Adventures in Bat Country

I have been looking at the outline for the sequel for The Highway West and the story would work even better if I alternated the POVs in the chapter. Something like:

Chapter One: Marty POV
Chapter Two: Nathan POV
Chapter Three: Eve POV

repeat

I know this worked really well on a grander scale for the Game of Thrones series. However, that series started that way.

The Highway West was told solely from the Nathan POV. Would it be weird to shift POVs like that between books. Or to go from a single POV to multiple POVs.

It made sense to tell The Highway West story solely from Nathan's POV because he was new and the reader learned as Nathan learn.

Things to ponder.

This is a WIP from my current novel.

( Read more... )

I had a lot of time on the road today. I think I was on the bus for almost 3.5 hours in total. I did a mental wrap up of my writing progress.

I started with six novel ideas.

( Read more... )

I have made references to a secret project for the last two months.

I wanted to wait until most of the work was completed on the site to reveal my secret.

I decided to finally make my attempt at a crowd-funding project.

Trying such an endevor has both scared the crap out of me and excited me about the new possibilities. The lovely and talented Jen Brooks is finishing the graphics element this weekend.

You can take a sneak peak at: http://dylanandthedreampirates.com/

Please post a link to this project on your own website or Facebook. Search engines rank sites based on links from other sites to said location.

I started working on the plot for my new untitled novel.

I am trying to work on a couple of different levels.

I'm working on the giant meta-mystery for the universe. My goal is to work out a massive Lost style mythology. Only I intend to actually reveal answers. ;) This is proving to be time consuming. but I think it will be worth while.

I also want there to be personal arcs and growth for the main characters. I'm working on names and the histories.

As for the writing style, I'm considering first person limited. One of the main characters is a mysterious other type of character and I'm thinking it would be interesting to have this story narrated by the other main character trying to solve this mystery.

Last night on the way home, I came up for a whole new universe for stories. This is a science fiction / fantasy universe.

I think I could tell all sorts of stories under this umbrella. I don't have a name for the universe.

The following all sprung into my mind at once.

1. The first chapter mapped out in my head.

2. Bold visions of the two main characters. I know what they look like, general personalities, etc.

3. Images of the mook level henchmen.

4. A vague arc and feel of the main conflict for the story.

I don't have a name for the novel or the main characters. Naming the main character is going to be very difficult.

I worked on some outlines today.

I think The Doom that Fell Upon the Villa Diodat. I was considering would work better as a novelette. I just couldn't figure out how to expand it to a novel length. However, I think it will make a wonderful extended story. I just need to find the write venue.

I wrote 1000 words on the Dragon's Lure story.

I think I need to figure out what would make a new concept.

Tomorrow, I am going to spend some time on agents and publishers for Dylan and the Dream Pirates.

I've been very tempted to try an on-line funding project. I see local projects like Penny Arcade or TelevisionWithOutPity.com and it makes me curious to see how I would do with such a project. I've seen some projects by writers with a large fanbase do fairly decent, but that doesn't mean my projects would translate anywhere near as well.

The truth is that no one know the future of publishing. People have have ideas about the possibilities, but really technology and how society operates and exchanges stories and ideas change so quickly right now. I feel like I'm missing out on something.

And yet, I don't want to "waste" a project. I busted my ass on this project. And yet, a YA fantasy novel feels like the best chance for something like this working. I'll sleep on it the next couple of nights.

Yesterday, I did nothing. It felt good.

Of course, my brain still wanted to play. I came up with a fun concept for my next novel. I've been playing with the idea for a while, but then I read the graphic novel Wanted and then saw Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog and realized that it might be too close to what's out there.

The premise is that Professor Moriarty killed Sherlock Holmes and secretly took his place. Unfettered, Moriarty and his legion of evil secretly consquered the world and turned into an almost paradise filled with wonder and mad science for the common man, but lacking in human dignity and compassion.

Flash forward to the present, there is a school, Ravenswood Academy: School for Villiany and Skullduggery, dedicated to raising the next generation of villians to conquer the world and improve it. There are superheros, but mostly they are corporate stooges that fight in the economic wars.

This is the story of a villian that decides to really be a criminal by turning into a hero.

Wanted kind of uses that premise, but with more sodomy and racism thrown in.