+

+ Book, fantasy, Fiction, News, Uncategorized, Writing

New Book Update!!! #Writing #Fantasy #SciFi

by Unknown's avatar

The editing is done.

The cover is currently in process and the legal will soon follow. The blurb is complete and we currently have legal going through everything for us.

At this point, I think we’ve settled on the title ‘Drakin: Tale of an Unfrozen Heart.’ It currently falls into the Dark Fantasy Romance genre. So that’s where we currently stand! Stay tuned for more updates!

Stay safe, stay healthy, read a book!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+ advice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, angels, Artist, Author, Barack Obama, Belief, Bloomberg, Book, Characters, Children, Church, conservative, Cover, Dean Koontz, Directing, Disney, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, George Bush, God, Graphic design, gun, gun control, gun rights, Heaven, Hell, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, History, horror, Inappropriate, Inspiration, John Carpenter, liberal, literature, Lord of the Rings, Love Never Dies, Mary Poppins, Metal, misygony, Movie, Music, Musical, Mythology, Newtown, Novel, NRA, Opinion, Page, Phantom of the Opera, Poetry, Politics

Half-elf description #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

I’ve looked through the different works and various forms of elves and what their half-breed children are like.

Half Breeds in some stories look like their human parent, almost completely and I’ll explain why below… In other stories, they are mixed, though in most, they have slightly pointed ears, but otherwise look like humans.

So far, there is one consistency; elven genes are recessive when combined with those of humans. Given what we typically see of elves, I can understand that theory. Elves tend to have light skin, light eyes (Blue, green, hazel), and light hair, all of which are recessive traits in humans.

2014-07-26_00002

However, one point of contention that I would make would be the ears. Generally, the most pronounced features of a person would show up on their offspring, and those features tend to be more dominant. So with that in mind, I do believe that the stories that say that half-elf children would still retain SOME of their parents’ features.

In a story I’ve been working on for some time, an elven child can pass for a human as long as they keep their hair long enough to cover the more rounded points on their ears. Other prominent elven features aren’t apparent in the offspring. They have some extra-sensory perception which they receive from their elven parent, but they are nowhere near as powerful nor as easy to control. In most cases, these abilities would manifest as dreams or ‘feelings’ and nothing more.

Their hearing can be trained to be as powerful as their elven parent, but it would take much effort to train their senses and they would need to focus much more than their elven parents to detect faint noises.

Half-breeds would be less susceptible to both human and elven disease, having immunities on both sides, however diseases that affect both would have a stronger impact on a half-elf child.

So do you agree or disagree? I’m not a biology major so I could be way off, but this is my interpretation of inter-species mating. Let me know!

+

+ advice, Author, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Science Fiction, Writing

Planning Your Book #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

“I would be very interested to know how you personally plan a book. I’m writing my first one and started in a very haphazard way. I’m normally quite good at holding information in my head but since I’ve started writing my book discovered I’m not as good as I thought I was. To begin with a wrote a few notes and launched straight in very quickly realizing I need a chapter plan, which I’ve done and revised a lot. By the second chapter I started losing track of my characters so I started writing character notes. To cut a long story short I now have maps, place notes and details of my magic system I’ve produced all these as I have progressed with the book, I’m getting close to 50k words. I now need a timeline as I found myself losing track where everyone is. I can’t help feeling I should have done this before I started writing!”

–Eric Klingenberg

Hi Eric,

Good question… and I’m sorry to disappoint, but when I start writing, there is actually very little planning involved. See when I get an idea for a book, I either select character types from a ‘character bank’ I created with several different character personalities, or I make them up on the spot. Then I start writing.
I think you’re putting the cart before the horse a little bit here. There is such a thing as too much planning. If you put all your eggs into the plan basket, you’ll quickly run out of creative eggs.

Try this:
Put your chapter structure and revisions on the back burner. Leave the plot flaws, misspellings et al for later. Now, you’ve got your story idea? START WRITING!!! Get your ideas down on paper before you do anything else. Write out your story ideas so that you have them etched in stone FIRST. When I first sit down to write, I don’t plan everything out. I don’t even necessarily write my scenes in order. If I have an awesome idea for a climax or an ending, I write those first. If I have a great idea for a romantic encounter, I’ll write that. Feel free to use placeholder character names if you haven’t decided on the characters yet. You can always fill in the blanks and change the names later.

Don’t be concerned with what it looks like or how coherent it is on the first run through. You’re not getting the first draft published. More than likely, you’re going to have at least 2 more drafts (sometimes as much as 6 for me) before you’re done. Once you have your ideas down and you’ve filled in the blanks, then go back and worry about chapter structure and fixing plot holes. Be sure to reread your story a couple of times as making sure the whole thing makes sense should be the priority. See my steps below:

How I write:

So now you’ve got your bare bones down. Your characters have a beginning, climax, and ending. Awesome! You may or may not have loosely decided where chapters go, but that doesn’t matter at this point.

Now add your subplots, character and location descriptions, developments, and character relationships. This is the meat that needs to be added to the bare bones to change it from a draft into an actual story. You’re getting there.

Now start separating the books into chapters and perspective change markers (if you use them). This is where you need to start planning the book structure.

By now you should be on your second or third draft. Be sure to reread your story a couple of times. This is where you fix plot holes and by the third or fourth read-through you should be fixing your run-ons and spelling/grammar errors.

So now you’ve got your story. If you’re trying to write a novel, it should be somewhere in the realm of 80k words (my rule). Anything less is a novella or short story. Now, have someone else read it. In fact, have 2-3 people read it. They’ll each catch plot holes or grammar errors that you may not have.

Once you’ve corrected their mistakes, do one more read through. Polish up anything that you feel is weak and put the final touches on. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO ADD SCENES OR SUBPLOTS! If you really must, you’re going to need to go through all that proofing again, so make sure your book is completely done before handing it off. At this point, you should only be fixing minor errors and weak points.

And… that’s it. Once the final revisions have been made, you’re done. You’re book should be complete and good to go.

Hope this helps Eric, and feel free to email me if you need me to elaborate on any of these points!

