Here's something for Sneak Peek Sunday (yes, a day early, because I'm excited!) The beginning of The Lost Book of Anggird - Perarre's first encounter with Professor Roric Rossony, to interview for the job of translating old books for him: PERARRE STOOD OUTSIDE the door to Professor Roric Rossony’s apartment, nervously straightening the sleeves of her black dress as she prepared herself to knock. Her fellow Assistants had been torn between envy and pity when she told them she was being given the chance to work as a translator for the eminent Professor Rossony. He was the most respected scholar of Balance Theory in the Vorunne Dominion, and working for him would be the opportunity of a lifetime for her. A good reference from Professor Rossony would open any door that could be opened to a woman, and maybe even some that would normally remain firmly closed. On the other hand, the Professor was as famous for his picky, prudish, and generally difficult disposition as he was for his scholarship. Perarre had never taken any of his courses or seminars, had never done more than glimpse him from a distance, so she had no way to judge for herself whether the envy or the pity was more appropriate. She would find out soon enough, she told herself. She took a deep breath and knocked. A low voice responded, “Enter.” She opened the door and walked into the apartment. “Professor Rossony? I’m Perarre Tabrano. I’ve been sent to apply for the position of translator.” The Professor was sitting at a big cherrywood desk in the back corner of the apartment’s large main room. The desk was angled to face the door as well as the rest of the room. Perarre paused, struck by the Professor’s appearance. His black hair and fair skin were an unusual combination in the Vorunne Dominion, and there was something faintly exotic about his dark eyes, strong nose, and broad sweep of cheekbones. Broad-shouldered and apparently in fit condition, no longer youthful but still untouched by middle age, he was a perfect example of a man in his prime. The overall effect was quite striking. At least the view would be nice as she worked, Perarre thought. “I don’t recall telling the Assignment Office that a female would be acceptable for this position,” the Professor said. A match made in heaven, right? :D
The official release date for The Lost Book of Anggird is Tuesday, Oct. 29 (though it might *might* be live on Amazon and Smashwords on Monday!) For more Sneak Peeks, visit the Sneak Peek Sunday blog!
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Quick progress update on The Lost Book of Anggird: I'm on the final proofread now, and still hopefully on track for a release on the 25th. It's a long book so the formatting's going to take a while, but I think I'm allowing plenty of time. In any case, it'll definitely be out by the end of October. Be sure to sign up for my email newsletter if you want to be alerted to the release date and for a special limited-time low introductory price! I've also added a Spotify playlist to the Lost Book of Anggird book page. This one features songs by Muse from their album The Resistance, some dance/electronica from Blaqk Audio (a side project by Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI), and desert-flavored symphonic metal from the Tunisian band Myrath. Coming soon, watch for the free preview of Lost Book! Finally, on a different subject, if you liked my Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Bondage series of blog posts, check out Camille Laguire's take on the theme. She's taking an in-depth look at cultural archetypes as shown through classic movies, her own books, and other sources, and it's a really interesting series. Here's Perarre, from The Lost Book of Anggird, to tell you a little about herself: 1. What is your full name? Is there anything significant about your name? My name is Perarre Tabrano. There's nothing significant about it; it's just a regular Essan name. 2. How old are you? I am 22 years old. 3. Tell us about your family. What do you like and not like about them? I'm the youngest of ten children. My father died several years ago, and my mother Malia still runs the Golden Hare, our family's inn, in Madena, a small farming village in Essa Province. I don't get along well with my mother, but that's at least as much my fault as hers. I was not an easy child, and by the time I came along I think she was tired. I'm very close to my oldest sister, Samale, and she's really been more of a mother to me. Her husband, Luka, is an amazing man, and they have seven children. If anyone was meant to have a lot of children, it's them. 4. Who was your first kiss, and what did you think of it? My first kiss that counts was a boy not long after I came to the University of Vorunne City when I was 13. I'm afraid I don't remember his name, but I certainly liked it, better than I thought I would. 