Monday, February 13, 2012
Musings From a Very Busy Me
Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men... My intentions regarding my writing were excellent when I began book 4, but it has quickly become clear to me that there is no way I can keep up the pace I set for myself on a daily basis with the business of life as a full time wife, mother, and teacher to contend with as well (not to mention being pregnant). I also feel the compulsive need to re-read everything I wrote the previous time I sat down to write when I sit down to write some more, and that leads to ongoing revisions and whatnot. That IS important to how I'm structured to write a story, but it definitely eats into my writing time. Anyhow, I'm still confident that I can complete this draft by the manuscript deadline, but I've had to conclude that I can't do it by writing a consistent 3-5 pages every day. What I CAN do is write in spurts, and that's what I've been doing. A little bit here, a lot bit there, and whole days at a time where I write nothing at all. I'm curious to see how this draft turns out since this is so out of the ordinary for how I usually write. I'm trying to stick to my outline and ring composition chart, but the more I feel rushed, the more I tend to deviate from my outline, causing my ring composition chart to need to be revised. What I really need is a writing retreat - a whole weekend where I can get away from everything and sit by myself in a hotel room or something and just let the story flow. This is highly unlikely to happen, however, as my hubs has to work every Saturday, and paying for a babysitter for that length of time makes me shudder. Someway, somehow, I will pull this all together! As to where I'm at, I hit page 63 tonight and got to send the Six back to Alitheia. I'm writing all the meetings and greetings of the characters with the Alitheian characters and trying to make it interesting without being redundant, yet familiar for my readers who will be looking for certain consistent elements. It's all a great adventure for me, writing this story, and as usual I'm trying to follow the advice that a best selling author once told me: "Write what you want to read." I am and I do. I just hope that translates into something that you all want to read, too!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Upcoming Changes
As of Tuesday night (January 31, 2012) there will be a few changes made to my blog, and I wanted to let you all know about them ahead of time. I will be deleting my book cover images and links to Amazon (as well as deleting the books themselves from Amazon and Kindle). This is because everything is soon going to transfer to the care and control of my publisher, TWCS Publishing House. As soon as TWCS posts my first book to their website, I can and will go ahead and post the new cover to the blog. The hardworking editors at TWCS are in the process of doing an excellent clean-up of my first three books, and as each of them come up for re-release, I will keep you posted. Nothing about the story is changing, but those of you who elect to purchase and read the TWCS versions will notice a definite professional polish to them that I simply didn't have the resources to achieve as an independent author. I'm really excited about the changes that are happening and I hope you are too! If you have any questions, comment or shoot me an e-mail: kbhoyle@yahoo.com.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Writing Schedule
I sat down tonight and created a calendar for all the editing and writing that I need to complete over the next several months. I'll share the release dates as they get closer, but let's just say that I'm going to be VERY busy this spring and summer! I have my third baby arriving in May, and when this child is older, I should have some good stories to tell him or her about the time that I was pregnant. Anyhow, I am starting to write book 4 tomorrow, and I'm starting to feel really, really thankful that I put so much time and effort into my note-taking this fall. I *should* be able dive right in with minimal headache, although I do still need to bang out a rudimentary outline of JUST book 4 and put together my ring composition chart but... I'm not going to think about that right now. As long as I can get started tomorrow and at least write a page, I'll feel good. I think I set myself a doable schedule, starting slow this first week, and then shooting for 35 pages a week. I'll keep y'all posted as to how it goes!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Character Bio - Yahto Veli
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone in this holiday season! I've taken a short hiatus from blogging while we celebrated the holidays and entertained family, but now I think it's time to return to my promised character bios. So I am sitting amidst the detritus of new Christmas toys in my living room and ignoring the monumental mess around me to take a little time out to write about Yahto Veli. I should say before I begin, however, that writing a character bio about a nark is rather difficult as each nark is really two characters, not one, and none more so than Yahto Veli, but I hope to put together a bio that would please Veli and at least cause Yahto not to scowl too deeply. I'm also going to try and avoid repeating anything that I've already explained about narks in previous blog posts, so if you find yourself confused, you might want to reference my "Student Questions" posts. And so, we begin...
Full Name: Yahto Veli (Narks do not have surnames, although they do belong to clans).
Siblings: Yahto Veli had only one sibling, in the manner of all narks, who is mentioned briefly in book 3, if you can find him. You will notice the past tense used here because his brother, Yeriel Yavin, died before our story began.
Physical description: Yahto has black hair, tan skin, and dark grey eyes, while Veli has blond hair, light blue eyes, and fair skin. As with all narks, Yahto Veli has long hair that falls about to his shoulders, large, pointed ears which he can twitch and move slightly independent of the rest of his head, and very angular features that are humanoid, but ever-so-slightly otherworldly. He is tall and slender with very long fingers. When the Six first arrive in Alitheia, he is about 50 years old (equivalent to about 30 in human years). After his time with the Oracle, however, he has aged to about 85 in nark years, placing him in the early years of "middle aged" according to his kind.
