Showing posts with label Fury of the Falcon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fury of the Falcon. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Book Release: Fury of the Falcon

At last. The fifth and final volume of the Falcons Saga hits Amazon today. Find it HERE. The print version will be available in about a week, once I receive and finalize the last proof.


How long have I been waiting to type that announcement?

Looks like I started blogging about this massive project back in 2011, but it's been in the works far longer than that. A long, rough haul. Closure is a good feeling. The possibilities at this point are endless, and I'm optimistic.

I thought I had many words to express over this event, but after five volumes at 150k-220k words apiece, my words are pretty well dried up at the moment. A little silence may be in order. My characters don't mind. They're tired too. But, my, what a ride.


Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The Long Haul Ends...

It's over. Six years and five books later, the Falcons Saga is complete. I finished the edits today and I've sent the file to my proofreader. But the labor is finished. All that remains is correcting errors found in the final reading and formatting everything for upload.

I can't believe it. It's here. The moment I dreamed of for more than half a decade. Freedom. Freedom from this story, from these characters, from this weight on my shoulders. Closure. Finally. I'm overwhelmed with both joy and sadness. In truth, I'm astonished, and I don't know how to feel.




But that's normal, I guess. Now, someone please tell me what to do with the rest of my life. All possibilities are on the table. I'm facing a wide-open sea with no destination in sight. Kinda scary. Kinda thrilling.




Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Progress Diary: End in Sight

Project: Fury of the Falcon, Book 5, Falcons Saga

Entry #22

Wow, I haven't blogged at all this year??? Whoops. Time flies when you're writing. I can't remember the last time I've been so focused. Er, college? The past three or so weeks have been like viewing the world down a tube.

I am so close to finishing this six-year-long novel project that my head is spinning! Like, literally, one chapter and a bit to go. I survived writing all those deaths and the endgame nightmare, and now I'm tying up the final details. What do I include? What do I omit? It's difficult balancing the pacing -- moving the ending along but not letting it feel rushed. Editing this may be a nightmare. But that's for later.

Getting Carah on her way and closing the entire story is all that remains. Can hardly believe it. Makes me lightheaded thinking about it.

One more week? Two?



Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Progress Diary, Endgame Jitters

PROJECT: Fury of the Falcon, Book 5, Falcons Saga

Entry #17

(yes, I've skipped a few entries on my blog. The rest are posted on LegendFire, due to spoilers)

"Spin" by JasonTN @DeviantART
Have passed the 100k mark. The Endgame looms. Excited, but dreading the long, complex chess game ahead. The game begins this week with Chapter 30. After daring plans and betrayals, the pieces are in place. Now just to make things happen. Things are about to get bloody, people. All those deaths mentioned in Entry #1? Yeah, here they come...



I'm already sobbing my eyes out. Good sign? Well, I do have to see to type. 

*reaches for box of tissue*

(What does this mean in terms of completing the novel? With the holidays looming, writing will decrease a fraction until after the New Year. So give me several more months to wrap this up. Then the edits...)

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

When Words Fail...

Project: Fury of the Falcon



That moment when you realize you should have written down the amazing, natural-sounding, perfectly-flowing dialog you thought of weeks ago. Because now you have arrived at that very scene, fingers poised over the keys, and you have no idea what to write.

I know better than that! I know to scramble for the nearest scrap of paper and sketch out at least some of the dialog that surfaced in that brief moment of clarity and genius.

Now it will likely take me the rest of the week to piece together something that sounds crappy and stilted in the end. Ugh. Writers, commiserate! Readers, I really need some comfort food.


Something like this will do...


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Progress Diary: Character Overhaul


Project: Fury of the Falcon (Falcons Saga, Book 5)


Character expansion = extricating a neglected, flat, blurry character from the obscure corner where they are lurking and bringing them into the spotlight, giving them new roles, bigger page-time, deeper significance.

The alternative is murdering them, according to William Faulkner (and other writers who know what they're doing).



So I decided to save a darling from gruesome, bloody deletion and overhaul him instead:

(MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW)

Those who have read Sons of the Falcon know who Kethlyn and Carah are. Turns out that their father had a fling in his youth (alluded to in Book 1) which resulted in these siblings having an older brother whom they didn't know about. In the ancient, deplorable original draft of the story, this older brother serves little purpose. He comes along in time to cause some scandal and heartache, then manages to save the life of the younger brother who despises him, then he happily fades back into his old life.

Well, many, many years ago, my mother said, "I thought he would play a bigger part." I could tell she was disappointed. So, at last, I have heeded her advice and expanded the role of this illegitimate brother. I didn't expect to have so much fun with the process. There has been brawling and verbal battling so far. Lots of fun tension. And it turns out this older brother (who has no filter, no understanding of the term "politically correct" when speaking to a noble) is now key in helping Kethlyn get over himself and face up to his treachery in a more honorable, mature fashion. This illegitimate brother will now actually have a motive for saving his younger brother's life, which can only be a good thing.

