As previously mentioned, I am not good at creating titles. About a week ago I changed the name of my first book from "Basein" to "Brothers' Journey." Not a real good improvement. The title bothered me. It worked at me. I spent way too much time thinking about it. Then, as soon as I decided to put the title up for recommendations, I stumbled upon what I feel is a great title.
However, I am still going to open a contest to name the book. If I like you're title more than the my own, it goes on the book. If it gets published with that title, you get a big fat acknowledgment in the book somewhere. I'll even give you a signed copy recognizing your service.
To help I am publishing a synopsis of the book. Copyright Brendan Rowlands 2009
SYNOPSIS
In the fantasy world Basein most people follow the god Aloi, founder of Basein. Hidden in the shadows are the followers of Damascus, the dark god. Shorn is a high-ranking member of their order who was raised in isolation by a Damascan father. Although he is a decent man, he has never been exposed to anything except the doctrines of Damascus. He truly believes that by following them he will make the world a better place, even if he has to commit some distasteful acts along the way. What are a few dead men if it saves the souls of the entire world?
This serves him until he befriends Sephin, a follower of Aloi. His worldview is put in danger when he is forced to kidnap and torture Sephin. His friend holds the key to finding Palthion, Damascus’s greatest enemy. Can Sephin protect Palthion’s whereabouts? Will Shorn destroy his friend in the name of a better world?
Complimenting this story is the tale of three brothers Palthion sends to rescue Sephin. Unbeknownst to them, they are being set up by Palthion to become heroes, because he has his own secret that would change Shorn’s plans. The stress of the journey soon has the brothers fighting each other. They need to learn to trust and protect each other in order to accomplish their goal.
END SYNOPSIS
Also, I want to know: Does the synopsis make you want to read the book?
Post comments and thanks for the feedback.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Why Writing Seems More Important than My Family (but isn't)
Writing is communication. I was not the first to say this, but I said it best. I was also not the first to say it best (see "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White). This means that writing is similar to conversation, another form of communication. The major difference is that conversation entails back and forth communication between two or more people, a mutual exchange of information. Narrative writing is one person giving information to another person, no reply expected.
Conversations are generally fairly rapid. In my mind this can be for two reasons: we are well practiced and we can immediately clarify any misunderstanding. There may be other reasons, but theses are the most salient to me. Writing, is generally slower. It takes much longer to write a book than it takes to read one. This is because people are not as practiced at writing as they are at conversation. Also, you rarely have the opportunity to clarify misunderstandings when you write. The words have to be perfect the first time.
What does this have to do with my family? I will often spend hours a night writing fiction. During that time I am not very attentive to my family. What this means is that I spend more time on my writing than on my family. Based on allocation of time, my writing may appear more important than my family, but that is not the case. I am practiced at communicating with my family. I can spend less time trying to find the right words, because of how familiar I am with my family. The time difference is due to practice. I don't need to spend as much time with my family as I do with my writing to make it right.
A lot of you are shaking your heads in dismay. No, this does not excuse me to spend less time with my family. If anything, I should be cautious about my well-seasoned communication skills. We all should. We take for granted our ability to communicate and converse that we often don't do it well enough. If we spent a little extra time thinking about what we said, before we said it, there would be less miscommunication and all the problems associated with it. I should spend more time with my family, making sure that my communication is everything it should be and nothing it should not be both in quality and quantity.
Would I have upset you, dear reader, if I had thought before posting today?
Conversations are generally fairly rapid. In my mind this can be for two reasons: we are well practiced and we can immediately clarify any misunderstanding. There may be other reasons, but theses are the most salient to me. Writing, is generally slower. It takes much longer to write a book than it takes to read one. This is because people are not as practiced at writing as they are at conversation. Also, you rarely have the opportunity to clarify misunderstandings when you write. The words have to be perfect the first time.
What does this have to do with my family? I will often spend hours a night writing fiction. During that time I am not very attentive to my family. What this means is that I spend more time on my writing than on my family. Based on allocation of time, my writing may appear more important than my family, but that is not the case. I am practiced at communicating with my family. I can spend less time trying to find the right words, because of how familiar I am with my family. The time difference is due to practice. I don't need to spend as much time with my family as I do with my writing to make it right.