Personality: Here is where I have had the most fun with Yahto Veli. While most night and day narks share nearly-identical personalities with their counterparts, Yahto and Veli are unique in their distinct personality differences. While much on the surface of their personalities is different, however, I've tried to drive home that at their hearts, they are the same. Yahto is glum, pessimistic, impatient, and caustic, while Veli is cheerful, optimistic, a patient friend and companion, and kind. Their personality shifts, therefore, mirror their appearance shifts. What they have in common, however, is a deep thoughtfulness and loyalty. They are each devoted to the cause of the rebellion and would lay down their lives for any of their friends.
In Alitheia: Yahto Veli is part of a special caste of narks who have joined with the humans in a traditional relationship of service and protection. For hundreds of years, narks who felt called to these duties would separate themselves from their communities and clans and join together in training and preparation for this task, which begins when they are very young. Only a select few ever choose to take the Oath of Service to a member of the ruling royal household, and Yahto Veli is part of the rotation of narks from this caste that go through terms of trial to see if they are suited for this special position. Yahto Veli broke tradition by making the Oath of Service to Darcy that you find at the end of book 3.
Trivia: Yahto Veli's name was chosen very specifically. Yahto means Blue (Native American) and Veli means Brother (Finnish). So, essentially, he is a "Blue (or grumpy) Brother." I was originally going to kill Yahto Veli off at the end of the series, but I found that my readership became so attached to him (and so quickly!) that I simply couldn't do that. I still needed him to make a self-sacrifice of some serious sort (holy alliteration, Batman!), though, so I came up with the idea of his episode with the Oracle to replace killing him. He is engaged in a courtship with Voitto Vesa, although I cannot elaborate on where that is going because my readers still do not know the fate of Voitto Vesa as of the end of book 3. He will continue to play a dominant role in each of the remaining three books. He was the first nark that I envisioned.
Full Name: Yahto Veli (Narks do not have surnames, although they do belong to clans).
Siblings: Yahto Veli had only one sibling, in the manner of all narks, who is mentioned briefly in book 3, if you can find him. You will notice the past tense used here because his brother, Yeriel Yavin, died before our story began.
Physical description: Yahto has black hair, tan skin, and dark grey eyes, while Veli has blond hair, light blue eyes, and fair skin. As with all narks, Yahto Veli has long hair that falls about to his shoulders, large, pointed ears which he can twitch and move slightly independent of the rest of his head, and very angular features that are humanoid, but ever-so-slightly otherworldly. He is tall and slender with very long fingers. When the Six first arrive in Alitheia, he is about 50 years old (equivalent to about 30 in human years). After his time with the Oracle, however, he has aged to about 85 in nark years, placing him in the early years of "middle aged" according to his kind.
Personality: Here is where I have had the most fun with Yahto Veli. While most night and day narks share nearly-identical personalities with their counterparts, Yahto and Veli are unique in their distinct personality differences. While much on the surface of their personalities is different, however, I've tried to drive home that at their hearts, they are the same. Yahto is glum, pessimistic, impatient, and caustic, while Veli is cheerful, optimistic, a patient friend and companion, and kind. Their personality shifts, therefore, mirror their appearance shifts. What they have in common, however, is a deep thoughtfulness and loyalty. They are each devoted to the cause of the rebellion and would lay down their lives for any of their friends.
In Alitheia: Yahto Veli is part of a special caste of narks who have joined with the humans in a traditional relationship of service and protection. For hundreds of years, narks who felt called to these duties would separate themselves from their communities and clans and join together in training and preparation for this task, which begins when they are very young. Only a select few ever choose to take the Oath of Service to a member of the ruling royal household, and Yahto Veli is part of the rotation of narks from this caste that go through terms of trial to see if they are suited for this special position. Yahto Veli broke tradition by making the Oath of Service to Darcy that you find at the end of book 3.
Trivia: Yahto Veli's name was chosen very specifically. Yahto means Blue (Native American) and Veli means Brother (Finnish). So, essentially, he is a "Blue (or grumpy) Brother." I was originally going to kill Yahto Veli off at the end of the series, but I found that my readership became so attached to him (and so quickly!) that I simply couldn't do that. I still needed him to make a self-sacrifice of some serious sort (holy alliteration, Batman!), though, so I came up with the idea of his episode with the Oracle to replace killing him. He is engaged in a courtship with Voitto Vesa, although I cannot elaborate on where that is going because my readers still do not know the fate of Voitto Vesa as of the end of book 3. He will continue to play a dominant role in each of the remaining three books. He was the first nark that I envisioned.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Character Bio - Tellius
The much-promised and long-awaited character bio on Tellius is finally here! Thanks for sticking with me...
