Tag Archives: series

May 23, 2019 · 1:05 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Almost hit two months between Infinitas Publishing Status Reports, but here it is!

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). The paperback edition has now been proofed and is ready for ordering! You can grab it from Amazon.

Plus, it’s part of the Kindle Matchbook program, so you can get the Kindle edition for yourself when you order the print copy.

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). Need to review the outline with Isaac.

The Glitch Saga (Distant Horizon spin-off series): Debating on putting this into KU for a few months and seeing how it does. I’d like to have another reader magnet prepared before pulling it from wide retailers, though.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off/prequel novel) On hold. (Has outline).

Lady Black’s Story: Needs a bit more brainstorming and an outline.

Sky Runner: (Multiverse novel). On hold. (Has outline)

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. (Needs edits).

Little One: Preparing to input Isaac’s notes into the manuscript and begin revisions.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) This is the next one up on the formatting list for a paperback edition now that the paperback for Huntress is complete.

TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). First part outlined, and the rough draft of this story is currently sitting at 14,500 words.

Stone and String 3: Outlined, with plans to write the rough draft after TWB 4.

The Secret in the Shadows: (Prequel novella for The Wishing Blade) On hold.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure Facebook Group: The current cross-over story continues Livena’s adventures from “The Wind Mage of Maijev,” and we’re a few episodes away from wrapping this up!

After that, I’ll see whether the group would prefer another cross-over between characters we’ve already seen, a single-character continuation of the characters we’ve already seen, or a whole new character.

“The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear”: (A Legends of Cirena short story). Currently out to beta-readers. Then it will go through one more round of revisions before I move on to the read-aloud and proofreading. I also have a cover proof created, which needs to be finalized.

“MOG”: On hold. (Needs revisions)

Huntress: Paperback edition is here! I am currently in the process of proofreading the paperback in case there are any formatting errors, but this time I checked those pesky ellipses before submitting it, and so far I’ve only found a couple issues that need to be corrected.

Changeling: (Huntress #2) Published! (Also available to read for free for those with Kindle Unlimited subscriptions). Next step, creating the paperback edition. (This is my next formatting project after creating a paperback for Magebane.)

Huntress 3: Still in brainstorming stage. Next step is creating outline.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Getting back into using Amazon Ads now that Publisher Rocket is working smoothly again. In the event that I put The Glitch Saga into KU, I’ll need to change the set-up for the reader magnet (currently Whispers in the Code).

LitRPG / GameLit Story: On hold. (Needs revisions, possible restructuring).

* * *

Have a good month! 🙂

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Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, changeling, cyberpunk, Distant Horizon, fantasy, fractured fairy tale, Fractured Skies, Huntress, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, Magebane, new releases, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, short stories, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, writing, writing tips

April 6, 2019 · 6:00 am

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Another month has passed (a little over a month, actually), and it’s time for another Infinitas Publishing Status Report! 😀

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Print formatting complete. Paperback edition is now available on Amazon.

That being said, I’m still in the process of proofreading for any formatting errors. Haven’t noticed anything on a precursory glance, but based on Createspace merging to KDP Print and changes to how they do proof copies, I wanted to order the version that would most resemble what the average customer would receive–which requires that the book is live.

There will be another announcement once I have the print version fully proofed.

Everything should be good to go now, based on the digital previewer, but just in case, since it’s possible that there may be formatting issues I haven’t discovered yet, I have the paperback edition currently a couple dollars lower than what its full price will be. (Currently $17.99, will be $19.99).

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). Still need to finish going through the outline with Isaac to make sure everything lines up before I start the rough draft.

I also plan to revisit the outline after I proofread the paperback edition of Fractured Skies, in case there are any plot lines I missed in the first version of the outline.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off/prequel novel) On hold.

Lady Black’s Story: Still tossing ideas back and forth. May have narrowed the story down a bit more, and have a better idea of time frame and character motivations.

Sky Runner: (Multiverse novel). On hold, but we have a mostly-complete outline.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. (Needs edits).

