March 2012 update on current projects

Hello all,

I've been rather quiet lately, so I decided it would be nice to let you know what I'm doing and what to expect this year.

At the moment I'm doing a community play with my wife and son.  It's a good way to spend time with them and something I kinda enjoy doing, although it interferes with my writing time.  *sigh*  I do love performing the play in front of an audience though.

Novels

As far as my fantasy novels set in the world of Ryallon go, I've finished the fifth book, "Ebudae".  It's currently undergoing edits and I plan to publish it in late May/Early June.  My three beta readers have given it rave reviews and tell me it's my best work yet.  The character Ebudae is a young wizardess with ability beyond her years and a natural toughness.  She's the sort of person who will save herself before ever letting a knight in shining armor do so.

I haven't started the next book, "Pelya", but I know how it's going to go.  Memorizing lines takes up the same parts of my mind as writing does, so I can't begin until after the play.  I'm guessing I'll have the first draft finished in July and publish it in December or January.

I also have the next trilogy (books 7-9) plotted out.  I know the overall plot as well as the basic plots for each of the books.  I can't wait to write them. :)  I'm hoping to publish all of them in 2013.

Short stories

I have ideas for my Demented Children series, but no plans to write one at the moment.  Currently, I have 8 short stories I give away for free and only 6 books I sell, so I'd like to reach balance on them.  However, the Demented Children series is very popular and I intend to write many more in the years to come.  In addition, I have other stories kicking about in the back of my mind that I may put on paper if inspired.

The best news is that illustrations for "The Emo Bunny that Should" are nearly done.  I also plan to go through and do another edit to the story to make certain it's perfect and easy to read.  We're hoping for an Easter release.  The artwork is beautiful and I can't wait for you to see it.  Here's a sample of the latest:

Copyright 2012 Arlene Rose

I'm going to sell the illustrated version for $5.99  I believe it's a good value for an illustrated children's book.  I'll keep the text-only version free.

Editing

At the moment, I'm going through and re-editing the Willden Trilogy.  A few reviews have mentioned that I over-describe things and that the books are too wordy.  I began looking at "Kethril", my third book, and found it to be true.

When I began editing it this time, I discovered that I had way too many descriptions of details that didn't advance the story and, in fact, distracted from the story.  I'm halfway through this edit and I've deleted 10,000 words from the total 123,000 original length.

I have to tell you that I'm appalled by this and I apologize to all of you who've read it so far.  What's extraordinary is that the story is still exactly the same even without those words.  They added nothing to the story.

I ask that you forgive me for them though.  The reviews have also mentioned that the books are enjoyable to read and the characters wonderful.  With these new edits, it should speed the reading experience and improve the enjoyment of the characters.  I'm doing "Anilyia" and "Rojuun" next.

I'm also learning a great deal in this process.  My fourth and fifth books are much leaner and faster reads.  I'll apply my new knowledge to the upcoming books to make them even better. :)

In Conclusion

I promise that I'm doing my best to provide you with the highest quality writing I can provide.  I'm constantly working to improve and learning how to master all the tools of my trade.  Thank you for taking the time to read my stories and I hope that they provide you with great enjoyment.  There will be many more to come. :)

All my best,

John H. Carroll

World Building: Creating Religion

World Building

I mostly write fantasy and sci-fi books.  One of the things I have to pay attention to is what things do I newly create and what things do I leave the same as people know them in this world?  At the time of this blog post I'm writing in the world of Ryallon, where I base my fantasy series.  Every once in a while, I'll share a little bit about the world building I do in the process.

When a person writes about something that happened in the past, it's wise to look at history books to get facts correct.  When someone writes about a completely fictional world, all of the details need to be built from scratch.

World building can be fun.  I'm certain there are a few would-be writers who have spent years building worlds of fantasy and magic, but have never gotten around to writing an actual book in the world.  It's also very popular among D&D players.

Creating Religions

In fantasy, it is common to establish a fictional set of religions.  Doing so can add great depth and definition to the characters and the people surrounding the characters.  An understanding of historical theologies can greatly add to the richness and realism of these religions.  It doesn't hurt to have read other novels with fictional religions either. 

Before you begin, it's a good idea to have a general idea of how different people in your world think.  There are usually many countries, though in fantasy it's possible to only have one.  But do all of your people believe the same way?  If you wish to have war in your worlds, multiple religions is one of the best ways to establish this.

One of the first things to consider is whether you want one god or many gods for your world.  Has it been that way throughout the history of your world?

How they get their power is important.  Are they powerful because they're gods?  Did something give them power?  One series I read, the Hawk and Fisher series by Simon R. Green, has gods gaining their power by the number of worshipers they have.

I have added the prologue of my fifth book, "Ebudae", below to give an example of how the Gods of Ryallon are set up.

An exerpt from "Ebudae"

While in the gloomy ruins of an ancient city below Dralin, Ebudae and Pelya had discovered a temple dedicated to an unknown god.  Within that temple was a book most ancient.  In spite of its age, the book was in perfect condition with gold and silver-filigreed bindings.

The cover opened of its own volition as the girls approached.  Gazing upon pages that flipped before their mesmerized eyes, Ebudae and Pelya understood every word with a clarity never experienced from any other book.  Neither left until the last page was finished and the cover closed.

The mysterious book told how the Gods of Ryallon came to be and a summary from it had remained sharp in the girl’s minds from that point on:

 

Chaotic energies swirl around Ryallon and its moons, extending far beyond to other suns and worlds, though they do not exist everywhere.  The energies give us magic and shape the life of Ryallon, though they are not the source of life.

Those who we call Gods were once normal beings.  When those normal beings drank of the chaotic energies too deeply, they gained vast powers.  There are many Gods on and around the world of Ryallon.  Some have great influence and power while others touch few.

The most ancient Gods have existed since before the beginning of humanity, but those are very odd to humans.  They are called the Unreal Gods.

The earliest deities of humanity are the Van Gods.  The oldest and largest temples are built to them in cities throughout Ryallon.

Others are new in the scheme of things, spawned from people or creatures who attempt to control the chaotic energies.  These are called the Crazed Gods, for when a being absorbs vast power too quickly, it can destroy the mind.  The Crazed Gods generally burn out and their energies spread back into the chaos. However, a few grow to power.

Less common are the Hushed Gods.  It is unknown when they came to be, but many believe them to be as old as the Van Gods.  They influence the world in subtle ways and have few followers.  This does not mean their power should be underestimated. Even Van Gods treat the Hushed Gods with great care.

And then there are the Dragons.  They are not Gods, but all Gods fear them; for they are Dragons.