Follow the Magic

What do you think?  I've been using "follow the magic" as a tag line on some of my promotions.  Does is it help?  Hurt?  Probably no difference?

So...it's been a little while since I blogged.  I've been very, very busy with the "day job", but by no means am I ignoring The Verdan Chronicles.  I did submit my manuscript and cover art for the 9th book.  It passed Lulu's content review and is currently in the hands of the design team.  I expect to see their results as early as the end of this week (perhaps any day now).  Then, if I can find the time to do a final reread I can sign off and we could see this final book in the core series available by the end of the month.

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that.  It's the completion of a forty year dream and a major item off my "bucket list".  But there are new stories fermenting in my head that I think would be very interesting to tell and hopefully very interesting to read.  That is if anyone ever reads them.

Yeah, that last comment is tinged with a little sadness as it doesn't feel like the series is ever going to make much of a dent in the world's literary awareness.  I keep saying "that's ok", and it is, but I also daydream now and then about how cool it would be to have readers with which to discuss some of the aspects of the book.

As usual, the challenge is to get the horses to drink the water.  Those that have drunk from The Chronicles have generally said it tastes sweet, but then there are so many other sources of water that not too many horses are finding their way to my trough.  Sorry, I just felt another analogy coming on.

Back to the news.  I'm doing a second Kindle giveaway on Amazon.  It ends this Thursday and already has 500 entrants.  I wish them luck and hope more of you enter.  That will make 30 copies of The Fourth Age that have been given away this year.  I can only hope some of those 30 actually read the book.  On Goodreads I still have about 480 people who put the first book on their "to read" list, but all that really means is that it is still on their "to" read list and not their "have" read list.

I'm up to 4 reviews on Goodreads and averaging a score of 4.5 out of 5.  That's pretty amazing and while I don't expect it to stay there, it's sort of funny to note that Game of Thrones (4.4) and Lord of the Rings (4.3) are currently ranked behind my first book.  Yes, there is no way it will end up that way.  Those are classic books that well-deserve their high scores.  But now I can always say "well, there was that time when my review scores were averaging higher than..."  In truth, a lot of books I absolutely loved average in the 3s and I'd be honored if I ended up among them.

By the way, if you do take the time to write a nice, thoughtful review and leave contact information, I may decide reach out to see if you'd accept a free copy of the next book.  Yes, I've done that.  Reviews, especially well worded positive reviews, are the life-blood of an independent author who has no marketing team to call upon.  I can spend the next ten years telling you how great my books are (and they are), but having other people say nice things means a lot more.

What do you think?  I've been contemplating a limited kindle giveaway of my second book.  An associate and good friend recommended I stick to focusing on my first book.  It's probably good advice, but part of me still wants to give it a try.  I honestly believe my books and the story get stronger as the reader gets deeper into the series.  I think the series becomes amazing in the final three books, but have to wonder if anyone will ever get that far.

Ok, final thought for today.  I've been catching up on some reading.  I had little time to read while writing and wanted to get some more perspective.  I've noticed that some of the popular books can get very descriptive of the world they created.  I mean like ten pages of description around matters that seem pretty obvious.  I guess my point is this, many of the more critically acclaimed books are where the author can paint a detailed picture for the reader. 

My books usually provide enough description to give the reader a good idea of their surroundings and then let them fill in the blanks.  I could do it for them, but it's really not important to the story.  I'd rather let the reader color around the edges to make it seem more personal and comfortable to them.  That doesn't mean I don't describe things, but there usually is a purpose to every sentence and sometimes every word I write. 

I also feel sometimes like I've become so immersed in current visual arts (comics, TV, movies) that I write that way.  I feel a need to keep the story and the character development moving.  I don't want to spend ten pages describing the layout and contruction of a castle that is not relevant to where I'm going.  it's got twenty foot stone walls, four fifty foot towers on each corner, two smaller towers flank the sides of the main gate and it has an inner keep.  Now, let's get to the people who live in the castle.  It's the hero's interaction with them that's important.  Heck, the meeting could take place in an open field and it wouldn't matter to story, so why take all that time to describe something that doesn't matter?  Ok, enough of a rant on my feelings around that.  But yes, sometimes I do find myself talking outloud and wishing the author would move on.  That's what I like, so that's what I write (right or wrong).

Anyway, it's Monday and speaking of visual arts I need to make a decision on Supergirl vs Gotham, which one to watch live.  Thank the gods for DVRs.  Until next time, take care.