Your greatest asset in writing a novel

AuthorAppleton on February 29, 2016

I can’t tell you how many times I encounter people who, after hearing that I am an author, tell me that they had a book idea and someday they will write it. You want to know the truth? Most of those people will never write a book. Most will start at some point, then they with either lose interest or prioritize other tasks. They discover that writing an entire book is not so easy as they thought. Yep, it takes blood, sweat, and tears. The majority of people lack the key asset needed to finish a novel: perseverance.

To set out and write a novel means you are committing to writing 50,000 to 80,000 or 100,000-plus-words. Not a small task!

Perseverance will be your greatest virtue.

During the writing of my novels I have encountered so many obstacles that could have stopped me from completing the task. But writing is a love and a passion. It is an unquenchable desire that grows and must be exercised in order for the soul to find a measure of contentment. Distractions of family, friends, work, home, and entertainment can all stop you from completing your novel. But if you persevere through the distractions you can learn to use them to advantage.

The distractions are a tool for you to use. Family and friends provide inspiration. Just listen to the people around you. Watch their behaviors, their interactions. Listen to the way they speak. Try to understand their motivations and their convictions. Then process that information into inspiration for what you are writing. Inspiration for your characters and their world. Persevere through the distractions to find the inspiration. Persevere to finish the work you started.

In our world of instant gratification the greatest liability we face is our own distraction. We need to center our minds, hone our focus. Discipline is our ally and perseverance is our greatest asset. Without perseverance nothing noble can be accomplished. With perseverance anything is possible. Writing a novel is hard work, yet the reward of having completed it and then sharing it with others is vastly satisfying.

Q: What is the greatest hindrance you face in completing a novel?

Cover reveal! Neverqueen2

AuthorAppleton on February 22, 2016

It has been exciting to receive feedback from more readers with each passing month who’ve greatly enjoyed delving into The Sword of the Dragon expansion series Neverqueen. Many have loved the characters Violet and Alfor, and the prophetess along the Eiderveis River. But as many questions as that novel answered, it opened up even more. There is so much more to tell in the Neverqueen Saga… and I am pleased to now reveal the final cover for Neverqueen2. This book releases Spring/Summer 2016!

For this cover I used the same artist as my last two. His name is Benjamin Roque and you are already familiar with his work. He illustrated The Phantom’s Blade (The Sword of the Dragon book 4) as well as Neverqueen (book 1). This work is, I think, the best yet.Neverqueen2 fantasy book coverWhen approaching the artist about this project I was concerned with getting several elements right, the most important being the design of a new original fantasy creature I crafted for this novel: the Cat Beast. With the face of a cat, ram’s horns on his head, a body the size of a dragon, feathered wings, and a spiked tail. This beast is a rival in battle to many a dragon. His name is Destrono and he is a pawn of a wizard whom you are familiar with.

Neverqueen2 will release in paperback and on Kindle e-reader Spring/Summer 2016.

Q: Are you going to share this book cover with your fantasy-loving friends? (-; Please do! Thanks in advance!

Unspoken laws of fantasy fiction

AuthorAppleton on February 15, 2016

While fiction is itself an exploration of human imagination (and some might add an exploration of ingenuity as well) it must remain bound by laws if it is to impact the reader’s thinking in a positive way. The writer’s philosophies, persuasions, convictions, all of these things create the laws that bind their fiction. And this is a necessary difficulty for the writer because without laws fiction can confuse minds, even persuade them of non-factual things as factual. The unreal and imagined can be made to seem more important than reality.

If a reader is of a confused mind, or a troubled mental state, they are prone to falling for falsehoods. If a reader is, for example doubtful of God’s existence or is inclined to wish that God were not a supreme authority in the universe, the right fictional story could turn their mind against that authority. Fiction can create an excuse, which is a means of escape from the reality.

Truth and lie can be confused in story in such a way that it reinforces confusion in the reader. It may even persuade them that they are not accountable to the same laws that we know to be right and good.