5. What is your occupation? I am a translator of ancient, middle, and modern Vorunic and Lazivanic languages. I'm also a Reader, which means I'm able to read thoughts and emotions left behind on objects by people who handled them previously. This is a very useful skill for a translator, as you can probably imagine, especially if the document I'm translating is an original and not a copy. Being able to tell what the original author meant, what he was thinking and how he felt as he was writing, makes my translations a lot more accurate and meaningful. Right now, I'm finishing up the second year of a three-year Assistantship, which is a program that graduates of the University can enter to gain further skills in their fields and to get good references from Masters and Professors on their dossiers, which gives you a big advantage in getting future employment. After I complete my Assistantship, I hope to be able to get a position with the Foreign Service, preferably one where I'll actually be posted in a foreign country. I want to travel to as many places and see as many different things as I can, the more exotic the better. In fact, as soon as we're done here I'm supposed to meet with Professor Rossony - yes, that Professor Rossony - to interview for a position as a translator for him. I've heard he's a sanctimonious prig and almost impossible to get along with, but a good reference from him will totally make my whole career. Keep your fingers crossed for me to get the job! 6. What are your best and worst qualities? I'm smart, I'm a hard worker, and I take pride in my work. I've got a good sense of humor, and I'm friendly. As for my worst qualities, I tend to react emotionally instead of thinking things through, which has gotten me into more than a little trouble in the past. I've done some pretty stupid things because of that. Also, I chew my fingernails when I'm concentrating, and I'm not very good at being neat and tidy, and sometimes I'm kind of a smart-mouth. 7. What quality do you value most in a romantic partner? I'm not looking for anything permanent, and I had enough of people trying to make decisions for me and control my life before I came to the University. So I'd like a man who's willing to let me be myself and be independent, who won't try to tie me down. He needs to have a good sense of humor. Looks aren't as important, but I do prefer men who have something unique about their appearance. Beautiful eyes and a good strong nose especially catch my attention. And - am I allowed to say this? - I like a good time in bed with a man who doesn't have to be skilled as long as he's enthusiastic and we're both having fun. It's been a while since I've found anyone who interests me, though. Which is probably just as well; I've had a few close calls with that kind of thing, with guys who weren't as nice as I thought they were and with being afraid I was pregnant. So for now, I'm just concentrating on my career. 8. What is your favorite thing to do? I love to read, and I love good food (that is, anything but what they serve in the Assistants' dining hall!), and I really enjoy my work. 9. What is your greatest fear? That something will happen to force me to leave the University and go home and live the life there that my parents expected me to. Especially if it involves marrying him. Ugh. 10. What is your most treasured possession? My independence. Introducing Professor Roric Rossony, the (reluctant) hero of The Lost Book of Anggird. 1. What is your full name? Is there anything significant about your name? My name is Roric Rossony. I chose this name for myself, as the name I was given at birth would not be appropriate for my situation in life. 'Roric' is the Vorunnic form of my given name, and 'Rossony' is the surname of an explorer from the Vorunne Dominion whom I read about and admired as a boy. 2. How old are you? I am thirty-five years old. 3. Tell us about your family. What do you like and not like about them? I have been estranged from my family for twenty-three years and would prefer not to speak of them. Though I will admit to some regret at not having my younger brother in my life. Perhaps the closest thing I have to family now is my friend and mentor, Professor Delric Baldrin, who was my teacher of Balance Theory when I was a student. 4. Who was your first kiss, and what did you think of it? I long ago came to the decision that carnal urges and appetites, and the feelings that can lead to them, are incompatible with the life I wish to lead. In short, I have never kissed anyone. 5. What is your occupation? For the past twelve years, I have been a Professor of Balance Theory at the University of Vorunne City. My duties include presenting lecture courses on various aspects of magical Balance, leading small seminar groups for advanced students both from the College of Magecraft and the College of Scholarship, publishing books and scholarly articles on Balance Theory, and conducting research into magical Balance. My expertise covers the full range of Balance Theory, also taking in such subjects as mathematics, natural history and philosophy, and magical philosophy. I have a particular interest in the design and Balancing of magical devices, though that is only a small part of my work. 6. What are your best and worst qualities? I believe that my best quality is that I am meticulous in all aspects of my work, paying great attention to detail and always striving to produce work of the highest quality and scholarly integrity. As for my worst quality, I am told that I am fairly rigid in my attitudes and habits, to the extent that I have garnered the rather unflattering nickname 'Broomstick Rossony.' I suppose there might be some truth to that, but my habits and routines have served me well so far, and I see no reason to change. 7. What quality do you value most in a romantic partner? Please see the answer to question number four. I am not seeking a romantic partner; I am quite content by myself. 