I couldn't decide quite where to put this, so I decided this section would do just fine.

I thought I should e xp lain to you folks why I've been absent from the forums so much over the last few months. A large part of it is that I've started a full-time job at a software company that takes up most of my time during the day. Another large part is due to the fact that my new apartment doesn't have internet access so I'm stuck using my Droid and office computer for personal internet needs.

However, the largest part is a rather large project I've undertaken that's taking up virtually every spare moment I have. I've actually resorted to working on it during my commute to/from work each day, which is a lot less dangerous than it sounds.

I'm in the process of writing/self publishing a young adult book series titled Relics of Providence. It's been a long, long, LONG uphill battle, but I'm finally at a point in my life where I have the time, motivation, and resources to finally get a book out, so I'm going for it.

I figured now that it's looking more and more likely to be happening, I'd give you folks a heads up if for nothing more than perhaps picking up a few fans who might have interest in it. The way I describe it to folks is that I've taken every genre of literature I love and crammed them into a trilogy of books that somehow manages to work.

So if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or advice on my little endeavor, feel free to let me know!

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]The way I describe it to folks is that I've taken every genre of literature I love and crammed them into a trilogy of books that somehow manages to work.

So if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or advice on my little endeavor, feel free to let me know![/quote]
What exactly are those genres you like?
Can you give us a synopsis of some sort?

Glad to hear from you again GW

PS- Apparently-- Relics of Providence -- is a domain name, did you know that? You can click on it in your post.

That's awesome... some of the members here are inspiring me to start putting some ideas I have on paper. I've always wanted to write some stories down and right a novel, less on the fantasy side and more on the crime drama-ish type. I just haven't had the time.

But good luck on your endeavors and I look forward to reading it some day.

Thanks for the support guys!!!

Thran, that domain is the site for the book. I'm keeping friends and family up to speed on the project as more than a few have been on me for years to write it. The first post on there has the synopsis but I'll give you folks a rundown of it tomorrow (when I'm at a full size keyboard instead of my phone ).

As far as which genres I've drawn my inspiratiin from, to state it outright might give away some of the story. What I can say is it has something for everyone. Plenty of mystery, perhaps a bit of the supernatural and even a fair bit of romance. It e xp lores fate, redemption, faith, and honor. I'm hoping the story will speak to a lot of people...

BC, it's a hard line to cross from dreaming and doing, to be sure. I've spent ten years with this story running through my mind. But I've set the goal now, and it's a freight train of sorts. I couldn't stop it now even if I wanted. That's what I had to do to finally put pen to paper. It's easily been the most rewarding e xp erience of my life, though. Go for it because the more time you don't the more you'll regret that hesitation later.

I am a big idea kind of guy and can lay out the scene and setting and events, but I know my limits and I am not good at writing dialogue, that is my biggest downfall. What do people really say in certain situations, etc.


I tell myself, if Stephanie Meyer can do it, so can I!!!

Well GW I didn't spend a lot of time on the web site (I think I read the first paragraph or two) and got the impression it was a home decor type of thing by some designer. It was pure coincidence I dragged my cursor over the name and noticed it.
Now that you've pointed this out I went back and read further.
No offense

So you asked for any suggestions.
My first would be a slight realignment within your web site, or perhaps a header that makes it clear it's about your books.
If a person is aware of its purpose then it's a no brainer, but I went to it by accident and got the wrong impression.
You don't really mention the books until scrolling down further.
Now that I "Get it", I'm anxious to read your first book. Sounds intriguing.

BC, I'm with you. I'm awful at certain aspects of writing. Which is why I have some editor-type friends of mine combing the book chapter by chapter to make sure it doesn't come out horrible. It's been a huge help to have a second and third set of eyes over my shoulder to make sure I'm not butchering human interactions...

You joke about Twilight, but that was pretty much my turning point. When I realized that people were relating to characters with as much depth as a puddle. I figured if someone else could be a success writing that? Well, maybe I stand a chance.

No worries, Thran! If anything it just means I need to tweak the page to look a little more accurate.

I went on their and grabbed the synopsis for the first book, as well:

Escape. That one thought had been on Sara’s mind ever since her father moved away and she was stuck in a backwoods New England town with her neglectful-at-best mother. The summer after high school was the only thing that stood between her and complete freedom, and she was certain there would never be any reason to want to stay in Berenson, Massachusetts. That was, of course, until she met him.