Little One: On back burner. Hoping to move forward with inputting Isaac’s notes into the manuscript soon.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Published!

Finished the read-aloud and moved on to proofreading. Finally hit publish and got all the website links updated. Next step will be creating a paperback edition.

TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). Might have a title. I’m currently in progress of writing the basic outline for this story.

Stone and String 3: Hoping to outline this story while working on the outline for book four of The Wishing Blade.

The Secret in the Shadows: (Prequel novella for The Wishing Blade) On hold. Needs rewritten. Might try to outline the revisions while working on the outline for The Wishing Blade #4 and Stone and String #3.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure Facebook Group: We’re about one or two episodes away from finishing the current short story. Exciting times!

A Path of Swords and Feathers: (A prequel short story to The Wishing Blade series). Written, read-aloud, proofread, and published.

This went out as a freebie to TWB newsletter subscribers and members of the Legends of Cirena group. It is now available for purchase across most major online retailers.

“MOG”: On hold. Needs further revision.

Huntress: Need to format the paperback edition.

Huntress 2: Might have a title! Revisions have been made and it’s currently out to beta-readers. Once I make those revisions, I plan to move into the read-aloud stage, then proof and publish. Also, I’ve started on the book cover, but it still needs work.

Huntress 3: Beginning to plot and outline. Hoping to get a rough draft written soon.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Plodding along… plodding along… Nothing really new here. Kind of let the Amazon Ads lapse in March due to a flurry of events, so I’ll need to revisit those soon and decide which ads to kill, which to keep, and what new ones to create.

Also, KDP Rocket (a program I use to help select keywords for ads) has now become Publisher Rocket, and I need to investigate the changes that were made to the program. Should be improvements, once everything is up and running again.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished the book formatting and design project I’ve been working on. Working on revising my book cover design process and revitalize the book cover business. Invested a bit in Daz 3D (for better or worse), and I’m planning on creating premade book covers.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: On hold, though I am hosting a month-long Book Funnel giveaway in the genre if you’re interested in giving it a try. 🙂

* * *

That’s all for now! 🙂

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Tagged as A Path of Swords and Feathers, an author's process, author, book series, cyberpunk, Distant Horizon, fantasy, fractured fairy tale, Fractured Skies, Huntress, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, Magebane, new releases, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, short stories, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, writing, writing tips

February 27, 2019 · 8:40 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

It’s time for another Infinitas Publishing Status Report! 😀

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Print formatting almost complete. Got sidetracked trying to complete other projects, but the majority of the formatting is now done, so I plan to order a copy to proof in March (probably once I have Huntress also formatted). At that time I’ll also start the process of checking the other print books to make sure they’re still printing correctly due to the switch from Createspace to KDP Print.

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). Rough outline/synopsis written, and it comes in at 13,500 words. Isaac and I have gone through almost a third of the outline thus far in the process of finalizing it. We’re trying to tighten up the outline before I start the writing/revision stage in order to spend less time rewriting it later.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off/prequel novel) On hold.

Lady Black’s Story: Isaac and I are tossing around ideas for a young Lady Black prequel to Distant Horizon. Haven’t yet outlined this yet, though.

Sky Runner: (Multiverse novel). On hold while working on major projects. But we do have a rough outline.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. (Needs edits).

Little One: I’ve started inputting Isaac’s notes into the manuscript for editing, but had to put that on the back burner while focusing on Magebane edits.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Revisions complete! (Finally… this took a lot longer than I expected and set a few other projects back, including having Fractured Skies formatted).

Isaac and I are currently in the process of the read-aloud, but it’s a bit slower going than usual since he also has schoolwork. Due to some of the major changes that happened during the most recent stage of revisions, there’s a pretty high chance that I’m going to send this back out for one more round of beta-reading to make sure there’s not something we’re missing.

But I’m a lot happier with the pacing and how everything ties together now. (Seems like it’s following in The Shadow War’s footsteps in terms of those big edits).

Next step will be outlining TWB book four in hopes of avoiding the need for those bigger revisions.

