7 Questions: Author Mark Tierno

As part of the Magic Appreciation Tour, I was given the opportunity to interview Mark Tierno, author of two epic fantasy works, Maldene (Volumes One and Two).  A blend of science and sorcery, these books are set in "a world of magic and ancient secrets" where a band of mercenaries find themselves at odds with a dark wizard who may just be "the most evil being ever known."

Volume One

Mark lives in Monrovia California and has earned a Masters in Physics and a second degree in Math. He's a lifelong reader of fantasy and SciFi and started writing his books with the help of his "trusty old Amiga computer." Talk about old school!

I found him to be a very interesting fellow and I'm quite sure you will, too.

Here now, my 7 Questions for Mark Tierno:

Your Maldene novels are a mix of science and fantasy. What inspired you to blend the two genres?

Mark Tierno

I've always loved reading both SF and Fantasy.  Couple that with a mind that's always asking "What if?" and it wasn't long before I began asking myself "Why can't you combine the two?"   After all, a high enough level of technology begins to look like magic anyway.  Magic plus Science, Fantasy plus SF; such a combination could yield some very interesting environments.  The trick is avoid the sledge hammer approach in combining the two; something more subtle than just "He's got the blaster and the other guy has the magic wand."  A more subtle blend is required.

Maldene starts off as looking like pure high fantasy; the SF elements begin to peek through as the series develops until by the last books you would be hard put to tell where one ends and the other begins.  And yet, even in this first book there are clues, subtle hints that something beyond the norm of mere Fantasy may be at work.

There's enough people that write either straight SF or straight Fantasy.  I'll leave that to them and handle the mixed genre stuff.

Does your background in science and math affect how magic works in your stories?

My background gives me a logical and informed mind.  So when it comes to magic, I treat it as just another force in the universe, though one that allows quite the range of fantastic capabilities.  Nevertheless, like any force it would have its rules, as well as its own logic.  For instance, a wizard uses his mind to channel the forces behind magic, which means he can get tired after a while and would need to rest.  And if a magic spell conjures forth something physical then the normal physical laws would still apply.  A conjured lightning bolt is still electricity and could be conducted away by something like a lightning rod.  If there is a cave in which the conjuring of magic is prevented, one could still conjure forth a ball of fire from outside the cave then hurl it inside; it's simple fire at that point and not magic and would still burn even with the magic-nullifying field present.

It is this insistence on logic and the remembering that there are other physical laws present that the laws of magic must interact with that can make even a world of magic believable within its own context; provide that suspension of belief required for a reader to believe in the circumstances, feel as the characters would, and enjoy the story.

Are you still using your trusty old Amiga? If not, what hardware and software do you use to write your novels?

Volume Two

My Amiga still lives, though two years ago I had an offer from a friend to buy off his G5 MAC tower.  Having a need to interact with the real world a bit more- in such things as being able to read the PDFs my publisher gave me as the galleys for my book, and having web browsers that can actually fully load up thew social media sights that I need to promote Maldene with- I took him up on the offer.  Currently my trusty old Amiga lies silent but simply because I need to re-seat the graphics board and don't want to do it when I'm in a hurry lest I let something slip the wrong way and find myself in need of a very expensive repair.

For the record, it's an Amiga 4000/060.  During the course of writing the Maldene series I went through three keyboards and two motherboards.  Just wore them out from the pace of my typing.

What are your thoughts on the overall trend toward digital publishing?

Digital publishing will make it possible for the unknown author to at least get a start and have a chance at becoming known.  However, like in any field, there are both the good and bad.  One has to beware of a poor quality product in something as new as digital publishing with its dozen different formats and lack of any real industry standards.  Likewise for the digital publishers themselves, most of them with a track record of no more than 3-5 years instead of being spawned off an older traditional publisher with more publishing experience in general.

I also do not think that the traditional published novel is dead (at least not yet).  There are still some of us that like walking into a bookstore, taking one glance at a wall full of 50 or 60 books, and spotting that one that stands out enough for us to pull it down.  You still can't do that with even the best broadband (not to mention you'd need a screen the size of a wall to get the same view).  Tablets are getting pretty good, but they aren't flexible enough to stuff in a back pocket like an old paperback, not to mention if you ever lost it on the buss you'd be out a bit more than 2 dollars.

What's a typical writing day like for you?

