Sunday, October 31, 2010

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 20

Had another good week writing even though I didn't get as much done as last week, only about two thirds. I'm not at all worried about it because it is really the most complicated chapter of all the books so far. It's tentatively called "Secrets Fall" and is really the game changer chapter. Almost everything that's been going on in the books leads up to this. None of the characters have any secrets anymore, their true plans are exposed and sides are drawn. It has to be handled just right, can't be rushed and can't take to long, so I really have to work on making sure everything happens in the right way. It's one of the exciting things about writing.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 19

The great moment of refocusing I had a few weeks ago has really paid off. It's been one of the best weeks writing I've had this year. I've written some very dramatic scenes that really hit home the themes of these books. They just have a flat out discussion on how dangerous racial profiling is and how important the individual is. They also talk about how easy it is to forget that and old habits are hard to break. One of the things I'm really proud of is it's not the main character that instigates this conversation even though she is an example of how to change it.
I was wondering if the readers might not be sure of just how much what they have seen up close is effecting the world of the story so I wrote a chapter on how this is playing out to the average citizen. To take time out of the main characters and stories seems kind of risky. I don't want the whole thing to feel like it came to a stop so I had to work hard to make the characters represent easily recognizable but entertaining people.
Some nights I'm dead tired and can barely stay awake but my creative mind is still rolling. I'll actually doze of briefly but my hand is still moving. What it ends up is just scratches but it's a weird feeling.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

REVISITING SECRETS OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN

I took part in the 2010 Iowa Authors Fair last week and it was quite an amazing and eye opening event. Lots of other authors there to share ideas with and get info from. It coincided with the Iowa Librarians Association conference and that opened a whole new venue for me.
I had always been advertising my book series as Fantasy Adventure. I had never thought of it as a Young Adult book before but, when you take everything into account, I suppose it really is. It was pointed out to me that the Young Adult market is what librarians are looking for and, thanks to Harry Potter and Twilight, the best selling genre in the world. As I spoke with them I explained that the main character is a 17 year old girl and her friend who is 15 year old boy. I also explained that when I write I keep in mind a good PG-13 rating but there there is a lot more intense stuff seen on TV these days than in my books. They loved that.
I'm going to keep checking for a second round of sales over the next few weeks. One of the librarians said she had to check through their regular distributor first and then could go outside. I also told them there is a discount now if you buy then through Lulu.com. One said she wanted to assign it to her junior high class.
I've also started the process of making it available for digital media at Amazon for Kindle. I've held off on this for a long time but some of the other authors, and news reports on CNN, say how digital sales are bigger than printed books. I just set it up yesterday at Amazon and it should be available sometime this week.

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 18

I had an exceptionally good week. Details of that in the other post. Now that I have better book and act titles it's all coming together a lot faster. Got a great deal of writing done and everything feels more focused. I was worried that I might not be able to get it done by the end of the year but I don't think that is a problem now. Looking really good for an early December completion.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 17

Had a good week this week. Finished the 2nd act of the book and have everything in place for the finale. The subplots that needed to be finished or finished and most of the characters have changed over the series so I'm really proud of it.
Oddly enough the book is coming together much the same way the first one did. It's coming together in the wrong order. like the first one I couldn't even decide on a title until I was half way through it. It sounds silly but it was just the way my creative mind works. It wasn't until I was half way through the first one before I changed the title from Battle for Starpoint Mountain to Secrets of Starpoint Mountain. I had been calling this one Gallif of Starpoint Mountain for a long time. I didn't like it. It wasn't very exciting and I felt like it was misleading when I would write scenes that didn't have her in it. Each act gets its own title and I had changed them time and time again and I never got a handle on them.
Finally, this week, the sky opened and a those problems were solved into a much more exciting title and acts. Something that better describes what's happening in the book. I'll give you the act titles and see if you can figure out what the full title is. Email me with the correct answer abefore the end of October and I'll send you free copies of all four books in the series. The first two are available now and the third and fourth one will be available in 2011.
The ________ of Starpoint Mountain
Act 1: Fuel
Act 2: Air
Act 3: Spark
Any guesses?

Sunday, October 3, 2010

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 16

Bad week with not a lot of work produced. I made some big decisions but just didn't get a lot done. Real life got in the way.