A lot of you are shaking your heads in dismay. No, this does not excuse me to spend less time with my family. If anything, I should be cautious about my well-seasoned communication skills. We all should. We take for granted our ability to communicate and converse that we often don't do it well enough. If we spent a little extra time thinking about what we said, before we said it, there would be less miscommunication and all the problems associated with it. I should spend more time with my family, making sure that my communication is everything it should be and nothing it should not be both in quality and quantity.
Would I have upset you, dear reader, if I had thought before posting today?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Basein Changes to Brothers' Journey
When I embarked on a writing career I knew that certain milestones were inevitable. Beginning the first novel that is never finished and beginning the first novel that is. Ending the first novel. Editing the first novel. I have passed all of these, along with several minor markers along the way.
Today I reached another one. I received my first rejection letter. I sent out a polite query to an agency and after several weeks of waiting I received an equally polite e-mail declaring their disinterest in my project.
It hurt for about one minute. I had to remind myself in that minute that the most I had been hoping for was an invitation to submit a manuscript, realizing that even that would be an achievement. The manuscript is nowhere near ready to be sold.
The bright side of the matter was that it reminded me of why I am writing: because I want to make a career out of it. If I am going to do so, today's rejection will be the first of many. If I want to succeed I need to improve my query letters, improve my novels, and never give up.
I came home and decided to pick up Basein again for the first time since changes were made. I have finally given it chapters (you're welcome mom) and it is now composed of a prologue, epilogue, and 47 chapters stretching over 310 pages. I like small chapters. They're easy to read. I also added page numbers and a title page.
While I was adding the title page I decided a change in title was in order. "Basein" didn't accurately reflect the nature of the story. The world is not the story. I pondered and I couldn't find anything that I was excited about. In the end I settled on "Brother's Journey." This will probably change during the next rewrite, especially if I find a particularly salient phrase in the text that will serve the title role.
I didn't touch the text except for a few cosmetic changes that I noticed as I was scrolling through the pages to find chapter divisions.
For those of you who have been waiting for these changes to read my book your wait is over.
Today I reached another one. I received my first rejection letter. I sent out a polite query to an agency and after several weeks of waiting I received an equally polite e-mail declaring their disinterest in my project.
It hurt for about one minute. I had to remind myself in that minute that the most I had been hoping for was an invitation to submit a manuscript, realizing that even that would be an achievement. The manuscript is nowhere near ready to be sold.
The bright side of the matter was that it reminded me of why I am writing: because I want to make a career out of it. If I am going to do so, today's rejection will be the first of many. If I want to succeed I need to improve my query letters, improve my novels, and never give up.
I came home and decided to pick up Basein again for the first time since changes were made. I have finally given it chapters (you're welcome mom) and it is now composed of a prologue, epilogue, and 47 chapters stretching over 310 pages. I like small chapters. They're easy to read. I also added page numbers and a title page.
While I was adding the title page I decided a change in title was in order. "Basein" didn't accurately reflect the nature of the story. The world is not the story. I pondered and I couldn't find anything that I was excited about. In the end I settled on "Brother's Journey." This will probably change during the next rewrite, especially if I find a particularly salient phrase in the text that will serve the title role.
I didn't touch the text except for a few cosmetic changes that I noticed as I was scrolling through the pages to find chapter divisions.
For those of you who have been waiting for these changes to read my book your wait is over.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Moon Shadows Prologue
So, as is my custom I am posting the prologue to the book I am currently working on here.
Enjoy.
They came from the cities, the fields, the forests, the mountains. They did not follow the moon or the sun. They did navigate the stars, would not have if they knew how. They used roads only as long as the roads were moving in the same direction they were travelling. They did not know where they were going, but they walked in the direction they were called.
The journey would take some of them weeks to complete, as they came from farther away. Even the closest took days to reach the journey’s end. They did not stop to eat or to drink or to sleep. They were sustained by something beyond them so that they were not troubled by bodily concerns.
In the moment, they could not say why they were doing travelling. Afterwards, they would not remember doing so. They gathered because they had to gather.
A small trickle of individuals became a stream, which eventually joined other streams, until these joined together to form a nation; they arrived at the same time in the same place.
