Status Update - Book 3 - Two Thirds Through First Draft

I've fallen a little behind my planned schedule for the third installment of the Stormfall Chronicles. I'm currently about two-thirds of the way through the first draft of the third book, with much more to go.

Still - it's progress nonetheless. Can't wait to see it unfold.

What Does "YA Fantasy" Really Mean?

I'm a writer of Young Adult (YA) Epic Fantasy. But the question might be asked, what does that mean? What makes the fantasy which I right Young Adult or New Adult, rather than simply Epic Fantasy?

There are a couple of key elements which I can point to. First, it should be pointed out that my teenage daughters have been and remain the first audience for whom I write. Their tastes and the kind of fiction which they read have left an indelible mark on the things I write.

As a writer of YA or NA fantasy, I tend to leave out some of the more sexually charged or violent scenes which appear to have become a core staple for many other writers. It's not that such things have no place in literature. It's just that they are unnecessary and distracting from the stories which I write. I therefore attempt to keep certain events "off-screen" or "off-page".

Writing YA Fantasy, however, does not mean that I intend to shield my audience from all the harsh lessons of the world in which they live. My novels are not aimed at an elementary school audience by any stretch of the imagination. Characters do die in my novels. Evil is real, and it isn't banished by hope or charm.

As YA Fantasy, my characters are also grappling with some very real world questions and doubts which are a part of YA or NA fiction. As emerging adults, they must face some of the same questions which my own daughters struggled with. It's not as simple as turning that magical age and suddenly everything makes sense. It doesn't make sense, which is why emerging adults have always struggled to understand who they are, and what their place in the world might be.

Facing the world as an emerging adult, means coming to terms with the good, and the bad in it. The reality that some people are mostly good with a little bit of bad, and others are mostly bad with a little bit of good. It's seldom black-and-white. Bigotry is real, and racism is real. As young adults they will be confronted with that - it's unavoidable. It's my hope that art and literature can help them come to terms with these realities, not avoid them. It also means coming to terms with their own identity, including their own sexual identity, in a world where many are still ignorant or unaccepting of those who are different from themselves - or from their own definition of what "normal" should be.

The world I write about, the questions which my characters must struggle with and face, are the same questions which I saw my own daughters struggle to understand and come to terms with. So if people wonder why my novels reflect some of the diverse issues which they do - that is why. The setting might be a world of fantasy. But the questions which these stories raise are ones which our emerging adults have been struggling to cope with for generations - some more openly than others.

Storm's Clouds: Blog Tour Blitz

Today Indie Blog Hop will be sponsoring a one-day promotional blitz for the second title in the Stormfall Chronicles, "Storm's Clouds"

https://indiebloghop.wordpress.com

Many thanks again to Paige and everyone else who has helped support the Indie Blog Hop.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z429ZJP

A dragon: the most powerful, destructive and malevolent force known. The last thing Lynette ever wanted to get closer to – and the one thing she’s been tasked to go find.

For the first time in centuries, a dragon has been reported on the edge of the Feyfell. Homes, cities, and forests are all threatened with fiery destruction. The news has plunged the Fae Kingdom into a panic.

Desperate to know the truth behind the reports, and unable to discretely dispatch his own fae soldiers to investigate, King Elyan tasks Lynette, Baxter and Eirlon with tracking down the whereabouts and intentions of the fiery beast.

But Lynette is still only a second-year student at the Fae Academy. She has come far – but she knows she’s no Arche-Mage. Baxter is still struggling to prove his worth, hoping Lynette might see him as something more than the boy-squire she first met two years before. And Eirlon – he still hordes secrets Lynette can only suspect. A girl, a boy, and a gnome – on the hunt for a fire-breathing dragon.

The threats facing the Fae Kingdom, however, are multiplying. A traitor has set his sights on King Elyan, while the Arche-Fae Council continues to treat the Princess Elise as an outsider – an adopted daughter rather than a noblefae by birth. Hostile armies are gathering on the kingdom’s northern frontier, while the mage-turned-swordsman Garth must balance between rescuing a boy on a quest and averting a larger war.

With sightings of dragons, rumors of war, and trained assassins stalking the land, will there even be a Feyfell for Lynette to return to?

Author Interview on The Cozy Dragon

I am so pleased to have had my interview featured on “The Cozy Dragon” today. http://www.thecosydragon.com/2019/12/interview-with-jw-golan.html

Thanks again Rose.

First Review of Book 2 on Goodreads

Just two days away from the release of Book 2 of the "Stormfall Chronicles", and I have my first review (four stars out of five) posted by one of my ARC readers on Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3081210268?book_show_action=true

To quote from a segment of the review:

I felt like this book was much better than the first. We got a lot more content to the overarching story and the settings were a lot more fleshed out. The dangers are more imminent now. The book is also well written and it has good pacing. . . . The action was just non-stop.

Thanks again to Paige Green for agreeing to read and review the book :-)  Her website can be found below:
https://popthebutterfly.wordpress.com/

Countdown to Book 2 Release - And Half-Way Through First Draft to Book 3

I am now only four days away from the release of Storm's Clouds, the second book in the Stormfall Chronicles. Time to update my Blog, Facebook and other social media sites accordingly.

Concurrently, I am now roughly half way through my first draft for the third book in the series. All around a reason to celebrate.

Storm's Herald: Blog Tour Blitz

Today Indie Blog Hop will be sponsoring a one-day promotional blitz for the first title in the Stormfall Chronicles, "Storm's Herald"

https://indiebloghop.wordpress.com

Many thanks again to Paige and everyone else who has helped support the Indie Blog Hop.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MYK9QHC

A peasant girl who dreams of becoming a sorceress, a boy who imagines himself a knight – trailed by a ruthless mercenary armed with an ancient sword.

All Lynette wanted was to leave her boring village life – to attend the Fae Academy and become a Druid priestess like her teacher before her. Her clumsy attempts at magic are a reminder of how much she has yet to learn. But if they would only accept her, if the Fae Kingdom – closed to human visitors for centuries now – would only just open its doors, she is certain she could become a master of the magical arts.

Yet her journey puts her on a collision course with a reawakened evil – offering a king’s ransom for the recovery of a long-lost relic. Treasure hunters of every variety – werewolves, mercenaries, common thieves and undead alike – are soon locked in pursuit of its promised riches. Together with Baxter, a young squire who fled his own kingdom, and Eirlon, a gnome who trades in rare antiquities, Lynette is drawn unwillingly into the hunt for the elusive relic.

Hounded by goblins, ogres – and darker things – Baxter carries his own burdens: secrets that have made him the enemy of the crown. And then there is Garth, the mysterious mercenary who both frightens and intrigues Lynette: the weapons-master armed with an ancient blade – snatched from the hand of a long-vanished fae prince.

Willingly or not, Lynette, Baxter and Eirlon must together solve the riddles behind the relic – and stay one step ahead of the ruthless killers that pursue them.

A Marathon, Not a Sprint

As many authors no doubt also do, I follow a number of online author communities. Reading descriptions of the trepidation and struggles of other authors, preparing to publish their first novel, reminds me of some of my own experiences.

It also reminds me that writing a novel (or any other book) is a marathon undertaking, not a sprint. It’s a lot of hard work, with hours upon hours spent polishing and fretting over the manuscript. Persistence, and a willingness to push past the frustration or pain, is an essential ingredient.

It also reminds me, however, that writing is, much like life itself, a journey, not a destination. Each chapter, each novel, is only a way-station on this journey. If you cut yourself off after the first chapter, or after the first novel, you’ll never have the opportunity to grow - or to see what other way-stations this journey might bring to you. Always take the time to appreciate the chapter in life you’re on right now.

Some Scenes

As a writer there are some scenes, some events in the story, that elicit such a strong emotional response, that they cannot be ignored. They pound at the doorways to the mind, demanding to be written down, insisting that they be set free.

