Going Global

I am now getting to the point of writing where I have to start verifying historical and geographical facts. Yes, this means going back into research. I have started toying around with Book Three, and two things happened.

First, I realized that I had to do a lot of research on the UK, particularly on the geography and cities. Second, a brand new crop of characters materialized as I started working with a single new character. This new Book Three character, Kwan, is the leader of the Asian vampires. Him and his most trusted soldiers, known as The Guard, mostly hail from South Korea. This new group got so interesting that I think they might be the focus on my 2010 Nanowrimo project.

All of this means more research, of course. I actually have a list of countries that I have to research for this series. The current countries to research are: England, Scotland, Germany, Spain, and South Korea. Later on, additional countries are going to include Mexico and Japan.

This is fun for me, though. I love learning, and I love to apply what I learn to my writing. I think everyone should do that; research a country you've never been to. You may find a new place you want to visit. :)

Figuring Out The Science

In the midst of creating this world, I realized that it needed a scientific side as well. It also needed to keep some level of historic accuracy as far as scientific discoveries went.

A simple example: At the time of the plague in Europe, no one really knew how it was spread. That was one of the reasons it was so deadly. If I have a character start washing their hands and such, I've jumped quite a bit into the future. "Sanitary" isn't really a word one associates with that time period.

This lead to another question from myself to myself: are the Immortals in any way ahead of humans as far as scientific discoveries? The answer here is yes, but not by much. In fact, by the time we get to the present, humans and Immortals are about even in the "discovering things" category.

Then came a third question: What makes the Immortals, well, immortal? I could take the easy way out and just say "magic" or something, but I want to get a little more complicated. Their genes are different. Just as their are genes for eye color, possible mental illness, and height, there are genes that make one simply not age...or just age very slowly.

In humans, this is a mutated gene that often leads to aging disorders like progeria, DKC, and the like. In Immortals, the gene is always inherited and combines with another gene common in all Immortals to create the immortality. This isn't pure immortality, though. Immortals can age, but it happens so slowly that it is almost at a stand still. The twins are over 400 years old by the end of Book One, but they do not look over 20 years old.

Here's the kicker; there are certain substances that hold off aging, so Immortals have the option to age a bit for appearance purposes or continue looking 18. For Dark Ones and Vampires, it is blood. For Shadow Walkers and Felians, it a being's life force. For Night Wolves and Werewolves, it's flesh (so sorry, no vegan or vegetarian Night Wolves exist). And yes, for all of them, human is best because of the genetic similarities.

I probably went into this WAY more than I needed to, but it helps to know the rules of your story. Fans of your work are less likely to, I don't know, come after you with torches and pitchforks that way.

The Immortal Language

There is a language amongst the Immortals clans (all of them) that is a beautiful combination of several known languages put together. For now, I have called the language Manchen-ni. The language is not spoken often in the series, but many Manchen-ni words pop up during the story, mostly as nouns. For example, the words Sapir, Krudos, Doushen, and the rarely used fecha are Manchen-ni words.

FYI: Fecha is a Spanish word for the calendar date. It has a totally different pronunciation and meaning in the Immortal world. Immortals prefer a meaning closer to the Portuguese meaning, which is similar to "noise." The Immortal version is not as nice, though.

The language is actually not spoken as much as it was thousands of years earlier (blame the whole Tower of Babel situation on that), but it is still spoken as a common language for those who cannot, or will not, speak English. Many of the "younger" Immortals hardly ever use the language but have heard it enough to understand it. They prefer to use their native languages and English. The twins, for example, start out speaking only German but later become very proficient in English. They recognize Manchen-ni, but do not know it enough to regularly speak it.

The Elders are required to know it, understand it, and speak it. The Ambassador's Guild is not required to speak Manchen-ni, but they must be able to understand it. This also goes for anyone else working with or for the Sapir (the title given to the Guild and the Elders).

So, in summary:

The twins and their Handlers: understand Manchen-in, do not regularly speak it

The Elders: understand it and speak it

Elizabeth: understands it and can speak it

All additional characters in Great Hall: can all understand it, do not regularly speak it

All additional characters outside Great Hall: some can understand it, none speak it

Humans: have no freaking clue about the language...YET...

