Time to Write More

I’m not writing enough.

Well, that’s not entirely true, I suppose, depending your point of view. After all, I’ve been averaging about a novel a month for almost a year. I’m a little behind for the novel I planned to draft in May, but I’m still on track to finish it before June appears like a terrible toddler that refuses to sleep in.

That said, I need to write more. In fact, I’m obligated to.

Maybe you’ve noticed—right now, I’m running a Kickstarter campaign for a little six-book series entitled Madelyn of the Sky. The first four books are ready to be proofread and formatted. My editor is taking books five and six through their final edits. The series is done.

But wait! There’s more!

Continue reading “Time to Write More”

Nine Months. Nine Novels.

For nine months in a row now, I’ve written a novel a month. For those of you who’ve never attempted to write a novel, well, that’s kind of an insane pace. My first novel took over a decade to write. You can read it now right here if you’d like. I think it’s pretty amazing when I look back at it. It grew and evolved in the telling so, so much.

But… now I’m punching out a novel a month? What happened?

Shorter Novels

Well, The Keeper of Tales is 160,000 words long. That’s epic. Literally. Epic fantasy runs long.

The Madelyn of the Sky novels are roughly 40,000 words long. In print, they’ll come out to about 250 pages each—hardly tiny, but definitely not epic. So, sure, I’m aiming for shorter books, and one of the results is that I can write them far faster.

It’s not just that, though.

Continue reading “Nine Months. Nine Novels.”

It Takes More than One

For me, some of the easiest and funnest times to write is when I release two characters to interact on the page.

Madelyn is unsure of herself, cocky to others, and has real talent with her blade. She needs someone who can play off those abilities.

Thus, we have Renity, Madelyn’s older sister, one of the major characters in the series. Well, adopted older sister. Kind of.

It’s complicated.

Anyway, I needed someone Madelyn could be honest with, someone who would call her out as needed. Renity serves that purpose. She’s not afraid to tell Madelyn it’s time to chill out. She doesn’t hesitate to remind Madelyn she has limits. At the same time, she fiercely loves her little sister and fights at her side. She’s ready with a hug and a sword.

I think it’s important to have characters that know each other well enough that they can see behind each other’s masks. Renity knows Madelyn isn’t nearly as confident as she portrays. Madelyn also knows Renity’s weaknesses. They support each other…

…well, mostly. They are sisters. They still fight.

Of course, there are a few wrinkles. Madelyn hates that she’s still 14. She seems to age… more slowly than her sister. Renity looks and acts like she’s in her early 20’s. She’s only two years older than Madelyn. Why is Madelyn stuck at 14? It’s a sore spot for her. Why does her sister get to grow up, and she can’t?

Ah, well, you’ll probably have to read the book series to find out!

You can back it right now on Kickstarter — check it out!

BTW — I did not produce that gorgeous sketch of Renity. That was done by our fantastic cover artist, Ian Samson!