Readers, what do you think? Do you think Eric is planning way too much, too early, or is this a reasonable thing to do early on? Leave a comment below!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

+

+ advice, Artist, Belief, Book, Disney, Fairy Tale, fantasy, ficiton, Fiction, History, Inspiration, literature, Mary Poppins, Movie, Script, The NeverEnding Story, Walt Disney

Why do books not always translate well to movies? #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

It’s not always the easiest question to answer. A lot of things go into making the jump from the written word to the big screen. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t. Some stories weren’t ever meant to be turned into movies while others seem like they were made for it. Let’s explore some of the reason why a book may not translate well:

1. Scripting issues.
Contrary to some ill-informed beliefs, you can’t just have someone read from the book. You can’t. As a result, a writer has to sit down and turn the book into a playwright that can be acted out. Most often, it’s not the author of the original book that does this and it’s usually not just one writer. As with all things, one writer’s creative interpretations are usually quite different from another’s. This will result in the writer’s ‘interpretation’ through dramatic license of how they think the author’s story is supposed to go.

-A second problem is that while a script may have been sold, it’s not necessarily finished and more writers need to be called in finish the job, more writers mean more interpretations. Sometimes for the better… sometimes not…

-Another problem is a director, whose vision differs from that of the writer. In the end he has the final say and script rewrites can happen here at the director’s behest.

2. Studio Interference.
So you have your story, it’s great, people love it, and it’s well-known. So then you sell the rights to make it into a movie. Congrats, you’re rolling in dough… but now the studio takes over control of the story and the work begins to make it more fitting for the screen. Now some of these changes are obvious and necessary, such as cutting scenes to keep with a shortened run time or perhaps turning large blocks of dialogue into a more visual medium. This is to be expected with every story that makes its way to the big screen.
Books are taken through a lot of dialogue, that’s the medium, but movies are a visual medium and people want to see, they don’t want things described to them.
However… these changes are not always positive and some times they degenerate into a rather blatant form of meddling, adding more sex appeal to characters, perhaps adding in a comic relief character that wasn’t in the book or was a much less important character. Finally, product placement and merchandising comes into play. Once everything is done… the story can way too easily become unrecognizable from the original work.

3. Author interference.
In many cases, when we’re dealing with a more well-known author, extra steps have to be taken in order to get the rights to their books. The writers may make certain demands that the studios will have to work around. They also may often want to appease the author afterwards as there is no greater death sentence to a movie than a poor review from the person who wrote the original story.

This is one area that I’d caution about. If your film does get looked at to be turned into a play or a movie, be careful! Is the money you’re being offered worth having your story cannibalized? Most would say yes, but just make sure what you’re getting into, make sure that you can have your name pulled if you don’t like it, and make sure to have a lawyer read over the contract and negotiate things that you don’t want changed. Otherwise… you end up like these people…

Michael Ende:
This is one of my most beloved movies from my childhood. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the theme of the movie is actually ass-backwards from that of the book it was based on. It turns out that the book was condemning people who get lost in a fantasy world whereas the movie promoted the idea, saying that people no longer dreamed and thus were destroying themselves.
Ende absolutely loathed The NeverEnding Story to the point that he did everything he could until his dying day to destroy the movie. Apparently, the producers of the film hired other writers to do the above-mentioned edits to Ende’s script… completely neglecting to tell him anything about it. Ende was furious when he found out, but because the studio already owned the rights, he was largely ignored.
Ende was so angry that he had his name removed from the movie and proceeded to throw a multi-decade temper tantrum in the form of lawsuit after lawsuit. Ironically as the movie franchise became little more than a $1.99 at the gas station movie bin filler, starring Hollywood nuisance, Jack Black, by the time the 3rd movie came out, makes Ende’s anger seem… almost understandable.

P.L. Travers
I have never heard of anyone hating the movie that was based on their story more than her! She actually hated Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins more than I did!
By no means did she want her beloved story made into a movie and didn’t want Walt Disney’s… tackiness anywhere near it. Walt wouldn’t acquire the rights to MP for nearly 2 decades. It wasn’t until she fell on financial hardship that she finally surrendered the rights. Even so, she fought hard against the movie in almost every aspect. She hated the animated penguins, the senseless made up words, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, even the color red was objected to. Rumor has it she was also deeply offended by Dick Van Dyke’s accent!
After seeing the finished product, she was so distraught that she went to tear Disney a new one, but there was nothing she could do.
As she began to get on in years, Travers gave her consent for a stage version of Mary Poppins under the very strict condition that absolutely no one who worked on the Disney film could be involved in any way, shape of form. Furthermore, she wanted  only British writers to be hired to write it.
Rumor has it that she went so far as to attack Walt Disney in her will. Making her hatred of the film known one last time… eesh.

So clearly you can see what happens when studios go out of control. So before parting with the rights over your intellectual work in any way shape or form, please know what you may be getting yourself into!

+

+ Book, fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, literature, Religion

Destiny: Divinity’s Finale #Fantasy #Historical #Fiction

by Unknown's avatar

Hello All,

So for those of you that have read Divinity and/or Damnation, first off, THANK YOU and I hope you enjoyed it! Well… you may be interested to know that there is a third novel that’s been on the back burner for a very long time. I’ve been going back and forth on putting it through editing and publishing, but never really came to a final conclusion.

This book is one I don’t think I’ll ever publish. I just don’t think there’s enough of a market for it, so instead, I’m posting it here for all of you to enjoy!

Keep in mind, this is a very rough draft. So what you’re seeing isn’t a complete and final product like my other novels!

Thanks friends appreciate your feedback, critiques, and criticisms!

Jim

 

Destiny

A Novel by James Harrington

Printed and Bound in the USA

Copyright © 2015 by James Harrington

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual living persons is purely coincidental.

 

A note from the author:

Hello and welcome! I hope that you will enjoy your journey our characters as they embark on their adventure. Before you begin, I just wanted to clarify a few things.

You encounter many characters, both fictional and historical. The fictional characters are just that; fictional. Any resemblance they bear to real people is purely coincidental.

As for the historical figures that appear in the pages ahead, I have done the best I can to portray the historical characters as accurately as possible, based on the information availavle on each. However, please understand that I am exposing them to fictional situations. It is impossible to predict definitively how one might have actually reacted in these events, so again, this is based on what information is available.

