The audiobook version of Swords of the Six is fully recorded now! This is a big project but feels very rewarding. Right now I am taking all of the rough files and putting them through postproduction in preparation for their publication on Audible, Hoopla, iTunes, and other audiobook vendors.
I think this is going to finish at about 16 hours of listening time. The audio quality turned out better than I had hoped and I have found that the key with the narration is to simply relax, be myself, and sink into the story.
I have been promising you guys a more substantial sample of this audiobook, so here it is at last! This is the excerpt where albino the dragon hatches his daughters from their eggs. I hope that you enjoy it! It is my intention to have the audiobook published by this Christmas.
Swords of the Six (audiobook) chapter 4: Shizar Palace
Despite the craziness resulting from the worldwide spread of COVID-19, this has been a wonderfully productive season for my publishing efforts… and it is going to be extra productive these next couple of weeks! Why? Because my day job has laid me off due to the virus. The doors are closed and I will be home for at least two weeks. What does this mean for my writing, audio, and publishing efforts? An influx of creative time that equals writing and recording heaven for this introvert!
It is time to update you regarding the release of the new edition of Key Of Living Fire, building of my private audio recording studio, recording Swords Of The Six audiobook, and the updated edition of The Phantom’s Blade. Not only that, but having the series all re-released with their matching covers and updated content . . . puts me in position to write the next novels!
The new edition of Key of Living Fire is being published this week. It has been slightly expanded, and of course matches the new covers! Distribution is being set up through Ingram, so you will be able to buy the book anywhere books are sold, whether online or in a brick and mortar like Barnes & Noble. Also, this is being made available on Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and others.
The Phantom’s Blade is being released this month as well! There is no real content change to this title, only a redesign to bring it in line with the other books in the series. Like the others, this will become widely available in the next few months, both in print and in ebook formats.
HOME RECORDING STUDIO
The other bit of news is no less exciting. After many hours of careful planning and hard work, I have finally built an audio recording booth. It is tucked in the closet in my office, which makes it easy to record away from the busyness of home life. After all, I have five kids from the ages of two to nine. The recording booth allows me to shut out exterior sounds, keeping the audio clear of interference. It is a simple setup. Just a folding chair and a Blue Yeti microphone on the shelf made for it. Of course, you can see that I have a pop filter set up as well. My greatest challenge is keeping my kids out of it when they are supposed to. They think this is the biggest thing since dark chocolate!
While I am on the subject of audio recording, I have the first three chapters of Swords Of The Six recorded. I thought it would be nice to provide you with a sample, so here it is!
“The Beginning of Things” from SWORDS OF THE SIX
What’s next? With the original novels in The Sword of the Dragon series back in circulation, it is time for me to buckle down and write book five, In Search of Dragons. There are a couple of other writing projects I cannot wait to dig into, including the standalone fantasy novel The Dragon’s Eye Diamond . . .. But I am getting ahead of myself and the first project is In Search of Dragons.
Expect updates from me more frequently this month.
Due to my being home for a couple of weeks (maybe longer) I will be applying many extra hours to 1) publishing Key of Living Fire 2) publishing The Phantom’s Blade 3) recording Swords of the Six audiobook, and 4) finally delving fully into writingIn Search of Dragons (The Sword of the Dragon book 5).
As the details come together for the special edition release of Swords of the Six I would highly value some feedback at some options I am looking over! I thought of doing this as a poll, but for some reason I can’t find that function at this time. Yep, my technical know-how just went brain dead. So instead you can just comment with your preferences on these options:
Hardcover or Paperback?
6 x 9-inches, or 5.5 x 8.5-inches?
Author introduction, or not?
Should I include a glossary of names and places with a pronunciation guide?
Chapter titles, or simple numbering?
Should I incorporate my map drawings (same look and style as in Neverqueen)?
Audiobook: dramatized reading, or read by the author?
I am writing this article from my iPhone. Isn’t technology amazing? Only a decade ago I never would’ve dreamed of using one of these devices to accomplish my writing needs. You might think that I am off topic, if I am talking about verbs, but give me a second and I will get back around to the point.
One of my favorite Star Wars novels is titled Traitor and it was written by Mathew Stover. It was a fantastic read and I remember going back to it again and again to study the writing technique. Both the story and the dialogue felt exceedingly natural. Smooth as butter to read. Something that every writer strives to achieve, but does not always succeed in doing, when creating a novel.
I have seen interviews with some authors who no longer type out their stories, rather they will take a walk or a hike and dictate their books. Personally I find this fascinating. We can talk so much faster than we can type, but my fear is that going back and editing all of those pages of dictation will require too much work. But sitting here now, dictating to my iPhone for this article I am honestly astounded at where technology has come.
There is a learning curve to everything and I wonder where the next phase of writing will take us.
Most recently I have been finishing the rework of my first novel. It is turning out so well, and it is very satisfying to feel this way about it. But an odd thing has happened in the editing process. Odd to me anyway!
Over a decade ago when I first entered the book publishing world, I was instructed by several editors and a couple of respected writers to eliminate a lot of simple verbs in my stories. Verbs such as was, were, did, had, etc. The result was that I chose many substitutes for the simple verbs, opting for active verbs instead. Looking back now I am not so sure that was the right choice.
