Tag Archives: writing tips

December 5, 2018 · 12:46 pm

Thoughts on Writing – Outlining Results (Cyberpunk Snow White) and New Release

Last year, I wrote a post on outlining a novel with the goal of reaching between 50,000-60,000 words in 12 days (a condensed version of NaNoWriMo). This was for a cyberpunk Snow White retelling.

The goal was met, I did a bit of editing on that project, handed it off to a beta-reader, and then sat it on the proverbial back burner.

Though I was busy with other projects, I occasionally thought back to that cyberpunk fairy tale but didn’t do much with it until several months later, when (in classic fairy tale-style fashion), I had a dream that I was busy editing the cyberpunk story.

Later that same day, the beta-reader who’d read it contacted me to ask if I had a cover for it yet or if I had made progress.

I took that as the “go-time” flag to get back to work on that project.

(I’m not kidding. I really did have a dream about editing the story before getting contacted out of the blue on the same day by my beta-reader. Coincidence? Probably. But still a great story to tell about the writing process of a fairy tale retelling).

Anyway, I proceeded to make revisions, sent it out to another round of readers, polished it, did a read-aloud for errors, and then proof-read.

The book… now dubbed “Huntress” (and the first in a series), released on Sunday. 😀

*Happy-dance*

If you’d like to see how it turned out, grab a copy!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)

From now until Sunday, December 9th, you can grab it for 99 cents (or read it for free with Kindle Unlimited).

And, of course, you can get an idea of what the original outline looked like (and what changed) by reading the original post here).

Without further ado…

Huntress

A YA Cyberpunk / Dystopian Retelling of Snow White

Her touch is poison.

Verdi is a huntress for Koenigin Corp. She’s augmented. Perfect.

Determined to earn her dear president’s favor and finally have her voice heard, Verdi agrees to target Maria Snow, the favored candidate of the Society for Natural Progression, in an acid attack.

After all, once Maria is no longer so lovely, surely she’ll accept the nanite-based technology that can remove her scar—thus branding her as a traitor to her cause.

But when Maria Snow refuses treatment and Verdi catches her secretly meeting with an enhanced, sapient bird, she realizes Snow might be the one woman who can forge an alliance between the technology-loving corporations and the nature-oriented Progressionists.

Forced to choose between loyalty to the corporation who raised her, and falling in love with the woman who could finally unite the two factions, Verdi’s decision will change the face of the city.

Buy Huntress today!

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)

I hope you enjoy the book! 😀

(Note… I don’t plan to keep Huntress in Kindle Unlimited forever. The first three months are a test run, and then, depending on how it does, I plan to eventually release it wide across other retailers.)

In the meantime, I wrote the rough draft of the sequel for this year’s NaNoWriMo. I used a similar process, creating an outline (though I diverged more from it), and writing 50,000 words in ten days instead of twelve.

Now it needs editing, but the start of the story is there. 🙂

1 Comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

Tagged as #amwriting, dystopia, fairy tale, Fairy Tale retelling, fractured fairy tale, Huntress, Infinitas Publishing, lesbian fiction, LGBT novels, NaNoWriMo, new releases, outlining, science fiction, Snow White, Stephanie Flint, writing a rough draft, writing tips, YA novels, YA SciFi

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. 🙂

Leave a comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

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

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. 🙂

Leave a comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

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 22, 2018 · 11:38 am

Thoughts on Writing – Why Rose Tico is an Awesome Character

When I watched The Last Jedi, it was before a number of rather vocal movie goers started ranting about how much they hated it.

Was it my favorite movie? No. I’m picky when it comes to movies.

But did I enjoy The Last Jedi? Yeah, I did. I also enjoyed it the second time I watched it, after I’d heard the arguments against it.

Today, I want to explain why.

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for a while (especially the Extended Universe/Legends), and for me, The Last Jedi hit a lot of the things I love about Star Wars, especially in regards to the Force.

But today, I want to focus on a character from the The Last Jedi. For some reason, a number of people who watched the movie seem to hate Rose Tico (and some “fans” have gone way too far with their criticism and directed inappropriate comments at the actress, prompting her to delete her Instagram account). (EDIT: Further information can be read in this New York Times article.)

I’m not really sure why people hate Rose’s character, (or the actress, since I thought she did a wonderful job with her portrayal) since Rose was one of my favorite characters in the movie. (I think my favorite might have been Kylo Ren, because of his fascinating ongoing struggle, but that’s a subject for another post).

((Warning… spoilers ahead for The Last Jedi.))