Insane. Gabriel was sure that’s what he was. The dreams had come back every night for months. They were always the same. The end of the world was coming, and it would be his fault. And now this strange girl was in them. He needed answers and was willing to believe anyone that could tell him who or what he was.


Drawn together, they must find a way to survive in a world tearing apart. Nothing is what it seems as Gabriel begins to realize how different he is and what he must do to keep his dreams from being set loose on reality.

If I had to cite one of my main inspirations for this story, it would have to be The Stand by Stephen King. Which of course was inspired by Lord of the Rings. So that might tell you a bit more about what you can e xp ect.

[quote=""BladeCollector""]That's awesome... some of the members here are inspiring me to start putting some ideas I have on paper. I've always wanted to write some stories down and right a novel, less on the fantasy side and more on the crime drama-ish type. I just haven't had the time.[/quote]
Gotta ditto your comments here BC.
A lot of inspiration comes to me due to posts made in this forum. Much of it inspiring my collection display, some of it motivating me to continue writing.
I've been putting some things down for years, but never really pounding the key board with real discipline.
Lately I've been thinking I should dedicate some time to it as a break from other projects to balance things out a bit.
I guess part of my problem is that I could care less if it gets published, my motivation is to just tell the story.

Perhaps GW's first book will really push me over the top and I'll just go for it.

Last year at this time I was waiting with great anticipation for the release of a book in November;
Here we go again!

Thran, you could easily go the route I am. It's a lot of work, but well worth it.

I'm self publishing entirely through Amazon. I'm publishing on Kindle (Which can be used on pretty much any electronic device now...) and through CreateSpace, a company owned by Amazon that prints books on demand. So my book is not kept in stock, it's printed whenever someone orders it. I'm hoping to distribute to some local (Massachusetts) independent book stores as well.

Thus far the -only- e xp enses I've incurred is the $10 per year cost for a domain name. There is no cost otherwise. Even if you wanted to create a book and have it printed just for yourself you can do it for a few bucks per book.

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]
I'm self publishing entirely through Amazon. I'm publishing on Kindle (Which can be used on pretty much any electronic device now...) and through CreateSpace, a company owned by Amazon that prints books on demand. So my book is not kept in stock, it's printed whenever someone orders it.[/quote]


This is more or less what I plan to do also. I wasn't aware of CreateSpace, however. Although publishing on Kindle is an easy way to self-publish and cut through a lot of hassle, I've been torn on the purely-digital format (especially for the subject matter with my story). I love physical books, and would ideally like the book itself to be a work of art that you can hold in your hand and flip through. But we'll see... first thing's first.

I am anxious to read both of your works GW and Sed. I am becoming more and more inspired to write mine, maybe one day we will all be on the New York Times best sellers list.

[quote=""Sedhal""]This is more or less what I plan to do also. I wasn't aware of CreateSpace, however. Although publishing on Kindle is an easy way to self-publish and cut through a lot of hassle, I've been torn on the purely-digital format (especially for the subject matter with my story). I love physical books, and would ideally like the book itself to be a work of art that you can hold in your hand and flip through. But we'll see... first thing's first. [/quote]

I believe it was only a few weeks ago that I finally gave in and bought my very first piece of digital-only content. So trust me I'm with you. CreateSpace seems to be a good company and I trust Amazon overall. I don't know too many Kindle-only readers, but it's easy enough to publish on there. CreateSpace is the way to go. I can give you a better review of the company in a few months, though.

Thanks GW for all the info.
While I was a little bit aware of these new techniques in publishing, I admit it's all so new to me I needed your input.
I was actually thinking of just publishing it on the internet for anyone to read, but hey, a little here, a little there, would be cool too.

The greatest advantage of these new techniques is that you find out if people truly like your read. I wouldn't be surprised if publishers watch these kinds of things closely so they can jump in and take a grab at one that's doing well (you know, come to you and make an offer for the rights).

Anyway, it's all that much more motivating for me.
Glad you started this thread

Glad I did, too. Looks like we've got more than a few potential authors in our little corner of the 'net. Definitely glad to know I'll have some support in my work and lend support to those trying the same.

GW... count on at least one being sold. I will be more than happy to buy a copy of your book to help support you in your endeavors.

Thanks BC. It means a lot to me to pick up a fan. Especially one I'm not related to.

[quote=""BladeCollector""]GW... count on at least one being sold. I will be more than happy to buy a copy of your book to help support you in your endeavors.[/quote]
Me too

Thanks, Thran! As the time is rapidly approaching I'm getting more and more excited about the whole thing!!!

