The Long Silence

Nearly 6 months without a post is a nearly incomprehensible crime in the annals of social media, but that's what has happened here.  I've had a lot happening, including work on the prequel books, but I haven't felt compelled to share what's been going on behind the scenes.  I'm doing so now moreso out of guilt than out of any belief that I'm actively excited to share.

I have started large restructure of the book on which I'm currently working.  I tend to review the work consistently as I go along to try and make sure it all makes sense and maintains continuity.  Upon review I found that the roughly completed chapter 2 was simply  too soon in the pacing of the book and both stymied and rushed character development up to that point.  In other words, the dichotomy contained within that chapter was unnatural.  This means I had to push that chapter back and take more time to develop the characters and their relationships a bit more prior to that section.  This means I needed to revisit my whole plan for when to reveal events, thus the entire middle section of the book needs to be re-framed and the pacing needs to be adjusted.

The goal, of course, is ultimately to make the book as good as it can be.

As has been my practice with this book here is another unedited section, this time from the new Chapter 2:

As the flames quickly intensified Paedrig knelt down to protect Aeden from the a potential blast. The burning man stumbled backwards. People parted as he came near and he ran until he reached his new destination, practically leaping, face first, into a water trough and dousing the flames.

The swordsman nodded towards Beodelf and said, “Yes, I see. Very cosmopolitan.”

A Child's Rhyme

In the course of writing I find one thing I keep coming back to is the idea of western culture using children's rhyme's as a way to teach or mock the world around us.  Take, for instance, Ring Around The Rosie, which is a rhyme about the Black Plague.

The concept of ancient rhymes that may no longer be meaningful to the people singing or the audience is fascinating to me.  I've also noticed how creepy they are when either Children are not the ones singing or when they are in a completely out-of-context situation.

To that end, I have an ancient rhyme from the world of The Ever War:

O' wonder, O' wonder, behold the wrath and thunder, yet a coursing we will go.

 A coursing we will go. A coursing we will go. Hi-ho the merry-o a coursing we will go.

 Over hill, over dale, through the rain and twixt the hail, a coursing we will go.

Out of Sequence

I tend to work on my books out of sequence, dealing with whatever section of the book on which I'm inspired to work. Lately I've been focusing on a late sequence.  I mostly know how I get there, but when you hear the voices it's important to know that's when you have to take the dictation.  I can smell the stale and slightly musty scent of damp and mildew that overwhelms the scene.  I can hear the beating of a heart against the silence.  Go to where the spark is to find the light.

To sign off... a segment unedited:

“Pray your gods, elf. What are they to me?” His words felt awkward, archaic, merciless and chilling.

Progress

It may seem odd, but I've been working on one small clip of wording for about a month.  It took a long time before I actually got it to a point that I decided I actually liked it.  Like so many other writers I enjoy building in pop culture references, so a bonus internet cookie to those people that can place the song I've referenced.

I am the reaper of men

Sight

Twice as clear as reason

Blade

Twice as sharp as treason

Calm

Deep and rich like silt on a river bed

and just as never ending

No force will stay my hand

Touch

The heart of the heathen

Grace

To know when to weaken

Death

Quick and cold like wind on a winter's day

and just as never ending

For I am one with the sword

Another Announcement

It's been a while since I've posted, but I haven't been idle. I'm happy to announce the arrival of The Ever Store on Cafepress. There are a number of items available including shirts, posters and iPhone cases. I've also updated the iTunes bookstore link so people can jump there from the main site again.

More designs will be released in the future. Come by and visit!

http://www.cafepress.com/theeverstore

Destroyer's Face

One thing I can say about a number of small projects I've been doing is that they've been slowly improving my skills with Photoshop.  Case-in-point, I wasn't happy with how I had initially designed Destroyer's face, and considering he's the Title Character I wanted to revisit the image and make it something I felt more comfortable with.  After a bit of re-working I finally felt pretty pleased with how he looks.  It's a reminder of how little details can make or break a project.

Destroyer's Tale is Progressing

I've been working on getting major game progression points down, but with the combat substantially smoother I'm able to put more time into other detail elements.  For instance, map shifts are something I'm slowly learning, but will eventually make for a far better game.  I'm including a side quest for people that are inclined to try it, and that way I can involve parts of the world that aren't necessary to the plot, but in a way that has been inspired by FFVII in that these bosses are most likely going to be tougher than the actual final boss in the game.  I'm not yet certain what reward I'll build in for having completed the entire quest, but I'll try and make it awesome, or at the very least amusing.  Here's a shot of the overworld design as it stands currently:

Working Without an Outline

I've heard many writers speak about their process for building a novel.  Some lay out post-it-notes along a wall covering the character and chapter progression, expecting that will prevent them from missing details.  Others operate with less structure, for instance Stephen King has said for the Dark Tower series he didn't maintain even a notebook, instead believing that the really good ideas stay in his head.  I suppose I'm a middle ground between the two, in that I don't actively keep a detailed outline, but I do have a rough version of one in my head, and some scenes I can see very clearly.  I also do keep a notebook, the same one I've been keeping notes in for the last 17 years.  At this point I've almost reached that critical year 18 of this project, which means it will be, in all, as old as I was when I started it.

