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Post by Daniel on Mar 28, 2014 16:38:36 GMT -5
I appear to have lost the previous entries in this thread to the Great Pub Fire, so I'm not sure where I left off. I had a couple of nice guest posts over the past few weeks, and then today I published a new post of my own. Here are some "catch up" links... The Historic Quarters of Prague by Tracy FalbePublished February 19, 2014Romantic fantasy author Tracy Falbe shares some of the historical research she did on Prague for her new release Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale. Kir-magic--The Power beind L. Blankenship's Disciple Series by L. BlankenshipPublished March 14, 2014Fantasy author L. Blankenship presents an overview of the magic system she devised for her Disciple series. (I'm a magic system junkie.) The Druids of Mundia by Daniel R. MarvelloPublished March 28, 2014An overview of how the druids and their religion influence the world of Mundia where The Vaetra Chronicles is set. |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 28, 2014 16:50:07 GMT -5
Looks really intriguing, Daniel. I'll look them up tomorrow. Your posts are always so interesting.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 28, 2014 16:53:43 GMT -5
Looks really intriguing, Daniel. I'll look them up tomorrow. Your posts are always so interesting. Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you feel that way. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 28, 2014 18:45:20 GMT -5
Oh, gosh, I love the Druid post! What a great way to share your world-building with readers without having to stick all of it into the book.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 28, 2014 19:03:53 GMT -5
Oh, gosh, I love the Druid post! What a great way to share your world-building with readers without having to stick all of it into the book. Thank you! That was exactly the plan. I went to all the trouble of figuring this stuff out, but a lot of it doesn't belong in the story except "as needed" to explain what's going on. It seems like a waste to let all that world-building sit unused on my hard disk in a Scrivener project. (I keep a separate project for the story world info.) It makes for great blog fodder, and it is just the kind of "reader-centric" content I'm shooting for these days. I'm also hoping that publishing information related to the forthcoming novel will help build some anticipation. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 28, 2014 21:57:24 GMT -5
Oh, gosh, I love the Druid post! What a great way to share your world-building with readers without having to stick all of it into the book. Thank you! That was exactly the plan. I went to all the trouble of figuring this stuff out, but a lot of it doesn't belong in the story except "as needed" to explain what's going on. It seems like a waste to let all that world-building sit unused on my hard disk in a Scrivener project. (I keep a separate project for the story world info.) It makes for great blog fodder, and it is just the kind of "reader-centric" content I'm shooting for these days. I'm also hoping that publishing information related to the forthcoming novel will help build some anticipation. That's such a great idea. Once I get a breather, I'm going to go through some of my background writing and see if I can create some posts like that one. |
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Post by Daniel on Mar 29, 2014 9:30:47 GMT -5
That's such a great idea. Once I get a breather, I'm going to go through some of my background writing and see if I can create some posts like that one. I can't wait to read them! I think you'll like doing them too. Here are some of the advantages I've discovered since I started doing reader-oriented posts like "The Druids of Mundia:" - They are fun to write.
- They give you content you can re-purpose on your book/series web site and/or as a compendium of your story world (which you can sell or give away).
- They help you organize your thinking on the subject aspect of your story world.
- They can build interest in current and future works set in that story world.
- They are great conversation pieces for increasing reader engagement.
- They make good reference material for avoiding continuity errors in the future.
When possible, I try to include a brief story excerpt. I wanted to do that with Druids, but I had trouble finding a non-spoiler snippet I could use out of context. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 29, 2014 11:38:41 GMT -5
Great stuff, Daniel, thanks! Yeah, avoiding spoilers will be a big problem for me, too.