Rose Tico (Movie Still from The Last Jedi)

The thing I loved about Rose is that she’s a bright-eyed idealist who is willing to go out and try (even when trying sometimes ends in failure). She cares about people and creatures, and she wants desperately to protect the people she cares about.

That bright-eyed wonder when she comes up close to a fathier (those adorable dog-horse creatures on the race tracks)… and the compassion she has for the kids in the stables because she’s been there, and she wants to see them have a better life… that’s the reason she’s awesome. She’s had a bad incident in her past (multiple, given that she recently lost her sister), but she’s not jaded. She gives those kids hope, which we see at the end of the movie when one of them kids peeks out at the stars and reveals the rebellion ring Rose once had.

(A note on the movie as a whole…) Not only do we see the kid’s hope, but this felt like a nice callback to the Expanded Universe. The kid is obviously Force-sensitive, as we see him snag the broom to sweep without touching it. This reminded me quite a bit of a scene from one of the Expanded Universe (now known as Star Wars Legends) books in which a Jedi was out searching for other Force users, and one scene involved him going to the racetracks and looking for the people who were unusually lucky to see if they had the Force. (Unfortunately, I can’t remember which Jedi it was that did this, or who it was that got recruited. If you remember who this was or which book, feel free to drop a comment below).

(Another note on the movie as a whole…) I also really liked the Canto Bight scene because it reminded me a lot of the Knights of the Old Republic games… especially with the morally gray “these people are weapons dealers, but they sell to both the First Order, and the Rebellion.”

Anyway, back on topic: Rose’s character seemed to center around hope and compassion. In the beginning of the movie, when we see her upset about the loss of her sister, we also see her hopefulness when she meets Finn for the first time–a hero.

But rather than going into complete despair when she realizes that he’s trying to flee the ship and leave behind the people she cares about, we see this petulant (slightly adorable) look of frustration. Here she thought he was a hero, and after everyone who just died, he’s trying to flee?

She zaps him.

(Though I felt bad for Finn, because I really didn’t blame him, I loved this reaction because we can just feel her frustration). She’s relatable. How many times do we sometimes wish we could just zap somebody who is doing something stupid? (Not a good idea in real life, but hey… wish fulfillment).

While I’m not usually a fan of characters who are big on loyalty (They can be rather frustrating to write because they keep wanting to do stupid stuff in the name of loyalty), I liked that she has loyalty to an idea, rather than to a single person or group, who can be deeply flawed.

She wants to save people (as stated by her quote, “That’s how we are going to win. Not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”) and she’s willing to risk her life and place in the rebellion to do so. Yes, she’s part of an insurrection, but it was done out of the belief that what Admiral Holdo was doing was going to get those people killed.

(I would like to add another note here. The entire problem of the fleet being nearly destroyed at the end of the movie could have been avoided if one of two things happened: A. If Holdo had simply told Poe the plan so he would realize that she wasn’t some kind of untrustworthy spy, or B. If Holdo had thrown Poe in the brig after he’d gotten so many people killed by refusing orders and getting in her face demanding answers. Topic for another day).

Though Rose, Finn, and Poe’s choice to go after the tracking technology the First Order has ultimately ends in tragedy, Rose was doing everything she could to save the people she cared about, to try and prevent them from dying like her sister.

And you know what?

I found that completely believable.

Good guys don’t always make the right choices. They don’t know everything, and can’t predict the future. They can only do what they think is best, and hope they’re doing the right thing. That’s what we see from Rose.

She’s trying her hardest to protect people after the loss of her sister and so many of the rebellion members in an earlier battle scene. She wants to make a difference. She wants to help.

And she saves Finn, who was so dead-set on self-sacrifice to stop the big cannon from tunneling through the door that he would have gotten himself needlessly killed. She cared about him, and protected him.

She was saving the people she loved.

(Granted, it probably would have been better if the editing of the movie didn’t show the door to the rebel base being blown up behind her and Finn… but that wasn’t exactly Rose’s fault. I will also admit that the kiss between her and Finn felt a little cliche, but then, movies are very rarely perfect.)

Overall, I found her to be a great character. She was well-written, and Loan (Kelly Marie) Tran did an excellent job depicting her.

I look forward to seeing her again in the next movie, and I’m curious as to where the Star Wars saga goes next.

* * *

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you’d like to see more in depth posts on what I thought of specific characters or plot points. 🙂

8/22/2018 – Edited to include link to a recent article that came out yesterday and to include Kelly Marie Tran’s real name per that article, Loan.

2 Comments

Filed under Writing

Tagged as Character Analysis, character development, Great Characters, great movies, hope, Kelly Marie Tran, loyalty, Movie Review, protecting the people you care about, Rose Tico, Star Wars, The Last Jedi, 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!