In the past few months I have read novels like Ender’s Game by Orson Scott card, and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Their use of verbs is far more similar to my first instincts on writing. I find this fascinating! And so in the reworking of Swords of the Six I have rewritten large portions, bringing it back to the more literary style that I have enjoyed in books I’ve read.
The truest form of storytelling is verbal narrative, And I feel that the best written stories read as if someone is telling you the story. Perhaps we have reached a point where the rules of writing are destroying the art of writing. And perhaps the technology that we now possess is capable of liberating us from the tyranny of what is acceptable to the gatekeepers. In part, at least, this is true.
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?
Most good stories that stand out in my mind as extremely memorable involve an extraordinary villain. One of my favorite films is The Black Hole, an old Disney science-fiction film. All of the characters in that movie are dramatic actors and the villain (as played by Maximilian Schell) is extremely memorable. He is a brilliant scientist and brooding. Every moment on screen he manages to drive deeper into your mind the threat he poses.
I remember when I was a kid sitting at my grandfather’s house and watching Star Wars: A New Hope for the first time (back then it was on VHS tape). The duel between Vader and Ben Kenobi fixated my attention like nothing else. I was intrigued. Who was this Vader? Why had he changed into a “master of evil” as Kenobi put it? These questions are the type that any good villain will raise in the mind of a book reader or a movie viewer.
Often a fiction writer focuses on finding ways to make the reader relate to the hero in the story. They show the character’s weaknesses and show how he/she overcame them in order to mature into the protagonist you’ll love. But too often the antagonist is a “cookie cutter villain.”
In the Harry Potter books Voldemort was glimpsed from his youth and shown as a ruthless man. In Tolkien’s The Silmarillion Melkor was revealed as being a corrupter of all good things… My point? There are many ways to approach villain creation as long as you take the time to develop that villain’s history.
When approaching the villains in my stories I try to remember that the characters’ histories will enable the reader to care about what happens to them. For example, when I wrote the opening for Swords of the Six I had to make the reader care about the villains so that they would want those villains to pay for their crimes, but I wanted the reader to be intrigued and ask questions as to why and how the villains had become the characters seen in the story.
It is imperative that you ask yourself:
What kind of childhood did this villain have? An orphan, an only child, or one of many children. A happy home or a depressed one. All of these considerations make us care about the villain even if we are rooting for their destruction.
Who mentored this villain, or whom do they look up to? Parents or the lack thereof and the mentors they look up to will shape the person you become. Understand how your villain thinks by understanding what mindset those around him have encouraged.
What motivates them in their villainous deeds? Often the motivation is power, yet the quest for supremacy is not motivation enough. There is an ideology behind each villain and reasons that they have forsaken a moral code. Know what motivates them and you will understand how they can change through the story in their encounters with other characters.
In The Black Hole the villain is an insane but genius scientist. He is both indispensable to the protagonists and at the same time they cannot allow him to continue.
In writing a villain we need to understand the personality’s impact on the fictional world and also what drives that personality. Adding depth to the character enables greater risk and greater reward when said villain is defeated or converted. Creating memorable villains is hard, but oh so worth it! In Swords of the Six I had the opportunity to show several types of villains, each with different motives, and the result was a story that leaves me the writer eager to explore the villains in depth and be more creative in determining their demises.
In most contemporary fantasy fiction there is a primary villain, and by some means the hero must kill that villain. The beauty of fiction, however, is the ability to take inspiration from historical events to produce an unexpected plot. Like when I was writing my first novel Swords of the Six… I wanted something different for the villain’s end.
Here are three ways for a villain to die!
Killed by the hero
Betrayal
Suicide
A great example of the first option would be Narnia where Aslan slays the White Witch. The second option was very effectively portrayed in one of my favorite novels Star Wars: The Last Command when Grand Admiral Thrawn is killed by his trusted Nogri bodyguard. And as for suicide I found it to be a powerful way to show how remorseful Kesla was for his sins in Swords of the Six. I derived the idea for Kesla’s end from how King Saul of Israel fell on his own sword when he knew that the Philistines had overcome him.
Question: What are some of your favorite examples of how villains died in fiction?
There are 3 elements that are key to a great story. Those elements are love, honor, and sacrifice. If you ask me “Why did Dantress have to die in Swords of the Six?” I will tell you that the scenario met all of those criteria.
This is very hard as a writer. It is always a challenge to create a story and spend time creating a character you love… and then be willing to kill that character off. Dantress had to die, for the good of the story. The consequence of giving birth would be that she must give up her life blood to the child in order for the child to live. What better way to endear Dantress to those around her? She became the epitome of self-sacrifice in the story. She was willing to give up her new life with her husband in order that her daughter could live.
From the perspective of the hero, Ilfedo, his wife was his dearest treasure. But because of the sweet gift of his daughter, his earthly purpose continued.
You have to have love, honor, and sacrifice. Eliminate any of these elements and the story suffer.
Question: What stories stand out in your mind because of one character’s selfless sacrifice? Does it endear the story to you and make it more memorable?
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