The travails of a berserk writer, fighting to finish his first speculative fiction novel whilst in the turmoil of new fatherhood, and his quest to ensure that it’s something worth reading.
My Mission: to document the final stages of editing for my first book “Last Resort”, prior to a self-imposed publication deadline of October 2014 (when the responsibilities change up a few gears!) Yeah, so I didn’t even come close to hitting that deadline. Who knew kids could be such hard work? I’m still writing though, and the book’s finally taking shape.
To that end, I will be regularly sharing my thoughts about writing.
How will I go about refining the plot in the evenings after work?
What techniques & advice will I find scattered around the net to guide me?
How to flesh out my characters into people you’ll love (or love to hate)?
And what story is this, anyway?
Charm only gets you so far, as space pirate ‘Captain Roger’ finds out, when overnight he shoots to #1 on the solar-system’s most-wanted.
Before you can say shiver-me-timb… MUTINY!
He somehow turns it around, maroons them on an asteroid, and sails alone to New Canton, for a little R & R. After that he’ll need a new crew, and a fresh start.
Little does he know before shipwrecking there, that the colony is under quarantine (dragon infestation), that the only vacant room left in town is a suite at the Last Resort, costing a king’s ransom per night, and that it isn’t easy to have an introspective drink when every Qing spy, Spanish pirate, & British noblewoman is trying to kill you, by powers strange or mundane.
And Powers Strange there are, since the Four Winds have begun to blow. As each sign of the zodiac converges, the bounds of reality are beginning to slip…
At least his tour guide is great, or would be if she’d stop involving him with her theatre aspirations.
Roger asks himself how things could get any worse, so his first mate arrives to get her ship back, half of the Royal Navy comes searching, with a noose in his size, and the dragon itself backs him into a corner: serve up the girl, or lose his ship forever…
If Roger wants to survive he’ll need more than just his usual self-interest and a dash of charisma. He’ll need to find what he was meant to be…
D.R.SYLVESTER FICTION 
Thanks for the follow, and good luck with your novel! Sounds exciting, keep us updated. : )
Heya, no problemo. I am still new to this blogging thing, so I get a bit of a buzz every time I find another neat writing blog. It’s the “I am not alone” effect I think 😉
Thanks very much!
I tagged you as part of the Character Blog-Hop. Basically, you introduce two characters and answer a few questions about them. You can find the list of questions on my blog: http://thepaperbutterfly.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/character-blog-hop-meet-zack-and-kyle/ It sounds like you are going on vacation, so if you want to participate, you can do so when you have the time. There is no rush! I would love to hear more about your characters, but if you don’t want to participate let me know 🙂
Ahhh, sounds good. Will have a crack at it 🙂 Thanks for thinking of me for it!
Hey there! I love your blog, and nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award/One Lovely Blog Award 🙂 Check it out here:
http://coffeewriterepeat.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/blog-award-round-up/
Awww thanks! Great, I’ll have a look 🙂
Lol, I just noticed Victoria nominated you for an award. So did I XD You can combine them if you choose to accept it 🙂 I nominated you for the, “One Lovely Blog Award.” No pressure to accept it or pass it along, but I love your blog so I wanted to give you the award :3 If you accept it you can nominate as many or as few people as you want. Link: http://thepaperbutterfly.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/blogger-awards/
Exceptionally good timing, since I got back from my baby-moon last night and started drafting the acceptance speech 😉 Thanks very much for the award nom, and I will combine them into one post!
Guess what? I finally got my post done with my nominations for Very Inspiring Blog Award: http://sbjamestheauthor.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/blog-award-nomination/ and I nominated your blog!
Awesome! Thanks, mate. Really appreciate it. 🙂 Will continue to follow your work (looking to seeing the sailing ships in space aspect especially)
Thank you for visiting my Murder Blog, and for the follow. Good luck with your novel and congratulations on the new baby!
Hey, no worries! It was Therin Knite’s link on Twitter that led me to your blog post about descriptions in fiction writing. I love a good description. I have been following Chuck Wendig’s advice on the subject: stick to the few things that stand out. No laundry lists.
Thank you! 🙂
HI! I’ve decided to nominate you for a liebster award. If you choose to accept it, here is the link to my post: http://ashybabe91.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/liebster-award/
Thank you! I really appreciate you thinking of me for it. I just did one of these a little while ago, so I might skip this time around, but I will thank you properly in my next post (and link to your blog!). Glad your summer camp went well. and yes, socks are evil. EVIL!
I tagged you in the Bookshelf Tag: http://thepaperbutterfly.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/bookshelf-tag/ If you want to participate link back to this post and answer the questions 🙂 If you don’t want to participate that is okay too 😛
Thank you, and awesome! Will have a look.
While you’re here, I tried to reply to your comment on the PTSD story yesterday and it wasn’t letting me get the whole thing on the page. WordPress #firstworldproblems.
I was thinking that it wouldn’t matter so much which specific disorders, because there’s only a certain amount of certainty in diagnosis, and a hell of a lot of overlap with symptoms, and the possibility that half of it is psychosomatic related to their PTSD? He might think he’s turning into a monster even. Point being, the plot and his character development (his journey, his struggle and catharsis, the theme [are you maybe saying something like “it doesn’t matter how broken you are, you always have a choice?”]) might be the most important bits to nail down for a compelling read. Just my 2c. Your mileage may vary.
Good luck with it!
Thank you! You always have such good advice 😀 Looking forward to your bookshelf post 🙂
The central theme is a more depressing one. As humans we like to think we can’t be broken, but we can given the right circumstances. Mental illness profoundly affects an individual, and they often feel like they are at fault for it, men even more so because they see it as a sign of weakness. I’ve had my own journey with both chronic and mental illness, so I know a lot of the problems that come with it. I’ve been in lots of health forums too. But I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to start losing yourself in your 30s.
Robin Williams was actually diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease shortly before he died. I don’t think that by itself is what drove him over the edge, but it’s certainly possible that in combination with everything else it was too much. Maybe I’ll make my character an alcoholic to cope with the dementia. My father was an alcoholic actually. He’s in recovery now. So I guess these are some other things to think about. The story will be about his journey of acceptance and whether he actually accepts his reality or kills himself and the ending is structured to leave it ambiguous about what actually happens. Now I just need a plot XD
Thanks again! Talking to you helped clarify it in my head 🙂
Space pirates! That’s what I’m talking about…good stuff man, looking forward to reading more
Thanks mate! I haven’t got a lot of stuff finished, but there’s two shorts that act as kind of prequel / expanded-universe stuff, and I’m putting up another one soon. TADA!
https://drsylvesterfiction.com/free-flash-fiction/
Sweet! Will definitely take a look. I’m also in the same boat where I haven’t published much, still working on my big projects, but I’ve got some short stories coming along nicely. I’d be happy to help your space pirating adventures if you ever need a review or a beta reader. Just let me know man! ernieluisfountain@gmail.com
Hell yeah! That’d be great 🙂 I’m not quite there yet, but I’ll let you know for sure. We could do a swap if you’ve got work in need of a beta read (that 6000 word piece you mentioned?)
Cheers!
Absolutely! That’d be awesome man. I should be getting that one back from my editor in a couple weeks, so I’ll let you know.