Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 41

Another Teaser

Yes, here’s another taste of my work in progress, The Tale of the Drakanox. Duessa and her friends, who were broken out of the Larder in Prisoners of the Wailing Tower, are finding out exactly why they were rescued.

     “Oh, I think we know the price,” Duessa predicted with grim certainty.
     “Do tell,” came a cool voice from just beside the wagon. Sergeant Zathi, who commanded Badger Squad, reined her sorrel in beside Lorrah’s chestnut. Duessa’s throat tightened with nerves, this was no time to back down.
     “You’re hunter-guards, but you’ve left your post,” she started.
     Zathi parried the accusation. “Hunter-guards don’t have permanent posts. That’s come in handy recently.”
     Her calm was discomfiting. Duessa kept on, “You’re still warriors who serve Dar-Gothull. You must have something planned. It’s a trap, or…” Zathi’s expression said that was wrong. She pushed on. “Then we’re all headed to meet up with your army. You brought us along to fight on your side.”
     “Because we’d be grateful, or something,” Bettain added bitterly.
     Duessa felt as irritated as Bettain when they all sort of chuckled. “I wish we had an army,” said one of the women. It might be Keerin.
     Another one smiled. “If only.” Was her name Giniver?
     Zathi hesitated, when admitted, “Alemin is correct. We’re not as organized as it may appear.”
     The three former prisoners exchanged glances of anger and dismay. “You broke us out, but you don’t have a plan?” Duessa accused.
     “We needed to get Alemin out. We couldn’t leave him there,” Lorrah hastily explained. “But then —”
     “I learned that Dar-Gothull uses the Larder to feed off the mages inside,” Alemin carried on. “So if he’s ever going to be overthrown, we had to take his food away.”
     “To weaken him, we had to let all of you out,” Zathi affirmed.
     “Wait.” Duessa pressed her hands to her temples, shocked by the words. “Weaken him?” Her dark eyes darted, from brown face to brown face, and rested on Alemin’s mild gaze. “This is one of your jokes.”
     “No,” he answered. “I know it’s a lot…”
     “You want to overthrow Dar-Gothull?” Bettain was aghast, yet impressed. Elldri listened, round-eyed. “What, with the six of you?”
     “Seven,” Lorrah corrected.
     “Eight,” Alemin said.
     “That’s … not better,” Duessa choked. However, strange she had ever thought Alemin was, this was far beyond it. “You’re insane! He’s Dar-Gothull. He has the whole regime and all the counts, the temple priests, the hunter-guards, the…” She trailed off, finding herself momentarily unable to breathe.
     “There are more of us,” Alemin went on, soothingly. “We had to split up when one of our friends got a prophecy that he would be captured…”
     “A prophecy?” Duessa shrieked. That was worse than nothing!
     “We were supposed to meet up again after six months,” Alemin continued. “Right now, that’s what we’re doing. I have a sense of another one of our friends. We’re trying to find her.”
     “While avoiding my sister,” Lorrah added grimly.
     “And we’re getting the hell away from the Larder,” one of the others added, cheeky.
     “No. No,” Duessa insisted. “You just want us for canon fodder.”
     “We need allies,” Zathi corrected, irritably.
     “Yeah, no kidding,” Bettain laughed rudely.
     “We don’t have a plan because it’s impossible to make a plan before we know who supports us,” Giniver added from the other side of the wagon.
     “Really, you’re going to try this?” Duessa’s eyes pleaded with Alemin to say no, it was all just tavern talk. The guardswomen were silent for a moment, and then every one of them nodded. “Yes.” “Yeah, sure.” “What, you want to live like this forever?”
     “It’s time,” Zathi said firmly. “Dar-Gothull’s reign has distorted everything. It has to end.”

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Music for Writing

Like a lot of people, I have music playing while I write. Music creates a mood, and cues the mysterious parts of my brain that it’s time to create. What’s interesting is how the music I listen to has drifted over the years that I’ve focused on the Minstrels of Skaythe series.

Wow, has it really been four years? Yes, because I started working on The Tower in the Mist in May of 2018. Tempus fugit and all that.

Anyway! At the outset, I was really influenced and inspired by the Dragon Age video games, so naturally the music I listened to was from those game soundtracks. That carried me through Dancer in the Grove of Ghosts and into The Ice Witch of Fang Marsh.

However, as I moved into the writing of Prisoners of the Wailing Tower and The Renegade of Opshar, the music shifted. Perhaps I was farther in time from what I responded to in Dragon Age. Also, after a year and a half, any stimulus will lose its impact. I started using the Pandora platform, and that allowed me to pull in other video game and movie music by Thomas Bergerson, Jeremy Soul and Howard Zimmer. This is what I’ve been listening to since about the fall of 2020.