I find myself being drawn into these scenes, their emotive impact growing rather than waning as I set them to paper, as their details become more clear. These are some of the first scenes that I write down in any book - and in Book 3 of the Stormfall Chronicles, there are a lot of them.

Status Update - Book 3 - One Third Through the First Draft

I'm currently a little over a third of the way through my first draft for Book 3 in the Stormfall Chronicles. I'm hoping to have the first, very rough draft complete by the end of December.

Coming into the third novel in the series, I have had a number of key moments or scenes that have dominated my thoughts. So much so, that I have had to jump ahead throughout the various chapters to capture these events which were clamoring to be put onto the page. I'm excited to see how the story takes shape and unfolds, even as I look forward to the eBook release for Book 2 on December 19th.

Book Review: Trail of Lightning

Trail of Lightning
by Rebecca Roanhorse
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set in a future, post-apocalyptic world, Trail of Lightning has many of the hallmarks of classical, dystopian fantasy, with a few notable additions.

Centered around the remnants of Navajo communities surviving in a post apocalyptic world, Trail of Lighting tells the story of Maggie Hoskie, a young woman endowed with clan powers which make her a highly gifted killer. And in a world where monsters forged out of black magic and Native American myths are roaming free, a highly gifted killer can be a good thing to have.

The former protege of the immortal monster-killer Neizgwhání, Maggie must unearth the origins of a new breed of monster which is threatening her world.

For me, what made this book worthwhile was the character development, and the glimpses of Navajo tradition and culture. There were vivid characters throughout who, while they might not have been the leading protagonist or antagonist, were clearly drawn from the author’s personal experience. The quirks and individual mannerisms of these characters was a large part of the appeal of this book.

There were a couple of rough spots in the writing, where events appeared to be driven purely out of plot convenience. Taken as a whole, however, Trail of Lightning was a fun ride, with plenty of interesting characters to help carry the story.

I will add the usual (obvious) trigger warning: this is a dystopian fantasy, with all of the violence and bloodshed that we have come to expect from this genre. If someone's squeamish about that sort of thing, then this isn’t the book for them. But if you’re in the market for a dystopian world with a unique setting and characters to match, this novel can be a great place to start.

Guest Blog: The Persistence of Dragons

I have a guest post on "The Persistence of Dragons" appearing at the Cosy Dragon this week, for anyone who hasn't already caught it:
http://www.thecosydragon.com/2019/11/guest-post-j-w-golan-on-the-persistence-of-dragons.html

Thanks again, Rose for hosting my post.

First Draft Completed for Chapter 1 of Book 3

I've completed the first, very rough draft for Chapter 1 of Book 3 of the Stormfall Chronicles.

The first draft is, of course, a very messy thing. There are a lot of ends to polish, and entire scenes that will need to be added before everything is done. It is a start, however.

As of right now, I'm expecting the third book to be shorter than the second - or at least that's what I'm projecting from my initial outline. Probably closer to the first book in terms of its length (the first novel was 73,000 words, and the second was 121,000).

Right now, of course, I'm also still looking forward to the release of the second novel as an eBook on 19 December.

Paperback Edition Begins to Ship

Copies of the paperback edition to Storm's Clouds have already begun to ship to the advance reviewers:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4mfIYmoHK1/

Many thanks again to Lia Dospetti and the other reviewers who have volunteered to provide their impressions on the latest installment.

The eBook is due for release on 19 December.

A Few Words from my BookBub Ad Experience

As I mentioned under a previous post, I just completed my first BookBub ad campaign, with some interesting results to show for it. I thought I might share a little from my experience, for the benefit of other indie authors out there.

As an indie author, struggling to gain a little attention and grow a following, these early marketing campaigns take on added significance. The deck is already stacked in favor of the giant publishing houses with their automatic name recognition and generous advertising budgets. As an indie author, even if your book is as good or better than what the traditional publishers might typically produce, it's hard to get yourself to appear under the search results for Amazon or other book warehouses. If your book isn't already on a "bestseller" list, you're going to be pretty much invisible. The only way to boost your visibility is therefore to accumulate book reviews (which does boost your likelihood of showing up under Amazon's search algorithms), or with an advertising campaign (which most indie authors have a very limited budget for).

With my second installment in the series due out in December, I have been trying to step up my marketing efforts - which also means marketing the first book in the series as a lead-in to the second. I therefore decided to experiment with a BookBub campaign this past weekend.

To clarify, BookBub offers two distinctly different marketing opportunities. The best known are their "Featured Deals," for which they promote a very select number of book titles across their massive email list of readers. A Featured Deal on BookBub is considered pretty much a guarantee for a book's success. However - landing a Featured Deal can be next to impossible for a new indie author. They usually require a minimum number of positive book reviews before they will begin to contemplate offering a Featured Deal to an indie author.

The other opportunity that they offer is the BookBub ad, which any author, indie or otherwise, can sponsor. These are similar to ads on Amazon or Facebook, with a maximum cost-per-impression or cost-per-click bid being set by the publisher or author.

Not having run an ad on BookBub before, I entered into this using a strategy very similar to what I would have employed with an Amazon Marketplace Service (AMS) ad. There are a number of distinct differences between the two toolsets, however. AMS ads are targeted by keyword, which can be tied to the genre of the book, or to individual authors or book titles in that genre. With a little experimentation, and after reviewing which books readers also purchased in addition to their own, an author or publisher can begin to draw up a picture for where they should be promoting their book to find readers who would likely enjoy reading what they have to offer.

BookBub ads, in contrast, offer the publisher or indie author the choice of either targeting a relatively broad genre, or of narrowing their promotion to target readers who enjoy a specific author. For my first foray into the BookBub advertising world, I therefore set up two separate campaigns, using the same promotional image, one aimed at my genre (fantasy and young adult), and the other aimed at readers who enjoyed or followed particular authors (chosen based on my experience with AMS ads). I also set up both ad campaigns in a manner similar to what I would have done for an AMS ad, choosing to bid on the basis of cost-per-click. The results were surprising.

The BookBub ad campaign aimed at a broader genre pretty much worked in the same manner as an AMS ad would have, with relatively few clicks per impression. In fact, the performance was worse than I would have expected from AMS, with a click-through-rate (number of clicks per impression) of 0.064%. Most sources would suggest that a typical AMS campaign should expect a CTR of around 0.10%, or one click per every thousand impressions.[1] This conforms to my own experience, which would suggest that for a well focused AMS campaign I should expect a CTR of around 0.13%.  The broader BookBub ad campaign was therefore unimpressive.

The story was different, however, for the more tightly focused BookBub ad campaign. For this I was targeting readers who followed or had shown an interest in specific authors - using my prior experience with AMS ads. For this ad campaign, I saw an overall CTR of 3.49% - more than ten times the rate that I could have expected from a similar campaign on Amazon. My sales numbers during this promotional period similarly showed that my conversion rate was similarly high.

So a couple of lessons learned from this experience. A well focused BookBub ad, one targeting readers with specific tastes, can expect to see a CTR that's an order of magnitude or more greater than what might be expected from an AMS campaign. Part of this might be due to the fact that for a BookBub ad campaign, the graphic image displayed is submitted by the publisher or author, and can be tailored to that particular campaign. I also concluded that, with a CTR in this kind of range, it becomes more cost effective to run the campaign on a cost-per-impression basis rather than a cost-per-click basis - the opposite of a campaign being promoted on Amazon.

I thought I should pass this experience along for the benefit of other indie authors out there. All told - I was very impressed by the results that a BookBub ad could deliver. Would still like to see my next book win a "Featured Deal" on BookBub, but that's an objective for another day.


References:
[1] McMullen, Chris. "Book Marketing by the Numbers." Writing, Publishing and Marketing Ideas, 4 Nov. 2017, https://chrismcmullen.com/2017/11/03/book-marketing-by-the-numbers/.

