Okay, that title may or may not have been written by my inner cheerleader.
And, I'm going to need her, because NaNoWriMo is in full-swing! To compound matters, this is the most pantster I have ever gone. I literally started out with nothing but an idea -- no characters, no scene ideas, no nothing!
Day 1 is down, and despite starting out at absolute zero
I actually made (and exceeded) my word count today!
Also, you may be curious, "Hey, what idea is he doing, anyway? Last I heard he was still deciding".
Too true. Thank you everybody who voted! Unfortunately the votes were pretty much neck-and-neck, so it literally came down to a coin toss. As I told DW as she was flipping, "Wouldn't it be wild if this book totally takes off and people want to know 'how did you decide...' " That would be a fun story.
Anyway, without further vindaloo, the idea that won both the votes and the toss was #2, the war between fantasy realms. Here's the working cover I hacked together last night.
Strangely, it turned out having the "feel" of an indie CD cover to me. Oh well. Works for now.
Plus, if you're good at reading the clues, you can figure out which fantasy realms are at war here. ;) ;)
So, hopefully somewhere in the mishmash lies a story you'll one day enjoy reading! Till then, if you're also a NaNoWriMo participant, feel free to "buddy" me on there. My account is, of course, "Edmund Lloyd Fletcher".
Yep NaNoWriMo, the legendary "National Novel Writing Month" is upon us once again. Of course, I still haven't finished editing and publishing the 3 books from the past NaNo experiences, but I prefer not to dwell on the... present. :D
And like last year I'm going to open it up to you, my friends and fans, to vote on what story you most want to see!
Here are our options:
1) Giant rock beasts with villagers living on their back. Goal of the
beasts is to fight one another in a Highlander-esque “In the end, there
can be only one” scenario. This would be a trilogy, progressively
insane in scale of the beasts and the stakes for the people involved.
2) A fantasy war story between two fairytale realms — that is told as an actual
war story. What I mean by that is less “battle of the 5 armies” and
more “saving private ryan”. Like an in-the-trenches viewpoint.
3) I have an entire file cabinet full of sci-fi stuff from way back in
highschool when I was into that. Someday I need to sort that out, clean
it up (it was written in my BC days), and do something with it. Not
looking forward to this mess, but it needs to be done.
I think the real point is that even if you aren't a fish, you may be interested to know that I'm looking for beta-readers for my new novel slated to come out Oct 4. Yep, that's right, you get to read the story a FULL MONTH before everybody else!!!
I've gotten a few people on board already by word of mouth (you guys ROCK!) but the more, the merrier. Come on in!
Also, I should mention that is a staged-release, so each beta reader gets the version with feedback & features recommended by the previous round. What this means to you is that you really benefit by all those already with their noses in the book - er - kindle, I guess.
If you're interested in joining the fun, drop me an email or message me on your social media of choice.
Books, marketing, and a Bible lesson (that should scare you a little)
If you're like me, it means you love to create; build things; innovate; put the pieces together and come up with something great. I mean, that's what drives us, right?
The trouble is at some point or another, we have to make money to, you know, eat. That means selling/marketing our work. It means *distant shriek* actually talking to people.
If we've gone the traditional publisher route, we can (but probably shouldn't) assume that they'll take care of some of that. And, of course, if we self-publish we're all on our own.
Either way, our marketing approach usually remains the same: Ignore it and hope it goes away. After all, our book is so awesome people will find it and buy it. Riiight... 🤔
I hate to say it, but... (No, seriously. I really don't want to say it!) ... that's not only a terrible plan, but explicitly condemned by Scripture as well!
"Huh? What? Where's it say that?"
Matthew 25:14-30, otherwise entitled the "Parable of the Talents". It's fairly popular, but to recap, Jesus told the story of a businessman goes on vacation, leaves some cash ("talents" were silver coins) with his servants for safekeeping. First two did a good job investing, doubled his money, and were generously rewarded. Third guy not only didn't invest, but didn't even put it in the bank.
He literally buried his talents in a hole. Yeah! Here he had talents and instead of putting them out there for the world to see he buried them away. Haha! What a doofus! He completely... um... [uncomfortable pause] ... oh wait. I see what you did there, Jesus. 😳
There were two consequences for this. First, his talents were taken away and given to the wealthiest of the wise servants. Ever heard the cliche "the rich get richer"? Well, what if that observation isn't about fairness (as we make it out to be) but more a matter of poor stewardship and its consequences? Something to think on.
Oh, but don't leave offended yet. It gets worse!
The last line is, "cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" That's a common Biblical euphemism for Hell! Okay, I never quite let that sink in before. This whole analogy about not living up to ones' potential... okay, fine, I track with that. But, Hell!?? Woa! 😱
Hard to say exactly why the offense called for such a severe punishment. But it certainly does make one sit up and take notice!
The best conclusion I came up with is that if we bury our talents, either through active hiding or thelaissez-fairepolicy of ignoring marketing, we're essentailly stealing. We're stealing from the world something that others could enjoy and be edified by.
I don't know about you, but I don't believe in randomness or chance, but in a world that's logical and under control. I have to believe, then, that we were put here with a specific job to do and a purpose in mind (Esther 4:14).
But what happens when we neglect that job? Good question. I know it doesn't confound God's plan, but... at what cost to those around us? And if the dire consequences of the parable are any indication, then the cost to us must be quite high indeed!
Now how am I going to end this topic on a more positive note ...?
I know! For those looking for a little more carrot an a little less stick, take
a moment and listen through Matthew West's song "You've Got Something
to Say"
Bueno?
Okay, now get out there, get your marketing game on, and most of all...
