Hello friends

I wanted to share my new writing project. I decided to start a serialized story on Wattpad called Ysolda and The Coven of Fire.

In case, you are not familiar with this platform. “Wattpad is a writing community in which users are able to post articles, stories, fan fiction, and poems, either through the website or the mobile app.” Also, it is free.

Ysolda and The Coven of Fire is a prequel to The Catcher’s Trap, and it takes place over 100 years before the events in the book.

Here is a quick description:

“Ysolda leaves her family and her modest life behind to travel through the magical and dangerous world of The Mist in search of the Coven of Fire. Her quest for power and adventure will place her at the center of prophecies that will re-shape the future of her world.”

Here is the link.

Please check it out, and feel free to leave feedback.  

I’ll be adding new chapters weekly.

Have a fantastic week!

Good morning, everyone.

I suppose I must have lied about scaling back my updates to a monthly basis. See now, I’ve got some news to share that simply can’t wait.

For starters, Inkshares has launched their latest publishing contest in partnership with the Nerdist network! If you’ve got an epic “Space Opera” science fiction story hyperdriving through the wormholes in your brainspace, then I encourage you to chart a course t… Okay, enough. Just enter the damn contest HERE!  The beauty of this crowdfunding model is that all you really need is an idea for a story. Write something up - a synopsis, some character descriptions, a first chapter, whatever - and post it up on Inkshares. “What’s a space opera,” you ask? For you TV nuts think Firefly or Battlestar Galactica. The movie buffs should envision Guardians of the Galaxy or that little franchise Star Wars maybe. Gamers like me should recall Mass Effect and Destiny. And bibliophiles (a term only bibliophiles could love) should check out Iain Banks’ Culture series (my favorites) or Asimov’s Foundation series. 

If you’re serious about entering, I and some fellow contest winners shared some winning advice recently on inkshares blog. The fact that many of us had different versions of the same tip is quite insightful on that particular tip’s utility (you’ll see). But I would add another that I don’t think was mentioned: Be Organized! I had a massive spreadsheet I updated with all my campaign activity during the Sword & Laser contest. I couldn’t have done it without it. 

Finally, two more bits of news:

I am writing “The Animal in Man” every day, every night, with a daily goal of 1,000 words that I’m pleased to say I’ve often overshot. I thought maybe I’d just clean the early chapters up a bit, but geez was I mistaken! Instead I’m pretty much tearing the house down and rebuilding everything from the ground up. I’m almost done revising chapter three, and work continues steadily.

John Robin, the extremely talented author of “Blood Dawn,” had reached out to me about sharing some details of my story’s world in greater depth. Of course I agreed! Here’s an amazing picture I found that captures my own personal interpretation of the animal-human creatures that inhabit Herbridia:

(Credit to Adrean-BC on deviantART) If you want to pore over some more of the background knowledge - and go fishing for a hint or two about what’s really going on in my novel - then click here to visit John Robin’s World Building page on his blog.

And for gah’s sakes, pre-order your copy of John’s book. It comes with my absolute highest recommendation. 

Not sure things have been progressing well to be honest. 
People who I thought, for sure, would back my project, at least with the e-book, have blanked me. While others, who I hardly know, have backed me to the hilt. 

No matter. Keep striving. I have edited ruthlessly and cut over 500 words, mostly description, from the text. My only critic (so far) said there was too much description so I took her advice. I hope, as well, I have eradicated most basic errors and made the proof reading/editing job easier. 

Oh, there was one other criticism, it needs a map (or maps). I agree, I’m struggling with it though.

I have also, rather arrogantly (considering the lack of pre-orders for this one) begun on the sequel. I recently found out what the "Bechdel Test" is, thanks to Janna Grace’s "Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate", and since the sequel already featured one strong female character, I decided that she would call upon the other strong female for help when things got tough.
"Women of the Wise Oak" will see Gwenn and Epona smash the Bechdel test out of the park. 

Meanwhile, I have boldly re-uploaded the entire text of "Children of the Wise Oak" for all to see. Remember, if you support this book and it gets published, then the girls get to have a field day in the sequel.