Fantasy Dreamin'

"Dragon Whiskers"
Chainmalle-inspired collar
designed by Jay T Lyons
of JaysDesign Jewelry 

This past weekend I read my fantasy manuscript. You remember me talking about that, right? I wrote it in 3½ months; the first half of the book (55k words) was written for NaNoWriMo '09. 

I'm thinking about breaking the book into two books (and fleshing out certain scenes more—they need it). One story would be the dragon hunter's (Raena, at the moment, though her name may change) and the other being the dragon's (Darok/Bental). The stories would run concurrent, though, and that could be an issue when the stories converge. 

Or.... 

I could make it three books, the convergence being the the third book in the trilogy. Thoughts? I'm probably missing some MAJOR hurdle in this plan... 

Incidentally, though this book contains romance(ish), it is not a romance. It's supposed to be more like epic fantasy: life, death, trials, tribulations, joys, sorrows, failures, and triumphs. Some fall in love along the way and some fall into a sort of love/lust, I guess. In short, it's life with dragons, mermaids, and other creatures that don't exist. But there's not an orc in sight!

There is a sequel started, as well, but it happens 20 years after the events in this first MS. It might end up its own series, trilogy, etc. It's definitely a story I want to finish. 

Oh, and in case you'd like a taste of my fantasy writing talent (lol), there's two places you can sample my fantasy offerings. There's a short story in the UNLOCKED anthology (called Survival) that can be downloaded for FREE and there's a short story called The Dragon's Birth (approximately 5000 words) available for $0.99 wherever eBooks are sold. The one for sale is actually the prequel to my fantasy novel(s), so might be a better example as far as the novel itself goes. The titles are linked to the matching book pages on my website, which contain excerpts. 

♥Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!♥

There's a jukebox in my head. It's currently playing

♫♪ Adele ~ Someone Like You

Not Just Romance

I'm known as a romance writer, primarily Regency romance. My short stories, however, venture into other genres as well. Most of my short fiction is free. Here's a list of all the non-romance shorts I've written.

Please note: the formatting probably looks "off" if you're viewing this post through one of my several feeds (i.e., Goodreads). To see it the way I meant for it to look, please click over to the blogger end. 

All links open in a new tab or window, depending on your browser settings. 

◄The Fold was my 1st flash fiction piece, written for a contest. It came in 51st-ish out of 250-some entries, by popular vote. 

Stalker ► was a writing exercise. You know the type, "start with this word, write a certain length of time, etc." I posted it here on this blog and on my site. 

◄Sunset was more fun than I should probably admit (after you read it, you'll understand why that concerns me). It was a switch for me on many levels: it's not romance, it's first person, and it's present tense.

The Dragon's Birth ►is a straight-up fantasy short story that's around 5000 words. It's a prequel of sorts for a fantasy novel I wrote that may or may not see the publishing light. This short is $0.99 everywhere eBooks are sold. There's an excerpt on my website HERE.

My two short stories in the UNLOCKED anthology are non-romance as well. Assassin's Keeper is Regency fiction and Survival is dark fantasy. Click the titles to read a short excerpt of each. UNLOCKED can be downloaded free from www.unlockedproject.com.

For those of you already familiar with Sable from Assassin's Keeper, there are two other stories out in web-world that feature her, both part of a longer work, both on the Clever Fiction website: Crossing the Channel and Unwilling Protector...though I suppose all the shorts about Sable could be considered dark romance, but it's only romance in the loosest interpretation of the term.

There's also Chosen, a mild horror-ish type of story that I wrote for a prompt over on Clever Fiction. I don't have a cover for that yet.

So enjoy my even darker side. Didn't realize I had an even darker side, did you? OK, so maybe you did. I've never been particularly secretive about it, have I?

♥Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!♥

There's a jukebox in my head. It's currently playing
♫♪ Rihanna ~ Disturbia

~Giveaway~ Woo-hoo! 100 Posts! (OK, 101.)

I've reached a milestone (in my opinion) on this narcissistic little blog of mine. 100 posts this year. (Honestly, this particular post, this one right here that you're reading right now, is 101. But hey, why quibble over semantics?) 

That said, we need to celebrate. OK, I need to celebrate. Let's do this right. 

Comment on this post (the actual blogger post, not any of the feeds) and you'll get a download code for my fantasy short story when it's released. I'm not selecting one winner. EVERYONE who comments gets to download the story for free. 

What fantasy short story, you ask? Well, once upon a time, I wrote this little story, sort of as a prequel to my fantasy novel series...my UNPUBLISHED fantasy novel series. Weird, right? To be even more honest, it was a short story I wrote specifically for the UNLOCKED anthology way back when. It was one of fours stories I'd submitted to the anthology editors and it was one of the rejects. (Haha! Really makes you want it, huh?)

Want more info before you commit yourself? You can go to my website, where I've posted a sample of the short story. Oh, it's called The Dragon's Birth, just in case you were wondering. 

There are a few caveats. You must be 18+ or have a parent's permission to comment. There's nothing totally awful in the story, I'm just trying to cover my butt here. You must include an email address; how else can I contact you with the download code? You have to be a follower of this blog. Fair's fair, right? And I will enforce these rules (I've been known not to in the past) so DO NOT FORGET: 18+, email address, blog follower. Easy peasy. Oh, and you have to wait patiently for the story's release. It's not out there yet, but it will be soon. After its release, each commenter (Chrome says this is not a word. Weird. Should it be commentator?) who remembers to include their email address will get a little message in their inbox with that precious little Smashwords code. Exciting! :OP

This offer officially ends September 16.

