John Robin's latest update for A Thousand Roads

Aug 12, 2015

Yesterday, I sent out my fourth monthly newsletter, sharing the 5th chapter of Blood Dawn. Those of you who don't subscribe to my newsletter, I want to remind you of this great opportunity to read a chapter a month of Blood Dawn up until next April. This will allow you to access the first 13 chapters--about 1/4 of the book.

Here's the link where you can sign up, and find out more about what you can expect as a subscriber:

http://www.epicfantasywriter.com/johns-newsletter/

On the topic of Blood Dawn's chapters, I wrote the 28th chapter (5th Skippy chapter) last weekend and thought I'd share my editor's feedback on it:

Hi John,

Yeah, so...I thought this chapter was another slam dunk!!

Skippy has SUCH a great arc in these pages. I love how he goes from wanting to feel something, wanting to know anything he can, to seeing the numbness of the white world as a welcome respite. The sensory writing is top notch throughout; I cringed, I shuddered, I muttered "Ugh" a couple of times. And I especially LOVE what this chapter does with pushing the whole story forward. I loved seeing Skippy's power awaken and the way it takes shape, and the use of Venton's colors was fantastic (in just about every sense of that word). This Venton/Skippy alliance was unexpected in the best kind of way, and the conflict it presents for SO MANY CHARACTERS involved is a great example of exemplary fantasy writing.

I don't have any major notes for you with this chapter. I loved every bit of it and was just as surprised at the turn of events as you were! You are on a roll and you're in a special sweet spot for your book. Pre-climax, but still making your editor bite her nails all the same. It's like we're in season 4 of Breaking Bad--not quite the end, but every moment has that do-or-die feeling! :-) Keep it up! I'm already excited for next week's installment.


I will add that usually Lizette (my editor) finds some faults with my work, especially regarding pacing. I will then spend the following Wednesday rewriting / revising the chapter to address whatever she has brought up to ensure the completed draft is solid. These last two weeks, however, it seems my batting average is going up. It's very encouraging given that I'm now past the midpoint of the novel and this is often where, especially in longer novels, things either come apart or start to sag. My intention is to make every chapter more exciting than the previous, all the way to the end, and to keep everything relevant.

I have to thank you all for stepping up to support me--when I open my manuscript to write another chapter every weekend, I have my readers in mind, and I find I am more inspired, creative, resourceful, and that's how the great storytelling happens.

Hope you all are having a great week,

John Robin

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