So, I didn't get any real feedback about posting sample chapters with sex scenes in them, so guess what? You're getting them.
The novels page has been updated with Chapters 2 - 4 of the Winter Phenomenon. I added another 8,000 words today and completed a first draft up to Chapter 10. The story is pretty solid in my mind for the remaining 20,000 words or so, but I'm open to major changes.
So, let me ask you a question.
How do you like your main characters? Alive and well, slightly hurt, or extra crispy?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Updates on both novels
Lucifer's Odyssey
Christopher Steininger has begun a detailed version of the cover art for Lucifer's Odyssey. We have been going through sketches for a week or so, and we're both in agreement that it's time to start on the final (hopefully) version. I'll be sure to post the final up as soon as it is available.
Beta readers are currently working up through Chapter 10. I can't thank you guys enough for taking a look at the novel before it goes into the editor. If you are currently in need of a next chapter, let me know. Unless he gets done with his current works, Derek Prior should start editing the novel on April 10th.
The Winter Phenomenon
Making a lot of progress on The Winter Phenomenon - a series that is completely separate from Lucifer's Odyssey. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic urban fantasy. I think that's the right description of it. There's a LOT of sex right now, and enough sexual tension to choke a walrus, but all of it is hopefully flowing well with the story right now.
I may end up posting Chapter 2 and 3 to the Novels page soon, despite the sex scenes, unless I get specific complaints within the next couple of days. I'm currently working on Chapter 8.
If I maintain this pace, I'll definitely hit the planned December release of The Winter Phenomenon, but I may even get a chance to start on Book 2 of the Primal Patterns series.
Christopher Steininger has begun a detailed version of the cover art for Lucifer's Odyssey. We have been going through sketches for a week or so, and we're both in agreement that it's time to start on the final (hopefully) version. I'll be sure to post the final up as soon as it is available.
Beta readers are currently working up through Chapter 10. I can't thank you guys enough for taking a look at the novel before it goes into the editor. If you are currently in need of a next chapter, let me know. Unless he gets done with his current works, Derek Prior should start editing the novel on April 10th.
The Winter Phenomenon
Making a lot of progress on The Winter Phenomenon - a series that is completely separate from Lucifer's Odyssey. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic urban fantasy. I think that's the right description of it. There's a LOT of sex right now, and enough sexual tension to choke a walrus, but all of it is hopefully flowing well with the story right now.
I may end up posting Chapter 2 and 3 to the Novels page soon, despite the sex scenes, unless I get specific complaints within the next couple of days. I'm currently working on Chapter 8.
If I maintain this pace, I'll definitely hit the planned December release of The Winter Phenomenon, but I may even get a chance to start on Book 2 of the Primal Patterns series.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
So, I just wrote my first tweets
God help all of you because I was born without a filter. For now, it will probably just be release announcements or fiction news. I hope it doesn't devolve into a play-by-play of my day because that will probably just involve descriptions of chasing cats and/or my fiance around the house.
Twitter
Friday, March 25, 2011
Lucifer's Odyssey overhaul
Lucifer's Odyssey has had a bit of a cosmetic facelift, and I couldn't have done it without many of you readers. Some of the comments I had gotten back were that the first and second chapters were too long, and you were right. These chapters are now separated into four total chapters. Similarly, the third chapter has been broken into two chapters.
Along with other chapter splits, Lucifer's Odyssey has expanded from 11 chapters to 17 chapters, which will give readers more resting points and hopefully result in easier reading. But chapter splits are not the only changes that have been done.
Additional comments from readers were that people were getting lost in the description from Chapter 1 and especially Chapter 2. The introductory paragraph in Chapter 2 has been updated to remove the name given to the vortex that was created and instead tries to focus on what happened when the shit really hit the fan.
In addition, some readers have told me that they were having problems following the timeline of when Batarel and Lucifer arrived in Chaos, and I've added a more explicit description which I hope flows naturally at the beginning of Chapter 2. Additional buildup has been added to hopefully explain why the demon revolt was so inevitable as well.
