Tornado C is way too long.

While Tornado C has been going slowly, I prefer to think that it's marinating, like a good steak. The longer it marinates (within reason) the better it will be when completely cooked.

Yesterday I cooked 25,000 words worth of steak. (The current count is actually somewhere past 26,000 now.) Yes, sir, Tornado C finally (after an arduous struggle) hit the big 100 pages mark! Unfortunately, the length problem has continued...I'm still not finished with Chapter Six. In fact, that (and Chapter Five) are ending up so long that I'll probably split them in half during my revisions and lengthen my novel by two chapters.

This also means that, if my other chapters follow the same pattern, the projected word count of Tornado C has increased to 100,000 words. (My longest novel to date is a little more than half that much.) That's four hundred pages. Insane. Especially since I'm only writing the novel from two point-of-views, and I haven't even introduced the second POV yet.

My sister keeps telling me that she “respects long novels” (and long chapters) but they sure take an awful long time to write.

On the flip side though, I'm enjoying the novel, and especially the characters. For instance:

--

“Daren, you blasted Celamarian, I'll kill you if you don't talk to me!”

A hoarse voice drifted up from the dark, gaping hole in the floor. “That's a sorry excuse for murdering [me].”

Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. “At least you're alive, you breadhead.”

“Breadhead? Where did you get that one?” Daren coughed, somewhere in the darkness. “And where are you?”

“I'm still where I was standing before. Is it possible to climb up?”

“Why don't you find out?” Though hoarse, Elijah reflected, Daren's voice hadn't lost any of its sardonic tone. “I can't move. I've got a big mirg blegn plank on my bremmed leg, mishkar helbrein ven negi—”

“I can speak Celamarian,” Elijah said dryly. “Your mother wouldn't be impressed with what you just said.”

–

^That above example was just written five minutes ago, so, like many of my excerpts, it needs quite a bit of editing. I did edit one thing though: a spoiler. Thus, the brackets. ;)

What about you all? Are you any of you doing some writing? Or are you feverishly preparing for NaNoWriMo and/or being eaten alive by carnivorous schoolwork?

I'm doing all three. ^_^

Can God Use Fiction Writing?

Some time ago I laid in silence and stared up at the ceiling, which I could hardly make out through my white, sheet-like mosquito net.

Temporarily sleepless nights are no strangers to me. More than once I've laid awake past midnight while wrestling over some question, whether it be spiritual, theological, or having to do with some hitch in my writing. This time it was the latter.

And I was asking the question, “Can God really use my fiction writing?”

Honestly, I had hit something of a rut with Tornado C. I saw where I was, and where I needed to be, but I couldn't seem to get up the inspiration and drive to get there. Instead, I found myself working on my Will Vullerman edits, or doing nothing at all. (When unable to write, I find it much easier to revise – and procrastination is easier than both.) I didn't want to work on Tornado C.

These thoughts are common to me, and probably to you too. Usually I can plow through this problem. However, there was another factor contributing to my sleepless state of mind.

That day I had started re-reading one of my favorite books, one I hadn't picked up for some time; it had been over a year, in fact, since I had last read it.

And there was a problem. I recognized some of the same elements in that story that were in my current novel. Little things here and there were almost identical to some of the themes and concepts in my own novel. While there was nothing blatantly plagiaristic – much of my novel was as original as a your run-of-the-mill swords-and-battles fantasy tale – there were parts of the novel, especially in theme, that sounded eerily similar to my own.

This is a problem I've struggled with since my very first novel. How can I write with originality? I've read killer plots before, and loved incredible characters; why couldn't I write the same?

Mentally, this discovery was rather crushing. If this novel – which has been one of my best ideas yet – wasn't totally original, how could I ever write something truly good?

Thus, midnight found me awake again, my hands folded behind my head and my elbows splayed out over my pillow, my legs crossed, my eyes staring blankly into the darkness above the circular plastic rods that held up my net. Inside, I was wrestling with this problem, looking at it from every angle and trying to make sense of the mess.