Stone and String 3: On hold until the outline for book four of The Wishing Blade series can be written.

The Secret in the Shadows: (Prequel novella for The Wishing Blade) On hold. I’m kind of thinking about rewriting chunks of this now that Magebane has been tightened up, since I saw some changes there that I think may be useful to apply to this story.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure Facebook Group: Just finished the third story, and we’ve now started an all new story this week! (Now’s a great time to join in if you want to influence the direction of the character and plot).

The Wind Mage of Maijev: (A Legends of Cirena Short Story) Polished, read-aloud, proofread, and published! Now available! Seems to be getting good reception, and it’s looking like I need to write the sequel soon. I’m tossing around a few ideas regarding how to approach that, since I want to give the Legends of Cirena group a chance to have a say in it’s progress, while also continuing to write the stories for new characters. Not quite sure how readers are going to react to having the Legends of Cirena be a short story series that I plan to have jumping from character to character between each individual story, rather than following the same plot throughout the course of the series.

Nihestan/Shalant’s Story: (A prequel short story to The Wishing Blade series). As a thank you to TWB newsletter subscribers for filling out the survey for their newsletter preferences, and influenced by feedback on a gryphon-gone-wrong design I showed to the Legends of Cirena group, I’ve got plans to write a short story following Shalant as a young man when he first left his family for the Immortal Realm. The ideas are there, as are bits and pieces of a rough draft. Hoping to have that drafted soon.

“MOG”: On hold. Needs further revision.

Huntress: For now, I’m leaving this in KU (Kindle Unlimited). It’s doing well there, and with a sequel in the works, I want to finish the series before pulling it out and going wide across multiple retailers.

Once I’ve finished formatting the print edition of Fractured Skies, I’ll move on to formatting the print edition of Huntress.

Now I’ve just got to decide if I want to release Huntress in a 5.25 x 8 format (like The Wishing Blade series) or 6 x 9 format (like the Distant Horizon series).

Huntress 2: Still not titled, but the rough draft has been polished and I’m currently waiting to hear back from beta-readers.

Plus, I have ideas in mind for the third book, as well as a spin-off, stand-alone novel if readers like a certain character who shows up in book two. 🙂

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Sent out surveys in The Wishing Blade and Distant Horizon newsletters for feedback, and based on that feedback I’ve decided to make The Wishing Blade newsletter monthly (like the Huntress newsletter… which I’m going to start sending out monthly as of tomorrow, since I forgot to make note of it on my schedule and thus didn’t remember to send it out last month), while the Distant Horizon newsletter will stay mostly the same. However, both of the main newsletters now have a “Writer’s Life” section added to them where I go on about what Isaac and I have been doing lately or favorite video games… things like that.

From the Distant Horizon newsletter survey, I also found that several of our reader’s prefer using Google Play to buy their books, so I’ve managed to get an account set up. It’ll be a little while before I get the books formatted and included through that retailer, but the process has been started. (However, it’s worth noting that Draft2Digital just announced today that they are now beta-testing distributing through Google Play, for those who don’t want the hassle of dealing with Google Play directly).

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Almost finished finalizing the polished formatting and cover design for a client.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: On hold.

* * *

There’s a lot in the works, but that’s all for now! 😀

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Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, cyberpunk, Distant Horizon, fantasy, fractured fairy tale, Fractured Skies, Huntress, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, Magebane, new releases, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, Snow White, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, Wind and Words, writing, writing tips

January 10, 2019 · 2:09 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

December has come and gone, along with the busy holidays. We did a lot of traveling and got to spend time with family. Overall, it was a good trip. Not quite as much done with the company due to the holidays, but that was expected. Now it’s time for the Infinitas Publishing Status Report! 😀

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Part of the print edition has been formatted (mostly as a test to get the rough page count), but I’m hoping to finish the formatting process and order a proof copy in February.

Also, since CreateSpace (the printer of our books) has merged with KDP Print, we’ll need to have a second look at our currently published print books to see if any adjustments need to be made.

