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Win a character appearance in my novel!

today is the LAST DAY! reblog, like, and follow today!

—-

as I launch into the final phase of preparation for my novel – I’m about to write the final draft of the outline, eek!! – I want to start ramping up my promotion of my baby!  A God Grown Old is going to be AWESOME… and this is your chance to be a part of it. a real part of it.

so yes, this is a giveaway for a guest appearance in my novel!

I’m still in planning mode, so I’m not giving away too much about the book itself, but here are a few tidbits that should give you a feel for what I’m going to be writing:

  • it’s set in the Middle East and North Africa, around 200 AD.
  • it’s a re-telling of a famous myth, but from an unusual point of view.
  • the main character is a dragon, and the four primary secondary characters (shhhh, it makes sense) are two humans, an Egyptian wolf, and a karkadann.

your character could be just about any animal, creature, or human that would exist in this kind of story-world (remember, this is a myth, so traditional African mythical creatures are welcome as well). you can choose to include an OC you haven’t written into something, or you can have yourself wandering through the wilds of Libya. I am happy to take any name and set of characteristics so long as I can find a creative way to work him, her, or it in to the story.

want to enter? rules rules rules!

  • you must be following me. I know, I know, but I don’t post more than two or three times a day max, so I won’t be flooding your dash. plus, if the book sounds like something you’d like to read, you may want to stay informed anyway!
  • you may reblog twice and like once. each will be considered an entry, for up to three entries.
  • you may follow me on Twitter (AGodGrownOld) for one entry.
  • I will be choosing the winner randomly on Monday, April 23rd, and contacting them by the next day. so basically you have ten days from the start of the contest to get your entries in!

I think that’s everything! if you want some more details about A God Grown Old, I am happy to answer some specific questions via my ask, but I’m kind of keeping it under wraps to some extent until I’m a little further along.

thanks for reading, following, reblogging, or snorting with derision! 😉

– August

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Monikers and things

on a normal project, I take incredible care and time in choosing my names. I like to research meanings and historical uses of names before I bestow them on a character.

and I’m doing that, to some extent, with A God Grown Old, but I’m also wrestling with a bit of a legacy these characters already have. both Tikva and Jaren are the original names of characters my sister and I pretended to be when I was 10 and she was 4. they’re so intimately associated with the characters that I’m afraid to change them. but are they the best names for the characters? Tikva means “hope,” and that’s ironic in light of his (vastly changed from his origins) character. Jaren means “cry of rejoicing” – again, not particularly relevant. and Karru, whose name is about six years younger than theirs, means “ploughshare.” no idea why I chose these at first, but…they’re starting to seem a little weird.

can I change them, though? it’s not a legitimate question, it’s a rhetorical one for myself. it’s an interesting thought exercise. would I get more out of the characters if I broke them out of that box? it’s a little bit tempting.

names for characters I’m creating just for A God Grown Old are certainly being chosen with care and pickiness. the ostrich, Luta, is named after my boyfriend’s parents’ two obnoxious animals, Lucy and Pita. it’s very intentional – the ostrich is a pain in the ass, and it’s a fun way to pay tribute to the time of my life during which I’m writing the novel. I’ve also had to use a few names from the myth, which actually works out well because they really do fit.

I’m thinking about changing up the names on the outline and seeing how it reads, and maybe having a few brainstorming sessions where I use placeholders just to see if there are possibilities I’m missing because I’m trying to revert to their original characteristics.

Posted on

Want to star in my novel?

just four days to go. get your entries in!

—-

as I launch into the final phase of preparation for my novel – I’m about to write the final draft of the outline, eek!! – I want to start ramping up my promotion of my baby!  A God Grown Old is going to be AWESOME… and this is your chance to be a part of it. a real part of it.

so yes, this is a giveaway for a guest appearance in my novel!