Finally, as what usually happens, I brought it before God. I laid out all of my frustration, both at the story and at my own negligence and procrastination. I let Him have it. Here's what I said, in short:

“Okay, God, I know you gave me this novel. And this concept. And especially this theme. But I don't know what to do anymore. The novel is flawed. I can't convey what I want to – it's not even original. I want to write this novel for Your glory, but how can I do that? How can you even use this novel? I'm not even a hundred pages into it, and it's riddled with problems and holes and characters that don't do what I want them to. At times, I don't even want to write the story anymore. Do you really want me to do this? Should I give it up altogether and work on something that actually seems to work – like my Will Vullerman stories? How can you even work with such a flawed story?”

I don't claim to hear from God. I didn't hear an audible voice; but to my spirit, I heard Him say, “If I want to use this novel for My glory, what is it to you? Don't you believe that I can use the most flawed vessel?”

And that answer left me speechless.

Well?

Did I believe that God could use Tornado C, despite how flawed it was, despite how flawed I was? Didn't I believe in a God who can do anything and everything He wanted? And if He wanted to use Tornado C...was I, a fallible mortal, going to stand in His way?

And eventually, I answered. And the answer was yes, I did believe that God could use anyone and anything.

What logically follows from this, then, is the question: “Then why aren't I writing my novel like I believe God can use it?”

To disobey His call to write my novel – to even procrastinate and do nothing when I know I should be writing – that is a sin. We are to do everything to His glory; so if we have dedicated something like a novel to His glory and we don't continue in it, we are keeping for ourselves the glory that rightfully belongs to God.

I'm writing this to encourage you, blog reader. If you're writing, and you're stuck, and you don't know if you can continue on writing this story...just remember.

Remember this: that if you have dedicated your novel to God, unless you hear otherwise from Him, you are to write in that novel and make it the best it can be. And He who has started this work will finish it. To do otherwise is to keep from giving God the glory.

And write with the knowledge that God is behind it, directing it, fueling it, and writing it. And guess what? When God is in charge of things, He can do it so much better than we can on our own.

Isn't that incredible? That the God of the universe – He who is infinitely creative – can create through us? That He can illustrate His own attributes and give Himself glory through our flawed writings?

That's a good God! And that's a good thought, is it not?

Soli Deo gloria. Glory to God alone!

Boring Updates: in which Tornado C's outline is being stubborn, and Will Vullerman is climbing out of my ear.

I have a penchant for creating grab-you-and-never-let-you-go titles, don't I? This one just screams "READ ME" like nothing else.

I'm also horrible at subtle sarcasm.

Guess what? It's update time - a time in which I shall bring you up to speed on what's going on in the writing section of my life.

So I was supposed to start writing in Tornado C. Easier said than done. I've told you guys repeatedly to write first, edit later. Now that I'm getting the hang of outlining, however, this terrible vice has come back to bite me.

How can I do that? you may ask. Well, it sounds more complicated than it is: but in essence, I'm revising the novel before I ever set pen to paper.

But not in a Doctor Who kind of way. I'm actually tweaking the detailed outline I've written for Tornado C. I originally started out with a mildly exciting outline. (My plot always gets better once I write it.) Once I had finished said outline, I had planned on starting the first draft ASAP.

One problem...I didn't think my outline was good enough.

So what did I do? I revised it.

Guess what? After I did the revisions, it was awesome. I tightened the plot and added some theme. I was so pumped to write this novel. Then I went to bed, woke up, and realized something.

It wasn't good enough.

So I revised some more, added a subplot, and generally made things better.

Went to bed, woke up, realized something.

It wasn't good enough.

Do you see the cycle? It's pretty obvious.

Now I'm working on adding another supporting character ("three's a company") and trying to figure out whether or not I actually killed off all of the remaining heirs to the Celamar throne. Gulp. That was a major plot problem. Tell you the truth, I hadn't actually realized that they were all dead until last week, even though I had killed them off (in my head) several months before. (Hey, when you're juggling half a dozen stories in your head at once, sometimes you overlook things!)

And also, the first three chapters of the novel (aside from the epic prologue) are pretty much run away, almost get caught, run away, almost get caught, and then we finally come to our senses and run away to a place that actually has to do with the plot. *headdesk* I still need to find a suitable subplot for that section. It's pretty much "butter scraped over too much bread" right now. It's trying to be more important than it is.

