got ‘em! I got ‘em! I got my copies of Castle Walls!! W00T!

I’ve also got all the copies signed that need signing. Next week, six of them will hit the US Snail, and two go to people here in Portland.

On the Tiopa Ki Lakota front, I just finished a new scene where young Anpo receives her new name. Originally, the shaman gave it to her after she told he and her father of her vision. Now, I realize she would not have had her father there when she spoke with Inyan; she’s an adult (at the tender age of 12,) and would speak to him on her own. Not to mention the fact that the shaman wouldn’t give her a name right then – he’d meditate on it and pronounce it publicly.

So, Wanbli (Anpo’s father) holds a feast in honor of her special vision, and many people are in attendance. It’s at this time that Inyan gives her the new name of Wi Ile Anpo (“the sun is burning at dawn.”)

I’ve gotten a bit more extensive in the discussion of Anpo’s place in her village. Not only is the vision of the white buffalo a very important one, but her mere existence as a wicakte (two souled woman) is vital. Her standing among all the people is extremely high, even at her age. It will be quite a responsibility for her, and I’ve tried to show the beginnings of that.

When I first wrote the novel, the first chapter was 20k long. Then, when Renaissance Alliance published it, they said it was overlong for a chapter and divided it in half. Now that I’m rewriting, I discovered that it’s even longer than I thought. The ‘first’ chapter is actually five now. I’m now beginning work on ‘chapter 2,’ Winyan Ki. Things should go a bit faster for awhile as I’m only editing what’s already done. It’ll no doubt slow down when I reach the point of Kathleen leaving her family to return to Anpo – I skipped over that scene and at least one person has been quite adamant of seeing what happens when Kathleen tells her parents that the homesteading way is not for her, and she’s going to return to the heathens.

So . . . I’m really happy for Aries. Apparently, people in the UK who ordered Castle Walls have already received it! YAY! And it was only ordered last week! Major kudos!

But . . .

Where are MY copies? I’m supposed to get ten freebies! I’m hearing how wonderful my book looks and I haven’t seen the blasted thing!

sigh

A couple of years ago, I had this story idea kicking around in my head about a princess running from the man who slaughtered her family, and was now coming after her. I needed someplace for her to go, someone for her to run into that would assist in hiding her until the culmination of the tale came into being. I racked my brain for months on end and came up with nothing.

Then I went to Cirque Du Soleil.

BINGO! The princess would run into a traveling circus!

Tonight, I attended another Cirque Du Soleil, this one 'Allegria.' And as I sat in the audience, marveling at the talent before me, I realized that the story I wrote – Castle Walls – was now officially in print. The announcement came only two days ago.

Cool, huh?

We’re delighted to announce that we have:

Castle Walls by D. Jordan Redhawk

Princess Sabine Katerina Annaatje of Dulce is on the run outside the castle walls from a vicious invader who has killed her entire family and usurped her father’s throne. With only one man at arms and a faithful handmaiden, she barely escapes the Invader’s clutches as he has vowed to leave no blood heir alive.

Stumbling into a camp of itinerant performers, Sabine hides her identity, becoming Katerin of Aimsbury. She learns to trust the leader of the traveling circus, Ros Adamsson, a bawdy woman who is half-rogue and half-gentlewoman. Trust may eventually blossom into more if Katerin can overcome her fear and conservative upbringing.

Meanwhile, the Invader is still searching for her. A rumored uprising in theDulce Province, a royal summons for the Adamsson Circus, and a traitorous servant all collide to reveal a secret even deeper than Katerin’s identity.

ISBN: 0974137812
Price: $13.99
Pages: 148
Released: October 2003
Genre: Fantasy

The Wrong Trail Knife by Jane Fletcher

The absence of men on the planet doesn’t mean that there aren’t any problems.

Indeed, Sergeant ‘Chip’ Coppelli has seen more than her fair share of them. She escaped her family’s manipulative plots by running away to join the militia. After nine years in the elite Rangers, fighting thugs and wild predators, Chip has learned to spot trouble coming.

Katryn Nagata joins the 23rd squadron under highly unfavourable circumstances. Katryn is clearly worried, and not ready to tell anyone why. The first time Chip sets her eyes on Katryn, she knows trouble is on the way.

But Chip wasn’t expecting murder.

ISBN: 0974137820
Price: $13.99
Pages: 213
Released: October 2003
Genre: Fantasy/Mystery

Fortitude Press is pleased to announce that we will be participating in DC BardFest. The convention will be held in Washington, DC, October 4-5. All of Fortitude's titles will be available for purchase at the Con, including two new releases: The Wrong Trail Knife by Jane Fletcher and Castle Walls by D. Jordan Redhawk.

