Sweet 16

 Welcome everyone!

I finished up revising chapter 16 last night, and I am SO glad. It brings about a major shift in location for the main character, Tristan. This is the part, as I remember, where writing the book got easier. I'll talk more about that during the launch. Regardless, I expect revising will get easier from here on out as well.

Anyway, I'm doing something very different with Book 3 than I did with The Huntsman and the She-Wolf and The Huntsman and the Vampire. I figure by the third installment, people are ready for something new. I hope they are, anyway haha! 

So anyway, that's 16 down, 9 more to go. Right on schedule.

Peace,

-Troy

Chapter 15 Completed!

 Welcome everyone!

Chapter 15 is now revised. 15 isn't the longest chapter, but it does have a couple complicated scenes, and now, I'm so much happier with how they turned out.

Several times in Book 3 I split a scene between chapters. 15 is one of those chapters, at least for the moment. So at the beginning I had to finish up the scene from 14 and resolve a whole new scene that gets introduced.

I have to pay close attention to continuity in these situation. I constantly ask myself two questions: "How did the characters get to where they are?" and "How do they know what they know?"

A good reader will pick up on lapses in continuity very quickly, so writers have to be on the lookout for people who magically show up out of now where or characters that clairvoyantly know what everyone else was talking about. It's a challenge, but so is all of writing.

So thanks for reading. I'm marching on towards my goal, and it's good to have you here. Take care of each other, and I'll see ya tomorrow. 

Peace,

-Troy

14 Down, 11 to Go

 Welcome everyone!

Chapter 14 is revised. I'm not moving on to 15 and already making good progress. I see some things in this chapter that I'll probably have to change again later down the road, but I can't let that stop me from pressing on. I need a new draft ready to read for the next stage. The second set of revisions will come in their own time.

But for now, it's me vs. Chapter 15. I'll be back tomorrow with an update on who wins ;-D

Peace,

-Troy

Let's Get These Revisions Done!

 Welcome everyone!

It's time to get Book 3 further down the road. I'm on chapter 14, and there are 25 chapters in Book 3 as of this writing. So let's set a goal to get one chapter revised each day for the next twelve days. That means I should be finished on or around December 12th. That's my goal.

The chapters I have left are intense. Two of them involve major fights that each span a huge amount of text. My main character, Tristan has to do a lot of growing during those encounters, and the feedback I've received from my alpha readers tells me I didn't show it enough.

Similarly, I have some growing to do as a writer. COVID has provided a wonderful opportunity for distraction, and I've allowed myself to wander off the path of completing my series. For the next twelve days, I won't deviate. 

I am resolved to make these revisions and move on to the next step. I'm looking forward to taking you with me.

Peace,

-Troy

Moving on to Ch. 13 - Superstition?

Welcome everyone!

Chapter 12 is now edited, and I'm on to Chapter 13. Chapters 11 and 12 were both combat chapters, and I find those take the longest to edit. I have to go over them and over them to make sure I have all the characters in the right places with the right weapons against the right enemies. There's a lot of fine details in fighting, and a good reader will notice instantly when something is out of place. It takes an enormous amount of time and concentration to get those chapters right.

Anyway, Chapter 13. I know some authors like to do special things for certain chapters. The thirteenth chapter will often have something bad befall the character, or to deconstruct the motif, have something good happen! Other authors make sure chapters like 3, 7, 9, 11, 16, 21, 25, or 33 have something notable happen in them as well.

I'm not that way. First, I'm probably not skilled enough as a writer yet to contrive certain plot points to take place in specific chapters. I'm just trying to tell my story. Second, I think it gets cliche', even when an author tries to subvert the trope.

Personally, I just want my story to flow as well as possible. That means, I don't worry about chapter numbers at all. In fact, with both The Huntsman and the She-Wolf and The Huntsman and the Vampire, my rewrites required rearranging chapters, splitting chapters, and in one case, eliminating one chapter altogether. So, trying to do something special for a certain chapter number is way too difficult in my estimation.

So on with the edits! Thank you for your support, I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon. Take care of each other out there.

Peace,

-Troy

Reading with my Offspring

Welcome everyone!

One of the things that really keeps me motivated to be a writer is sharing books I loved with my child. I read to her almost every night. It's been easy during the virus shutdown, but I know that these moments are going to become limited in the future.

She's getting old enough now that she's getting interested in sports and friends, which means less time for old dad. I'm fine with that, in face, I'm excited she's starting to pursue her own interests. I want her to.

I'm just thankful that I've gotten to share so many books with her. We've read a bunch, but recently we just finished The Hobbit. Before that, we read the whole Chronicles of Narnia. Right now, my wife is reading The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland with her.

