Blue Rock on Geiger Grade Road

February 15th, 2010 by Alan | No Comments | Filed in Harmony123, Personal
Blue Rock - Geiger Grade Road

Blue Rock - Geiger Grade Road

On Valentine’s Day, we took a trip to Virginia City.  On the way up Geiger Grade Road, we stopped for little while and I walked out to a see the vista.

While there I took a picture of a painted rock.  The beauty of this rock will make it’s way into the Harmony123 series.  Stay tuned.

Share

Tags: , ,

Writing Help: My Reasons for Writing a Series

February 5th, 2010 by Alan | No Comments | Filed in Harmony123, Writing

Writing help and guidance is often requested, particularly when it comes to making decisions regarding questions like, “Should I write a single book or a series?”  I’m decided to go out on a limb here and share my reasons for writing a series of books instead of a stand-alone book.

  • A structure that makes it easier to write – When I writing a book, book, I want to put everything in that one book.  This is true for me whether I am writing a picture book like, The Monster on Top of the Bed, a novel or a non-fiction book.  I want to convey a wide variety of values to the reader, to share my expertise and to teach by allowing the reader to discover those things that I want to share.  Many bestselling novels convey factual information, but too much means that the novel or book suffers. By planning a trilogy, I can spread out the facts that I want to convey, and keep each book engaging.
  • Wider sales appeal – editors may be more likely to buy a series because if even the first book is not a best seller, it can create demand for other books in the series.  Take, for example, Dan Brown’s book Angels and Demons. It was not a best seller at first, but it evolved into a best seller after the success of The Da Vinci Code.
  • Broader recognition – An example of this would be the success of Hominids, Humans and Hybrids.  Not only do the books in this sci-fi fiction series have recognition in their own rights.  They also have recognition in as the books in the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer.
  • Increased Financial Rewards – When a publisher has agreed to a three-book contract, I can’t help but make more money.  I’m likely to get a larger advance, and because the publisher in investing in three books, there’s a good chance that the publisher will put more effort into marketing the books, increasing the likelihood that they well sell well.
Share

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Writing a Novel – Tip 6 – The Honesty Test

January 16th, 2010 by Alan | No Comments | Filed in Harmony123, Uncategorized, Writing

I find it is important to constantly ask myself if my writing is honest.  Here are some of the tests that I employ:

  • Does the writing ring true to me?
  • Am I making myself vulnerable, exposing my true feelings?
  • Am I obscuring?  For me when I obscure, it usually means that I’m not convinced that I truly want to share.
  • Am I still excited about the manuscript, or am I just plodding along.
  • Is the manuscript still aligned with what I want to accomplish?  (What I want to accomplish may have gradually changed, or I may have had a sudden “ah-ha moment.”

Sometimes, my writing fails my honesty test and I must make a decision:  Make changes that bring it back to an honest manuscript, kill off the project, or settle.  Usually, I make changes.  While writing The Occluded Emerald, part of the Jeweled Planets series I found that the project failed the honesty test because it was not aligned with what I want to accomplish.  The concept of an emerald ring that had an occlusion that turned out to be unicorns was a good working thought.  It helped me to start a novel, but as I entered into writing the novel I discovered that it was an interesting part of the story, but it was a device, not a central theme. The central theme I want to explore in the series is the secrets of living in harmony with the universe.  The first area that I want to explore is the concept of an interdependent web of all existence.

Harmony123300x300

Sometimes, my writing fails my honesty test and I must make a decision:  Make changes that bring it back to an honest manuscript, kill off the project, or settle.  Usually, I make changes.  While writing a novel in a science-fiction fantasy series, I found that my work was no longer aligned with what I wanted  to accomplish.  I realized that I the central theme that I wanted to explore in the series had evolved into the secrets of living in harmony with the universe.

I experimented with changing the name of the series as well as changing the name of the first book of the series. To do this, I created new graphics.  The graphic for the new series name pinpoints exactly what I want to say.  ( I realize that this is a working graphic, and I expect that it wilbe replaced by an illustration prepared by a professional illustrator.)

To help me whether I wanted to the title of the first book, I created a graphic for the book title.  My reaction was mixed.  At first the new name felt terribly congruent.  After a little while, I felt like retaining the original title.

I haven’ t made a final decision yet, but regardless of my decision I will adopt the attitude of Thomas Edison, who experimented with creating a light bulb thousands of times before he achieved a successful design.  When asked about his failure his response was that he had learned from each iteration how now to create a light bulb.  Edison founded General Electric, one of the world’s premiere companies. I have chosen to make myself vulnerable by sharing my writing experiences on line.  My basic philosophy is that one needs a series of interim successes, and it is a success to redefine a goal.  The additional clarity provides me with energy.

