Announcement: My editor sent a round of emails last night concerning the back cover materials. That included the book teaser and the author bio. They looked good. They also sent the covers for the individual novels. I'll put up the covers when I can. The proposed 3 in1 cover and info can be found at www.ancientlight.com. I'll keep you updated. I should have three new books out soon.
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 my newest novel, Valeska, is this: An agent of the organization becomes involved with a vampire girl during a mission, she becomes dependent on the agent, and she is redeemed.
Here is my proposed cover for Valeska:
The purpose of a novel is to reveal the protagonist and usually the protagonist's helper, the author needs to place them in circumstance that allows them to reveal themselves. The means can be conversation, exploration, discovery, other's conversation, confession, accidental discovery.
There are three ways to know truth: the scientific method, the historical-witness method, and logic. The three tests used for all documentary evidence in history are: the bibliographical test, the internal test, and the external test. Let's see how we can use these tests.
If you remember the mathematical proofs you had to do in geometry, you know how to develop a logical proof. You start with definitions. It looks like this:
1. Define the terms
2. State assumptions
3. Produce proof
4. Logical conclusion
In a mathematical proof, you would work it like this. I define a, b, and c as objects from a set of same objects. I define the concept of equal as identity: a=a means a is the same as itself--it is equal to itself. We assume that a, b, and c exist and that they are not the same thing. There are also some other assumptions that are very basic. The proof is if a=b and b=c. The logical conclusion is a=c. Pretty simple is it not. This is a mathematical proof that is very simple. If you remember back to geometry, this was the entire basis of geometry. This is also the basis of all of mathematics. We use the conclusions of mathematical proofs to accomplish addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, derivations, integration, all of algebra, and all. Everything in mathematics is based in mathematical proof and therefore logic. Logic is the basis for it all.
The reality or perhaps unreality of mathematics really begins with irrational numbers and numbers in the irrational plane. This is the first place most people begin to realize that math isn't about reality at all. Irrational number and operations in irrational numbers should begin to show how far math is from any reality. Although we imagine math is real, nothing in the physical world can begin to match the perfection of mathematics. This is why the Greeks literally worshiped mathematics in their Mysteriums. At least two Mysteriums were based in geometric proofs and there may have been more. The Pythagoreans were founded by Pythagoras--his mystery was the Pythagorean Theorem in a geometric form. How they did it, we don't know, but that was the mystery of their Mysterium. Likewise the mystery of the Osirus Mysterium was Pi (the number). They used some geometric means to display the mystery that we don't know today. In any case, these people were using mathematical logic and proofs to show, in their minds, an impossible part of the physical world--that is a piece of the real world that was not part of the physical world. It was a glimpse into the world humans normally couldn't see.
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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