Are you doing Camp NaNo? I wasn’t sure if I was going to this year or not until I made a goal on the Nano website before bed at 4:00am on April 1st.
Which… might not be the best time of day to be setting goals. Since I’m a night owl, that’s really still an hour before I would normally go to bed, but still.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, Camp Nano is basically NaNoWriMo Light.
NaNoWriMo consists of a bunch of writers buoying each other’s spirits as they each try to write 50 thousand words in a month (November).
Camp NaNo takes place in April and writers get to set their own goals for the month. It can even be editing rather than writing.
So, way too late at night for goal setting, I decided that I’d shoot for adding 20 thousand words to The Regonia Chronicles. Not a bad goal, considering the mild sleep deprivation that prompted it.
The challenge will be doing this alongside prepping release stuff for Allmother Rising and editing A Blessed Darkness. I guess I could make an editing goal, too.
But anyway, 20k words isn’t a bad goal.
By and large, I usually have no idea what’s coming in my books. I don’t exactly plan them. If I did, I would’ve known that The Regonia Chronicles was going to be multiple books rather than just one.
But I sorta have an idea of what’s coming for the next little portion.
Climb a mountain. Hope to avoid lightning storms while on said mountain. Avoid alien abduction while attempting to forge an alliance with a warrior tribe that fears you’ve brought a disease from the stars.
You know. Normal, every day shit.
So, maybe since I know what’s coming (to a degree) I’ll be able to just bust right through those 20k words.
But in all likelihood, a million complications will come up and draw out the progression of it all. Maybe someone will fall off a cliff.
*shrugs*
We’ll see.
I’m hoping to finish writing this series this year and finish the editing by next spring in order to maintain my publishing schedule. As long as it doesn’t blossom into too many additional books, that should be possible. Right now, it’s looking like three or four plus a novella prequel.
I *think* I know the general plot of the rest of book three and most of book four. And there are a few additions and adjustments that need made to books one and two.
But for now, I’m just going to concentrate on the 20 thousand words for this month.
Are you participating in Camp NaNo?
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So, it’s no secret that I’m not a fan of insta-love in books, whether I’m writing or reading.
I much prefer the sweet, drawn out tension of a slow burn. That will they/won’t they, that back and forth, is just way more appealing to me.
But I’m not sure I’ve ever explained why except to a few individuals.
Now, bear in mind, this is just my opinion. You’re free to write or read whatever you want. In fact, I actively encourage it. The literary world needs to serve all readers and writers.
But that’s a rant I’ve done before.
On to the topic at hand.
To me, insta-love just isn’t immersive or realistic.
I know that sounds rich coming from a sci-fi/fantasy writer. Magic and dragons and werewolves aren’t real.
But that’s the element of the fantastical that I prefer.
I want the characters, their personalities, and their interactions to be believable and immersive.
Instantly falling in love just isn’t believable for me.
Instant attraction, yeah. That makes way more sense. That happens to people all over the globe, day in and day out.
But if two characters just fall in love within a day or a week, I start trying to figure out if they have some sort of attachment problems, psychologically speaking.
And that isn’t usually what insta-love writers want their readers focusing on.
Plus, I always find myself picking out red flags, little things the characters should notice about each other (but don’t), and find it all a little worrisome.
Because there are usually a few.
Or a lot.
So I just tend to stay away from insta-love books, in general.
There are exceptions, of course.
If it’s written into the fabric of the world and based in a magical element…that makes more sense to me. Or in books where the aim is to show the dangers of losing yourself in a relationship, insta-love makes sense then, too.
But it just doesn’t work for me, outside of those few exceptions.
I’ll take the slow progress, the building chemistry, the back and forth and will they/won’t they of a slow burn over insta-love any day.
Again, this is all personal opinion. I strongly advise you to read or write whatever you want.
Where do you stand on the matter?
Come back next week to find out why I write romance into even my darkest books.