They gathered together away from the eyes of the world in a place that history had forgotten.
Under the light of day they told the history of their people in a dead language. Under the light of the moon they sang songs forgotten by the rest of the world. They celebrated their lives. They danced and became themselves. Then they became more than themselves. They became the essence of their people. They became free. They became shadows in front of the moon.
Enjoy.
They came from the cities, the fields, the forests, the mountains. They did not follow the moon or the sun. They did navigate the stars, would not have if they knew how. They used roads only as long as the roads were moving in the same direction they were travelling. They did not know where they were going, but they walked in the direction they were called.
The journey would take some of them weeks to complete, as they came from farther away. Even the closest took days to reach the journey’s end. They did not stop to eat or to drink or to sleep. They were sustained by something beyond them so that they were not troubled by bodily concerns.
In the moment, they could not say why they were doing travelling. Afterwards, they would not remember doing so. They gathered because they had to gather.
A small trickle of individuals became a stream, which eventually joined other streams, until these joined together to form a nation; they arrived at the same time in the same place.
They gathered together away from the eyes of the world in a place that history had forgotten.
Under the light of day they told the history of their people in a dead language. Under the light of the moon they sang songs forgotten by the rest of the world. They celebrated their lives. They danced and became themselves. Then they became more than themselves. They became the essence of their people. They became free. They became shadows in front of the moon.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
First post of 2010!
Well, I'm not sure why I am writing this blog post. This blog should have died with 2009, but I find myself unable to resist updating here occasionally.
Let's start with November and the Nanowrimo challenge. I failed! 10,000 words and then life caught up with me. It might have helped to have a computer at home, but I don't know for sure. November was a busy month. I did learn that I didn't like writing as fast as I was writing (I was putting out 2000 words a day). I wouldn't mind putting out that many words a day, if I had all day to do it. That is, if writing was my day job.
We got a new computer for Christmas, which makes it much easier for me to maintain my writing habit. I tried on several attempts to revitalize my work in progress "Soul Mating" (formerly known as Progression). However, the multiple starts and stops have made me unenthusiastic about the project. I don't remember what I've written so I have to reread each time I go back to it, and the inertia is gone. I've officially placed it in a coma (it's not dead yet) and moved on to a new book.
This book has the working title "Moon Shadows." Trina's not a fan of the title. Neither am I, but it gives me something to refer to the project by, and it makes me laugh at the same time. I have no idea what this book is about. Well, correction. I have an idea, but it's a small one. And it's got me excited. I can't go into the details here, but it was an idea I've had since high school. However, the idea is just a background. A puzzle to be solved. I have no idea who my characters are, my world, or how to solve the problem. I'm just writing it, and letting these things show up as they become necessary. I'm sure the first draft will be ridiculously bad, but I'm enjoying the writing again.
And that's what I'm writing.
Let's start with November and the Nanowrimo challenge. I failed! 10,000 words and then life caught up with me. It might have helped to have a computer at home, but I don't know for sure. November was a busy month. I did learn that I didn't like writing as fast as I was writing (I was putting out 2000 words a day). I wouldn't mind putting out that many words a day, if I had all day to do it. That is, if writing was my day job.
We got a new computer for Christmas, which makes it much easier for me to maintain my writing habit. I tried on several attempts to revitalize my work in progress "Soul Mating" (formerly known as Progression). However, the multiple starts and stops have made me unenthusiastic about the project. I don't remember what I've written so I have to reread each time I go back to it, and the inertia is gone. I've officially placed it in a coma (it's not dead yet) and moved on to a new book.
This book has the working title "Moon Shadows." Trina's not a fan of the title. Neither am I, but it gives me something to refer to the project by, and it makes me laugh at the same time. I have no idea what this book is about. Well, correction. I have an idea, but it's a small one. And it's got me excited. I can't go into the details here, but it was an idea I've had since high school. However, the idea is just a background. A puzzle to be solved. I have no idea who my characters are, my world, or how to solve the problem. I'm just writing it, and letting these things show up as they become necessary. I'm sure the first draft will be ridiculously bad, but I'm enjoying the writing again.
And that's what I'm writing.
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