326

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Indeed for us, the rail is indispensable, and society would not exist without it as it does today.

I think my world is close to Mad Max's independent states where we find there's this undefended rail down the desert into the middle of nowhere that's being maintained in perfect condition for no apparent reason.

https://deanoinamerica.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/mad-max-3-vehicles-2.jpg?w=1000

I mean the ballast there is extremely well maintained. Xrell's enemies would surely let the outbound rail deteriorate since they don't have to go anywhere (Consider the city run by Tina Turner's character... It seems she doesn't need to move rail guns to new war zones. She's not waging conquest, and her economy is closed - why bother moving lots of goods?).

Indeed, by destroying the rail, Xrell's enemies may choke his economy while not changing their own.

327

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

@Mlle Gacelle: "Fan service" is a (frowned upon) activity where the author adjusts the story to please the fans rather than be faithful to the original artistic vision.

We see Lucas do so in toning down Jar Jar. In anime it's usually related to sexualization of female characters. Sonic the Hedgehog movie fan serviced the character design.

Personally, I don't mind it (If Lucas was fully on board, Darth Maul would have found a way to survive). I do it all the time within the limits of the greater plot. For example, my world originally had no trains, but readers found that unrealistic, so I added them (Personally, I don't see how such a place of tyrants and greedy powered people would be able to support rail between their regions, but whatever)

328

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

CJ makes good points as usual. Luckily, I can have my cake and eat it too. I'll use (2) as the main image on Amazon and (3) as an alternate cover for kobo

329

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

Same model, same character wink

330

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

At this time, I'm leaning towards (B). Anyone have a leaning?

331

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

Goal is to emulate the style of the books that sandwich it.

http://www.skyfire.ca/kwan/tnbw/book2-c-sample1.jpg
(A) Conveys sense of drowning (this was the goal. She's drowning in the rules society expects of her)
Not fond of the backwards lettering. Would probably un-mirror it


http://www.skyfire.ca/kwan/tnbw/book2-c-sample2.jpg
(B) Lighter look
Lettering a bit difficult to read


http://www.skyfire.ca/kwan/tnbw/book2-c-sample3.jpg
(C) Some random idea I had 20 minutes ago

As a reader, I wouldn't be expecting both recipients of healing to experience the same stimuli

Rachel Parsons wrote:
C J Driftwood wrote:

Congratulations. That was fast!

Not really; just seems that way. I've been working on this for months. And I couldn't have done it without you (and all the other reviewers). Hugs.


Yep. Fast. J3nna was 7 yrs

Gratz!

Ravens is kinda Norse, no?

336

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I'm in a similar bind. Since I have a long commute, I've trained myself into writing during transit. With no commute, I find it hard to maintain the discipline in what had become automatic. I was at about 750words per day and that's been lost for the past week or so.

337

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

terrible to hear! Get well

338

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Wowza thanks... but I can send links. I'm not in the game for the revenue, so I don't mind to give them out

339

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Edit: Were you seeking print? I have some physical copies sitting around I can send

340

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Interesting... that link is to the paper edition which is not available on Amazon (and is actually out of print. I only ever made about 20 copies).
When I clicked "all editions" and selected kindle, the link worked from there. Not sure how to fix

Goodness... the story's almost 10 yrs old. Where does the time go??

341

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Correct. I wrote project L up to chapter 26 (posted upto 11). At that point I started exploring the antagonist and realized I had a better story there. Will return to the original later tho.

342

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Same universe. I'm going to start posting in about 2 weeks which will be after I  finish posting for Tia

Perfection is an interesting problem, and it much plagues Superman, though DC has been trying to write him flawed for the past 15 years.

It's hard to solve! For Laine, since this is technically book 7, there's not much I can do to keep her imperfect. I added that she's become a bit greedy from losing all her money. But that's now a flaw per se (given that they really took all her money). It's a reaction to stimulus, not a character flaw

344

(23 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Complicated.

Project L is a basic vampire werewolf story. Not much different from Twilight meets Underworld of any of the other million supernatural love stories before them. Reviewers here are clearly not reading Twilight so I'm getting reviews I can't use effectively.

Issues: . Laine is internally happy. She doesn't brood. She's not selfish or mean, and is coming from "low" to her magic and the millions in the bank locked away for all her life.

Makes sense to post a story I can get more mileage out of. Project R is more of Underworld meets Constantine. The MC is losing everything and will do anything to get it back. There is no formula of boy meets girl or even a hero win. No formula allows me more freedom to onboard suggestions. Better suited for this site.

345

(23 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Laura is shelved. Probably for 5-6 years.

Switching to an antagonist POV

346

(16 replies, posted in Close friends)

Laura's story has been temporarily abandoned. Will return to it in 5-6 years.

Switching to an antagonist story soon

347

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

in formal releases, what book do you currently see emerging first?

scoff

Don't forget US rules differ slightly from Can/UK

good plan... gives the villains something to be aggressive about