Relating to this, I recently made a post on my site regarding a recent debate going on regarding the dark themes in Young Adult literature that some of you might be interested in:

http://www.relicsofprovidence.com/2011/ ... ature.html

I wouldn't mind getting some opinions from you folks. Especially those of you who have sisters, brothers, or children who fall in the Young Adult ages (typically 11-17, but it's loosely defined).

Concerning your post about the YA genre and the debate going on; I can only say this is a never ending, nothing new, been around for ever and a day issue.

It doesn't surprise me that this is considered new when labeled YA. YA is new, but the heart of the debate is old. Any parent not concerned about their child and the input they are getting, is a lousy parent. Censorship is essentially wrong. Sheltering your child to the point of ignorance is the epitome of stupidity. I'm reminded of a 15 y/o girl who asked in anatomy class what a vagina was. Ya think she got pregnant by accident or ignorance?

The issues that young people are faced with in this day and age are daunting compared to when I was growing up. Kids got into fist fights then. There were no knives, and guns were just plain unheard of in the school setting. Kids died from alcohol related car accidents back then, just as is today.

I read most of the article, and listened to most of the radio program. To raise the issue for the sake of making sure adults are aware is right, but I don't think being realistic about very real issues is wrong, and including these topics in today's literature only makes sense to me.

The real question is whether the literature glorifies these dark issues or brings them to light in a positive way. I'm a big fan of over-comers, not of give-inners.

The darkest, and hardest times of my life have built my strongest character attributes. I'm grateful for persevering though them. The impact I've witnessed on others who stood by and watched as I went through these times has been enormous. None of that would be true if I had given up.

I think that if literature is going to go down a dark road, an author has an obligation to bring hope and light to it for the sake of impact on their reader.

In the LOTR EE appendices concerning Tolkien's writing, they mention eucastastrophy(sp?), the taking of a horrible event and having it turned around in the end for the betterment and good of all. They mention the tragedy of Christ's crucifixion in relation to what it ultimately meant for all mankind.

I've read a lot of YA over the years and even now in my 20's I continue to read primarily YA books.

You're entirely right, Thran. I have no issue with the talk being brought to light. However, it's being brought to light negatively. As though it's definitively too dark and we should change it. I think Scott Westerfeld summed it up best (his article was linked in my post as well):

A parent goes into a teenager’s room and says, “I just heard from the wise people at the Wall Street Journal that the books you kids read these days are mostly dark and horrible and will make you cut yourself and take drugs. Let me check your books so I can make sure this is not true!”


Seriously. How do you think that conversation’s going to go?
Eyes will be rolled, tempers will rise, and more than likely this parent will be made to feel dreadfully foolish. (Teenagers are good at this last bit.) Frankly, being easily manipulated by alarmists in the media is not a good look for anyone.


But let’s say a parent goes into that same kid’s room and says:


“Hey, I just heard that young adult lit sales have grown by double digits every year for the last decade. You teens read so much that it’s the only profitable part of publishing! And now Hollywood wants to make everything you read into movies, and more adults than ever before are reading YA! And I heard that huge crowds show up at bookstores and rented venues when popular YA writers are in town! And that many YA writers have tens of thousands of followers on the Twitter machine, if not hundreds of thousands! And that every November countless teenagers support each other in WRITING THEIR OWN NOVELS! Holy crap, we didn’t do that in my benighted day of juvenile sloth. It’s just awesome how dedicated you and your peers are to reading. Can you please lend me some of these great books?”It's the difference between fear mongering journalism and true journalism. There's a story here, to be sure. YA is dealing with dark topics at young ages, but it appeals to the readers. So that says more about the world our kids are growing up in.

For the record, I have no children. And to be honest, I don't think I'd want to raise a kid in today's world. Not necessarily because I think the world is so terrible, but there are so many more issues being thrown at kids now that I even I don't understand.

In any case, I think there's a discussion to be had. I don't think that there is any need for it to be negative in any way, though. If I -did- have children, I would not have any problem with them picking any book off the young adult bookshelves at any age. If they want to read? Let them. I'd sooner set a child loose in my nearest bookstore than let them watch any of the reality shows that litter TV now.

So guys, with all this talk of writing and all of you saying you'd be interested in giving it a go, what are your ideas about?

I dont have a lot of details worked out just yet, but I have a couple of ideas for two different genres.

