Posted by Craig on January 23, 2010 – 6:37 pm
The Spiral Dilemma is a traditional fantasy novel, but without the stereotypical humans/elves/dwarves, etc. In fact, if you find a fantasy stereotype in my book, you have my permission to slap me. I’ve tried to be as original as I can, while still sticking to the roots of the Fantasy genre.
It’s the story of a young woman’s adventures as her life is turned upside-down. Dilemma is a Sorceress in Training when her home is attacked by Daemons. These Daemons lead her on an adventure in which she discovers secrets she will wish stayed buried.
I hope that makes it sound interesting. One thing I’m still made at is writing short summaries of my books.
Originally, I wrote this book several years ago, at that time it was called ‘Dilemma of the Hour’. This new version has a different ending, and I removed one character who really didn’t need to be there. It’s better than ever, and I can’t wait to finish it.
Click here to download: The Spiral Dilemma (Preview) (17)
Please leave a comment after you’ve read it. I’d love to know what you think.
Posted by Craig on January 17, 2010 – 9:01 am
I said this on my fitness blog, but I’ll say it here too. Over the last week I fell back into my old, lazy self. I had been taking a break from my first draft, and writing an unrelated short story, but for about three days I didn’t do any writing at all.
That’s bad. I like writing, and I intended to do it every day. It’s just that for some reason, I relapsed, and couldn’t be bothered doing anything. Anyway, I’m back to normal now. I’ve started to revise my first draft, and shape it into an even better second draft. It’s going well.
I experimented with different methods of revising. One said that you should read your book and make notes, but don’t change anything until you finish. Then, go through with your notes, and write the second draft. I tried this for a while, but reading my book without making any changes just felt like a waste of time.
So I’m using my own method. I open up two windows in Word, have the first draft in one, and the second draft in another. Then I read the first draft, and copy it into the second draft, making changes as I need to.
I’m happy now that I’ve started revising. I really did need the break. I know it was only a week, but now I can look at my novel with a fresh eye.
Posted by Craig on January 7, 2010 – 3:23 pm
Well, after about four-five months of solid writing, I finished the first draft. Of course, this was a rewrite of the last book I wrote (and discarded), so I guess you could say this is the third draft.
The first version was called ‘Dilemma of the Hour’ and I discarded it because it didn’t really end. The new version is called ‘The Spiral Dilemma’ and is much much better. I took out a character I didn’t really need, moved her to the second book. I also added a bunch of scenes after the original ending, to give it a proper full blown finale. I love it, it’s actually the best thing I’ve ever written.
Now, the next step is to edit, and come up with a second draft. I know there are few scenes which I rushed, and I’ll have to add more detail to those parts. Other bits just didn’t feel right, but that’s what editing is for.
It’s all down hill from here.
Now, where did I leave my fine-toothed come?
Posted by Craig on December 31, 2009 – 10:47 am
Filed under Writing
Tagged as book, dilemma, map, moure
Using some tutorials I found on Cartographer’s Guild I have designed, in Photoshop, a map of my fantasy world. Moure is where my novel is set.
I think it turned out pretty well. This first book mainly takes place in and around Tavia, in the lands south-west, but I plan for later books to travel around further.
I plan on updating the map as I write, and filling in more detail as the characters visit those places. In the middle of the map, the Tangled Sea will become very important to my future novels. Technically it isn’t excatly a sea, but you will find that out when I get to it.
Posted by Craig on October 27, 2009 – 6:35 pm
What is my book about?
Well the theme of the book is Sorcery vs Necromancy, and this is a metaphor for a lot of the great debates of the real world, such as Religion vs Atheism, or Creation vs Evolution.
Both Sorcery and Necromancy are forms of magic. Sorcery is the art of manipulating magic through speaking the language of the Gods, called Arcana. Necromancy is the art of manipulating magic through the power of your own blood, which usually involves self-mutilation.
The two are diametrically opposed, as the Sorcerers believe that magic was a gift from the Gods, and that by using Sorcery they can be closer to the Gods.
Conversly, the Necromancers reject the Gods. They still believe in them, but they do not worship them and want nothing to do with them. They believe Magic comes from inside you, and to use Magic is to harness the power of your own blood.
As well as all of this, its also a good old-fashioned fantasy adventure. Dilemma, a Sorcerer in training, is attacked by Daemons, and hunts down teh Necromancer who was controlling them. It is a self contained novel, however I do have a series planned. But if I change my mind and decide never to write any follow-up books, this story could sit on its own quite well.
You can read an except from ‘Time and other Dilemmas’ here:
http://craigsplace.info/writing/time-and-other-dilemmas-chapter-two/
Posted by Craig on October 10, 2009 – 12:55 pm
Before all this stuff happened in my life, I had made the decision not to give up writing, but to postpone it. I just couldn’t see how I could write while working full-time at a stressful job.
Now things have changed. 
Since I’m taking care of Dad full-time, I actually have much more time to devote to my writing, so I’m throwing myself back into it.
Technically I’ve written three novels, all of which I don’t consider good enough to be published. What I am doing now is re-writing my third novel. Previously it was called “Dilemma of the Hour”. The title now, for this new version, is “Time and other Dilemmas”.
Its a fantasy novel about a young woman who is studying Magic at college when her town is invaded by demons. She discovers the demons are being controlled by a mysterious Necromancer, and together with her best friend Keldis, the renown heroine Ocean, and her Sorcery mentor Woodrill Rivers, they track down the Necromancer – to discover why he is attacking innocent downs and stop him.
As a teaser, I have uploaded the chapter two of my novel here. It is a good introduction to the world, and to the character of Dilemma.
