Friday, August 30, 2019

Goals for the Weekend 2019-08-30

Welcome everyone!

Wow, what a great week! The first reveal went perfectly, and I received a bunch of positive feedback. Thanks so much for that!

This weekend, I want to continue the momentum of reveal season and begin recording since my voice is finally coming back. So to do that, I need to:

  • Contact the Huntsman and She-Wolf Fan Club on Facebook (you should join!)
  • Organize my folders to accept Book 2 audio files.
  • Confirm with cover artist that all files were received
  • Double check all art and teasers for the remainder of reveal season

If I can do all that, I'll have a great weekend. I hope you do too!

Peace,

-Troy

Thursday, August 29, 2019

*Spoiler* 1st Reveal for BOOK 2!!!

Welcome everyone!

I am so glad to have you with me today. This will be the first in-book content I reveal for the sequel to The Huntsman and the She-Wolf.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I wanted to get some art for the village inn. The inn serves as a social hub for the community as well as a place of refuge for travelers and merchants. It's a tall building - three stories in all - made in the customary half-timer design.

In the first book, I reveal that the inn is owned by the main character's uncle. I never gave a name to the inn at that time. It didn't need one. Now, however, something is changing in the community, and it necessitates a name for the inn.

So, last warning, ***Spoilers***!
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The name of the inn is now The Oak Sprig Inn. I spent a lot of time narrowing down a huge list of potential names. There's a lot of symbolism in the name, but that's not something I'm going to get into right now.  You'll have to wait until Teaser Season for that.

Anyway, let's have a look at my new artist's conception of the inn:

Compare that to the first illustration I received that I will NOT be using:


Notice how the first image above is much larger and more detailed. The front porch is often used by townsfolk to sit and gossip about the town's happenings. The chimney on the right is for the common room. The chimney on the left is for the kitchen.

All-in-all there are 24 rooms in the inn for guests. Not pictured is a small stable in the back. Horses are uncommon in Celandine Valley, so the innkeeper doesn't bother much with extra straw or feed. There is a chicken coop and a pigpen though.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with how the Oak Sprig turned out. It's going to look very nice in the finished product. Hopefully, it sparks your imagination too.

The next reveal will be a week from today. Until then, enjoy!

Peace,

-Troy

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Writing Makes Me Feel Bi-Polar Sometimes

Welcome everyone!

There are times I feel almost manic-depressive when it comes to my writing. I am not making light of those who suffer from that affliction, but there are days I don't understand myself.

For instance, the last five days I have been incredibly productive. I've been writing new content, formatting files for recording, making a new YouTube video, and sketching new designs for future books.

The week before that, I had nothing in me. I didn't even want to look at my files. I can't explain it. I just didn't want to mess with my books.

Anyway, while I'm on this positive kick, I'm going to use it. My Book 2 files are with the cover and layout artists. So it's time to start recording the audio and outlining Book 3. I've also been revising my marketing strategy.

Speaking of that, remember the first REAL reveal for Book 2 will be tomorrow. Mark your calendar! ;)



Peace,

-Troy

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Hunter's Rose Book 2 First Reveal! *sorta

Welcome everyone,

Yesterday, I promised a reveal today, but I kinda hedged. The image I'm about to reveal is not one that will appear in my book. Instead, I'm going to finish telling you a story I began in the spring.

If you can, remember back to when I mentioned the artist I hired for Book 1 was unable to perform for Book 2. He's the one that provided this image for Book 1:


To me, that's a great shot. He captured a lot of detail from the sketch I gave him. The warriors look fantastic in the sunlight. The mountain pass looks both inviting and intimidating at the same time. It was the perfect interpretation of that scene for Book 1.

Now, the first image I wanted to get for Book 2 was the village inn. As you recall, the inn is own by the main character's uncle. I didn't have a picture for it in Book 1, so I wanted to include one in Book 2.

The inn will always be a central location in my series, so I felt it was important to illustrate it for the reader. I provided photographs of real medieval inns from around the world along with my own sketch of what I wanted. The artist seemed excited to begin the job, but weeks and weeks went by with no progress.

Finally, I really had to pressure him to produce something. Sadly, this is what the artist gave me and it becomes my first reveal for Book 2:

The detail is really lacking. The side of the building isn't finished. Overall, the inn is far too small for what I'm envisioning. Even the front lattice-work, if you zoom in, is hazy and ill-defined. This image is the product of a month's work. Yet, in all that time, the artist only got about half done. The first image in this blog post took only two weeks for him to create.

