Category: Book Updates

‘I Love My Characters’ (2018)

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The Cellar Beneath the Cellar (Bell Mountain, 2) by [Lee Duigon]

Ellayne at work in Book 2

I’ve written almost 100 pages of my new book, Ozias, Prince in Peril, and have had to meet a whole new cast of characters–’cause it’s 2,000 years before the events described in my other Bell Mountain books.

I Love My Characters

I say I “meet” my characters because that’s what it feels like. It’s like they’re already there, waiting to come into the story.  I take pains NOT to pattern them on real people. Let that mask slip just once, and your book is toast.

Queen Maressa has already shown herself a top-flight villain; but can she outwit Lady Gwenlann, the scatterbrained wardrobe mistress who controls the late king’s spy network? (“Scatterbrained” is only an act.) There’s the little fat man, Mallen, who heads a troupe of actors: Maressa wants to buy them. And of course Queen Parella, Prince Ozias’ mother, written off my Maressa as “that goose-girl,” but with a lot of gumption to her.

Dagnabbit, writing a novel is fun! And if it isn’t, you’re doing it wrong.

What’s It Like to Write a Novel?

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ArtStation - Chess with ghosts

So what’s it like to write a novel?

I had a new insight into this, yesterday. For me, writing a novel is like playing chess against an invisible opponent about whom you know nothing at all–nothing but the moves of his chessmen on the board.

I used to like to dope everything out in notebooks before I wrote a word. Four of those books (horror novels) got published. Forty didn’t. So now what I do is just ask God to give me the story and to guide me in telling it. Mostly I just pick up my pen and get to work. Let the invisible opponent surprise me! Most of those surprises turn out to be things I can use. Had one just the other day that really got me grinning.

I did have to write a lot of thankless unpublished novels before I ever sold anything. At the time I thought it wasn’t fair. But maybe those books were a gate I had to go through before I could get any farther down the road–tollbooths, as it were, along the highway. (Ooh, that’s corny!)

The lesson I’ve been taught is to welcome the surprises… and build on them.

I wonder if that applies to real life.

‘Ozias’ Comes to Life

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Medieval warriors fighting on a hilltop by ATWStock | VideoHive

Despite losing a whole day last week to allergies, Ozias, Prince in Peril seems to be shaping up very nicely. I’ve got eight chapters written, and already populated with a dozen major characters. They hear their cues and come onstage: I feel like I don’t have much of a say in it.

Friday I had to make up some lost ground, and it was 96 degrees at the time. Patty came out and asked, “Aren’t you hot?”

“Yes, I’m hot!” And that was that, had to retreat indoors to the air conditioning.

Hint to budding young writers: Maybe the worst thing any writer can do is make the story be about himself, thinly disguised as its protagonist. “I’m a macho stud he-man!” is a mindset guaranteed to destroy your fiction.

I strive to be invisible to the reader, to remove all obstacles between the reader and the story… so if you’re reading my book, you can be there! This effect is not easy to achieve; but read a lot, write a lot, work hard at it, and eventually you’ll get it.

And for heaven’s sake, let your characters be themselves! Never mind about paying back that bum who bugged you in third grade; frankly, the reader doesn’t care. And neither should you.

Time to Start Typing

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Busy Writer Stock Illustrations – 86 Busy Writer Stock Illustrations, Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime

My allergies having abated to the point where I can go back to work, I’ve got seven chapters of a new book to type up and send to my editor, Susan. Ozias, Prince in Peril–I hope you like the title.

It’s not easy, shifting gears, when you’ve just been reading and covering the dark and dreary nooze of this dark and dreary age. Ozias lived in such a time, but God put him there for a reason. I pray my description of his life and work will inspire sane and decent people to put their trust in God and do their best.

Even as David did, and Joshua, Moses, Peter and Paul, and all the other heroes we encounter in the Scriptures.

New Book, an Answered Prayer

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145 King David Stained Glass Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from Dreamstime

I asked the Lord to give me a title for my new book about the life of King Ozias–and He gave me three titles for three books! 1. Ozias, Prince in Peril 2. Ozias, Prince Enthroned 3. Ozias,King Betrayed. Wow!