Now, as far as my progress on my books is concerned.
I finished the first round of edits on Second to None last week, battled countless technological demons, wrote about 6,000 words in The Regonia Chronicles, decided to move the divider between book one and two within the series, and got A Heart of Salt & Silver up for preorder in paperback and ebook. The hardback will be available soon.
Check it out here: mybook.to/AHeartOfSaltAndSilver
I need to jump into another round of edits on either Allmother Rising or Where Darkness Leads, soon.
I’d say that I’ll have eventually have fewer projects going at once, but that would be a lie. And I’m okay with that.
The week before last, I completely redid the cover for A Heart of Salt & Silver. I’m so happy with how it turned out. I have a few more steps before I can reveal it to you all, but it’s coming.
But last week, something happened that hasn’t happened in a long time.
The sci-fi muses visited me.
The Regonia Chronicles has been sitting on the back burner for a while, like… a long ass time.
But while at work, I was listening to music and came across a song that just… resonated with the story.
It had an epic sound to it, with lots of dips and crescendos.
And I just started picturing the scenes from the book as if they were in a movie trailer.
And now, for the first time in about a year, I want to jump back into writing that one.
It’s insane the effect that music can have on us, especially in creative endeavors. Finding that perfect song to listen to during a scene can really make the writing experience that much better.
It’s part of why I’m trying something new with The Regonia Chronicles. I’ve written a soundtrack into it.
The Regonians of Daen Tribe are very music oriented. it’s deeply rooted into their culture. So, of course, when they hear human music, it’s a big deal. They notice the songs, and check displays for what song is playing.
So, when they check, I put the song title and artist (and year, because in the human society of 3018, songs over 1,000 years old are completely free, songs over 500 years old can be downloaded in batches of 100 for a single credit, over 250 years old cost a credit for 50, etc., so the year is necessary for their pricing.)
I’ve timed them for my reading speed, which I know isn’t universal. I’ll have to look up average reading speeds and go from there later. I’ll also need to make the playlist public on Google Play at some point. But those are tasks for editing.
Of course, the songs aren’t necessary for the reading experience and have no bearing on the plot. The books can be read without ever looking up a single song.
But I kinda like that extra element.
And it’s just one more thing that makes me excited to jump back into that series.
I just need to push through the rest of Second to None, first.
And if i’m being honest, this thriller may well turn into a short story. I’m about halfway through the plot and sitting at about 10,500 words.
So, basically, I just need to keep that song around me, wrap up in it like a blanket, and hammer through the rest of Second to None before the sci-fi muses desert me, again.
Which means I have some fun times ahead of me. Second to None is about to get bloody. Those characters have a lot to deal with.
But compared to the shit going down in book two of The Regonia Chronicles…
Let’s just say those humans and aliens are facing down some serious shit.
For now, I’m going to jump back into Second to None and wreak absolute havoc on some characters that are only just beginning to see how fucked up one of their friends really is.
If you want a peak at just how dark the human soul can get, check out my recent release, World for the Broken. This dark post-apocalyptic romance gets into the nitty gritty of human emotion and resilience.
Today, we’re talking about world building! Specifically, language creation.
Over on Facebook, I’m part of a very large (89,000 members) writing group called Fiction Writing. (If you’re a writer, regardless of experience level, seeking to learn about writing fiction or just looking for a writing community, go join.) Members can post questions or helpful advice, and basically drink from the knowledge of the group.
Here lately, I’ve seen several posts asking for advice on creating a language.
They get responses ranging anywhere from “study linguistics” to “don’t” to all manner of genuinely helpful tips.
Now, I’ve only created a language for one of my WIPs (sci-fi series), but I do have some tips. If you’re going to tackle this beast, keep these in mind.
1. Identify the sounds you want them to use, and formulate an alphabet based on that.
Not every species is going to use the same convoluted alphabet we do. I think only 4 letters in the English alphabet make one sound, no matter what letters are next to them, or what word they’re in, or whether they want to be silent that day, or whatever.