Storm's Herald Reaches Number 1 in Fantasy Fiction in the UK

I recently completed my first BookBub ad campaign, aimed at my first book, Storm's Herald this past weekend. I'll probably write a little more on the subject at a later date, but I did have at least one, very interesting outcome.

All of my previous marketing efforts have had minimal impact on increasing the number of books picked up within the UK market. True, the UK market is smaller than that of the U.S. - with a population that's roughly 20-percent of the United States. But the UK is nonetheless the largest native English-speaking market outside of the USA.

I was therefore gratified to see my book reach #1 across multiple Fantasy genres within the UK. Even if this was for a limited time, on a "free" promotional basis, it was still really good to see.

I'm not sure if this is an anomaly, or if BookBub ads are just better poised to reach these readers than other tools have been. Only time will tell.

I hope that my UK raiders enjoy the first installment, and come back to find the second novel when it's released in December.

On Reading and Parenting

Today I thought I'd post about a topic that, while somewhat related to my experiences as an author, has really more to do with my experiences as a parent. That is: the importance of reading. I'm not talking just about how important it is for a parent to encourage their children to read. No, I'm talking about something far much more essential: the importance of setting an example when reading as a parent.

From the time that my daughters were old enough to listen to stories, I was reading to them. It became part of their evening routine, every day, until they were old enough to read the novels they wanted to read to themselves - and even after. It began with picture books, and progressed to childrens' chapter books. But it did not end there.

For me, it was important not only to be able to read to my daughters, and to share my love of reading with them - but also to share in their favorites as well. If my daughter wanted to read a particular book or series of books, then at the very least I wanted to read the first book in that series as well. Why? Because if that book was something they liked, I wanted to know what it was that they liked. If I wanted them to read A Midsummer Night's Dream, or Les Miserables, or The Lord of the Rings, or any of the Dragonriders of Pern books, then I should be able to read Throne of Glass, or The Hunger Games, or when they were a little younger the Warriors book series (there were how many of those???) Over time, those books, as well as the movies and songs that we shared and discussed, became our common reference points.

My point is that in life, as a general rule, you will get out of it what you put into it. If I wanted my daughters to understand how I saw the world, I needed to understand how they saw the world. It has been a rewarding experience, and one that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Book 1: Third Book Review on Amazon

It's been a busy week - with my second novel released for Pre-Order, and all of the preparation and effort that goes into a successful launch. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't also mention that my first novel had its third customer review posted on Amazon this past week (which was also the fifth rating-or-review to be posted on Goodreads).

I would like to extend my thanks to Blogger and book reviewer Janey Merry for taking the time to read Storm's Herald and compose her thoughts and impressions into a review. I'm glad she enjoyed the novel. To quote from her review:

All in all, a lovely read. The story is very engaging. I fell in love with the characters, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next in their adventure!
https://www.janeymerry.com/bookreviewspage/golan

I very much appreciate the feedback from reviewers, and do try to take any suggestions or criticism to heart. It was in response to a previous reviewer, for example, that I decided to add a comprehensive character listing into the end-matter for both Books 1 and 2 (if you'd already downloaded Book 1 before the addition, just re-download and the new end-pages will appear).

Promoting customer reviews has been one area where I have been very much behind the curve with the release of my first novel. I will be trying a few different strategies with the release of my second book, to hopefully encourage more reviews up-front.

Cover Reveal: Stormfall Chronicles Book 2

It has been a long time coming, but I am finally releasing the cover image and blurb for Storm's Clouds - Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles.

A dragon: the most powerful, destructive and malevolent force known. The last thing Lynette ever wanted to get closer to – and the one thing she’s been tasked to go find.

For the first time in centuries, a dragon has been reported on the edge of the Feyfell. Homes, cities, and forests are all threatened with fiery destruction. The news has plunged the Fae Kingdom into a panic.

Desperate to know the truth behind the reports, and unable to discretely dispatch his own fae soldiers to investigate, King Elyan tasks Lynette, Baxter and Eirlon with tracking down the whereabouts and intentions of the fiery beast.

But Lynette is still only a second-year student at the Fae Academy. She has come far – but she knows she’s no Arche-Mage. Baxter is still struggling to prove his worth, hoping Lynette might see him as something more than the boy-squire she first met two years before. And Eirlon – he still hordes secrets Lynette can only suspect. A girl, a boy, and a gnome – on the hunt for a fire-breathing dragon.

The threats facing the Fae Kingdom, however, are multiplying. A traitor has set his sights on King Elyan, while the Arche-Fae Council continues to treat the Princess Elise as an outsider – an adopted daughter rather than a noblefae by birth. Hostile armies are gathering on the kingdom’s northern frontier, while the mage-turned-swordsman Garth must balance between rescuing a boy on a quest and averting a larger war.

With sightings of dragons, rumors of war, and trained assassins stalking the land, will there even be a Feyfell for Lynette to return to?

Storm's Clouds is now available for Pre-Order on Amazon with a December 19th release date.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z429ZJP

Status Update - Book 2 - Final Edit Complete

I have completed my seventh edit of Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles. The word count still stands at around 121,000 words - so the seventh proofread/review cycle had essentially no effect on the overall word count.

I expect the next steps towards release to happen in rapid succession:

• Formatting the manuscript for eBook and paperback editions
• Release of the blurb for the book
• Cover unveiling
• Timing and release of the promotional campaign

Having reviewed the experiences and suggestions from a number of successful indie authors, I am planning to focus a little more energy on the pre-release cycle for this book, including booking a Blog Tour and the release of Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) for the book. Any of my regular followers who might be interested in being an ARC reviewer should check back periodically for more details.

Status Update - Book 2 - Beta Reader Edits Complete

Finally - the edits from my second beta-reader have been incorporated into Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles. The entire editing process has taken longer than I might have anticipated, but there really is no cutting corners when it comes to editing a novel. All the iterations are necessary to produce a quality story that flows smoothly.

In the process of incorporating the final round of edits, the text has grown in length from 118,000 words at the end of the fifth round of edits (from my first beta-reader), to 121,000 words today.

Concurrently, I have been re-reading and polishing the text one final time from the beginning, and am currently through Chapter 5 of my seventh round of edits. At this point, the changes tend to be cosmetic: word substitutions here and there, or sentences that needed to be added or removed.

The next steps towards publication include:

• Completing the seventh round of edits
• Formatting the manuscript for eBook and paperback editions
• Final edit and release of the blurb for the book
• Cover unveiling
• Timing and release of the promotional campaign

It's been an arduous process, but I am pleased that I can finally see that light at the end of the tunnel.

The Indie Author's Portfolio

It might be asked, "What does a successful indie author look like?" That is to say, what should our expectations be for what constitutes success as an author in this digital age?

Different authors might, of course, have different expectations for what their personal definition of "success" should look like. There are of course those who will claim they are purists and that they "really don't care" whether anyone reads their writing or not. While there may certainly be a few who truly subscribe to this belief, they are part of an exceedingly fringe minority. If a writer truly didn't care if anyone read their work or not - then why publish at all? At a minimum, we publish because, as artists, we would like to see our work appreciated by as wide of an audience as possible. And while we're at it, it wouldn't hurt if we were somehow indemnified for our effort.

On the other extreme are those authors who dream of writing an international best-seller: a book that sells millions of copies and eventually is made into a movie or television series. Certainly, a lofty goal to aspire to. But this is not a realistic expectation for most of us. Very few athletes become professionals at the national level. Very few aspiring actors become Hollywood stars. And very few writers write a single book that generates millions in sales.

So what does a "successful" indie author look like? Whether we are writing as a hobby, or hoping to find an additional source of income, or even if we hope to make a living from writing novels, there are a few things that every indie author should know and understand.