One is a modern psychological thriller type about a therapist who could very well be the reason these women are going to therapy.

The other is in the realm of fantasy but this one isn't as clear because I am so influenced by LOTR and other works that I am trying to make something my own. I don't want to "rehash" things that have already been done. I guess I am more nervous about my fantasy ideas.

It is pretty difficult to differentiate your own work from others in similar genres. I try not to think about it too much though, as these days everything is fairly derivative. My own work is inspired by quite a few things. In fact I joke that 90% of the book is homages, which isn't too much of an exaggeration. I'd say every chapter has some subtle reference to something that inspired me. Hell, I managed to get one of my favorite musical groups to sign off on me using lyrics from one of their songs in the book, which still messes with my head...

Fantasy in the realm of LOTR is impossible to get yourself entirely away from. You'll feel awkward just using elves, dwarves and orcs, ya know? The only thing I would recommend is to look into mythology. I recently read a book that drew upon Celtic myths in the modern age which was done really well.

The psychological thriller is very intriguing. I don't normally find mystery novels as a genre all that interesting. But every book needs a little bit of mystery, I think. Being a psych major, I love the psychology angle. I love to build my characters around their diagnosable flaws.

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]

Fantasy in the realm of LOTR is impossible to get yourself entirely away from.
[/quote]


Hard, but not impossible.


Personally, I find inspirations outside of whatever "genre" (BS term, by the way) I'm working on. For my so-called "fantasy" story, I'm more inspired by Sci-Fi and Westerns than Fantasy, thematically (and since the theme decides genre more so than temporal setting or the props used, I sometimes tell people it's a Sci-Fi).


I find the key to most influence is to exclude the most prominent. Don't use elves and dwarves because LOTR made you love them. Use why you love them to do something similar to something new. Or put a new twist on something old. I find many fantasy works are simply fan fictions of whatever inspired them. That severely limits the story. If you're drawing heavily and solely on LOTR, for example, you're never going to measure up (let alone surpass it). Truth is, it shouldn't attempt to surpass. It should be perpendicular -- by that, I mean it should go its own route entirely. You don't compare Citizen Kane and Lord of the Rings. Staying in the groove of the larger work will keep yours in the shadows.

So out of my love for Lord of the Rings, the biggest inspiration I find in it, is to avoid it. Been done, been done. Homages are their own thing entirely, however. But just know the difference between an homage and lazy recycling (IE: Michael Bay's Sentinel Prime voiced by Leonard Nimoy recycling one of Spock's most famous lines -- cringe!)

But anyway, my point is not to draw on any one thing. I approach art the same way: don't sit down and copy a single photo reference to make something "new", take everything you know from your whole life and use that vague impression to try your best. No two people are alike, and I guarantee you'll get more originally just e xp ressing yourself than using a reference. Let it come naturally. There are certainly striking examples in my mind for the work I do, but to count each and every one would take a lifetime itself!

For example. One of the biggest influences on me in general is actually Metal Gear Solid for the PS1, directed by Hideo Kojima. It was a pioneer of cinematic gaming, but above that, the story, characters, atmosphere, everything just embedded itself in my mind for life. There are many other works like this, of course, but you can't deny it's still an influence on what I do now, whether it be the same genre or an entirely different one. Not that you should approach every genre with the same intent or even perspective, but you should approach them all as you. Not Tolkien for fantasy and Philip K. Dick for sci-fi. Approach them both as yourself. Use everything at your disposal, and that includes excluding anything. Then focus that beam on whatever it is you're doing and you'll find your own inspiration in no time.


My two cents.

I went to see Transformers tonight and I caught the famous Spock line also I noticed the 2 little autobots watching a Trek episode with Spock in it early in the film, although I did like the resemblance they got between Sentinel Prime and Nimoy. Nimoy has such a powerful voice.


GW, you are completely right on about using "orc, elves or dwarfs"...I know more authors than Tolkien have used them, but they are now synonymous with LOTR.

Stephanie Meyer has ruined modern perceptions of werewolves and vampires. So there is plenty of room to fix that issue

I too, am really interested in psychology, hence my Master's degree in psychology and hopefully one day PhD in psychology, so I have put a lot of thought into this one.

I know must people don't jumped from genre to genre, but hey, why can't I.

[quote=""BladeCollector""]I dont have a lot of details worked out just yet, but I have a couple of ideas for two different genres.

