Hire an Elven translator...

Hey!
Any fans of The Walking Dead out there? I've seen the first season and really loved it. The writing is really great with natural sounding dialogue. It's based on a comic book series produced by Image Comics which is really well done as well. The thing about the story is that the characters are very interesting so it doesn't really matter the setting, I would still be into the story. It just happens to be about a zombie apocalypse. I suppose if you are disgusted by gurgling undead and their dangling body parts, you should stay away, but otherwise check it out. I dig it.

In novel news, I am nearly at 50,000 words on Shards of S'Darin. That's page 152 for those counting. By now, the characters have taken over. I have no more control. Dwarves are everywhere, Pith are everywhere, the Rot is rampant, Deckard is a replicant. I hope you all enjoy book two. I've put a lot into it and I hope it shows once it's published. As always, I appreciate your support and feel free to contact me. I promise to send a reply, but I might write it in Elven so hire a translator.

William

How is everyone?

Hey everyone,
It's been a few days since I've posted here, so I thought I would let you in on what's going on in my world. I've been working a lot on Shards of S'Darin. I've made very good progress on it. I have a few friends that are reading it as I write it (aren't they the lucky ones) and they love the direction that it is taking. It's sitting at 41,500 words right now and I've just started Chapter Seven. More Stone Trolls, the Dwarves have been introduced, Creatures, Dragonbuck.
On a side note, if you like fantasy then you know about Game of Thrones. Everyone is talking about it, so I decided to watch a few of the tv episodes. I haven't read the books. Should I? Anyway, I like the series so far, but I really don't think I would call it fantasy. Just my opinion. It seems more historical, but maybe things change later on in the story. I am a fan of Sean Bean, though.
So, I hope everyone is doing well and feel free to shoot me an email. I will respond to every one of them.
Thanks,

William

Shards of S'Darin update

I will let you guys in on a little secret... It is very difficult not to just blurt out the things that you are writing. The events and new characters of my book are just begging to be experienced and I really want to share it with you, however....I will wait, of course. I will tell you that I am very happy with the way things are progressing in Shards of S'Darin. I have just begun Chapter Five and the story is really taking shape. I cannot wait for the world to read it. If you loved the characters from Book One, just wait.

Also, let me restate that I have met many great people online since publishing my first book, A Dream of Storms. Readers, writers, artists, etc. So many supportive people and it really helps to keep me inspired. I know a lot of writers have a hard time keeping it going. Writing is a very lonely experience. It has to be. For me, I need silence for the most part, so I write late at night after everyone is asleep. It is the only time that I can be uninterrupted. Anyone else out there want to talk about their writing routine? Anyone out there listen to music while writing? I find that I become distracted by the music (I think that's because I am a musician and my mind picks apart the different tracks).

Alright, that's enough for now. I have to finish 1,000 words tonight. That's the personal goal that I have set for myself and I've been able to meet it so far.

Good night. (Check local listings, it may be morning where you are.)

William

Characters from A Dream of Storms: The Inquitis

World map for A Dream of Storms

Characters from A Dream of Storms: Shindire

On writing...

Since embarking on this self-publishing venture, I have noticed a few things. Firstly, there are a lot of very supportive writers and readers out there. I appreciate that a great deal. Secondly, while there are a lot of great indie books being created, there are also a lot of really bad ones. After reading several samples and free-to-download ebooks, all I can say is "yikes". The difficult part is trying to get noticed among all of the lackluster stuff. Now, I'm not saying that my book is the be-all and end-all of literature, but if you had seen some of the stuff I have seen (I won't name any names), you would understand.
Also, there are a lot of authors that are going out of their way to overwrite everything. I imagine them looking up unheard of and obtuse words just so they sound fancy. I read an excerpt from someone's novel and I think I counted around 8 pages without a quote. Look, description is nice, but I think that might be overkill.
Just some thoughts for the day.

William