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). I’ve read through the rough draft I wrote several years ago, making notes on each section for an overarching outline. Some of it is salvageable (with edits), and some isn’t, and about 20,000-30,000 words need to be reallocated to book 4. (The current draft clocked in at around 160,000, but needs to be divided as we realized there was not only enough planned for two different books, but also two major climaxes).

I finished reading the rough draft before the break, but the next step will be to look through those notes and divide the story, then create an outline from the remaining notes to figure out what still needs to be written, rewritten, and revised.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) On hold.

Sky Runner: During the break, Isaac and I constructed a rough outline for this project. Still has some parts that need fleshed out, but overall the concept is now there (including a rough pitch). However, I don’t anticipate starting on this project until other major projects are complete.

However, there will be airship pirates. And dragon eggs. And a frazzled, slightly naive beastmaster trying to clear his name after being framed for theft.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. (Needs edits).

Little One: On hold. (Needs revisions per Isaac’s notes). I’m hoping to start revisions sometime in the next couple of months, but we’ll see.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) I’ve started the process of writing in the new scenes and editing for consistency. Hoping to do a read-aloud with Isaac sometime in the next month. If all goes well, I’ll move on to proofreading. If he finds major issues, then this may need to go back out to beta-readers before release.

Stone and String 3: On hold until Magebane is complete and the outline for book four of The Wishing Blade series can be written.

The Secret in the Shadows: (Prequel novella for The Wishing Blade series) Feedback received from beta-readers and a round of revisions complete. Handed to Isaac during the trip, however, he found several consistency issues. Plus, after reading the first half of The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson, I’m seeing the potential to do a lot more with the whole prophecy “lost in translation” issue that I original wanted to play with in this story.

As such, I’m putting this one on hold until I can do more development and better work out the plot. I’m suspecting this one might not actually release until after The Wishing Blade series is complete, since it heralds some of the events for the series we have planned afterwards.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure Facebook Group: Second story complete, and third story in progress. See “The Wind Mage of Maijev” below for news on the first short story.

The Wind Mage of Maijev: (A Legends of Cirena Short Story) Basic revisions are complete and feedback gathered from my beta-reader. I’m now in the process of polishing the story, and then doing a read-aloud with Isaac and preparing it for publication.

I currently have a rough blurb created and a semi-polished cover. If all goes well, I’ll be releasing this at the end of January. 😀

“MOG”: On hold. Needs further revision.

Huntress: Huntress is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited (KU)!

I’m testing it in KU first to see how it goes. At this point, I have a sequel in the works, and I’ll probably launch that one in KU as well, waiting until the series is complete before releasing it wide across other retailers.

Next step will be to make the print edition for Huntress.

Huntress 2: Not yet titled, though I have a rough draft already written (from the November NaNoWriMo. Plans are for it to be a Cinderella retelling. Hoping to work on revisions next month so I can send it out to beta-readers soon.

Also, I already have ideas for book 3. 😉

Game Design: On hold… though we did take notes after playing one of our work-in-progress games with family during the trip!

Marketing: Occasionally dabbling in Facebook ads… but I need to do more research before putting a strong emphasis on those. Thus far I haven’t had much luck with them.

In the meantime I’m continuing to research and learn Amazon Ads. I also attempted a test of adding meta-data to certain pages on the Infinitas Publishing website. Waiting to see if that brings any additional traffic.

I also still need to update this blog with information on Huntress, as well as adjust the side bar.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Print book formatting started for a client; need to do polishing touches and wrap-around cover.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: On hold due to wanting to develop story a bit more before release.

* * *

That’s all for now! 😀

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December 1, 2018 · 4:14 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

It’s been a busy month between a trip to San Diego (school conference for Isaac where I got to tag along and see the sights), and a condensed NaNoWriMo (my goal was 50,000 words in 10 days, which I managed to succeed at. More about that in the “Cyberpunk Snow White” section).

In the meantime, here are the updates! 😀

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Still needs a print edition. I’m hoping to work on that early next year.

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). On hold until Magebane edits are complete, and then this will be the next major project. The first step will be to assess what’s already been written and figure out what still needs to be written or rewritten.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) On hold. (Needs rest of rough draft written).

