I have a confession to make. I read comic strips every morning, about two dozen of them. That's not the confession. I've been reading the comics since I learned to read.
The confession is that after I've read one, I read it again.
I'm sure some one (or many ones) immediately thought that I need to read it twice to understand it. For those of you that thought that or something similar—good for you!
When I was a pre-teen I encountered some story where a character was reading a book he wrote. I wondered then why would anyone reread their own book? They know what's in it. The particular book in question was a memoir of sorts.
Now I understand. Earlier this year I read my own fantasy novel, Prophecy of Honor. It was published in the fall of 2015 and I hadn't read it since. I wanted to see if it still appealed to me, (it does—it's really good, just shorter than your typical fantasy novel) but also I was curious to see, as a reader, what I could have done better.
It was for recreational reading, but also for learning.
Now I'm reading Witchery, my fantasy novel published in 2016. It's been over two years since I read it last and I'm curious, again, if it's as good as I thought it was when I finished it.
So far, I'd have to say yes...and no. The story is still excellent. The four main characters are well developed, the plot is solid and not too complicated, but not too simple, either.
As I believe I've written before, I could have made this into a two- or three-book series. Or even more. I'm pretty sure that an author whose experience and talent run to producing a series instead of a single novel would have stretched it out. There is so much backstory available for all the characters except Teyla that visiting those stories would easily expand the novel into two or three. The question, though, is, could all that backstory-ing maintain the interest of the readers?
In some of the fantasy series I've read I find myself losing patience with all the unnecessary extras. I want to get to the showdown that's been intimated since almost the beginning.
In Witchery I made no concerted effort to disguise the showdown. Heroine and villain were destined to meet. And if you assume there's going to be a happy ending, then the hero—Teyla—will be victorious in the conflict.
But how? And what of the battle of everyone else? How will that play out? Could I have visited all those back stories of the supporting characters...and the villain, and maintain the readers' interest?
At that time, probably not, at least not as the main plot is approached. It was published in 2016, but I started writing it in 1990. I finished it in '91 or '92, but collected nothing but rejections. I determined that it needed a major overhaul of the magical elements—what the magic could and could not do. One of the characters also needed a major change.
I did not get around to doing that until 2015 and basically rewrote most of the second half of the novel while not changing the plot. Plus the necessary changes throughout. It is absolutely much better than the original.
I could, though, have been a little more stylish in the writing. I could have used more metaphors, similes, alliteration, etc. But I was not yet to that level of my writing...and besides, I don't use a lot of that anyway. But I try to use more than I did.
I am now almost embarking on a fantasy series. I say almost because with my required work hours, I don't have the time I need to make much progress. But we'll see how I do with a project of that size.
Thanks again for reading, and please...VOTE!!
And if you vote my way, all the better.
The confession is that after I've read one, I read it again.
I'm sure some one (or many ones) immediately thought that I need to read it twice to understand it. For those of you that thought that or something similar—good for you!
When I was a pre-teen I encountered some story where a character was reading a book he wrote. I wondered then why would anyone reread their own book? They know what's in it. The particular book in question was a memoir of sorts.
Now I understand. Earlier this year I read my own fantasy novel, Prophecy of Honor. It was published in the fall of 2015 and I hadn't read it since. I wanted to see if it still appealed to me, (it does—it's really good, just shorter than your typical fantasy novel) but also I was curious to see, as a reader, what I could have done better.
It was for recreational reading, but also for learning.
Now I'm reading Witchery, my fantasy novel published in 2016. It's been over two years since I read it last and I'm curious, again, if it's as good as I thought it was when I finished it.
So far, I'd have to say yes...and no. The story is still excellent. The four main characters are well developed, the plot is solid and not too complicated, but not too simple, either.
As I believe I've written before, I could have made this into a two- or three-book series. Or even more. I'm pretty sure that an author whose experience and talent run to producing a series instead of a single novel would have stretched it out. There is so much backstory available for all the characters except Teyla that visiting those stories would easily expand the novel into two or three. The question, though, is, could all that backstory-ing maintain the interest of the readers?
In some of the fantasy series I've read I find myself losing patience with all the unnecessary extras. I want to get to the showdown that's been intimated since almost the beginning.
In Witchery I made no concerted effort to disguise the showdown. Heroine and villain were destined to meet. And if you assume there's going to be a happy ending, then the hero—Teyla—will be victorious in the conflict.
But how? And what of the battle of everyone else? How will that play out? Could I have visited all those back stories of the supporting characters...and the villain, and maintain the readers' interest?
At that time, probably not, at least not as the main plot is approached. It was published in 2016, but I started writing it in 1990. I finished it in '91 or '92, but collected nothing but rejections. I determined that it needed a major overhaul of the magical elements—what the magic could and could not do. One of the characters also needed a major change.
I did not get around to doing that until 2015 and basically rewrote most of the second half of the novel while not changing the plot. Plus the necessary changes throughout. It is absolutely much better than the original.
I could, though, have been a little more stylish in the writing. I could have used more metaphors, similes, alliteration, etc. But I was not yet to that level of my writing...and besides, I don't use a lot of that anyway. But I try to use more than I did.
I am now almost embarking on a fantasy series. I say almost because with my required work hours, I don't have the time I need to make much progress. But we'll see how I do with a project of that size.
Thanks again for reading, and please...VOTE!!
And if you vote my way, all the better.
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