Tag Archives: Dakotashi

Books

Massive Reading Project (and A Trip to the Library)

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I went to the library for the first time in ages the other night. Either because of the time or the amount of my fine, my library card had actually expired, which meant I had to go to a person (egad!) instead of the self-checkout as I prefer. But I paid off the horrendous fine at the machine before it told me my card was expired and the woman who helped me in the real line didn’t say anything about it, so score! Social interaction kept to a minimum. 😉

Why did I go to the library after so long a hiatus? I’m looking for comp titles for my book.

Comp titles or comparable titles are books published within the past 2-3 years you reference so the publishing industry will understand something about the content of your work and the audience you are targeting. “My book should appeal to the readers of Such and Such and This and That.” Since I am woefully under-read in my genre over the past few years, plus Dakotashi being somewhat cross-(sub)genre, this is proving quite difficult for me.

All is not lost! Two of the books I checked out (I’ve read about half of one and few chapters of the other) are looking promising. I don’t think the third will work as a comp, but I enjoyed the couple of chapters I read already. More on the fourth below. Here are the books:

  1. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. I’m about half-way through. Really enjoying it.
  2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. Enjoyed the first few chapters. Will read more.
  3. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. Enjoyed the first few chapters, but probably can’t use as a comp. Will read more.
  4. I wasn’t sure about the fourth when I checked it out and I was right. It won’t work at all. I chose it because I’m desperately looking for something from a male first-person POV that is somehow similar to Dakotashi. This particular book featured a character like Dakotashi could have turned out, if he had given into all the darkness in his heart rather than fighting it. However, it’s too dark to be a comp and more importantly not to my taste. So I’m not going to finish reading it. Which is why I’m not going to say what it was. If I wasn’t in such a hurry to find appropriate books, I’d probably read more just to see what it was like (and if I started liking it better as it went on), but I don’t have the luxury of doing that right now.

I’ve found some others that might work as comps as well. You can see my Goodreads To Read list, but unfortunately most of these are not from a 1st person, male POV.

I also have a  WIP-Comp title list, which as I refine will hopefully give me some possible recommendations for other choices. I’m always looking for more options.

Is my massive reading list enough to keep me from binging on hours and hours of TV? Especially with the new seasons of EVERYTHING coming up? Stay tuned.

Writing

Writing, Distractions, Brainstorming and more!

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Alas! It has been a long time since I updated this space. I primarily blame searching for and landing a new job and the process of selling my condo, buying a townhouse and moving.

Other things that have happened since I last posted…

  1. I did successfully complete NaNo16 in word count. The book still needs an ending.
  2. I successfully completed a Whole30. It literally took over my life—soooo much cooking!—but even now, months after I finished, I’m trying to generally (sometimes very generally) to keep to the template.
  3.  Went on vacation to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, which inspired me to set one of my books in that general region.
  4. Successfully completed a 40 hour goal in July for Camp NaNoWriMo, working on #5 and #6 below.
  5. Thought of a way to revamp my very first novel into something much less derivative (gravity magic a death sentence! Small country surrounded and constantly at war! Society/government contains no kings or princes, but a delicate system of checks and balances between military, forge magic (w/health benefits), and legislature. Physical setting see #3!). Same characters–Marla, Russ & Nat–with similar backgrounds and goals. I’m currently brainstorming.
  6. Finished my (hopefully!) last big revision for Dakotashi. I changed the beginning around. Now, I’m polishing/editing and getting it ready to query again.

My self-imposed deadline to finish polishing Dakotashi and get it out there is the end of September. My drop-dead deadline is to do that by the beginning of NaNoWriMo 2017.

Work-in-progress, Writing

When you read that NaNo novel you wrote two years ago for the first time…

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I’ve started rereading The Vern (not the real title) one of my NaNo projects from 2013, the year I went insane and racked up 130,000 words in 30 days. I’m looking at it for a couple of reasons:

  1. I need something else (other than Autocrit) to focus on while my queries for Dakotashi One are out there in agent-land (I don’t have anything at the right stage to start writing).
  2. If I go through all the agents who represent fantasy that I can find and none bite on Dakotashi, I’ll need something else to send them.
  3. The Vern fits some of the wish-list criteria I’ve seen: multicultural, non-European setting.
  4. It’s a cool story/setting/characters that I definitely wanted to get back to anyway at some point.

It’s a weird experience. It’s both better and worse than I thought. I don’t remember all that happens, so I’m enjoying the story and characters, but I also notice all these things that need to be worked on. Everything needs to be tightened, of course—NaNo right? But while so far I think the plot & characters are good, I’m narrating/telling way too much. The characters are on a journey so there a lot of jumping around (to avoid unending travel through rainforests where nothing happens), but the scenes are too short (because of the narration/telling) to really ground the reader before jumping again. So I’ll need to find ways to be more present in the moment and expand the scenes without focusing too much on mundane journey stuff that doesn’t really matter.