Sky Runner: *Cough.* Isaac and I might have seen a really cool premade cover that was on sale, bought it, and gotten an idea for a story about an airship pirate captain. *Cough.* Same universe as The Multiverse Chronicles, but takes place about fifty years later. On hold, but with plans to construct an outline. Not sure if this will be a short story or novella.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. (Needs edits).

Little One: On hold. (Needs revisions per Isaac’s notes).

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Needs a couple scenes added, and then smoothed out. After that, a read-aloud with Isaac. Then we’ll determine if it needs another round of beta-reading. Still hoping to release this early next year.

Stone and String 3: Since a few events of this story coincide with events of The Wishing Blade book 4, I need to wait until that rough draft is written (or at least outlined) to work on this one. That will happen sometime after Magebane is complete.

The Secret in the Shadows: (Prequel novella for The Wishing Blade series) Out to beta-readers. I’m hoping to finish revisions this month, depending on how extensive revisions are.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure Facebook Group: Already completed one short story (tentatively called Livena: The Wind Mage of Maijev) and I’ve created a cover mock-up for it. We’re midway/toward the end of the second story now.

My current project is to revise Livena’s story and see what still needs to be done with it, so I can release it early next year.

“MOG”: On hold. Needs further revision.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: *Cough.* Meet Huntress, a YA SciFi retelling of Snow White with a female huntress as the main character. You might remember me talking about the outline last year.

This was my surprise project of last month that I hadn’t planned to work on… but ended up going into overdrive to complete. I finished revisions, sent it out to beta-readers, made a few minor changes, did a read-aloud with Isaac, proofread it…

And Huntress should be launching sometimes next week. 😀

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Eeeps! I’m behind on getting this Infinitas Publishing status report out. But we’ve got a lot to talk about. 😀

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Fractured Skies is now available to the world! Check out the release post by clicking here.

A print version should be in the works sometime in the next few months. 🙂

Starless Night: (Book 3 of the Distant Horizon series). Parts of the rough draft have been completed but need to be reorganized and rewritten. Once Magebane is complete, this will be my next major project.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) Temporarily on hold while completing other projects.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: On hold.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Figured out how to reorder the scenes for better pacing and what needs to be added in order to make the ending more satisfying. I still need to write those scenes, but I’ve started the editing process of making sure earlier scenes are transitioning smoothly.

In the meantime, the cover for Magebane is now complete. Hopefully we’ll be releasing this book at the beginning of next year. 🙂

Stone and String 3 (and assorted Wishing Blade short stories/novellas): The novella whose protagonist I can’t reveal yet does have a name (at least a working title): The Secret in the Shadows.

I’m currently working on revising this story for Isaac to read. Most likely, it will release after Magebane, in order to avoid spoilers for those reading The Wishing Blade series.

Then I’ll be working on the third Stone and String story.

The Legends of Cirena – Collaborative Adventure: I started a new Facebook group where I post a new story section each week, and group members can vote on what happens next. Learn more here, or join the group here! It’s been lots of fun thus far. 😀

“MOG”: On hold.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: This story now has a rough cover and a name: Huntress. I’ve begun a round of edits based on beta-reader feedback. No idea how soon this one is coming, but I’ve been switching between editing this and The Secret in the Shadows now that Fractured Skies is complete.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Starting to learn Amazon Ads… we’ll see how this goes.

Also, Isaac and I did an Author Meet & Greet at Black Ice Comics in Houghton, Michigan. We had a lot of fun, and Shana (the store owner) provided yummy snacks. 🙂

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Continuing along with projects. Need to create a book cover and format an ebook. Finished the typing side of a project.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: Temporarily on hold, though I’ve been itching to work on revisions.