If you are attending the DC BardFest and would like to pre-purchase any of Fortitude's titles, you may do so now through September 30 (or while supplies last). We'll have your books set aside for you to pick up at any time on Saturday. You won't have to wait in the regular line. Save time, save money by avoiding shipping costs, and be assured that the titles you want are there. Pre-purchase your titles today! Go to: www.fortitudepress.com.

If you are attending the DC BardFest and would like to purchase any of Fortitude's titles while there, we will have a table set up and will be accepting cash, checks, money orders and credit cards. However, as we will only be taking a limited quantity of each title to the event, we cannot guarantee your favorite book will still be there when you drop by. We urge you to make use of our pre-order website.

We look forward to seeing you there!
——-

Yeeeeehawwwww!

Finished Castle Walls and returned it just after midnight last night (this morning?) This should be the final go through! YAY!

Went to bed and had a rude awakening a few hours earlier. Food poisoning. Blech. Laid in misery for about an hour, uncertain in which direction I'd lose whatever was in me. I sincerely hoped for one and got the other instead. I hate throwing up. shudder

Much better today. A bit of acid on the stomach, but nothing else. So, just a touch. Whew! Still haven't figured out exactly what it was, as my wife and I had dinner at a buffet place and pretty nearly had the same thing. Who knows?

So…very late start today. Didn't even begin writing until almost 1pm. Stared at the screen for an hour and did dishes instead. (Good thing, too. Haven't done dishes in three days. We were beginning to wonder where the hel the kitchen had gone!) Now I've got just over four hundred words. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of the scene.

I think I'm closer to the end than I thought. Maybe even before this 1k is finished. We'll see.

My goal for today is not 3k, due to feeling tired and uninspired from feeling icky. I'm going to do 1k, take a nap, and see what happens later. If I'm close enough to the end, I'll probably slog through it.

And then READ, READ, READ! I've got three library books and a book on full time RVing piled at the end of my desk for my perusal.

So far, 2156 words. While my goal for today is 3k, I don’t think I’ll make it. I just received an email from Fortitude. I know have the proof for Castle Walls! YAY! One final read through and I’m DONE

Busy ones, at that. Two glorious days off and I only got one nap out of the deal! Durnit!

Saturday was spent catching up on all the chores I hadn't done because I was working my butt off the previous six nights. I only just got the mountain of dishes done this morning! No writing to be had (and haven't had time for two or three days before Saturday, either.)

On Sunday, I buried myself in Castle Walls. ARGH! I thought the LAST time was the last time! Six hours of heavy duty editing. Gods! I hope I only have to read a proof now! I’ve been through this manuscript seven times!

Nobody told me that writing was work! LOL!

And to cap the night, I found a really cool set of templates for my revised website. I'm going to give it a professional appearance. For those of you who enjoy the writing there, I'll warn you – I'm not going to have links from the main site to the stories. I will, however, leave the stories there. The reason for this is that there are several places where the links to the individual tales are listed. I don't want to cut off people from reading what's already online, but I also don't want to turn off potential publishers by having fanfiction on my site. It's a sticky situation. I mean, if anybody REALLY wanted to find the stories, all they'd need to do is search.

Fanfiction is my skeleton and I'm constructing the closet. LOL!

Anyway, if and when the Sanguire series is published, I'm also going to put the Sanguire Encyclopedia online. And now I'm going way beyond simple html programming. The templates are frames and I spent a couple of hours futzing around until I fgured the links out. Now I've got to consider MySQL and PHP programming. Yikes! I want to remove my email address from all areas of the site and simply put a comment form down. It'll help divert the spam I've been receiving. I was also thinking about using one or two line quotes from my stories as a teaser on the main page – that's why MySQL. I want it a random quote to come up every time someone goes to the site.

AND I'm writing 1k a day, editing On Azrael's Wings, brainstorming my future media kit, etc, etc, etc.

I wish I didn't have to work full time!

Have a good day, people!

First week down, and 7314 words! I’ve also finished one complete chapter.

Been reading a book called Guerrilla Marketing for Writers. It’s somewhat interesting; talks about the need to market one’s self (something I’m woefully lacking in,) and gives many suggestions for same. It’s not bad, but not exactly what I was looking for, I guess. Very general overall. I suppose it would be much more helpful if I was writing how-to or self-help books. Then I could go like gang busters with the ideas there.

Last week was a stress free, few work days kinda week. Loved it. Had five glorious days off overall. This week, I’ve got one day off and no going home early. So . . . which week did my editor return Castle Walls for ANOTHER go round? Why, this one, of course! ARGH! I’ve only gotten 50 out of 195 pages done. Thank gods, I’m not currently on a deadline!