8. What is your favorite thing to do? I find my work to be tremendously fulfilling, in all its aspects - teaching, researching, and writing. I did rather enjoy making the flameless magical lamps that I use in my rooms and that have been adopted for use in other areas of the University, such as library storage rooms. 9. What is your greatest fear? [this question was left blank] 10. What is your most treasured possession? Rather than any material possession, I treasure my good name and integrity as a Scholar and Professor. Been working hard; time for a progress update. The Lost Book of Anggird is on the final line/copy editing round. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. After that comes the proofread and formatting, and I anticipate being able to release it sometime during the later part of October. Watch for previews and book extras as the release date draws near! The first major revision of Sarya's Song is a little more than halfway done. I'll start scaring up some test readers for it soon, and plan to be able to send it out to them later in September. It's hard to say for sure this far back, but I'm probably looking at a February release for that one. The draft of Book 5 of Daughter of the Wildings is getting close to finished. I should be able to wrap that up this week, then get right to work on Book 6. As I've said before, the plan with this series is to get all the books written, then revise them all as one unit to get the storyline and everything consistent throughout. When I first wrote Beneath the Canyons, I didn't intend for it to turn into a series; I'd always thought of myself as a writer of stand-alone novels. But at the end of that book, even though the storyline was resolved, Silas and Lainie were in worse trouble than they started out in, so of course the story had to continue! The series has developed in some ways I wasn't expecting - some things I thought were important early on have turned out not to be so important (so far, at least - we'll see how things go in Book 6), while other things I didn't think were important have turned out to be major parts of the overall series storyline. So, there's still a lot of work to do there. Can't say for sure, but I'm hoping to start releasing the series in Spring 2014. At that point all the books will be written and will have been through the first major revision and the test readers, so I'm hoping for no more than a couple of months in between releases of each book in the series. (And yes, if you're counting, I'm working on three novels at once right now. I think I'm probably out of my mind.) Also, I just got a look at a preliminary version of the cover for Daughter of the Wildings Book 3, which is now titled The Rancher's Daughter. Thrilling, I know, but it has more layers of meaning than it looks like. I reserve the right to change it if I think of something better. This cover is going to be super cool. While I'm on the subject, I want to say that of all the fun, awesome, cool things about being an independent author, working with my two amazing cover artists has been one of the funnest, awesomest, coolest things of all! Design by Katt and me-illuminated (Mominur Rahman) have both been great to work with, and I highly recommend them to other authors looking for custom cover art. And a reminder, to be informed of new releases and if I have a sale or free coupon or something, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter! I'm too lazy and too busy to spam; you'll only get emails when I release a new book or am having a special on my books. Every author has one. The Book of Eternal Revisions, where you need "just one more draft" to make it "good enough." And of course, each "one last draft" leads to another and another and another... For me, that book is The Lost Book of Anggird. Aside from the, oh, sixteen years or so it took me to sort out the story and characters and finish the first draft, this book has been through more revisions than any other of my books. And not because the first draft was that bad; really, looking back on it now, it was really pretty good, as far as first drafts go. No, the reason why I ended up going over and over and over it again was a bit of advice that prevails on various writing sites and forums (actually two bits of advice that form kind of an evil, story-eating symbiosis of doom): Before unleashing your novel on the world, polish it till it gleams, and a major part of this polishing is the removal of every unnecessary word. At the time that I completed the draft of Lost Book and began the unending cycle of revisions and edits, I was heavily under the influence of a certain forum popular among writers, which is especially focused on "professional" writing - that is, writing for conventional publication. The advice quoted above is prevalent on that forum. I was feeling my way back into writing original fiction after a long stint as a prolific fanfiction writer, and wondering if maybe I should consider testing the waters in the shark, er, agent pool again, so I paid diligent attention to everything said by the "experts" on the forum, and tried to apply it to my writing. (The thought of starting to query agents again lasted about 5 minutes, then died a swift and well-deserved death.) And, over three years of revising Lost Book according to those guidelines, here's what happened: When I got the feedback on Version 7 of Lost Book back from my test readers a few months ago and went in to do this last big round of revision, I realized