The Rock

Let’s be honest here. If you’ve come across this site through the link at my webnovel, Children of the Halo, then you’re obviously a little more interested about me, or just Children of the Halo in general. If you haven’t yet read it, I suggest you get down to it. Thus far, I’ve not received a single negative review, so it might just be worth your time. (Especially if you’re looking to kill a lot of it.)

Anyway, I digress. This post is about the evolution of Children of the Halo. From concept to fruition (and beyond.)

It’d be unfair of me not to mention the author and book series that ultimately inspired Children of the Halo. One day while surfing around my local bookstore for something new and fresh to read, I happened across Eric Flint’s novel 1632 (Published by Baen.) I was pulled into the book instantly. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. The book featured a small American town called Grantville that somehow finds itself smack-dab in the middle of Germany during the 30 Years War. I consumed the book in record time, and it got me thinking.

I hadn’t seen that idea before. (It had been done in the past, mind you, but I’d never personally come across it.) It struck my cool chord in such a way that the idea stuck around for some time.

Years prior to that, I had envisioned “The Pactlands” in many, many different incarnations. Each of the native characters portrayed in the novel eihter did not exist, or were completely different characters. Eventually, I’d dropped the idea, but it lingered around in the back of my mind somewhere for years.

It got me thinking, however. I’d always been fascinated with fantasy. What’s more, I’d always wanted to write a fantasy novel, but I thought I lacked the patience. I’d played around a bit, combined the two ideas. Taking a small town from Earth and putting it into a fantasy world.

This inspired me. I immediately set to the task of creating the characters, creating nations and alliances, and then decided that instead of creating a fictional town, I’d just take the town I live in, Ladysmith, British Columbia, (home of Pamela Anderson, but we don’t really care much about her) and change it up a little. Thus, Dunsmith was born.

I’d drawn up a few maps, wrote a tentative prologue and pieces of a first chapter (plus a bunch of patchwork scenes I thought would be “cool”), then completely forgot about the project. (Like many countless others.)

A year and a half later, a friend was scrolling through my old notebook in which I’d drawn the maps and questioned me about them. I told her the story, and seeing as she, too, lives in Ladysmith, immediately demanded that I write it. I didn’t take it very seriously at first, but then a strange opportunity arose.

My boss allowed me to bring my laptop to work with me to help me get through those long hours of literally nothing to do. So I spent a few hours writing. After a few revisions to the prologue, I had something I could post.

So I did. I hit up my deviantArt account, something I hadn’t touched in months, and posted the first chapter. (Warning. I do NOT suggest reading ahead through deviantArt, although, yes, I do have all of the first novel in DRAFT. Many, many characters, plot points and more have changed during the revisions, and it would NO LONGER be accurate. That is why I won’t supply you the link. If you want to cheat, you’ll have to work for it.) I got a response nearly right away. A number of people commented, encouraging me to write more.

I had the time for it now, so why not? I started connecting the dots between the beginning and the scenes I had written, revising and/or completely removing the scenes as I filled in the spaces between. I had kept notes, but I’m a naturally disorganized person, so they were always in different places. (Which is why sometimes I may contradict something in the novel itself. If you spot a contradiction, PLEASE point it out to me.) But overall, the plotting came from a mental picture I had of the story.

Three months, five days and two-hundred twenty thousand words later, I had my first ever finished novel. I was ecstatic. I started looking up publishing options, to my surprise, finding out about that pesky “first publishing rights” thing.

So I did the next best thing.

I bought a domain. Got some hosting, and set myself to the task of building a website to release my book through.

My mind reeled with the possibilities. Here, I had a playground. Here, I had a venue. It was my own little corner of the web and I could do any number of things. I built a wiki to help me keep all my information concise. Some forums (which are still quite empty and ghost-like), a personal blog and another forum to act as a free-form roleplaying forum set in the universe presented in Children of the Halo.