Lastly, I would just like to note that this story in no way should be taken as a criticism of the beliefs of any denomination of Christianity. As a catholic, I acknowledge that the leaders of several denominations weren’t always the most upstanding of people and that is what is reflected in my writing, but that does not invalidate anyone’s belief in God or the teachings they follow.

I hope that you will enjoy this work of fiction for what it is; a work of fiction. Thank you and God bless!

Jim H.

 

Prologue

Venice 1585

Black clouds choked out all light from the sun as a dark, ominous, day turned into a black and violent night. As the remaining light vanished from the skies of Venice, the water became extremely choppy and rain hammered down on any poor fool still outside at that late hour. Boats tugged at their moorings as the wind beat down on them. It was as though the world had transformed into something malicious.

The small fishing village was no stranger to rough weather, but this night was different. The wind coming in off of the water bore ill tidings from afar. Even people possessing little to no awareness could feel the evil around them. Many instinctively closed the shutters on their windows as though the town were about to fall under attack.

Federico watched from the safety of his house near the harbor, as the waves picked up. The water poured over his private dock, and he wondered how long his boat would last. It was his livelihood and had been in the family for generations.

At the moment, however, this was the least of Federico’s worries. He knew what was approaching, and what this meant for his family. As he peered out the window, his vision was obscured by the amount of rain water pouring down the glass. It was as though he was standing behind a small waterfall trying to peer through, but he still had enough clarity to see the black carriage with lanterns on either side break through the night.

Two mighty brown horses pulled the old carriage right to the door of the house. Federico breathed a sigh of relief as the carriage stopped just outside of his door. The waterlogged driver jumped out of his seat and pulled the carriage door opened, allowing three people in black robes to step out.

The fire in the stove fought to stay alive as the door opened and a gust heavy wind penetrated the room. It was as though opening the door had allowed something evil into the house. The three cloaked figures entered the room and, once sheltered from the rain, removed the drenched cloaks that they had been wearing.

Federico fought against the heavy wind to get the door closed. Once it finally connected to the lock, he breathed a sigh of relief before turning to his guests. As the cloaks came off, they revealed two young priests and a nun. The priests wore red and black robes and each had swords sheathed on their belts.

“Welcome to my home,” Federico said with a relieved look, “I appreciate your quick response to my letter. I take it that you know what is going on?”

The nun turned to Federico and nodded. Her face had deep creases, indicative of someone who had lived a hard life. Her face was twisted into a scowl as she spoke, “We came as soon as we heard. I am Sister Mary, where is she?”

There was a sudden flash of light and a winged woman appeared behind them. Federico brushed back his light brown hair and nodded, “Lailah will take you to her.”

Sister Mary bowed, “Blessed Angel, we are here to carry out the Lord’s bidding as you commanded.”

Lailah returned the gesture with a smile, “Please follow me, Sister. It won’t be long now.”

The two women disappeared into the next room and closed the door behind them. Federico shook his head as he turned to the priests, “I had prayed that this night would never come. I was told about the prophecy from childhood, but had hoped it would pass my generation by.”

The older priest placed his hand on Federico’s shoulder, “No one who faces these dark times would choose to bring it on themselves or the ones they love, my son.”

“But how could God let this happen?” Federico asked. “If he knew… it was possible.”

The priest shook his head, “I somehow don’t think that even he foresaw this during certain events in your family’s history.”

Federico lowered his eyes and spoke in a defeated tone, “Padre…  just promise me that she will be safe. Don’t let this all be for nothing.”

“On my life,” the priest replied as he touched his sword, “she will be safe and she will live comfortable life. That is our mandate and it will be carried out as long as we draw breath.”

Federico was satasfied with the priest’s promise. It appeared that everything was going according to how it had been spelled out in the prophecy. It was little comfort to him though as he could feel danger approaching.

“Padre…” Federico finally said softly with tears in his eyes, “Would you be so kind as to give me my last rights?”

The priest’s eye’s narrowed, “Of course my son, but why?”

“Please Padre,” Federico insisted, “I have a very bad feeling that our time is growing short.”

The priest didn’t understand what Federico meant, but he had not been given all the details of what was about to transpire. Sister Mary was in charge in this case, by official order of the bishop. His job was simply to see to her saftey. Having no other choice, he finally agreed, “Very well, my son.”

**

In the next room over, Sister Mary, led by the angel Lailah, encountered a woman lying in a small bed. She was covered in sweat and breathing rapidly. Her dark brown hair was matted to her head and she was clearly in pain. Sister Mary spoke in an emotionless voice as lighting struck outside, “It has begun.”

The woman’s stomach was bulging as Sister Mary took a seat at the edge of the bed. The old nun adjusted her robes to prevent them from being soiled and spoke in an emotionless voice, “Cecca, I’m Sister Mary. I am here to help. It is almost time, are you ready to start pushing?”

Cecca struggled to brush her matted hair back from her face and nodded. She was in so much pain that she could not move anything else. Lailah folded her wings, tied back her curly, light brown, hair and knelt down near Cecca’s head to wipe the sweat from her brow, “You can rest easy. I will be here with you to the end.”

“Bless you, angel.” Cecca forced out between breaths. “Bless you.”

Sister Mary took hold of Cecca’s legs and bent them up at the knee. She watched and waited patiently for a few minutes. Cecca’s breathing was becoming eratic as her whole body shifted.

Finally, when Sister Mary decided that the time was right, she looked up at Cecca, “It is time, pray to Almighty God and push.”

Cecca closed her eyes and screamed as she pushed with her entire body. Sister Mary nodded as the woman’s arms and legs quivered, “Good, good, again.”

Federico listened desperately as his wife struggled in the other room. He wanted to be there with her, but the elderly nun would not have allowed it. This was one time that he needed to remain out of the way. An hour went by as the young man listened helplessly as his wife’s agonizing screams shot through the house. Her voice suddenly fell silent and a new one appeared.

The scream of a newborn child shattered the dark aura in the room. Federico’s faced lightened up as he turned away from the door and back to the priest, “Do you hear that? Do you, it’s clear as day!”

Both priests nodded as the older one smiled, “Congratulations my son. The baby sounds healthy.”

