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What book is everyone writing right now?

Hans said:
I'm writing a book based on the premise of having obtained my Wife's Great Great Grandfathers journals and presenting his life within that journal starting with his going out to India in 1836 as an officer in the Bombay Artillery and his later involvement in an expedition into Independent Tartary (Central Asia).
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That sounds fascinating. I'd read that story.
 
Garrison said:
Honestly I do prefer the white on black myself. I have updated the profile and I'm not being enigmatic with the photo, I really don't have any of me.
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But you want other people to read the blog. I agree opinions vary. I suggest you find out what the majority of potential readers prefer.
 
Could always do a white-on-black and a black-on-white version of the site and just give users a choice via toggle.
 
Hey all.

Haven't posted any updates recently because I've been flat-stick actually doing stuff. I'm roaring through my major rewrite of the final chapters of my book, and have some fantastic feedback from my primary test-reader/editor so I'll go back and tweak a few things that will really enhance it.

I've also found a solution to a long standing problem, and am very happy with it. My book is quite adult and dark, dealing with realistic warfare, and revenge as a major theme. But because it begins in a farming village with a child, it starts quite "innocently" with just a hint of the things to come.

In addition, there's no real antagonist or anything to sink your teeth into dramatically in the opening - it's more building a sense of ominous foreboding, and weaving the threads of mystery (or something).

But my concern is that means anyone reading the first few chapters to see if they like it (either a reader with a sample or a publisher with a submission) is not seeing my best work at all, and might get the wrong impression about the tone.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, on thinking about it I realised I had the threads of a nice subplot that answers all of these problems, so I've sketched it out, worked out where it fits pretty neatly into the existing story, and the feedback I've got from the outline has been pretty positive. So once I'm done with this rewrite it's back to the beginning to weave some drama into the beginning, and I'm really actually looking forward to that.

It's funny, after fifteen years of work, whenever I come back to the beginning of the story and rework my Parth scenes it feels a lot like coming home, I'm so familiar with that little village and its residents!
 
I love the progress you are describing. I'm working on some generational conflict right now. I know what I want, but the mechanics of the interaction needs work. It's a minor problem.
 
I actually enjoy re-writing and editing, though I know some people don't. Like Gumboot says, it's so familiar that it's comforting.
 
Fifth book of A Song of Ice & Fire by George RR Martin.

Just purchased the sixth book, A Dance with Dragons but might have a break from the series before reading it. Time for something else... perhaps head into the Dune series. I've got quite a backlog forming.
 
Burning Beard said:
Fifth book of A Song of Ice & Fire by George RR Martin.

Just purchased the sixth book, A Dance with Dragons but might have a break from the series before reading it. Time for something else... perhaps head into the Dune series. I've got quite a backlog forming.
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I think somebody already wrote that. ;) You might want to report the post and for it to be moved to the right thread.
 
So I've pulled together my short stories for the 'Different Skies' collection that I posted the artwork for previously and I'm looking for some people to give it a once over and give me feedback and point out any grammar/spelling issues.

it's a short story collection so it would be fine if you just want to read a couple of the stories but I'm really looking to progress this so the timeframe would be 4-6 weeks tops. If anyone is interested please PM me.
 
Just got the cover art for the third book in my first trilogy. It's um, interesting. I really like a lot of it, but the cover artist has a tendency to produce sexualized females. This is my first cover with 'people' on it, and one of them is a woman. At least he put clothes on her (which he doesn't always!) but her pose is...somewhat suggestive. It's okay, I really like the rest of it, and artists are not going to see things just like you see them in your mind. It's just taking some getting used to!
 
Tiktaalik said:
Just got the cover art for the third book in my first trilogy. It's um, interesting. I really like a lot of it, but the cover artist has a tendency to produce sexualized females. This is my first cover with 'people' on it, and one of them is a woman. At least he put clothes on her (which he doesn't always!) but her pose is...somewhat suggestive. It's okay, I really like the rest of it, and artists are not going to see things just like you see them in your mind. It's just taking some getting used to!
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The question is, will it lead more readers to your trilogy and will they possibly feel misled?

I like your female characters and I picture the two lead women as capable and attractive. But I might be turned off from reading the series if the cover had the usual cliché romance novel heroine or some large breasted woman with a tank top, guns on both hips and a full ammo belt over the shoulder.

What I like has an injection of feminism and what sells books may be a different thing. Were it my novel, I wouldn't care how the book were promoted if it led to more readers. But in the longer term, I want the story to be the thing the reader remembers.

IOW, who cares if it sells, it's not a reflection on you as a writer. But if it misleads potential readers then your gut may be telling you something and the wrong female image on the cover might not give the result you want.
 
Tiktaalik said:
Just got the cover art for the third book in my first trilogy. It's um, interesting. I really like a lot of it, but the cover artist has a tendency to produce sexualized females. This is my first cover with 'people' on it, and one of them is a woman. At least he put clothes on her (which he doesn't always!) but her pose is...somewhat suggestive. It's okay, I really like the rest of it, and artists are not going to see things just like you see them in your mind. It's just taking some getting used to!
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Do you have any influence over the cover? Can you suggest (or ideally, demand) modifications?
 
It's really not that bad - the thing is, your artist never sees things exactly the way you do, and you have to expect that. The woman is fulled clothed and not ridiculous in the least - it's just a slightly weird pose. I really like the rest of it, so I'm not really complaining - I'm just getting used to it. A re-do of a major character would cost a lot of money (this is hand-done art with digital modifications) and I already used up a one-free strike asking for a font change - so I think I'll stick with it and see what happens. It's not misleading, I don't think (but when it's posted, you can take a look and see what you think!).
 
Not so much a book or novel, but I've written one feature-length script (horror movie), and I'm writing two more, one called "Beyond the Darkness". Both are sci-fi / horror stories. I have a few novel ideas that I've planned out and outlined, but I don't really think I'm author material. I play D&D with a guy who is trying to get his work published, and it's been a long, hard road for him with constant re-writes and edits. Another friend actually has a published book and is writing another, though. Different experiences! Of course, the unpublished writer is trying to break into the epic high fantasy market, which from what he says, is very saturated.
 
Wow, I think writing scripts looks very hard. I have no idea how to do it, myself. I'm sure part of it's a learned skill, but it still seems difficult. I congratulate you on having done that!

My books are also fantasy, for the most part, and I second the idea that the fantasy market is saturated. I was fortunate enough to get a publisher (small, not one of the Big Six) but we've since parted ways; it's not all it's cracked up to be unless you're with one of the major houses. I'm certainly not making much money, but it's a fun hobby.
 
Tiktaalik said:
Wow, I think writing scripts looks very hard. I have no idea how to do it, myself. I'm sure part of it's a learned skill, but it still seems difficult. I congratulate you on having done that!
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I find script writing much easier (relatively speaking - all writing is difficult!). The biggest difference is that when writing a novel, you're writing a finished work. When writing a film, it's just the first step in a very long process. That and the word count...
 
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