But that's one of the things I have found that I actually like about outlining: I can fix plot problems before I get to them. I don't have to go through the weary process of plot revision after the novel is finished; I can do it beforehand, in my head.

Except, outlining is still a major pain. If I write an idea down, I have to write down specifics, and that's something that my brain hates doing before it's time to actually write that idea into prose. Eurgh.

Aside from my fair-weather friendship with outlining, I've also been working on other writing-related things. Lately I've been shaping out the next four or five Will Vullerman short stories in my head. Included in this is the groundwork for an earth-shaking conclusion to Will Vullerman's saga, which I can't wait to write. I have no idea how many stories I'll write before I finish them off with the conclusion, but once I do, it'll be blow-your-socks-off epic.

But the next five WV stories are a 25k+ project, so I'm painfully abstaining from writing them until I actually get some prose work done in Tornado C. Gah! So much to do, so little time in which to do it!

Speaking of Will Vullerman, however, I've also been hammering out concept cover art with my sister, who does photography. We've got the cover for one of my stories (The Thirteenth Call) already finished and the rest are coming - I can't wait to show them all to you!

But cover art and, more importantly, publication, will have to wait. I have to do some extensive revisions on the stories first. And those edits come after I work on Tornado C. Blech. I've got my hands full this summer, no mistake.

But don't worry, I've gotten some solid writing done. My pen gets restless when I do nothing but brainstorming. So what did I do?

I've written and revised a 5,000 word short story titled The Flame That Does Not Burn, and yes, it tries to be as mysterious as the title implies. It's a fantasy-allegory chock full of little theme tidbits - and I tried out a new experiment. The story's narrator - and many of the other characters - use their native language pretty extensively, in little bits and pieces. If my style worked, then it'll add quite a bit of depth to the story; if not, it'll make the reader confused. Time will tell.

I sound busy, I know. But hey, it's the rainy season. Rain, rain, rain, 24/7. And it's cold. (By West African standards.) I actually have an excuse to stay inside and get some writing done!

How's your writing coming along? If you're not doing much writing (or even if you are), how is life coming along in general? I hear that it's hot! Y'know, right now, it's actually cooler here than it is in most parts of the States...

Oh, and do you have any writing topics that have been bothering you lately? I've been stumped about what sort of articles to write. I've exhausted quite a few topics and I'm looking for more.

Gotta go. Until next time!

Writing Plans: What's Now and What's Next

Hullo, blog readers! Read on if you're of the curious sort. This post is entirely about my writing, so there's not much constructive about it. Still, it may prove to be interesting reading!

All right, so here's what's happening: in this post, I'm going to attempt to explain my current (and ambitious) writing plans. This is partially for your benefit and partially to organize my chaotic thoughts. You'll note that there are a lot of occurrences of "probably" and "hopefully". Most everything on this list is tentative, but that's the way writing works, right?

Okay, here goes!

Today is 10th of June. I have, max, until late August to concentrate completely on writing; August is when school will come back and I'll have to put writing in the backseat. So I have two and a half months, give or take, to focus on these projects. Afterward, my writing will probably be restricted to evenings and late nights.

So what's first up?

Foremost on my list is completing, revising, and publishing my Will Vullerman short stories. I'm 2k into The Immortal Man (and procrastinating), which is the last of the WV stories in the foreseeable future. Afterward, I'll revise them and then format them for Kindle. Since that's a fairly small project in comparison to the actual writing of the stories, I can probably multitask and combine my time with another project. (Once my revision is done, however, keep your eyes peeled for a Will Vullerman post; I'm planning on offering to send the stories to whoever wants to read them, first come first served.)

Next up is my newest novel, codename Tornado C. Work will begin as soon as I finish my outline, which will only take a couple of days or so once I set my mind to it.. I probably won't start writing in it, however, until The Immortal Man is finished.

The time required to write Tornado C is a mystery, however. I'm aiming for 50k+ words with twenty-four outlined chapters, but the story may take some unexpected turns or decide to be stubborn. We'll see. If I'm REALLY lucky, I'll have it finished by the end of the summer. Once it is finished, I'm hoping to submit it to the 2012 OYAN Novel Contest.