* * *

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.

* * *

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

2 Comments

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

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

July 2, 2018 · 9:11 am

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

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

* * *

The Glitch Saga Print Editions

Glitch: The paperback editions of the Glitch series is here! Whispers in the Code, Ghost of a Memory, and Spirits of a Glitch are all available as both ebooks and as paperbacks.

Not only that, but Isaac and I have released the complete ebook box set with all three books in one. Right now The Glitch Saga: The Complete Collection is available on Amazon and Smashwords, but should be available at other online retailers soon.

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). Currently out to beta-readers. I’m hoping to have feedback by mid July.

Distant Horizon - Paperback Edition

Distant Horizon: The updated paperback edition is now available!

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) I started writing the rough draft yesterday. Goal is to complete the rough draft by the end of July as a part of Camp NaNoWriMo.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. Created a book cover proof for a possible cover to use once this is complete.

Little One: On hold, but I have Isaac’s notes. Next step is revisions.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Now that Fractured Skies is out to beta-readers, this is my next big project for revisions. Hoping to have those completed and have it back out to beta-readers by the end of the month.

Wind and Words: (Book 2 of Stone and String). The paperback editions for both Wind and Words and Stone and String are now available!

Stone and String 3 (and assorted Wishing Blade short stories): Still plotting these, though I’m hoping to work on creating a rough draft once Magebane is out to beta-readers.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: On hold.

Game Design: On hold.

Marketing: Mostly working on our newsletters. I’ve also been doing a “Weekly Book Promotion” highlight on my blog featuring various ebook giveaways.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished one book cover and made progress on another formatting/cover art project.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: Rough draft complete at 75,000 words! Still need to make some tweaks to the beginning setup and part of the game system, but the main thing now is to complete revisions and send it out to beta-readers. That, and figure out a tagline.

* * *

One last thing before I conclude this post. Is there anything you would like to see more of on this blog? If so, let me know in the comments below. 🙂

* * *

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

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

June 9, 2018 · 4:10 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

Yipes… is it really that time again? Well then, I guess it’s time for the monthly Infinitas Publishing status report! An unexpected event at the beginning of the month (May) shifted some of our original plans off schedule, but now we’re mostly back on track.

* * *

Glitch: The proof copies of the Glitch saga print editions are on order. Finally got the formatting done. All that’s left is to receive the copies, check for any issues and make sure the covers look correct, and then approve them for sale.

Once that’s complete, I intend to create an ebook “box” set with the complete mini-series.

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). I’m about halfway through the current round of revisions on Fractured Skies. Removed one of the subplots and I’m primarily trying to tighten it up before sending it out to the next round of beta-readers.

The ebook cover is officially complete.

Distant Horizon: Waiting for the proof copy to arrive of the updated print edition.

Lily’s Story: (Distant Horizon series spin-off novel) Isaac and I figured out a rough outline. Still need to make a formal outline, but the majority of the ideas are now in place. Next step is to tighten up the outline and write the rough draft. I’m thinking this might be a July project, but we’ll see.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. That being said, I did manage to finish editing another episode. Still a few episodes remain to be edited before this project is ready to come back to the front of the projects list.

Little One: Isaac has read through my current draft of Little One and given me notes. It’ll be a little bit before I start revisions (I need to finish editing Fractured Skies and Magebane first) but now that I have notes, I can move this up on my to-do list.

Magebane: (Book Three of The Wishing Blade series) Once I’ve finished revisions for Fractured Skies, this is next on my list. After I finish those revisions, it will need to go out to another round of beta-readers. It’s also clear that Magebane relies heavily on the first two books, and will not read as a stand-alone.

Wind and Words: (Book 2 of Stone and String). Complete! The ebook edition of Wind and Words is now available, and I’m currently waiting for the proof copy of the print edition to arrive. I intend to make both the print edition for Wind and Words and “Stone and String” available on Amazon (as well as in person, when possible).

Stone and String 3 (and assorted Wishing Blade short stories): Currently plotting this and two short stories (or novellas… we’ll see) prior to this one. Working on creating the immortals’ fictional language so I can create the Ancient Cirenan language (more on that in this blog post), which should have at least a small feature in these stories.

Plus, I have an idea for a short story set in the snowy region of Reveratch, north of Cirena. Not sure when these will get written, but I’m in the pre-writing stages of development.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: On hold.

Game Design: On hold… though Isaac and I have been fun playing an “epic” version of our Legends of Cirena mini role-play game. All tiles, all expansions, all bosses, and a few story-line style quests. It’ll be a while before this is complete enough to release to the public, but hey, we’ve been having fun with its potential.

