Rewrite

Now for the most overdue post in the history of this blog: the one where I announce the thing I've already announced everywhere else.

If you haven't bought The Third Face yet, get over to Smashwords and grab it for FREE this week! On September 29th, the version I originally published is going to disappear forever.

That's because I've decided it needs a complete rewrite. Spending a couple of hours in Creative Writing class, combined with my regrets about the story, confirmed that for me. I mean, in that class, I actually LIKE reading the textbook! It's a good class, and even though we're completely focused on poetry, it all applies to novel writing, too.

Thus, this book is going to be completely unavailable for, perhaps, a few months. But it will be completely worth it for the places I'm going to take it--this time, I can rightly refer to it as a novel, rather than the novella it really is. At least, that's my hope.

Change of Plans

Every writer, at some point, has to deal with their "normal" job and/or education getting in the way. I'd say that point is going to come for me pretty soon here.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, instead of just the occasional class here and there, I'm suddenly taking 13 credits this semester, and art isn't one of them. That wouldn't be a problem if I didn't also have a job. I made sure I don't have work and class on the same days, but the homework load is going to be a bit of a problem.

That starts in September, which is the month I was thinking about starting on a second draft of The Demon's Guardian (not to mention some extras for the series that are still under wraps). Needless to say, that's pretty much going out the window. I'm not even sure if I'll make NaNoWriMo this November, which would be a crying shame after winning 4 years in a row.

In fact, my secret goal was to release The Demon's Guardian as early as December, but my college semester doesn't even end until then. So, if I want to write, I'll have to squeeze it in with whatever moments I get. That probably means there will be even less time for this blog, but it's okay. I'll keep you updated with whatever is happening.

Or I'll try. I probably should have mentioned that my first draft was done on the 4th as scheduled. Belated hooray!

Multiple Personalities, Multiple Stories

Yes, I've thought of yet another novel idea that I may or may not ever write. Like The Third Face and its coming sequel, it's a story that features multiple personalities.

1000 years in the future, people are packed into bodies, not homes. Childbirth is restricted, and most population increase is done by artificially creating new personalities within existing brains. The rich get their minds transplanted into good-looking or athletic people, while the poor are relegated to crippled or diseased bodies.

This setting is all I have for the story so far, but I think it's an interesting enough approach. It's definitely not a thing like The Third Face, that's for sure. It'll take some extensive character designing in order to actually work. I hope I get the chance to write it, because it seems exciting to work all that out.

I don't know why I keep having these ideas, because I've never met anyone who actually has multiple personalities. The most exposure I've ever gotten to it was in a high school psychology class. There has been no movie or book I've ever looked at that covered this at all. It's actually a complete mystery.

First Look: The Demon's Guardian

In The Third Face, we met Rasuke. We learned what he's like, and why. We watched him become part of Redhand, an organization that desperately needs him and yet leaves him ignored until the last minute. We watched him make best friends and bitter enemies, and we saw some of them leave suddenly.

In the sequel, The Demon's Guardian, we see an entirely new world for Rasuke and friends to explore. It's a world completely unlike any they've ever seen, a world of space travel and laser guns. It's also a dangerous place for our heroes to live, because it's completely lacking a substance that they need to survive. They have a week's supply of it on hand, but they'll have to get back home by then. It's kind of like they're stuck in the bottom of the ocean and only have so much oxygen.

Meanwhile, back home, Redhand is looking the worse for wear. Weakened enough by the loss of the kids, it's suddenly under attack by enemies both old and new, those who've been around constantly and those that you never thought would be back. All those seemingly unimportant characters from the past are rising to bring it down. If Rasuke and friends die, Eibmoz's hope of finding the good in the lowest of creatures dies with them.

Of course, that's just scratching the surface. But if I tell you all about the romance, the horror, and the comedy that live beneath this tale, I'll be at this all day. Suffice to say, this book ought to be even better than the last.

A New Goal

The first draft of The Third Face's sequel has been going pretty slow. I consider myself about one-third of the way through it, even though I started writing it only a couple of days after The Third Face was released, over a month and a half ago.

That's why today, I decided that I want to finish it by August 3rd. It sounds like an arbitrary date, but it's perfect for personal reasons. It's also great because I can write one scene each day and I'll be at about the expected length for this new novel, which will be a bit longer than The Third Face.

One last thing. I've finally figured out the name for this new novel: The Demon's Guardian. Expect to see a little more information about it by the end of this week!

Getting Reviews

I always like it when someone not only wants to read my novel, but upon finishing it actually decides to talk to me about it. I can clearly see when this happens that someone really cared about it.

When The Third Face came out, I have to confess that I was actually surprised by how few people actually bought it, based on statistics. But that really doesn't tell the whole story at all. When I started actually talking to people, I discovered that most of the copies were actually being passed around among friends and family. That was because those buyers were the kinds of people I mentioned above: they actually care a lot about my book! That means a lot more to me than sales figures.

One person who received a copy was my favorite English teacher from high school. She shared it with her students, and recently I received an e-mail from her with comments from 5 of them. I'm so pleased with these that I'd like to share them with you now.


"It was a very thorough piece. [...] Although I typically am not a fan of fantasy-esque work, this kept me engaged."
 
"It was clever.  I am a big fan of element bending."

"This was a fresh approach.  It was interesting, even though the plot lost me in a couple of spots early on."
 
"Wow!  This was a lot of work for a high school student!"
 
"It felt like it was written by someone older.  It was pretty serious!"

While I can never thank the individuals who said these things directly (since they were all anonymous), I want to express my gratitude in general to anyone who's given their thoughts on it to anyone. When you do that, you're doing me a personal favor. That's something I thoroughly appreciate.

What's next?

Well, I've given The Third Face its time: nearly a month and a half. Surprisingly, I even backed off from my ceaseless promotion of it! To some it might seem as if I've actually forgotten about it, especially now that, I'm happy to say, I've just gotten a job.

The reality of it is that I decided to focus on more books. I've spent the majority of my free time lately reading series that I never got to completely finish when I was younger, and much of the rest on writing. Those who have read The Third Face to the end will be excited to know that I'm starting work on the sequel right now.

What can you expect from the next book? Without spoiling the ending of The Third Face, I can say that a lot of questions it posed will be answered, only to be replaced with new ones. New characters will make their way onto the scene. Others will return that you never expected to see again. The pace is about to pick up, as the main cast discovers their limits and fights to survive.

I really wish I could settle on a title right now, so I could at least give you that much. For now, just know that I'm hard at work developing the ideas to expand upon the world I've created.