One is a modern psychological thriller type about a therapist who could very well be the reason these women are going to therapy.[/quote]
This is dead on BC. I'm not going into details but I can tell you for sure that I know of one psychologist who has nothing more in mind than making sure his clients keep coming back.
In other words, he's doing nothing to help them overcome their problems, and doing a lot to make sure they don't.

A psychologist who plays enabler is really sick.

Too much said by all here about fantasy and getting away from Tolkien to quote.
I agree with all of you on this. Tolkien is the bedrock of fantasy and if you write in this category, you can't help but touch on something others will say is Tolkien.
RA Salvatore runs parallel to Tolkien, but what makes his work unique is that he made great characters out of what is already there.
There's elves, dwarves, and men.
Orcs, goblins, trolls, giants, etc.
His adventure is just more same ole same ole, but he gives such intense personality to his characters, it makes his work fun to read. The interactions between these characters (once you get to know them) is full of laughs as well as tears.
I'll sum it up by saying this:
There's Legolas who is hands down a very cool elf, but then there's Drizzt Do'Urden who is just as cool, if not cooler because of the depth Salvatore has put into his character.
Legolas and Drizzt would be best of friends if they met each other.

Hello, everyone!

My apologies for such a long absence. It's not that I have abandoned the UCF, it's just that I had (and still have) too much other things to do.

I wouldn't be here today either, but I've been talking to Sedhal, and in the middle of our conversation he told me about a member here who is about to publish a novel. For real. I was sincerely amazed just by hearing that, so I went through this thread and the linked web page.

Right now, I'm replying to this particular quote:

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]So if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or advice on my little endeavor, feel free to let me know![/quote]

First of all, I need to congratulate and applaud GuardianWolf for creativity. It's a great thing to have. It's the best of things. Passion that comes with it deserves another thumb up, so here they are:



(Unfortunately, here comes the "however" part already.)

However, too soon was I struck (quite literally) by a few things the others haven't (or didn't want to) notice and/or share.

As a reader, with moderate to high e xp ectations, I will try my best to e xp lain these few things.

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]What I can say is it has something for everyone. Plenty of mystery, perhaps a bit of the supernatural and even a fair bit of romance. It e xp lores fate, redemption, faith, and honor. I'm hoping the story will speak to a lot of people...[/quote]

Right about here, already, GuardianWolf lost a potential reader, maybe even a fan. All the interest that has been sparked by a simple realization that there's a new author lurking in our forums was shattered by this single, incredibly disappointing post.

If I had a dime for every time I went through an introduction similar to this one, I'd own the complete Peter Lyon's Master Swordsmith's Collection by now. Why -- why? -- would I want to read a book that offers exactly the same themes as a billion others on the market offered already? Fate. Redemption. Faith. Honor. M y s t e r y. These have become the most washed-up cliches of literature, cinema, gaming and whatnot. Is it really that hard to turn the tables on this?

Tell the tale, give me a bit of taste for the story. Messages and themes will roll out naturally themselves, but I need to be drawn into the writer's web, instead of being molested by the same-old-same-old fateredemptionfaithhonormystery (oh, and there's a bit of romance too) previews even before I open the first page. A novel is not written with a help of a recipe, and I'm really not intrigued by the ingredients I already tasted countless times... since last weekend.

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]I'm awful at certain aspects of writing. Which is why I have some editor-type friends of mine combing the book chapter by chapter to make sure it doesn't come out horrible. It's been a huge help to have a second and third set of eyes over my shoulder to make sure I'm not butchering human interactions...[/quote]

Imagine a film director confessing he's awful at certain aspects of directing. I clearly doubt that any sane producer would give him the required funds for his work. And a sane producer certainly wouldn't employ another director (and then the third) to cover the lacks of the first one.

What I see here is a storyteller who's been working on a project for a decade, yet still there's a thought (a thought he voluntarily shares) that the book might come out horrible. I believe that any author should claim that he owns an H-bomb of a work; nothing short of a genuine masterpiece (even if he doesn't quite believe in it), because if he doubts his work -- and openly says that -- then how can the audience buy it?

(And just a thought... if the author is a psych major, as he claims, I'd e xp ect him to know everything about human interactions -- not that he might be able "to butcher them".)