This is where my schedule begins to blur. However, here's what's most likely: I'll revisit The Prophecies. While one of the core concepts of the series is cliche and originality is sorely lacking, I can't stand leaving the story and the characters unfinished. And it's pretty good, other than that concept. The Prophecy of Einarr, for instance, has some of my best writing in it. It's an extremely fun series to write, too!

We'll see what I'll decide to do with the series, but I'll probably finish The Prophecy of Einarr sometime before November and then write book #3. (Actually, I have this sneaking suspicion that book #3 will be my 2012 NaNoNovel. After all, the previous two books were a result of NaNoWriMo, so I should probably follow the pattern!)

Somewhere along the line, I'd like to also revisit Revolution, a story I began some time ago. I love the concept, which is somewhat allegorical; and the style of writing is alluring. (It's highly narrative and dramatic with an emphasis on vivid description. A joy to write, but sometimes a pain to read.)

And if the Will Vullerman stories are well received with my readers, I'd like to write more of those, too. I've even got the first inklings for a grand-finale type ending to these sci-fi stories somewhere in the very distant future. Pun intended. (I've already started foreshadowing this ending in my current stories, though. Mwahahahaha!)

In ADDITION to this (almost done!), I'm also mulling over several other opportunities which may or may not work out. One of them is a nonfiction work. (Gasp!)

As you can see...I'm going to be really busy (as a writer) for the remainder of this year. :P We're looking at hundreds of thousands of words waiting to be written. Now that I look at it, it seems a lot more massive. But we'll see, eh?

However, having big plans leaves little room for procrastination. You guys need to keep me accountable, all right? As often as you can, you need to bother me to go and write.

So what are YOUR writing plans this summer? What are your summer plans in general? Anything particularly awesome coming up on the calendar? I love hearing from you all, so make sure and comment if you have something to say. :)

The Reports of My Death Are Assuredly False

Well, it's been a sight longer than I expected, folks. I've so many stories to tell that it would take ages to recite them: so I'll settle for a few scattered tales to update my dear blog readers. Pre-written blog posts are great, eh?

First of all, I am alive.

Second, I'm in the midst of my final revision of the War Horn. Be prepared for a post about pre-readers soon!

Third, I'm doing One Year Adventure Novel again, with my sister. This time, it's a fantasy. I've got some epic ideas for it. Here's the preliminary synopsis:

"Elijah Finarod. Once, he was the pride of his people. Now he's imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and haunted by the one he did. A bloody war is raging across his world, and Elijah is unexpectedly freed to seek a way to end an ancient curse, the only hope they have of stopping the war. But he's being pursued by unknown assassins and he's being hunted by his own people. Nevertheless, Elijah is determined to stop the war at any cost. For Elijah Finarod started the war, and now he was going to end it."

Fourth, I've never been so grateful for chicken and beef. For the first two weeks we were in this house, we ate fish and nothing but fish. (The fish was in the sauce over rice, of course...not fish plain. That would be a nightmare.) And did I mention that I abhor fish?

Fifth, I wrote out a genealogy of the House of Finwë from Tolkien's "The Silmarillion". Go figure. (Finwë fathered Fingolfin, who fathered Turgon, who had a daughter who was named Idril who married a mortal named Tuor, and they had a son called Eärendil and he married the half-mortal-quarter-elf-quarter-Maia Elwing and they had two sons, Elrond and Elros...) And yes, "Finarod" in the synopsis above is a nod to Tolkien's characters "Finarfin" and "Finrod".

And last, I miss all you crazy and wonderful writers. ^_^ You're all awesome.

That is all.

*ahem* Kidding! Considering the time I have with no internet to waste my time on (actually, between revisions and school being renewed once more, it's not that much), I ought to write something a bit longer, eh?

Here are a few notes that I've composed concerning life in Liberia. However, I'm not even sure what you all want to know...so shoot me a few questions in the comment section, and I'll write another blog post in response. Fair?