I can't judge the artist harshly. There may be something very tragic or distracting going on in his life. But I can judge his work, and it is severely lacking.

As a result, I had to find a new artist. You'll get to see his rendition of the inn on Thursday, so you can look forward to that. I don't believe he's quite as talented as my first artist, but he produces excellent work on time. That's what I look for in a business partner.

In fact, I liked this new artist so much, I actually commissioned an extra piece from him. I think the book will benefit from it.

So anyway, come back later this week to get a real look at the inn. I can't wait to share that with you, and it is something you will see in the finished product!

Peace,

-Troy


Monday, August 26, 2019

I'm a Little Nervous Today

Welcome everyone!

Today, I'm a little unsettled. I was able to submit my materials for Book 2 a bit early to the cover and layout artists. That means, the final version of the novella is decided and done. I can't make any further changes until after publication.

That was a big step, and I don't know if I was entirely ready. I have this nagging feeling like I forgot something, but for the life of me, I have no idea what it could be.

Everything seemed filled out and ready to go. I received the last bit of feedback I needed from my beta readers. I did a quick check of my files. Everything seems fine, so I don't know what bugging me. Hopefully, it's just jitters.

Anyway, don't forget: this week we'll have the FIRST REVEALS for book two. In fact, the very first one is TOMORROW!  However, there's a catch to that. I'll tell you about it then.

Stay tuned! :)



Peace,

-Troy

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Motifs I'd Like to Use #5 - The Belly of the Whale

Welcome Everyone!

One of the great traditions in literature is for the hero to descend into a dark place and be forced to confront some form of death. It's often a very powerful moment in a story where the hero learns something about himself or others that enables the quest to ultimately be achieved.

You know many examples from pop culture:

  • Luke Skywalker and the Dark Force cave on Degobah
  • Tony Stark's dream of the dead Avengers in Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • Semba's experience in the ravine where Mufasa dies in The Lion King
  • Dori and Marlin traveling through the jellyfish trench in Finding Nemo
  • Indiana Jones getting sealed off in the snake-filled tomb of the Ark in Raiders of the Last Ark
Often, in these instances, the hero has to go through some kind of symbolic death or suffer the death of a loved one. In Star Wars, Luke kills an apparition of Darth Vader that turns out to be a version of himself inside the suit. Indiana Jones has to face his greatest fear in the tomb, and Marlin is knocked unconscious from the jelly stings.

Almost always, the result of the "Belly of the Whale" experience is that the hero gains some kind of knowledge. Sometimes, this knowledge is learning to trust his friends (Marlin). Sometimes this knowledge is something the hero doesn't understand right away but will become important later on (Luke Skywalker). Other times, it's the knowledge that the hero must leave his known world to grow and gain power in a distant land (Semba). 

I'm not sure how I would incorporate this motif just yet. It wouldn't be hard. Caves, caverns, dungeons, and all manner of underground complexes exist in Celandine Valley. One might even point to the coal mines I used in Book 1 as an example.

So anyway, I'm looking forward to working in the Belly of the Whale. I know I'll be able to, and it will an adventure for myself to figure out how.



Also, I hope you continue to help me promote the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy



Wednesday, August 21, 2019

A Brief Roadmap for the Future

Welcome everyone!

I just wanted to give you guys some idea about the dates everything will be going down for the rest of 2019:

  • August 20-25th: Final file prep for cover and layout
  • August 29-December 11th: A new reveal each Thursday 
  • September 1: Submission to cover artist
  • September 1: Submission to layout artist
  • October 31st: Receive final cover and layout
  • November 7th: Begin first Giveaway
  • December 7th: Begin second Giveaway
  • December 18-31st: Time off for the Holidays
These dates are subject to change based on all sorts of things from natural disaster to illness to plain old bad luck. However, if everything goes according to plan, this is how it should all shake out. It also means, that next week you're going to get your first preview!

Stay tuned until then :)

Peace,

-Troy

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Ugh, I can't Record Anything Right Now

Welcome everyone!

Last night I was looking over my podcasts and youtube videos. I really want to get back to those, and I'm taking steps to clear up time in my life so I can.