A short time later, Sister Mary came to the door, pale white, with a look of fear in her eyes. She stood for a moment looking at Federico, and then over to her escorts, “Our worst fears have become reality.”

The two priests stepped past Federico and into the room where Lailah was holding the child. Lailah looked at them both solemnly and nodded, “As the Most High feared, the prophecy has come true, look.”

She held the child out to them and uncovered its face. Miraculously, the newborn’s eyes were wide open. Her pupils looked almost identical to those of Lailah. She giggled as she looked up at the priests.

Cecca sighed as her eyes began to close, “Little Aralyn…”

The younger priest’s lips twisted, “I still don’t understand, blessed angel, would you not be better suited to keep her safe?”

Lailah shook her head, “That is outside of my mandate. I have already done more than I am supposed to.  Priests travelling hallowed grounds will have a better chance of keeping her hidden and safe from the dark one’s eyes than a lone angel flying around. The dark ones will not be able to trace you like they can me.”

The priest sighed as Lailah handed the mystical child to them, “Very well.”

At that moment, one of the windows crashed open, shattering the glass. The wind ripped through the room like an invisible wildfire. The thunder became even louder as Federico struggled to put a plank of wood over the opening.

Sister Mary turned quickly to the preists, “The storm is getting worse, we must go now or we will be trapped here!”

At that moment, Cecca came to life on the bed, “Wait, please, just a few minutes… won’t you please let me hold her?”

Sister Mary looked at the child stoically and shook her head, “I’m sorry, there is no time.”

“Please, no, you can’t take her, please!” Cecca pleaded with the old nun as she tried to get up. “My baby!”

Federico heard Cecca’s frantic cries and ran into the room to confort her, “I’m so sorry my love…”

Cecca buried her head in Francesco’s arms, “No… It’s not fair… why us?”

Federico looked up at Sister Mary, “Is there no way?”

For the first time in years, a look of sympathy came over Sister Mary’s features as she shook her head, “If there were, I would allow it. As it stands, there is not. We must leave if there is to be any chance.”

Federico sighed and closed his eyes, “Then go, now! Leave this place… keep her safe…”

The priests obediently turned and began to leave. The older priest looked back sympathetically, “Peace be with you, my children. For what it’s worth… I am sorry.”

Federico, remembering a promise he had made to Cecca, suddenly shot to his feet, “Wait, Padre!”

“My son, we have no time!” The old priest responded sternly.

“I know,” Federico replied apologetically, “but I have something for you.”

He quickly went to the closet and came back with a staff-like object draped in a red cloth. The priest saw that the cloth was protecting two very old swords. He looked at them oddly for a moment and then back at Federico, “My son?”

“Please take them.” Federico insisted. “They belonged to my great grandparents. Make sure she receives them when she is old enough… “

“You want us to give your daughter weapons?” The priest asked in disbelief.

“I understand that it may not make much sense to you Padre,” Federico replied, “but these swords have protected my family for generations. Please take them.”

The priest eyed him oddly for a moment. Federico’s expression became despirate under the priests eyes, “Consider it the last wish of a dying man.”

The priest sighed and took the swords before turning back to his party, “Oh very well.”

Once they were ready, the group bid farewell to Federico and left him to tend to his emotionally shattered wife. The group exited the house and boarded their carriage with the child in their care. They knew that they had to move quickly in order to get her to saftey.

Lailah followed behind them, “Keep that child safe, at all costs.”

The elder priest turned back to her, “Blessed Angel, what will happen to them now?”

Lailah turned back and looked at the house. She brushed her long brown hair from her eyes and let out a defeated sigh, “I did the best I could to shield the family from the evil that is hunting them… but it proved to be too much for me. They aren’t safe anywhere now.”

She turned back to the priest with a reassuring look on her face, “Don’t worry Padre, my sister has seen to it that her kin will be taken care of. You need to focus on your own part.”

“What hope do we have against such power?” The younger priest demanded.

“Leave that to me.” Lailah replied. “Just go while you still can.”

The driver took his seat without another word and snapped the rains. The horses whinnied as they charged forward. The priest looked back as the carriage sped away, “Peace be with you, blessed Angel.”

Lailah closed her eyes for a moment and muttered a prayer under her breath. At that moment, a white aura appeared around the carriage and then vanished. She nodded, confident that they were now safe from harm.

A moment later, Federico came to the door with a look of sorrow on his face as the carriage disappeared from view. Lailah turned to him, “They will be safe now.”

When Federico’s expression didn’t change, she became worried, “Federico, what is it?”

“My wife…” Federico replied. “The stress of the pregnancy was too much for her.”

Lailah closed her eyes for a few moments. When she reopened them, a sharp pain entered her heart as tears fell down her cheeks, “Federico, I am so sorry…”

Federico’s jaw tightened up as he stepped away from the house and stood beside Lailah, “Tell me that this has all been worth it. Tell me that she’ll survive.”

Lailah nodded, “Your daughter has a long struggle ahead of her, she will not know who she is and may never know her family, but she will survive to adulthood.”

“What about after that?” Federico demanded.

Lailah closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head, “I don’t know. Her future is clouded even from my eyes.”

Suddenly, out in the distance, an unearthly moan emanated over the waves. Lailah began breathing heavily, “They are coming…”

Federico ran back inside his house, grabbed his sword from behind the door, and rejoined Lailah out front, “I’ll kill him myself.”

Lailah smiled, “You have your ancestor’s heart, but that won’t protect you this time. You are no match for this creature.  I would suggest you go back inside.”

“I don’t think so.” Federico replied adamantly. “You have watched over me and my family as we waited for this day. There is no escaping now and I’ll never see the two people I love the most again. I have nothing left and you are the closest thing I still have to family. My soul is prepared Lailah. You’re not facing him alone.”

Lailah nodded, “Very well…”

The two looked at each other hopelessly as a deep moan emanated from the black water. Lailah went pale and took a step forward, “He approaches.”

There was another flash of light from the sky as a formless black entity appeared in front of them. It was little more than a cloud that quickly took the shape of a human, but had no features at all. It was little more than a silhouette in the darkness.

