The Saga of Othren Four-Scars

 Next up in my foray into self publication is an e-book and future paperback that combines a couple of my sold stories and an unpublished prequel story.  I've called it The Saga of Othren Four-Scars and it is a compilation of The Battle of Raven Kill, The Feorhmaeghan, and The Witch of the Westmoors.  (Side note: I've taken away access to the Google docs for these Amazon stories because I'm pretty sure the agreement with Kindle Select is that they have to be exclusive to Amazon.)

 So, the experiment continues.  Link to the new e-book is right here:

Amazon.com: The Saga of Othren Four-Scars: As told in three stories: The Battle of Raven Kill, The Feorhmaegan, The Witch of the Westmoors eBook : Draper, Jeff: Kindle Store

Amazon Kindle Editions Now Rolling Out

 I've started making compilations of old stories and formatting them for Amazon's Kindle e-book system.  The first test is up and running.  "Protector" has its own page on Amazon.  More stories to be released in the coming months.

Amazon.com: Protector eBook : Draper, Jeff: Kindle Store

Next Realms of Eldara Story

 OK, what started as a bit of a lark has become a more intensive writing project.  The third story in The Larenfall Cycle is firmly underway and it's tentatively titled "Lines in the Sand."  That was my first title and it has a very good shot at staying the title.  It just seems to fit the vibe of the story I'm going for.  There are some literal lines in the sand and there are some figurative lines as well, as characters find themselves with unaligned goals and ultimatums are given.

  This is turning out to be longer than any of the others and probably will approach novel size all by itself.  I'm at 20K words and I'm just starting Part Two of a projected 3 parts.  It's taking these characters into new places, both within the Shattered Sea and within their relationships.  I'm still keeping track of combat rounds and hit points and spells since it is a D&D based story, but the real narrative is less about the monsters and the traps and more about how these characters are growing and changing.  We'll see if I end up getting it right.

New Project Phase 2

 Really can't call this a 'new' project by now but it's what I'm doing.  My next story in Evan Blair's Realms of Eldara fantasy RPG setting is called "The Bad King" and it's live and online for all who are interested.  The link will take you to the story in two formats, one is a regular Word document, and the other is a .pdf mockup of what the future might hold.  I'm starting to get crazy thoughts about publication.  The next story in the cycle is underway and I have an idea for a fourth.  If I can pull this off, I'll have about 100K words and that is novel length.  That kind of volume presents opportunities.  

But first, I give you: The Bad King

The Battle of Raven Kill Again

 Next up is The Battle of Raven Kill.  It's posted on Google at: The Battle of Raven Kill

This one was a big step up from my first sale.  Much grittier, much more blood, much more splattered brain matter, and a charming father-daughter story all rolled into one.

I sold this to the amazing Jason Waltz at Rogue Blades!  You'll see his name come up again here; he's a scholar and a gentleman and I owe a lot to him.

Two versions:  Original piece that I sold and another file with embedded author's notes.  Enjoy!

Hosting and Posting

 I've started up a Google Drive to share my previous stories and host the new project as well.  The first link is to my first story ever published.  It was called "Protector" and it was published back in 2006.  I've got both the original version and one with author's notes.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ewc5HXcLs-BoJErT6RdTDiSCZ2Vy7D_D?usp=sharing

New Project (Phase 1) Complete

 All right, the first story in my fanfic series set in the Realms of Eldara is finished.  All revisions are complete and there's no more fiddling with it.  That's a good thing because I'm almost done with the first draft of the second story.  (Phase 2, if you must know.)

  The story ended up being called "Stones Like Rain" and it's part of what I'm calling "The Larenfall Cycle".  It follows an adventure with four classic D&D characters; a fighter, magic-user, cleric, and a thief.  (Yes, when I get to their backstory I'll figure out how to have them meet in a tavern.)  That is the most stereotypical party of adventurers imaginable so I went straight at it.  Interesting side note: as I was writing I found out again how balanced a party with those four classes is.  Stereotypes exist for a reason, folks.

  It has a compelling villain since I've talked many times about how important the villain of a story is.  It has high stakes with a threat to an entire city if they fail.  It also has relationships that are tested and reinforced.  And it has at least one decapitation.  You know, all the good stuff.

  Right now I'm hosting it on my Google Drive and working on how to release it.  More on that later.  I'm also working on hosting all of my previously sold pieces there as well for free reading.

  One of the really fun things about this new group of stories is that I'm also going to release a version with the game mechanics running down a side column.  When the heroes enter into combat you can read the standard thrilling prose of the main story and also see what the attack and damage rolls were.  There was no other way to present a story based on a D&D 5E ruleset.  Also, another version is going to have the story with embedded author's commentary just like your favorite movie on DVD.

  And of course: D&D character sheets for the band of heroes.  You'll get to see all their stats and abilities and spells and such.  That way you can have great fun second guessing the author and saying in your bestest, most condescending voice: "Well, anyone who knows the rules would have cast Lightning Bolt instead of Fireball there.  This guy's an idiot."

New Projects

 That last story was finished in time for the holidays and I immediately started working on another.  This project is a little different.  I wrote a story grounded in D&D rules and based in a world created by an excellent Twitch streamer, Evan Blair.  (EvanBlairArt - Twitch) 

His world is called Tellaria and it's one of the Realms of Eldara.  All his own creations.  The story I wrote is essentially a fanfic and isn't saleable anywhere but I had great fun with it.  There were two things that created the most difficulty fun.  First was trying to fit the tone of Evan's shared world idea.  I had to take his lore and the various Known Things in Eldara and adapt those into a story that both honored his creations and also was a separate creation of my own.  I've loved writing in shared worlds before and I'm happy to have a chance to do it again.  (Ed.- 'shared world' is a very ephemeral title, as nothing is really released publicly that would be considered 'shared' and this is all pre-debut.)  Second, I found it challenging to write a story that had to follow specific game rules.  It's not as easy as you might think.  Games and fiction are two different mediums and they have different goals for the type of user experience they deliver.  Hacking away at monsters is perfectly good fun when playing D&D.  It's not that great to read about.  Similarly, a story arc in fiction has elements of tension and resolution that are just not present in a game system.  There also has to be a balance in the action beats that don't always happen in D&D.

But, like I said, it was great fun.  More stuff like this to follow.