Browsed by
Tag: writing

The Curse of Steel: Second Draft Finished!

The Curse of Steel: Second Draft Finished!

Comments 0 Comment

With the cover art ready to go, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks focusing on day-job work (writing and editing course material that’s going to go online) and working on the second-draft edits for The Curse of Steel.

That latter task has paid off. As of this afternoon, the novel is complete in the second draft.

What this means for the project is that I’m about to do one last editing pass, and then prepare the manuscript for release as a self-published novel. If all goes well, the novel will be released sometime in September. The one wild card is that I’m considering submitting the current draft for a manuscript assessment from a reputable freelance editor, to help me organize and direct that last editing pass. If I decide to go with that plan, that might delay the release a bit, depending on how long the assessment takes and how deep an edit it suggests I make.

In the meantime, though, the last chunk of the second-draft manuscript will be released to my patrons within a few days as the charged reward for August. All of my patrons, from the $1 level up, will get a copy of the last eight chapters of the draft (about 24,800 words). When the novel itself is released, all of my patrons from the $2 level up will get a free copy.

I’ll probably also release another piece of short fiction later this month, for my patrons and in the free-fiction section of this blog. More about that as we get closer to the end of the month.

Status Report (13 July 2020)

Status Report (13 July 2020)

Comments 0 Comment

Hmm. Small change in plans.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been ripping right through the second draft of The Curse of Steel. My pace has picked up a lot over the past week or so. This is mostly because I’ve reached the later chapters – at this point in the first draft, I had figured out most of the plot, so the second draft has needed a much lighter rewrite.

As of this morning, I’ve reached the major reversal in the plot, about two-thirds of the way through the story. This strikes me as a good place to pause for a bit, while I concentrate on other tasks. In particular, I really need to put some time and effort into a book cover.

As a result, this month’s charged release to my Patreon will take place within the next couple of days, consisting of roughly 18 chapters of the revised draft of The Curse of Steel. All of my patrons, from the $1 level up, will get a copy of the PDF. If you’re interested in signing up as a patron and seeing this draft as it emerges, feel free to click on the Patreon link in the sidebar.

Once that release is out, I’m going to crack open my modeling and photo-manipulation software and see if I can’t put together a decent book cover for The Curse of Steel. That will probably involve a few preliminary renderings as I set things up. I’ll post those here and to my DeviantArt page.

Status Report (12 July 2020)

Status Report (12 July 2020)

Comments 0 Comment

It’s a paradox.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve finally started to feel seriously worn down by months of lockdown amid the pandemic. I spend 95% of my time, day and night, in the same room. My bed and my workstation are less than four yards apart. My whole experience of the world is reduced to what I can see with a few networked devices. I do get to spend a little time each day at the kitchen table with my wife and children, and every day or two I go outdoors to walk for a mile or so in the fresh air. That’s all – and even for me, introverted and reclusive as I normally am, it’s starting to be difficult.

Even so, I’m surprisingly productive right now.

I’m in the process of rewriting one of my courses almost from scratch, with an eye toward being able to deliver it online rather than in the classroom. Very good progress so far, and the project may be done in a couple more weeks. I’m being called upon to consult with colleagues about other items too.

Meanwhile, I’m just tearing through the second draft of The Curse of Steel. There are a few new passages in this draft, and that slows me down a bit, but by and large, it’s just rewriting. I think I’ve averaged a chapter a day for over two weeks now. At this rate, I may have the bulk of the second draft done by the end of July.

I think I may need to start seriously thinking about a book cover. Finish the second draft, make one more edit-and-polish pass for the final draft, and the book will probably be ready to release sometime in September.

“A Fire in Winter” Now Available

“A Fire in Winter” Now Available

Comments 0 Comment

I’ve just finished placing another of my old short stories under the “Free Articles and Fiction” tab in the sidebar.

This story is “A Fire in Winter,” a story set in the early stages of an American Revolution that is not going as well as the one in our history. As for what other differences there may be between that world and our own . . . well, better you see for yourself.

