Closing in on an end

I've been busy doing this and that lately, but I'm finally knocking out the last few chapters. A skirmish that is prelude to the final fight and then some concluding chapters that may end up in Sera's world... I don't want to give too much away.

It's odd how writing can be kind of a chore, but then when I sit down to do it, I enjoy it. I think if I like writing the chapters, then readers should enjoy reading them. If I struggle to write them, they'll come out awkward and unreal. Not every chapter can be easy though.

Trying to decide whether to go on with In-Roam 2 after this, picking up where it was left off, or go on to newer projects. I still think a combined Pancake & Hen volume (new content?), and perhaps an expanded Afterlives book are in the works. Let's not forget Legends of the Sworn Lands Volume 2, probably the second half of the story. I don't really see a third book there.

finally!

No, I'm not done with Earthbound, but after Spring Break, I have resumed writing. Actually, I knocked out a chapter in about an hour tonight, which is great time. I hope to be back onto things.

I'm also considering scaling back a lot of my projects to focus on sending out scripts to major publishers or marketing my own stuff more aggressively by myself.

Earthbound still has a couple months left in it, depending on if I want to go one long novel, or a couple short ones. I should probably write the second and likely final piece of the Sworn Lands, as well. After that, my other projects may be indefinitely on hold.

More word on that later. We'll just see how things go, career-wise and free time wise.

More drama

Knocked out another chapter and a half of Earthbound. I must say, while not a lot happens, there is a lot of arguing and consideration. Part of that is because I'm doing several scenes from the viewpoints of both characters, or overlapping scenes at least. Although, when I think about it, the competition, stuff like Twilight, doesn't have a lot of action and stuff happening, either. It's just the fluctuating of feelings back and forth as they all try to decide what they really want to do...

Earthbound takes a more adult look at it, namely because the characters are older than the ages or approximate age of appearance of the undead characters in Twilight. It's written for high school and college age readers, as well, rather than tweens.

I must say, more than anything else I've written in awhile, this is enjoyable. Shadowcaster, the first volume of the sworn lands, was a difficult write. I had things I wanted to do, but I just couldn't get into the mindset of Marcus as easily as I can with Rob Dunn.

I hope the real Rob Dunn, the basis for the character, enjoys all I'm doing with the book.

Been awhile

With the holidays, family visits, and the like, I've been working at a snail's pace. I got a chapter done last week, two actually, and I thought things were moving again. Been busy with just random this and that, though. Also, helping my wife start a business on etsy.com. Check her out in the coming weeks at www.etsy.com/shop/wuju/

I plan on pushing through with Earthbound in the coming weeks or months. I expect to finish that one in the next three months. After that, I may consider part 2 of the sworn lands.

If you hadn't noticed, I'm not talking much about In-Roam 2. It's sort of on indefinite hold. I may be writing it alone, so I'll have to rethink my involvement. There's some good stuff in the planned plot, but I'm just not certain it's worth it to me.

Also, want to start marketing my books more. Tired of writing so much for so little recognition. I need to get the word out there more, for my science now book as well...

Merchandising Extravaganza

I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon designing some pretty neat logos and such for some apparel on cafepress. I know they're not always the cheapest, but they do good work, and some of the options they have are pretty darn spiffy.

So i've got clothes, stationery, bags, clocks, doggie t's, magnets, buttons, calendars, and a pile of other stuff on there (including those really nice maps to accompany my Perennials and Sworn Lands books). There's a lot of stuff for In-Roam, Equinox, and Earthbound, but a few from Pancake & Hen, Afterlives, and a few other series, too.

Take a peek over at: http://www.cafepress.com/underspace/

Sworn Lands Map

Just got my copy of the Map of the Sworn Lands from cafepress. The print quality far surpassed my expectations. It's very nice. It's about 11x16 or so, and it's got a nice glossy finish. It's quite nice. I'm considering redoing the Perennial's map and selling that on cafepress, too!

Legends of the Sworn Lands - Shadowcaster

My latest book is finished, finally! This one probably took longer than any previous project I've done, despite not being that long. Life held me back, but it's done now! It's going to be for sale on amazon and lulu, and the map is for sale on cafepress. Also, I have some samples of cards for the game of 5's, which is featured in the book series.

