Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 44

The Day Before

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, here in the USA. (Other countries celebrate on different days, to be sure.) So there’s a lot of bustle with travel plans for many of us, and cooking ahead of time for those who are hosting. I’m fortunate enough to have the day off, and even now, there’s an apple pie calling for me to make it.

I’m hearing the first few reviews for Prisoners of the Wailing Tower, and they make me happy. Okay, just hearing that someone I don’t personally know has read one of my e-books is enough to make me happy! But, having kind reviews is always a boost. They are inspiring me as I gain speed with The Way of the Drakanox, my next Minstrels of Skaythe novella.

Holidays can be intense and fraught, so I just send you my wishes for a pleasant day (whether or not it’s Thanksgiving Day for you).

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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New Release!

The latest Minstrels of Skaythe novella!

At long last, Prisoners of the Wailing Tower is up for sale. Check it out! Want a different format? Try here.

Prisoners of the Wailing Tower

Alemin only wanted to help an innocent. Instead, he was caught by the dreaded hunter-guards. Now he finds himself flung into the Larder, where the very walls are steeped in nightmares and his fellow inmates are vicious killers. Worse, Warden Ar-Lizelle seems intent on tracking down his friends, the Minstrels, who have devoted their lives to undermining Skaythe’s tyrannical regime.

On the outside, the renegade mage Lorrah receives a premonition of Alemin’s plight. She’s desperate to save a man she cares for, but the Larder is commanded by someone she has hated for years and can’t bear to face: her cruel sister, Ar-Lizelle. Luckily, Lorrah is not alone. She has help from the fierce women warriors of Badger Squad. Yet even their combined forces might not be enough to get Alemin free from Dar-Gothull’s Larder!

Many thanks to anyone who would be inclined to share the news, post a review, and otherwise shine some light.

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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Updated Site

In addition to getting Prisoners of the Wailing Tower ready for publication, I’ve given my web site a full revamp. It’s something I do every couple of years, just to keep my public persona fresh.

So if you’re interested, wander on by and take a look! It’s always a work in progress, which means there’s the possibility of broken links, missing images, and so on. If you do find such a thing, I’d love to hear about it so I can make repairs.

Thank for your help!

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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Next Novella, Part 2

As I go through the last proofing and setups on Prisoners of the Wailing Tower, I continue to dabble with the next novella. In preparation, I did a total read-through of the series. To my dismay, I discovered that I gave one of my characters a different name at the start of the series than he ended up with. That’s an easy fix, just a detail that needs to be made consistent with the other novellas.

(This is where I wonder if I’m kidding myself that anyone follows the series continuity that closely.)

The major thing I’m wrestling with right now is the title. I had been using “The Fall of Dar-Gothull,” which sort of telegraphs the ending. I’m mulling over the different groups and individuals that could feature in the title, like the Hornwood and the Minstrels, and even the drakanox. When I’m working on something like this, I like to make up lots of variations, so that’s what I’m doing. So far, everything I come up with sounds like an old monster movie or the third installment of a video game franchise.

The only reason I’m stressing about it is that the title needs to go in Prisoners of the Wailing Tower as a forthcoming novella. I’ll figure it out eventually.

In addition, I’m still working on who the POV characters should be. So far, they all seem to be the antagonists from the other novellas. That will be interesting, and I’m sure it will give a much more jaded perspective on the Minstrels. However, I do need to have some sort of POV on the Minstrels’ side, or readers will be left in the dark. But I don’t want to have too many points of view, either.

Yes, this is definitely a work in progress!

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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Pre-Order Prisoners of the Wailing Tower!

ISBN 978-1-7339227-8-4

Yes, the latest e-book in my Minstrels of Skaythe series is now available for pre-order! I’m really excited to bring you this installment. Final tweaks are still going on, but the e-book will be out on November 20th.

All this time, it seemed like the Minstrels were getting away with their stealthy resistance. But even a light-bearing mage’s luck can run out…

Prisoners of the Wailing Tower

Alemin only wanted to help an innocent. Instead, he was caught by the dreaded hunter-guards. Now he finds himself flung into the Larder, where the very walls are steeped in nightmares and his fellow inmates are vicious killers. Worse, Warden Ar-Lizelle seems intent on tracking down his friends, the Minstrels, who have devoted their lives to undermining Skaythe’s tyrannical regime.

On the outside, the renegade mage Lorrah receives a premonition of Alemin’s plight. She’s desperate to save a man she cares for, but the Larder is commanded by someone she has hated for years and can’t bear to face: her cruel sister, Ar-Lizelle. Luckily, Lorrah is not alone. She has help from the fierce women warriors of Badger Squad. Yet even their combined forces might not be enough to get Alemin free from Dar-Gothull’s Larder!

What are you waiting for? Pre-order now for just 4.99 from Amazon or Books2Read.

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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The Process, Part 3

I’ve been sharing my process as I go through revisions on my children’s short story, “The Lonely Dragon.” Here is the second draft, and probably the last I’ll be showing you. It’s time to finish this thing up and let my lonely dragon fly to some publishers.

