Windrider Serial

[birdnerd]

Fabu!

[newburydave]

Hey Becky;

Just found this thread and bought book 1 from Amazon.

Not really an Elvenkind fan but thought I'd check it out...

Is Digital Dragon still a going concern?

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[beckyminor]

Hey Dave--thanks so much for picking up the first book. I deeply appreciate it, and I hope it gives you a new impression of elvenkind.

As for Digital Dragon, they are still producing issues--not always monthly, but still as an outlet for family friendly spec fic writers. The whole enterprise seems to be growing, as I know their parent organization, Diminished Media group is actively pursuing and signing new authors. They have been a great, encouraging few folks to work with, and I hope they are able to grow and make a serious stand in the market. We all know its touch to get a foothold in today's marketplace.

[newburydave]

Becky;

I've read your first few chapters. Your story is interesting.


Let me first give my standard disclaimer; I usually don't like Elf stories. IMHO the standard for good Elvenkind portrayal was set by Tolkien in the LOtR series, not too many authors can come up to that standard of magical realism. Most of the elf stories that I've started to read (and never finished) were too magical and not real enough to keep my attention because I could not identify with the main POVs.

That being said I think your Elf captain and your other "creatures" are well done. They are enough human-like in their motivations and reactions that I can relate to them as sympathetic personalities. I like that, IMHO that is good story craft. If I can't identify with the POVs then I'm not going to care about them enough to keep reading.

The nakedness of your introductory chapters is interesting, I'm trying to develop that kind of reckless style and I admire anyone who does a creditable job at it. You RUE very well, that keeps the uncertainty and the dramatic tension high. I like that as well.

Well I've only gotten as far as the Elf Captain sending the prophetess packing with her sanctimonious didacticism and going to break the new horse to saddle so I can't say too much about the plot development except that you have introduced enough plots and subplots to keep it interesting. The mix of different races alone should make for some good fireworks. I look forward to exploring how you develop this.

================

RE: Digital Dragon;

I find that I like to write dragons, but my dragons are all non-canonical, I think that my dragons express different aspects of human and the divine nature; and I believe that they are real in our universe (but that gets into heavy metaphysics and cosmology that's way beyond the scope of this post).

Do you think that Digital Dragon would be open to serializing one of my Hard Science Fiction Space Operas that include my draconic races mixing it up with men?

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[beckyminor]

Thanks so much for your thoughts on the story, Dave! I really appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad it seems to be holding onto you as a reader. I personally think it would be a mistake to try to make my elves Tolkienesque, for the reasons you stated. He worked them in a way I don't think anyone else could. I also don't think that the newer generation of audiences necessarily latch onto the archetypical "concept" characters as much as perhaps readers used to. Sure, Tolkien's work still ensnares new, young readers all the time, but that's because he was a master of what he did. To try to imitate and fall short would likely drive readers away in droves, I think.

Anyway, enough of my surmising. I would love to see how you feel about the whole tale when you have a chance or inclination. Is a short, brisk read, having been short serial installments in it's first delivery over at DDM.

As for your work being an option for Digital Dragon, I would absolutely submit it to them. I know they are on the constant lookout for serials to keep the magazine well-populated. I do recommend keeping each installment short for that format though. It's hard to squeeze the story in, but for the short-attention-span online reader, shorter worked better. The mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy sounds like it will be an interesting departure from anything their other regulars are doing, so I think it's very possible they may bite.

Do let us know how it pans out!

[newburydave]

Thanks Becky;

By the way, what age group are you intentionally targeting with Windrider? I can see that my oldest Granddaughter (10 yrs; reading level @ 14) would like it with all the Medieval pagentry, queens, lords and ladies. My son is looking for stuff for her to read since she devours books at a rapid rate. I'll have to point her to this.

RE; Serialization:

I have a novel that is currently stalled, "The Elysium Wars". I've written it in very short chapters. It is very heavily allegorical with strong Christian theological elements. I set it in a story universe unlike any I've seen before (pure inspiration).

Setting:

The original creation was an organo-spiritual whole. Adam's sin shattered it into shards each of which was a seperate universe embodying one of the major modalities of the original creation.

Our splinter universe carries the primary modality of the physical creation and redemption, it is the main line so to speak from which the others branched when they shattered.