For example, let’s say we have a fantasy story where the main character, a male protagonist, goes through multiple tragedies. With each tragedy he becomes angrier. First at the perpetrator of the tragedy, then at himself for not stopping the tragedy, and then at God for not stopping the tragedy, and then at God for not giving him the means to stop the tragedy. “If there was a good God then why would this have happened?” he would ask himself. Then later, as the story progresses, he submits that there is no God because cause A should have led to effect B. Therefore God, if he exists, is not good but indifferent or, worse, is himself evil.

Now to most readers this sort of transformation in the protagonist’s mind would seem tragic. We would see him as slipping into self-delusion as a result of his reaction to the tragedies he’d experienced. We would pity that protagonist, perhaps enjoy the journey as he seeks out revenge on his adversaries, but little else.

But to other readers this transformation becomes one of their own minds. They who suffer tragedy and feel just as the protagonist does. Instead of blaming the fallen sinful world in which the events occurred, they blame God. These readers find themselves relating to the protagonist, even learning from him despite the fact that he is a fictional character.

This is the power of fiction. This is the power of storytelling. This is the heavy responsibility of the writer.

To show that the man who falls to this is not a hero, but instead to show the negative consequences his thinking. Or, better still, to show a protagonist who rises above the tragedies and humbly accepts his bitter role in the created world. These are unspoken laws of fantasy fiction, to deliver truth and instruct in good and not in evil. To demonstrate what we should be and to show the consequences of wrong actions and even wrong beliefs. We look to show the good and encourage the faithful.

Q: How do you think writers should deal with unspoken laws of fantasy storytelling?

The importance of message in story

AuthorAppleton on February 8, 2016

While it is important that a fiction piece not “preach” a message to its readers, it is of even greater importance that the story does communicate a message. A lot of stories written today seem to focus on action and romance, or something similar. But the real power in storytelling is to reinforce cultural values, or even to destroy them. We learn best by observing others in what they do and should not have done. We learn by those things… and stories have the ability to mold our thinking.

My first novel, Swords of the Six, delivered a few messages. The heroine in the story fell in love but her life blood was not human and thus in order to give birth to a living child she had to give up her own life. The heroine was left with an internal battle as she realized that giving birth would separate her from her new husband. The story was a message, a way of demonstrating the immorality of abortion and reinforcing the Biblical value for human life.

Without message the story has no real impact on the reader. It becomes generic. Action and romance are necessary elements in story, but in and of themselves they are not sufficient. Story needs soul. Story needs conviction.

Have you ever read The Pilgrim’s Progress or Hinds Feet on High Places? They are allegories of the Christian life and their value to the reader is powerful because it challenges your thinking. It causes you to evaluate who you are, what you want to be, who you want to be, and helps you recognize the flaws and pitfalls in modern thinking. Nowadays many writers are afraid of hurting the reader’s feelings or alienating people by writing messages that the reader disagrees with and that society may frown upon. But that is exactly the strength of literature.

You need to be challenged, motivated, and encouraged. I once used the line that my books were written to “enlighten, enliven, and enthrall people of all ages.” That is still where I stand. Stories have the ability to reach into hearts and change minds. As a Christian I recognize the power of message in story. We need to embrace it and share it with people around us. It will strengthen folks to stand for things wholesome, right, and good. And to live without fear because we know the message is greater than our comfort.

Q: What messages do you appreciate in stories you’ve read?

Backstage pass! Specter: the story continues

AuthorAppleton on February 1, 2016

Often when writing a fantasy story the original drafts do not contain all of the key elements that flesh out a good tale. But in future drafts as the story evolves, especially if you are a seat-of-the-pants writer, new elements and even new characters come into play. When writing my first novel Swords of the Six I created an utterly unexpected character with which fans of the books fell in love. He is the most popular protagonist, yet his story (for that series) came to an end in Key of Living Fire. Many people have wondered, “What happened to Specter?”