In the first book, Ozias is a boy in Lintum Forest, hunted by usurpers who want to kill him and his mother, Queen Parella. In the second, an older Ozias recovers the throne that is rightfully his and writes the Sacred Songs. In the third, his enemies drive him from his throne: but God does not abandon him.

So it’s going to be a trilogy, and I can’t wait to start typing it up. The Lord has given me a whole raft of ideas for it. Hallelujah!

I would do a cartwheel, but I’m afraid my pants might split.

First Chapter Set: Done!

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King's Armor Deal

King Flosi I, “the Hammer”

I don’t have a title for it yet, but I’ve finished seven chapters of my new book on the life of King Ozias and I’ve got to type them up and send them to Susan for editing.

I think it’s going well. Main characters have come onstage on cue and already established themselves. Ozias is only eight years old, but desperate adventures await him.

Again, I have asked the Lord to give me the story as He wants me to tell it. I’m sure it will surprise me.

A Picture of ‘Bell Mountain’

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CamScanner 06-08-2022 19.54.jpg

Here are Jack and Ellayne before they set off to climb Bell Mountain, drawn by our friend Katheleen in Brazil. There’s another drawing from her sister, Kerolyn, which I’ll post tomorrow.

Girls, I love these drawings of yours! And I’m so happy that you love my books.

As you can see, there is no flippin’ picture here: WordPress has defeated and embarrassed me again. Sorry! Why I hate technology, etc….

P.S.–If you want to see these pictures, Katheleen has posted links to them in her comment below.

Writing a Novel Is Fun!

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Pet-Friendly Jackson Hole - Jackson Hole Traveler

Waterly must be something like this.

I can’t contain myself: the first 34 pages of my new book strike me as just fine. I don’t have a title for it yet. I had The Red Queen in mind, but Patty said that that would just make people think “Alice in Wonderland.” So that’s a no-go. I hope I come up with something before Prince Ozias grows a beard.

I love the way new characters come out of who-knows-where and settle into the story as if they’d been waiting for it all along. My wife loves King Flosi II and Queen Parella, Ozias’ father and mother. And Lady Gwenlann, who’s in charge of all the spies but known to most people as just a rather scatterbrained wardrobe mistress. And Ozias himself, of course. He’s only ten years old so far.

Today I wrote mostly about Waterly, the queen’s lodge in Lintum Forest and Ozias’ favorite place. I think I’d like to spend a few weeks there.

What can I say? I’m falling in love with the book. I pray every day that the Lord will guide me in writing it and make my work fruitful in His service.

(P.S.–Where the dickens did my picture go? I’m not seeing it at my end.)

A New Book… Under Way

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Bell Mountain (Bell Mountain, 1)

It’s hard to describe the feelings I had, watching Katheleen’s Bell Mountain video and hearing my story and my characters talked about on-screen. It’s a blast.

Meanwhile, I’ve complete three chapters of my new book. It hasn’t got a title yet, but some of the main characters are already settling in and taking shape–young Queen Parella, Ozias’ mother; his father, King Flosi II (who is more trusting than is good for him), and Gwenlann the scatterbrained wardrobe mistress, whom no one suspects is the king’s spymaster. Don’t let anyone tell you that writing a novel isn’t fun! It’s certainly a lot more fun than covering the nooze.

My earlier books give me plenty of hints to help me tell the story, but I know there’ll be a lot of surprises on the way.

I’m going to read to Patty what I’ve got so far. I hope she likes it as much as I do.

 

So I’ve Started It

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Super-sticky saliva helps chameleons catch huge prey, scientists say - Los Angeles Times

I pray I can be as on-target as this chameleon.

Okay, I’ve got some pages written and I’m on my way–the early life of King Ozias, compiled by Obst from the Scriptures.

It’s a daunting task, but also an exciting one. Can I bring this story to life? I have to go back in history 2,000 years and a lot of things in Obann were very different then. There were still some Wild Men left in Lintum Forest, for instance. Obann’s Empire, and the Day of Fire, were some thousand years in the future. A lot of shapeless ruins were thriving cities.

It’s only 2 o’clock. I think I’ll go out and write some more.