“A Fire in Winter” has also been released to my patrons, free of charge.

Status Report: 26 June 2020

Status Report: 26 June 2020

Comments 0 Comment

The last two weeks have been busy.

After almost three months of lockdown at home, I’m finally starting to do a significant amount of telework for my day job, revising and re-designing one of my more popular courses. We’re hoping to get that online for students by the end of July, so there’s a lot of work to be done there.

Meanwhile, I’ve gotten a good start on the second draft of The Curse of Steel. The goal here was to back the beginning of the story up by about two days, giving me a chance to do a lot more character development and exposition before throwing Krava into the middle of the action. I’ve just finished the third chapter of this new material, after which I’m going to be rewriting existing text rather than coming up with new.

I think it’s clear that I was overly optimistic to think that I would be one-third of the way through the draft by now. By the end of June, it’s probably going to be more like 15% or so. Still, I’ll have more than enough material to get past my self-imposed limit of “at least 10,000 words of solid content before I release anything to my patrons.”

All of which is to say, there will be a charged release on my Patreon by the end of June, which will consist of roughly the first 5-6 chapters of the revised draft of The Curse of Steel. All of my patrons, from the $1 level up, will get a copy of the PDF. If you’re interested in signing up as a patron and seeing this draft as it emerges, feel free to click on the Patreon link in the sidebar.

Second Draft of “The Curse of Steel” Under Way

Second Draft of “The Curse of Steel” Under Way

Comments 0 Comment

Just a quick status report today. After a few months of world-building work, I’ve finally gotten started with the second draft of The Curse of Steel.

How quickly this goes depends on a lot of things. Although I’m still not going into the office, and probably won’t be doing that on a regular basis for some time yet, I have started doing some day-job work from home. Work on the novel is going to have to compete for time. Still, I hope to be able to finish this draft by the end of August, then prepare the novel for release in the September-October timeframe.

If things go according to plan, patron rewards for June, July, and August will consist of chunks of the revised draft, about a dozen chapters at a time. As always, if anyone’s interested in seeing that material as I release it, click on the Patreon link in the sidebar. All of my patrons, $1 level and up, will get to see sections of the draft. Patrons at the $2 level and up will get a free copy of the finished e-book when that’s done.

Short Story Now Available: “Landfall”

Short Story Now Available: “Landfall”

Comments 0 Comment

I’ve posted “Landfall,” a short story that I wrote a few years back, to the Free Articles and Fiction section.

“Landfall” is a tale about a slower-than-light interstellar expedition, which runs into trouble when it finally encounters a hospitable, Earthlike world after a thousand years of voyaging. What does a society organized around an eternal voyage do, when it becomes possible for the voyage to end?

The story should be linked from the sidebar, but here’s a link as well.

Status Report: 28 March 2020

Status Report: 28 March 2020

Comments 0 Comment

Just a quick post to report on how things are going here.

We’re all in lockdown, with my son the only one who’s still leaving the house for work each day. He works at a small factory that supports the food-delivery industry; as you can imagine, they’re doing an absolutely booming business right now. He’s earning lots of overtime, and he and I joke that he’s the only one in the family that’s really “essential” at the moment. At least my job is secure for when things start getting back to normal, and I’m still getting paid in full for the duration. We have plenty of savings in any case, so as long as money remains good in the first place, we should be able to weather the storm.

The psychological toll seems more acute. I have plenty to do, and my son has his work and his online friends. On the other hand, my wife misses her classes and social contacts, and I think my daughter is going slowly mad, stuck in the house without her usual busy school schedule.

For my part, I’ve been having the usual upper-respiratory issues that always hit me, when the dogwood and maple trees do their thing every spring. I’ve been watching my symptoms like a hawk, and taking my temperature regularly, but so far I haven’t seen any reason to push the panic button. All that means is that I’m in a constant state of low-level apprehension rather than mortal terror, but if that’s the worst I have to live with over the next few months, I count myself blessed. A lot of people are having it far worse.