that the prose was mushy and bland, almost entirely devoid of any color or personality whatsoever. I've been complimented on what people call my smooth, clear writing style, and received comments to that effect on Lost Book, but what I noticed went beyond smooth and clear. What I had done in the pursuit of producing "acceptable" writing was I had stripped out much of the lively language, interesting details, and other bits of personality from my writing. I started reading the manuscript and almost immediately began thinking, That doesn't say what I meant, and, Wow, that sentence was boring - made boring in my attempt to smooth out the flow and present my ideas in the fewest words. It was like unflavored, watery Cream of Wheat, or that rice cereal you feed to babies. With no lumps or sharp edges or interesting sticky-out bits - they'd all been smoothed out and polished into oblivion. Now, the advice to avoid unnecessary words isn't all bad. It's rooted in some good principles. In general, it's good to avoid repetitious redundancies and long passages that have nothing whatsoever to do with the story, and excessively purple prose. But carried too far, you end up with "See Spot run. Spot is a dog." Or this thrilling passage from Lost Book, "There was a fire. The man was scared. He stole a horse." Just kidding. It's not that bad. But when I started reading the manuscript to do this revision, I just knew that it wasn't right, it wasn't my voice. In the meantime, since starting to realize that those bits of advice from that writer's forum aren't neccesarily the best, I'd also started reading Dean Wesley Smith's blog. Mr. Smith has a completely opposite approach to revision: don't. Or if you have to, revise as little as possible. I also took Holly Lisle's online How To Revise Your Novel course, which takes the approach that you identify what works with your story and what doesn't, fix what doesn't work, and get it all done in one big revision then get the novel out the door and get to work on the next one. I need a little more revision than no passes or one pass, but I've taken the spirit behind Mr. Smith's and Ms. Lisle's revision philosophies and formulated my own advice: Don't revise to other people's rules, don't revise the life out of your story, use the words and sentence structures that most closely say what you want to say in the way you want to say it, and trust your own creative vision. So with this go-round on Lost Book, what I'm doing (besides making the revisions suggested by the test reader feedback) is adding back in the life and style and individual voice that I'd stripped out in previous revisions. As I read, I'm paying attention to the difference between what's on the page and the way the prose comes naturally into my mind and changing what's on the page to my natural voice. I'm adding back in details, fun asides, extra lines of dialogue that give more insight into mindsets and relationships, and lots of other things to make it a fuller, richer story told in my voice. So far I've added back in about 7,000 words, even while trimming some things that did still need to be cut. And, for the first time in a long time, I'm excited about this story again, and I can't wait until it's ready to share with my readers. Chosen of Azara is on the next-to-last proofreading pass. Hoping to finish that today - I'm starting on p. 120 of 197 pages (of my computer printout). It's going to be kind of a push, which means I need to get off the Interwebs real quick here and get to work. When this is done, I'll load it onto my Kindle for one more quick proofread, and then it's format time! Urdaisunia took me two weeks to format, but I learned a lot in the process about what not to do and what to do to make it go faster. This time I'm hoping it'll only take me a week (or even less, hopefully). At this time, I'm aiming for a June 27 release date. After that, I'll start the final revision rounds on The Lost Book of Anggird. I got some great feedback from my test readers, lots of love for the book plus some great suggestions on what I can do to make it even better. And I've thought of one or two cool things to put it, too. At the same time, I'll also be starting the initial major revision of Sarya's Song. (I've got Design by Katt, who did the cover image for Chosen of Azara, on tap to do a luciously dark and romantic cover for that book too. Yay!) And, since that's not enough to keep me out of trouble, I'll be writing Book 4 of Daughter of the Wildings during July Camp NaNo. We're going on a cattle drive! Finally, I want to give a shout-out to this week's Paranormal, Fantasy, Dystopia, and Romance Writers and Reviewers featured author, R. Rose! And to last week's (I know I got him on the front page, but don't remember if I mentioned him in the blog), W.H. Cann! Earlier this month, I got an email from an old college friend asking if my books are suitable for a couple of teenage girls in her life. I also had the opportunity to lend my proof copy of Urdaisunia to a good friend of mine, who also happens to be the wife of our current clergyman (in our church, the leaders of the congregation are drawn from the membership and rotated about every 5-7 years). These incidents, along with a discussion on my Goodreads group about content and age appropriateness got me thinking that I should do a post about content and age appropriateness of my books, as a guide for anyone who might be concerned about that.