English is a bit of a monstrosity like that.
Since I got to decide, Regonian is phonetic. Their letters have one sound each. They always make that sound, and they’re never silent.
2. Numbers! How do they count?
Please, for the love of God, don’t have them count like the French. Or do. It’s up to you.
But…that shit’s a mess. (I’ll put a link at the bottom for a video about French numbers.)
3. Come up with grammar rules. (Verb tense, showing possession, plural vs. singular nouns, punctuation, etc.)
Again, English is a fucking monstrosity. Your language doesn’t have to be. Mine isn’t. Because I didn’t want to deal with that shit.
4. Figure out how the words interact with/modify each other.
For instance, in Regonian, the word for smile is literally the words “lips” and “wide” smooshed together with a syllable dropped, because that’s how I decided nouns and adjectives interact.
Maybe your verbs join with the noun to illustrate the action framed by the actor. Who fucking knows? You. You know.
5. Decide the word order sentences will follow.
Do you want the noun to be the beginning of the sentence every time? Okay. That’s how it is. Do you want the adjectives to come after the noun (like in Spanish)? Got it.
For mine, for the sake of simplicity in writing the stuff, I stuck with the sentence structure that I’m most familiar with (English). But you don’t have to do that.
6. Identify key elements in their culture, and shape phrases around them.
For the Regonians, sound is a very important, almost religious aspect of their lives. It ties into their views of the afterlife. They’re a very musical people, using a multitude of instruments, singing, and even aspects of beat boxing in all important aspects of their lives. So sound influenced how they reference emotion and how they show their love.
Thus, I centered a lot of phrases around words pertaining to sound.
Do they have any neighbors? Most civilizations don’t develop in a petri dish. (The one in The Gem of Meruna developed without outside influence, but that’s explained in The Regonia Chronicles. Yes, there’s a tie in, which I’m pretty excited about.) How has that other culture shaped them? Because that’ll affect their language. Maybe they borrowed a few phrases or words.
7. Build a word database.
You never know what word you’re going to need. Believe me. Lol.
This part can kinda be done as you go along, just be sure to reference everything you came up with for numbers 1 through 6, so you don’t accidentally contradict yourself. It’s not easy or quick. Lol. No advice in the world will make it simple. You’re literally trying to do something that took millennia to evolve naturally, in the course of, what, a few months? A year?
And it has to appear to have evolved naturally, changing over time. Certain phrases have to have been abandoned because they were too antiquated. New slang will erupt. Disdain for said slang may or may not be whispered amongst the older members of the community. Maybe your new race embraces the fluidity of language. If so, you’ve got your work cut out for you, because that means a lot more change is going to happen over time.
To a degree, creating a language an exercise in masochism. In all likelihood, only a few tidbits will actually be written in this new language. A quote here, a thought there…maybe a passage that a character sees written out before them.
So, for the most part, the readers will never know that you built a 2,000 words dictionary. But for the sake of doing it right, for the sake of continuity and feeling like a real language…you almost have to.
So, good luck.
I’m glad to have that part behind me. Lol. I have no intention of ever doing it again.
But I wouldn’t take it back, either. It really enriched The Regonia Chronicles.
Anyway, I’m about a fourth of the way through the edit for The Gem of Meruna, but…it may need another round after that. So, I may do the final edits on Soul Bearer or After (pending the feedback from final beta reads), and release one of those, first.
Man…you’d think all this planning would wear me out. Lol. Jk. I barely plan anything. Until I get one fully edited and ready for formatting, I’m pretty much just flying by the seat of my pants, for which…I apologize.
It makes sense, though. That’s how I write, so why wouldn’t it be how I edit?
Once I get one ready for formatting and ARC readers (thus setting in stone which one will be out next), I’ll set dates. Then, I’ll start posting about it, and telling you guys more about the story and the characters.