The "average" printed book on the market today, by all accounts, will sell fewer than 250 copies over the lifetime of that book.[1][2] Many print-on-demand books sell far less.[3] Examples of "failure" therefore litter the marketplace. This does not mean that indie authors should lose hope. There are indie authors who actually make a living as writers, and their example should inform our expectations for what "success" in today's market should look like.

The first reality is that even the successful indie authors - those who actually make a living or substantial portion of their livelihood from writing - do not rely on a single book from which to earn their income. It is unrealistic to expect to be the next Harper Lee. For most of us, one novel will not be enough. Those authors who stay in the business rely on having a portfolio of multiple titles.

Those indie authors who have "gone pro" (and expect to make a living at writing), will typically have a roster of fifteen to thirty titles, which collectively generate sales and income. This is why a book series becomes so essential to the success of today's indie authors. By itself, each "successful" title might generate hundreds of sales per month. Collectively, however, they can generate thousands, even tens of thousands.

For the new indie author, this becomes a vital reality. Much like the writing process, success as an author is a marathon effort - not a sprint.

Even for those of us who have no expectation of ever giving up our day job, we need to be thinking about the long term. About connecting with our readers. And generating a following. We need to be writing multiple books or a series of books which attract readers who will come back for more. Expecting to be "discovered" after publishing one title just isn't realistic.

Success as an indie author does happen. Understanding that it does not come from having published a single book is part of the road to that success.


References:

[1] Gallagher, BJ. “The Ten Awful Truths -- and the Ten Wonderful Truths -- About Book Publishing.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/book-publishing_b_1394159.
[2] Strauss, Victoria. “Self-Publishing.” SFWA, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, 8 Apr. 2019, https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/.
[3] “Print-on-Demand Self-Publishing Statistics.” SFWA, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, http://www.sfwa.org/print-on-demand/.

Maintaining Momentum

With demands from school, and applications for college to complete, my beta-reader's time has become more scarce these past few weeks.

To maintain momentum, I have therefore returned to the beginning of Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles for another round of proof-reading and edits. As of now, I have completed the seventh round of edits on Chapters 1 through 3. Most of the changes that I am making at this point have been to fine-tune the prose: eliminating unnecessary words, replacing some word choices here and there, or adding a sentence or two where appropriate. Many pages have required no editing - so the text was already very close to its final form.

I've also been gradually adding to the first draft of Chapter 1 for Book 3.

Status Update - Book 2 - Cover Art Complete - Second Beta-Read Drawing to a Close

This past week, I incorporated the second round of beta-reader edits into Chapter 7 - leaving only Chapter 8 still to go through the final edit process. It's taking longer than I would have liked it, now that my daughters' school year is back in full swing, but we're almost done.

For those who haven't worked with a beta-reviewer before, I thought I'd describe a little of the feedback that I, as an author, look forward to receiving.

The beta-reader process is not really about identifying spelling or punctuation errors - although that can happen too. It's more about getting a different perspective on things, from a reader who's willing to be candid and critical where need be. This means identifying scenes which need to be re-written, paragraphs which needed to be combined, word choices or descriptions which missed the desired effect, and so forth.

I also look forward, of course, to the occasional word of encouragement for scenes which had the desired effect. I will share a few of those from my latest novel here:

"I love every scene about Elise. And scenes between Sybille and Elise are nice."

"I like this comparison/description."

"I like how this little detail says a lot to the readers because they know the reasons and feelings behind it. This is a great example of saying only a little (in terms of word count) to actually say quite a lot, specifically to reveal how a character is feeling."

"I liked that scene a lot."

"The descriptions in this part were really nice and added to the tone/mood of the scene."

And of course, no beta-review of Book 2 would be complete without at least one tongue-in-cheek reference to one of their favorite characters from Book 1:

"Needs more Barg."

Status Update - Book 2 - Cover Art Complete

The cover for the second book in the Stormfall Chronicles is now complete. I'm still holding off until the blurb has been thoroughly polished and through the beta-reader process before I have the cover reveal, however.

For those who didn't already know, my cover designs are done by my middle daughter, using her sisters as models and adjusting or combining scene elements as needed. I usually sketch out the concept for what I'm looking for in the cover art, but it's my middle daughter who executes it.

First Scene for Book 3 Written

Today I celebrated a writing milestone of a different sort.

While waiting for my second round of beta-reading edits for Book 2 to be submitted, I completed writing the first scene for Book 3. Can hardly wait for Book 2 to be released so I can begin focusing on the next book in the series.

New Banner Design

As I approach the launch of the second book in the Stormfall Chronicles, I've also been working up my marketing campaign for this next novel. The first part of that campaign - is actually to attract more readers to Book 1.

I therefore decided as part of this effort, that it was time to update my banner design for both my Blog and my Facebook page. It will be nice to see Book 1 in the banner for a little while - at least until Book 2 is rolled out for Pre-Order later this month.

Status Update - Book 2 - Beta Reader Edits Through Chapter 6

As some of my regular followers are aware, my daughters have been the beta-readers for my novels - with my middle daughter being my first beta reader and my oldest daughter serving as my second. With the start of her senior year in high school, and college entrance essays to write, my oldest daughter's attention has, of necessity, been divided between multiple demands. The entire process takes time to get it right.

I have, however, completed the updates recommended by my oldest daughter for Chapters 5 and 6. She is now immersed in Chapter 7 - the longest chapter in the second book. We're all looking forward to its release in the coming weeks.

Writing an Interwoven Tale

There are many different approaches to story telling, and not every story necessarily lends itself equally to all approaches. How a story is told is often integral to the experience of that story by the audience - and is part of what the author must decide upon when they go to write that tale.

Many works of fiction, including fantasy fiction, will be focused on the story as experienced by a single, individual character, or sometimes by two leading characters. This approach allows the readers to experience a closer, more intimate portrait of these one or two characters. The audience will naturally tend to grow that much more attached to them in the process. My own short stories (which can be accessed on my blogsite) similarly exercise this writing approach.

For the Stormfall Chronicles, however, the story which I was attempting to convey required a much broader cast of characters - wider than that found in many of its counterparts today. True, there are the main characters, Baxter and Lynette who reappear throughout the story. But there's also a broad selection of supporting characters, from the gnome Eirlon, to the mage-turned-swordsman Garth, to the fae princess Elise, and many others.

This was not a haphazard decision, but an outgrowth of the story which I was trying to convey. Like our real life world, I wanted this story to reflect the complex, interwoven tapestry of people and events. A world where many different threads will combine and interweave to form a broader picture, and where no single thread could claim to represent the overall pattern of the tapestry. True, there will be some which will stand out more prominently than others. But they were all required to make the picture complete. Like a grand orchestra, from the violin to the bass, and from the flute to the trumpet, every participant contributes to the larger melody.

This is not to say that I do not appreciate stories that are more narrowly focused onto one or two leading characters. Quite the contrary - I very much appreciate many stories that happen to follow that paradigm. For the retelling of a great many tales, this approach is aptly suited.

For the Stormfall Chronicles, however, I needed to convey the epic sweep of the tale. It was therefore essential that I relay some sense for the many individuals who both experience and participate in the broader chain of events. This was not an accident, but a choice.

Updated Character List

I have completed updating and reviewing the combined Character List for the Stormfall Chronicles - which includes both Book 1 and the upcoming Book 2. The newly updated list also includes pronunciation guides for each of the names. I expect to include a truncated copy of the list as part of the end material for Book 2.

Thanks again to all of my readers. The release of Book 2 is fast approaching.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_N3VCDJ-dFocD7ObKbnbg3Ork2cp_YvK

Status Update - Book 2 - Beta Reader Edits Through Chapter 4

I have completed the updates recommended by my second beta-reader for Chapters 3 and 4 - and she is now immersed in Chapter 5 (out of a total of eight chapters). I'm grateful again for her insights, particularly at a time when she is also studying for her SAT exam this Saturday (tomorrow).