I also discovered that one of my main characters reminds me of Dakotashi in that she has a rich & violent backstory. I have been thinking recently about how while I love flashbacks on TV, I tend to dislike them when I’m reading. I made the decision not to use flashbacks for Dakotashi, despite his rich and relevant backstory, for this reason. However, I’m thinking now that maybe they’ll work in this story.

I’ve always wanted Dakotashi’s history to be somewhat mysterious and vague. His story affects his emotions more than anything else. For Amber, one of my main characters in The Vern, her story not only affects her emotions, but the plot and her relationships with other characters. Anyway, I am at least considering using flashbacks for her.

In the meantime, I will continue to think about how to show all these scenes better. The Vern is going to require a lot of work, but maybe not as much scene moving/combining/rewriting as Dakotashi One. Wish me luck!

Research, Work-in-progress, Writing

History is Complex

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So I know this is perhaps the most understated of all understatements of all time, but it’s a problem for me. My Dakotashi series started out as kind of an more nebulous alternate world that echoed our own, like Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart series. But then it morphed into something a little more based in our reality, but still with significant changes, especially for my alternate England (Breinnan) and alternate Japan (Kansa). So the whole world-building aspect has been a major roadblock for me.

Even simple things like—Do I call Shakespeare Shakespeare, or do I give him a different name?—cause rounds of debate with myself. I’ve already given him a slightly different background for his characters in Romeo and Juliet although the plot remains the same (I also renamed it as it no longer takes place in Italy–oh the ripples!). The monarchy, I’m thinking starting with Queen Elizabeth, is completely different. How much of the rest of politics and history stays the same? It’s times like these that I wish I had taken an English history course in college. I would have, but I think that professor was on sabbatical for part of the time, offered courses that weren’t the ones I wanted (which let’s face it would probably have focused on Queen Elizabeth; Young Bess was one of my favorite movies growing up), or were in conflict with other classes. Honestly, I don’t really remember. I just wish I had a better foundation beyond the numerous regency romance novels I’ve read.

Beyond the two main countries I’m focusing on, I think the rest of the world can remain basically the same, but it’s still a little overwhelming. So I’ve been avoiding doing anything about it. Well, that has to stop if I’m going to be able to continue with my revision for Book 2. In this book, Breinnan and Kansa (where the invaders were magically sent from hundreds of years ago) come into contact. In order to make the interactions with the delegation from Kansa have stakes and tension, I obviously need to know the motivations on both sides, which has a lot to do with what is going on elsewhere in the world.

So I read up on the period in my Complete Idiot’s Guide to World History and perused more details in Wikipedia. Stellar sources of information, I know. Still, it’s helping. I think. I haven’t nailed down exactly when my story takes place: during the early part of the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror or during the Napoleonic Wars, but at least I have a better overview of the timeline again. It’s been a long time since the general World History course I took in college.

I also read a little about the East India Trading Company, which could cause even more trouble for me. How would having a king of Asian descent affect trade in that part of the world? Would it matter? Would it be an advantage? I know even less about the history of Britain’s trading empire than I do the French Revolution/Napoleonic Wars.

I’m doing everything backwards! But the fact I’m thinking about all of this is a step in the right direction. Baby steps, people.

Work-in-progress, Writing

Coincidences and Connections

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In addition to working on my Dakotashi Book 2 revisions, I’m also brainstorming Book 3 and beyond. It’s possible I’m getting ahead of myself, but I like to know where I’m going, at least in a general sense.

I had two ah ha moments while working some ideas out that got me thinking about connections. One of the ideas from Donald Maass that really clicked with me was plot layering and nodes of conjunction. Plot layers are basically the things that your main character is dealing with that are not connected. For example, your main character’s case as a detective and the blind dates her roommate keeps setting her up on. A node of conjunction is a place where you see these to plot layers can connect. For example, the blind date turns out to be one of the witnesses your MC just interviewed or later turns up in the case as a suspect. Now the two plot layers are connected. (That was off the top of my head. I don’t write detective fiction.) Although it seems like coincidence, in a novel it helps build a cohesive whole with additional resonance for the reader. You can do this in revision, but it’s less work to do it while brainstorming!

So it made me feel extra special to think of two ways to add connections so close together. I don’t know that either is exactly like what I describe above in terms of plot layers and nodes of conjunction, but I think that any connections that weave plot elements and characters closer together are a good thing. The first is for Book 3. I was thinking about a problem that Dakotashi is going to be dealing with and figured out a way to connect it to the over-arching story that’s going to be threading through these first several books. This will help tighten plot elements together.

The second is for some other time in the future, not sure when yet, but it connects someone who is going to be very important to Dakotashi’s future to someone who was very important in his past. I’m really excited about this one because it will make this relationship have more emotional impact even when it is still new. This one in particular would seem like a coincidence if I explained it without context, but built into the story, the reader will have the context, the characters their specific reasons to be when and where, and in the end it will seem more like fate!