Elysium carries the primary modality of spirit-soul being with only a shade of physicality, but it carried off with it the great crystal throne of the creator. That throne is under the stewardship of the leading clan of the consortium of clans of Elysium. Elyusions move through time like we move through space and space moves for them like time does for us. In short their universe is Orthogonal to ours.

God is pulling all the shards toward one common meeting point for the final restoration and he uses the His people in each shard-verse to shape the spiritual forces to allow that final reunion to happen.

Okay, that's the theological backstory.

The story revolves around an older man on Earth, with a heart condition, who is pulled "Back" into his real life in Elysium as the young clan leader of the primary clan. He is the only one who can control the powers of the great crystal chair. Satan's emmisaries in Elysium are trying to exterminate his clan and his line in a great war. He's got to save his clan and God's plan in Elysium.

I've got about 8 chapters written and several others at the principal plot points of the story. The chapters are all fairly short and written with cliff hanger endings. One of the Elyusion clans is a clan of Dragons and one of their princes becomes my main POV's son-in-law.

I feel like I was led to write it in this form and it seems to fit the serial format perfectly.

Do you think they'd be interested in serializing something like that?

It also occurs to me that there is room for others to write in the other Shard-verses for a shared story space similar to what they're doing over at TC2.

Just some ideas

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[beckyminor]

Sorry for the long delay, Dave--you know how the old "life" can be! (Plus I deliberately shunned computer time over the weekend, for the most part) so I could get some drawing projects done.

Anyway, to answer your question about the intended audience for my Windrider stuff--I have always perceived it as being for teens and adults, not so much from a content appropriateness standpoint, but more from a reader/character identification angle. The protagonist, as you've likely gathered from what you've read, is the elven equivalent of a 20-something soldier, and generally, middle-grade readers don't glom onto characters so far outside their age group and life experience. Granted, there are exceptions to every rule, but I would definitely say the younger end of the YA market was not my target. Of course, folks of that age group are buying the book, so we shall see what they think of the crabby, terse, protagonist.

And regarding your serial idea--it sounds very well thought-out and full of potential plots and sub-plots that I think would be of interest to the folks over at DDM. The only way you'll be able to know is to go ahead and submit, though. I don't know what their turnaround time is these days for reviewing submissions, but your work sounds different enough from the work they have serialized or have going now to maybe be a good fit. Can't hurt to send it along, right? I'm guessing what you would need to do is send the first story of the bunch through the regualr submissions process, letting them know it is the first installment of a serial, and see if they bite.

I wish you great success in building an audience for your work.

[newburydave]

Becky;

I finished Windrider 1 and bought the second book. Good story, even with all the other books I have on the reading and writing anvil it is good enough that it keeps drawing me back for more.

Is there another Windrider Serial/Novel in the works? I think you may have the potential for a long running series here.

How have the sales been? I've got to go give you some reviews at Amazon.

Write on Sis

SGD
dave

[beckyminor]

Hey Dave--I absolutely appreciate the read and the continued interest. Yes, there is another book started in the series, but the trick is going to be getting it done! Life is so crammed with a full time job and selling the books already out there, that writing time is hard to come by. I do hope you're right, though, that I could build a long-term brand with it. It would be fun to have a many-book sort of pulp series sort of like the old Conan books (except clean.) I'll be sure to keep you in the loop.

[Kessie]

Hey Becky, I have a question. In the first page or so of the first book, Vinny's horse breaks its leg on the rocks and has to shoot it. But the image I got was that the horse's leg actually broke off, and part of it was stuck in the rocks a few feet from the horse. What actually happened there?

[beckyminor]

You got the correct image there, Kessie. The event comes from something that happened to a horse where I took riding lessons as a kid. I thankfully never saw anything but the puddle of blood left behind from the event, but heard the tale of the mare who lost her leg in the pasture because it got stuck in debris that had been dumped there.

So yes--leg sheared off, a few feet back from where the horse crashed. I have officially ruined the story for little girls everywhere.

[Kessie]

Becky: Okay, so I WAS getting the correct image. All I could think of was how easily the legs broke off my smaller Breyer horses.

[beckyminor]

Lol! No kidding. Never play with Breyer horses in the snow. (Learned that the hard way.) And why was there no glue in the universe that would hold them together once they broke?