Progress has continued to plod onward in other areas as well, including updates to the cover image and for the character name and pronunciation list.

Status Update - Book 2 - Second Round of Beta-Reader Edits Underway

My second round of beta-reader edits is now well under way.

I have incorporated my second beta-reader's proposed edits through Chapter 2 (out of a total of eight chapters), and my second beta-reader is currently deep into Chapter 3.

Of necessity, my second beta-reader has been reviewing the manuscript for Book 2 a little bit slower than the first. As some will already be aware, my second beta-reader is also my oldest daughter, who has her hands full over the summer with other time commitments - such as preparing for her SATs, riding horses, training a new puppy, and volunteering at a horse rescue center.

Despite the slower pace of my second round of beta-reader edits, I should still be on-track towards completing preparations for publication by month's end. Work has been progressing in parallel towards preparing the cover and blurb for the book. I can't wait to see it released.

Map Released for Book 2

The additional map that is being added for Book 2 of the series is finally complete. This is a regional map that includes the Feyfell and the City States of Trevio, and will be split into two maps (north and south) for publication.

One more step closer to publication of the second book.

The Journey Towards Release of Book 2

Having completed the first round of beta-reader updates to Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles, some readers might be wondering what's next?

As it turns out, there's a lot more that goes into writing and releasing a novel than just writing it. The following are some of the things which I still have yet to complete on this journey:

• Second beta-reader review
• Blurb edit, review and release
• Cover design edits and release
• Maps (two new maps for Book 2)
• Character name list and pronunciation guide
• Formatting for eBook and paperback editions
• Promotion strategy and planning

As should be evident, a lot goes into releasing a novel. Nonetheless, I am delighted to be finished with the first beta-reader review and update - which puts me on-track for releasing the second book by the end of August.

There are also, I might add, updates to my blog and YouTube channel which I had been hoping to make - but which had to be put on hold so I could focus my free time (which there's never enough of) on writing. Things like:

• Posting a couple more book reviews
• Anime reviews
• Short stories
• Observations from the indie author scene

I'll be getting back to the latter items eventually - hopefully once the book is closer to release in late August.

Fifth Draft for Book 2 Complete

I finally incorporated all of the edits and recommendations from my first beta-reader into the manuscript's draft. The overall word count for Book 2, has remained consistent at around 118,000 words, going from the fourth to the fifth draft of the text.

Sometimes it seems like edits take longer that anticipated. One of the hazards of being a part-time novelist with a full time job - plus family activities to attend. Hopefully, the wait will be worth it in the end.

Status Update - Book 2 - Restoring the Epic to Fantasy

My middle daughter - who is also my first beta-reader for my novels - finished reading through Book 2 yesterday. Unfortunately I'm a little behind in reviewing and incorporating her suggested edits. Hopefully I get caught up this weekend.

Significantly, however, her first question when I arrived home from work yesterday evening was, "When will you have Book 3 ready for me to read?"

Book 2 has definitely struck the tone and balance I had intended for it. There's still more polishing to do, of course. But whereas Book 1 was an introduction to many of the characters and to the series, Book 2 is where it becomes Epic Fantasy.

Status Update - Book 2 - The Beta-Reader Process Progresses

Sometimes it seems as if progress comes too slowly when writing or editing. The important thing, of course, is that progress comes.

I have incorporated the recommended additions from my first beta reader for Book 2, from Chapter 6 - out of a total of eight chapters. So I'm roughly two thirds of the way through the first beta reader review process.

Little by little, I can see the finished elements for Book 2 falling into place.

Status Update - Book 2 and the Beta Reader Review Process

I have finished incorporating the suggestions and edits for Chapters 1 through 4, from my first round of beta-reader review, for Book 2 in the Stormfall Chronicles. I'd estimate that the book is currently a third of the way through the first beta-reader review cycle. The overall word count has actually dropped by a few hundred words between the beginning of the beta-reader process and today.

For those who might be wondering, the second book is expected to have a total of eight chapters - but the two longest chapters still lie ahead. It's a grueling process at times, but its also essential to producing a quality finished product.

Second Book Review on Amazon

This past week, my initial novel received its second review on Amazon. I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to thank blogger Jenna "Meadow" for taking the time to review this book.
https://www.thebookofmeadow.com/all-the-books/storms-herald

For an indie author in particular, customer reviews are the lifeblood of our books success or failure. The quantity and accumulated ratings associated with these reviews are what drive - not only the algorithms which Amazon uses to dictate which books to showcase - but also determine which books are accepted by various promotional web-services. While these elements are less important to traditionally published books, which will have a publishing house with its own publicists and connections to brick-and-mortar book sellers, they are absolutely vital to the indie author.

Obviously, as an author, we all prefer higher ratings over lower ratings. Nonetheless, honest reviewer input can be invaluable towards improving our craft and product. In response to one of the questions posed by Jenna's review, I can only reply that Baxter's story arc becomes a little more prominent and fleshed out in the second installment in the series.

Thanks again to Jenna for taking the time to write down her impressions and publish them. :-)

Fourth Draft for Book 2 Complete

I have just completed my fourth draft of the second book in the Stormfall series. As has been noted before, the editing process - getting the chapters, story and characters "right" - has taken longer than I had at first anticipated. Editing is always a painstaking, arduous process. It is an unavoidable part of writing.

Going from the third to the fourth draft of the text, the word count has continued to rise: from 109,000 words at the completion of the third draft, to 118,000 words today. This has come from a combination of scenes which still needed to be added, as well as from embellishing the details and descriptions provided under many of the existing scenes.

While the fourth draft has taken longer to develop and edit than I might have hoped, on the positive side, I had already begun to provide copies of the earlier chapters in the book to my middle daughter to begin the beta-reader process. As of today, she has completed her review and recommended edits for the first two chapters - allowing me to get a jump-start on completing the fifth draft of the book. This will be the first draft to take advantage of input from my beta readers. My expectation is that I will need another two rounds of edits before the book is ready for release. As I may have mentioned before, writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint.

Beta-Reading - A Crucial Element in the Editing Process

In my experience, having a skilled beta-reader is an essential element in delivering a quality fantasy novel. It's not just about having another set of eyes on the manuscript, although that is important too. Yes, the beta reader will be able to pick up on grammatical errors which I am no longer able to objectively see. But they provide a much more important service than that.

When I receive a copy of the printed manuscript back from the beta reader, I expect to see it marked up extensively with comments. Sections of the book that work. Sections that don't work. I've had entire scenes that I've had to scrap and rewrite because the original just didn't have the proper tone or didn't get the point across. And then there are the paragraphs that needed more description in one section, or to be less wordy in another.

Passing a manuscript through a beta-reader who feels empowered to provide the author with the feedback they need is integral to a successful editing process. I do appreciate those comments in the margins about how "I love this scene." But I also appreciate the ones telling me where I need to add more description, where I need to cut out words, and where something needs to be redone.

From Draft 4 to my Beta-Readers: Working in Parallel

I am in the midst of the fourth draft to the manuscript for Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles - having completed the latest rounds of edits to Chapters 1, 2 and 3. At this stage in the editing process, the edits are typically more confined, aimed at shaping the choice of words and filling in subtle details from each scene.

It has been at this point, however, that I have allowed my own impatience to get the best of me. So starting today, I have begun releasing copies of the earliest chapters to my beta-readers - starting with my middle daughter. There are scenes that I have been very much looking forward to seeing their reactions to.

As the text begins to converge, therefore, we will be working in parallel: refining the edits, and collecting my first feedback on where adjustments need to be made. This is part of the excitement that I enjoy most about writing.

Third Draft for Book 2 Complete

I've finally completed my third draft of the second book in the Stormfall series. It did take longer than I had expected, but I'm pleased with how the story is developing. When I get to the point where I'm excited about each chapter - and am looking forward to being able to release it to my beta-readers - I know I'm onto something.