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]You joke about Twilight, but that was pretty much my turning point. When I realized that people were relating to characters with as much depth as a puddle. I figured if someone else could be a success writing that? Well, maybe I stand a chance.[/quote]

I think this isn't only the worst thing to share, but also the most dangerous of thoughts that can cross the writer's mind. Basically, what I'm reading here is (correct me if I'm wrong and pardon my French):

"Well, if there's already such a successful piece of crap out there, perhaps I stand a chance with my *potential* piece of crap too."

Any creative, passionate and gifted author should strive to burn all the literary abominations like "Twilight," (or at least to overshadow them if burning is not possible), but he should never think of them as a living proof, or even a comforting thought, that everything can be sold to public.

Yes, everything can be sold to public, but is it really selling the ultimate goal here? If it is, then I missed the point altogether, and feel free to ignore whatever I said.

This speaks more about the writer's lack of confidence, but also about how he treats his work, using things like Stephanie Meyer's gibberish as a lifeline in his aspirations.

The correct approach should be, of course:

"This is my hour; now I'll show them what a bestseller is, how it should look like, and how much all these mountains of dung actually stunk before I came along."

[quote=""GuardianWolf""]My own work is inspired by quite a few things. In fact I joke that 90% of the book is homages, which isn't too much of an exaggeration. I'd say every chapter has some subtle reference to something that inspired me.[/quote]

They say that 100% of our imagination is built from things we already know. Therefore, I understand that we cannot escape from things that inspire us.

But I think they should always be cleverly concealed.

A collection of homages is something that nobody wants to read (at least not for a long period of time). Nobody wants to be thrown out of the story with numerous winks to this or that. It kills the originality, it kills the individualism, and more than everything, it's a strong proof of a lack of imagination. Audience constantly craves for something new, something fresh, something yet unheard-of -- definitely not a collage of recycled images.



I could go on for hours, but I decided to restrain myself from deeper analysis, so I only went for these few things that really stood out for me after the first reading.

Do I (the reader) want to read his (the writer's) novel, after learning so much about his confidence and character from only a few online posts and shared thoughts? No. I'm not even remotely interested in "Relics of Providence." I want a writer to be my teacher -- not a pupil.

Aside the writer's insecurity. A careful observer will find a typo here and there in his posts and the website, and too much of an untidy (graphically-wise) sheets of text. Tiny things like these might seem irrelevant to some, but believe me, such delicate signs of sloppiness keep telling their tale, post after post. It all makes me wonder automatically: how much does he care about the details? does he ever re-read his material? is he worried about the impression that he's about to leave every time he logs on?

Obviously the writer knows well what he is supposed to do technically-wise (Internet is a bliss for creative minds of the 21st century, and he mastered the obvious, but needful first steps in gaining the required attention -- forum discussions, website, amazon publishing, merchandise, etc). Personally, I didn't like any of it, it's just doesn't have... it, and if there should be a team invited to intervene, this department -- not the human interactions one -- would be in need of a good comb, and a second and third set of eyes.

Now, let me try to e xp lain some of these impressions of mine via the good old contrast.

In these same forums, there's a member I know for a long time: Sedhal. Take a look at his messages, and the way he communicates with the online community. His text is incredibly tidy, his posts are well constructed (many of those are a little essays), bursting with character, all straight to the point. He has an immense knowledge about the themes he's talking about. He has a refined taste, and he's an incredibly skilled artist. And what is the most important characteristic that everyone can read between his lines? He has guts. He is confident about what he's saying and what he's working on. He's able to intrigue people through his ever-improving artwork. Do I agree with him about everything? Hell, no. We had our fights, and we'll always reach some minor disagreement here and there. But would I like to read a novel he is about to write, see a movie he's about to film, listen to a symphony he's about to compose? Hell, yes.

I love tennis. It's my favorite sport, my all-time favorite game. However, I'm not six feet tall to have a lethal serve, and, which is way worse, I simply do not have the mental edge when it comes to key points. I played many matches and I've learned my lesson, and what did I do? I quit training. I had to. And I embraced some other things in life, some I'm actually good at, but with all the will, passion, countless hours and gallons of sweat, I've learned that tennis, unfortunately, just isn't for me.

It's actually that simple: you have it, or you don't.

Good thing is, every one of us (or the majority) has something. Some thing or two we can master, enjoy, and be good at.

We just have to find that something and stick to it as firm as possible -- but never waste our time on something we're simply not made for.

Welcome back, Ed!!! Always makes me happy to have our veterans still here!

I could respond to eahc of your concerns, but as I've said above, my sole means of communication is through my phone at the moment, which makes it almost impossible to scroll up and recap, so I'm just going to try and hit the ones I took note of.