I have a three day cycle for each chapter.  Day One begins the new chapter; I start at 7:30 in the morning and finish someplace around 5PM, give or take.  I will have written between 12,000-13,000 words in that time.  Then it's off to the length club for a bit (must maintain the body supporting the brain) then back for dinner, at which point I edit what I wrote that day.  Usually finish up around midnight.  on Day Two, I finish up whatever's left of that chapter; usually around 3000-5000 words.  Done by Noon (leaving me enough time to run those mundane daily errands), edit what I wrote later on.  Day Three is what I call a Chapter Edit.  I go through the entire chapter one more time, checking for plot and character stuff, then run the spell checker.  Once done with that chapter I then outline the next one that I'll be starting, so the day after that it's back to Day One on the next chapter.

My books are typically divided up into three sections, so at the end of a given section I also give the whole thing the once over to make sure that the plot elements from one chapter to the next are consistent and flow properly.  Likewise at the end of the book, I give the entire novel one last once over.

Who are the authors on your "inspired by" list and what about their lives or works inspired you?

Growing up I read quite a few; from Robert Heinlein and Issac Asimov, to Andre Norton and A.E. Van Voght, from Frank Herbert to Greg Bear.  From each one's works I took a little something; it could have been some element of style of writing or the way the story was constructed, or something about their world as written or one of the characters.  I have been inspired by many authors, and taken something from all of them.  To get a full view of how I developed my own style, from whence come all my ideas of story and character, you would have to read through about a hundred different books, twenty different authors (some rather obscure), and have seen a selection of as many movies.

Any "wish I would've known that when I started" advice you'd like to share with beginning authors?

I know writers are a solitary lot, but learn to socialize, to "network".  Agents are lazy by nature and will usually reject a new author because it's too much work and risk to promote them.  Publishers too are usually rather conservative and need a better reason than "but it's a really good book".  Now in this day and age of online networking, a writer can start forming useful contacts from the comfort of his own home and maybe drum up enough interest amongst the right parties to have a potential publisher by the time he's finished his book.

You will also need one of two things.  Either a supportive family or patron that knows you'll be a starving artist for a while before succeeding, or a day job that works with your writing schedule.

###

Thanks, Mark!

Dragonfriend Book Giveaway 3: Electric Boogaloo

The book giveaways have been coming fast and furious here on The Novel Project, but the way I look at it there's nothing wrong with another chance to win a free book, eh?

As part of the Magic Appreciation Tour, author Daniel Marvello is hosting a Dragonfriend giveaway. Yes, in a daring twist on prior giveaways, this time another author has generously offered to help out.

Head on over to his blog before 3/24 and enter for a chance to win either a paperback copy or a Kindle gift code for Dragonfriend. Then, as long as you're there, stick around for a bit as he's got some great content. Good luck!

I Get Interviewed by Cat

As part of the Magic Appreciation Tour, I was recently interviewed by Katharina "Cat" Gerlach who thought I might have something interesting to say about writing and books in general. Check out the interview and decide for yourself whether or not I'm worthy of her kind confidence. (Thanks, Cat!)

Win a Copy of Urchin King

As part of the Magic Appreciation Tour, I'm very pleased to be hosting a book giveaway for author Katharina Gerlach's historical fantasy novel , Urchin King. The giveaway will run for two weeks, starting on Wednesday 3/7 and ending on Wednesday 3/21. Katharina is providing three Smashwords coupons as prizes and asks me to let you know that Smashwords is offering her book at a substantial discount until 3/10. 

UPDATE: I included a link to Katharina's blog in her bio.

UPDATE TWO: GIVEAWAY OFFICIALLY CLOSED. Katharina has generously decided to award four Smashwords coupons for her book. Congratulations to our winners:  Brian Clopper, Aldrea Alien, Ami Hendrickson, and Daniel Marvello. 

Win me!

About the Book

For fourteen years, street-urchin Paul's miserable existence has kept him safe from an ancient law that sentences all second-born twins to death. When he learns he is the younger twin of the mentally handicapped Crown Prince who's in danger of being killed for his disability, he agrees to play the role of the miraculously healed royal heir. Paul struggles to learn how to act like a born ruler, but finds that his greatest skill, getting by unnoticed, is now his greatest liability. He knows if he is discovered, he will be executed like all second-born twins. 

Katharina Gerlach

About the Author
Katharina Gerlach grew up in the middle of a forest in the heart of the Luneburgian Heather. She enjoys writing Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Historical Novels for all age groups. At present, she is writing her next project in a small house near Hildesheim, Germany, where she lives with her husband, three children, and a dog. 

