Crickets, one of my best and closest friends (and one of your number) has created a truly awesome "trailer" for the movie of Nightchild that might someday be made. It's inspiring to me. It really makes me hope that I haven't been wasting all of my time after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-r85Y6hQs8
(This is not news to most of you whose pictures appear on the left - I believe you've already been burdened with my geekitude on other social network sites.)
Well, that's all for now... I'm off to continue dancing the Apocalypso with my new imaginary friends in Not Named...
Showing posts with label nightchild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nightchild. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Good news!
All four books are now available on Amazon.com for Kindle download! Nightchild: Book 1 of the Clans Saga, Sacrifice: Book 2 of the Clans Saga, Collected Stories and Collected Poems are all up and ready to roll!
Linkie:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=irish+horse+productions
Please, Crickets, if you know anyone who might be of a charitable mindset and might enjoy reading my scribbles and bibbles, please spread the word.
Linkie:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=irish+horse+productions
Please, Crickets, if you know anyone who might be of a charitable mindset and might enjoy reading my scribbles and bibbles, please spread the word.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Whew! Nightchild is finally done being revised for the eBook edition. I'm so relieved to be done with it! I was starting to really hate it toward the end.
I'm taking a break from Tobyn and company for a while. Powering through two novels in less than a year has made me a little tired of him, to be honest, and if the author is bored, then you know the reader will be, too. It's time to do something else for a while, like a mental palate cleanser.
I'm going to return to my retelling of the Tristan & Iseult legend, which I'm calling Knight of Sorrows. I'm excited about it, and I can't wait to get to work. I've already done an author's forward and a prologue, and now I can get to the meat of this very meaty story. It'll be a lot of fun, and I think I've finally freed my mind from my concerns about historical accuracy and research and whatnot. This is a fantasy, not a thesis, so I'm going to let my imagination have some room to play.
I call my company "Irish Horse Productions" for a reason. This horsie doesn't like being reined in.
I'm taking a break from Tobyn and company for a while. Powering through two novels in less than a year has made me a little tired of him, to be honest, and if the author is bored, then you know the reader will be, too. It's time to do something else for a while, like a mental palate cleanser.
I'm going to return to my retelling of the Tristan & Iseult legend, which I'm calling Knight of Sorrows. I'm excited about it, and I can't wait to get to work. I've already done an author's forward and a prologue, and now I can get to the meat of this very meaty story. It'll be a lot of fun, and I think I've finally freed my mind from my concerns about historical accuracy and research and whatnot. This is a fantasy, not a thesis, so I'm going to let my imagination have some room to play.
I call my company "Irish Horse Productions" for a reason. This horsie doesn't like being reined in.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Long time no see
Hi! I'm still alive, and neither space aliens nor men in white coats have collected me. I've been having more fun than the human heart can withstand lately, and it's been keeping me incommunicado. Mea culpa.
I've almost finished reworking Nightchild for the revised e-book edition, and that's good, because I'm getting really tired of the damned thing. It'll be a race to see what comes first: the completion of the typing or the match light set to the manuscript. I'm going to bet on the typing, because I have people who will slap me for playing with matches.
Once Nightchild is safely behind me once again, I can get back to Catherine's Wheel and see if I can rescue that from the shadows. I might even write something in a completely different universe, though, because right now I'm tired of Tobyn and company. Familiarity breeds contempt with imaginary people, too.
Irish Horse Productions needs a new bank account, since the old one was closed once the maintenance fees outstripped the balance. Writing is such a lucrative career. I'll be doing that while I'm on my lunch break from my day job today.
The first book, in its original bound version with the original cover art, will be available for sale at the Origins convention in Columbus, Ohio later this month. My good friends at Thenodrin Presents, who publish role-playing games and are fine people in general, will be handling the schlep-and-retail while I recover from last week's surgery. (Like I said, I've been having too much fun.)
Well, that's all the news that's unfit to print, gentle readers, and I'll be back with more once I've gotten past this little revising hurdle...
I've almost finished reworking Nightchild for the revised e-book edition, and that's good, because I'm getting really tired of the damned thing. It'll be a race to see what comes first: the completion of the typing or the match light set to the manuscript. I'm going to bet on the typing, because I have people who will slap me for playing with matches.
Once Nightchild is safely behind me once again, I can get back to Catherine's Wheel and see if I can rescue that from the shadows. I might even write something in a completely different universe, though, because right now I'm tired of Tobyn and company. Familiarity breeds contempt with imaginary people, too.
Irish Horse Productions needs a new bank account, since the old one was closed once the maintenance fees outstripped the balance. Writing is such a lucrative career. I'll be doing that while I'm on my lunch break from my day job today.