Now, with The Tale of the Drakanox and the approaching conclusion, the music has begun morphing again. I find myself going for another Pandora list with artists like Enya and Loreena McKennitt. The softer, calming atmosphere is bringing things around for me.

So if you’re reading one of my Mystrels of Skaythe e-books, and you want to listen along, this will give you some ideas!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Woman At Work, March/2022

What’s Happening? We’ve had rain more than snow the past few weeks, which means winter is beginning to give way to early spring. I’ve been looking through seed catalogs and starting to plan out my garden for the summer. Coincidentally, one of the free give-aways at RadCon two weeks ago was a pack of seeds for Cleome, or Spider Flower. It’s a native plant, which is a priority for me, and I look forward to using those seeds this year.

What I’m Working On. The latest Minstrels of Skaythe novel, The Tale of the Drakanox, develops apace. My goal of a May publication is looking far less likely, but I’d rather reschedule to put out a great book, than rush something out on time.

What’s Next? It’s about time to begin the early planning for Queen Titania’s Court in 2022!

Fun and Games. I’ve continued mostly playing Hades and Animal Crossing. I think before long I’ll be ready to try something new, though.

Time to get back to writing! I hope all of your stories are going well.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Grand Finale

We had a really fun gaming session last night. My husband has been running a role-playing game called Chill for our group. We’re monster hunters a la X-Files. To save the life of a supernatural child, we traveled through time to Expo 74, the world’s fair in Spokane, WA. This is our home town, and Expo 74 was a big event in terms of community revitalization. So the setting was super fun and about half of us had personal memories of being at the world’s fair.

Probably the funnest thing was that when we arrived, any technology and materials that didn’t exist in 1974 crumbled to ash. No handy Internet searches for our intrepid monster-hunters. We had to deal with checks and cash only, no plastic! Daron told a great story with lots of twists and turns, bringing in headlines from the months of the fair. We stopped a horrible necromancer who was trying to introduce default swaps (shudder) decades before their time.

A number of our characters have international origins, and in the end, we confronted a whole consortium of supernatural beings from around the world. Daron was sweating it that this would turn into a massive battle, but my character (preening) said we were on the ancestral ground of the native tribes, and the Unknown creatures acknowledge it. So we solved it without violence, and returned in time to save the kid.

As I work forward on Tale of the Drakanox, this is the thrill and energy I’m hoping to create!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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RadCon 2022

After all my blogging about getting ready for this convention, possibly you want to know how it went.

It was good in a lot of ways. The big thing I was worried about was people not being masked, or ugly confrontations about masking. I’d guess about 95% of the attendees were masked. The con-goers took care of each other. That’s honestly a relief. My husband’s workplace gave him at-home COVID tests and I still plan to do that by the end of this week, just to be sure I’m not asymptomatic.

The crowd was very small. This convention attracts 1,000+ people, and I’d guess we had less than 300. Scary for the convention’s budget, but not surprising considering how many people are still worried about attending indoor events.

Our fan table, supporting SpoCon in October, was very well received. People were excited to know that we’re trying it again. Not many actual memberships were sold, but we passed out a lot of flyers. During the times I was at the table, I displayed my books. Everything sold except the book I needed for my reading. Okay, my price was ridiculously low as I’m moving out printed copies from my soon-to-be-former publisher. Still, it was cool to come home and completely refill my book bag.

The one downer was I discovered some of my program ideas from SpoCon had to been swiped and used at RadCon. This isn’t a “gee that sounds familiar” moment. My exact titles and descriptions were in their programming. It might not seem like a big deal, but if you go to these conventions, you know how many of the panels are on “gee that sounds familiar” topics. When the panels are unique and interesting, people notice. It can be a reason for members to return to a certain event.

It was jarring to see an idea I had personally devised and developed, be on someone else’s program before my own. I don’t even know who I might talk to about it.

All in all, though, I’m glad I ventured forth to RadCon!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Teaser: Tale of the Drakanox

Tale of the Drakanox is coming along. The word count is just over 33,800. That’s already the length of the earlier novellas, and my characters have miles to go. Here’s a little taste for you.

Behind the line of booths, someone raced ahead. Could that be the rogue mage? Sergeant Piyaro tried to keep the runner in sight. His view was broken when a well-dressed young man strutted out to meet them. “Finally, the count sent someone!”

The fellow spoke eagerly, yet with a hint of indignant whine. Piyaro made note of his fine trousers, edged with embroidery, and the ornate topknot wrapped with a gleaming red ribbon. He seemed over-dressed for a village like this, but it gave Piyaro hope that the bounty might be better than expected.