Off to do dishes, change sheets, pack lunch, get ready for work, blech!

It's done! Castle Walls is now back in Cindy's court! WOO HOO!

If I'm lucky, I'll only have to read it one more time when I get the proof.

I spent all my midmorning and early afternoon hours slogging through Castle Walls. I think I caught all the repeated words, nit picky capitals, etc. I now have to read through it again before sending it back to my editor. Don’t let anybody fool you – getting the story down on the computer or on paper is tough, but reading and rereading your tale a dozen times before publication is a pain!

And then there's the heat wave that's acing my buddy, Nicosian. I'm quite a distance from her but it's just as bad here. UGH. When it's cold, my joints don't like to work because of arthritis. When it's hot, my feet like to swell up so I hobble everywhere. Can't win for losing, man!

Anyhoo, wanted to check in and let folks know I'm still here.

W00T! 22,381 in 21 days! I had a couple of rocky parts when Castle Walls came in to be edited, but so far so good.

Of these words, I’ve completed five chapters for Born of Silence and will finish a sixth one by early tomorrow. Six chapters in just over three weeks is a major record for me! When I began writing, it would take me two weeks to finish one chapter on average. I’m going like gang busters!

I've also put in 4300 words on the Sanguire Encyclopedia. I've still got plenty of character building to fall back on if I have a problem getting into the groove with the writng and over a month to hit my goal of 8000 in this section.

1545 words on Born of Silence! W00T! PLUS I finished all of Castle Walls edits and sent it back to my editor. Yeah, baby! Who’s yo daddy?

Only 769 words today. About two hundred of that is the last of Castle Walls edits. The rest I did at Coffee People on Born of Silence.

I’m having difficulty slipping from a medieval fantasy to contemporary vampires (go figure!) I had the same problem the last time I went through CW. Took me three days to get back into BoS. Can’t afford that this time, however, if I’m going to keep up my grand a day for the Forward Motion Dare. This is day two of no joy as far as word count.

Tomorrow morning I think I’ll get back into the swing of things. Write the grand for BoS before work. Then, when I get home (which will be early cuz we’re REALLY slow at work) do the final bit of CW. I’ve got a list of repetitive phrases I’ve got to sort through. Brainless work, actually. Just a matter of finding them all and replacing them with more inventive things.

And now I’m waiting for my buddy, Shawn, to get her butt home from work so I can talk to her on iChat.

In the meantime, for those of you who wish to ask about outlines, the answer is yes, yes, and yes. LOL! Oh, all right, I’ll answer a little better . . .

Yes, I work from an outline. At least I am with BoS and I have with Warlord Metal and Tiopa Ki Lakota.

Yes, I work without an outline. At least I did with the fanfic series I was involved in. Those were done on a chapter by chapter basis because each chapter equated with a single day. I’d decide “Okay, it’s the following day, what’s everybody doing?” I also didn’t work from any sort of outline with CyberEpic and got about halfway through one that’s been tabled (Kou Itten) without an outline.

Yes, I have an alternative method. Or at least I’ve tried several. With Castle Walls, I didn’t use an outline so much as the index card method. Tiopa was the result of historical study where I had to keep good track of time. (There really was a year known as the Year of the Horses by the Lakota.) With Born of Silence, I found a Mac program called Omni Outliner that’s fantastic!

I would highly suggest going to Forward Motion and registering there. They have online classes and they also have the transcripts from past classes. You’ll find one by Holly Lisle about how to outline. It helped me a lot!

Fortutide has Castle Walls listed on their website! W00T!

So, here's the summary:

Princess Sabine Katerina Annaatje of Dulce is on the run outside the castle walls from a vicious invader who has killed her entire family and usurped her father’s throne. With only one man at arms and a faithful handmaiden, she barely escapes the invader’s clutches as he has vowed to leave no blood heir alive.


Stumbling into a camp of itinerant performers, Sabine hides her identity, becoming Katerin of Aimsbury. She learns to trust the leader of the traveling circus, Ros Adamsson, a bawdy woman who is half-rogue and half-gentlewoman. Trust may eventually blossom into more if Katerin can overcome her fear and conservative upbringing.


Meanwhile, the invader is still searching for her. A rumored uprising in the Dulce Province, a royal summons for the Adamsson Circus, and a traitorous servant all collide to reveal a secret even deeper than Katerin’s identity.

And just an FYI to everybody, there's going to be a minimum of four new chapters involved. Pretty much what I was complaining about last month. LOL!