So that’s how I got to where I am. Right now, plans are still iffy about the future of Engines of Creation. I’m planning a sequel to Children of the Halo, entitled “The Liar’s Law”, which is as of yet unwritten. As the final chapter of Children of the Halo is posted on October 20, I am planning on having a buffer of time in before I start posting chapters of The Liar’s Law. Perhaps a month, maybe less.

During this time I plan on releasing a bunch of one-shot side-stories, detailing events in the EoC universe that have no place in either book. I’m also opening the floor for other authors to submit stories based in the EoC universe.

But wait! There’s more.

In the future, I plan on branching out the EoC universe in a variety of different ways. Ultimately, I’d like to create a campaign setting for d20-style pen & paper role-playing games. I’d like to create a computer role-playing game (or perhaps RTS) based on the EoC Universe. A graphic novel, animated shorts. Perhaps even a series of films. (I’m not talking big budget here.) There are many things I’d still like to have done with the EoC universe.

Can I do them all? Hey, anything’s possible.

I guess only time will tell.

But wait, there’s more!

In the course of preparing Children of the Halo for public print release, I’ve learned a number of things.

Which isn’t to say these are the right things, however… They’re just things. I’ve managed to pick up.

I originally finished the first draft of Children of the Halo on May 24, 2008. It was a proud moment for me, marking the completion of a project that I’d wanted to do nearly my whole life, but lacked the motivation to actually set out and do. I’d started work on it some time in 2007, plotting it out, designing the characters and places. Making sure Eiden Myr was… well… realistic enough to want to read about. (I later found out that the world’s name, Eiden Myr, was originally someone else’s. Still, my Eiden Myr is completely different from Terry McGarry’s. At least, I would hope. I still haven’t gotten aroun to picking up a copy of his book.)

In February, I decided it was time to start writing, and so I did.

Two-hundred and twenty thousand words later, it was finished.

But, as I learned, it was not yet finished. I had grandiose plans for my premiere opus. As it turned out, finishing the draft was merely the first step in a much grander staircase.

Thus started revisions.

Now, I’d posted my draft chapters through deviantArt, and I’d managed to get a small following. Nothing special, but I did happen to meet Trista Godfrey, who, as you know, is the author of Dreaming Again and Throne of Darkness.

Still, keeping in mind that I’d already taken first publishing rights, my options for publishing Children of the Halo were limited.

Until I’d found a post on Novelr and it opened my eyes to the wonderful world of webfiction. I set out and bought myself a domain and some hosting, sat on it for a month while I gathered my plans together (and started work on the revisions), then started to post.

The book’s almost done the final revision for the web. As of October 20th (possibly sooner, should I get all my artwork in on time), the book will be made for sale through Lulu.

As the time grows nearer to the publishing date, I’ve realized there are a number of things I must take into consideration, and a number of resources I’ve found online will help me do just that.

Promotion: I’ve found Eli James’ post on Novelr, The Ultimate Blook Guide: Blogging Your Book to be of invaluable assistance in this respect. If not for this post, I doubt Children of the Halo would have as many readers as it does. (Not to mention Webfictionguide.com, who I happen to get the majority of my hits from.) As the time approaches, I’ve also found the post Best and Worst Press Release Sites to be of great assistance. The author rates the sites available for making press releases, and just from this post, I’ve already chosen the service I’ll be using to announce the release of Children of the Halo.

Now, obviously there’s much more to be figured out and learned over the coming weeks and months, but thanks to the help from many of the sites I’ve already mentioned, it’s going to be that much easier. Which is to say, it’ll be tough, but at least I have reliable guides along the way.

Peace,

EJ.

There’s an elephant in the room; or a rhinoceros, and sometimes even a hippopatamus, depending on where you’re from. It’s the one thing most of us can see but never speak about…

Why? Because we’re so afraid of offending someone. And in our contemporary politically correct society, that just won’t do.

I’m referring, of course, to the state of modern day religion.

Everyone thinks they know God better than the other guy. It’s the universal truth, after all. Nobody’s got it figured out except for you. This is largely true for every man, woman and child on the planet. Even those smart and wise enough to know that they know sweet fuck all still suffer from the ailment. Call it a taint on the human condition. We’re so wrapped up in our individualism and herd mentality that we refuse to see it any other way, and the cycle continues. More schisms occur preaching that their way is better. More offshoot religions pop up, and the occasional murderous death cult started by a second rate science fiction author send things into even greater chaos.