At this point, assuming I do finish the prequels, this will have become my life's work.  that's a very odd thought, but is an all but unavoidable conclusion at this point.  While I could see myself releasing unrelated works, I can't imagine myself attempting anything on such a grand scale.

I may have said this before but looking back, if I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't.  I'm not certain I would admit there are nobler pursuits, but certainly there are simpler ones.

Quite suddenly the largest audience for this blog originates from Israel.  I'm not quite sure how that happened, though it should force one to consider themselves humbled by the reach of the internet.  Whether by chance or choice it aids people in reaching out and touching the thoughts of another.  The written word may still be the most powerful force mankind has to offer.

Work in Progress, A Not So Secret Project

While I don't always like to share the numerous things I have on the back burner at any given moment, because I don't know which of them might not make it to fruition, so far I've been having good success with this particular project and I'm hoping it will eventually see completion and release.

 Yes, you read that correctly.  It says "New Game."  I've been working on an Ever War RPG game that would, if complete, reveal the actual events surrounding Destroyer and the rise of the 7th Realm.  While this isn't a full on announcement I will, hopefully, be able to post updates as scripting continues.

As you can see here I've combined a number of script mods to have an active battler system, which results in watching your characters leap across the screen when performing attacks, and opponents doing the same when they strike back.  It's been a long process getting things mostly where I want them in battle alone, just as a foundation, but with that in place real building can commence.

Now Listed on Goodreads

For anyone reading, The Ever War series is finally listed on Goodreads.  If you have an account I'd appreciate if you took the time to drop by and rate it (or on Amazon or B & N or iTunes if you have the time and energy).

I haven't been able to have their system pull up the books by their name yet for whatever reason, but they pull up when you enter DW Hawthorne or enter the ISBN.

Thank you if you take the time to rate and review.

-DWH

A Return to Form

I've been hard at work on the prequel book and I've felt re-invigorated after having revisited the source material.  Considering I don't write non-fiction the idea of source material is odd, but when I'm working with a section or plot line that is an homage to another work, or if I'm writing a section that has facts and real world knowledge weaved throughout I can power through a lack of inspiration by reviewing my notes, or the original source.

By pure page count I'm almost a third of the way through the draft of this book, though it simply doesn't feel that way.  In general I don't accept that I'm making any real progress until I reach the last few sections, and then I am nearly palsied by the stress of spotting and closing unintended gaps.

The characters have been, if not a revelation then a joy.  The cast is so varied from the Weapon Mythos and I'm getting to know these people as I spend more time with them, even though I've taken notes on them in one form or another for the last decade.  Just like their forebears (or in this case their descendants I suppose) they never seem to lack the ability to surprise me.  I've also had the ability to explore more of the map, so to speak.  I get to reveal parts of the world that aren't integral to the plot of the later books, but has a greater influence now, and that is exciting in its own way, so that the later books won't necessarily feel like I'm simply revisiting the same territory, and the progression of time that occurs during the series amplifies that effect.

Here's another pre-edit section:

 “I could tell a story,” Aeden said.

Paedrig laughed, “Is that so?”

“What story does a little boy know?” Beodelf said. Serafynn hushed him, but he ignored her. “I'm not really in the mood for some story about talking animals.”

“Some animals can speak, and only a foolish man does not listen,” Esop said.

Like Thunder, Only Louder

Today the First Chapter of the prequel book has been completed to a rough draft.  It's been rough going with a number of life events getting in the way, along with a weird lack of clarity for how I should end the chapter.  Yet, as I took a recent walk, not really listening to my headphones and not really paying attention to the scenery around me I was struck by inspiration and clarity.  I saw the entire final section of the Chapter play out, leaving me with the strong conclusion sequence I long for in my work.

As for page count it's the longest opening chapter in the series, and will probably retain that status over the course of my work.  I would guess that it represents roughly 20% of the entire book, meaning i'm somewhere around 25% through the draft.  As I progress onward I feel more confident having gotten through a particularly bothersome section and moving on to a section that I've written a ton of notes for and have mostly mapped my way through.

My most favorite aspect of working on this project has been seeing these new characters really come to life.