However, even if I wanted to record right now, I couldn't. I've got a horrendous sinus infection going on. My voice is all funky and my throat is raw. This will set me back a couple weeks on recording new content as well as recording my audio book. I'm bummed.



Wish me well. I'd really like to get back to making more stuff for you guys :)

Peace,

-Troy

Monday, August 19, 2019

First Reveal Date Set!

Welcome everyone!

I spent all weekend agonizing over how to reveal all the great images, illustrations, artwork, and teaser chapters for Book 2. Just kidding, it only took a few hours, but anyway, we're all set! Expect the first official reveal of in-book content to be Thursday, August 29th! Looking forward to it!


 Also, I just want to bring up the Drive to 25 Campaign again.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy

Friday, August 16, 2019

Goals for the Weekend 2019-08-16

Welcome everyone!

Anyone else glad it's Friday? I sure am! This weekend is all about getting everything lined up for my marketing drive. I have about 50 decisions I need to make. I hope I can work my way through them before Monday. In the end, it might not matter too much what I decide to do, but still, I want to make the experience as good as possible for all of you. So, here are my goals:
  • Decide the order of reveals for Book 2
  • Decide the order of teasers for Book 2
  • Begin prep work for Book 2's Audio Book
If I can do all that, I will have a successful weekend. I hope yours is productive as well :)

Peace,

-Troy

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Handling Potential Spoilers

Welcome everyone!

Yesterday I revealed that reveal season is almost upon us. In the next few weeks, I'll be showing some of the art and ideas from Book 2 in my Hunter's Rose series.

After writing that entry, I got to thinking about spoilers. I think Avengers: Endgame has done the entertainment world a huge favor by making the general populace more aware of spoilers and their potential effects on fans' enjoyment. Therefore, I'm going to take some steps to help those who would prefer to avoid spoilers of any kind for my upcoming sequel.

I'll be marking my posts with reveals and teasers with spoiler tags either in the title or in the first line. If I knew a way to hide images behind a spoiler button on Blogger, I would. But alas, all the old solutions don't seem to work anymore. So, my attempts to conceal everything about my book won't be perfect, but at least they'll be better than nothing.



So anyway, exciting things are coming. I want to preserve that excitement for those who don't want to know anything while at the same time support those who are eager to know more RIGHT NOW!

Keep an eye on this space. The roses are coming 😉

Peace,

-Troy

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

WOW, I'm a lot Closer to Launch Than I Thought!

Welcome everyone!

I was putting the finishing touches on my marketing campaign for Book 2 yesterday. I have several different things I want to use to promote my second launch, so I organized them into three categories: Reveals, Teasers, and Giveaways.

The list for each started getting long. It hit me that I might want to mark these out on a calendar to get an idea of when I would need to start my promotion. The results shocked me. THE FIRST REVEAL WILL BE IN TWO WEEKS!!!

I was not prepared for that. I thought I had plenty of time before I would start building the hype. Guess I was wrong! So, expect the first glimpses of Book 2 to come out during the last week of August.

The end of August is going to be a moment of transition for me on a personal level, as well. I'll talk more about that then. It's all very exciting, but transitions - no matter how good - are always hard on some level. Anyway, that's something to look forward to. The roses are coming!



 Also, just a reminder about the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Vids I Enjoy #1 - The Goal of a Scene

Welcome everyone!

The critical part of writing a good scene is to make sure the POV character of that scene (and most of the characters as a matter of fact) have a real goal they're going to work toward.

It isn't easy to always remember that. Heck, it took me a while just to learn how to write that, and I still don't always do it consistently. Anyway, here's a vid I found that really helped me with writing good goals for good scenes. I hope it's valuable to you too:


Peace,

-Troy

Monday, August 12, 2019

Hooks

Welcome everyone!

Today we're going to talk about my favorite pirate: Captain Hook! No, just kidding. That would make an interesting post, though. Anyhow, I'm going to talk about how I try to hook my audience with my novellas.

A hook is an attention-grabbing first sentence that gets the readers attention with a promise that which is paid off later in the story. Here's a famous one:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
This sentence grabs the reader's attention by making a bold statement that the reader may or may not agree with. Then it makes a promise to try to prove or disprove this later in the work, and so the reader knows that this book will be filled with bachelors, aristocrats, and marriage. It's a perfect trifecta for a romance novel.