I’m still in planning mode, so I’m not giving away too much about the book itself, but here are a few tidbits that should give you a feel for what I’m going to be writing:

  • it’s set in the Middle East and North Africa, around 200 AD.
  • it’s a re-telling of a famous myth, but from an unusual point of view.
  • the main character is a dragon, and the four primary secondary characters (shhhh, it makes sense) are two humans, an Egyptian wolf, and a karkadann.

your character could be just about any animal, creature, or human that would exist in this kind of story-world (remember, this is a myth, so traditional African mythical creatures are welcome as well). you can choose to include an OC you haven’t written into something, or you can have yourself wandering through the wilds of Libya. I am happy to take any name and set of characteristics so long as I can find a creative way to work him, her, or it in to the story.

want to enter? rules rules rules!

  • you must be following me. I know, I know, but I don’t post more than two or three times a day max, so I won’t be flooding your dash. plus, if the book sounds like something you’d like to read, you may want to stay informed anyway!
  • you may reblog twice and like once. each will be considered an entry, for up to three entries.
  • you may follow me on Twitter (AGodGrownOld) for one entry.
  • I will be choosing the winner randomly on Monday, April 23rd, and contacting them by the next day. so basically you have ten days from the start of the contest to get your entries in!

I think that’s everything! if you want some more details about A God Grown Old, I am happy to answer some specific questions via my ask, but I’m kind of keeping it under wraps to some extent until I’m a little further along.

thanks for reading, following, reblogging, or snorting with derision! 😉

– August

Posted on

Today, I outline!

this is a very strange place to be with a project – confident enough to draw up a road map, but hesitant because there’s no way I could be done with research on this subject.

which, in fact, I am not. superhandyawesomeboyfriend was able to find a buttload of helpful stuff last night, which I’m going to peruse today before/while/after I start typing up this outline. yes, it’s finally time – moving away from the notebook and pen and into the digital world.

I’m a little nervous, to be honest. when a project is on paper, it feels alive, real, and changeable. once I have typed it up, it feels like it settles into something resembling really thick clay: I can mold it, but it takes a lot of work and grunting and general whinging. but this has been a new experience, enjoying a novel idea this much, so maybe it will be different.

future-fear is a silly thing. it’s useless, except for informing my plans, but it can be crippling. I experience it a lot, especially regarding people I care about, but it settles like a bad cold over my projects as well.

so here’s to facing future-fear and overcoming it with a few good keystrokes!

Posted on

Win a character appearance in my novel!

don’t forget about this! just one week to go!

—-

as I launch into the final phase of preparation for my novel – I’m about to write the final draft of the outline, eek!! – I want to start ramping up my promotion of my baby!  A God Grown Old is going to be AWESOME… and this is your chance to be a part of it. a real part of it.

so yes, this is a giveaway for a guest appearance in my novel!

I’m still in planning mode, so I’m not giving away too much about the book itself, but here are a few tidbits that should give you a feel for what I’m going to be writing:

  • it’s set in the Middle East and North Africa, around 200 AD.
  • it’s a re-telling of a famous myth, but from an unusual point of view.
  • the main character is a dragon, and the four primary secondary characters (shhhh, it makes sense) are two humans, an Egyptian wolf, and a karkadann.

your character could be just about any animal, creature, or human that would exist in this kind of story-world (remember, this is a myth, so traditional African mythical creatures are welcome as well). you can choose to include an OC you haven’t written into something, or you can have yourself wandering through the wilds of Libya. I am happy to take any name and set of characteristics so long as I can find a creative way to work him, her, or it in to the story.

want to enter? rules rules rules!

  • you must be following me. I know, I know, but I don’t post more than two or three times a day max, so I won’t be flooding your dash. plus, if the book sounds like something you’d like to read, you may want to stay informed anyway!
  • you may reblog twice and like once. each will be considered an entry, for up to three entries.
  • you may follow me on Twitter (AGodGrownOld) for one entry.
  • I will be choosing the winner randomly on Monday, April 23rd, and contacting them by the next day. so basically you have ten days from the start of the contest to get your entries in!

I think that’s everything! if you want some more details about A God Grown Old, I am happy to answer some specific questions via my ask, but I’m kind of keeping it under wraps to some extent until I’m a little further along.

thanks for reading, following, reblogging, or snorting with derision! 😉

– August

Posted on

Win a character appearance in my novel!

augustwritesabook:

as I launch into the final phase of preparation for my novel – I’m about to write the final draft of the outline, eek!! – I want to start ramping up my promotion of my baby!  A God Grown Old is going to be AWESOME… and this is your chance to be a part of it. a real part of it.

so yes, this is a giveaway for a guest appearance in my novel!