I'll leave you with a question. Did I use SEMANTICS (first paragraph of this post) correctly?

Happy reading, writing, and winning!!

*Image © Aleksandra Belikova and can be downloaded for FREE from Dreamstime.com. (Registration is required, also free.) 

~Photo Friday~ Fantasy

I swear this is the REAL entrance to Narnia.

Victory is Mine!

Some of you may recognize my title as a quote from Family Guy. Stewie is so cute and so apropos much of the time.

What is my victory? Remember that fantasy novel I started writing way back when? You know, the one with the dragon and the dragon hunter, a four-armed mercenary and some killer mermaids for good measure? Well...I finished the rough draft! Woo-hoo!!

I am almost halfway through a final re-read before passing the story off for critiques. The word count ended up being over 104k, a personal best. I started writing this novel in November '09 and it was officially done about 3.5 months later. I'm relieved it's done and already drafting sequel possibilities.

In other news...

I'm revamping my website. This will be a major process but, meanwhile, this is what I've got: website. Opinions are welcome.

Happy reading, writing, and blogging!!

Fantasy Writing and Reviews

Fantasy Progress:

I have mentioned before that my NaNoWriMo project for 2009 was a fantasy novel that had been brewing in my head for years. I am still writing that book, even two months later, despite having ended November with over 55k words written on it.

When I was doing NaNo, I had written a synopsis for the story. Now, at 77k words, that synopsis bears no similarity to the story.

The story now, as it stands...

Dragons once ruled the planet of Aiblameer. Now, they are extinct...

...until an ancient experiment reaches fruition with the rising of the second sun. A new dragon is "born," a member of the royal family of Coraji the unfortunate possessor of dragon blood.

The only one who can stop the end of the world is Raena, a foundling with no knowledge of her heritage, no idea that she carries the blood of the dragon hunters, a defunct race that lived to kill.

With the help of a secretive mercenary who knows more about her than she does, Raena must make the dangerous journey to the dragon's castle. While battling monsters, assassins and her own internal struggle to remember her past, Raena discovers who and what she is and why she is the most wanted creature on the planet.

Sound interesting? Huh. I'm working on it. Apparently, I have trouble writing synopses, picking the "wrong" words to describe things and whatnot. Did I ever mention that I've had two negative reviews that specifically attacked my synopses? Yeah. Go figure.

Reviews:

I've harped on about reviews more than once on my blog. (Ex: Reviews and the Reader; My $0.02: When to Mark a Review Helpful; Do Publisher Reviews Matter?) I love reviews. I love reading them, writing them and receiving them. I admit, I mostly love receiving them. :o)

Betrayal got a new review recently. 4 stars and a very in-depth explanation for those 4 stars. I loved the review and the fact that the reviewer even included what she didn't like about the book. I was immensely pleased that she found it difficult to like the heroine. Is that strange? Well, the heroine of Betrayal, Bri, is not very likable. She's not supposed to be. I did a brief character sketch of her on another of my blogs: Character Intro: Bri.

Would you like to read Paige Ray's review? Click here.

I am super excited to hear what Paige thinks of the aforementioned fantasy novel...when I get it done, that is. :o)

Until next time, happy reading, writing and blogging!!

A Fantasy Confession

I have a confession.

I'm writing a fantasy novel for National Novel Writing Month. (No, that's not the confession. You already knew that.) In this novel is a character named Magoric who is not really a villain but he's not really a hero, either. He is a mercenary hired to kill the heroine in the tale. How is that not a villain, you ask? He has his doubts about killing her.

I feel the need to confess my inspiration for Magoric. In appearance, he is a combination of the Wraith of Stargate Atlantis and Sephiroth of Final Fantasy VII. My initial vision was close to Sephiroth with a few slight differences. The major physical difference: Magoric has four arms instead of two. Since my introduction to the wraith some years ago, the vision of my character changed some more.

Pictured here is a wraith who has altered his appearance to blend with humans on Earth. There exists an uncanny resemblance to my mercenary character, minus the black glasses.

I say uncanny because Magoric has been roaming the deepest recesses of my brain for years, long before I saw this particular episode of SGA for the first time. I happened to re-watch this episode last night and got a chill at the resemblance. Spooky.

Now, if only I could find pics for my other characters...

*Image is a photo I took of Stargate Atlantis, Season 5, episode 19, Vegas. I am in no way implying this franchise endorses me or my writing.

A Jaunt Into the Fantastic

I have decided on the novel I will write for NaNoWriMo.

Fantasy.

Working title: The Dragon Curse.

My very first journey into the realms of fantasy. OK, not the first. I have, of course, read fantasy. However, I don't read much in this genre. I don't care much for the magic that is so often a part of it.

My story is a large dose of "medieval" fantasy with a smidgen of science-fiction. Is that acceptable, I wonder? Legends, dragons, and mutations, oh my!

Is it possible to have a medieval-like fantasy with a healthy dose of technological advancement? This is what I will explore in my NaNo project. How to combine the two in a "believable" mix. We'll see what happens...