The Lonely Dragon, by Lucy D. Ford

A very long time ago, there was a dragon who lived high in the Skyclaw Mountains. Her silver scales barely shimmered, her lush mane was ragged, and her sharp horns had become blunt. Yes, the dragon was very old. She was also very lonely.

Sometimes people from the valleys down below would climb the rugged peaks and creep into her lair. They wanted to steal from her hoard. The dragon didn’t really mind. If she heard the sly crish-crish of footsteps, she would quickly set a trap.

Once the thieves were caught, they would tremble and cry. They thought the dragon was going to punish them. But as she grew older, the dragon had also grown wise. All she did was bring a pot of tea and ask about the goings-on in the valleys. Sometimes the people told her their problems, and she gave them good advice. When the tea pot was empty, the dragon would let them go back to their homes.

After a while, people stopped sneaking up the mountain to steal from the dragon. They just came to talk to her. She told them tales from long ago, and if they spoke about their problems, she still gave them good advice. Even mighty rulers came to seek the dragon’s wisdom.

Once, the dragon learned that two kings were about to send their armies to war. She invited them both to have tea with her. Instead of fighting, they signed a treaty. The dragon was glad that all the soldiers got to stay home with their families.

She was still very old, but she wasn’t lonely any more.

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, Part 20

What’s Happening? I have the very mundane task of signing up for medical and dental insurance. Yes, it is as thrilling as it sounds. Especially when I answer security questions exactly as I wrote them down, but the system insists I got them wrong and there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to get customer support. Computers are wonderful, aren’t they?

What I’m Working On. Production has begun on Prisoners of the Wailing Tower. I can do a lot of the setups while also making final corrections, so I hope to have it up for pre-order soon.

What’s Next? Early work is under way on the next Minstrels of Skaythe novella, where it all gets tied together. Since it’s very early work, there isn’t much more to say there.

Fun and Games. My other games kept crashing, so I’m off on a new playthrough of Dragon Age Inquisition. In Animal Crossing, I decorated my village for Hallowe’en and went trick-or-treating. A good time was had by all.

That’s it, just a quiet month around here. How about all of you?

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.

The Process, Part 2

Last time, I shared a cold write from a group at my school. Today I’ll show you the true first draft, as I begin to expand and develop the themes. Here it is.

The Lonely Dragon, by Lucy D. Ford

A very long time ago, there was a dragon who lived near the top of a high mountain. Her silver scales barely shimmered, her lush mane was ragged, and her sharp horns had become blunt. Yes, the dragon was very old. She was also very lonely.

Sometimes people from the valley below would creep into her lair, hoping to steal from her hoard. The dragon didn’t really mind. As she grew older, she had also grown wise. When she heard the sly slip of footsteps, she would set a trap for them.

Once the thieves were caught, they would tremble and cry. They thought the dragon was going to punish them. But all she did was bring them tea and ask about the goings-on in those valleys down below. Sometimes the people told her their problems and she would give them good advice. When the tea pot was empty, the dragon would let them go back to their homes.

After a while, people stopped sneaking up the mountain to steal from the dragon. They just came to talk to her. She told them tales from long ago, and if they told her their problems, she still gave them good advice. Even mighty kings and wizards might come to seek the dragon’s wisdom.

The dragon was still very old, but she was no longer very lonely.

There’s still work to do here, but I like the way it’s coming together.

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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The Process

Last week, I was leading a small writing group, and our prompt was “once upon a time.” Fifteen minutes later, my page was full and I had to remind myself that they were supposed to be doing the writing.

Anyway, I ended up with about 150 words of a very basic short story. I thought it would be fun to share my process as I shape this rough draft into a finished story that I can submit. I don’t know if I’ll go all the way to the final draft, as some publishers would consider it a reprint. We’ll see.

For now, let’s get started with the original paragraphs from the prompt.

“Once Upon a Time…”

Once upon a time, there was a dragon who lived on top of a mountain. She was very old and wise, but she was lonely. Sometimes people would come to her lair and try to steal from her hoard. The dragon didn’t mind. She just trapped them for a while, so she would have someone to talk to. She asked them for news of the goings-on in the valleys below. If they told her their problems, she gave them good advice. Then she would let them go back to their homes.

After a while, the people stopped coming up the mountain to try and steal. They just came to talk to the dragon. She told them tales from long ago, and she still gave them good advice. Even kings and queens might come. Soon, the dragon wasn’t lonely any more.

Pretty simple, right? I like the way it gives the dragon a problem that people might not expect, and uses some of the typical dragon lore in a fun way. It needs to be fleshed out with rich details and description, though. Next time I’ll share my first real draft.

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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Lo, Another Snippet!

A snippet from Prisoners of the Wailing Tower.One fun snippet was not enough, so here’s another little taste from Prisoners of the Wailing Tower.What do you think?

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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