The first book, in its original bound version with the original cover art, will be available for sale at the Origins convention in Columbus, Ohio later this month. My good friends at Thenodrin Presents, who publish role-playing games and are fine people in general, will be handling the schlep-and-retail while I recover from last week's surgery. (Like I said, I've been having too much fun.)
Well, that's all the news that's unfit to print, gentle readers, and I'll be back with more once I've gotten past this little revising hurdle...
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Exposition and a second look
I've been re-typing the first book, Nightchild, because the original text files are so ancient that they're totally incompatible with all of the computer hardware and software that I have now. It's giving me a chance to correct a couple of things that I wish I'd worded differently the first time, and to correct a little error of detail that ends up being important in Catherine's Wheel (and in Sacrifice, actually).
I'm finding as I go back over the old words that I don't really hate them. I'm also finding a curious sense of sympathy for some of the side characters who came and went in that book, primarily Nikolas, Ara's husband. He got a bad deal, and he started out being someone who really had the best of intentions and the purest motives. He just wanted to marry the woman he loved, and he wanted to have a normal life. It makes me a little sad to look at it from that point of view while I'm going through the book. (Of course, this only applies to Nikolas before he got cozy with Antonio, but anyway...I digress...)
Should I have said, "Spoiler alert"? I think if anyone is reading this blog, they've already read the book.
I've also been thinking about exposition. One of the few cardinal "rules" of writing that I've always tried to keep in mind is "show it, don't tell it". It's better to unfold the plot through action rather than through dialogue or narrative. That being said, sometimes exposition is absolutely essential to driving the story onward. At the point I've reached in Catherine's Wheel, as I think I mentioned earlier, Tristan is playing the part of the Exposition Fairy, and it's vital. Tobyn needs to know what he's getting into, and sometimes a person really does need to be schooled by someone older and more informed. I'm glad that the talking didn't run very long, though, and that the learning that Tobyn is doing is going into a more active mode.
Exposition is a funny thing. It's necessary to a point, but it's so important not to get carried away with it. It can kill a work in progress, especially if that work is meant to be shorter in length. A novel can certainly bear more exposition than a short story. I think we've all seen examples, whether in print or on television or in films, where the exposition is heavy-handed and drags down the pace. It's a fine line. I hope I'm walking it well.
I'm finding as I go back over the old words that I don't really hate them. I'm also finding a curious sense of sympathy for some of the side characters who came and went in that book, primarily Nikolas, Ara's husband. He got a bad deal, and he started out being someone who really had the best of intentions and the purest motives. He just wanted to marry the woman he loved, and he wanted to have a normal life. It makes me a little sad to look at it from that point of view while I'm going through the book. (Of course, this only applies to Nikolas before he got cozy with Antonio, but anyway...I digress...)
Should I have said, "Spoiler alert"? I think if anyone is reading this blog, they've already read the book.
I've also been thinking about exposition. One of the few cardinal "rules" of writing that I've always tried to keep in mind is "show it, don't tell it". It's better to unfold the plot through action rather than through dialogue or narrative. That being said, sometimes exposition is absolutely essential to driving the story onward. At the point I've reached in Catherine's Wheel, as I think I mentioned earlier, Tristan is playing the part of the Exposition Fairy, and it's vital. Tobyn needs to know what he's getting into, and sometimes a person really does need to be schooled by someone older and more informed. I'm glad that the talking didn't run very long, though, and that the learning that Tobyn is doing is going into a more active mode.
Exposition is a funny thing. It's necessary to a point, but it's so important not to get carried away with it. It can kill a work in progress, especially if that work is meant to be shorter in length. A novel can certainly bear more exposition than a short story. I think we've all seen examples, whether in print or on television or in films, where the exposition is heavy-handed and drags down the pace. It's a fine line. I hope I'm walking it well.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Dumb mistake
Q: What do you call two piers?
A: A pair o' docks
Yes, friends and neighbors, I have found a glaring inconsistency between Nightchild and Sacrifice. Naturally, this occurs after both works are published and allegedly finalized.
Madrid and Barcelona are the same place, right?
Right?
::crickets::
Yeah. I thought not.
This is what happens when you let ten years go by between books and don't bother to have the original at your elbow when you're writing the sequel.
I can fix it in the eBook version of Nightchild, but still... annoying!
A: A pair o' docks
Yes, friends and neighbors, I have found a glaring inconsistency between Nightchild and Sacrifice. Naturally, this occurs after both works are published and allegedly finalized.
Madrid and Barcelona are the same place, right?
Right?
::crickets::
Yeah. I thought not.
This is what happens when you let ten years go by between books and don't bother to have the original at your elbow when you're writing the sequel.
I can fix it in the eBook version of Nightchild, but still... annoying!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Announcement!!
THE WEBSITE IS LIVE!!!!!
Sacrifice is available for sale on the website in electronic format, and there's a link to Nightchild on Amazon.com.
WE'RE IN BUSINESS, BABY!