The interrogation of Michael has received changes. When Sariel had noted how closely the captured man looked like his brother, some readers were a bit unnerved by the nonchalance of the reaction, and that's because I hadn't done a good job at describing what was really going on. Hopefully the setup is a bit clearer in Chapter 1 and the flow is enhanced.
I've expanded the Novels section here on the blog to include the first five chapters instead of the first three. If you would like to sample later chapters, send me a message at rexjameson@gmail.com.
Along with other chapter splits, Lucifer's Odyssey has expanded from 11 chapters to 17 chapters, which will give readers more resting points and hopefully result in easier reading. But chapter splits are not the only changes that have been done.
Additional comments from readers were that people were getting lost in the description from Chapter 1 and especially Chapter 2. The introductory paragraph in Chapter 2 has been updated to remove the name given to the vortex that was created and instead tries to focus on what happened when the shit really hit the fan.
In addition, some readers have told me that they were having problems following the timeline of when Batarel and Lucifer arrived in Chaos, and I've added a more explicit description which I hope flows naturally at the beginning of Chapter 2. Additional buildup has been added to hopefully explain why the demon revolt was so inevitable as well.
The interrogation of Michael has received changes. When Sariel had noted how closely the captured man looked like his brother, some readers were a bit unnerved by the nonchalance of the reaction, and that's because I hadn't done a good job at describing what was really going on. Hopefully the setup is a bit clearer in Chapter 1 and the flow is enhanced.
I've expanded the Novels section here on the blog to include the first five chapters instead of the first three. If you would like to sample later chapters, send me a message at rexjameson@gmail.com.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
He said, she said, but I shouted
I was reading over an old favorite post from 2007 on Nathan Bransford's blog, and I wanted to get your feedback on the issue.
After I finished Lucifer's Odyssey, I tried to get several friends to read it. Often after giving out the first chapter (or even worse the whole thing), my friends would just not read any of it - at least that's what they claimed. I tried to pry them for info, and one of them finally told me "I would really you rather just use said or asked instead of using action words everywhere. It makes it hard to read."
So, I did some digging and found the post linked above. I also found this gem on Nathan's blog, and here's what I have tried to do in my book.
The worst thing I feel I can do, as an author, is use action words out of context that confuse the reader. Before you ask, I have read this type of usage in many indie books. For some reason, authors tend to use shout or yelled just because they consider the characters in an excited state and this rarely translates well when I'm reading.
So, what do you guys and gals think of this method? How do you structure dialog? Have you ever read a piece of dialog that just blew your mind with how awesome it was? Do you remember why you felt it was such great dialogue?
After I finished Lucifer's Odyssey, I tried to get several friends to read it. Often after giving out the first chapter (or even worse the whole thing), my friends would just not read any of it - at least that's what they claimed. I tried to pry them for info, and one of them finally told me "I would really you rather just use said or asked instead of using action words everywhere. It makes it hard to read."
So, I did some digging and found the post linked above. I also found this gem on Nathan's blog, and here's what I have tried to do in my book.
- Use said and asked as the main drive of dialog.
- Do not use non-tags for more than 3-4 lines of dialog. When I'm reading, nothing distracts me more than non-tagged dialog that extends beyond the page barrier, forcing me to try to read back a page to figure out who is saying what.
- Use actions, where appropriate, to break up usage of said/ask to enhance a scene - never to simply avoid said/asked.
- If the conversation is at normal volumes, never resort to words that you feel are normal volume but with emotion like scoff, blurt, etc. To me, this breaks up the dialog and forces me to concentrate on the action word.
The worst thing I feel I can do, as an author, is use action words out of context that confuse the reader. Before you ask, I have read this type of usage in many indie books. For some reason, authors tend to use shout or yelled just because they consider the characters in an excited state and this rarely translates well when I'm reading.