First, my insecurities about my project. Basically, I consider you folks my friends and support structure to some degree. I have no trouble telling you guys my concerns and worries, especially as it appliesyour own projects. For the folks on here considering doing something similar, it's hard to get started because you're worried about falling short. Failing. Being imperfect. Fact is you can't be perfect. All you can do is aspire to be. You acknowledge the fear and move on. I'm worried about my book sucking. I have no problem admitting that fear. I'm a programmer by career. I'm not rolling in six figure book deals. So I'm untested. But that's not to say I lack confidence. If I lacked confidence I wouldn't be bothering to work what's essentially become a second full time job with nothing but my own satisfaction assured. My book is going to be selling at cost. I don't intend to be making any amoney on this book. I'm a nobody. Selling my book at market price would be foolish.

As for my description of what the book is about it's about I did simple toss out a few cliches. I don't think anyone would want to read a book simple because it's a "mystery" or "romance". I was being deliberatly vague because a) at this point I'm not comfortable putting it into a box. I want my story to have some growing room. It's been evolving for ten years now and damned if it's not still changing...and b) I'm painfully shy when it comes to my writing. Anoher fear/weakness my whole project is helping to overcome. But for no, baby steps.

As faras my homages goes, I think you misunderstand me. I'm merely paying tribute to my muses with light references. Naming a nightclub after a favorite character. Naming a school after a favorite story. Hey're references but it's more of a respect thing. A lot of artists brought me to where I am, and I want something in my story that fans of those can smile about. It's one of my own favorite things when I'm reading a book, so I thought I'd do it myself. It is by no means rehashing what's been done before.

Being self published means I get to do most if not all of the work myself. Typos are inevitable, especially with a slow acting cell phone screen to type on... but if you have specifics, please let me know! I -loathe- typos...I'm positive I have some in here already, heh...

As I said, I'm a programmer by career. Which speaks to my overly logicaly way of thinking. Thus my character interactions sometimes slip into equations. I need people to point them out to me, which is exactly what my editirs do. Not to mention having female characters in the book and as hard as I ty I simply don't know how they think. I've had to get advice on what they would wear, how hey would do certain things, etc. Basically I'm making you kind gents privy to the most challenging part of writing. He research.

I can admit my shortcomings and my efforts to overcome them. I could be entirely silent about them to you guys, but your my friends. Treating you like customers only would be insulting. And if my flaws convince even one other person to go for it? Well then I'd rather look like an incompetent fool than a saint. I think when it boils down to it, that's all I really want out of my writing "career". To change a life somewhere. You guys are my friends on a forum. We don't interact eveyday and there are some hings we don't interact about at all. I could sit here and tell you about a book that saved my life, but it's not something I'm comfortable doing. That one autgor changed my life significantly and if my efforts get one person to turn a corner? Then I'm considering myself a success. Even if that means inspiring them through my own flaws.

And wih that my battery is dying. So I think I hit some of your points! All very well made, by the way. I do long for some good criticism because as of yet I've onoy gotten it in regards to my writing and none towards my markting which is a completely foreign thing to me. So thank you!

Now I'm off to plug away at my draftv into the wee morning hours. I'm hoping to have my skelton draft sone in two weeks whih means I've got 20 or 30 thousand words screaming to be set loose. Good night, folks.

In the continued effort to keep you folks up to date on my adventures (or misadventures, if you prefer...) into the world of writing/self-publishing/self-marketing/self-everything I figured I'd give you guys a quick update

http://www.relicsofprovidence.com/2011/07/drafted.html

If you don't feel like clicking the above post, I can officially say that at 110,000 words the first draft of Guardian (the first book of the trilogy) was finished last night.

It's an incredibly surreal feeling to stare at the screen and realize "Damn, I just wrote a book..." Needless to say, I've been walking on air all day.

Having finally finished the first huge step, I can say that I'm very proud of this book. While it still needs a fair bit of polishing, there are so many pieces of it that I can't wait for people to read. I'm giving myself a full two months to edit it between 4 and 5 hours a night minimum, then I'm giving a second round of editors a chance to give it a read and see if it requires more tweaking and grammar fixes. I'm right on schedule with my original planning, and the November release is on track!

Congrats GW!

I hear you on the editing aspect of writing, it definitely eats up far more time.

