C is for the Risen Christ. Give me the courage to share Christ’s compassion to those who are different from me.
C is for Ciara. She does not appear till the third book as Aaron’s foster sister. If not for her and her siblings Palace of the Twelve Pillars might never have been written.
I was just reminded of this blog hop today. Usually I’m better prepared but this year has been a roller coaster so far and the ride is not ending any time soon. So this month you will get a mixed bag of posts. I will try and do two mini posts for each letter, one inspirational as has been my April posts, but I am also in the process of gearing up for the release of the first book in my YA Christian Fantasy trilogy on April 26 so I will include a fact about my book in each of my daily posts.
So here we go April 1: A is for Allelujah
How exciting that April 1 is the day after Easter this year. Allelujah: He is Risen. Jesus has set us free.
A is for Aaron/Airyn
Aaron/Airyn is one of the main characters in my trilogy. Although he doesn’t appear till the end of the second book Palace of Three Crosses, this young man paid a pivotal role in the beginning of the writing process for the trilogy. Part of Aaron’s story was written first, and a small book Aaron’s Revenge was even self published first. As I finished writing this excerpt from Aaron’s life I realized there was so much more story to tell, like how that young man got to the point where that story started. These thoughts gave birth to the Palace of the Twelve Pillars trilogy. With that realization Aaron’s father, uncle and a whole slew of other characters took center stage to contribute to the saga. You will hear more about them in the coming month. Just remember that Aaron/Airyn started it all.
I guess I should quickly explain the two spellings. He started out as Aaron, but as I got into the third book found the need for him to have two names yet only one name, so to some of the characters he became known as Aaron, while to others he became known as Airyn.
To get anymore details than that you will have to read the books.
Palace of the Twelve Pillars: Book One Release Date April 26 2013
Palace of Three Crosses: Book Two Release Date September 2013
Sanctuary of Nine Dragons: Book Three Release Date TBD
Be willing to wait. In the meantime, write when you don’t feel like it. If you can’t write, read. (Monica Wood, The Pocket Muse)
My story achieved lift-off yesterday. Oh I had the beginnings of the story, but it was limping along. My word count was behind, because of family issues and the fact that Monday through Wednesday are days that I just don’t have the time to dedicate to writing. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are proving to be my big push days, and yesterday held true to form. The real magic started stirring Wednesday in an unscheduled on-line write in. I put up a challenge: The character finds something on the kitchen table that doesn’t belong.
My mc found a sword. I didn’t know why when I wrote it, but hey I could always cut it out later.
Then Thursday comes: Marathon writing day; first sprint around lunchtime after I procrastinated cleaning my office and eating. Time for mc to identify the sword. We have lift off. Unbeknownst to me on Wednesday the sword on the kitchen table was planting plot seeds. I reached that point that us pansters love, the story took off, the lines started coming together. It was like a volcanic eruption going off in my mind. I was in the zone.
Anyway the moral of the story: Keep on writing, participate in the prompts, the write ins whether on line or in the back room of your favorite library or coffee joint. Because you never know what is going to trigger the launch sequence.
Happy Writing and God Bless,
May you all find the spark that launches your story into the stratosphere.
Christina Weigand
Word count: 20165
New Title: Myrria’s Journey: The Dragon Knights
For the last week I was vacationing in a place I believe to be as close to heaven as you can get on earth, Hawai’i. While there I did little writing for any of my pending projects. What I did write may or may not turn into something, but served more as pleasure than anything else. I did some people watching while waiting in the airport. I found a spark of inspiration (literally, really) that led to a solution of my Joachim dilemma. I’ll tell you more about that in another post. What I want to talk about today is overcoming a bump in my publishing road.
When I arrived home early Sunday morning (like 12:30 am) I thought after some sleep, food and email sorting I would be ready to get Joachim into and out of his cave. That was until I found a review of Aaron’s Revenge. Come join me for a roller coaster ride.
My first response at seeing that I have a review: Excitement, finally my FIRST Review. As writers we all know what it’s like to get that long awaited first review. With shaking hands I click on the button that will reveal someone else’s opinion of my baby, so lovingly crafted and sent into the world. What will I find as I round this bend? Will I continue to soar or plummet int the pits of despair?
This time it was plummet. With comments like; seemed like a first draft, copious editing mistakes, glat character and too short to tell the story the right way sent my heart right into the depths.
Doubts and second-guessing my decisions about Aaron assault me as the ride continues. Questions arise: Do I stop marketing? Do I pull the book from the shelves? What do I do with the hundred books in my office? Have I ruined my reputation before I ever built it?
There are a few small hills: the story has potential, great storyline and personalized response to the reviewers contest win.
As the author I know these comments are not directed at me as a person, but rather at the writing (except for the last one). It still doesn’t make it any easier to face it. I grab onto the positives and slowly start climbing another hill.
A second review, mre positive stuff and I begin to gain a little more perspective. I self published (ie self edited). Apparently even after five read throughs I still did not catch all the errors.
So as I reach the breathing point of this ride I can begin to assess the lessons learned, some I already knew, others new info to digest and take forward.
Lesson Number One: Find someone to professionally edit before publishing.
Lesson Number Two: Don’t be too anxious to push the baby out the door. Make sure they are completely dressed first. Which leads to:
Lesson Number Three: Never release the third book in a trilogy before the first two.
And now where do I go with an already published book. It stays right where it is, but now I look at it with new eyes. Like dealing with a child, I find a new way to respond and learn from my past activities.
Aaron’s Revenge will continue to be available and when the first two books in the series are finished and published (after being professionally edited of course) I will rewrite Aaron’s Revenge and re-release it. Hopefully the first edition will serve as a teaser for the whole series, and compel people to find out the whole story. I will continue to build my reputation and following, so as to overcome the sting of that first review.
Now I take these lesson and begin the steady climb up the next hill. I want to thank Jess and Cheryl- Lynn for their reviews and the inspiration and courage to keep on climbing instead of getting off at the bottom.
The aforementioned reviews can be seen at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8590369-aaron-s-revenge.
God Bless,
Christina Weigand
Aaron’s Revenge
Available at Xlibris, Amazon and Barnes & Noble