wasn’t until I read several posts in which other authors described how they used Scrivener that I began to understand.
Why the confusion and reluctance in engaging with Scrivener? It is fundamentally different from just using a text editor. It is a robust development software for the whole project. We’re used to just sitting down and typing in Word all the things that we are developing, creating any number of files and trying to track all the details somehow. But once you develop a project in Scrivener or convert an existing project into it you begin to understand just what you can do and how it benefits you. The important point is to take the time to learn it somehow and there are great how-to videos as well as lots of reading material that help with Scrivener.
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But why start using it today? There’s no time like the present to make the transition. If you have a writing project that needs starting why not make that the point where you begin learning. Why else should you begin in the middle of a busy schedule? You will learn through usage and then understand the power the design of this software brings to writers. Here’s 5 good reasons to make the change from Michael Hyatt.
It’s as easy as this: click File => New Project to show the New Project Window. Here’s a screenshot with Fiction selected:
Choose the category for your writing on the left and then what it will be on the right. Not picture here but below all this just type in the name of your project and then browse to the folder on your computer where you will store the project just like in Word.
What else should you learn? Begin by understanding the Editor and Binder as well as how to manage projects, project templates and document templates. Just knowing what you can do with these elements gets you much further along. Try to find authors who write what you do and find out how they use it. Once I found how other fantasy authors use it to develop and track details of a fantasy world it really helped me get started. Likewise, other bloggers who use Scrivener have developed templates for organizing your whole blogging year. It’s a bigger scope creative tool but it makes writing much simpler by allowing your to spend more time being creative.
Where’s your snag in beginning with Scrivener? What tips can you offer other people who are starting with Scrivener?
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
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Just as a note: I am not affiliated with Scrivener in any official capacity. For support questions, pricing and other concerns please contact the vendor.
Privacy Policy
This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).
You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.
I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.
This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).
Filed under: Blogging, Cover Reveal, Editing, Fantasy, Indie Publishing, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tech Tips, Templates, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Writing Tagged: blogging, Coverart, creativity, Editing, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Indie Publishing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Twitter, writing
A writer-friendly reminder.
PHS:
Yes, I should! Sharing on Archer’s Aim!
Originally posted on J. Rae Moore:
I put this on my Twitter feed and thought it might be right for the blog as well. If you must get back to work, why not do it with a smile on your face? 
…are you smiling yet?
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July 16, 2015
What Wattpad Can Do For You Now
I’m not usually an early adopter when new social media, software and other services hit the public. I like to sit back and see how well it works and let the kinks get worked out.
That being said, I recently joined Wattpad – finally – and found that it’s been very beneficial. I know, a writer not on a form of social media designed to share writing. But there are several reasons why you should be on Wattpad, including it’s partnership with Smashwords to feature existing authors.
Reasons I Joined Now
1. With the release of The Bow of Destiny I wanted to share related, pre-release short stories as well as what I’ll be working on in the future.
2. I wanted to interact more with other authors. Let’s face it, writing is a solitary process so the chance to give and receive input from other authors is important.
3. I wanted to expose my fiction to reader response to improve the final drafts before release.
Clip Art Image Copyright by Microsoft. Clip Art Used by Permission of Microsoft
Why You Should Join Now
For all the reasons above, plus one additional reason – join early in your writing career to build your following. By building your following you want to gain trust for your writing. The sooner you begin this process the more you establish your writing brand. Personally, I wish I had started much sooner than I have. My mistake was viewing this purely as a development platform rather than one which is social as well as constructive.
But this isn’t all. As you may have read from the link above, Smashwords teamed with Wattpad to feature works by 72 romance authors, covering 74 books – all of which have been on Smashwords. All of the books featured were free, giving the authors exposure to millions of readers in such a way that their brands gained more visibility as a result. I haven’t seen much on the results but you can bet that this will be done again using authors from romance, fantasy, science fiction and other genres.
Experience
So far, I’ve found Wattpad unresponsive with IE 11. However, it works well with Chrome though I haven’t tried it with Firefox yet. I like the format though the editor is rather difficult at times. I do like being able to save it as a draft and then go public as well as withdraw content as necessary.
Over all, I’m happy to be on Wattpad, sharing content and writing insights with other writers. I currently have What Is Needed out for pre-release and feedback until it’s out on Kindle, Smashwords, etc, for September. I’ll have another short story for August up on Wattpad within a week for pre-release before it’s posted on retail sites for free. Everyone’s welcome to read what’s out there and comment- I’m happy to receive feedback to improve the story before it’s released.
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
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Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Privacy Policy
This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).
You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.
I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.
This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).
