If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humor—I write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
Newsletter - August 28, 2023
Back to work and back to school. Life has a schedule again, for all the good and bad that comes with regularity. My kids still need a lot of help and support, but not in the same ways as when they were littles. I'm not expressing anything new--most parents go through the strange phase of looking forward to their kids' independence while knowing they will miss their littles. That's why 'the baby of the family' gets babied for so long, right?
Here's a collection of the last month in scrapbook form.
What went well in August: (1) The promotion I did to bump my book up the Amazon ranks worked as advertised. I can now throw a sticker on my cover and claim the first book of The Guardian League reached the Amazon Bestseller level. (2) I did a freebie through Book Barbarian and about 800 folks downloaded it.
Things I've learned: (1) Blipping onto the Amazon Bestseller list doesn't create a magical force that draws readers in. I still like to believe it was a good move, and that I'll be able to leverage it--I just need to figure out how! (2) So far, 800 downloads from Book Barbarian has resulted in only six-and-a-half read-throughs (meaning folks purchased the rest of the series). I need another four read-throughs just to break even. That's a tad disappointing. I’m sure some folks grab the book with an intent to read later, so maybe they’ll just take a while? Also, I collected a few more ratings and reviews from this effort, so that's a positive. But it was a pretty big lift and I didn't get near where I wanted.
Mother of Trees
I'm beating my head against the wall on this book. Edith provided feedback. I've re-geared a great deal of it, but am not finished yet. And then I have a bunch of detailed feedback that may or may not still need incorporation. But I suspect that with all the changes, even though individual bits are better, I'm still creating the same problems I did before, or maybe new problems. I moved so much tension earlier in the book that I wonder if the characters are still being true. Let me put it differently: the stakes are higher, but I worry that with the increased threat, characters would make different choices, and those choices would be a different story. I'm getting wrapped around the axle. :(
Plus, I've just taken tooooo loooooong now. I'm getting lost in a forest of my own creation. And I can't steer the art, nor have I made any headway on the cover. It feels like it's falling apart. :(
That said, it is also not the first time I've climbed this particular mountain in life, and I ain't givin' up yet.
o To-Do writing list:
- Gah! I can't get my next book written!!! Honestly, I'm in a plugging-away mode right now that isn't bad. I just see a lot of work still, and it disappoints, frustrates, and deflates me.
- Complete the river scene.
- Jump to rewriting the lead-in to the final conflict.
- Switch back to the middle to make the 'planning scene' more interesting.
o Completed:
- Added more PoV.
- Increased stakes earlier in the story.
- Complete rewrite of the river adventure, which isn't quite done yet, but I'm taking partial credit here.
Previous Newsletters
- Newsletter - July 31, 2023
- Newsletter - June 30, 2023
- Newsletter - May 30, 2023
- Newsletter - May 14, 2023
May you get lost this week in another world.
Follow me on Goodreads.
Steven J Morris
If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humor—I write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.
I promise I’ve made progress on Father of Stones (FoS). Here's a screenshot to prove it: click the photo to get to the live data showing progress But... I have put a little time elsewhere. I want to invite you to try this web-game I’ve been building out. It was meant to be a role-playing game around Thaumatropic Fractures, but ended up being focused on Thaumatropic Roots. https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com The game will ask you to use your email to associate...
I built a tracking page for Father of Stones (FoS) this week. I did not, notably, write very much of said book this week. There's a joke in there about creative avoidance and I'm not going to pretend I don't see it. Anyway — here's what I made instead. Word Count Over Time A live chart of Father of Stones' progress since late June. I'm not smoothing over the slow weeks. There's a very flat stretch from June 'til August where I worked on the Eigenthrope story, then another flat stretch through...
Yesterday I needed to remember exactly how a character destroyed a dragon artifact three books ago. I didn't dig through my own novels to find it—I asked an AI I built to search them for me. It's called the Grimoire: a mini-AI system I put together with Pinecone that I can ask questions about my own books—hair color in a different epoch, a side character I want to bring back, a detail I'd otherwise lose momentum digging for. It keeps me writing instead of hunting. That's the quiet way AI has...