Concerning FOOD:

The fundamental elements of food are thus: rice, sauce, meat. The meat is in the sauce (or soup, sometimes), and it is poured over rice. That's Liberian food in essence. The sauce may include something like palm nuts, potato greens, cassava, etc. The meats include goat, beef, chicken, and fish. And maybe lamb, but I have yet to eat lamb here. And the food always has peppers in it.

My favorite is "pepper soup", followed closely by cassava. Pepper soup is, essentially, a soup with some sort of tomato sauce base, with a meat and lots of peppers in a broth; sometimes over twenty peppers in that soup alone. As I said on Facebook the other day, "IT BURNS US!" (To give you an idea of the heat of the little Liberian pepper, it is ranked the same on the "heat" scale as the habenaro pepper.)

Concerning ENVIRONMENT:

The place where we live, as I have described elsewhere, is a concrete building with tile floors, and you can only reach it by crossing a wooden monkey bridge across a freshwater lagoon. It's a moment's walk from the beach: you can look out the window and see the sea along the horizon. This means that we get a sea breeze during the day and night, which is phenomenal. The windows are always open to let in the breeze, and in the shade, it's not actually that hot. Sitting in the sun is another matter.

Right now, we're in the dry season. It hasn't really rained for weeks, and the weather is steadily, degree by degree, climbing upward. I have no idea what the temperature really is, however, save that it's somewhere over ninety every day; that was the temperature three weeks ago.

Concerning CHANGES IN LIFESTYLE:

This is a fairly big category. Below, I shall list the changes that have taken place in general life.

Firstly, we don't have running water. We have to go out and manually pump all the water we use. So that means I use a dipper, half a bucket of water, and some shampoo when I get grimy enough to take a shower. We have plans to dig a well, however, and use an electric pump to pump water to a mini water tower, which provides the pressure we need for running water.

Second, our meals have decreased. We now dine in what we think is a typical Liberian manner: one meal a day, commonly in the afternoon. If we get hungry later on in the evening, we eat a small plate of leftovers from dinner. In the mornings, we eat fruit, and, some days, popcorn.

We've also learned to conserve electricity and computer charge. Because we need our computers for school, we turn on the gas-run generator most nights, which gives us electricity to charge electronics and run certain things. We do, however, have some solar power. We recently received a fridge/freezer that runs on solar power, and half the lights in the house - one in each room - run on solar power.

Most Sundays, we've had house church instead of going to church. We dig out a few hymnbooks we brought with us from America and sing hymns, afterward praying and then studying some Scripture.

Concerning PETS:

Inevitably, we've gotten pets. You've probably already heard of our mongoose, Mae. Or Minkey, as my sister calls her. She's extremely accident-prone, so much so that she seems to be disabled. Three of her four legs don't support her very well, and we're not entirely sure why. However, she did hit her head some days earlier and it swelled up; afterwards going down again. We think this might be the issue, some sort of damage to the brain. Right now, though, she's still eating and drinking and going to the bathroom on our beds, so that's a good sign, and her legs still retain movement.

So far, we've had four dogs. The first one (whom we named "Jax mi Dog" after the "Jax mi Katt" character in Jill Williamson's epic trilogy) died after a week, contracting some sort of illness. We buried him beneath a palm tree. Several days later, we got another puppy, whom we called Pippin. He's a typical Liberian mutt. We made sure he got shots, and right now he's a troublemaker in good health.

We also got two German pointer mix puppies from an American family. Their mother is huge and scary, so we're hoping that these two puppies - "Stan" and "Valli" after two West African missionaries we knew in Kansas - will grow up likewise.

You see, dogs in Liberia are not only pets (and to Liberians, they aren't really pets at all), they're guards. They're as good or better than a security guard, especially the big dogs. I've witnessed it myself: the mother of our German pointer puppies scared the pants off of one of our Liberian friends.

And lastly, we got a grey kitten who enjoys exploring my bed and playing with my shirt while I'm trying to sleep. We mostly got her to make sure the mouse/rat population stays down. At least, that's why Mom and Dad got her.

Concerning LIFE:

Get up. Do school. Eat dinner. Revise/do OYAN. Go to bed.

That's life right now. Pretty interesting, eh?