I'm pretty happy with the cover, too. It took two days. If only the PDF creators had been easier. I spent 3-4 hours trying to get things formatted right.

Whew. Done!

Posters and More

For the upcoming release of the Sworn Lands book, I'm putting a color poster up for sale on cafepress, and i'm also going to release a very basic edition of a deck of cards for 5's on my homepage. You would have to print them yourself on card stock and cut them out, but it would still be an option. To see more of the poster, go to: http://www.cafepress.com/underspace

Cover Woes

I've been getting through a few chapters here and there, and I'm about 70% done with the edit, which has me thinking about cover designs for the story. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do yet. I was tempted to wrap the color map around the volume, but I'm not sure I'd like that, unless, perhaps, it was on the dust jacket. I usually don't make hardcovers though. They end up being too pricy. I really would like to see a color version of the map in the book, though.
I'll just have to wait and see what I can come up with after I get through these last twenty chapters or so.

Summer Vacation

School is nearly out. After the 12th, I should be good to go for anything. I might have a solid 2 months to get some serious work done. Looking forward to it. I must have this first volume of the Sworn Lands done by the end of the month. I'm at about 60% right now.

1 chapter a day?

My wish to do a chapter a day has kind of died. I mean, I'd like to, but real life keeps intervening. Then there was that month of Command & Conquer. Owning a house seems to slow me down, too. There's always some yard project or fix-up to do. The end of the school year is closing in, so that might present me some more time, but I do have people visiting. It'll just get done when it's done.

Ongoing Edits

Still working on the Sworn Lands. I decided to do at least 1 chapter a day rather than sporadic work. After the last few days, I'm 30% done, and should be done somewhere around the end of this month or middle of next. I'd like to get that done so I can work on one of these other projects I've been mentioning.

I've also been refining an idea for a really rude detective story. James Finder is a guy who can find people by hijacking some of their senses to get clues about their whereabouts. Here are a few excerpts from my idea file:

"She was one of those broads that distracted you from the shortcomings of her face with short skirts and leggy get-ups. She knew how to use what she had, and I was thinking about using what she had, too..."

"My old partner... he had a face like a bear and breath like a badger. I told him to eat a tic-tac and look the other way. Problem solved."

"Piety - surely the tastiest sounding of my shortcomings."

"She had a nice pair of muffins filling her blouse, and I wanted to give them a squeeze to see how cakey they were inside. Unfortunately, I had work to do. I am a masochist."

Updates

I'm still working on the editing phase of The Sworn Lands. I've never taken this long to edit something before. Life keeps interrupting. There is always another project that takes me away from it, but I guess there is no real rush.

I'm hoping to start getting more hits on this blog. I'm trying to expand the contact I get from lulu and my personal site, so hopefully this will help, eventually. Please feel free to pass on the site and especially lulu's site.

I'll get another post up soon, maybe detailing another idea or two I had for stories. I've been working on outlines and just general notes on several stories, as that is more fun sometimes than editing.

Website Updates!

Hey, readers. I went and spent my weekend updating my website. It'd been a year, and it really needed it. I wanted to make it look prettier, a bit less spartan, and also update it so that it connects to this blog and to my online bookseller. I really think you'll all like it, and I even opened up a few spots with some teasers for my new books or books in the works: pandemonium, the sworn lands, in-roam 2, and earthbound. Take a peek at some of the hints there.

Thanks again, and keep reading!

Relaunch

I used to use this blog for personal reasons, but I've decided to relaunch it to talk about my writing. I thought it might offer more insights into what I'm working on currently, and create more buzz about what I'm doing.

Currently, I'm still editing The Sworn Lands, coming back after another month off or so as I fought addiction to C&C 3. That game is pretty darn fun. I think I'm done with it now, and I can refocus my efforts on my writing. I'd really like to finish this book. Then, I hope to redesign my writing website to include ties to this log.

Following that, I will work on one of two or three things. My highest priority is probably In-Roam book 2, which I plan to do collaboratively with my partner from the first book. My other main option is a project I've tentatively entitled Earthbound. I might post some ideas from that on here at a later date. Right now, all I want to say is that it involves something angelic.

With that, I hope you'll tune in for my next installment...