I’m still in planning mode, so I’m not giving away too much about the book itself, but here are a few tidbits that should give you a feel for what I’m going to be writing:

  • it’s set in the Middle East and North Africa, around 200 AD.
  • it’s a re-telling of a famous myth, but from an unusual point of view.
  • the main character is a dragon, and the four primary secondary characters (shhhh, it makes sense) are two humans, an Egyptian wolf, and a karkadann.

your character could be just about any animal, creature, or human that would exist in this kind of story-world (remember, this is a myth, so traditional African mythical creatures are welcome as well). you can choose to include an OC you haven’t written into something, or you can have yourself wandering through the wilds of Libya. I am happy to take any name and set of characteristics so long as I can find a creative way to work him, her, or it in to the story.

want to enter? rules rules rules!

  • you must be following me. I know, I know, but I don’t post more than two or three times a day max, so I won’t be flooding your dash. plus, if the book sounds like something you’d like to read, you may want to stay informed anyway!
  • you may reblog twice and like once. each will be considered an entry, for up to three entries.
  • you may follow me on Twitter (AGodGrownOld) for one entry.
  • I will be choosing the winner randomly on Monday, April 23rd, and contacting them by the next day. so basically you have ten days from the start of the contest to get your entries in!

I think that’s everything! if you want some more details about A God Grown Old, I am happy to answer some specific questions via my ask, but I’m kind of keeping it under wraps to some extent until I’m a little further along.

thanks for reading, following, reblogging, or snorting with derision! 😉

– August

Posted on

13 and counting

Sufficient sleep has eluded me lately, but it’s not been all bad; a tired, loopy mind is a fertile place for brainstorming to occur.  I sat down this morning and wrote outlines for each of the secondary characters’ arcs, all four of them.  I won’t include at least half of what I wrote down, because it’ll be happening off-screen, but I’m finding it to be an incredibly useful exercise.  Now, when my secondary characters are off-screen, they won’t be like puppets: useless unless I have my hand up their asses.  (Wait.  What?)

Inevitably, my favorite character in (insert show/book/movie/fandom here) is a secondary character, but I’ve yet to quite capture a good supporting cast.  I think this might be the secret: giving them lives outside of recorded events, especially when the tale is told in a limited p.o.v. (in this case, third-person limited, probably to two characters max, barring the epilogue).  Of course, it does help that I’ve known these characters for 13 years, but still, they were never this vibrant before.

Now, to figure out how to make the main character likable and not just a whiner.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

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Abandoning pants

…if you came here looking for my bare legs, sorry. I know, I know. I’m such a tease.

Pants!  Actually, let’s be more accurate, here: pantsing!  Not the really mean kind where you sneak up behind someone and remove their lower garb, but rather the kind where a writer sits down and goes “screw it, I’ve got a great idea and I’m writing it, and I’m writing it NOW.” Proceeding from that initial burst of idea, without semblance of order or planning, is pantsing.  Seat-of-your-pantsing is the origin of the word. It used to be my modus operandi, but it’s gotten me into far more trouble than it’s worth.  (See: zero polished novels.)

Not only that, but I need to try some different methods.  I’ve been stuck in my general writing routine for almost twenty years now, and as much as I’d love to stick to my guns and “be true to me,” that’s just bullshit.  I want to open myself up to new ways of doing things so I can find precisely what works for my creative process.  And I’ve tried outlining before – it’s not horrid, it’s just a bit inconvenient.

To facilitate my learning, I’m reading what’s proving to be a pretty cool book so far: Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland.  It’s short but packed with helpful information, including ideas on how and when to outline.  Instead of reading this all at once and being overwhelmed by all the things I forgot to do in the process, I’m going to follow along and actually complete the steps as I go, so that hopefully – fingers crossed, good thoughts out into the universe – by the time I’m done I’ll have AGGO outlined and ready to write.

That’s the plan, anyway.

(P.S. Excitement – searching for “A God Grown Old” pulls up my blog as result #6…already! Above that are references to the book from which I pulled the phrase, so… I’d say I’m good on that one.)