The Twins Are Jealous

So I took the month of June to work on a totally different project. It was mostly an exercise, a chance to try and pull a Nanowrimo move in the middle of the year. For most of this month, William and Thomas stayed quiet.

Not anymore.

The twins are pulling hard at my writing strings, demanding attention. This puts me in a weird place: I want to finish my June Project, and I don't really know what to do with the twins right now, but they do not care. They want my attention, NOW.

I think writers have this issue sometimes, especially when they have more than one work in progress. If the stories are character-driven (as I feel they should be), and if the characters are solid, you will know when they are speaking to you. Their voices will be easy to identify in your mind, and you will know when it is time to return to them.

So, my twins are now jealous of the energy I have directed toward this short story. They may have to hold out for a few days longer, but it not going to be easy. I do love the short story I am finishing up, but the truth is, the twins are my favorites.

I never neglect the favorites.

Back On Deck

Okay, after a VERY long break from this blog and my main story due to a zillion things going on, I am finally starting to get back into the swing of this series.

I think authors need to do this sometimes; step away from their biggest project for a little while and get things in order and in perspective. There were too many distractions, and that was making it impossible to really get anywhere with the story. I wrote a second possible climax, one more in line with the twins' personalities, but I still wasn't totally sold on it. That's when I decided to take a break.

The really good parts of Forbidden Children seem to all be in the beginning, up until they prove themselves worthy of respect. After that, I realized that the rest of the story was nothing more than fodder. Was it interesting? Yes. Was it necessary to the series? No.

Herein lies the toughest part of writing; you have to know when the story ends. Books Two and Three are solid because they are hard hitting from start to finish. There are no dull moments, no flashbacks, nothing of the sort. My problem with Forbidden Children is that the twins' background does not need an entire book. It pains me to say that, but it is true. A lot of Book One can be blended into Tainted Blood, the first half mostly. I realize now that the second half of FC was for my own personal amusement. The most important parts of the twins' journey had already been told.

This is what really hindered me for the last month: I didn't know what to do about Book One, and once I started to realize what had to be done, I freaked out. The idea of basically throwing out an entire book of a series scared me to bits.

So here is what I think will happen: Book One will be saved, but I will now focus my energy into Book Two and see if the two can be weaved together. More than likely, most of FC will be saved for a novella or something similar. Maybe it will be posted here eventually. In any case, I am done with FC for now; the best parts have been written.

On to Tainted Blood and Book Three: War Of The Undying...

A Talk With Thomas

I'm going to be honest here; I had all but given up on this story. My stress was making it difficult to even put a coherent sentence (or thought) together, and I began to think that it was doomed to remain in limbo until I finished my big move and got away from all the stressors.

Thomas, apparently, wasn't having that.

Out of the two of them, Thomas is the more outspoken twin. He rarely censors himself, much like the person from which he was drawn from. That person caught my attention about two days ago, when he did something so amazingly stupid that I wanted to hop a plane, fly overseas, and smack him with a bag of coins. Granted, it wasn't a life-destroying stupid move (more embarrassing, I think), but it was still stupid. I won't go into detail about it here for fear that it will reveal who my inspirations are for these characters, but I will press that it was one of the stupidest things I have heard someone under the age of 25 do in awhile.

Anyway, this stupid action stayed on my mind. Eventually, as characters sometimes do, Thomas started running his mouth.

"I think you were focusing the climax of Forbidden Children on the wrong twin," he said to me.

I tried to ignore it.

"Think about it, think about what we are. Because of what we are, we will never be completely in control of ourselves. Everything about us, even our abilities, will be out of our control."

I was lying on my bed half-asleep when this thought entered my mind, and I sat up. I went straight for my computer, knowing that it was after 1am and I was due somewhere work-related at 6:45am. I didn't care; Thomas had given me a new direction for my novel.

That was early this morning. I haven't looked over what I wrote (I'm about to), and I'm sure that some of it will be utter nonsense. My hope, though, is that something in those two pages will stick. Perhaps something will stand out and give me something to build on. Maybe the whole thing will get scrapped.

Even if nothing in what I wrote is useful, it gives me hope that I can make the second half of Forbidden Children work.