For a few years I have toyed with the idea of following Specter on his journey away from the events in The Sword of the Dragon series. Now, I am pleased to say, the opening chapter to a forthcoming episode following Specter is written. This will likely flesh out into a novel of its own, but for now I am writing it as a longer short story. One that you will find a satisfying addition to the fantasy genre. For now it is titled Specter: By the Portal’s Glow and I am looking to release this Spring 2016.

Here is a tease of what is to come:

Specter: By the Portal’s Glow

Warmth enveloped Specter’s body, cradling him through waves of light and color as the portal sped him where it would. The darkness of the Hidden Realm was left far behind. Ribbons of light formed a veritable rainbow upon which he walked. Portal travel was not new to him, he let it speed him on and waited to see what undiscovered destination it held in store for him.

A few hours or more were lost to him. He waited for the destination to emerge, for never had a portal journey continued for such an extended time. He thought with satisfaction of the frustrated creature that had tried to pursue him. The white beast had been monstrous. Even the dragon Valorian, which vile beast Specter had long dreaded, had proved but a nuisance to the creature as it broke the dragon.

This path of light now spirited him out of the creature’s reach. Not that he was a coward. Specter allowed himself a smile as he lifted before his face the prized skeleton key that the water skeel had sought to obtain. Fire played on the key, burning from within its bronze surface. With this now in his hand the power of living fire would remain sealed in the Hold. It would remain accessible only to the stouthearted man wielding the sword of the dragon.

Perhaps now was the time to bring Specter’s life to an appropriately humble retirement. He glanced at his other fist, flexing his ice fingers. It was a strange thing but wondrous. Where his hand had been severed he had grown one of ice from the realm of the Water Skeels. And his icy fist grasped the two-handed sword of hard crystal that he had crafted from water. A thing of beauty, he had carved through Valorian’s host with this weapon. He had formed it in the image of the sword he had wielded a thousand years ago. It was time to lay this weapon aside, to leave behind the nemesis that he had been to the Grim Reaper. That vile being was dead by his hand, its skull shattered and scattered to the wind in the city of Netroth. And Specter’s pupil, Auron, thinking himself capable of continuing in the Reaper’s steps, now lay dead in the Hidden Realm.

“I saved you once, Auron,” Specter whispered to the vast streams of color. “I saved you and your demise was just. I will not weep at the death of one as vile as you. Instead I embrace the future of those like Ilfedo and Oganna who will seek righteousness and justice.”

In the midst of Specter’s musings the streams of color flashed with angry white. Over his shoulder he glimpsed the tunnel of light collapsing in his wake. His eyes widened in horror. He possessed knowledge spanning over a thousand years, yet he could not recall even a mention of anything similar to this occurrence.

The walls of his tunnel of light thinned. He glimpsed the black depths of space stretching in all directions. Stars flashed by in a blur, for his passage among them was swift. His heart thudded in his chest, such as he had not felt in a long time. He was helpless. Trapped. He had chosen wrong. By stepping into the portal he had succeeded in preserving the power of living fire, yet invariably he had doomed himself by passing into a failing portal.

He held the key of living fire before his face once again, frowning as he studied it. Could it be used to fuel the portal to propel him to the end of this journey? He shook his head, stuffing the key into the lining of his cloak. At least here, in the black depths of the sky, the key would remain safe. There was no greater hiding place than this.

Kneeling in the shimmering current, he resigned himself to the care of God. Nowhere else could he turn. He closed his eyes against the tears his heart longed to bleed. He released his dream for his own future life of quiet, and the possibility of finding a life of peace. War had been his existence. War, treachery, and violence.

Suddenly the floor dropped from under him. He opened his eyes as he tumbled headfirst down a side shaft of light. Behind him the air screamed out of the light tunnel. As he rolled down the side shaft he caught glimpses of the passage vanishing into the void of space.

To be continued (in great detail)…

Q: Would you like to see a Specter novel?