Two bright yellow eyes appeared on its head. It stepped forward and spoke in a dark, inhuman, voice, “So many years since we’ve been able to walk the lands of this world… Where is she?”

Lailah stared into the creature’s malice-filled yellow eyes, “Safe.”

The creature’s eyes began burning bright as they took a menacing shape, “We are giving you one chance to give us what we want. Do this, and we’ll let you live… for now.”

Lailah shook her head, “The Most High won’t negotiate with the likes of you.”

“The Most High is a part of us!” The creature shot back.

“Why resist us?” It asked. “We only wish to take back what is rightfully ours from that deceptor, Lucifer.”

“Because Lucifer isn’t a threat to us,” Lailah replied, “you are.”

The yellow eyes narrowed, “If you won’t help us willingly, then we will rip the answer from your corpse!”

“Never!” Federico shouted as he stepped forward. “You will die first!”

Before he could say anything else, a sharp object burst through Federico’s chest and he was elevated off of the ground. A small imp appeared behind Federico as his body fell limp. Lailah was unable to react in time, “No!”

The entity cackled, “We think not. We did not wait eons to be stopped by a child race.”

The imp pulled the blade from Federico’s back as he fell to the ground. Blood mixed with the puddles of water that had pooled on the beach. Federico lay on his side as his eyes began to flutter. He looked up at the sky and reached out with all his strength, “Cecca…”

Within moments, Federico’s body went limp and his eyes closed. Lailah spoke through a clenched jaw, “Federico was an innocent! He never hurt anyone and he was of no threat to you! If you want to retake the underworld, then by all means do so, but leave these people out of…”

Lailah stopped mid-sentence and found herself unable to draw breath. She grabbed her neck as the entity raised a clenched fist from its side. Lailah’s body began to levitate off the ground as though she were being hanged.

The entity moved even closer until Lailah could feel its hot breath on her face. Its eyes suddenly went from yellow to red, “We do not take orders from you! Be gone, pathetic insect!”

The creature flicked its wrist and released its grip on Lailah. In response to its hand motion, the helpless angel shot backwards through a window. The glass shattered all around her, ripping into her skin as she landed in Federico’s kitchen. The entity began laughing hysterically as it waved its arm.

At that moment, the entire house burst into flame as though obeying his command. The flames filled the dark sky and lit up the town like it was daylight. The heat inside was so intense that any human would have been horribly burned had they been too close.

Inside, Lailah tried to protect herself from the inferno by covering herself with her wings. When the flame hit her, it incinerated her feathers. She screamed out in pain as the skin of her wings seared and began to blister.

There was nothing Lailah could do now. Knowing that she was near death, she closed her eyes and began to pray, “Oh Lord Most High, let this fate pass me by. Take me into thy loving hands. Spare your loyal servant this pain…”

Lailah received no answer as the skin of her wings began to turn black. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to fight the pain, but she was losing control of her mind as the agony took over. Looking at her wings, she knew she wouldn’t be able to fly again, if she survived.

Outside, the entity raised its hand again and squeezed its fist. Lailah was elevated by her neck once more and tossed through another window. Her clothing was scorched and all but burned away, her skin was badly scarred, and her wings were completely crippled. She landed on the beach away from the burning house.

Steam poured off her skin and the agony was destroying her mental stability. She trembled as her memories and reason gave way to madness. She rolled on her back as the remains of her clothing disintegrated.

The entity slowly made its way down to her to avoid being seen by the crowd of people coming out to fight the flame. Lailah saw it coming and didn’t even bother to try to cover herself. Her mind was almost gone and she barely even knew who she was.

The creature looked down at her, “You are now powerless and no one is coming to save you. There is no escape, tell us what we want to know and we’ll grant you a quick death!”

Lailah breathed in as deeply as she could, but refused to speak. Even in her state, she was not about to give the creature any satasfaction. The entity saw this and nodded, “We understand… despite the fate which lies ahead of you, you still protect such pitiful creatures. We admit that we did not think his servants had such iron.”

From her hands and knees, Lailah looked up at the entity with a defiant yet fearful look in her eyes. Her mind was scrambled and she had a hard time just putting words together, “Wh… what you go… do with me?”

The entity laughed at her broken speech, “Nothing I can do to you would compare to the horror that awaits you at the hands of these creatures… or your own mind. We are going to leave you here for them to find. What happens to you will be up to them.”

Lailah gasped as the entity turned away from her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the cold sand as her sight left her. The rain and the damp ground were her only comfort as she waited for death. The imp that had accompanied the entity landed nearby, “I live to serve you my lord!”

The entity clenched its fist, barely paying attention to the small creature, “Where did they take the child?”

“I don’t know my lord.” The Imp responded nervously. “The humans appear to have been protected from our site, we couldn’t track them.”

The entity clenched its fists as it turned away, “It would appear that even in her weakened state, the angel’s powers were more than enough to help them evade you… you’ve failed us yet again… We want you and your minions to begin searching everywhere! Search for a lifetime if you have to, but we want that child found! Fail, and it will be your last!”

The imp bowed, “My life is to server you, Legion.”

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Opinion, Science Fiction, Writing

The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate the publishing world. I don’t really see another way around it.

So if you have questions regarding publishing, PLEASE check below to see if any of this helps you before reaching out. I’m always happy to help, but I may have already answered your question.

Publishing is a tough road to navigate. Please check out the links below. These are previous posts I’ve made about the ins and outs of publishing. They should be of assistance in your journey:

Am I Ready To Publish? This is a must read BEFORE even considering starting the process. I can’t tell you how many authors burned bridges by not being ready.

Editing… There is a Cost That Must be Paid… or is There? You can skip this one if you’ve already had your writing edited (by someone other than you!). However, I’d still recommend reading.

Getting Published… the basics… In this post, we explore traditional publishing vs. self-publishing. Here you’ll get the pros on cons of each and the steps you need to go through in order to be successful in either.

Finally…

Copyrighting my Writing. Am I Protected? This isn’t required reading… however, if you’re concerned about plagiarism, or in the future may need to file a copyright claim, I recommend giving it a read.