To establish some context, I'll start by saying that when I was growing up, my parents told me that none of the books in the house were off-limits to me, and if I had any questions about anything I read I was welcome to bring it up with them. I think I was about 11 or 12 at the time. Of course, being the upright, church-going people that they are, my parents didn't have any pornography or anything like that in the house, but they did buy a regular supply of the current best-sellers, with all that entails. The first book I read with my newly-granted freedom (or maybe this was the book that inspired that conversation) was The Poseidon Adventure. The original movie had come out not long before, and the theme song from the movie was a big hit on Top 40 radio, so I was curious. Anyway, I grew up with the idea that, with proper parental involvement, teens should have few if any restrictions placed on what they read. Of course, now, erotica and books with very explicit sex scenes are a lot more mainstream than they used to be, and I wouldn't be wild about the idea of my own teens reading those. So I'll agree that parents, and anyone who doesn't care to read explicit material, need to exercise more caution now than maybe they used to. Sex isn't the only concern in deciding the appropriateness of reading material. Graphic violence is something that many parents and readers are concerned about; along with, at least for me, the cause served by the violence. I'm less bothered by reading about a villain being graphically and colorfully disposed of than I would be if the same methods were used against a hero, innocent bystander, child, or animal. Strong language bothers some people. Readers and parents might also object to what they consider sacrilegious content. A handful of f-bombs in a book doesn't bother me, but I've been known to put a book down because of light or disrespectful treatment of matters that are sacred to me. Some people might not like to see people of certain genders or races portrayed in certain ways. Some people might object to a specific political slant. The exact definition of what's offensive or inappropriate is different for everyone. As another example, I'm presently reading a fantasy novel that I believe is generally considered "clean," although it contains at least one fairly intense scene of near-rape, and I'm left wondering why near-rape is considered less objectionable than consummated lovemaking, just because the act isn't completed. Anyway, the list goes on and on, and the consensus among writers is that you can't please everyone, you're bound to end up offending someone, and the best and only thing a writer can do is to write as honestly as he/she can. So, to the point. How would I rate my books as far as age-appropriateness and offensive content? My books feature adult characters, with adult lives and concerns, and contain "mature themes and situations," including sex and relationships, earning a living, death, war, sacrifice, and the struggle against evil forces that disrupt their world. A principle I try to follow in my writing is that everything in the story is there because it's needed. (I'm not perfect at this, but it's what I aspire to.) The corollary to that is, if something needs to be in the story, I put it in. If some important story or character development requires a sex scene, I put in a sex scene, though I leave out any description that isn't important to the point I'm trying to make. However, if some detail of the act is important, I'll include that - but still in the least graphic manner that still gets the job done. My aim is never to titillate the reader - I don't want the reader to be pulled out of the story by thinking about their own reaction to what I've written, I want them to be engrossed in what's happening with the characters (this applies to everything I write, not just sex scenes). On the other hand, if the important character and story business take place before the sex scene, I'll draw the curtain. In Urdaisunia, we don't need to know what Prince Eruz does with his three concubines (no, seriously, we don't); what we need to know is the desperate state of mind he's in that drives him to seek comfort that way. Same thing with violence. Prince Eruz has to execute some people. The important thing is what's going on inside Eruz's head as he is forced to carry out these executions, not graphic descriptions of the actual deaths, so that's where the focus is in the writing. In Lost Book of Anggird, a couple of reprehensible people are killed in a particularly grisly way as punishment for their misdeeds; the act of carrying out the killings is cathartic to the person who does it, as well as demonstrating the extreme state of mind that character is in, so I focus on that in the writing and not on the (literally) gory details. Language: I try to use restraint in the use of strong or offensive language, because it loses its impact if it's overused. (A