WRITING VICTORIES
Thanks to all who offered suggestions and commiseration on my last post about my struggles with being motivated to write. I definitely appreciate it, and will be using those strategies in the future!Apparently, sometimes I just need to whine for a bit... get it out of my system, so to speak. Because after writing that blog post, I had an amazing time of working on my Beauty and the Beast retelling, and the story is really starting to come together. I think much of my problem was that I was having to get through a lot of the "set up" writing, so that I could get to the parts of the story that I really wanted to write... the action bits and such.Anyway, huzzah for a writing victory!As promised, today I'm going to tell you a bit about the line-up I have on my writing plate... so that you can have a head's up as to what is coming next from my desk. The order is the tentative order in which the stories will be released, though I make no promises!
YORIEN'S HANDStatus: Content editing complete, line editing neededYou probably already know that this is the third book in The Minstrel's Song series. We pick up the story three years after the conclusion of KING'S WARRIOR. Oraeyn has been the king of Aom-igh for 2 years, and all seems well, at least on the surface. However, Oraeyn has been suffering from terrible, inexplicable nightmares; dreams he cannot remember clearly upon waking, except for an ominous feeling of dread. When the two wizardesses, Leila and Dylanna, suddenly go missing, Oraeyn's nightmares become reality. There is an evil brewing, an ancient enemy that the world had all but forgotten rises up from the eastern edge of the world and threatens everything our characters hold dear.Now Oraeyn must journey to the wilds of Emnolae and seek the one weapon that might be able to stop the advancing foe. With him travel three dragons, the warrior Brant, the minstrel Kiernan Kane, and the one person Oraeyn fears losing most: Princess Kamarie. Together they race across Tellurae Aquaous, their only hope that they can reach Yorien's Hand in time.
BOOK FOUR (sorry, I'm not releasing the title just yet)Status: Rough Draft complete, content editing neededThis will be the fourth and final chapter in The Minstrel's Song. It picks up approximately 5 years after the end of YORIEN'S HAND, and I don't want to say much about it here, except that it begins with a cryptic message from an absent Kiernan Kane. Many of our favorite characters (those who survived book 3, that is) will be returning for more exciting adventures.
THE PRINCE AND THE WILLOW (this is a working title that I have grown to sort of hate... so I definitely need a new name for it)Status: Rough Draft Complete, content editing neededMy retelling of Cinderella.Ten-year old Prince Evan despises his trips into the village. The other children, knowing his position and importance, are timid and fearful around him and mostly disappear into their homes when he arrives. One day, however, as he sits by himself at the edge of the pond, everything changes. Into his lonely life dances the nine-year old Ella. Evan's title does not concern her, and her imagination inspires him, thus the two become fast friends.When Ella's mother dies unexpectedly, Evan is the one Ella turns to for comfort. When Ella's father announces his plans to remarry and move to a different town, Evan is the one who encourages and reassures Ella that this may not be such a bad thing. But when Ella's father is lost at sea and Ella's step-family steadily marches Ella into the role of a servant, can her Prince Charming help once again?
THE ORB AND THE AIRSHIPStatus: Rough Draft completeGrayden Ormond and his friend, Wynn, have been accepted into the Academy, a prestigious training facility for prospective warriors in the military. On the evening before they are supposed to leave, however, Grayden stumbles across a strange old man who insists on traveling with them to the Academy.The Academy is letting in an unprecedented number of students, in hopes of swelling their military ranks. The Council of the West is concerned about their tenuous peace treaty with the Warlord of the East. Their desire is to create a large enough army in order to discourage any ideas about invading. However, unbeknownst to the Council, the Warlord has a power on his side that is far greater than anything they could imagine.Marik is a thief of some notoriety and a complicated past. Once an officer in the Warlord's army, he was ordered to commit atrocities he could no longer live with, leading him to abandon his post and turn to a life of shady criminal dealings. When he is commissioned to steal an airship, he agrees, despite the fact that it has never been successfully attempted before.When Grayden and Marik's paths cross, both will learn that there is far more at stake than their own personal goals. Together they will find that there is not as much difference between them as it might at first seem.
THE MARS PROJECT (working title, because the actual title is still super secret)Status: Outline complete, first few scenes have been writtenR. Logan Welles is a private investigator in the small city of Kanar in Oakenfeld, one of the newer Mars Colonies. When a woman approaches him worried about her husband, who has been missing for only twelve hours, Logan is tempted to tell her that she is missing the obvious and that she should wait another twelve hours and then contact the police. But something stops him. Something about the way she is so composed, so sure that something terrible has happened, and the fact that her husband works for the highly prestigious technological giant, Aditus, persuades him to take the case.And that's all I'm saying about that, for now.
THE TRAITOR AND THE TOWER (working title)Sequel to The Orb and the AirshipStatus: Outline is in progress. Ideas have been sketched up and fleshed out. Writing will commence shortly.I don't have a good description for this book yet, just a basic outline. But it picks up six years after the conclusion of THE ORB AND THE AIRSHIP. Tensions between the East and the West have escalated. Grayden and his friends have graduated from the Academy. And Dalmir is about to sweep them up in a quest that is more important than the impending war.
So, there you have it, my short-list of Things To Write and Things to Edit. There are more ideas swishing around up there, as The Orb and the Airship series will most likely become a trilogy, and I have no idea how many books are in the Mars Project (but I know there are at least 3).What sounds most interesting to you?If you are an author, what projects are you currently working on? I'd love to hear about them!