Jon Ray's Blog: The Writer's Tower, page 3

Reddit Fantasy Author of the Day

On Reddit.com there is a sub-reddit called /r/Fantasy, where all things fantasy related are discussed. They have a Writer of the Day segment, where a fantasy author will submit months in advance to come on a certain day and do a AMA (Ask Me Anything) to the group. Below is the link to that with some great questions asked.

Reddit’s /r/Fantasy Writer of the Day Link

https://www.reddit.com/…/rfantasy_writer_of_the_day_jon_ray/

My First Official Book Signing & Table

My First Official Book Signing & Table

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to setup my first table and do my first official book signing at an annual event called “Ironfest” in Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. (Click the link for more details) This was to be my first venture out as an author, selling his book to the public, and something I’ve been planning for months. The 2 day event itself would strange in a good way, it’s a mix of genres that will not disappoint. There are the normal medieval, steampunk, various war re-enactor groups there, but also a mix of western, sci-fi, and local vendors. This was my first year going with record attendance numbers exceeding 18,000+ people, so I got to see this event in it’s zenith. Upon after thought, I really regret not getting out of my stall and venturing out to see more of this event. Of what I saw was mostly on the way in and on the way out, as I was in my stall during most the event.

Regarding my vendor stall, I was lucky enough to be able to split the expensive stall cost with fellow author and friend Natasja Rose, who also was a great asset to have on hand to watch and learn from as she has been at this for a few years now. It was comforting to sit and talk shop with her in between sales and to see how she wrangled the customers in to pitch her vast array of books. She also had small felt dragons she was making at the table and selling throughout the day. They did quite well with the kiddos. We were also joined by romance author Caroline McCarthy. Among the three of us, we represented the Authors of the Ironfest event. Tables were not provided, but Natasja was nice enough to lend me her small camping table, which for the space was perfect. I brought one of my fantasy tapestries with a dragon on it and made it work as my table cloth. A sign held in a cheap black picture frame, gave what I was, who I was, what I was doing, and the cost of my paperback books. I had a nice box of freshly printed books of “Gorp: Goblin Janitor”, a book stand for my display copy, and business cards. I had attempted to finish the 2nd book in the Gorp series “Gorp: Dungeon Overlord” for this event, but am still writing towards the end at the moment. Then it will need to go through edits, before I can publish and release it. Still, having only one book to sell, to me at least, screamed newbie author!

On the 2nd day, I ended up bringing my own camping table. So I had two and added another picture frame with QR codes to the eBook versions of my book. People saw the QR codes and took a business card to get the eBook version later, but no one actually used the QR codes, but it was worth a try. I also flew solo on Day 2 and my friend Natasja had another event to attend. One of the things I noticed as I sat at my table were the responses I got to my book. I got no complaints, only compliments, laughs, and a few who took a card or purchased my book. If you’re keen on who stops by your table, you can begin to see in real-life who you target audience readers are. I was quite surprised by some of the people who showed interest in my book. Also, people who just read the title either smirked, smiled, or out right laughed out loud. The title of my book is meant to be funny so it was rewarding to get the reaction I was hoping for. It is said that people normally see a book cover about 3 times before deciding to buy, I think this may of applied to books online and marketing, but I could see at this event that is true as well. My author friend had returning customers who had purchased a book from her years prior and returned to buy new works. If nothing else, me sitting there in my stall, representing my book, was advertisement for prospective new customers. I fared better on Saturday than I did Sunday, but still interacted with the public and started the long journey of making a name for myself as a fantasy author. I plan to do more markets and events and if money and time allows, a book tour someday, hopefully to a shop or place near you.

Interview

I was recently interviewed by the authorinterviews Blog and gave a lot of details into my writing, books, some history and things that have inspired me. Click the link below to read the interview.

Here is my interview with Jon Ray

Update on current projects

I've moved the blog posts to the blog on my own website. You can read it by clicking the link below.

http://author.jonray.net/novels/updat...

Update on current projects

(Two small creatures that appear on the back of the “Gorp: Goblin Janitor” new book cover.)

It’s been awhile now since I posted anything, but as of tonight I am finally finished with the edit and revision of my first novel “Gorp: Goblin Janitor (Book I)”. I still need to finished up a few details on the updated maps for this book and to finish the new book cover, but within the next few days the updated book will be going to publish.

Next on my list is a short story set within my fantasy world of Agrobathe that I’ve been writing for a fantasy themed anthology. I’m halfway there with that project and will then get back to writing again and finishing up the 2nd in the Gorp the Goblin series, “Gorp: Dungeon Overlord (Book II)”. I’m really impressed and can not wait to reveal the new book covers for the Gorp series as I hired a great artist to bring the world of Gorp to colorful life beyond the pencil drawing on the original Gorp novel. I have about 20k more words to write and then the 2nd book should be complete.

With that novel done, I’ll be turning my attention back my fantasy world of Agrobathe with a new batch of short stories to publish and introduce a new Agrobathe anthology series called “Agrobathe Stories”. In this volume will be a collection of short stories that bring my fantasy world to life with new places explored and original characters for each of the stories. A few of these characters and stories I’ve already grown fond of and will have on going story lines throughout the anthologies. Each book should have between 15 – 20 stories and give readers plenty to read.