So, what do you guys and gals think of this method? How do you structure dialog? Have you ever read a piece of dialog that just blew your mind with how awesome it was? Do you remember why you felt it was such great dialogue?
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Winter Phenomenon (Chapter 2?)
I've made my first pass over The Winter Phenomenon which I hadn't picked up since August of 2010, and I quickly realized that I had a bit of a dilemma. For Lucifer's Odyssey, I provided three chapters in the Novels page that anyone could check out, and I had planned to do the same for The Winter Phenomenon, but there is a pretty long sex scene in Chapter 2.
So, what do you guys and gals think? Should I post the 2nd and 3rd chapters up for all to read, even though they might be a bit racy? If not, it will mean that only Chapter 1 will be available unless you request a copy of Chapter 2 or 3 directly through email (rexjameson@gmail.com).
In good news, I finished up a first draft of Chapter 4 of The Winter Phenomenon, which has some excellent twists, I think!
So, what do you guys and gals think? Should I post the 2nd and 3rd chapters up for all to read, even though they might be a bit racy? If not, it will mean that only Chapter 1 will be available unless you request a copy of Chapter 2 or 3 directly through email (rexjameson@gmail.com).
In good news, I finished up a first draft of Chapter 4 of The Winter Phenomenon, which has some excellent twists, I think!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Lucifer's Odyssey Editor and Cover Art Ongoing
Lucifer's Odyssey is coming along. I was able to take another look at Chapter 1 over the weekend and do some light editing for consistency in dialog in 2-11. However, the bigger news is that I have chosen an editor and cover artist.
Cover Art
The cover artist is named Christopher Steininger. We have been discussing the artwork direction for about a week, and he was able to get me some mockups this weekend. So far, there have been two samples, and Christopher has just been phenomenal. These samples are included below in miniature - to give you an idea of how they'll look as thumbnails on Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, etc.
We're still hammering out the designs. Currently, another wing is being added (he has 8, and so we're showing the 4 on the left side) and the wings are going to be shifted right. Lucifer will be facing fully forward on this next one, and the wings will no longer be wrapping around again in front of the viewer. Some other small adjustments are being made as well (like the title is currently slightly more difficult to read in miniature).
Editor
The editor I am going with is Derek Prior. Derek is a speculative fiction writer and editor and has helped out various writers on the Kindleboards within the past year. Editing starts on April 10th and may take up to two months, depending on how much work needs to be done. I'm currently working on synopses for each universe and doing light passes over the novel to ensure Chicago style is being enforced (which will help us focus on more indepth reviews of the document).
I'm currently planning for a summer release on Amazon, Kindle, and Smashwords. I may also do a paperback version on CreateSpace for POD options.
What do you guys think of the cover art so far?
Cover Art
The cover artist is named Christopher Steininger. We have been discussing the artwork direction for about a week, and he was able to get me some mockups this weekend. So far, there have been two samples, and Christopher has just been phenomenal. These samples are included below in miniature - to give you an idea of how they'll look as thumbnails on Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, etc.
We're still hammering out the designs. Currently, another wing is being added (he has 8, and so we're showing the 4 on the left side) and the wings are going to be shifted right. Lucifer will be facing fully forward on this next one, and the wings will no longer be wrapping around again in front of the viewer. Some other small adjustments are being made as well (like the title is currently slightly more difficult to read in miniature).
Editor
The editor I am going with is Derek Prior. Derek is a speculative fiction writer and editor and has helped out various writers on the Kindleboards within the past year. Editing starts on April 10th and may take up to two months, depending on how much work needs to be done. I'm currently working on synopses for each universe and doing light passes over the novel to ensure Chicago style is being enforced (which will help us focus on more indepth reviews of the document).
I'm currently planning for a summer release on Amazon, Kindle, and Smashwords. I may also do a paperback version on CreateSpace for POD options.
What do you guys think of the cover art so far?
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