* * *

I think that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

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Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, cyberpunk, Distant Horizon, fantasy, fractured fairy tale, Fractured Skies, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, Magebane, new releases, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, Wind and Words, writing, writing tips

October 9, 2018 · 12:47 pm

Fractured Skies is here! :-D

It’s here! Today is the release day for Fractured Skies! 😀

Fractured Skies

A Dystopian Thriller

Not sure if this is the book for you? Try answering these questions…

Do you love a good dystopia, and want even more vivid world-building and believable factions?
Do you crave lots of fast-paced action, thrilling adventure, and cool, unique ways to use familiar superpowers?
Do you prefer character romances to be a slow-burn, and not always end in a happy-ever-after?
Do you want your cast filled with heroes who face antagonists where it isn’t always clear who is really the “good” guy and who is really “bad” guy… despite what they may believe?
Do you love little Easter Eggs referencing various movies and games, interwoven into the story so that even if you don’t recognize the reference, you’ll still “get” the joke?
Do you like strong protagonists who make tough choices and aren’t afraid to state their mind… even when no one else agrees with them?

If you answered “yes” to the above (or even most of the above), then Fractured Skies may be the book for you to dive into.

So grab your copy today, sit back, and enjoy the adventure. 🙂

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Tagged as adventure, books, Distant Horizon, dystopia, dystopian, fantasy, Fractured Skies, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, new release, novels, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi, series, Stephanie Flint, super villain, superhero, superpowers, ya, young adult

September 10, 2018 · 11:59 am

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

It’s time for another Infinitas Publishing status report! 🙂

* * *

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Feedback is in for Fractured Skies, and Isaac and I have proceeded through the read-aloud proofing stage. With that complete, I’m now ready to make a couple tiny adjustments, print out the manuscript and proceed to proofreading.

The blurb for Fractured Skies is also complete, so we’ll be announcing more details soon.

While we’re not 100% sure of the release date, we’re aiming for an October release!

In the meantime, we’ve just about finished the cover for book three of the Distant Horizon series, so stayed tuned for a reveal!

(Sign up for the Distant Horizon Universe Newsletter to get an early look at the next book cover!)

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) On hold while completing the main series’ projects.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: On hold.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) I’m still in the process of working on revisions, but I think Isaac and I have diagnosed a few possible issues with the current story (pacing and climax). This is going to take a bit longer to complete, as I need to shuffle a few scenes and add a couple plot points.

I’m not sure yet whether this is going to go through another round of beta-readers, but the current plan is to go through a read-aloud phase once the aforementioned issues have been resolved.

We’ve got a plan… but it’s going to take a little work to get this where we want it.

We also did a photoshoot for the main image of the book cover, and have a near-final draft of the cover.

The Wishing Blade – Book 4: (Title to be determined) On hold while I revise Magebane.

Stone and String 3 (and assorted Wishing Blade short stories/novellas): On hold while completing Magebane and Fractured Skies.

However, I created a cover for the novella I mentioned last time, so that’s done, at least. Once I’ve made progress revising the novella, then I’ll reveal the cover. So that’s coming soonish.

(Want to be the first to see new covers in The Wishing Blade universe? Sign up for that newsletter here).

“MOG”: While I haven’t made any further progress on this particular universe, Isaac has read through the story I’ve managed to edit thus far, and he’s provided me with a loose plot outline for future books in this series.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: On hold.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Continuing to work on newsletter swaps with other authors. Also, I’ve picked up a couple ebooks on copywriting with the intent to improve my blurbs and newsletters.

Isaac and I also did a book signing at the Webb City Public Library in Missouri. At least one person checked out one of our books from the library that was in circulation. Thank you! 🙂

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished a book cover proof and am preparing to do a typing/formatting project.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: I’ve received feedback from beta-readers and I have some notes from Isaac on the beginning of the story. Once Magebane and Fractured Skies are complete, I’ll start revisions. For now, it’s on hold. The tagline still eludes me.

* * *

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

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Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, Distant Horizon, fantasy, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, Magebane, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, Wind and Words, writing, writing tips

August 6, 2018 · 12:02 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

July flew by quickly, and now it’s time for the monthly Infinitas Publishing status report!

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Glitch: Everything in the The Glitch Saga is now complete! All the individual books are now available at online retailers, including the compilation ebook (more on that in this blog post).