However, the interruption had also made him lose track of the runner he’d been watching. Piyaro glanced back, catching two of his men with a glance. “Circle around, try to figure out where he went.”
“Yes Sergeant.” The guardsmen broke from the file and started moving into the crowd, Ragis going left and Cothyr right.

Piyaro saluted the man who had come to meet them. “You’re Aulgrip, the headman?”

“I’m his nephew, Kinson.” An eager expression fired his sleek brown face. “The renegade is right over here. You can get him before he runs. Come on!”

The babble of voices had quieted down, but now it rose again. People were scowling at Kinson. A man cried indignantly, “What are you up to, boy? You ain’t the headman.” And someone else went bolting off toward the tavern.

Sergeant Piyaro noted these reactions even as Kinson brushed them aside. The guardsmen followed as Kinson strutted further into the plaza, where the piping got a little louder. The area was a rough oval edged with stalls. The most prominent building was that stone inn. Piyaro glimpsed movements under the shaded porch, but it didn’t seem to signify anything.

A closer flicker of movement caught his eye. He turned quickly, looking for that runner, but only saw a group of boys chasing each other. Across the square, he spotted the piper crouched beside a vegetable cart. His face was darkened by a round had of woven reeds. Nearby, a pretty woman bartered with a customer.

Moments later, the man who had been running appeared out of the crowd. He rushed up to the piper. Urgent words barely reached Piyaro.

“Sand, Sand, come quick! Ressa’s cut herself with the skinning knife. It’s bad. You have to come.”

The piper and his woman both looked around sharply. The piper started to get up, while the woman dropped what she was selling and pushed her customer out of the way. Before she could get around the cart, Kinson pointed dramatically across the square.

“That’s him! He’s a rogue mage. Quick, before he gets away!”

Something in that made Piyaro think he and his squad were being used for some petty reason. He reminded himself that he needed this bounty, and asked, “Which one?” It could have been the woman or the piper, or even the runner who seemed to be warning them.

“The worthless vagabond,” sneered Kinson.

That still didn’t answer Piyaro’s question; he wasn’t from Opshar and didn’t know the vagabonds from the villagers. Maybe the piper’s shirt sleeves were a little ragged, but that could be said for most of these yokels.

Meantime, a startled silence rippled across the plaza. Again, Piyaro noted that the locals appeared upset or dismayed, but not shocked by the accusation. The piper got up, though the runner tugged his arm with increased urgency, and faced Hawk Squad without surprise.

Kinson was right. Piyaro would have known the renegade just from the grace of his movements and the serene mask of expression. His stomach lurched.

“Shit.” Piyaro’s feet seemed welded to the earth, unable to rise for that next step. “He’s one of them?“

Behind him, the guardsmen murmured warily. They recognized it, too. This wasn’t just any rogue mage. It was one of the golden renegades.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Whither, SF?

It’s been a couple of years since I attended an SF convention, for obvious reasons. It’s exciting to prepare for this weekend. Yet, it’s also made me look back at these events and how much the circumstances have changed, even before the pandemic.

Anyone who’s done an event like this knows how hard it is to fit all the pieces together and make it successful. It’s gotten harder and harder over the past decade. What’s become evident to me, as someone who designs programming, is how much the social picture around SF conventions has changed.

For many of us, SF conventions used to be a vital social outlet. SF itself was considered an odd fringe interest. Fans had to look hard to find people to shared our joy in these books, comics, games, movies and animation. At SF conventions, you could talk about shows like Star Trek with people who wouldn’t look down on it. You could game in person. Go to panels on esoteric subjects. Meet authors and get autographs. Admire costumes. Buy art and all sorts of fannish goodies. Watch movies and anime. These were all things you couldn’t do anywhere else.

In the 30 years I’ve been working on these events, the entire society has changed enormously. SF and fantasy is no longer an unusual hobby. After movies like Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series, and TV shows like Game of Thrones or Walking Dead, SF is widely understood and even beloved.

Thanks to the Internet, nobody has to seek out those fannish goodies any more. With streaming media, you can watch all sorts of shows at any time. There are Facebook groups for gushing about your favorite shows and Discord chats to talk about esoteric topics. You can play games online. If you’re interested in an author, you can follow them on social media. Etsy and similar websites allow fans to buy their goodies and get them delivered. So far, costume contests haven’t been replaced, but that may be just a matter of time.

SF fandom and conventions have definitely been successful. We’ve won the whole world over to our side. It’s a little sad to think that we’ve made ourselves obsolete. The larger events, like DragonCon and San Diego Comicon, will no doubt continue to thrive based on their fame, but for small local conventions, I think perhaps our day has passed.