However! I haven't yet decided if this illegitimate brother is on the list of characters to knock off. (He just overheard me say that and is giving me a startled sort of look. I smirk back. The scissors hover, and the thread is thin.) I guess I'll be as surprised as he is, when the time comes.

(END SPOILERS)

Point is, readers are generally right when they voice their expectations and disappointments. Good to heed them.

* * * Would love to hear about the characters or plots that have disappointed you, and how you would rewrite them, if you could.


Sunday, May 22, 2016

Progress Diary: When Laptops Go Haywire

Entry #3

I am ahead of schedule. Hurray for me!

Week one: completed drafts of chapter 1 and half of chapter 2. Quota: one chapter per week. Diagnosis: success.

I might have nearly finished two chapters this week, but my computer was abducted by aliens and reforged into a new version of itself, which put it out of commission for most of Friday's writing period.

Alien abduction, not cool
Wait, literally aliens? No, not literally, but it was invaded and taken over by the un-American, freedom-of-choice-stealing Windows 10 update. I didn't see it coming. I had been ignoring those "Update now?" windows for so many months that when the window changed and told me (apparently) that the update would happen that night, I didn't notice it or read it and x'd out of it instead of clicking the option to postpone. So here I am, home alone, without my computer-guru husband within 800 miles of me, and this stupid process kicks me out of Guild Wars 2 near midnight and takes over my computer and changes it utterly and forever, without my permission. MY COMPUTER! MINE. MY WORKZONE. Not yours, you evil devs and the eviler people giving you orders.

Yeah. Pissed.

Worst of all, some setting that came with Windows 7 was moved over to the new OS instead of being reset properly. This caused my beloved laptop to lock up any time I tried anything. Yeah, I couldn't even SAVE MY EFFING NOVEL DOC without my laptop going haywire and locking up. What do I have to do? Reboot it. Again. Like 7 times. But did that fix it? No! I LOST CONTENT!!!

Fortunately for the Windows devs, I lost all of two sentences. If I had lost more than that? Oh, yeah, I was going to mail 100 rabid monkeys to Windows HQ and have them set loose on the tyrants who fucked up my baby.

But, like I said, lucky for them. I was (sorta) able to reconstruct those two lost sentences THE NEXT DAY after my husband worked a miracle. He's doing training in Ohio, right? When he learns of this situation, that he must know has me in a panicked state of banshee-shrieking madness, he spends his evening (when he's already exhausted) downloading this software that allows him to access my laptop from half the country away. After a couple hours of poking around, he found the screwed up setting, fixed it, and voila! Miracle. Laptop back to normal. NO THANKS TO DEV TYRANTS IN SEATTLE WHO DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT MY WORK OR ME AS A PERSON WHO CAN'T FIX THIS STUFF HERSELF. (and now, thanks to them, every time I turn CAPS on or off, there's a stupid/pointless window that pops up and tells me that  CAPS is on or off. No shit?!)

Point being, goal for next week:

* complete chapter 2
* start chapter 3
* slander Windows' name forever
* drink less because my husband is awesome and I don't have to be shrieking like a banshee from hell.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Progress Diary: Writing Magic


Entry #2

I've broken ground on Fury. Day 1 is an immense success with a final tally of 2,745 words. My usual quota is 1,300 words, on a good day, so I'm ecstatic. Also, greatly surprised that I was able to connect with these characters as deeply as I did after having not written on them since last November. The morning was rough, I doubted every word and wondered how the hell I was going to express all that needed expressing, but then ... MAGIC. The faucet turned on, and my brain poured out the words, and this is what every writing day should feel like.

What a world away from the rough start that Cry suffered. The two writing experiences don't compare at all. If the rest of Fury goes this well, I'll be in writer's heaven.

God, I hope I didn't just jinx it.

"Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy, then an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant and, in the last state, just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public."
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) - November 2, 1949

Ah, the brutality of writing. Reflects what will happen to some of these characters as well. And what should happen to others, but doesn't. Delicious...


Saturday, May 7, 2016

Fury of the Falcon: The Work Begins


This week I began work on Fury of the Falcon, Book 5, and the last installment, of the Falcons Saga. Which means that I dragged out the last block of paper that contains the Saga's original twelve-yr-old draft and am giving it the once-over, so that I can remember what happens and why. Since I don't. I've slept since then. A lot. Like if I add it up, I've slept almost six years, and written other things for the other six. So yeah... I need the reminder.