I really should send both of the knuckleheads, Thomas and his real life counterpart, a fruit basket.

PS- Forgive me if my grammar seems a bit off, but I am VERY tired. (sleepy smile)

Serious Editing

Wow, I've been MIA for months! Well, there are a lot of major personal changes coming up, including a major move to the opposite coast. That doesn't mean that my writing has suffered, only that I have had time to really think about it. The thinking has left me borderline terrified. Here's why:

In March, it dawned on me that the back half of Forbidden Children was looking less than stellar. There was too much downtime between the really critical scenes, leaving a lot of insightful but boring chapters. I also got really bored with the plot lines involving their interactions with women. We all know that if the author thinks certain scenes are boring or forced, the reader will think the same, times two.

I love the climax of Book One, but I have started to hate the reason for the climax. It is over a damn girl, a pretty boring girl at that. I know my twins, and they would not throw themselves into such a situation over a cute but rather dull girl. My really strong female leads do not make their grand entrance until Book Two, so any female paired with the twins before that is not high on my importance list, anyway.

This leaves me with some huge plot holes to fill. This is the main reason why my now grumpy Reading Team has not seen anything new from me. I could probably send them about four to five more chapters. After that, I've got nothing.

Book One is not going to be dumped; it has way too much potential. But major parts of it will be, paving the way for William and Thomas to be much better represented. This will probably be the hardest task in writing this entire series. The rest of the road map is perfect, and even has room for possible add-ons and surprises. I know where all the characters (and I mean ALL of them) will end up. But no one will ever see that beautiful road map if I can't get the damn car out of its neighborhood. That is my new task, and it will not be easy. Few things are as pitiful to see as a book that suddenly loses direction halfway through, and that is my issue with FC.

I am certain that I will figure it out because everything else about this series seems to be solid. My main heroes (or anti-heroes) are awesome guys, my bad guys are awesome pains in the butt, the society they live in is over a decade old, and the I adore the main plot. The main question is this: how much of the twins' back story needs to be told before I get to the present?

Oh, and I welcome any comments or suggestions :)

On Your Mark...Get Set...

And...Go.

With rejection letter number one firmly under my belt, I am practically nose diving into the next agent on my list. Did that first letter sting? Well, yeah, of course it did. I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn't tough to see the "your story doesn't fit our agency" line. Just to clue you in to a little secret, though: that line is also the reason why I'm happily pressing onward.

They didn't write back and call the story "unreadable" or say a nice version of "don't quit your day job." They said it didn't fit with them, which I immediately read to mean that it could fit somewhere. I just have to find out where that somewhere is.

For those of us who want to make a living out of this, one lesson has to be learned early on: more than likely, you will get rejected at some point. It's no different than applying for a job in that sense. You will not get every job you apply for, and you may go on quite a few interviews before you finally get an offer. Our world here is no different.

In any case, I wrote back and thanked them for taking the time to read the first 30 pages, because they really didn't have to...and I've learned that being nice in this field gets you farther than being a brat about a rejection letter.

This letter also marks my first real dive into trying to get published, and I am treating it as such. It has made me go back and examine my work in a totally different light: the viewpoint of a total stranger. The rejection is making me grow, so that my next query letter will be tighter, and my next submission will be richer.

I am in the race now. Game on.

The Story of Story

When in the world will this story ever be done?

Every time I think I am close, I take another look and see room for improvement. After those changes, I still second guess it.

I think this is one of the hardest parts of being a writer (the first is actually sitting down and writing a complete story, poem, or song): you have to eventually decide that your baby is strong enough to stand on its own two feet. Naturally, you will be running behind it as it races out of the living room, your arms outstretched, ready to catch it. What we fail to realize is that we are more afraid than the story is. Little baby Story may fall over, but it will probably start laughing and get right back up.

This apprehension of ours stays even as Story starts to grow up. There is no way it is staying out past 10pm. Borrow the car? Um, no. You're going out with who? No, you can't meet those people. Look at them; no way I am trusting them with my little bundle of joy. They'll rip it to pieces.