personal line for me is not to use religious oaths that apply in our world; on the other hand, characters in an invented world using oaths that reference invented gods aren't a problem for me.) Again, if it's necessary to communicate what the character is experiencing, or if the use of strong language is appropriate to how the character would speak in a given situation, I'll put in just what's necessary. There's a bit of language in Urdaisunia that's rougher than I would normally use, but it's coming from a thoroughly bad person who is purposely being as insulting and offensive as possible. Anything milder in that situation would have sounded silly. And so on. In general, I try to put in what the story requires to be told honestly and completely, without going overboard, and certainly without any intent to purposely shock, offend, or titillate. If you want something more concrete, here is where I rate my books on a couple of different scales: On the All-Romance Ebooks Heat Rating scale, from 1 - 5 flames, I rate my books a 2: "some [consummated] love scenes. These will be more sensual than graphic and will mostly rely on euphemism." Some parts might edge up just a bit to a low 3, with slightly more graphic description. My short stories run from 0 - 1 flame. Alternatively, here's a rating scale I devised for fanfiction (another post for another time): G: Nothing offensive, possibly some slight angst PG: Occasional mild language, sexual references, mild violence, angsty PG-13: More frequent language, strongly implied or "on-camera" (non-explicit) sex, more violence, intense angst R: Strong language, more descriptive (but still non-explicit) sex, semi-graphic violence M: extreme foul language, explicit sexual description, graphic violence. On this scale, my books run PG-13 - R. (Short stories G - PG-13). As far as age recommendations go, my books are definitely not for children. Also not for young teens. As far as older teens go, my books don't fit into the currently-popular Young Adult category, mainly because they have adult rather than teenage main characters and address adult concerns rather than the typical coming-of-age themes usually addressed in YA books, and also may have somewhat more graphic content (though my understanding is that there are plenty of YA books with intense and disturbing content, that address serious issues of sex, drugs, abuse, and so on). Based on my own experience at that age - there wasn't a YA category back then, or if there was it wasn't nearly as prevalent as it is now, and when you were in high school you went from reading middle grade/young teen books to adult books - I think my books are suitable for ages 16 and up. I wouldn't have a problem with my 17-year-old reading them (aside from the embarrassment factor of kid reading love scenes written by his mom!) I mean, really, I'm not exactly writing 50 Shades here. But, ultimately, the appropriateness of my books is not a decision I'm qualified to make for other parents - or any other reader, period. I hope the information in this post will give readers and parents the information they need to make the right decision for themselves. So, here's a fun thing. Camille LaGuire issued a challenge on her blog: write about your characters at breakfast. (Or, for readers, your favorite characters at breakfast.) She starts off with a post about her young gunslinger couple, Mick and Casey, and what breakfast is like for them. I imagine that breakfast for Silas and Lainie, from Daughter of the Wildings, is probably pretty much the same. The main character that came to my mind when I read this challenge is Professor Roric Rossony from The Lost Book of Anggird. The Professor has some interesting eating habits, and breakfast plays an important part in the first section of the book. Here's one of my favorite scenes (please remember that this is not the final version; all mistakes and bad writing will be corrected by the time this is ready for release): (The setup: Professor Rossony and his newly-hired assistant, Perarre, have been at Morning Lecture, a quasi-worship service, and have just arrived at his office/apartment to begin the day's work.) When they reached the Professor’s third-floor apartment, the Professor asked, “Will you join me for breakfast, Miss Tabrano?” Professors in this land (the Vorunne Dominion) are a privileged class, and Professor Rossony is one of the elite of the elite. As part of his compensation for his work, he is provided with the best of everything in living quarters and food. This is entirely different from what Perarre is used to, as an Assistant at the University. Her position is roughly equivalent to a post-grad assistantship or research position, which doesn't quite come with the same status and compensation as that of a full and widely-renowned professor. So she's glad to join him for breakfast even if it does mean getting grilled at the same time over what was said during Lecture!