Between the second and third edits of the draft, the book has grown from around 105,000 words to 109,000. Some words were eliminated here and there, other paragraphs needed to be added. But the text is gradually converging towards the finished product.

I am looking forward to how both Baxter and Lynette develop as characters under this second installment. I feel this is really central to the story which the first book in the series was building towards. I'm also pleased to be able to devote a little more time and attention to Elise and the world of the fae. I can't wait to complete my fourth draft of each chapter - at which point I will be able to release the individual chapters to my beta-readers to critique.

A Story Worth Telling

I often see other writers asking or commenting about "writer's block": about not knowing what to write next or how to progress a particular story line. It's an experience that, to a certain degree, I'm not sure I can relate to.

In my experience, there's always something more to be written, or re-written. Some element of the story that needs to be expanded or refined. The real challenge has not been about knowing what to write next, but rather ensuring that what is written properly conveys the sense and purpose that it needs to, in order to progress the overall story. In other words, if I already have an overall arc for the story in mind - which I always do when I sit down to write - the challenge becomes one of finding the right vantage point, the right vision each chapter of the book, to make that element compelling and alive in its own right.

I have sketched-out chapters, for example, where I knew where that particular chapter fit into the overall story and arc of the book - but had still not found the vibrancy which that particular chapter needed. Sometimes it was only later, coming back to that chapter or segment of the book, that I would find the vision and atmosphere which that chapter needed to contain.

So for me, it's never been a question of "writer's block" in the traditional sense - about not being able to write. It's been about finding the vantage point as a story teller that makes a particular segment exciting to write, and exciting to read. Working through the third draft of my second novel, I can confess that each time I find that needed vantage point, a certain thrill passes through me. I know I have created a story worth telling, and worth reading - and can look forward with anticipation to the day it will be released.

Second Draft of Book 2 Complete

I finally completed my second draft for Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles. It was a longer, more demanding process than I had anticipated, with the book growing from 74,000 words at completion of the first draft, to 105,000 words at completion of the second.

As I had described once before, for me, the purpose of the first draft is to get the skeleton behind the story written down. The purpose behind the second is to insert any missing scenes and get the scene order right. From there, the process of detailed editing - getting all of the words right - can begin.

With any luck, I can be through the third and fourth drafts - and ready to submit to my beta readers - in another four weeks.

Series or Sequel

When writing a series, there is a constant tension between how much each book in the series should be able to stand on its own merits - without requiring any pre-existing information regarding the other books in the series - and how much each book should intertwine with its predecessors.

On the one extreme are series such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, which was really written as one complete story - but which was judged by the publisher at the time to be too long to squeeze into a single volume. It was therefore broken into a series after the fact, making it difficult or impossible for a reader to pick-up any of the later books in the trilogy without having read their predecessors.

On the other extreme are series which are written as stand-alone stories, which just happen to follow the same character or theme. Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series is a good example of this approach. Each book becomes its own independent story, and readers can pick up any book in the sequence which happens to strike their interest, and expect to understand everything that's going on.

My own series, the Stormfall Chronicles, is intended to fall somewhere in the middle of this. On the one hand, it would enhance the reader's enjoyment if they had read the preceding books in the series. I do attempt, however, to provide enough background in the successive novels for a reader to pick up the story-line without necessarily having read or recently read the books which preceded it. In my view, for better or worse, this leads to a more flexible and rewarding reader experience - although it does add a certain number of pages to the successive books, while certain concepts have to be re-introduced and explained.

Storm's Herald - Character List

As the Stormfall Chronicles continues to evolve, I've realized that having a list or directory of characters could come increasingly useful, both for myself and my readers. I have therefore assembled a list of characters from the first book - which I can continue to add to as the second book progresses.

Thanks again to all of my readers.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d8rM6p1uFCxwIXay2--LgriaQe_rHaZw

March Towards the Second Draft: The Editing Process

I've written before about how important the editing process is to writing a successful novel, and thought I should expand a little on my own writing and editing process, and how it works.

As I mentioned before, in my experience, the first draft of a book or novel is usually a very rough draft, intended to get the skeleton in place for future revisions. The idea is to get all of the major events and elements of the story down on paper (or stored in electrons) for subsequent revisions and polishing. In my instance, most of the first draft is typed directly onto the computer. I will often have a series of notes or a list of key elements I want to add, which I will update along the way - but the original, first draft is usually typed directly on the keyboard.

For me, the second draft is about filling in any missing scenes or elements, and getting the scene order right. This is, like the first draft, a somewhat lengthy process - because there's usually so much to add. The first draft of my second novel, for example, was around 74,000 words in length, or slightly longer than the final copy of my first novel. I am expecting the final product to be closer to 90,000 words in length - or twenty percent longer. Most of those additions will take shape while I'm crafting the second draft.

The third, fourth, and subsequent drafts, in contrast, are all about refining the language: correcting any errors and ensuring that the words flow naturally from the page. Also unlike the first draft, all subsequent drafts are usually revised from a printed copy. For whatever reason, it's always been more natural for me to print out the manuscript, and revise it with paper and pen, than to attempt to make those revisions directly onto the computer. Again, that's been my experience as a writer.

Promotional on the Best Seller List

As anyone who has thought about becoming an indie author should already be aware, a large part of success as an indie writer will be tied to successfully marketing our own work. Whereas for a traditional publishing house, finding reviewers, author interviews and advertising are all handled by the publisher, as an indie author all of these activities become the responsibility of the author.

I have been running an Amazon promotional for my first book this weekend - with the eBook being available for free on Saturday and Sunday, May 4th and 5th:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MYK9QHC

This was not my first free promotional, but it was the best organized, with my book being featured on a number of promotional sites.

I was therefore gratified to see my book coming in Amazon's #1 slot for both the "Teen & YA Coming of Age Fantasy" and the "Sword and Sorcery Fantasy" eBook categories. True, these are the rankings against other free books, but it also means that I have succeeded in getting my book in the hands of a wider audience.

For those who have or might have downloaded my book, I want to extend a heartfelt thanks - and hope that you thoroughly enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Having our books read, and reviewed by readers, is part of the lifeblood of an indie author.

First Rough Draft Completed for Book 2

It's a couple of days later than I had been aiming for, but I finally completed my first, rough draft for Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles.

For those who might be wondering about the writing process, getting a rough draft written from beginning to end is a daunting, often overwhelming process. There's the constant temptation to stop what you're doing, and go back and re-edit portions where you know the text will need to be revisited. Which is why it's so important as a writer to avoid that temptation, and get the skeleton of the book in place so there can be something to work from.

I know that there are some writers who sit down to write, and treat the writing itself as a journey or adventure, without knowing where it will lead. The Last Unicorn, for example, was reportedly written in that manner. That however, is not me. I write because I have a sense that there is something that needs to be said, a story that is waiting to be set free, and I am merely the conduit for its creation. I always begin my writing with a clear sense for where each book will begin, where it will end, and with a few key scenes already played out in my mind.

Having finished the first rough draft, I know that I have many editorial cycles ahead of me before the manuscript is ready for my beta readers (who happen to be my daughters) to see it for the first time. I know that there will be scenes that I have left out that I will need to add, and others that will need to be reordered. There are a lot of details that need to be added and polished. But I can already see the shape for where this next book is going, and what it will be like. I am very much looking forward to seeing this book through the editing phase during the next couple of months.

Journey as an Indie Author: Setting Deadlines

Having written and published as both a traditional author - in non-fiction, with the support of a publishing house behind me - as well as publishing as an indie author in the fantasy genre, I thought I might write a little more this week about some of the ways in which the two experiences are both similar, and different.

As I've suggested in prior posts, in both instances, a large part of the secret to producing a quality book is adequate editing. I will typically plan on at least four proof-read/editing cycles for each chapter, before I would even think of having a beta reader review my work.

