Announcement: My novels Sister of Light and Sister of Darkness are about to be published. I write this blog about 2 months prior to its publication. I just heard that the proofs will be here soon--likely before the end of the week. My publisher also wants to put the entire set of novels based on Aegypt on contract--that's 5 more novels for 8 total. They also want to put my other novels on contract. The release schedule should be one novel every 2 months. I'll keep you updated.
Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon. This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.
I'm using this novel as an example of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll keep you informed along the way.
Here are my rules of writing:
1. Entertain your readers.
2. Don't confuse your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
After thinking about my post on titles, I thought it might be a good idea to
explain why I named Aegypt, Aegypt http://www.aegyptnovel.com/. It is an
esoteric title that to many readers might not appear to describe the work. As I
mentioned before, my mentor Roz Young recommended I call the work "In the Tomb
of the Goddess of Darkness and Light." In that context, I thought to name it "In
the Tomb of Darkness and Light." The problem with both these titles is that they
are descriptive and perhaps too descriptive. One of the mysteries in the book is
the tombs themselves. The original reason I settled on Aegypt was that
the book was about broader Egypt in a physical, historical, and spiritual sense.
That is, the work was historically about an ancient accidental colony of the
Egyptians. Although Aegypt occurs physically in modern Tunisia, the
title, and the theme refers to the extension of Egypt out of the area that Egypt
physically resides in the ancient and modern world. I decided on the Greek and
ancient spelling of the name for Egypt, Aegypt to refer to the ancient
and archaic. The work is about the world of the ancient Egyptians projected into
the modern world. So the title refers to this physical, historical, and
spiritual projection of ancient Egypt into the modern world. It stands as a
metaphor for everything that is Egyptian.
Now about the series http://www.ldalford.com/ see new novels. I
have written eight total novels in the theme of Aegypt. These are very
exciting, mysterious, and adventurous novels. Because the work became a series
of novels, my publisher asked me to think up a name to describe the entire set
of works. With the help of my prepublication readers, I settled on the name
"Ancient Light." The motif of the series is light and darkness, so the name is Ancient Light. The next novel is called
Sister of Light. It is on contract and should be out this Summer or
Fall. Likewise Sister of Darkness is on contract and should be out in
the same time frame.
See more writing secrets at www.ldalford.com
For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites: http://www.aegyptnovel, http://www.centurionnovel.com, www.thesecondmission.com/, http://www.theendofhonor.com/, thefoxshonor, aseasonofhonor.
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