But as we sit in the here and now, there begins a definite change in the religious order of the world. Paganism is making new leaps and bounds not seen since the Dark Ages. Wicca and other New Age Spiritualism is making a great leap into the mainstream. It’s not so uncommon now to hear someone tell you they’re Pastafarian. There are even groups that tout the Bible as the best Science Fiction novel of the Age, which isn’t to say they don’t believe in it. (I’m devoutly Pagan, yet I don’t doubt a word of what the Bible says. I just interpret it in a slightly different way than most.)

But we now enter the age of Facebook Religion. Of MySpace Preaching. We can send sermons via Twitter and disprove the existence of God in World of Warcraft. We now have an ability that none in history have ever had. We can spread what wisdom we hold to be true anonymously. Facelessly. Whether others choose to accept it is unknown, but I can see the patterns of a new Spiritualism rising within us. A psychic paradigm shift from some unknown source seems to be taking society over.

I don’t know if this religion has a name, but it can be summed up as, “You believe what you believe. I believe what I believe. Now let’s go have a drink.”

Call it Spiritualism 2.0. The live and let live philosophy that is taught in many world religions, but rarely ever practiced. We’re too tainted by our own petty jealously over our own ideas. It’s good to have ideas, it’s good to have faith. I’ve known some incredibly devoutly religious people. The kind with such strong convictions in their own interpretation of the Word that it becomes who they are. Mind you, sometimes they take it so seriously that they end up turning their kids into some pretty strong convicts. Exceptions to every rule, of course. I know that in their heart, they believe they’re doing the right thing.

It’s good to be faithful. It brings a feeling of pride, meaning. A feeling of belonging that mankind has been without for far too long.

Be secure in your faith, and let others be secure in theirs. That’s the only way it’s going to get any better.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

The Future of Online Fiction?

Greetings and Salutations, everyone.

I’ve spent the past few hours going around the web, looking for free fiction online. I’ve come across a number of sites, and I’m going to share them with you.

By far the most popular of the sites is WritersCafe.Org, which features literally thousands of authors and their works. The site is a very well put-together community with literally thousands of decent works ranging from poetry and short stories to novelas and epic-length tomes. The site requires you to create a membership, but what you get in return is priceless. So long as you can sort through all of the offal.

Secondly, there’s the still-fledging WebfictionGuide.Com, which I personally visit and participate in their discussion forums. Children of the Halo just happens to be listed on the site. The site is run by a number of dedicated staff, and as an added bonus, has a rating and review system in place for every entry in their listings. I wholly endorse this site for its content and what it represents to the still-growing online fiction publishing community. I’ve been an active member for some time, and I plan on doing some online fiction reviews once I get around to reading someone else’s work.

Lastly, I’d like to point your attention to *.fiction, Web Author Scott McKenzie’s project designed to help showcase the work of internet authors. I’ve just recently been turned on to this project, and I’m planning on tossing an entry his way. The idea seems simple enough. The book will be made available on Lulu.Com, and it will feature 15 short stories by web authors. All royalties made will be put right back into promotion. I’m all for this idea. Online fiction doesn’t get enough mass press representation. A project like this might just put it into the limelight, and open up readers the world over to whole new worlds that they may never have come across otherwise. A beautiful idea if you ask me.

That being said, the future remains to be seen, but if the music industry’s any indicator, the future of books are going to start looking a lot brighter.

I’ve been rather lucky in my life. I’ve been normally healthy as a horse. I’ve never broken a limb, never been sick more than a day or two, and I have accidents very rarely.

So about a month ago, when I experienced the first panic attack I’d ever had in my life, I was naturally very concerned. I truly felt like I was dying. I felt that I had minutes, if that to live. I felt my heart was going to explode out of my chest, and the only thought running through my mind other than “Oh my God, I’m dying!” was that I had to have a shower, so I could at least be clean for the coroner.