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). I ended up needing to send this through another round of beta-readers since the previous round had other things come up and weren’t able to complete the reading.

However, based on feedback from this round, it looks like Isaac and I might be about ready to move into the read-aloud proofing stage. We’ll see in a couple weeks, once the rest of the feedback comes in.

We’ve also got a work-in-progress blurb written. Yay!

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) Err… this did not get completed in time for Camp NaNoWriMo. (Having a road trip and working on another project slowed down the momentum on this). I have 8,800 words written thus far, and Isaac has provided feedback on the current rough draft. I’m hoping to get back to working on this project at the end of August.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: On hold.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Beta-readers have looked over the latest version of Magebane and provided notes. There are a few pacing issues to clear up, but it looks like it won’t be too long before I’ll be able to move to the read-aloud proofing stage. We’ll see what happens after the next round of edits/revisions.

The Wishing Blade – Book 4: (Title to be determined) I’ve started a plot outline for this book. It’s not complete, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of where this is going.

Stone and String 3 (and assorted Wishing Blade short stories/novellas): I inadvertently managed to spend most of my writing time last month working on a story that I haven’t yet named and I’ve been avoiding saying the name of the main character due to spoilers.

But suffice it to say that I completed a rough draft last night at 35,800 words. (Which means that, unedited, it’s about the same length as Magic’s Stealing. Whew. The main character had a lot on his mind).

Anyway, it’s technically a prequel to Magic’s Stealing, but it’s intended to be read after Magebane due to spoilers. Despite that, it should be able to be read as a stand-alone novella for those who want to jump right in.

In the meantime, I’ve continued plotting the story that takes place (chronologically) after that one but is meant to be read before Stone and String 3, and I’ve also been plotting Stone and String 3.

“MOG”: (I’ll reveal what title the acronym stands for in a future blog post). I’ve finished revisions on the first quarter of this story and intend to tackle the rest of it this month. It’s been sitting on my hard-drive for a while, and I’ve been wanting to work on it but haven’t yet had a chance. Now I’m working on revisions so that Isaac can look through them before I move on to the rough draft of the next book. This is a series that I hope to have at least the first three books written before release… so I’m not sure when this is going to be coming out.

In case your curious, what I’ll reveal about it thus far is that it’s a science fiction space story. Lots of exploration and intrigue.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: On hold.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Started working on doing newsletter swaps with other authors.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished a book cover/formatting project.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: First complete round of revisions and editing done. It’s now out to beta-readers. I still need to figure out a tagline.

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That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

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Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, Distant Horizon, fantasy, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, series, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Glitch Saga, The Wishing Blade, Wind and Words, writing, writing tips

June 2, 2018 · 4:42 pm

Thoughts on Writing – Developing a Fictional Language – The Immortals’ Language (Choosing the Sounds)

With Wind and Words now complete, I’ve been thinking about the next story in the series (along with a short story set in Reveratch, a completely different region of Cirena).

One thing I’ve determined is that Ancient Cirenan needs to play a role in the story. The problem?

I’ve developed the Cantingen language, and a few odds and end words from Cirenan, but nothing extensive.

Making matters more complicated, Cirenan is supposed to be something like English… a mixture of languages that isn’t entirely consistent. This means that, whereas I can easily create a new Cantingen word when I need one (I even have a list of words that fit the language but don’t yet have meanings, specifically for this purpose), I can’t do that for Cirenan. At least… not on the scale that I’m going to need for the next story. Not until I have an idea of what languages are going to influence it.

As such, I’ve been thinking about the different languages which will influence Cirenan.

There are three that I can think of in particular:

Cantingen – (This is one of the original languages of that world, though it wasn’t as consistent in ancient times as it is at the point where The Wishing Blade series picks up. More prevalent on the southern coasts.)
Immortal – (The language of the humanoid wolves and bears which inhabit the immortal realm. There would be several variations of this dialect depending on the region and what kind of creatures are using it, but the primary one that will influence Cirenan is the variation based on the wolves. More prevalent in the northern and western regions)
Litkanston – (This is the language that developed in the southern regions of Cirena. I haven’t explored this one yet).