Where the two most obviously differ, of course, is in marketing. As an indie author, you have to divide your time between writing the next book in your series, and promotional activities to support your prior work. The latter can be a considerable drain on time, particularly when you're a part-time writer with a regular job to support. That whole subject is probably a good topic for a future post of its own one day. But not this day.

The similarity and difference that I wanted to focus on this week, however, is setting deadlines. My first book, a non-fiction title focused on aviation history, had no real deadline driving it forward when I first set about writing the book. As a non-fiction title, I had to do a considerable amount of research, compiling sources, details, and laying the assembled information out into a form that readers could readily absorb. It took more than a decade of effort to get it to the point where I was willing to send query letters out to publishers.

Once I had found a publisher, however, the deadlines quickly set in. I had only so many weeks to reduce the word count to meet my publisher's expectations. I had to compile photographs and illustrations, and send them in by the appropriate time. Then there was the index, also with a due date behind it. And working with a proof-editor, to ensure that the formatting for the citations was consistent throughout. It was a lot of work, with a lot of deadlines to meet - one right after another.

When I went to write my first self-published fiction novel, therefore, I realized that if I wanted to see this book published in a more reasonable time-frame, I would have to set my own deadlines, goals and milestones. I would need to self-impose deadlines for the first draft, for completing each editing cycle, and for releasing the book to publication. My first fantasy novel required a little over six months to develop - from beginning the writing process to seeing it as an eBook online.

Which brings me to where I am today: approaching my own, self-imposed deadline for completing the first draft of my second novel - by the end of April (this month!). I'm far enough along that I can see that deadline taking shape: the light at the end of the tunnel. From there, it will be a lot of editing cycles to get everything the way I want it to be - before I can even begin to release it to my beta readers. But that first, all-important milestone is today visible - within reach. However onerous those self-imposed deadlines might be, it's a good feeling to have.

Book Covers: The Building Blocks

My middle daughter and I paid a visit this past weekend, to the grounds of Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, Connecticut: collecting photographic references for use in the cover design of my second novel.

Most of the trees had not yet begun to bud forth their spring leaves. It was a grey, overcast day, full of the potential promise of spring and the reminders of winter. The state park's grounds provided fertile ground for imagination. Every corner and view could evoke its own apparitions and storyline, waiting to be retold. I very much look forward to seeing what my daughter (who also provided the cover illustration for the first novel in the series) will eventually produce.

Book Review - When the Moon Was Ours - Video Version

I decided to add a video review for the book - for the benefit of those that would rather hear a review online.

Book Review: When the Moon was Ours

When the Moon Was Ours
by Anna-Marie McLemore
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the world of "magical realism" or "low fantasy", When the Moon Was Ours stands out as unique. It could be interpreted as a modern day fairy tale - but one which tackles issues of child abuse and gender identity that others have only rarely explored in this, or any other medium.

The book follows the story of Miel, a girl who mysteriously showed up in town one day, who has roses that grow from her forearm and wrist, and Sam, the neighbor boy who's the only friend she has in the small town high school. In the story, Miel is being pursued by the Bonner sisters - four sisters who believe that the roses that grow from Miel's wrist could somehow, magically restore their status as the most sought-after girls in town. The plot line sounds simple enough, but between Miel's half-remembered past, the secrets that only she and Sam know, and the Bonner sisters' ruthless determination - there's a lot more that's going on beneath the surface than meets the eye.

The style of prose for this story is very similar to traditional folk stories or fairy tales: a narrative voice, rather than an in-the-moment retelling. If I had to point to similar artistic influences, I would have to cite Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux, or Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - both books aimed at a much younger audience. I believe that this parallel was very much by intent.

Where the author diverges from the fairy tale tradition is in the narrator's awareness of the very real differences between the folk tale as it might be retold generations later - after it has been absolved of real world flaws, shortcomings and the scar tissue left behind - and the reality as it was experienced by those that lived through the "fairy tale".

The book has its fair share of tear-jerking moments - although I understand that for some the flowery, fairy tale prose might be a little off-putting at first. As was alluded to, trigger warnings are warranted. This book touches on issues of child abuse and gender identity that some readers might be uncomfortable with. The book nonetheless paints a modern day, fairy tale portrait of our world, and some of the realities that not everyone has yet come to terms with.

A Spring Day in New England

I thought I'd provide a little writer's update this morning.

I woke up this weekend to another day of spring-time New England snow. The picture that I posted is part of the view from my front lawn. There wasn't too much snow, but I still enough of it that had to clear my driveway in the morning - so that my two daughters could get to the horse barn on time (two of my daughters ride horses - the third does not).

I'm about half way through the first rough draft of Book 2 of the Stormfall Chronicles. I have a lot more writing and editing to go before I can have my daughters review the text as beta-readers for the next installment. I'm hoping to see the second book published during the summer, in June or July.

The writing/editing process is both exciting and painstaking. I get so enthusiastic writing the chapters, looking forward to my daughters' reactions to certain scenes. But it takes a lot of commitment to get it to the point where I'm ready to have it reviewed - much less released for publication.

Hope everyone has a warm and cozy day.

Anime Review: Maquia - Video Version

For those who would rather watch the review:

Anime Review: Maquia

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Today I will be reviewing a somewhat lesser-known 2018 Japanese anime film, Maquia.

The movie follows the story of a young woman named Maquia, who is a member of the Iorph - an extremely long-lived race that can live hundreds, if not thousands of years. In the film, the Iorph are legendary as weavers of fine cloth, living in a remote community separated from humankind. To outsiders, the Iorph appear to remain unaged past their adolescent years.

The long lives that the Iorph are blessed with make them the subject of both jealousy and fear among outsiders - a fear that leads their community to be raided and destroyed by a neighboring human kingdom, their survivors scattered or taken as captives.

Despite its otherwise fantasy setting, however, Maquia is actually a story about motherhood. It is a tale about what it means to be a mother and about the bonds between parent and child. Separated from her people, Maquia adopts an orphaned human boy, who grows to adulthood under her watchful care. Through the years, their relationship undergoes a transformation from childhood dependency, to the rebellious phase of teenage youth, to adulthood - where her adopted son finally comes to terms with all that he owes to the mother that raised him.

This mother-child dynamic is further highlighted, by contrasting the relationship between Maquia and her adopted son Ariel, and that between Leilia and her biological daughter Medmel. Leilia is another member of the Iorph, but one who has become the prisoner of the kingdom that destroyed their community. She is forced to become the consort of the kingdom's crown prince - but is separated from her daughter, Medmel soon after birth.

On the one hand, there is Maquia. Throughout the years, she is constantly doubting her role as a mother: questioning whether she is up to the task, whether she has done all that she possibly could for her son, whether she is even worthy of being called a mother. In stark contrast, Leilia has no such doubts about her own motherhood - but is forever denied the role of mother by the royal family that has imprisoned her and separated her from her child. It is a separation that plunges her into a brooding despair - aware of all that she cannot be.

The film highlights the enduring, and undying love of a mother for her child - regardless of adversity. It emphasizes that this role and responsibility is ever-present, regardless of whether that child was their biological offspring or their adopted family member.

Maquia is at times a heartrending fantasy drama, a paean to motherhood that explores what it means to be a mother, and how much a parent is willing to surrender of their lives for the well-being of their offspring. I am not going to suggest that the movie is without flaws. The story-line can seem a little disjointed at times, demanding that viewers pay close attention or risk missing key elements or scene transitions. But the quality of the animation remains stunning, and the story and the themes that it raises are deeper than what many live-action dramas would dare to discuss.

I therefore have to classify Maquia as one of those special, rare anime finds that was often overlooked at the box office, but which is nonetheless truly worth seeking out.