As for the creative work which is the normal reason for this blog, I’ve been nicely productive ever since I came home. I’ve been working on a more extended system for designing Iron Age villages, an expansion of the “extended character” work I’ve posted about recently. That, in turn, is helping me to visualize the social setting of The Curse of Steel much more completely. If and when I start the second-draft rewrite – which may now be a matter of days – I think I’ll have a much better picture to draw upon.

Meanwhile, I’m also working on the first draft for the EIDOLON “core book,” the basic character-description rule set that I’ll be self-publishing as a basis for releasing world-building material for the game market. I’m also working on the Tremara “culture book” that’s likely to be the first major release for the EIDOLON system. There’s still plenty of work to do on both items, but there’s real progress.

I think April may be the first month that my Patreon campaign gets started again; I’ll have enough new material that patrons might find interesting or useful. If you’re interested in signing up as my patron, please have a visit to my creator page and drop a pledge. Thanks!

A Bit of Conlang Translation

A Bit of Conlang Translation

Comments 0 Comment

One of the things I’ve been working on is a minor reworking of the Tremara language that appears in The Curse of Steel. Mostly I’m just choosing a few word-roots differently for aesthetic reasons, and tweaking the word-formation rules so that I’m not applying the Pūnct’uatìon Sh’akër quite so liberally.

I’m also working through some translations from English, since that’s a good way to develop more vocabulary and try out the syntax and grammar. Here’s an example, which was much more complex than I expected it to be, although I’m pleased with the result. As a small challenge for you, see if you can identify the original text.

Kadir ganari tíveta, anara tar dranet. Náraië tar steret, velo tar athemeta plemet, iu kesë tíveta aseneti. Bravam lókosar ganari genana dun, tan sendi ganari verdun, iu kesi sendenti argeni verdónemo. Geni pereta vergan va, tan geni revsova areg. Kun náraië tar asenet, tan kun poten, tan kun naren, athemë plemeti va. Asenet.

It’s working, I think. A little more of this, and then I need to generate a few dozen new personal names. The character names in the draft are a little repetitive.

Projects for 2020: The Curse of Steel

Projects for 2020: The Curse of Steel

Comments 0 Comment
Storyboarding the back story for The Curse of Steel

Meanwhile, the most important project I have underway is the novel I finished in the rough draft last year: The Curse of Steel.

Here’s a short synopsis that I put together for Books & Buzz back in November:

The Curse of Steel is the story of a young woman from an Iron Age “barbarian” culture, not quite identical to any culture from our own history, but most like the Celtic or Germanic tribal kingdoms of the pre-Roman period.

At the beginning of the story, Krava is an ordinary warrior of her tribe, serving as her father’s charioteer and bodyguard while he travels to visit friends. Suddenly her father is killed in an unexpected battle, leaving her alone and far from home. Soon afterward, she comes into possession of an ancient and powerful weapon, and she also learns that she is descended from the gods of her people.

Krava quickly grows into the role of a classical hero: a skilled and resourceful warrior who proves her worth in violent action, motivated by a craving for fame and esteem, and often arrogant or foolhardy. Think of Achilles, or Cuchulainn from Irish mythology. Krava’s own culture admires such behavior, and for a while she enjoys her new status, but in the end the results are a disaster for herself and everyone around her. At the end of this first story, she has matured a little; she departs on a quest to repair the harm she has done, and find a more sustainable way of life for herself and her people.

The rough draft – what I sometimes call the “plot draft,” in which I mark out the broad outlines of character, setting, and plot – is finished. The story is readable now, but it’s not very tight. Over the next few months, I intend to do an almost complete rewrite in the second draft, to fine-tune the story and bring the themes and dramatic beats into clear focus.

If all goes according to plan, The Curse of Steel will be self-published sometime this summer, after which I’ll get started on the second novel in the series. The working title for that one is The Sunlit Lands.

My patrons will see sections of the revised draft as I work on it, and those at the second or third level of patronage will get a free e-book copy of the finished novel once it’s published.