Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener & Working on Chapter 1 Outline
I really want to start writing as soon as possible. I feel like I’ve gotten most of the important details hashed out or at least enough of a foundation that I can begin. I think I’m in that annoying place where I’m getting too much in my head and too worried about starting so I’m becoming nitpicky about details. The next time I have the energy to work on this, I’m going to put together the first chapter outline. I really, really want to write the “first meeting” scene, though that’s not for several chapters after a lot of grief.
I was nominated* for this award by Petra Jacob who is one of my favorite indie authors. She has three books published currently (from what I can see on Goodreads, so don’t quote me!): Peddling Doomsday, Riddled With Senses, and Supernice: Smile. Or Else., but we should all entreat the word gods that she’s not going to stop there. Not a one is even in the same genre as the other, which is a feat most authors only dream of. I managed to respond to this nomination before it hit a year old, so now I’m going to answer her questions.
Do your dreams ever give you inspiration for stories? If so can you describe one that has?
Yes…? I know they have, but I’ll need to ponder one that did so. Oh! I can check my story idea notes…yeah, I got nothing. It’s one of those “I know it happened, but I can’t remember the details.” Silly brain.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener & Working on Chapter 1 Outline
I feel like I’m nearing the end of my set up (maybe?). I got a bit of everything worked on late last night. I think I’m worrying too much about certain things becoming problems if I don’t hash them out before I start writing, but I’m literally trying to figure out how to make the best society when I’m living *gestures at everything* lol. I need to finish up language notes and information on minor characters then I believe I can switch my efforts to the first chapter outline, and maybe even write it.
Author’s Note: I know it’s been a long time since I posted the blurb/teaser (over two years), but in my infinite foolishness I decided to make it not only an audio project, but an audio/visual one. That…took a lot of time, and I went through numerous growing pains with the procedure I hope will facilitate faster turnaround in the future (the story has 25 chapters. If each takes two years, well, you can do the math lol). I am hoping to have a way for you to view the visual part of it soon, but I’m still figuring out the intricacies of that as so much of the work is not mine and I don’t have the legal acumen to fully comprehend fair use. I have trepidation just posting the audio portion of it due to the music I use even with credit. It’s all…very frightening.
So because I am how I am, I may drastically change the format of how I do this, but right now the way I want it to work is to have the written chapter here for anyone who requires text in which to follow along. If I were posting on YouTube, I’d add subtitles as I had with the blurb as well as all of the music and art credits.
What I’m hoping I can do in the near future is find a place to upload the video that goes with the audio and then figure out a way to give people access. I’m still working on this aspect. I just downloaded Dropbox though so things look promising.
Anyway…you don’t need to know my problems lol. Onward to the actual content, though I need to apologize in advance. The sound quality is…not great in some places. The beginning sounds a little weird, and there are definitely parts where you can hear some odd stuff because I’m neither talented nor a movie maker lol. Like that’s the only excuse I can give. This chapter is so full of growing pains, and I learned a lot while working on it, which I’ll use in the future.
I also have to apologize for any place where my accent is just terrible. My “formal” speaking voice sounds a particular way and I really, really try to practice my RP so it sounds legit, and I looked up a tutorial on the other accent, but…yeah I just apologize. It’s my favorite accent and I hope I did it some justice. When I used to sing we were taught to modify our vowels to sound less nasal because the part of the states I live in has that issue, and let me tell you, singing with that accent sounds awful. I realized it makes a nice reading voice, too, so yeah…I guess that’s really all I can say.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener & Working on Chapter 1 Outline
The last major thing I have to do is finish up my language notes. I have some minor character details I could figure out, but a lot of that stuff happens in the writing process. I’m super tired today and the caffeine doesn’t seem to be working so yeah. I hope I can get the outline together so I can start writing soon.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener & Working on Chapter 1 Outline
A Supreme Ruler needs a supreme steed. He doesn’t QUITE breathe fire, but his origins are very suspect per the first time I wrote about him in The Serpent’s Tale. I wound up finding the name “Angaros” in The Book of Angels,a volume I bought years ago that I still use for a reference every now and then (I literally have it next to me right now because as you all know my memory is shit, and I couldn’t quite remember exactly what Angaros meant). It translates into “courier” from Persian, and I thought, “Well that’s a great name for a dark angel’s horse. Why the hell not?” There’s another term “Angiras,” which I thought said “Ankiras” until today so that’s a 13+ year mistake (oops), but…I like the subtle difference between Angaros and Ankiras and plan to use the latter for the name of the titular character’s hawk. Angiras is from ancient Sanskrit and means “divine spirit,” and I like that for a bird. The Holy Ghost is often represented as a dove so there you go.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener
I managed to figure out one of the things I had under General Issues and Questions on OneNote from years ago for the male MC. Sometimes I just have to start writing about the problem and brainstorming solutions, and it’ll come together. I still have a few more things to do, but I’m starting to think about what I need to finish up in order to start writing the first chapter. My hubs is the MVP for just listening to me talk about this shit and let me figure it out lol.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener
I wound up making a checklist of things I want to do in Scrivener before I start writing. This was after I went through all of my old notebooks for any scribblings specifically related to the WIP like the stuff involving language and demographic background. The checklist happened because I wanted a way to catalog what I still needed to nail down before I begin writing (plus I work better with checklists/to-do lists), but I also feel like I’m nearing the point where I just want to start and then figure things out as I go.
A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.
Finished Projects: 0
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener
I have reached the obsessive stage of my language creation lol. I think I’ve found a pattern I like though, and I also think I can move on and back to other things while still working on this on the side. I still have numerous items from my notebooks to work in, nor have I figured out some of the integral details of how the world operates. It’s more hashing out how things work so that I can be consistent when I finally start to write. Plus I want to go back to finding pictures of beautiful people lol. I’ll start posting the ideas I have for the other characters, too.
Project: Story
Working Title: The High Archon Genre: Paranormal Romance Type: Original Length: Novel Status: Preparation
Progress: Setting up notes in Scrivener
Whew…creating a language is time consuming lol. My plan was always to expand on what I’d initially started in The Serpent’s Tale, my first (and still unpublished) novel that this one borrows heavily from. The male MC is a polyglot and fully fluent in the language of his background, and I’m kind of a doer when it comes to writing aka show vs. tell I suppose. You can’t just say someone speaks a different language and not have them speak said language (it’s the same way how I had to literally show he’s an assassin by, uh, having him kill some people lol). I made up more words in that language, which is called Rava, than any others, and it’s the only one where I even attempted grammar and syntax.
I really want to start writing as soon as possible. I feel like I’ve gotten most of the important details hashed out or at least enough of a foundation that I can begin. I think I’m in that annoying place where I’m getting too much in my head and too worried about starting so I’m becoming nitpicky about details. The next time I have the energy to work on this, I’m going to put together the first chapter outline. I really, really want to write the “first meeting” scene, though that’s not for several chapters after a lot of grief.
