Tag: ebook

Shinies and pretties

Spearcarrier

So I have a lot of things on my mind as a self-published author. 1. How nice it would be to find a publisher, even if traditional publishing is changing and possibly going down in some ways. 2. How nice it would be to write that sequel to Black Wolf, Silver Fox. 3. How nice it would be to finish Trait of Honor, Akashik, Heavenly Bride, et al. and 4. The driving quest to redo the eBook formatting (and covers) for what I already have out there.

On the latter, I’ve been doing them here and there. Real life and the quest to pay bills doesn’t allow me much time to just get them done, so I do them as I can. I have a list on my desk of what I need to tackle next. And up next is Black Wolf, Silver Fox.

You know, it took me 10 years to write it. It had two publishers look at it. One took the manuscript, held it a while, returned it, and then published a book by a similar title mysteriously six months later. The other was honest with me about why they turned me down, and its their honesty that would bring me back to them if things came to it. I appreciate it.

So skimming through BW I see why, and I realize that this format workover may result in some minor changes. They won’t be anything major – it’s just that I noticed that one moment my character is strapped to the table and suddenly the next he’s sitting up.

HOW was he sitting up? Did he phase through the straps? No no no, this will never do. A phrase later and it’s fixed. Story integrity preserved.

Black Wolf wasn’t my first novel I ever wrote, but it is the first I ever got serious with. I see the mistakes in it, the dialogue I could improve and the inconsistencies. But it is my baby still in many senses, although I have managed to move on to other scenarios, stories, characters, and points of life. (You should never get stuck on just the ONE story.) So this next redo will be a proper one – me with more experience.

But I’m going to keep the crappy dialogue. It was my first real book. Just because I’m a better writer now doesn’t mean I should rehash my first success. I should just move on from it.

Leannahn in the Dungeon

Spearcarrier

Leannahn readjusted her mantle and stepped over the smoking body.  Sounds of the man’s rough laughter still echoed in her ears.  He had thought her just another slave.  Well, he had stopped laughing soon enough.

Here the dungeon was darker than at Cnos Fada.  Thin groans came from almost every cell.  Moans echoed from the pit, placed at the darkest corner.  Stringy, furry arms groped for her between the bars.  Leannahn skirted around, trying to ignore them as she passed.

The farthest cell was silent.

“Eahn?” Leannahn whispered, crouching as once before.  No comforting presence stepped behind her.  Regret, an alien emotion, closed her throat.  The young lord in Cnos Fada had been a kind soul; she could feel it still within her.

The Northern Thorn was chained to the wall with iron chains and manacles of brass.  Lacerations laced his body, white with infection, glaring madly in the dark.  He remained human, although it was more difficult to reassume the form every time he shifted.  One eye was swollen shut, branded.  He might never see with it again.

“I am so sorry,” Leannahn sobbed, burying her face in her hands.  “Had I known they would provoke the changes–  No.  I should have known.  This is where I grew up.” 

The Northern Thorn growled with frustration and hatred.  Even were he free, he could not attack Leannahn.  She still held the sway of command.

Leannahn leaned against the bars and wept.

______________

Excerpt from Black Wolf, Silver Fox.