Is that all vague enough? Sorry about that!

Writing

Revision Update: Camp NaNoWriMo

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Camp-Participant-2015-Square-ButtonYes. I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo. I got assigned randomly to a “cabin” and there is actually a person who lives in Japan. How cool is that?

It’s the first time I’ve tried the Camp version of NaNo. I’m treating it in the most flexible way possible since I’m in revision and brainstorming mode right now.  I’ve set myself a goal of 20,000 words for April. However, my main goal is to keep moving forward on my revision as well as planning for future books, so in my progress chart, I’m counting everything, including brainstorming & synopsis. When I don’t have words that I can count, I have a space in the chart to note other things like working on my revised scene outline or doing historical research.

I’m ahead of my meager daily word count goal (in comparison to my typical November goals) so far, but  the first week typically goes pretty smoothly for me. We’ll see how next week goes. Ideally, I’ll actually start on the rewriting part at some point and turn on the word count feature in Scrivener and get to 20,000 new words (which would be totally legit). If not, as long as I work consistently and my chart is full, I’ll consider myself a winner.

Work-in-progress, Writing

Revision Update: The Map

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Last night I finished the map for my revision. Or I think I did. It took awhile.

Like I said in my last post, I identified some areas that I think I can improve in my book. Most of the problems stem from, even though I intentionally put in scenes that serve more than one purpose, much of my draft being single layered, as in only one thing happening at once. Part of that is because Dakotashi can be pretty single-minded. Part of it is also I don’t always see how things connect or how they can connect until the first draft is finished and lay it all out. Then it’s like fitting together and rearranging a puzzle.

This time I used Scapple, a kind of note board from the creators of Scrivener. You start with a blank “page” and then add notes that you can move around and connect with each other with dotted lines or arrows. You can change text and border color and even border shape. So for my revision map, I wrote a short descriptive name for each scene (which I’ve already done in Scrivener b/c I don’t divide into chapters until later in my process) and then I started adding stuff, moving things around and seeing what connected/seemed to work better. All while keeping in mind the goals I had identified for my revision.

Scapple Revision Map

Here is screenshot of the first couple of scenes. The rounded black borders are the original scenes. Green is new material in a current scene. Blue is combined and Blue with a jagged border is moved and combined. It turned out to be pretty linear (with offshoots). If you look at what I did while brainstorming before I wrote the book, you can see that one was really free form.

Scapple Character Web

Then, I wrote a synopsis based on the outline to see if I could get everything to fit and flow. I did have to refer to my draft some to remind me exactly what was going on is some scenes. I have thought of a couple of problems that will necessitate some further refinement, but I think what I have is workable.

Next Steps: Expanding on the details when I put everything back into Scrivener for a more detailed outline moving forward. I’ll probably do some nitty gritty character and relationship progression work as well. I will be trying to follow the Revision: Plan for Attack that I thought of a couple years ago, refining/changing as I see fit.

Work-in-progress, Writing

Revision Update: Brainstorming

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Around watching a movie and tv today I spent most of the day brainstorming about my Dakotashi Book 2 revision. After reading over my first draft and trying to consider its problems, I decided the story needed more depth and for some of the conflict in the 2nd half to be moved up into the first half. So I’m thinking of some ways to move some things around, heighten others and add some also.

My problem now is trying to find the best way to map it all out in a way that I can see it all and make sense of what I’m changing and what is staying the same. Especially while I’m still brainstorming and figuring things out, this is very important so I don’t forget things and when I actually start the rewriting, I have a plan I can follow.

Wherever my revision goes, it’s still clear that my first draft is still a very rough first draft. I suspect if I ever want that to change I’ll have to stop writing so quickly over NaNoWriMo. But I’m not sure even if I took my time and wrote from an even more detailed outline, it would change the amount of work I’d have to do in revision. I discover so much of the story and characters while writing the first draft and probably more while revising.

Revision is when the story really takes shape.

Character Quote, Writing

Laughter

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Then a heavier, deeper sound joined the children’s higher-pitched giggles. Dakotashi was laughing, his solemn expression transformed into something open and carefree. But also surprised, as if he hadn’t ever thought he might laugh again.

—Miss Caroline Thornley on Dakotashi Bennett, Almost (a short story featuring Caroline’s perspective)

Random Distraction, Writing

Dakotashi Bennett and Oliver Queen: A Comparison

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I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile. Ever since I realized that there were some remarkable similarities between the brooding hero of my own creation and my favorite superhero on TV. Some might think that I was influence by Arrow, but I thought of Dakotashi (Dakota) Bennett in 2010. The first novel was entirely written by the end of 2011. So it’s no wonder that I love Arrow so much. The show and its main character speak to my subconscious.

This is about to get long, folks. Also, spoilers for Arrow. Don’t read if you care about that.

Continue reading Dakotashi Bennett and Oliver Queen: A Comparison →