Full name: Tellius Ecclektos VII
Parents: Tellius Ecclektos VI and Mitera Ecclektos
Siblings: Cadmus Ecclektos (1 1/2 years younger)
Physical description: Tellius has changed a lot from book to book, but he's on his way to being tall (~6 feet) and lean. He has dark brown hair that is wavy and brown eyes with flecks of green in them. He has a straight nose and freckles, although not as pale a complexion as Darcy. He has a square jaw and strong lines in his face.
Personality: Tellius's personality is rather tricky. I've kept him pretty mysterious for a while so that I can reveal things about him a little bit at a time. As you find out in book 3, however, Tellius has a lot of repressed feelings of fear, anger, and personal torment. He is haunted by the childhood memory of his parents' murders and is hyper aware of his own mortality and of the imminent danger that the remaining few members of his family are in. He tends toward seriousness and resentment over things from his past and things foretold to come in his future. Because of these things, he had to grow up much faster than usual for a boy of his age, and he tries desperately to control any aspect of his life that he can. It's not all negative for Tellius, though! As with many people who go through extreme trials, he will eventually allow them to transform him into a strong ruler and someone who is fiercely protective of the people he loves. He's also quite courageous, if a little rash at times, and thoughtful. And, well, there's a lot more that I could say about him, but I have to leave some things to be discovered!
Likes: Swordplay, archery, horseback riding, reading, art.
Dislikes: Having his life determined for him, hypocrites and people who act fake, autumn, being left behind/left out.
Birthday: September 15th
In Alitheia: Tellius is the seventh of his name in the Ecclektos line of rulers. He is a descendant of the first legitimate human king of Alitheia and the bearer of the promise of the prophecy that a king (presumably in his line) would someday wed the Intended. He is gifted with inverse fire and water magic, which is very unusual because most people in Alitheia are born with earth magic.
Trivia: His governess, Eleanor Stevenson, is like a surrogate mother to him. Tellius is my favorite character in the entire series and easily the most complex. While Tselloch ruled at Ormiskos, Tellius and his brother hid in plain sight as servants under their first cousin once removed, Tullin, at the low castle-keep of Kenidros. It took me a long, long time to settle on Tellius's name; it could not be too difficult to say, and I wanted it to convey a sense of royalty while also sounding friendly. I eventually based both his names off of Greek words that have significant meaning to his identity, but I'm not revealing what they are! Although his interactions with Cadmus have not been given much time in the books, Tellius loves his little brother more than anybody else in the world and is attached to him as only the older of a pair of orphaned boys could be. Tellius is the funnest character to write.
Full name: Tellius Ecclektos VII
Parents: Tellius Ecclektos VI and Mitera Ecclektos
Siblings: Cadmus Ecclektos (1 1/2 years younger)
Physical description: Tellius has changed a lot from book to book, but he's on his way to being tall (~6 feet) and lean. He has dark brown hair that is wavy and brown eyes with flecks of green in them. He has a straight nose and freckles, although not as pale a complexion as Darcy. He has a square jaw and strong lines in his face.
Personality: Tellius's personality is rather tricky. I've kept him pretty mysterious for a while so that I can reveal things about him a little bit at a time. As you find out in book 3, however, Tellius has a lot of repressed feelings of fear, anger, and personal torment. He is haunted by the childhood memory of his parents' murders and is hyper aware of his own mortality and of the imminent danger that the remaining few members of his family are in. He tends toward seriousness and resentment over things from his past and things foretold to come in his future. Because of these things, he had to grow up much faster than usual for a boy of his age, and he tries desperately to control any aspect of his life that he can. It's not all negative for Tellius, though! As with many people who go through extreme trials, he will eventually allow them to transform him into a strong ruler and someone who is fiercely protective of the people he loves. He's also quite courageous, if a little rash at times, and thoughtful. And, well, there's a lot more that I could say about him, but I have to leave some things to be discovered!
Likes: Swordplay, archery, horseback riding, reading, art.
Dislikes: Having his life determined for him, hypocrites and people who act fake, autumn, being left behind/left out.
Birthday: September 15th
In Alitheia: Tellius is the seventh of his name in the Ecclektos line of rulers. He is a descendant of the first legitimate human king of Alitheia and the bearer of the promise of the prophecy that a king (presumably in his line) would someday wed the Intended. He is gifted with inverse fire and water magic, which is very unusual because most people in Alitheia are born with earth magic.
