So I’ve just finished my 600, 000 word epic about the Russian revolution…
Well, not really. But since it’s April 1st, I thought I may as well throw in the obligatory April Fool’s Day joke. But writing about historical revolutions isn’t really my thing. Neither’s writing 600,000 words for a single book. Seriously, that’s a lot of words.
However, the year’s off to a good start with the new projects. I’ve finished a 21st century vampire story, or at least a book with vampires in it. Although throughout it all, I’ve maintained that the vampires are basically window dressing to the story. And while it’s intended to be quite dramatic in parts, especially toward the end, it’s not intended to be frightening or horrific at any point. The book’s really something of a coming-of-age tale as a mother tries to protect her daughter from the dangers of the outside world but slowly comes to realize that there comes a time when she has to step back. That she can’t keep life out and that one day, her daughter has to stand on her own two feet.
I think the final story’s quite touching, though of course I’d say that since I wrote it. But I think – and I sure as hell hope – others will like it too.
There are just a couple of more things to do before it’s ready though. For one thing, I’m trying to get my beta reader to have a look at it when he gets time. For another, after I did all my revisions, I’ve decided that I need another small scene at the end just so the coda doesn’t feel too abrupt. And finally, I need a title. Always an important thing and it can be a bit tricky to get right.
Sometimes, titles can come around easily. Remnants of the Order for example just came to me but it’s not always like that. I still remember when I was trying to come up with a good title for Star Frontier. I didn’t really want the ‘star’ in there because I thought that made it sound too similar to Star Wars or Star Trek. But I didn’t like the sound of things like Galactic Frontier or Space Frontier (awful, isn’t it?). So I ran the working title Frontier by my brother and he pointed out the obvious flaw in my cunning plan. It was a title for a western, not an interstellar science fiction adventure. So, for better or worse (the jury’s still out), I went back to Star Frontier.
However, I’m sure a good title for this new story will come along sooner or later. And I’ll let people know when the book’s released too.
Now, I’m working on salvaging a story from an utter mess of a manuscript titled Star Frontier: Intrepid. It had the problem of being started in 2016, put aside completely in 2017, finished in 2018… as well as having twenty different plots competing for first place. So I’m now taking quite a lot of material out of it and focusing on a much more contained story, featuring Jiang Sarra who’s become something of a favorite recurring character of mine. I’d like to catch up with some of the other main characters down the line as well, especially after the events of Star Frontier: Descent, but I’ve realized that Star Frontier: Intrepid isn’t the right vehicle for that kind of story. It’s much better suited to a smaller scale adventure.
However, as with my vampire flavored coming-of-age story, I’ll keep you posted on my progress on that one as well. But it’s looking good so far.
And finally, I’ve made a new cover for Star Frontier: Beyond the Veil. I feel like I’m always updating my covers, to be honest. But as an author who can’t really afford professional cover design services, its just one of those things I have to deal with. I try to make the best covers I can and then see whether or not they appeal to readers. And after the past few months of sales reports, it seems to me that the cover for Star Frontier was working but the cover for Star Frontier: Beyond the Veil was not. So I spent a couple of days trying to come up with a new look and, in the end, I think I’m pretty happy with the result. It’s almost, dare I say it, spiffy. And I have no doubt that sales will skyrocket on the strength of this beautiful piece of artwork alone… Well, we’ll see.
Anyway, you can check it out below. I know. It’s a feast for the eyes, isn’t it?