So, how are you all doing? How's the writing? How's life in general?

And if you have any questions, ask away. I'd be happy to answer them...but don't expect to get an answer right away. I have over four hundred unread emails, and the only internet I get is from a USB internet stick that's slow as molasses. And I rarely use it, anyhow.

Farewell, write well, and stay out of the heat!

Er...cold...

Never mind.

Where Things Are Going

Well, folks, I've come to a fork in the road.  And I'm turning soon.  Actually, that's more of a catchphrase than anything else, and an excuse to post that picture you see.  I already know where things are going. :)

I still have a lot of revising to do.  And that's pretty much a "Duh" for any writer; good books are not written, they're REwritten, right?

However, as I was rereading and formatting The Book of Shaldu this week, I began thinking about book two in the Prophecies Series.  That's the more-or-less official name of the series, by the way.

I really have no idea what is going to happen in that book.  It's a mystery.  I only have a couple of vague ideas and a prophecy.  But events are happening fast, and I'll fill you in.

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to a friend briefly about Book Two.  That got my imagination juices running, and I realized (not for the first time) that I have no idea what I'm going to do in Book Two.  And since The Book of Shaldu was beginning to shape up, I thought it might be time to begin thinking about it.

That's what I do instead of outlining, see.  I ponder it.  I think about my characters.  I think about the plot.  And I say, "What could go wrong?"  (Which, by the way, is a fantastic question.  Find out what could go wrong, and then do it.)

Well, I didn't sleep very well last night.  That's what these things do to you.  In fact, in "sleeping on it", I might have awoken poor Inspiration again.  He always tunes into thoughts, not actions.  And since my mind was a boiling pot of imagination last night...

Long story short, he threw a bar of soap at me in the shower this morning.  And I realized that the back-story for one of my characters was a LOT more complex than I thought.

The character in question was Elene Silversword, the mother of my main character.   She was a strong character with a sharp wit and a sharp tongue, and she loved the High Lord.  For the longest time I couldn't understand why she was such a strong character.

But anyway, after Inspiration threw the soap at me, he told me all about Elene Silversword.  It was kinda creepy, actually, finding out all I didn't know about my own character.  Apparently she had fled to Kr'ark and married a guy named Jactwo Silversword.  'Course, I had to find out why she fled.  I'm her writer.

I found out a lot about this character called Elene.  For one, Elene isn't her real name.  Major shock there.  And for two, her story has betrayal and death and conspiracy wound up in it.

If you expect me to tell you what exactly her story IS, I won't.  It's my secret.  I promised Inspiration I wouldn't tell.

However, let it be known that her back-story will have a large impact on the course of the Prophecies series. This got me thinking for the rest of the day.  And, besides this, I figured out what this new prophecy means.

Now, if you're wondering what in the world all this has to do with where things are going, let me tell you; because of this rather painful smack from Inspiration, I now have a tentative plot for Book Two simmering in my mind pot.  I have a lot of foreshadowing to rewrite into TBOS, but it's beginning to come together.

To tie it all up, I have a feeling that Book Two is very close to getting to the point where I can begin writing.

And, of course, revising my other novels.  *sigh*  It gets tiring after a while...

Two more quick notes: first, the prophecy's name is also the name of a novel.  I actually "doodled" the prophecy, believe it or not.  I drew a tree, an orb, and a stylized moon, and then wrote a poem above the tree in runes.  This became the prophecy.

So, you want to know the name of the book?

Tentatively, Book Two of the Prophecies is called, "The Prophecy of Terrainian".

The name "Terrainian" is also tentative.  I may need a name-change.  Do you think I should change the name?  If so, what name would you recommend? (It's easily done; I haven't written anything about book two down anywhere but here.)

That's all for now.  Let me know what you think. :)

The Book of Shaldu: Cover Art!

That sounds really exciting, right?  No, I'm not getting it published just yet: but my sister and I have composed some cover art for The Book of Shaldu proof copy that I'll be getting from CreateSpace; as soon as I get my edit finished.

Want to see? 

Really?

Here it is.  Don't criticize it too much. ;)

(Click for a bigger size.)

