Just printed out the finished draft of The Emerald Gate! Cat tail... because cats.
I will deliver it to my mom for a first proofread before putting it into book form and sending it off to my “Alpha Readers.” This is a change from my usual process. I’m tired of sending off manuscripts I think are well proofread, only to discover they’re riddled with errors. This time, I hit it with Grammarly and am sending it to my sharp-eyed mom, before my Alphas see it.
The Alphas will give it a good story (and writing) critique before I send it off to my Betas. The Betas will give me a “reader’s eye view” of the book, and will hopefully catch any grammar errors that have slipped through the process.
I’m hoping for a January 15th publication date. This is the fifth (and last) book in The Orb series!
The teaser trailer for Mulan looks great! I love that they're not going to a 100% remake of the animated movie (like they did for Beauty and the Beast) and are instead trying to stay true(r) to the original Mulan legend. That means no Mushu the Dragon or song and dance routines. I know some people are upset about those changes, but if you want them, just watch the original animated movie. So far, I'm really looking forward to the movie.
Here's my one small complaint... and it's one I have with almost any movie that includes archery. Why can they NEVER get archery right? Bows strung backwards, incorrect technique, shooting three arrows at a time, ridiculous results... the archer in my cringes at what I see.
In my novels I try very hard to maintain the willing suspension of disbelief for my readers. That means keeping things realistic. WHAT? REALISTIC? BUT YOU WRITE FANTASY NOVELS!
The willing suspension of disbelief mean creating a world that follows rules. Yes, there are magic and monsters in my world. And I worked very hard to explain their existence and to give them a realistic framework they must operate under in that world. Breaking the framework (the "rules of the world") means losing that willing suspension of disbelief in the reader.
Not only do I try to be "realistic" in my creation of fantasy elements of the story, but I try my best to be realistic in my depiction of the non-fantasy elements. Things like technology, weapons, fighting styles, economics, politics, and the climate. In order to keep a reader of viewer absorbed in your story, you have to keep everything within the story consistent with the rules of the universe the story is set in.
When I started writing Eternal Knight I knew a lot about archery, but I didn't know everything I needed to know. So I started doing research. That research led to me taking up archery and even bow making.
The problem is that every time I see bows depicted in movies or books, I can help but to become an instant critic. This pulls me out of the moment and I lose my willing suspension of disbelief. I'm no longer absorbed in the story because my mind is cringing at what I'm looking at.
So what's wrong with Mulan's archery? (And, by the way, the most famous Hunger Games promo photo is far worse). 1) She's using a Mediterranean/European draw (drawing the string with her fingers) instead of an Asiatic draw (drawing with her thumb/thumb ring). 2) The Mediterranean draw only uses three fingers and you don't wrap your knuckles around the entire string. 3) The Mediterranean draw places the arrow on the other side of the bow. 4) Bad form. Raise that elbow!
I guess it's just not worth the expense to get archery right in movies. They figure that the number of people who will notice is not worth the effort of getting it right. But how much effort would it take to get it right? An hour of instruction with your actors would make a huge difference.
In conclusion:
1) I'm really looking forward to the movie.
2) I'm very happy with the changes from the animated movie.
3) The willing suspension of disbelief is really important to me.
4) Mulan (and every other movie) gets archery wrong. (Please tell me of a book or movie where they get it right).
5) I'll just cringe my way through the archery, because the movie looks like it's going to be great.
Wow, that really escalated! I thought I was going to write a paragraph about the new Mulan movie.
I've been editing The Emerald Gate, which has involved some chapter rewrites as inspiration has required. I'm very happy with the book, but somewhat unhappy with the pace of progress. I find editing harder to do on a consistent basis, unlike writing. With writing I can sit down at a set time every day and make progress. Editing... is different. Editing is done in fits and starts and can be much more difficult as you work to improve what you've already done.
I've also been playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. By "a lot" I mean once a week for three hours. But as Dungeon Master there's a lot of prep work that goes into it. The good news is that my turn as DM is coming to a close and my buddy Mike is about to take over. Time to pull out my character sheet and become reacquainted with my elf Paladin/Bard, Keldan Faesuun.
I've also been doing teacher stuff, dad stuff, husband stuff, and homeowner stuff. I'm seriously going to have no problem being a retired person (someday). There's always something to do. There's always so much I want to do. I need more hours in my day.
When will The Emerald Gate be published? I'm wary to give a date as I'm so often wrong. This fall seems like a good answer. With the school year coming to an end and Amelia heading off to climbing camp, I'm going to have a lot more writing time available to me in the near future. I'm looking forward to digging into the book and making some real progress.
I'm very excited to announce that The Dromost Gate will be published in ten days! It is currently available for pre-order on most online ebook retailers for $.99. It is not available for pre-order on Amazon or Google, but will be sold at the reduced price for the first 48 hours after release.
A huge shout-out to my critique partner, beta-readers, and proofreaders! I couldn't have done it without you.