Marketing: Got to participate in a Facebook launch party for Michael W. Huard’s Sisters of the Dawn’s Early Light with several other authors. That was fun. Did a couple giveaways there. Also, I’ve been including a lot of behind-the-scenes details in my newsletters, so if you want to stay up-to-date, don’t forget to sign up for them (details on the sidebar).

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Now that formatting the books for Infinitas Publishing is complete, I have a formatting project I’m currently working on, plus a couple book covers slated to complete in the next month for other authors.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: While I had hoped to get the rough draft completed, that didn’t happen. However, I’ve been working through a round of revisions on the second portion of the story, and I have an idea for how to complete the climax and resolution (which wasn’t what I originally thought it was). Also, I have a cover completed and a blurb, which is a plus. Also, I have the title. Just need to finish the actual story so I can send it out to beta-readers and figure out a catchy tagline.

* * *

I kind of feel like I might be missing something, but that’s all I can think of for now. I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

Leave a comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing

Tagged as an author's process, author, book series, Distant Horizon, Glitch, Infinitas Publishing, Isaac Flint, publishing, self-publishing, status report, Stephanie Flint, Stone and String, 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.

* * *

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. 🙂

1 Comment

Filed under Writing

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

April 29, 2018 · 8:01 pm

Infinitas Publishing – Status Report

And it’s been another month! Busy… (especially with a seemingly random case of an allergic reaction at the beginning of the month — nothing too major, but still not sure what caused it), but progress has been made!

Meanwhile, the snow is almost gone, despite the piles of snow here and there. I’m sad to see it go, but having warm weather is nice. Back to walking without heavy winter coats!

* * *

Glitch: I had intended to get the print versions formatted by the end of the month, but that didn’t quite happen. The interior formatting for Whispers in the Code is just about complete (I’m working on finalizing it), and once that’s done, formatting Ghost of a Memory and Spirits of a Glitch should be a bit simpler since most of the major pieces have been put in place. Once the interior formats are complete, I’ll need to create the print-edition covers. With luck, I’ll have the print versions approved by the end of May.

After that, my next step will be putting together an ebook “box set” with all three books for those who prefer to have the complete series in one ebook file.

Fractured Skies: (Book 2 of the Distant Horizon series). I should be getting feedback from my beta-reader soon, and then I’ll start on the next round of revisions. After that, Isaac and I will assess whether we’re ready to move on to finalizing the book or whether it needs to go out to another set of beta-readers.

In other news, I’ve pretty much finalized the ebook cover, so I’ll be revealing that soon. 🙂

Distant Horizon: The updated print edition is almost complete. There’s still a couple tweaks to be made to the interior file, and I’ll need to finish the print edition of the cover, but it’s almost ready for ordering a proof copy.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold, though I’ve got a few ideas for how we may want to proceed with this once we finish edits to the remaining episodes.

Little One: On hold.

Book Three of The Wishing Blade series: I have a title! Presenting: Magebane.

Isaac is the one who came up with the title, and given the large role that charlago/magebane plays in the book, I think it’s fitting.

This project took up most of my month with revisions, re-reading the first two books to find missing plot points, and then doing another round of revisions to fix revision smudge. Anyway, I sent it out to beta-readers a few days ago.

The other good news is that I’m starting to get an idea of how to tie everything together in the next book.

Wind and Words: (Book 2 of Stone and String). Waiting for Isaac to look over this now that his school year is wrapping up. Hopefully I’ll have more news on this soon. Also, I’ve started plotting the third book in this series, though I haven’t outlined it yet.

Cyberpunk / Dystopian Snow White Story: Kinda-sorta on hold? I haven’t touched the related short story yet, and I’m wanting to move on to revising this, but I also have Fractured Skies in queue… so it depends on how smoothly revising that one goes as to how soon I get back to this.

Marketing: Continuing with the newsletters (if you want more frequent updates, behind-the-scenes info, and sneak peeks about our worlds, check out the sidebar). I’m hoping to get involved with fairs/craft shows again this year, but we’ll see how timing/money pans out.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished one book cover, have another book cover coming up, and have a formatting job to complete.

LitRPG / GameLit Story: Didn’t make quite as much progress with this as I’d hoped (I’d wanted to finish the rough draft this month, but Magebane took more time to revise than I expected). Anyway, it’s now sitting at 64,000 words, and I think I finally figured out how to end it for a satisfying conclusion, at least for the first book.

* * *

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Business Ventures, Writing