Sometimes, my writing fails my honesty test and I must make a decision:  Make changes that bring it back to an honest manuscript, kill off the project, or settle.  Usually, I make changes.  While writing a novel in a science-fiction fantasy series, I found that my work was no longer aligned with what I wanted  to accomplish.  I realized that I the central theme that I wanted to explore in the series had evolved into the secrets of living in harmony with the universe.

I experimented with changing the name of the series as well as changing the name of the first book of the series. To do this, I created new graphics.  The graphic for the new series name pinpoints exactly what I want to say.  ( I realize that this is a working graphic, and I expect that it wilbe replaced by an illustration prepared by a professional illustrator.)

To help me whether I wanted to the title of the first book, I created a graphic for the book title.  My reaction was mixed.  At first the new name felt terribly congruent.  After a little while, I felt like retaining the original title.

I haven’ t made a final decision yet, but

Share

Tags: , , ,

Writing a Good vs. Evil Novel Tips 1-5

January 13th, 2010 by Alan | No Comments | Filed in Harmony123, Writing

I know that I will not make a difference in the world by being political, or by being a business magnate. However, through my writing, I change the world, one reader at a time.

The first book in a science-fiction fantasy series that I’m writing right now, entertains by exploring good versus evil, and evil’s relationship to sound.

This series of articles can help you to write a book because I am revealing my writing process, which includes

  • Developing a concept
  • Writing
  • Reviewing the writing – asking myself if it is honest – asking myself if it is well written – asking myself if I am happy with the direction that the book is taking.
  • Making changes, as appropriate and
  • Reviewing and refining until a manuscript is polished and complete.

In this series, of articles I’ll be quoting from one or more of my books, and then offering writing tips. When you see words in Italics, they are taken from a manuscript. Comments follow the quoted text.

Tip 1: Specifics are important:

“I am weak,” the black stallion said to The Empress. “This energy field drains me. The best that I can do is produce illusions. I cannot…”

“Illusions will be enough, brother,” replied The Empress. Quite.” She paused, then continued, “Best to make them powerful, ones that will not be questioned.”

The first paragraph above is weak because it does not describe the energy field. It is also weak because it tells instead of showing. However, it’s a good start for a project. It’s easy to come back later on and add specifics. Placing too many specifics in the very first draft can be counterproductive for me because it causes me to lose the continuity of the story.

Tip 2: Encourage readers to wonder

The Empress touched her jeweled necklace. A platinum chain holding thirteen gemstones: emerald, ruby, opal, moonstone, cat’s eye, sapphire, diamond, amethyst, ametrine, morganite, obsidian, peridot and petrified wood. As she stroked the slightly jagged pink morganite stone in the necklace, the black unicorn reflected upon his sister’s advice and became aware of an actuary, driving his classic 1961 white Chevrolet Impala, up Long Valley to meet I-80 at Lockwood, NV. He watched through the actuary’s eyes as Vermazen and Duke roared passed him. Duke’s humongous cherry-apple red custom 1995 Harley Davidson and the woman’s gleaming school-bus yellow Hog, both sported front shocks and so much chrome that the actuary squinted to cut the glare. “Evil,” the actuary said under his breath. The black unicorn focused his intent and Vermazen signaled to her brother, Duke–take the side road. Duke followed her, driving along the side of a hill on a little-used road. She pulled over. Duke stopped too, and they both got off their bikes.

Readers wonder about:

  • What touching the necklace will accomplish
  • Why there are 13 gemstones
  • If petrified wood is a gemstone (it is)
  • If a black unicorn is evil
  • Why the actuary said “evil”
  • The intent of the black unicorn
  • Why Vermazen pulled off the road
  • How a unicorn and a person can be brother and sister
  • What will happen next.

Tip 3: Avoid telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

There was no way Vermazen was going in that cave. Here at least they had a chance. Okay it was a one-in-a-thousand chance, but once they went inside. They heard the rattle and saw the coiled snake at the same time. Instinctively, the tattooed biker momentarily forgotten, Vermazen and Duke backed up. The entrance rock slid closed and in the distance they both sensed pure unadulterated evil.

In the above paragraph it turns out that there is no snake and the entrance rock never slid closed. These are both illusions. It is my intent to lead the casual reader astray and to reward the perceptive reader for picking up clues that most readers will miss.

Tip 4: Use a placemarker symbol to indicate when you want to flesh out details.

In this sentence I use the “@@” symbol to indicate that I want to add concrete details to the manuscript. I can rapidly search for this symbol, and it shows up clearly in printed versions.

“This energy field drains me. @@ The best that I can do is produce illusions.”

Tip 5: Develop interesting characters, preferably with a twist

In this series, we meet Jonathan at age 11, but we also get to know Jonathan as a teenager, young adult and mature man. Jonathan is able to transverse several universes.

Share

Tags: , , ,