[big]D[/big]anger Peligros! was the first book I tried to promote before I hit the publish button. Born of Water’s promotion came after the fact, when it was dawning on me there was a lot more to being an author than being able to write a whole novel. For Peligros! I can’t say I did a good job promoting it. But I did try. 🙂
And now that THAT is over with and Peligros! is on the interwebs of the world, I’m free to go back and . . . well write. And blog, of course. I’ve been wanting to just focus on writing. It is the fun part for me, after all! But it dawned on me that, well I had published another book! And that meant I should update my Writing page, and put up a proper slider on the front page, oh and update image links on Weifarer’s and Nomads. While I was at Nomads, I figured I should schedule a real post. So over three hours later, I’m finally sitting down and getting down to blogging about writing. You see, I saved that for LAST as I love writing and I love talking about it. And since you are hear, you must like hearing about it. Right?
I have been working on Rule of Fire, the sequel to Born of Water. It is going well and I’m half way through writing Chapter 14. I really want to be towards the end of Chapter 15 by the end of the week, though that will be hard as I have after work (but work related) meetings two nights this week. Ouch.
Chapter 15 is a milestone for me because I’m planning 30 Chapters to Rule of Fire. So . . . I may be half way there at the end of the week! And I have that great photo I bought to use as the cover image. I’m sure I’ll start playing with that very soon. I think the scene the image represents will happen soon in the novel too. I can’t say more than that, other than the person on the cover is Ria this time. And it is SUCH an awesome photo.
I’m happy to say that enough of the novel is congealed in my mind that after I start the next chapter, usually thinking through what is going to happen in it for a few hours, the writing really starts to flow. I finish half a chapter in one sitting after work and have even crawled out of bed a couple of times waaayyyy before dawn because I’m itching to write. I think I’m catching a cold though. Might have something to do with lack of sleep!
Chapter 12 was a challenge though. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is in the voice of the “villain” I suppose: the anti-hero. He is seeking to find a way to gain power of Niri and Ria. I had to make a choice. Does he go to a secretive store in the city where he finds himself, or must he go on a mini-quest to gain what he seeks?
I toyed around with the idea and both outcomes several times. I really liked the idea of a place in the city. It brought a passage out of the Companion home:
“This was known as the Time of Isolation. . . . Most gifted chose to hide their identity. They only worked their skills when masked, following elaborate rituals. Those in need of Mhyrah’s help or blessing looked for her in those carrying her divine skill. Traditions developed on how to contact and seek assistance from those who were gifted, for those who held the power born of old blood were not commonly known.”
But the idea of a mini-quest was compelling too. After all, I had a whole chapter to fill! I even asked Raven for some advice. He wasn’t helpful. Such are Ravens . . . .
I finally made a decision, though I won’t say there which way I went. For a time, I wan’t happy with how the chapter roughed out, but after thinking about it (and reading back through the last few paragraphs), I think it may be just what was needed to happen. We’ll see. I still have the edits to go through!