This is about the time that Story starts getting annoyed with you. It starts doing whatever it wants to, and while you know that this is normal (even healthy), it terrifies you. It starts messing with your head, playing mind games, threatening to make your life a living hell...all because you won't let it go to that party everyone is going to be at. It is yelling at you, kicking and screaming, and making absolutely no sense. Sometimes it gets so insane that you swear it hates you. You just hold on for dear life and hope it is just going through a phase or something.

Eventually, Story gets to the point you've been waiting for. It calms down, gets some purpose in its life, and sets out to be what both of you want it to be. You are finally working together, moving forward, doing what is best for Story. Soon, Story is ready to leave the nest and introduce itself to the world. Again, you're terrified; is it ready to see the world, to step out of the comfort zone? Heck, are you ready for that?

My Story is getting there. I went through the moments where I almost wanted to pull my hair out because it wasn't making any sense, and mistakes and plot holes were everywhere. How is this kid going to survive, I wondered? Well, Story survived long enough to inspire me to have two more little ones to follow in its footsteps. Story is getting very steady now, and while it still needs some work, I have no doubt that it will be ready to fully strike out into the world very soon.

It's applying to universities now.

Getting The Facts Straight

I am now entering what I consider the tough part of editing: getting the facts right. Even in fiction, there are some simple facts that you will have to get correct unless you make it clear that your story takes place in a parallel universe or something like that. I have spent the last few days looking at maps of Germany and the UK, reading up on various towns, and mapping out where my characters would travel. Closer inspection revealed that I will have to re-tweek their journeys.

This is why, as much as many writers hate it, we have to put on our historian hats during this process. I found that I made some huge errors in distance and location of various story landmarks. I mean, HUGE errors. Like, I was pissed at myself for not knowing something that basic. Still, it was good that it was caught and can be corrected before an agent or publishing house saw it. It is very easy to forget or gloss over basic facts during the writing process.

Actually, I think it is best that we do just that, for the sake of getting it all on paper. We just have to remember to go back and really look at the details. Here were a couple of mine:

Are there really any mountains in the areas I said had mountains? I lucked out, because the answer is yes. Is there an area in Ireland where a place like Great Hall could exist without human knowledge? The answer is yes, once a few changes in Great Hall's layout were made.

For every fact I just happened to get right, though, there was one I screwed up on. The best example is the aforementioned big one, which will lead to a total rewrite of a crucial part of both of the first two books. I will be spending the next few days trying to figure out how to correct that blunder without dragging out the action. Again, I'm happy I caught the mistake sooner rather than later.

I say all of that to say this: Keep editing in mind as you write. Read through your work often, and highlight any fact or statement that you are unsure of. Look it up. Be prepared to make major changes if, for example, that bridge you put in during a huge battle never actually existed. There are some things fiction writers can get anyway with, but even in fiction, if the characters believe and live the facts, then we should strive to get them correct.

New Year, Self Doubt

My friends and I have often discussed cases of people getting "cold feet" when it comes to their dreams. They start on it, they push it beyond where they thought they ever could, and then something just stops them. It is usually fear, exhaustion, or a combination of both.

Well, it's 2010, and I am trying to fight through my first bout of cold feet.

I have been working on this series for what feels like forever, and I suddenly find myself losing steam. It's not from writer's block, because I know exactly what needs to be written and re-written. In fact, I'm excited as all heck about the idea of writing book three. The problem is that I can't get myself back and focused on Forbidden Children.

I know how this entire series will end. I know who will make it to the last page of book three, and who won't. I know all of its major plot points. All that has to be done now is to polish FC and start hunting for a home for it.

Maybe that's the part that scares me; once the first book really is done, I will be forced to reveal it to complete strangers. I don't think that is all of it, though. I am not even afraid of failing. It would suck, but I would live.

Nope, I think I am afraid of succeeding.

So far, I have been given quite a few positive signs to push on with this. Positive feedback has come from my Reading Team, family members, and people in the industry. So why is it so difficult to complete this simple task? Fear of success is the only answer that makes sense to me.

To rectify this, I am thinking of breaking the cycle I have kept for the last two years. My excitement right now lies in Book Three, so I am thinking of moving on to that one. This means I will have to pick a brand new story idea for Nanowrimo 2010, but I'll live. It'll make November very interesting.

I want some opinions on this. Should I proceed with Book Three or try to focus on FC?