Paperback Edition of "Storm's Herald"

I have finally published a paperback edition of Storm's Herald:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1799212165/

On the one hand, most indie authors of fantasy fiction understand that the vast majority of their book sales will be through eBooks. However, there are still a few readers that prefer to hold a book in their hand, including a number of potential reviewers. I therefore decided to release a paperback edition of the book, in addition to the eBook version.

A few observations from the paperback release the process:

• Formatting a manuscript for a paperback edition is slightly more complicated than publishing an eBook edition. Left and right hand margins need to alternate, to allow the book to be bound. Moreover, the size of the font and the page sizes need to be adjusted to match publishing requirements. This is very different from the eBook version - where font selection and font sizes are adjusted automatically to reflect the preferences and settings of the individual reader or device. In addition, the fonts selected need to be embedded into the electronic document for submission to the printing house.

• Having been through this process once now, I can say that the format templates provided by Amazon were very helpful. It is nonetheless essential to go back through the proof copy of the page layout after the manuscript has been submitted, to be sure that everything loaded as anticipated.

• Although the Kindle Direct website suggests that it's preferable to submit the paperback manuscript as a pdf file, I found that it was actually easier to submit the manuscript directly from my MS Word file. The pdf option produced errors that did not occur when submitting the MS Word version of the same document. Go figure.

• Another difference between the eBook and the printed version of the document, is that the Table of Contents needs to be embedded in the manuscript as text - not as a hyperlinked table. The hyperlinks tend to produce errors when submitting, and the page numbering sequence also doesn't seem to match once the conversion to a printer-ready version has been made. I had to manually verify that the page numbers in the Table of Contents were still in alignment with the proof document.

All told, however, the process was easier than I had thought it might be. Certainly much easier than the writing and editing process that generated the manuscript.

February's Short Story Challenge

I did it again: I left myself with little to no time to assemble a story for this month's writing challenge on fantasy-writers.org

I ended up trying to assemble and edit the story over a narrow, 30-hour period - so a little better than last time, but not by much. Still, it was a fun challenge to undertake. This month's challenge prompt was:

Write a story about a love affair that's SERIOUSLY doomed. I'm not talking about anything as simple as feuding families or one partner being locked in an enchanted tower. Think something like living in different universes or time periods, or belonging to species with no point of similarity. Something of that magnitude.

My story entry can be found here:
https://jwgolan.blogspot.com/p/where-herons-fly-in-winter.html

Anime Review: In This Corner of the World - Video Version

For those who would rather watch the review than read it:

Anime Review: In This Corner of the World

In This Corner of the World (2016)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had been debating on how best to cover the many literary and artistic influences on my writing - and ultimately concluded that the most thorough way to do this would be to post individual reviews of the books and artistic sources that have colored my approach to writing fiction.

As a writer of fiction, among the many artistic sources that I have learned from and drawn upon for inspiration over the years, has been anime.

Throughout much of the United States and the West, animation has come to be viewed as an art form aimed primarily at a childhood audience. The term "cartoon" has become synonymous with children's entertainment. This is not true, however, in all parts of the world.

Although much of Japanese animation is also aimed at children, this is not necessarily true. Anime has come to be respected as an art form in Japan, as a medium for conveying mature ideas and themes, in a way that it has not been respected throughout much of the United States and the West. And this is where the connection between Japanese anime, and my own interests in writing Fantasy-Fiction lie: in exercising an art form that allows its creators to explore real-world themes in an alternative environment.

As an example of this, I will be reviewing "In This Corner of the World," a 2016 animated film following the experiences of a young woman living in Japan during World War II. There is nothing fantasy-related in a film such as this. This is a serious drama, tackling a very serious subject. This is a movie and theme that could very easily have been produced as a live-action motion picture. But it wasn't. The writers, directors and producers chose to make this an animated film for a very real reason.

The hand-drawn animation of the film is beautifully rendered, its characters lovingly developed. And it is this charm that the movie's producers and directors were aiming for. The beauty of the animation is disarming, luring the audience in - allowing the viewers to get closer to the characters and events than might otherwise have been possible in a more conventional, live-action drama. This was a story that was told as an animated motion picture, because it needed to be told as an animated motion picture. The animation allowed the creators of this film to do things, and to tell this story in a way that could not have been possible otherwise. To bring the message of this story home to a wider audience.

The movie tells the story of World War II Japan, as seen through the eyes of a young woman named Suzu. It begins with Suzu as a school girl during the pre-war years: a kind-hearted adolescent who loves to paint and draw. As war sets in, she is pressed into an arranged marriage. Suzu moves to live with her new family, in the coastal city of Kure - a town where the Second World War unfurls all around her in the years that follow. It is through her eyes that the horror and futility of war is understood, in a manner that would have been too heartrending for an audience to sit through in a live-action drama.

Suzu matures, learns, laughs and mourns, as the world around her disintegrates amid the chaos of war. The movie depicts in meticulous detail everyday life in wartime Japan, from the food rations imposed, to the raids of U.S. bombers, to the destruction of buildings, neighborhoods, and lives during a war that mystified many of those who lived through it. The directors of this film went to painstaking lengths to reproduce the images and events depicted, utilizing old photographs and interviewing elderly Japanese citizens who lived through that era, to provide a vivid recounting of wartime life. Suzu enters the film as an adolescent teen, just entering womanhood. She leaves the film bearing the scars of a pointless war that left only death and devastation in its wake. Yet the message of the film is not one of hopelessness. Through it all, life goes on. Even after sorrow and loss - no matter how pointless. Suzu must find in herself the strength to move forward, and continue living.

This was a serious subject, and was respected as such when it was released in Japan. "In This Corner of the World" won numerous awards - not only in the animated film category, but also repeatedly beating-out live-action films for awards and accolades. It was repeatedly awarded in both "Best Film" and "Best Director" categories, across a variety of Japanese film festivals and award events.

It is in this way, that anime has been an inspiration for me as a writer of fantasy fiction. It is not merely the ability for animation to transport us to fantastical worlds, but more importantly in its ability to convey serious topics in a manner that might not otherwise be accessible.

If you haven't seen "In This Corner of the World," I would highly recommend the film - for lovers of drama and animation alike. But I will warn viewers, this is not a movie intended for young children. It is a drama that takes on themes where live-action movies often fear to tread.

Storm's Herald - First Book Review

I am pleased to have received my first independent review for Storm's Herald, from Josh Grant:
https://diabolicshrimp.com/reviews-11/

To quote from the review:

There’s something about a fantasy world, when well crafted, that just draws me in. . . . Storm’s Herald has all that, really anything you could want in a fantasy novel, and it’s well-written to boot.

Many thanks Josh.

Short Story Collection

I have decided to publish the short stories that I compose, to share some of the experiences and ideas that I develop over the next year or more. The first one can be found under the menu bar above, or under the link below:
Bad Earth

Again, this is all intended to be a little bit of fun - as writing should be. I hope that everyone enjoys.

Because Writing Should be Fun

So for the fun of it, I decided to submit a short story on a website for Fantasy writers. For those who are unfamiliar with the site, they have monthly writing challenges. The objective for the January challenge was:

The challenge is to write a story in a non-fictional format. It can be a news report, a historical essay, a political or religious work (no RW religion or politics, please) or even a biographical work, as long as it has all the trappings of a biography, rather than just an author telling someone's story. BUT, whichever format you choose, it has to exist in-world with the subject.

The site is visible to members only - so there's no point in posting a link just yet. But . . . the activity did get me thinking about why I write.

I can't say it was a masterpiece - because it was never intended to be. As with many things in life, I ran out of time and ended up having to write and edit this particular entry within the span of a single, 24-hour day. However . . . the exercise emphasized one of the things that has attracted me to writing Fantasy-Fiction: writing should be fun.

I never had any expectations for making a living as a writer, much less becoming a world renowned author - so I should at lease enjoy what I write. And it was enjoyable. Definitely a fun little challenge that was a pleasure to compose and edit. Hope that others enjoy it as well.