Here's the opening line from the book I'm currently reading called Half a King:
There was a harsh gale blowing on the night Yarvi learned he was a king, or half a king, at least.
The harsh gale connotes danger. The way "learned he was a king" is phrased makes it seem like this was a sudden occurrence, not something the character had been expecting. Then the best part: "half a king, at least." That's the promise. The book promises the reader it will explain what that is and why it applies to Yarvi. Thus, the reader is encouraged to read on.

So then there's my book one.
On the day he would lose his home, his father, and his only love, Tristan scuffed his heels along the dusty path passing through the front gate of Vitalba village. 
The words "gate" and "village" connote a medieval setting at the least and possibly a fantasy setting. I give the reader three mysteries - the three things Tristan loses. Tristan scuffing his heals tells the reader he is unhappy, but it doesn't explain why. That's the promise. The story will explain why Tristan is feeling dejected and whether or not he can escape that by the end of the book.

So now we move on to Book 2. I can't pull the same trick. I need something new, and I wanted to make it as different as possible. As a result, Book 2 will open with a conversation. There is a lot of advice on the Internet saying you shouldn't do that, but in this case, I believe I have to. While sequel books need to have similarities to the original, they must also be recognizably different. Starting with dialogue will help me signal to the reader that yes, you might be back in the land you enjoy, but things are very different now.


Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that little insight. I'm still working on putting together my marketing plan for Book 2. It's not as easy as I thought. Also, just a reminder about the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy

 

Thursday, August 8, 2019

All art is now in!

Welcome everyone!

I've received the final art piece. I now have 6! That's one more than I originally intended. I'll explain as I get closer to the preview season for Book 2. I'm not sure I'll be using all 6. I may let those of you who follow me decide.

Anyway, that's another big step that's finished. The next stair I have to climb is cover. Then layout. Cover work will begin September 1st. I estimate it will take about 2 months to get done. We'll see.



Anyway, keep visiting for more information! I'll begin revealing details very soon :)

Also, just a reminder about the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Saw the Last Piece of Art for Book 2!

Welcome everyone!

I got to see the last piece of artwork for Book 2 today. It looks awesome, as expected. I just needed the artist to make a quick change and get back to me, so that should be done here very soon. Once I get his revisions back, I'll be done with that part of production. I'm getting very excited!



Peace,

-Troy

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

On to Cover, Layout, and Audio

Welcome everyone!

I've done about all I can do when it comes to the text of my book. I've had multiple alpha and beta readers read it and give me feedback. A professional editor gave it some very harsh but helpful scrutiny. And finally, a proofreader went through and found hundreds of grammatical and spelling errors which are now corrected.

I'm going to be so excite to present the finished product to you! It's going to be very high quality.

So here are the next steps:

  • Give final approval to all art by August 15th
  • Begin recording audio for Book 2 by August 20th
  • Generate cover ideas by September 1st
  • Generate interior layout ideas by September 1st
  • Have cover and interior done by October 31st
  • Finish recording, editing, and mastering audio by December 15th
That's big roadmap and a whole lotta work, but it's going to be fun. I'll be giving you updates as I go along. Keep checking back soon! :)



Peace,

-Troy

Monday, August 5, 2019

Had a Good Weekend

Welcome everyone!

I had a good and productive weekend. My artist requested a few more days to finish the last piece of art, which is fine. I don't need it just yet anyway.

I gove Book 2 a last read-through. It's good. I can't wait to share it with you. I know you're going to like it :)

I'm putting together my marketing plan for the second launch in my Hunter's Rose series. It will be different from Book 1, and hopefully more fun and successful. More details on that soon!



Also, don't forget to help me promote the Drive to 25 Campaign.

We're trying to get to 25 copies of the Book 1 audio book sold by November. Currently, we're at 19. Please help by sharing these blog posts or sharing links to my audio book.

You can find it in the following locals:
And if you want to start an Audible account, you can get my audio book for free by signing up HERE.

Peace,

-Troy

Friday, August 2, 2019

Goals for the Weekend 2019-08-02

Welcome everyone!

Whew, I've had a busy week! I haven't even had time to post on this site, I've been so busy. Next week is looking just as bad, too. However, I'm still working toward my goals, so here's what's on tap for this weekend:

  • Approve final piece of artwork for Book 2
  • Establish weekly routine that will allow time to begin recording the audio book
  • Final read-through of Book 2
  • Plot out Book 2 promotion and launch activities
If I get all that done, it will be a good weekend.

Peace,

-Troy