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.
This reliance on the history of a character to develop a character is why, for me, series novels are the easiest to write. In my Ancient Light novels that started with the published novel Aegypt, the characters developed over time--many were literally born into the novels. If you have this kind of history on a character, the character development and the depth of the character is a cinch. Likewise for characters out of history. If you already know something about their life and times, the development of their character becomes easy--al least for me.
Let's look at Valeska/Heidi, the vampire from the novel I am writing. Here is a marvelous character because she has historical antecedents and a powerful past. I make it very clear in the novel that only evil people can become vampires--you might have guessed this from what you know about vampires. Heidi was abused and was an abuser as a child. She became enamored of sorcery, and took a lover at fifteen who taught it to her. She murdered her lover using sorcery. She, herself, confessed to George Mardling what she was before she was a vampire and the picture isn't pretty. At the same time, she lived through the many wars that encompassed Gdansk and Danzig. The city was Prussian, German, and Polish. Talk about history encapsulated in a person.
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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