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.
I received the idea for Khione from some reading, movies, and my previous writing. The idea was to be able to place a real fox-girl in the world. I was introduced to the idea of fox-people from Japanese Manga and Anime. I didn't want to make the setting Asian for many reasons. The primary was the difficulty in properly expressing an Asian character. I am still studying Japan for the future purpose of writing a novel. I've mentioned before, I want to write a Japanese novel set in about 1000 AD. I may or may not be able to write such a novel--it is a complex undertaking, but I'd like to be able to express an historical Asian culture in a way a non-Asian can understand it.
As it is, I set Khione in the modern world at a modern university and in a modern city. Khione is an ancient character and one who is very Greek and yet very ancient. My prepub reader liked the novel, and she doesn't like aggressive female character--Khione had to be aggressive in many ways. Khione is a character truly out of time, but who's questions are the same as people today. Khione is a demigoddess and a creature of both limited and unlimited capabilities. This is the kind of character I love and the Aristotle wrote about. This is the type of character who truly has telic flaws. Those flaws lead either to tragedy or comedy. Death or life, for in Greek tragedy the protagonist dies and in a Greek comedy, the protagonist lives. Khione is a comedy, for this reason--it is also a comedy because of my writing style. I don't write laugh-out-loud comedies--I write works that gain some of their strength from the light-hearted and hard conversations that come out of my characters. Plus, what is not to like about a fox-girl hunting cats in modern Boston?
More tomorrow.
Also remember, I'm trying to show you and give you examples of how to write a science fiction theme statement and turn it into a plot.
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