I hope she cherishes these books as much as we have. And if not, I hope she finds her own books to love and shares them with her (future) children.

To any parents or peeps who think they'll become parents one day, please read to your children. Share with them the stories that you love and that have helped you become the person you are today. There are few things better for a child's character than the stories handed down from one generation to the next.

Peace,

-Troy

Now Working on Chapter 12!

Welcome everyone!

I spent some time with family and friends over the July 4th holiday season. As a result, I didn't get much work done on Book 3 of the Hunter's Rose Series.

However, I've gotten back to the grindstone this morning, and have already made it to Chapter 12! I resolved all the issues with the combat scene I was struggling with earlier. Hopefully, I'll have some smooth sailing for a while.

Anyway, I hope your summer is going well. Stay safe and take care of each other.

Peace,

-Troy

Struggling to Rewrite a Combat Scene

Welcome everyone!

**WARNING, LIGHT SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3**

For the second time in Book 3, I'm struggling to rewrite a fight scene. The first time, was at the beginning of the book. It turned out really well, and I'm happy with it now. We'll see what future beta readers say, though.

Anyway, with this second scene, I'm struggling ever harder. In this one, I introduce a new monster-type. It's not something major, just something you would expect to find in this setting. None-the-less, I am not happy with the ending of it.

I'm wondering if I should just cut it altogether. The purpose of the scene is to introduce the creature, but I wonder if it even needs an introduction. Book 3 is the longest yet in the series, and it might be in the interests of brevity to cut it.

I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. Wish me luck!

Peace,

-Troy

Goals for the Weekend 2020-06-26

Welcome everyone!

This weekend, it's more revision work. Next weekend, I won't get anything done. I'll be celebrating Independence Day with my family, so I definitely need to redouble my efforts now. Here's what I hope to accomplish:

• Get two Book 3 chapters revised
• Get one Book 2 audio recording edited

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

Peace,

-Troy

Not Half Way But Close

Welcome everyone!

Just a short update today. I've finished revising chapters 9 and 10. I'm almost half way! I think by the end of the weekend, I'll be there. That's still a lot of work left to do, but I'm feeling really motivated. Thanks for checking in with me. Hope your week is going well! :)

Peace,

-Troy

The Setting is Bigger Than You Think

Welcome everyone!

One thing I've been thinking about lately is expanding the map you see at the front of my book. For reference, it currently looks like this:

If you notice, there are mountains to the north, west, and south, but not the east. That's because there's a whole 'nother half of the valley in that direction. I didn't have the artist draw the complete valley because all the action in the series takes place in what you see above.

However, as I begin to think about the last two books and how I will end the series, I've been wondering if I need to expand the map. There are places further east where it might be interesting to have the characters go.

I've already told you about some of those places like The Golden Fells. Anyway, as time for books 4 and 5 get closer, I'll make that decision. I might just do a few more posts about the eastern part of the valley in the future just to see how I feel about it. Let me know if that would be interesting for you!

In the meantime, take care of each other.

Peace,

-Troy

5 to 9

Welcome everyone!

I hit the revisions hard this weekend. I finished corrections to chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8! Now I'm working on chapter 9.

Getting so much done is both exhilarating and tiring. It's exhilarating because I'm getting closer to my goal. It's tiring because of just how much there yet to go. So much in fact, that even my kitty seems pooped:

Today, I have have non-writing work to do, so I probably won't get anything done on my book. Tomorrow is a new day, though, and I'll be back at it then.

Peace,

-Troy

Goals for the Weekend 2020-06-19

Welcome everyone!

This weekend, I hope to press ahead with revisions for Book Three in the Hunter's Rose series. Here are my goals:

• Get at least two chapters revised
• Sketch out at least two illustrations for Book 3
• Finish current chapter of my audio book

Peace,

-Troy

Vids I like #7 - Basics of Dialogue

Welcome everyone!

Writing strong dialogue is something all writers want to achieve but struggle to create. I've found several videos that have helped me get better at my craft. I'm going to share one with you today:

If you're thinking about writing, I hope this video is helpful to you too.

Peace,

-Troy

Chapter 4 is Revised!

Welcome everyone!

I have finished my corrections on Chapter 4. It's a shorter chapter, but it marks a major change in the main character's life. I don't know if I'm happy with the end of the chapter yet. I'll need a few more beta readers to tell me what they think. We'll see what happens.

On that note, let me just be clear: these revisions are not for the final draft. This will be the third draft of the book, and I anticipate having to do three or four more drafts before it's finished. I'm not even to hiring an editor yet. This is all just feedback from one of my primary beta readers.

So on to Chapter 5!

Peace,

-Troy