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.
I have two books on contract with OakTara publishing. You can see more about then at www.ldalford.com and www.SisterofDarkness.com. I already talked about Sister of Light. Sister of Darkness is the next novel and follows the main characters from my published novel, Aegypt, through WWII. All my books are in some way dark. I try to trip issues and explore themes that propel the characters into the depths of difficult decisions. A novel can only be great when the theme itself is important. No one wants to read a novel about a trivial subject or a trifling problem. The problem in Sister of Darkness is the interaction of Lumiére, their daughter, with the Goddess of Darkness, Leora's sister and Lumiére's aunt. The Goddess of Darkness has been encouraging Hitler's actions in WWII. So, you can see the dilemma posed by this book. Lumiére's entanglement becomes a problem for her parents because to fight the Goddess of Darkness, they must also confront their daughter. The problem is worse because Lumiére thinks she has been tainted by involvement in her aunt's actions and work. This book is action packed and exciting. It builds the intelligence involvement of the main characters that is further fleshed out in later novels.
Here is a synopsis of Sister of Darkness.
A pall spreads over the world with the beginning of World War II. The darkness is both a physical and spiritual miasma. Colonel Paul Bolang, a special officer in the French Alpine Corps, is assigned, with his men, to support the Allied operations against the Germans in Norway. He leaves his wife, Leora Bolang and their children Lumiére, Robert, Jacques, and Marie in sunny Hyères, France.
Paul and Leora share a secret they have never divulged to their children or to their closest friends. Leora is the incarnation of the Goddess of Light, herself reintroduced into the world from a 4000 year old tomb. Paul, her warrior, has a power beyond that of normal humans. Unfortunately, when Paul released Leora, Leora’s sister, the Goddess of Darkness, Leila was also released into the world. Leila delights in darkness and the deaths of men. 4000 years ago, Leora and Leila were displaced with the entire pantheon of the Egyptian gods when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Now Leila wants revenge—revenge against the people who displaced her and revenge against the world—“that is her purpose.”
Paul is still on assignment when Germany invades France. Leora and her children barely escape the clutches of German troops through the help of Major Lyons leading a British Special Forces Team. They are shipped to Britain with only the clothes on their back. In Britain, Matilda Hastings, Tilly, rescues them, and Leora discovers she was, weeks before, invited to a royal function. How did Lyons know the Germans were coming for them? How did Tilly know to help them? Why the predestined invitation? Who knows about Leora and Paul’s secrets, and who is helping them?
Worse, the Osiris Offering Formula, a small black tablet Leila desires, lay protected and safe at the house in Hyères—now it is missing. If Leila gets her hands on the offering formula, she will be able to influence the world a hundred fold greater with her evil. Leila controls men through their own dark desires. With the offering formula, her power will increase.
As war spreads, Leora must deal with Paul’s loss, her sister’s interference in the world, the violent world around her, and finally, her daughter, Lumiére’s strange dreams and desires. The novel, Sister of Darkness leads through the dark days of World War II from its beginning to a spiritual confrontation at its conclusion. Leora and Paul face enemies and threats throughout, yet they persevere to the bitter end—an end where they must directly confront Leila and their own daughter.
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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