Feeling overwhelmed yet? I’d be surprised if you didn’t. The only sage advice I can offer you other than the documents above is simple…

  1. Do not give up. A million “No’s” suddenly become irrelevant if you get that one “yes”.
  2. People will tell you that everyone and their mother wants to publish a book. You’re up against insurmountable odds and a flooded market. This is false. You’re not up against everyone and their mother. Permit me the luxury and I’ll prove this mathematically: First of all, take the entire group of people who want to get published. Now take that number and reduce it by roughly 60%. You just eliminated all the people who want to get something published, but don’t have the time, ability, drive, or inspiration to write. Next, eliminate another 20%. You’ve now taken down all the people who can put pen to paper but can’t afford the time/money to put the work into advertising and getting published. Eliminate another 10% who can’t take criticism and thus aren’t going to be able to get their writing properly edited. Now eliminate another 5% either don’t have the patience for or get discouraged by receiving a series of “No’s” from publishers.
    Now take that last 5% and eliminate all of them, except you. Why? Because they’re irrelevant. You have your writing and they have there’s. Whether or not you get published and how successful you are isn’t about other people’s writing. Yes, in the end, it’s you against one person, you. Whether or not I’ll ever get to buy your book off the shelf depends on you; how much time, effort, and funds you’re willing to put into your writing. So make it good!

Let’s open it up to the floor. Readers, do you have any publishing advice for our friend here? Let her know in the comments!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ Book, fantasy, Fiction, News, Uncategorized, Writing

Drakin, where to buy, and what’s next? #Writing #Fantasy #SciFi

by Unknown's avatar

Hello all!

I hope everyone has enjoyed The Drakin Series!! Please don’t forget to leave me a review on Amazon once you’re done. That really helps me out a lot.

Copies of these books, as well as my others, can be purchased on Amazon by following this link:

James Harrington’s Author Page

They’re also available at Barnes and Noble, as well as many other places where books are sold!

Please feel free to like and reblog this post. Word of mouth helps us writers out a lot!

Drakin: The Story of Raiya

Book Synopsis:
‘ “Abomination, freak, monster…”  You get used to names like these when you have yellow eyes, horns, and scales, but Raiya could have really cared less.

After being forced into exile because of her appearance, Raiya’s mind has been focused on one goal; hunting down the dragon lord that killed her parents. For over thirty years, humanity has been locked in a struggle for survival against a race of dragons that had fallen from the heavens. They took everything from her and consumed the planet in a fierce war. Humanity’s numbers are quickly dwindling, leaving her few options in the way of allies.

What she doesn’t know is that her journey will strike at the very heart of the Red War and uncover truths about her past that she may not want to know. Can she finish what she started while coming to terms with the truths of her origin? ‘

Drakin: The Orphans of Haven

Book Synopsis:

The Red War may be over, but not all wounds have healed. For Sergeant Radley Zall, the nightmares never end. After years of struggling for survival, he finds himself in a dead end job, deporting wayward dragons to the Exclusion Zone. The horrors of his past have left him a broken man, slowing killing himself in a bottle of whiskey. It’s a wearying existence that many former soldiers have been subject to since the war ended, but for Radley, that is all about to change. Throughout his life, Radley’s hatred of dragons has been unmatched until one evening when a small one shows up on his doorstep. The pathetic creature is emaciated and begging for shelter. Her appearance reminds him of his younger self, compelling him to help her. That uncharacteristic decision forces him to confront his past actions— some of which may have contributed to a sinister plot to reignite the Red War and wipe out the few remaining dragons on Earth.

DRAKIN: An Empire of Ashes

 

Synopsis:

Two hundred years have passed, and the Red War has become a distant memory for most. Dragons and humans now live together in peace… but one powerful woman who has been deranged by her own history unleashes her vengeance on a helpless population.

Now, the world’s only hope for survival rests with Kaori, a naïve and wayward princess of the Eastern Empire. Having been disillusioned with her mother’s rule, she discovers a dark secret about her family that will change the course of history forever. She soon crosses paths with Nayeli and Joaquim, a pair of rogues living within her borders.

Their fight for survival takes an unexpected turn as a shadow of from the past reveals that the situation is more dangerous than they know. The fate of billions of lives rests on these three unlikely companions putting aside their differences to stand against the world.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, Book, Characters, fantasy, Fiction, Inspiration, literature, Novel, Uncategorized, Writing

Writing Elves… #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

Okay so I recently got into a discussion about elves and the use of their names.

A lot of people believe that the words Elvish/Elfish/Alvish and Elven/Elfin/Elfen/Alven are interchangeable. This has been used by many modern authors who are writing fantasy.

Well, stop it! No, I’m serious, for your own good, stop it. In the end you’re just going to confuse yourself and wind up using elvish at some points when you’ve used Elven at those exact same points. This can cause some readers to disengage or become equally confused.

So how do you decide which is which? Well two ways:

1. Look at the way things are categorized today. I’ve heard people in the past who speak Spanish and are from a Spanish country be called ‘Spanish.’ The correct term, albeit a little out of date, is actually Spaniard.

The same goes for a ‘Gaulish’ person, whom should just be referred to as a Gaul. (Can you tell I’ve been listening to Eluvietie a little too much recently?

So here is the ‘correct’ way if you want to play by the established rule:
Elvish= Language

Elven= of Elves/Elfs/Alves.

2. You can throw my advice out the window and just say ‘Okay, Elven means one thing while elvish means the other.’

 

That’s all, catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, angels, Artist, Author, Belief, Book, Characters, christianity, Church, Cover, demon, Divinity, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, God, Graphic design, Judaism

Angels #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

You will notice that I am hesitant to call angels ‘mythological creatures.’ This is mostly because of my christian belief… so I do actually think they truly exist.

What is an angel?

Simply put, an often-winged creature that is a servant of a God. Their jobs include messenger, voice, soldier, guide, and many more. Unfortunately, most depictions of angels are not accurate per the original descriptions. The angels we see depicted in paintings that look like human adults or babies… with the exception perhaps of the archangels, this is pure fantasy. (I know… I know… I’m criticizing my own writings on angels, I’ll get to that below, I promise.)

So then what do they look like? Well in some accounts, just like humans. In others… um… they’re actually kind of scary.

In Daniel 10:5-6 there is a clear description of a more ‘human’ nature.
“I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.”