Tea, pastries, and fruit appear in this meal; later on, when Perarre has been consistently in the habit of eating breakfast with the Professor for some time, the meal expands to include bacon and eggs, bread rolls, and even oranges. The Vorunne Dominion includes areas that have the right climate for growing citrus, but because of the limited growing season and the costs in shipping them, oranges are still something of a luxury item. However, nothing is too good or too expensive for one of the Dominion's most renowed Professors. Professor Rossony is also notable for his extremely fastidious habits (notice the eating the apple with a knife and fork; he eats bacon the same way, too). He has good reasons for having such habits; they're his way of coping with what is later revealed to be a difficult and chaotic childhood and adolescence along with other challenges that he faces. He seeks to maintain absolute control in whatever areas of his life he can to compensate for devastating things that were/are out of his control. I like the opportunities this scene provided for some interplay between the Professor and Perarre as they get to know each other a little better, how she's chagrined to notice the difference between his fastidious manners and her own more careless style of eating (this contrast carries over to many other areas besides eating), and the fact that the Professor feels no hesitancy to push her, a female, to stretch herself intellectually, and that he offers her the respect of telling her she doesn't have to agree with him. Later on, breakfast becomes an opportunity for Perarre to show her displeasure with some of the Professor's behavior, by declining to join him at the table, and for him to offer an apology (buttering a hard roll for another person can be an act of contrition). This is just in the first part of the book. Then the Professor delves too deeply into things he shouldn't, and everything goes kablooey (literally?), and then breakfast becomes an entirely different matter, when you're on the run for your life. But it was fun to use the morning meals in the first part of the book as a chance to develop the characters, show what their lives are like at the University, and start to develop their relationship. Maybe it's just me, but I can see just a little bit of the chemistry between Perarre and the Professor starting to bubble up in the scene I quoted here. Camp NaNo update: On Friday and Saturday, various issues, including trying to fix a broken printer, dealing with wonky writing software, and the need to do a massive grocery shopping trip, kept my numbers down. Here's the report for the last few days: 4/11 - 1518 words 4/12 - 343 words 4/13 - 753 words Total word count so far: 13,348/30,000 I finished the (very) rough draft of Daughter of the Wildings Book 2 today (three weeks ahead of schedule), and now it's in the revision queue. It was a tough one to write, but there were some very interesting developments, and the plot has thickened for the beginning of Book 3. Silas finally settled down and decided to cooperate. I think he was mad that I wouldn't write the sex scene that he wanted. You may (or may not) have noticed that I'll write an occasional sex scene when it's appropriate to the plot and character development, and nothing too explicit. But what Silas was asking for did not fall into these guidelines. Silas: Oh, come on, it'll be fun. Me: No. What do you think this is, 50 Shades of Wizard Bounty Hunters? Silas: *sulk* But we eventually came to an understanding, and finished off this adventure on a successful note. (In contrast, Roric, from The Lost Book of Anggird, gives me The Look and says, "I beg your pardon, you want me to do what?" when it's time for one of those scenes. *Sigh* characters, can't live with them, can't knock them over the head and bury them in the back yard. Or... I'm the author, maybe I can *evil laugh*) Anyway. The major revision of Chosen of Azara is coming right along, and I'll also be done with that ahead of schedule. I'm hoping for a May release but not making any promises yet. The rest of March is going to be kind of disrupted, with doctor and dentist appointments and jury duty during the last week (unless I get postponed or excused). Instead of jumping right into DoW 3, I'm going to work on some short stories, shooting for one per week. I'll post them here as I write them, and then, a while after that, bundle them into another collection. In other news, Urdaisunia is now available in the Kobo and iTunes stores. Still waiting on the Sony ebook store, but it should go live there eventually. Finally, did you know Smashwords distributes to libraries? From the Smashwords FAQ: Does Smashwords distribute to libraries? At a time when a lot of the major publishers are price-gouging or outright refusing to sell ebooks to libraries, Smashwords offers a large selection of titles at reasonable prices (most Smashwords authors set their library prices at or below retail price, and some even donate their books). If you work or volunteer at a library, you might look into if your acquisitions department is aware of this option.
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AuthorI am Kyra Halland, author of tales of fantasy, heroism, and romance. Sign up for my email list
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