Giveaway Rules

Leave one (1) comment with your e-mail address and the title of your favorite fantasy book on this post by Wednesday 3/21 at 11:59 p.m. PST. This will enter you in a drawing to win one of three Smashwords coupons for Urchin King.

The day after the giveaway ends, the comments will be numbered and three winners will be chosen using a random number generator. Katharina will be sent the winners' contact information and will be responsible for sending out the coupon codes. 

Good luck, aspiring giveaway winners!

We Have a Winner!

Congrats to Eric Schwartz of Kentucky for winning a signed copy of Dragonfriend in my Goodreads giveaway. I'll be mailing out his copy later this week along with some bookmarks and postcards.

(Side note to authors: I highly recommend trying out this gratis Goodreads feature. It's an inexpensive way to generate some interest in your book (basically, your cost on a hardcopy and the necessary postage). I had 790 people sign up for the giveaway, many of whom also put the book on their "to read" list. Nice!)

Savor this sweet victory, Eric, for the gods of logarithmic randomness are not always so kind.

Campaigning It

I'm doing Rachael Harrie's excellent Writer's Platform Building Campaign for the second time. I met so many nice people the last time I did it, I just had to participate again. Here's the deal from Rachael's site:

"Basically, the Campaign is a way to link those of us in the writing community together with the aim of helping to build our online platforms. The Campaigners are all bloggers in a similar position, who genuinely want to pay it forward, make connections and friends within the writing community, and help build each others' online platforms while at the same time building theirs."

If you're an author/blogger, who wants to make some new like-minded friends, I highly recommend going over to her site and signing up. The deadline to register is February 15 and the Campaign runs through March 17. Do it!

Special "Year of the Dragonfriend" Book Giveaway

I've decided that another Dragonfriend giveaway is in order since this is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac. Yes, add "clever marketing genius" to my list of attributes. Yup, that's what you should do all right. Sigh. Anyhoo, feel free to click on the link if you'd like to win a free copy of the book. It'll take you over to Goodreads where you can sign up and enter.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dragonfriend

by Roger Eschbacher

Giveaway ends March 03, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Dragonfriend Book Trailer

Trend slave that I am, I've decided to join in on the book trailer craze by asking my twelve year old to put one together. I think she did a wonderful job, especially considering she was working with a budget of $0 (some of the fancy ones I've seen must have cost many thousands with impressive graphics, animation, sfx, live action, etc.). She used Windows Movie Maker, public domain photos (except for the cover), and creative commons licensed music.

I'm not convinced that book trailers "work," nor, obviously, that it's a good idea to spend a lot of bucks producing one, but I do place them squarely in the "It couldn't hurt," column.

What do you think about book trailers? Help? Hindrance? Meh? Has a book trailer ever tipped the scales in favor of you buying the book? Let us know in the comments.

Dragonfriend Postcards and Bookmarks

Hot off the presses, these beauties arrived early last week. Designed by the excellent Mike Wykowski, I love how they turned out and look forward to giving them out at readings and signings. Penguin sprang for a bunch of postcards for my picture book, Road Trip, and I was surprised at how helpful they were in terms of generating reader interest. I mailed them out to bookstores and left stacks of them at places where there were likely readers -- libraries, bookstores, schools, churches, etc. -- and received invitations to read/sign from these places as well as some mentions of postcard inspired purchases on my website.

Naturally, I had to have some postcards for Dragonfriend and, as publisher, made the savvy executive decision to have some bookmarks printed, too. Yeah, that's me, savvy.

Got any promotional suggestions you'd like to share? Please leave them in the comments.

Guest Blogger Scott Bury Talks Editing

Author Scott Bury can be found at his blog, Written Words. He can also be found in Canada which explains why he spells "favor" funny. I've got a guest post on his blog called "How to Fund Your Novel" so make sure you check that out, too. 

Part one of Scott's excellent fantasy novel, The Bones of the Earth, can be found online in the usual places.  It's got a really cool cover and even cooler words inside.

And now, please, a round of respectfully exuberant applause as Mr. Bury talks about his process...

Scott Bury

First, I want to thank Roger for inviting me to contribute to his blog. He asked me to write about my own editing process in writing my novel.

Right now, I am putting the final touches on my first-published novel, The Bones of the Earth. Part 1 is available on e-book retailers now, but before I could bring myself to put the whole thing up, I thought I would take one more look.