Filed under: Amazon, Author Platform, Barnes & Noble, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Announcement, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Editing, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, Wattpad, What is Needed, writing
Making Your Own Cover – For Absolute Beginners
PHS:
Been making some covers myself lately for some prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart. Good DIY info here – reblogging on Archer’s Aim
Originally posted on I know that everyone says that we should pay for cover artists and editors, and if we can afford it, I really think that we should. However, that probably makes us hybrid authors – who knows? So, in the spirit of the Absolute Indie, slaving away in a garret with a shortage of funds, we should know how to make a decent cover ourselves. Most people have either an iPhone or an Android these days. These phones take amazing pictures, and have all sorts of features from sepia effects to zoom and macro capabilities. No, no. Come out from under the desk my technophobic scribblers. It’s not that hard, and even pics taken with really old dinosaur phones can be manipulated into really cool covers. Let me show you the basics.
I’m going to be using one of my favourite programmes for this because it’s very easy to use. So…
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July 15, 2015
Building An Author Platform Pt. 10: When to Monetize Your Blog
I’ve started efforts to monetize my blog/site over the last week. I won’t be adding too many advertisements but there will be a few appearing soon on the site. This is always a big decision for a blogger since it means changing the experience of your readers.
However, as an author, this site is not strictly meant to be a hobby – though there are many excellent blogs that are. This site is intended to present professional writing to readers. But also in consideration that this is a site largely about writing, I’ve tried to pursue affiliations that best fit the site. As such there are number of reasons an author should consider monetizing their blog as part of their platform plan. Here are some of my reasons:
1. Upgrading this site – yes, as I’ve mentioned in earlier posts in this series you should start a site with minimal monetary commitment with the intention of growing into something bigger. This takes income and one of the best ways to grow your website is to make it pay its own way. There are any number of ways to go from self-hosting to custom themes and other important features. My site needs to grow which takes a larger budget and affiliate marketing is a low time commitment for a busy writer.
Clip Art Image Copyright by Microsoft. Clip Art Used by Permission of Microsoft
2. To help pay for release expenses – you can start your platform with low expense but actually releasing a book and doing it well takes some money though not necessarily a large bundle. Here are the types of services to consider using with a book release: ordering promotional material such as bookmarks, etc, additional artwork and gift card giveaways – all of which can be done with minimal cost. You can also go heavier if you have more cash available by giving away one or more e-readers as well as employing paid services such as: a launch party, PR services, blog tours and more. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do but I know I want to do more than my budget allows at the moment.
3. To improve the efficiency of my efforts – simply put I’d like to spend more time writing around all the events and promotions. This means some of my social media and emailing should be automated as I grow. But these services require money as well. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to interact with readers via social media and email, rather that getting information out about my work should take up less time.
So those are three reasons why I’m monetizing my blog. I don’t intend to inundate anyone with an overwhelming amount of ads. However, I do need to gain the ability to use my time more wisely and effectively launch The Bow of Destiny. Frankly, I’ve probably waited too long to do this but releasing a book means getting serious about writing and this means enlarging a platform which started so modestly. For other new authors, consider when – and if – you may need to take this same course of action as you build your author platform.
Once I start using these affiliations, I’ll post a notice and a new page that provides my required FTC notice as well as with whom I’m affiliated. I certainly believe that none of these ads will be disruptive to anyone’s experience with the site and hope that every visitor may find something useful at some point. Who knows, I may not need to continue my affiliations as my fiction inventory grows but it certainly helps in the near-term.
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events (and there’s some big news this month). Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Insider Team to share upcoming links. Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a free coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!
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Privacy Policy
This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).
You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.
I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.
This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).
Filed under: Author Platform, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Choices, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Planning, Pre-order, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Affiliate Marketing, Announcement, Author Platform, blogging, Editing, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, What is Needed, Writer's Digest, writing 
July 14, 2015
Fantasy Authors Unplugged Featuring Jason Link
This is continuing feature on Archer’s Aim – Fantasy Authors Unplugged. I hope to frequently share an interview with a fantasy author. If you have authors to suggest and/or questions you’d like to see answered then leave a comment or send me an email. If you are a fantasy author and would like an interview please let me know and we’ll plan one that fits your schedule. Today I welcome Jason Link to Archer’s Aim, author of The Legender. Let’s see what interesting tidbits Jason has to share today!
Q. What’s the title of your latest book and the story-line?
A. The Legender
Arkos, a reclusive artisan, bides the long age of peace carving animal bones and remembering his days of adventure. In the ancient city of Tierrion where he dwells, no one suspects he is one of the legenders—those forces of nature clad in human form who spoke with the elements and shaped them into mighty beasts. After the legenders fought in the bygone war against the Living Shadow, they faded into myth and have remained in historical obscurity. That is, until a great evil strikes Tierrion and Arkos saves the city with his power over the elements. This grand revelation of his true identity comes at a cost, however, for there are kings and politicians who would use a legender for their own purposes. Bound by an oath of service, Arkos must obey their commands—dire consequences descend upon legenders unfaithful to their vows.
