GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 15

I'm approaching the end of the 2nd act. I was worried about one of the plots not finishing as well as I'd hoped. Another great moment when the sky opened up and this surprise twist landed on the page. Love it when that happens.

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 14

I've been working on this book for 14 weeks now. I finished the third book in the same amount of time but I haven't written as much. I averaged out about 15 pages a week with that book and doing about 10 a week with this one.
It's a lot harder and more complicated than the third book and I mean that in a good challenging way. I'm finishing up some of the characters and sub-plots and it's difficult to do without making it seemed to rushed or simple. I've done that with one of the bigger threads and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I work hard to make it a satisfying but surprising solution that the reader won't expect.

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 13

Had a very productive week again. Have everything set up for an exciting second act that, if I did my job right, will be a big surprise. Should have the first half of this act done by the end of the week. The big challenge is to come up with twists that the reader doesn't expect but are one hundred percent believable.

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 12

Did a lot of jumping around this week. Lots of starting a scene than restarting it and having trouble getting in to the flow. I think it was because there was such a big shift in tone from the first act that this part of act two took a while. The first half of the second act follows three characters returning to a place they've visited in 'Shadows of Starpoint Mountain'. I was having trouble blending the three characters together and kept jumping back and forth. Finally decided to just stick with Blinks during the first chapter and called it 'The Art of Being Me." Once that felt good I it really started to roll.

"There are five of us and one of you," their leader threatened him.
"Well, actually there are six of you but I have something you don't."
"You're bluffing."
"No, really, there are six of you."

Once it was clear that there was a new tone for a a while the second chapter was quick and I able to spend some time with the other two characters.

GALLIF OF STARPOINT MOUNTAIN WEEK 11

A good week's writing. Each book is divided up into three sections and structured like a three act play. I finished the first act this week. I've got Gallif in a really bad situation but there enough things going on around her to get her out. Best part of it is I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to do it. Seriously. I don't know which one to use. Isn't that fun?

Switching gears for the second act was rough. I'm leaving that cliffhanger and going some place else for the entire act. This one is lighter and involves more characters in their own situations. I wrote the first paragraph several times before it finally felt right and did an entire scene that got completely scrapped.

Love it.

ADVERTISING

I posted two adverts for actresses at the UI theater building. It was perfect timing because they were holding auditions for this season's productions so the place was packed. There were lots of them that I would love to cast as Gallif. I made sure that I put on the adverts that I was a UI theater grad and hope that will give me some street cred. I'm going to wait a week or ten days before starting the final decisions and gearing up for the actual productions. I figure if they are interested I'll probably hear from anyone there fairly soon.

ADVERTISING

I found out earlier in the week there there was an Iowa Book Project that holds an Iowa Author's Fair every year. I'd never heard about them before but it sounds like it's a rather large event. This year they are holding it at the Coralville Public Library and scheduled at least 50 authors from Iowa. I sent an email to the state coordinator who asked me a few questions and said she would check and see if there were still slots available. She said there were and passed my info along to the local coordinator. Got home from work Friday and there was an email with the application form attached and a notice that the deadline to apply was August 21st. Saturday was August 21st. I filled out the app and got the info they requested together and went ahead and dropped it off at the library Saturday morning. I didn't want to take a chance and I figured it was worth it.
It sounds like this is a big thing. It is run by the Iowa Librarians Association and there are 1400 members of that so that is a lot of possible buyers. They would be librarians coming in to buy books for the year. This means they are working on an established budget but they would also be more willing to buy if it sounds good. It is also open to the public so that could add other interested parties.
The Author's Fair is Wednesday, October 13th.