I have written about the four steps every writer, professional or otherwise, needs to take before starting any document.  I call it “getting a GRIP,” for goal, reader, idea and plan.

I call the plan, or outline, the best favour writers can do for themselves. Not only does it help you make sure that your report, story or novel makes sense, when you have one you don’t have to start writing at the beginning.

What I need to edit

Like every big job, preparation makes the actual work much easier. Once you’ve finished writing your draft, you have to re-write, revise, change and edit several times.

Every writer should have an editor. You need that second set of eyes, because you just don’t see what’s on the page — you see what you intended to write. An editor is a frank appraiser of your work. But the responsibility to make the changes, to polish the work and make it as good as it can be, stays with the author.

Scott's Cool Cover

I edit while I’m writing, correcting typos and silly errors, changing phrases and sentences as I change my mind. It’s so much easier with a computer than with a pen and paper.

But really editing requires some time. I need to put my work aside for a while. With my fiction, I find that I need at least a week in between drafts. I also need to edit it at least twice before I show it to anyone else, whether a friend, a beta-reader, a critic or an editor.

It’s important to leave time between drafts. It allows you to detach from the work. You don’t feel so much like every word is your baby. Work on something else in the meantime. Every sentence you write improves your writing ability, so that you’re a better writer when you come back to your earlier work.

What do I need to edit out? Excess description. Readers don’t need to have every single twitch described. They need to read a story that’s moving along. Here are some examples from my own work:

“Some of the older nuns were trying to explain away the dragon as an illusion of the devil.”

becomes

“Some of the nuns said the dragon was an illusion.”

“He rose, and the others of the kobold council rose, too. Goldemar said something in the kobold tongue to Krum Chimmek, and they all walked across the hall.”

becomes

“The council stood and led the visitors across the hall.”

“Javor was the first to spotting the ancient jetties that projected into the river. Austinus decided to stop for the night before they came to the town, and found a campsite near the river, downstream from the crumbling city walls.”

becomes

“Austinus decided to camp near the river, downstream from an abandoned town.”

The leaner text moves the action along. You have to leave some room for the reader’s own imagination to fill in the details. Just give enough for a sketch and let the reader’s imagination do the rest.

Your job is not to paint pictures—that’s the painter’s job. Your job is to tell a story.

I hope I’ve succeeded.

##

Thanks, Scott!

How about you? Any "must do" editing tips? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Wouldn't You Really Rather Write Fantasy?

"Pedro, just listen to your heart. That's what I do." -- Napoleon Dynamite

Jaq writes from Lithuania (via Goodreads):

"How did you come up with the idea for "Dragonfriend"? Did you always want to write about dragons?"

Thanks for the question, Jaq.

It's funny. I've known for the longest time that the first book I ever wrote would be a relatively hard sci fi novel. Just known it. After all, that's the genre I started out reading and that I read the most of over the years. That was the serious branch of speculative fiction, right?

Yeah, well...

Then, along came NaNoWriMo (the novel-writing contest where the goal is to write 50k words in the month of November) and what ended up coming out of my brain? A middle-grade Arthurian fantasy adventure jam-packed with magic and dragons, the most popular of all the mythical beasts of fantasy fiction. Where did all of that stuff come from?

Gee, I guess maybe all of those fantasy stories I'd been inhaling "for fun" over the years were having an influence, too -- those repeated boyhood readings of Ivanhoe, the Arthurian legends, and even the old "Prince Valiant" comic strip. What about all of the works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the other giants of fantasy? Think they might count for something in my pot of "influence stew?"

Yup. They where telling me that, if I really listened to my inner scribe, my writer's heart, I'd probably much rather write a fantasy novel.

The idea for Dragonfriend pretty much just popped into my head when I was trying to figure out what to write for NaNo. I can't ascribe it to anything other than a tiny flash of divine inspiration that told me to draw on influences I'd forgotten about (or was in denial over -- I mean come on, Tolkien? I'm not worthy to touch the hem of his garment, much less toil in his, and I do mean HIS, genre).

Don't get me wrong, I still love sci fi (and have the first draft of a YA space opera I'm going to start editing after the third Leonard book), but I'm very happy that I listened to my heart and remembered that, whether I knew it or not, I really always wanted to write about dragons.

A Nice Gift from Amazon

For the time being, Amazon has decided to discount the Dragonfriend paperback by nearly 30%.