One thing that hit me as I began my story was how many words were ending up on paper. I recognized I was grazing the surface of the entire concept with what I had already written. I went from thinking trilogy, to thinking more like trilogy of trilogies. If I can get it all down and stay under a million words, I'll be fortunate.

I'd like a shot at being one of your pre-publishing guinea pigs after your first round editors are done, and you can still count me in on a purchase of the final.

Thanks, Thran!

Yeah...I printed up the draft to sit and read through in a week or so. I think I wiped out a patch of the rainforest doing so...damn thing is heavy...heh. So few projects in life can be intangible one minute and very, very tangible in the next. Messes with your head.

I was told when I first started writing that the average YA novel hits 75-100k words. I aimed for 75 and hit 110. Since I'm self-publishing, it's not as though they won't accept it, though. So I don't necessarily need to cut out a chunk of words. After glancing through the draft when I was finished, I have no idea where I would even do so. If anything, I need to add -more- to it. So I might just do some research to see if that 75-100 is just what that author typically puts out per book. I suppose it's actually pretty pointless to worry about because I'm quite sure the third book is going to be double the size. At least. Ah well.

Actually, Thran, I was planning on asking you to be one of the second round editors. There are quite a few plot elements I'd love to get your input on that I think would be up your alley. I'm not sure if the YA style will appeal to you too much, but I think the content will. That and I'm pretty sure you'll be brutally honest if the situation calls for it.

I've got 2 other folks I'm going to give it to, and my 2 first round editors are just wrapping up their reading now. If anything, they're legitimately angry with me that I won't start the second one now, and they're texting me at all hours to run theories by me as to what they think is going to happen. Good sign, I figure. So that'll be five sets of eyes besides my own to make sure it isn't terrible. A bit ashamed to say that my modesty is pretty much dead when it comes to this project, though. I may not be willing to say I'm sitting on gold, but I've got no problem saying that I'm sitting on silver.

I like silver better anyways.

Congrats on achieving this feat!

Although its not the exact same thing, but you are probably feeling the same as I was feeling when I FINALLY finished and turned in my thesis once and for all. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world, especially when one of my committee members, who is a notoriously hard grader and really really picky, told me my thesis was one of the most well written and concise paper that she had ever read!

I am anxious for a chance to read it!

Looking forward to it GW

BC, I feel for you...going to finish up a Masters degree in the next two semesters. I have to do a bit of research work and whatnot. Really not looking forward to it, but I'd rather not leave the degree undone with so little left on it...

I'm actually toying with the idea of sending it out to agents...not sure yet, though. It's a tricky decision to make, really. The concern came to me for two reasons. A friend of a friend of mine recently put her manuscript out there and got a lot of bites and it made me realize I had never really even considered it. I saw the ease of self-publishing and just went with it. But I also made a trek over to Borders today and I realized that with them going under, the only chain bookstore out there now is Barnes and Noble. And I don't know about you guys, but they were never as far spread in the Northeast as Borders was, which may be why Borders crashed but that's another topic entirely. The issue now is that Amazon is the only bookseller now for all intents and purposes. Between Amazon and indie bookstores (which I plan to sell at as well) there really isn't a market that an agent/publisher could get me that I couldn't get myself at this point...

It's going to be a bit of research and decision making over the next few months while I edit and rewrite my draft...Either way though, I'll let you guys give it a read by November. Whether it's just a draft or the final paperback copy remains to be seen!

BC, I feel for you...going to finish up a Masters degree in the next two semesters. I have to do a bit of research work and whatnot. Really not looking forward to it, but I'd rather not leave the degree undone with so little left on it...

I'm actually toying with the idea of sending it out to agents...not sure yet, though. It's a tricky decision to make, really. The concern came to me for two reasons. A friend of a friend of mine recently put her manuscript out there and got a lot of bites and it made me realize I had never really even considered it. I saw the ease of self-publishing and just went with it. But I also made a trek over to Borders today and I realized that with them going under, the only chain bookstore out there now is Barnes and Noble. And I don't know about you guys, but they were never as far spread in the Northeast as Borders was, which may be why Borders crashed but that's another topic entirely. The issue now is that Amazon is the only bookseller now for all intents and purposes. Between Amazon and indie bookstores (which I plan to sell at as well) there really isn't a market that an agent/publisher could get me that I couldn't get myself at this point...

It's going to be a bit of research and decision making over the next few months while I edit and rewrite my draft...Either way though, I'll let you guys give it a read by November. Whether it's just a draft or the final paperback copy remains to be seen!