Trivia: His governess, Eleanor Stevenson, is like a surrogate mother to him. Tellius is my favorite character in the entire series and easily the most complex. While Tselloch ruled at Ormiskos, Tellius and his brother hid in plain sight as servants under their first cousin once removed, Tullin, at the low castle-keep of Kenidros. It took me a long, long time to settle on Tellius's name; it could not be too difficult to say, and I wanted it to convey a sense of royalty while also sounding friendly. I eventually based both his names off of Greek words that have significant meaning to his identity, but I'm not revealing what they are! Although his interactions with Cadmus have not been given much time in the books, Tellius loves his little brother more than anybody else in the world and is attached to him as only the older of a pair of orphaned boys could be. Tellius is the funnest character to write.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
I'm Official!
I know that I promised a character bio on Tellius, and I will make good on that, I've just gotten a bit swamped early this week with activities and so I am a little behind. I will do my best to get that done tomorrow night! I did HAVE to blog about what happened today, though! Today I signed a publishing contract with The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House (TWCS) for the first three books of The Gateway Chronicles and the remaining three in the series. So that means that I am now no longer an indie author, but an official, contracted author! Huzzah! Follow the link below to read about TWCS, and I'll keep the blog updated as I have news about the new releases of the books. (They are still available on Amazon and Kindle, but will go unavailable for a time as TWCS gets ready to re-release them).
http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse/
http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse/
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Character Bio - Darcy
It was suggested to me to start a series of mini character bios, so that's going to be my main focus for the next several blog posts. I hope you enjoy!
Darcy
Full name: Darcy Marie Pennington
Parents: Allan and Sue Pennington, owners of Pennington Furniture Surplus
Siblings: Roger Pennington (3 years younger)
Physical description: Darcy is about medium height for a girl (I imagine 5'4" or 5'5") and thin, but not overly skinny. She has wavy, mahogany-brown hair that she wears long, pale skin, freckles, and grey eyes.
Personality: Darcy has a very introverted temperament. She tends to be introspective which, at first, keeps her trapped in a wallowing pit of self-pity and selfishness. Early on, she tends to assume that everybody around her is either judging her, not interested in her, or just as selfish as she is. As she grows throughout the series, however, her introspection helps her to become deeply sensitive to the feelings of others, thoughtful of her words and actions, and braver than many of her friends. Darcy will always struggle will awkwardness in social situations, however, and never has an easy manner with people, especially when she is uncomfortable.
Likes: Animals, reading (especially fantasy literature), rock music, history, and French toast (to name a few!)
Dislikes: Pop culture trends, being in a room full of people she doesn't know, girly stuff, biology, and touching people.
Birthday: March 2nd
In Alitheia: She is the Intended. Her standard is a horse and she is bonded with a horse named Hippondus. She can manipulate earth and air elemental magic. Her special talend is to mind-speak with high animals. She is supposed to marry Tellius and become queen of Alitheia.
Trivia: I came up with Darcy's name after watching Pride and Predjudice one night. It worked perfectly because I have little homages to all my favorite authors in the books. After I had her name picked, the rest of the story just fell into place. Darcy's mom and dad are from the South (they lived in Birmingham for a time). Her mom was a cheerleader for Alabama and her dad was a baseball player for Auburn. Darcy blushes with her ears because I blush with my ears, and she has freckles because I always wanted to have freckles.
Darcy
Full name: Darcy Marie Pennington
Parents: Allan and Sue Pennington, owners of Pennington Furniture Surplus
Siblings: Roger Pennington (3 years younger)
Physical description: Darcy is about medium height for a girl (I imagine 5'4" or 5'5") and thin, but not overly skinny. She has wavy, mahogany-brown hair that she wears long, pale skin, freckles, and grey eyes.
Personality: Darcy has a very introverted temperament. She tends to be introspective which, at first, keeps her trapped in a wallowing pit of self-pity and selfishness. Early on, she tends to assume that everybody around her is either judging her, not interested in her, or just as selfish as she is. As she grows throughout the series, however, her introspection helps her to become deeply sensitive to the feelings of others, thoughtful of her words and actions, and braver than many of her friends. Darcy will always struggle will awkwardness in social situations, however, and never has an easy manner with people, especially when she is uncomfortable.
Likes: Animals, reading (especially fantasy literature), rock music, history, and French toast (to name a few!)
Dislikes: Pop culture trends, being in a room full of people she doesn't know, girly stuff, biology, and touching people.
Birthday: March 2nd
In Alitheia: She is the Intended. Her standard is a horse and she is bonded with a horse named Hippondus. She can manipulate earth and air elemental magic. Her special talend is to mind-speak with high animals. She is supposed to marry Tellius and become queen of Alitheia.
Trivia: I came up with Darcy's name after watching Pride and Predjudice one night. It worked perfectly because I have little homages to all my favorite authors in the books. After I had her name picked, the rest of the story just fell into place. Darcy's mom and dad are from the South (they lived in Birmingham for a time). Her mom was a cheerleader for Alabama and her dad was a baseball player for Auburn. Darcy blushes with her ears because I blush with my ears, and she has freckles because I always wanted to have freckles.
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