Other descriptions vary, giving credence to a variety of difference species perhaps?

For example you have the Cherubs:
“(Ezekiel 1:5) Each of them had four faces and four wings, with straight feet with a sole like the sole of a calf’s foot, and “hands of a man” under their wings. Each had four faces: the face of a man, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle.”

Then you have the Seraphs:
These ones are a little bit harder to classify, so I’ll give you the consistencies… They each appear to have four to six wings; with two covering their faces, and with two covering their feet. The ones with six used the remaining two for flight… yeah weird…

Other descriptions include multiple heads, weird creatures covered in eyes… I could go on all day, but I’m not writing horror novels. At least not yet.

All right, so with all that in mind, where does my story fit in? Well to be honest… I like the fantasy, and since I’m a fantasy writer, that’s sort of what I went with… sort of. My angels are not androgynous, though now that I think about it, giving them sexes is somewhat pointless given that they can’t reproduce. Still, one could argue that giving them human characteristics would make them more sympathetic to humans, and easier for the Most High to deal with as they are close to his own image.

Angels in my stories live in a cast system, so let’s explore each one, what they do, and what they look like, starting from the top:

Archangels: Direct servants to the Most High. They include his voice, the general of his army, his direct messenger, etc. Their word is above reproach and they are unquestionably respected by all others. They appear in red and brown garments with armor as shiny as silver over them. Their two wings sparkle as though their feathers had been polished. They look like humans.

Choirs: 

Seraphs: So far, of the Choirs of Angels, this is the only one in my story that really get’s a physical description, though other angels in my story are mentioned and described, I never really assign them a choir, so take that as you will. Seraphs have four red, fiery wings that are on their backs. They are capable of speeds greater than any other angel, even that of archangels. Their skin glows like gold shining on the sun. They are considered among the highest ranking angels below the archangels.

Duty Angels: Yes even among angels, there is a ‘working class.’ These angels are assigned behind the scenes duties. Among those duties are being the guiding light to souls destined either to Heaven or the underworld, some are servants to the Most High, others are soldiers. They have two large white wings each and appear as normal humans. However, the ones that serve as guiding lights may appear in any form they wish. This is especially useful should a wayward spirit need ‘convincing’ to go to the afterlife he or she has earned.

So I guess one could say that my description doesn’t fray too far as the angels that can appear in other forms could feasibly appear in the very forms listed in the Bible… so I don’t know. Take that as you want.

Dark Angels: These angels fall outside of the angel cast system. Some might say they are demons, but I prefer to keep demons in a separate category, giving them more of an impish appearance. Dark angels are angels that, during the Celestial Wars, sided with Lucifer in his attempt to overthrown the Most High. They believe that their service to the Most High is nothing short of slavery and that they deserved the world that was given to humanity. Their wings are black, indicating that they have been cursed with a heavy burden. This makes it impossible for them to ever return to the Celestial Realm, as to do so would result in them being crushed under the weight of their wings and unable to fly. The more powerful ones have dark eyes and pointed ears. They retain their immortality and divinity, but it has been greatly corrupted.

Though these ones are forbidden to leave the underworld, one or two has been known to make its way into the mortal world and either attempt to hide or wreak havoc on the people.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Feedback is, as always, welcomed and appreciated!

Catch you on the flip side,

Jim.

+

+ Artist, Author, Belief, Book, Characters, Disney, Fairy Tale, fantasy, Fiction, Graphic design

Dwarves #Writing #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

So I’ve talked in great detail about one of the main feature races to my story, elves… but what about dwarves?

Physical description. 

So there are various descriptions of them. Most agree that they have long beards, are very stout, deceptively strong, and seem to have an odd fixation with mining. Other descriptions suggest noses and ears that match, or are even larger than those of humans and elves.

Classic literature such as the Elder Edda lists them as being violent creatures not unlike trolls. One might draw that a troll is part of their lineage, or a less-developed member of the same genome, but again, that depends on what version of troll lore you subscribe to. If we’re talking Harry Potter trolls, then forget I said anything.

The females… well there are theories that dwarves are asexual given the lack of reference in almost any literature to females of the species. Personally, I don’t think that this is the case. This is covered somewhat in Lord of the Rings Two Towers movie where Gimili states that the womenfolk are often mistaken for men because they are so similar in appearance. This could account for the lack of female mention, but again that’s just a theory.

Their weapon of choice seems to be a large ax, though many have been known to use crossbows as well. They have no real 6th sense and can’t use magic (that we know of), but they have a keen sense when it comes to geology.

Living environments.

This has been a point on contention for many fantasy writers. While most agree that mountains and/or underground mines are dwarves dwell. They build massive underground cities out of stone. Many stories say that they move so much stone building these cities, that dwarves may have been responsible for many of the mountains that appear in the world.

Here’s where things get hazy; many have said that dwarves are somewhat xenophobic and hide away from the rest of the world. They prefer to borrow deep into their mines. Others even go so far as to suggest that dwarves fear being out in the open because they are afraid they’ll fall off the earth.

We’ve seen the xenophobic mentality in many versions, including much of J.R.R. Tolkien. However, more modern pieces seem to disagree with this take and say instead that while yes the dwarven cities are underground, many prefer to venture out and either conduct trade or become skilled blacksmiths, thus joining the rest of society.

Personality traits.

Dwarves have rather consistently been the comic relief in most modern literature. They drink hard, they play hard, and they swear a lot. They are known for being blunt and not afraid to tell it like it is. Thus they tend to come off as extremely abrasive and poorly mannered.

Diet

Dwarves seem to contrast elves in this manner. While elves consistently tend to prefer lighter, more vegetarian-style means with only the finest wine as their choice of drink, dwarves are the exact opposite. By many accounts, dwarves eat large, and often many, meals in one day. Their primary diet seems to be meat, potatoes, and malt beer. Many have noted their extremely poor dinner table manners and eating habits.

So with all that in mind, what’s my take on them? How have I characterized them in my writings?

Well… I’ve tried to keep close to the source material. Personally, I’ve seen too many people, myself included, who shy away from anything that strays too much.