Sacrifice is available for sale on the website in electronic format, and there's a link to Nightchild on Amazon.com.
WE'RE IN BUSINESS, BABY!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Cyrus
Last night I delivered a copy of Nightchild to Cyrus, my favorite server at my local Big Boy restaurant here in my home town. He was so excited to receive it, it really made me happy. I hope he's still excited after he reads it. ;)
Cyrus is an extraordinarily personable young man, with charisma to spare, and he's said that his ambition is to be the next Ryan Seacrest. I believe that he can do it. Wind to his wings.
Cyrus is an extraordinarily personable young man, with charisma to spare, and he's said that his ambition is to be the next Ryan Seacrest. I believe that he can do it. Wind to his wings.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Is this an opening volley or a warning shot?
Now that I've returned to my writing on a serious basis, I thought I would establish this blog to let any interested parties keep track of my progress.
I've been writing since I was four years old, and while I certainly wouldn't vouch for the quality of that early wordsmithing, the enthusiasm was undeniable. My writing carried me through an adolescence and young adulthood shadowed by illness and clinical depression, among other vissicitudes of life, and it was my lifeline until 1999, when I finally achieved a life-long dream and saw my novel, Nightchild: A Clans Novel (available on Amazon.com), emerge as a printed work.
That was when the wheels came off.
The book itself was a joy, and I still love it, but the business end of publishing was brutal. After unfair expectations and crashing disappointments, I was heartbroken and demoralized. I turned my back on my writing and embarked on the darkest, most spiritually parched period of my life.
Rescue came in a most unexpected guise. In September and October 2008, I had a very serious illness and nearly died. I came out of the darkness with a determination not to waste my second chance, and from that determination was born Irish Horse Productions, a company through which I can finally let my writing see the light of day again. With the encouragement and assistance of a very talented web designer at Time Scribe Designs, I now have a webpage under construction that will hopefully allow me to release my stories, poems, and more importantly, my sequels, in my own way and under my own control.
Me, a control freak? Whyever would you think such a thing?
Yes, this is sort of an exercise in control-freakery, but it's more than that. It's an attempt to reclaim my writing and thereby myself through authentically attempting to share my work without (much) regard for business or any illusions about success. My books are the only children I'll ever give birth, and I want to see them take their first steps. That's the real impetus here. I was given a second chance to let my "children" live. I want to take on the challenge.
I hope I'm equal to the task.
The first step is refining and finalizing the second Clans book, Sacrifice, which is over halfway finished. Once that's done, and once I have the registered copyright in hand (can't be too careful), I'll do the same with my short stories and whatever poetry I've written as of this date that's worth inflicting upon ... er, showing... other people.
One step at a time, but ever onward toward the horizon. As Tolkien wrote, the road goes ever on and on. At least this time I'm on the road and not sitting in the ditch and watching the traffic go by.
I've been writing since I was four years old, and while I certainly wouldn't vouch for the quality of that early wordsmithing, the enthusiasm was undeniable. My writing carried me through an adolescence and young adulthood shadowed by illness and clinical depression, among other vissicitudes of life, and it was my lifeline until 1999, when I finally achieved a life-long dream and saw my novel, Nightchild: A Clans Novel (available on Amazon.com), emerge as a printed work.
That was when the wheels came off.
The book itself was a joy, and I still love it, but the business end of publishing was brutal. After unfair expectations and crashing disappointments, I was heartbroken and demoralized. I turned my back on my writing and embarked on the darkest, most spiritually parched period of my life.
Rescue came in a most unexpected guise. In September and October 2008, I had a very serious illness and nearly died. I came out of the darkness with a determination not to waste my second chance, and from that determination was born Irish Horse Productions, a company through which I can finally let my writing see the light of day again. With the encouragement and assistance of a very talented web designer at Time Scribe Designs, I now have a webpage under construction that will hopefully allow me to release my stories, poems, and more importantly, my sequels, in my own way and under my own control.
Me, a control freak? Whyever would you think such a thing?
Yes, this is sort of an exercise in control-freakery, but it's more than that. It's an attempt to reclaim my writing and thereby myself through authentically attempting to share my work without (much) regard for business or any illusions about success. My books are the only children I'll ever give birth, and I want to see them take their first steps. That's the real impetus here. I was given a second chance to let my "children" live. I want to take on the challenge.
I hope I'm equal to the task.
The first step is refining and finalizing the second Clans book, Sacrifice, which is over halfway finished. Once that's done, and once I have the registered copyright in hand (can't be too careful), I'll do the same with my short stories and whatever poetry I've written as of this date that's worth inflicting upon ... er, showing... other people.
One step at a time, but ever onward toward the horizon. As Tolkien wrote, the road goes ever on and on. At least this time I'm on the road and not sitting in the ditch and watching the traffic go by.
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