It surprised/alarmed me when I saw the price change on the book's page last night, but I was quickly assured by customer service that it doesn't affect author royalties which are calculated off the full list price. On the other hand, it does save you some decent bucks so if you're interested in owning an analog copy of my book, this may be the time to act.

Real Books on My Doorstep!

They're here! My first shipment of Dragonfriend paperbacks arrived this week in all of their two-box, back-breaking glory. This order is primarily destined for the folks who helped me get the book published -- beta readers, etc. and the backers of my Kickstarter project. I'm also setting aside a few copies for the local school libraries, signings, and long-time "book friends."

I know the whole eBook thing is all the rage with the kids these days, but we here at the Novel Project (meaning me and Lizzy, the Border Terrier) love the heft and feel of holding a "real" book in our hands/paws. Right, Lizzy?

"Yeah, right, whatever."

Elsewhere in the news, there's still time to enter my Goodreads Dragonfriend giveaway (20 days a/o 11/23) so, if you haven't already done so, head on over and sign up. Five lucky entrants have a chance of being plucked out the the scrum by a soulless Goodreads algorithm.

Finally, a very Happy Thanksgiving is wished for the folks here in the States. To everyone else, may I heartily recommend the roast turkey dinner? Mmm.

Dragonfriend is Now on Smashwords

Set up a Smashwords account last night. It was pretty easy to do although they are sticklers for what they consider proper formatting. Not saying they shouldn't be, they just like things the way they like them. The good thing is that they lay everything out for you in their style guide and quickly bounce back an error report if their "autovetter" finds some formatting it doesn't like. All free, too.

So in addition to the Amazon and B&N accounts, thanks to Smashwords you can now read an ebook of Dragonfriend on these devices, too: Apple iPad/iBooks, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others.

And there was much rejoicing.

Win a Free Copy of Dragonfriend!

Well, as you might guess from this post's headline, I've just published my middle-grade fantasy novel, Dragonfriend. It's currently available at Amazon (print and Kindle formats), Amazon UK (Kindle format) and at B&N (Nook format). I'm working on setting up a Smashwords account, too, so check back later if you prefer to use them.

I've ordered a big ol' box of paperbacks to distribute to area libraries, beta & proof readers, reviewers, and Kickstarter supporters (I financed the setup of Dragonfriend through that excellent service) and should receive them sometime around Thanksgiving. This leads me to the paperback giveaway over on Goodreads (see the widget on the right). I thought it sounded like a fun thing to do (Hey, who doesn't like free books?!). Go ahead and enter if you think you might like to win a copy.

You might also notice that I've added a "My Books" tab in the navigation bar above. If you click on the tab you'll find a brief description of the book and links to the usual places. I'll try to keep it updated with reviews and reader feedback, too.

Here's a quick description of Dragonfriend:

If you think it was all good deeds and fancy ideals back in the days of Camelot, think again. Most people don't know this, but for a time things went seriously bad; Arthur was imprisoned, Merlin had vanished, and a vile demon had taken over the throne.

Young Leonard would have been shocked to learn any of this but right now all that concerned him was where his next meal was coming from. As page to Sir Ronald, a poor but kind knight, events at the castle took a back seat to a rumbling stomach. Oh sure, he held a secret dream that one day Sir Ronald would take a seat at the Round Table, but seriously, that was about as likely as Maid Glennys seeing him as anyone other than the dirty page of a low-ranking nobleman. Not gonna happen.

Everything changes when Leonard meets Mantooth, a seriously depressed dragon who's looking for a knight to end his misery with a swing of a broadsword. Wait a minute. If the dragon will allow Sir Ronald to slay him, his misery would be over, Sir Ronald would surely get a Round Table invite for such a brave deed, and Leonard might even climb a notch or two in the eyes of Glennys! Everybody wins, right?

Wrong. Leonard's plan backfires horribly when, on the day of the battle, Sir Ronald is arrested for "bravery without a license" and he and Mantooth are dragged off to Camelot's dungeons. Now Leonard must do whatever it takes to free his master even if that means doing battle with dangerous monsters, trying to outwit Camelot's dark overlord, or taking a bath!

As I mentioned on my other blog,  I couldn't be happier about the book finally being "out there." I started writing Dragonfriend back in 2007 and it's taken all of this time to get it to the point where I thought it was ready for primetime. Am I nervous? More than a little! I'm very pleased with how the book turned out and think it's a darned good read, but now it's up to the readers to tell me if they agree.

(note to readers: please agree)