Guess I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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RadCon Preparations

Yep, next weekend I’ll be at RadCon SF convention in Pasco, WA. I do have some misgivings, since we see rabid anti-masking demonstrations there on the local news. However, I sell more books through public appearances than anywhere else. I also want to support the RadCon organization. So I’m mentally preparing myself to respond if questioned about wearing a mask. (“Mind your own business,” but spoken very graciously.)

I’m also in preliminary stages of planning what to bring, packing my case with books, getting laundry done ahead, what food we need to bring, and other such matters. And I’m trying to bring Tale of the Drakanox to a good stopping point before I go. Any scenes I sketch during the weekend will fuel me the following week.

This is my schedule at the moment. I’m trying to get a reading time, and I’m also hoping to get some time in the game room for an Animal Crossing visit. In general, though, I’m glad to be on some of the more substantial writing panels.

Saturday is my busy day. At 2 pm, I’m moderating a panel on “Point of View.” About five other authors are joining me, and I’m pleased that the topic I suggested was so well received. Then at 6 pm I have “Using Topes Effectively” and at 7 pm “Building Characters.” Since I just did my series of posts on games and writing, I feel like I’m well prepared for that one.

On Sunday I have just one panel, at 11 am. “Social Media and the Independent Writer” is another topic with a lot to say, and it should be fun.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Negotiation

One of my goals for this year has been to get back the rights to some of my books. They came out through a small press, and I enjoyed that working relationship. However, then the publisher suffered a health crisis. I slowly stopped hearing from her. Although she’s been writing and publishing other work, it’s been a couple of years since there’s been anything new from the imprint I’m part of. Clearly her focus has shifted. Since I’m now more proficient with self-publishing, I’d just as soon re-issue the books under my own name.

According to my contract, I can request to terminate the agreement at any time, and my text will be returned to me. (Not the cover art, but that’s okay.) I began the process of requesting my rights with an e-mail.

The good news is, the publisher responded right away. The less good news is, she’s been negotiating to transfer the publications from her imprint to a different small press publisher. Until she mentioned this, I hadn’t heard a word from that other publisher.

When I questioned this, I then heard from the second publisher with a sample contract. This gives me something to go on, so I’ve been going through that and considering my options. Having my work remain in print would be good. But, according to the new contract, if this second publisher is sold, my books would also be sold without recourse.

So I’m in discussions about this, and that’s where it stands.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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Games and Writing, Part 5

Did you think I was done with this topic? Ha ha no!

What I’m finally getting around to is the actual narrative technique in role-playing games. You could think of a typical video role-player as very novelistic. The player starts with a character, either one they create or one that’s assigned, and that character is in a situation. Sometimes there are dialogue wheels and choices to be made. There are different factions to join that will show another side of the core issue. However, the most wrenching plot events are scripted, and the player cannot avoid dealing with those. In the end, the plot comes to some sort of conclusion.

A tabletop role-player is more episodic. The cast of recurring characters, which may change depending on who plays, go into different situations. The characters may grow in power, but their personalities remain the same. There is no ending as such, because the same characters will seek adventure again, the next time the gamers get together.

I’ve been intrigued, though, by the storytelling in Hades, which I mentioned I’ve been playing recently. Their method is new to me, but it may have been around for a while and I just didn’t happen to play a game like this before.

In Hades, you are given a character, Zagreus, and he tells you he wants to escape from the land of the dead. (It’s based on Greek mythology, so he starts out in Tartarus.) That’s all you know. As you go from room to room, fighting various creatures, you start to encounter other Greek deities who give you “boons” that put special effects on various attacks. This game is very sparing with ways to restore your character’s health, so eventually you die. Mythic forces return you to the palace of your father, who just happens to be named Hades.

Oh! Now you find out Zagreus is the son of the god Hades?

That is what is so interesting about this game. Each god, some of the level bosses, and some of Hades’ palace staff, will talk to you. Just a little bit, perhaps one or two lines of dialogue. All conversation is scripted, so the player doesn’t even get to choose how Zagreus responds. This doesn’t sound like much, but it engages the social part of your brain to try and figure out the back story. Having your character die, over and over, only to return to his starting point, might not sound very fun, either. Yet, each time you return, you can unlock a few more lines of dialogue to piece a bit more of the story together.

As a writer, this approach is fascinating and potentially really useful. Fantasy is full of world building and cool creatures and magic and all that, but Hades illustrates how we can use dialogue to draw readers in and keep them riveted to the story. Basically, we can make them do a little bit of the storytelling work for us.

If you ever feel that your story is dragging, think about Hades. Find a spot where someone is just describing scenery, or they’re thinking about a certain problem, and look for a way to make them talk about it instead. Just a few lines of dialogue can make a big difference.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my web site, Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter.

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