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Post by Daniel on Apr 22, 2014 19:45:12 GMT -5
I wrote a second article in my series on the Druids of Mundia. This one talks about my interpretation of rangers, who all look like Viggo Mortensen, of course. Enjoy! The Rangers of Mundia by Daniel R. MarvelloPublished April 22, 2014In Mundia, home of The Vaetra Chroncles, rangers maintain the security and sanctity of druid lands. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 22, 2014 22:54:10 GMT -5
I wrote a second article in my series on the Druids of Mundia. This one talks about my interpretation of rangers, who all look like Viggo Mortensen, of course. Enjoy! The Rangers of Mundia by Daniel R. MarvelloPublished April 22, 2014In Mundia, home of The Vaetra Chroncles, rangers maintain the security and sanctity of druid lands. What a wonderfully worked out piece of world-building, Daniel! Really nice!  Have you turned comments off? |
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Post by Daniel on Apr 23, 2014 8:57:10 GMT -5
I wrote a second article in my series on the Druids of Mundia. This one talks about my interpretation of rangers, who all look like Viggo Mortensen, of course. Enjoy! The Rangers of Mundia by Daniel R. MarvelloPublished April 22, 2014In Mundia, home of The Vaetra Chroncles, rangers maintain the security and sanctity of druid lands. What a wonderfully worked out piece of world-building, Daniel! Really nice! Have you turned comments off? Thanks, Becca. Yes, I did turn comments off. WordPress comment settings are so confusing that I can't figure out a combination that makes it easy for real people to post but also keeps out spammers. I get few "real" comments on the blog, so it wasn't worth moderating fifty annoying spam messages for every one genuine response to a post. It's a bummer, but if anyone really wants to get in contact with me, the blog offers several other ways. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 24, 2014 23:50:34 GMT -5
What a wonderfully worked out piece of world-building, Daniel! Really nice! Have you turned comments off? Thanks, Becca. Yes, I did turn comments off. WordPress comment settings are so confusing that I can't figure out a combination that makes it easy for real people to post but also keeps out spammers. I get few "real" comments on the blog, so it wasn't worth moderating fifty annoying spam messages for every one genuine response to a post. It's a bummer, but if anyone really wants to get in contact with me, the blog offers several other ways. One of the perils of higher traffic, I guess! I get relatively little spam. |
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Post by Daniel on Apr 25, 2014 13:02:53 GMT -5
I probably shouldn't admit this, but my blog isn't particularly popular. I'm getting a little over 200 visitors a month right now. What's interesting is that nearly 30% of the traffic is from return visitors. Maybe more readers are watching that WIP progress bar than I thought.  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 25, 2014 21:53:18 GMT -5
I probably shouldn't admit this, but my blog isn't particularly popular. I'm getting a little over 200 visitors a month right now. What's interesting is that nearly 30% of the traffic is from return visitors. Maybe more readers are watching that WIP progress bar than I thought. That sounds like a good thing -- 30% return traffic! I'm sure my blog has very little traffic. I never check out the stats. |
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Post by Daniel on May 27, 2014 16:59:37 GMT -5
When Magic Appreciation Tour authors do a blog tour, I often participate. I recently joined Lori J. Fitzgerald's tour to help her get the word out about her new magical fantasy release. I love her book cover. Here Be Dragons! by Lori J. FitzgeraldPublished May 23, 2014Lori stopped by The Vaetra Files to share a brief introduction to her Dragon Tome series with an excerpt from her new release The Dragon’s Message. |
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Post by Daniel on Jun 13, 2014 14:57:09 GMT -5
I announced my new WIP on The Vaetra Files today! I have to admit it was thrilling to be able to do the announcement on a Friday the 13th that is also a full moon. You'll see why if you click through... First Moon: My First Contemporary Fantasy by Daniel R. MarvelloPublished June 13, 2014Cover reveal and announcement for my first contemporary paranormal fantasy, First Moon. |
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Post by Pru Freda on Jun 14, 2014 3:57:06 GMT -5
Many, many congrats, Daniel. That's wonderful news, and more power to your elbow in getting it finished. And if you're selling any of that amazing self-control, please may I have some?  |
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Post by Daniel on Jun 14, 2014 9:11:52 GMT -5
Many, many congrats, Daniel. That's wonderful news, and more power to your elbow in getting it finished. And if you're selling any of that amazing self-control, please may I have some? Thanks, Lynda! I don't feel confident putting my Amazing Self-Control (TM) on the market until I prove that it exists. If I actually manage to release First Moon in December, we'll talk. I'm thinking an affordable subscription service would be the best option. Oh, and thanks for the idea for a trade mark. |
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Post by Pru Freda on Jun 14, 2014 9:30:45 GMT -5
You're welcome, young man. don't forget to use it wisely. I need to get two books out by December and at the moment I'm having far too much fun plotting the second of those with the trial version of Scapple. I think I also need industrial strength duct tape to keep my nose to the grindstone. I don't suppose you have any of that, do you? |
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Post by Daniel on Jun 14, 2014 9:47:13 GMT -5
You're welcome, young man. don't forget to use it wisely. I need to get two books out by December and at the moment I'm having far too much fun plotting the second of those with the trial version of Scapple. I think I also need industrial strength duct tape to keep my nose to the grindstone. I don't suppose you have any of that, do you? This is Idaho; duct tape is mandatory. Many of the houses around here are held together with the stuff, and it needs replacing once in a while. I love Scapple! I just outlined First Moon with it. There's something freeing about being able to throw text onto the page, move it, nuke it, put bubbles around it, change colors, and rearrange it, all at will. It's better than a white board, which is my regular tool for that kind of thing. I spent the small sum they asked for it, and thanks to their generous licensing, my wife can use it too. L&L rocks. |
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