Finally, once the anthology is published, I’ll be getting back to my Choose Your Own Adventure like series set within Agrobathe. My reason for doing this project later is that I hope to flesh out more of the world of Agrobathe through my anthology short stories. The first book “Warriors” in the series is already started, but having richer context to pull from will only improve the storytelling that goes along with the game aspects of the books.

Eventually, I plan to finish up the Gorp the Goblin series with a 3rd and final book sometime at the end of this year (2018).

So that’s what has been going on in my Writer’s Tower and why the silence for the past few months. I’m still here and can’t wait to share with the world the stories I craft.

NaNoWriMo 2017 Winner

Last night with 50384 words, I crossed the 2017 NaNoWriMo Winners line by going over the 50k word count. However, "Gorp 2: Dungeon Overlord" is proving to be a much longer novel than the first one "Gorp: Goblin Janitor".

In this continuation of the series, we see a lot more of The Kingdom as it is called, from Hallstorm in the north to the City of Tents in the south. There will also be new and updated maps from the first book. In addition to becoming a series, I'm planning on doing a revision of the first book to format it for easier reading as well as a new book cover. I'll also be updating the few maps that were listed inside.

The 2nd book in the series, which I'm working on at the moment during NaNoWriMo will end up being around 80k words, so I plan to continue writing this novel well into December. Then without skipping a beat, I plan to edit the book and sometime in January or February 2018 will published the novel.

I've enjoyed revisiting and expanding the Gorp universe, but I still have other projects calling to me to pick up the story and finish them as well. Of though will be more short works to be compiled into an Anthology series called "Agrobathe Stories". I'm also looking forward to returning to my Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series "Agrobathe Adventures". 2018 will prove to be a very busy writing year for me and I'm ready!

NaNoWriMo 2017 Winner

Last night with 50384 words, I crossed the 2017 NaNoWriMo Winners line by going over the 50k word count. However, “Gorp 2: Dungeon Overlord” is proving to be a much longer novel than the first one “Gorp: Goblin Janitor“.

In this continuation of the series, we see a lot more of The Kingdom as it is called, from Hallstorm in the north to the City of Tents in the south. There will also be new and updated maps from the first book. In addition to becoming a series, I’m planning on doing a revision of the first book to format it for easier reading as well as a new book cover. I’ll also be updating the few maps that were listed inside.

The 2nd book in the series, which I’m working on at the moment during NaNoWriMo will end up being around 80k words, so I plan to continue writing this novel well into December. Then without skipping a beat, I plan to edit the book and sometime in January or February 2018 will published the novel.

I’ve enjoyed revisiting and expanding the Gorp universe, but I still have other projects calling to me to pick up the story and finish them as well. Of though will be more short works to be compiled into an Anthology series called “Agrobathe Stories”. I’m also looking forward to returning to my Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series “Agrobathe Adventures”. 2018 will prove to be a very busy writing year for me and I’m ready!

Gorp 2: Dungeon Overlord

So...I've decided to use this month's NaNoWriMo 2017 to write the 2nd book in my Gorp the Goblin series. Originally, I wrote the first Gorp book back in NaNoWriMo 2010 in 30 days. This year I hope to do the same for book 2, but I will not wait 6 years to sit on it and edit the book. I plan to hopefully have the book edited and published sometime in Dec. 2017 or Jan. 2018. As of this writing tonight, I'm currently 12k words into the story and am trying to reach and pass the 50k word mark. I'm hoping this will be a bit longer book than the first but will have to see what comes of the editing. Sometimes chapters get cut, other times I add in new characters and scenes. So far however I seem to be on track and it warms my heart to know that there are fans of the Gorp series awaiting the next novel.

Gorp 2: Dungeon Overlord

So…I’ve decided to use this month’s NaNoWriMo 2017 to write the 2nd book in my Gorp the Goblin series. Originally, I wrote the first Gorp book back in NaNoWriMo 2010 in 30 days. This year I hope to do the same for book 2, but I will not wait 6 years to sit on it and edit the book. I plan to hopefully have the book edited and published sometime in Dec. 2017 or Jan. 2018. As of this writing tonight, I’m currently 12k words into the story and am trying to reach and pass the 50k word mark. I’m hoping this will be a bit longer book than the first but will have to see what comes of the editing. Sometimes chapters get cut, other times I add in new characters and scenes. So far however I seem to be on track and it warms my heart to know that there are fans of the Gorp series awaiting the next novel.

Movies of the Imagination

I've heard reading be described as "Theater for the Mind" or "Movies of the Imagination". As a writer, this is true as well. What I find myself most often doing when writing a story is watching it in my mind and trying my best to document what I see.

If you happen to be a writer and are looking to strengthen your ability to write what you see I have this suggestion for you. Watch a movie in the genre you are writing for or that you like enough to hold your attention span. Then from start to finish, watch it scene by scene and on a piece of paper or on a laptop, write down and describe as much as you can for each scene. The characters, the props, the tone of the scene and location. Try to see if you can determine the character's motives. As an added bonus, try doing this without pausing or rewinding the scene as much as possible. For the shorter version, you can try to just breakdown a scene into notes and see how well you can document what is going on.

The next time you are watching the story unfold within your mind, you should notice an improved ability to capture what you see in greater detail and faster than before. I wish you luck on your writing and remember to never give up.