Fearful that Tierrion’s catastrophe portends war, the kingdoms order Arkos to the uncharted wastelands of the north to discover if the Living Shadow and his legions are preparing to mount an attack once again. Arkos’ journey takes him over perilous mountains and through hostile terrain where he must use his elemental abilities to overcome dangers fatal to man. As he travels onward, a sinister and mysterious figure watches from afar, awaiting his dreadful schemes to unfold. When Arkos reaches the dark unknown and finds secrets lost in history, an unexpected choice confronts him: to take his long-awaited freedom or save the kingdoms that would enslave him.
(I’m currently working on Erthedge, the second book that follows in the series.)
Q. Is there one person past or present you would like to meet and why?
A. I think I’d like to share a long conversation and a pint of ale with C.S. Lewis at his old haunt The Eagle and Child. I would love to talk to him about theology, his thoughts on the art of storytelling, and his experiences in WWI.
Q. What song might fit your book well?
A. There’s a playlist on Youtube Musicthat is full of epic instrumental music created by talented (and I believe relatively unknown) composers. If my book were made into a movie, I think many of the composers on this list would score it beautifully.
Q. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
A. I think finding time to write and fighting procrastination are my two biggest challenges to writing. The pressures of studying in grad school and raising a two-year-old make finding the time to write a hard thing to do. When I do get the chance, the thought that I should be doing something more “responsible” with my time always creeps into my head. I wish I could say that I’ve overcome this challenge, but I haven’t completely. What I have found helps, however, is creating a rough outline of what I’d like to write before I write it. This helps me use my writing time efficiently as it ultimately eases decision fatigue later on. Also, I need a special time set aside for writing. For me, that’s from 5am to about 8am. Now if only there was a remedy for procrastination…
Q. What is your favorite movie?
A. This is always a tough question, but my mind keeps coming back to Gladiator. When I first saw this movie as a teenager, I was entertained by the action and danger on the surface. But as I’ve grown up and watched it again, I find myself catching something new with each viewing. Woven throughout the exciting battles and beautiful scenery is a well written script—clever but not pretentious, divinely heroic but very human. This is not just a story about violence and political intrigue; it’s a story about how people deal with their deeply wounded selves in the midst of a power-grabbing empire.
Q. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
A. This is another tough one. Each author I enjoy each has a set of skills and talents that touch different places of the mind and soul. But if I have to pick a favorite I’d say…Rudyard Kipling. His poem “If” is as inspiring as it is haunting. I’m also captivated by The Jungle Book. With rich and smart language, Kipling creates an animal culture that exhibits savagery alongside chivalry. It is a feral world foreign to humans, and yet it is painted in such a way that it is understandable. It is a world I love to get lost in, to come back to again and again.
Q. How long how long have you been writing and what inspired you to start?
A. I started dreaming up my story when I was twelve. I was walking home from school, and I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a story about….” I’ve been in that ellipses ever since. Every day as I walked to and from school, I’d think about my story and add a bit more to it. As the years went by, the story grew and changed—of course I grew and changed as well. In my final year of college, I decided to put my ideas to paper, and the first few chapters became my senior thesis. The Legender is the final result of the work—many years in the making.
Q. If you were a super hero, what would your name be? What costume would you wear?
A. This is an easy one to answer. When I was high school, I wrote a short comedy screenplay about a super hero called the Blue Stripe Avenger. I based this hero on the jacket I had at the time, one with a wide blue stripe that ran from wrist to shoulder on both sleeves. As you can probably guess, the jacket was part of my superhero’s costume. When my friends and I shot some of the scenes, we didn’t have a big budget so the rest of the costume was pretty simple—blue running pants and a pair of blue shoes with stripes on the sides. Blue Stripe Avenger’s villain—Dr. Apacalypso—had a much cooler costume consisting of an old fashioned top hat (the most expensive prop I bought), a black cape, and a paintball mask modified with aluminum foil.
Q. Where is one place you want to visit that you haven’t been before?
A. If dreams come true and if China’s government still permits it, I’d love to backpack the Great Wall of China from end to end, camping out in the old watch towers along the way. According to an article I once read, two hikers did just this. As they traveled, they passed through jungles and over ruins and also received the warm generosity of some hospitable backcountry villages along the way. This sounds to me like the ideal adventure.
Bio: Jason Link is the author of The Legender. He’s recently come back to the US after many years of living in Nicaragua–the tropical land where he proposed to his wife on an active volcano. (This, however, makes him sound more adventurous than he really is.) Instead of cutting his way through the jungles with a machete, he now cuts his way through academia with a pen. He has taught high school English and is now in Pasadena attending seminary. To learn more, his personal site is www.authorjasonlink.com.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Legender-Arkosaegan-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00FFRP45Y/
Thanks to Jason for being on the spot today for the interview. Please take some time and support his work by taking a look at his book. If you’re a fantasy author and would like to be interviewed for “Fantasy Authors Unplugged” just contact me via email or one of my social media channels and we’ll set one up.
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.
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