Needless to say, I didn’t die. But the doctor at the ER told me I was having a panic attack, reassured me that my heart was absolutely fine, but that I’m suffering from a stress-related disorder. He hooked me up with some Attivan, and I went on my merry way.

A week later came another one, worse than the first. The Attivan worked, but literally knocked me out. I woke up next to my computer chair three hours later, not even remembering feeling tired.

But still, I did some research on Attivan, and made the decision that I didn’t want to become reliant on anti-depressants. A friend of a friend suggested I try a product called Rescue Remedy. I bought a bottle from my local Health Food Store, and kept the bottle hidden within one of my many vest pockets. There it lay, nearly forgotten.

Yesterday morning, I had another attack. I started going through my pockets, took out the vial, brought the dropper up over my tongue, and took four drops.

Within seconds. Seconds! It was done. The attack was over, and it never came back.

Score one point for homeopathic remedies.

So anyway. For anyone who suffers from panic disorder, I heartily suggest you go check out Rescue Remedy.

Rescue Remedy, made by Bach Remedies uses a mixture of flower essences with a grape wine to sooth, reassure and comfort. It’s a product I wholly endorse and invite you to check it out.

Christian Bale as Batman

So, I decided last night that I was going to go out and catch Batman: The Dark Knight at our local movie theater here in Ladysmith.

Allow me to explain just how small our town is.

We have one movie theater, with one room that seats about 150 people. (Just a rough estimate.) Island Cinema sits above the local regional library. Their prices are fair, and they’re under new management, but I warn you… bring a pillow. The seats tend to get quite uncomfortable, but the atmosphere was pleasant, down-to-earth and enjoyable. You won’t be paying $15 for a drink and a bag of popcorn.

Now, on to the Dark Knight.

I’ve been a fan of Christian Bale since I discovered a movie called Equilibrium. Since then I’ve followed his work through several movies, such as The Machinist, American Psycho and Rescue Dawn, and I was thoroughly impressed (once again) with his performance in this movie. I daresay he even did a better job than Michael Keaton in Tim Burton’s 1989 movie, Batman. I could really feel the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman just flowing out of him.

Which brings me on to Heath Ledger. Now, I can’t say I’ve seen many movies with Heath Ledger in it. 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight’s Tale and The Brothers Grimm were all I’ve really seen, and I can’t say he was ever one of my favorite actors, so I had my reservations about his performance going into the film. I’d heard people mention he deserves a posthumous Oscar for his work, so I really wanted to pay attention and see what he had to offer, or if it was just all hype because he died.

But I stand corrected. Heath Ledger did an amazing performance. He made the character of the Joker come alive in such a way that I’d never before seen. He gave Joker a depth and understanding that, in all my years of comic-fandom, I’d never seen. All in all, Ledger stole the show.

But he didn’t do it alone. Aaron Eckhart, playing the part of DA Harvey Dent/Two-Face also did a spectacular job as the “Hero of Gotham,” who Ledger’s character sent into a downward spiral into madness, right to the brink of despair.

The entire ride was worth it. All in all, I’m very pleased with what The Dark Knight had to offer, and it (almost) made me forget just how uncomfortable those seats really were.

Hey there,

Allow me to introduce myself. The name’s EJ, and I’m an author from Vancouver Island, Canada. For the past several months, I’ve been knee-deep in the writing of my first novel, Children of the Halo. Now that it’s done, I’ve found that my writing skills have increased five-fold. The novel sits at 220,000 words, at forty-seven chapters, which is much longer than most novels.

Since I’m (currently) an unpublished author, I decided that I’d do what I could to make a name for myself in writing. I pumped the money I needed into building up a website, Celephi Press and started doing what I could to get my name out there.

What I’ve discovered is that it’s a lot harder than it looks. There are so many things I never took into consideration, so many different ways to market my book and my name that it literally overwhelmed me at first. Now, however, I’ve decided to start up this blog.

Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be making posts, reviews and just general thoughts on any number of subjects. Would, or could this interest you? Come back any time and see.