I'll post the entire cover on here sometime; back, spine, and all.  And then you'll get to read the official blurb for The Book of Shaldu. 

Farewell for now, folks!  Tell me what you think of the cover!

Got Goals?

Well, June has dawned over the fields of Kansas, and it brings with it news: Mathe is dead, and school is almost finished.  (Technically, the last of my school is finishing a novel.)

But there's unseen news drifting in on the wind: Jake of the Sadaar has brought some goals with him into June.

I like to call summer the Season of Writing.  Made that up just now; clever, huh?

And I have some incentive for writing, too.  For instance, consider this: if you had 26 days until a writing conference, wouldn't you write?  But it's more complicated than that.  Because it's the OYAN [One Year Adventure Novel] conference: and that means you have to have an OYAN novel.  One I *ahem* haven't quite written one yet.  Yup, that's incentive.  Poor Procrastination doesn't stand a chance.

So here's some goals I have for this month of June, things I'd like to get done.  And it's a list!  Huzzah for lists!  Lists and bullets!  Double combination.

This list is in order of priority.

• Write the OYAN novel.  This is pretty much a must.  Either that, or I'm showing up to the Conference with a blank novel to share.  (Yup, I'm going to be sharing my novel at that conference.  Now you ALL want to go, eh?)
• Rewrite the Book of Shaldu.  This probably won't happen, since I need to have it formatted and edited and stuff for a proof copy from CreateSpace.  Believe it or not, I still haven't gotten my free proof copy from all the way back to NaNoWriMo.  Oh, and did I mention the free copy expires June 31st? ;)
• Write the last section of A Battle Fought at Midday.  This is farther down the list, since my above works have an "expiration date".
• Write in Revolution.  Probably won't happen, but there's a slim chance I'll have some time.  I'll probably pick it up next month

That's about it.  See you all next time.

(Postscript: Contact me if you want to do a rough-and-ready Word War.  I'm craving those right now; I gotta finish a novel before the 28th, right?)

Tidbits of News

Hey, I hope everybody doesn't mind if I blog a lot. After all, I have a lot to say. :)

~First of all, for those who may not know, there's a short story contest in honor of C. S. Lewis going on at the Pen and the Parchment. I encourage you to check it out.

~Secondly, I'm coming up on a difficult question on my novel; Where to next? Once I finish this novel, that'll end my trilogy that has been almost three years in the making.

But that's not the question of "What am I going to write?", but rather, "Which of these am I going to write?"

What is the 'these' I'm referring to? Right now, next in line for my writing attention, are two ideas. Both take place in the same world as my trilogy, but one is a prequel, and one is a sequel. Whichever one I pick, I'll do the other eventually, though. The problem is, both of them are some of my best ideas yet, better then the trilogy that I'm finishing up.

The sequel is the beginning of a series, and the prequel is just a novel, with nothing else planned afterward.

Here's what's making the choice difficult; If I do the sequel, it will take some time to finish a series. After all, the trilogy I'm working on has taken almost three years. If I do the prequel, I should be able to finish it fairly quickly (at least by my standards) and move onto the sequel.

In a comment on Wayne Thomas Batson's blog not too long ago, I said, 'All of the books in my trilogy were to prepare the way for the next book, which I consider my greatest work and my ultimate goal.' Wouldn't a prequel for the trilogy add yet more background? I keep asking myself. And I'm not sure.

So that's the lay of the land. What do you think?

~Third and lastly, I'm paying rather close attention to the poll on the sidebar. It's getting quite interesting. Thirteen people have voted as of now for the question, "Which of these is your MOST favorite fantasy author?" I find that question hard to answer as well. :)

Here's how the scores are;

'How in the world do you expect me to PICK?!?!?' is leading with 38% of the votes.

'C. S. Lewis' is next in line with 23%.

'Bryan Davis' and 'Wayne Thomas Batson' are tied for third as of now with 15% each.

'J. R. R. Tolkien' is trailing behind with 7%,

And lastly, 'Christopher Hopper' and 'Brian Jacques' are bringing up the rear with no votes.

I'll be looking forward to see what happens next! And I'm not telling how I voted myself until the poll is over.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with my lengthy post. :)