This has led to a couple days of outlining, brainstorming, groaning, and swallowing puke, since the old draft stinks worse than last week's garbage. It's 12-yr-old garbage.

It's so gross it's like sucking lemons till your teeth fall out.

So to begin, here's this writer's account of manuscript overhaul:

PROGRESS DIARY

Entry #1

In only two days, I've gone through the entire ms and marked all the main events with stickies. The block of paper now thinks it is a porcupine's cousin. Have read through the first 100 pages or so and discovered what I feared -- the text amounts to a massively detailed outline. It's almost all tell and almost no show. It's atrocious. It's beyond atrocious. It's puke-worthy. Some of the dialog is fun, but that's the extent of the text's usefulness.

To attempt to remedy this pukiness, I've brainstormed the opening sequence, to completely reorganize the info, increase emotional tension, and cut the boring CRAP that plagues the ms like boils on a monkey's ass.

So far, I've found elements to cut, and scenes to add:

Spoiler Warning! (I'll try to leave things vague and cryptic, regardless)

Old content to cut:
* the Great Summoning, whatever the hell that is. Something that tries to sound significant, but isn't.
* Ice Elves. We don't need no more damned elves, okay? We got enough already. Give all dialog and action to Daryon, Miragi, or Dagni.

New content to add (spoilers, really, stop reading now):
* Thorn must test his invention on an unlucky test subject. Evil scientists, beware. There's a pissed avedra on the loose.
* Thorn and Daryon must put their inventions together, which makes foes even more unlucky.
* Kethlyn must deal with the rebellion on his hands, but he's drunk, so it won't go well. Where's Mum when he needs her?
* Valryk must get out of that dungeon cell. Old lovers prove useful after all. He then must go on a journey of twisted self-discovery and vengeance. I mean, it's everyone else's fault that he tried to have them murdered.
* Lothiar must expend his rage against his own people.
* Dax must try to sway Alyster to do nefarious things.

/spoilers

And that's not including all the content that remains (like Carah's storyline) and must be overhauled to match a more mature, sober tone.

Just to add, I've realized that this is the volume that will read like a George RR Martin episode. If a character is slated to die, they will mostly all die within the same hundred pages or so. (Yeah, I can think of 5 main or side characters that have it coming. Don't curse me, it's not my fault.) It will be over-the-top drama and bloodshed. Delightful.


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Fury of the Falcon, Progress Report #2

It feels wonderful when I'm writing a chapter a week. I can tell it's still early in the game.

RECENT PROGRESS

Chapter: 4
Pages Revised: 5
Became: 9.5 pages
New Scenes: 0
Death count: 1, a tree 
Good things that happen:  Picking up the pieces...
Bad things that happen: Carah and Thorn butt heads. Again.

Next week, I'll be participating in the "Writing Process" Blog Tour. Stay tuned for a glimpse of what really happens behind this writer's closed door.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Fury of the Falcon, Progress Report #1

Well, anyone who has visited my Facebook page has seen that rewrites on Fury of the Falcon have begun, but for some reason I neglected to update my blog about it. Getting back into the routine of writing has been difficult. Actually feels like learning a drive a new car. The peddles don't feel natural under my feet. Stop, start, lurch forward, hit the break. Eesh.

But as of yesterday, chapter 3 is underway, and things are a bloody mess. For the characters, I mean. Sons ended on dark, negative notes, as a middle book should, and now my twins are scrambling to pick up the pieces. But I refuse to give spoilers.

The most difficult part of starting this book, for me, is trying to decide how much back info to provide, as reminders of what happened in Sons. I shouldn't expect readers to remember the small details, but I don't want to insult their intelligence and hand-feed them stuff they are sure to remember. How do the pros handle this sort of thing? Of course, I picked up a book by my favorite author to compare methods. GRRM's A Feast For Crows picks up only moments after A Storm of Swords ends, or even backtracks a bit in the case of some characters. I started with the first Cersei chapter and read it critically, looking for those reminders, and looking for what George did not include. He didn't bother describing characters he'd described in Storm. Only the beaten gold of Cersei's hair and the color of cloaks. Of course the color of cloaks. That's vintage George. But there were other hints he had included that prompted me to go back into my opening chapters and add a few more tidbits. But all the while, the Cersei chapter pointed forward, as the characters begin a search for a murderer and as Cersei plots her next move against her rivals. Hopefully, I can learn something here and apply the method to my own chapters.

It's a fine balance, and I'm not sure I've achieved it yet, but we'll see. Thank God for revisions.

RECENT PROGRESS
Chapter(s): 1-3
Pages Revised: 3
Became: 7 pages
New Scenes: 1
Death count: 1 
Good things that happen:  A great cleansing begins
Bad things that happen: captives suffer the lash and a long journey into the unknown