Announcement: There is action on my new novels. The publisher renamed the series--they are still working on the name. I provided suggestions as did one of my prepub readers. Now the individual books will be given single names: Leora, Leila, Russia, Lumiere', China, Sveta, and Klava--at least these are some of the suggestions. They are also working on a single theme for the covers. 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.
The four plus one basic rules I employ when writing:
1. Don't confuse your readers.
2. Entertain your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don't show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
All novels have five discrete parts:
1. The initial scene (the beginning)
2. The rising action
3. The climax
4. The falling action
5. The dénouement
The theme statement of this new novel is: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.
At the same time, we are talking about a real vampire here. In my novel, I flesh out the ideas that Stoker didn't fully explain. In the novel I am writing, vampires were already damned before they became vampires. I explain that a vampire can't attack a "cross-bearer," a Christian. This is consistent with ideas about vampires and the Bible. In my novel, a vampire can only attack (hunt and dine on) those who are not Christians. They can only make vampires those who are unredeemed and already damned.
My character Valeska/Heidi was a young woman who traded sex for sorcery. She abused other students in her school. She was self absorbed and evil. She murdered her middle-aged lover using sorcery and that is what drew the other vampires. To make a vampire, a vampire must kill his prey by drinking all the blood and then replace some of the blood with vampire's blood. The taking of the blood, kills the person--they are dead. The replacing with vampire's blood puts in a powerful piece of evil that sustains the vampire. In my novel, a vampire is a creature without a pneuma--a spirit. They have lost their spirit and therefore the sunlight turns them into dust.
With this theme statement I am ready to tackle the novel. The next step was to flesh out the characters and the setting.
More tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site http://www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
http://www.aegyptnovel.com/
http://www.centurionnovel.com
http://www.thesecondmission.com/http://www.theendofhonor.com/
http://www.thefoxshonor.com
http://www.aseasonofhonor.com
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