Writing Update

The third story in the Larenfall Cycle is out to beta readers and I'm awaiting their input.  So now I'm turning my attention to two other projects.  First is taking four different stories I wrote several years ago and turning them into something I can put up on Amazon KDP.  They begin with "Thunder Canyon" which appeared in the anthology Rage of the Behemoth.  (Link should be over to the right.)  I kept writing stories with the main character, Rath, looking for his wife who was taken by slavers.  Since the fourth story was never really finished and the whole thing doesn't have an ending, this project will require a bit of work.  Second is creating a D&D adventure based in the Realms of Eldara.  That one has a skeleton framework already but will need quite a bit of fleshing out.  So that's what's going to keep me busy over the next month or so.

One of My Favorite Things

 I have a few favorite things.  Near the top of the list, right below Girls in White Dresses With Blue Satin Sashes, is typing THE END on the last page of a first draft.

 This morning I did that with the latest story in the Larenfall Cycle.  Finished the epilogue (which we seem to collectively call the 'post credits scene' nowadays) and sat back, triumphant.  It's sitting around 52K words right now and we'll see what survives the editing process.  Soon I'll be recruiting beta readers and getting feedback.  Hopefully I'll have it complete by the time Gen Con rolls around in August.

The Larenfall Cycle Update

 "Lines in the Sand" is continuing.  I'm at 35K words and I'm starting part four of a planned three part story.  The word count is now projected at 40-45K and the story has become more complicated than I originally intended.  By that, I mean that I keep coming up with new ideas to throw into it and will let it all shake out in the editing process.  

 Like almost all my stories, things come into focus as I write.  Possible motivations and scenes and endings all present themselves after I've already laid down the foundations I thought I'd be using.  This is just my process.  I make a note somewhere to go change something in a previous scene in order to make the new continuity flow towards the ending that I build.  Then I keep writing until I have to do it again.

 I'm definitely thinking that I will publish this, probably through Amazon KDP, in an expanded format with character and creature statblocks, new sub-class descriptions, spells, weapons and all the other D&D stuff that forms the base for these stories.  That, of course, means negotiating a licensing agreement with the amazing Evan Blair.  Exciting times.

Realms of Eldara Story Update

   Still pounding away at my latest story "Lines in the Sand".  It's up to 30K words and I think I'm still on track to hit about 50K.  The middle is proving to be tough to write my way through but that's not unexpected.  At this moment I'm vacillating between two potential endings and it's a 50/50 split on which one I'll use.  

  I really want to have the first draft done before the end of March so I have a hope of finishing before this summer and the potential for an "Eldaracon" meetup at GenCon in Indy.  After that, depending on the ending I choose I'll either have one more story in the Larenfall Cycle or none.  Time will tell.