Thankfully, I already have a pretty good handle on the Cantingen language, since it’s the basis for word magic (and featured prominently in the Stone and String series).

Now, thanks to developing some of the details regarding Reveratch, which sits on Cirena’s northern border and shares space with the Immortal Realm, I’ve started looking more in depth at the language of the immortals. I haven’t come up with an official name for it, so, for now, I’ll simply call it the immortal language. (Sorry… all my creativity is currently being directed to developing the language, not naming it).

The first thing I did was try to consider what things were important to the immortals, and which immortals would be represented.

The immortal realm is fluid, meaning that different places are not always next to each other at the same time. Oral storytelling to preserve memories (and thus, how to get from one place or another), is important. My focus is primarily on the wolves, who share a similar language with the bears (Bears are important to Reveratch). The wolves’ belief system is also a bit different from that of the Cantingen people, and varies from group to group. In general, though, they do not worship Madia/Madiya (and some may even see her as an affront to Karewalin), and while they see Listhant-Nsasrar as a creator, he is not the only creator of their realm.

That is what I started with, though those details may change as I continue to develop their world.

Ultimately, for creating the sound of the language, I started with the main “immortal” name I already had: Nsasrar. Anything I constructed for this language needed to be able to accommodate his name.

So I moved on to deciding which sounds I wanted to keep, and the representations using the English alphabet for each.

I got a bit of inspiration from looking at one of the Inuit languages, in that (at least according to the article I was reading), you could signify a short vowel by only using one, and a long vowel if there were two of the same vowels. (I could totally be wrong about this, though, and I need to dive back into the realm of internet research to find that article again).

I ended up with this for the immortals’ language:

i (sick)
ii (eye)
a (sack)
aa (aid)
e (bed)
ee (weed)
o (soap)
uu (moon)

There is also “u” (uh). However, it is only shown before a consonant, or if to represent its occurance after the “uu” sound.

The reason for this is that a single consonant, by itself, will automatically have the “uh” sound added (though it is not emphasized).

For example, Nsasrar sounds like “Nuh-sas-rar.”

(Eventually I need to relearn IPA so I can use a more specific way of designating sounds).

I also determined that an apostrophe will break apart words, indicating when a sound should stop.

For example, “amaa’a” is pronounced “ah-may-ah,” with a bit of a harder stop between “may” and the second “ah.” The second “ah” recieves more emphasis that it would if it had not been seperated. (Also, this way we can see that amaa’a should be pronounced “ah-may-ah” instead of “ah-mah-ay.”

This is different from the Cantingen language, which uses the apostrophe to designate “of” and has a hard “c” sound.

For example:

shodo’charl (stone of passage) is pronounced “show-doh-kuh-charl”

These are differences I’ll have to remember as I swap back and forth between working on the different languages.

Next I decided on the consonants for the immortal language, and I specifically wanted ones that I could picture being growled, barked, or yapped (with a little room for imagination).

This was my resulting list:

There is one other consonant: “q” (sounds like: “kwuh”) but it is specifically reserved to mean “I.”

Now, those may change as I develop the language, but that’s my starting guide for developing words.

I’ve already made a few determinations about the organization of sentences, how words change when paired with other words, and a starting point for the indication of tense and interrogatives, but those are still very much in development.

For now, I’ll leave you with a few of the words and a sentence I’ve translated thus far.

I – q – (kwuh)

drink – dramer – (drahm-air)

cold – uuanuu – (oo-ahn-oo)

milk – novo (no-voh)

quickly – vree – (vree)

I drink cold milk quickly.

translates to:

Dramvreeq novauuanuu.

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If this interests you, let me know, and I may go into more detail about how I’m actually trying to put the sentences together later. For now, I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

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Tagged as conlang, constructed language, creating a fantasy language, creating a fictional language, creating a language, fantasy, fictional language, science fiction, series, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, The Wishing Blade, writing fiction, writing tips