In my writings, dwarves do not hit 4ft… ever. They are very stout with short arms and legs, but larger torsos. Their facial features are far closer to humans so they are not all that different in that aspect. They are fiercely loyal to their friends.

In many cases, they have left their underground homes and live as equals with human beings as contributing members of society. They share mankind’s disdain for elves and are known to verbally bash them to the point where humans have even become uncomfortable.

Female dwarves are very demanding, yet kind-hearted individuals. They genuinely care about the people around them, even if it means giving someone a slap upside the head when needed.

Though it’s considered stereotyping and a dwarf will take offense if anyone mentions it, dwarves tend to flock to careers such as jeweler, archaeology, appraisals, geology, masonry, construction, demolition, and mining. Pretty much anything that involves stone.

Most of them do not posses the long beards for which they are known. By this point, civilization has evolved and so have they.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it for me on Dwarves. Let me know what you think.

Catch you on the flip side,

Jim

+

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Opinion, Science Fiction, Writing

The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

by Unknown's avatar

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate the publishing world. I don’t really see another way around it.

So if you have questions regarding publishing, PLEASE check below to see if any of this helps you before reaching out. I’m always happy to help, but I may have already answered your question.

Publishing is a tough road to navigate. Please check out the links below. These are previous posts I’ve made about the ins and outs of publishing. They should be of assistance in your journey:

Am I Ready To Publish? This is a must read BEFORE even considering starting the process. I can’t tell you how many authors burned bridges by not being ready.

Editing… There is a Cost That Must be Paid… or is There? You can skip this one if you’ve already had your writing edited (by someone other than you!). However, I’d still recommend reading.

Getting Published… the basics… In this post, we explore traditional publishing vs. self-publishing. Here you’ll get the pros on cons of each and the steps you need to go through in order to be successful in either.

Finally…

Copyrighting my Writing. Am I Protected? This isn’t required reading… however, if you’re concerned about plagiarism, or in the future may need to file a copyright claim, I recommend giving it a read.

Feeling overwhelmed yet? I’d be surprised if you didn’t. The only sage advice I can offer you other than the documents above is simple…

  1. Do not give up. A million “No’s” suddenly become irrelevant if you get that one “yes”.
  2. People will tell you that everyone and their mother wants to publish a book. You’re up against insurmountable odds and a flooded market. This is false. You’re not up against everyone and their mother. Permit me the luxury and I’ll prove this mathematically: First of all, take the entire group of people who want to get published. Now take that number and reduce it by roughly 60%. You just eliminated all the people who want to get something published, but don’t have the time, ability, drive, or inspiration to write. Next, eliminate another 20%. You’ve now taken down all the people who can put pen to paper but can’t afford the time/money to put the work into advertising and getting published. Eliminate another 10% who can’t take criticism and thus aren’t going to be able to get their writing properly edited. Now eliminate another 5% either don’t have the patience for or get discouraged by receiving a series of “No’s” from publishers.
    Now take that last 5% and eliminate all of them, except you. Why? Because they’re irrelevant. You have your writing and they have there’s. Whether or not you get published and how successful you are isn’t about other people’s writing. Yes, in the end, it’s you against one person, you. Whether or not I’ll ever get to buy your book off the shelf depends on you; how much time, effort, and funds you’re willing to put into your writing. So make it good!

Let’s open it up to the floor. Readers, do you have any publishing advice for our friend here? Let her know in the comments!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ Book, fantasy, Fiction, News, Uncategorized, Writing

Drakin, where to buy, and what’s next? #Writing #Fantasy #SciFi

by Unknown's avatar

Hello all!

I hope everyone has enjoyed The Drakin Series!! Please don’t forget to leave me a review on Amazon once you’re done. That really helps me out a lot.

Copies of these books, as well as my others, can be purchased on Amazon by following this link:

James Harrington’s Author Page

They’re also available at Barnes and Noble, as well as many other places where books are sold!

Please feel free to like and reblog this post. Word of mouth helps us writers out a lot!

Drakin: The Story of Raiya

Book Synopsis:
‘ “Abomination, freak, monster…”  You get used to names like these when you have yellow eyes, horns, and scales, but Raiya could have really cared less.

After being forced into exile because of her appearance, Raiya’s mind has been focused on one goal; hunting down the dragon lord that killed her parents. For over thirty years, humanity has been locked in a struggle for survival against a race of dragons that had fallen from the heavens. They took everything from her and consumed the planet in a fierce war. Humanity’s numbers are quickly dwindling, leaving her few options in the way of allies.

What she doesn’t know is that her journey will strike at the very heart of the Red War and uncover truths about her past that she may not want to know. Can she finish what she started while coming to terms with the truths of her origin? ‘

Drakin: The Orphans of Haven

Book Synopsis:

The Red War may be over, but not all wounds have healed. For Sergeant Radley Zall, the nightmares never end. After years of struggling for survival, he finds himself in a dead end job, deporting wayward dragons to the Exclusion Zone. The horrors of his past have left him a broken man, slowing killing himself in a bottle of whiskey. It’s a wearying existence that many former soldiers have been subject to since the war ended, but for Radley, that is all about to change. Throughout his life, Radley’s hatred of dragons has been unmatched until one evening when a small one shows up on his doorstep. The pathetic creature is emaciated and begging for shelter. Her appearance reminds him of his younger self, compelling him to help her. That uncharacteristic decision forces him to confront his past actions— some of which may have contributed to a sinister plot to reignite the Red War and wipe out the few remaining dragons on Earth.

DRAKIN: An Empire of Ashes

 

Synopsis:

Two hundred years have passed, and the Red War has become a distant memory for most. Dragons and humans now live together in peace… but one powerful woman who has been deranged by her own history unleashes her vengeance on a helpless population.

Now, the world’s only hope for survival rests with Kaori, a naïve and wayward princess of the Eastern Empire. Having been disillusioned with her mother’s rule, she discovers a dark secret about her family that will change the course of history forever. She soon crosses paths with Nayeli and Joaquim, a pair of rogues living within her borders.

Their fight for survival takes an unexpected turn as a shadow of from the past reveals that the situation is more dangerous than they know. The fate of billions of lives rests on these three unlikely companions putting aside their differences to stand against the world.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

A WordPress.com Website.