Waiting and ...

Each month this year, I've held off writing a blog post, thinking that SOON, any day, I'd receive word that the next book in the Legends of the Forsaken Empire series will hit the shelves--virtual and otherwise. Unfortunately, the unspecified technical glitch that's hindering the publishing process continues.

So I wait.

Am I going nuts? Yes. And no.

Calligraphy Practice While Waiting

Yes, because I feel as if I'm losing my writing momentum. This more-than-a-year-long wait has dragged at my creative flow like a wet blanket in a humid climate, smothering all initiative and sense of purpose. I didn't realize I'd become so dependent upon the completed cycle of publishing. Yet I am.

And no, because it's been a learning experience. A time to remind myself of discipline, study, and vigilance. Discipline to write during all available hours. Study, intentional study, to keep my sense of wonder and curiosity fresh. Vigilance to remain focused in faith and life. Waiting works too, with purpose. Prayer. And gratitude.

I'm grateful to you all for being there. For encouraging notes I've received. Thank you, dear everyone, and remain safe. I'm praying for you as well during this long, unwantedly eventful, memorable year. Despite everything I could say about this wait and this year, the Lord is GOOD. Always. More news SOON!

Realm of Thorns: Work in Progress

Happy New Year!

I spent most of my 2017 writing and re-writing book one of the Legends of the Forsaken Empire series. While I wrote it, I realized there was another story to tell: A novella-sized overview of the era when the last alliances in the ancient Syvlande Empire were broken, and the Empire was abandoned amid the rise of a new faith.

Realm of Thorns will be a standalone story, complete, yet a bridge between its ancient history and its new era. Think of it as a lead-in to the New Testament age of our own world.

For fans of the Infinite series, this series won't be part of the Infinite series. However, the Infinite series *might* be understood as the ancient history of the Forsaken Empire series.

Just sayin'!


Stay warm and well throughout the winter's chill, dear everyone.

Hope your 2018 is blessed thus far!
What do you think of this mock-up cover?

Brewing Up New Ideas

Calming? Not exactly.

NOTE: Don't be deceived by the tranquil pink tea in my cup. It's Angel Falls Mist tea, which inspired the revered tisane Serena brewed just before her epic clash with *unnamed villain* in Queen.

[Post Begins]
This evening, I completed the first draft of book one in The Forsaken Empire series. Finally! Celebrate with me!

It's been an unexpectedly tough write--one of my longest ever--and I'm counting on considerable trimming and polishing during my second draft. The manuscript currently measures a hefty 133,358 words. Yes, it's a new personal record that deserves to be shaved down to a manageable size.But I'm pausing for tea and a day off.

To allow ideas to brew.

Not only do I need to think through the cuts and revisions I've been pondering, but I need to consider a possible prequel novella that sneaked into my dreams just before I woke up two days ago.

Do I seriously want to take on a novella in the midst of a new series? Would you?
 
Hence the tea and a day off.

Forsaken Empire Origins

Recently, I was searching for copies of my original files for The Genesis Trilogy (see previous posts) when I came across copies of my first book, my apprenticeship book, laboriously stored on 3.5-inch "floppy" disks. Who remembers those compact floppies and the original floppies? Ancient history, right?

Deservedly so.

Forsaken Empire Origins

Four 3.5 compact disks held my single precious manuscript in backup, just in case our PC crashed and offered only the heart-stopping blue screen of writing death. Actually, I might be guilty of using as many as 12 disks to back up my massive tome. Excessive? Perhaps. However, because my research involved reading more than 300 books I'd either purchased or borrowed from the regional library when the fledgling worldwideweb couldn't provide answers to my authorly questions concerning all things medieval, the prospect of losing my work induced nightmares.

Nowadays, my nightmares involve storing info in The Cloud (aren't thunderstorms possible?) as well as emails and random thumb drives--all more convenient than my vintage 3.5 compact disks. Even so, these 3.5 inch babies make me smile. After all, they hold the framework for my current Forsaken Empire series. Thankfully, I've managed to protect my PC's files for more than two decades, because .... I no longer have a computer capable of reading these shiny little disks.

Does anyone still use these?

Keeping Secrets From Characters

 Ancient verses hold links to their own pasts.

While writing Legends of the Forsaken Empire, book 1, I've realized that I'm keeping secrets from my characters.

The mysterious, dangerous manuscript they've translated holds hints, links to their families' pasts, and their own spiritual heritage.

My characters haven't a clue.

Ela and Scythe, from Natalie B.

Their world's Dark Ages and the chaos following the empire's collapse has completely obscured all knowledge of the wondrous lands and creatures their ancestors took for granted.


Readers of the Infinite series will open Book One and within the first chapter, they'll know long-vanished secrets pertaining to my new characters' heritage.

Should the secrets remain hidden? 

 

Being a history fanatic, I've often wondered which ancient events from my research books were witnessed by my ancestors.

I haven't a clue.

Should my characters learn about their ancestors' lives?

Or should I take a page from real life and allow them to face events armed with their own resources and whispers of the past hidden within their own dna?

Who knows?  

     

I'm trying to decide.
Somehow, allowing readers of the Infinite series to open book one and chance upon clues, granting them knowledge about my characters is appealing.

Time will tell. ;)




Blessings,

R. J.                                        

Blessed by Inspiration

Vintage Inspiration

I'm often asked, "Where do you find ideas for your books?"
I'd like to say that ideas strike my authorly imagination routinely and easily, leading to stories that practically write themselves. But that wouldn't be true. Recently, I finished a manuscript currently titled The Blessing. I drew inspiration for The Blessing from the old photograph inside this vintage locket. But inspiration didn't strike me during my first glance at this photo. Nor at the second, third, fourth, or fifth glance.

It's not that I wasn't interested in this old photo--I was and am. After all, that small shadowed face in the lower right corner is an image of my great-grandfather as a little boy, sitting for a rather solemn picture with his siblings. But I didn't sense a story brewing until I paused in front of my parents' piano to study the image for the umpteenth time, and Mama said, "Isn't that a sweet picture? This was taken not long before their parents died."

Wait. What? I stared at the picture again, at the serious brown-eyed baby in his white gown, with my equally serious great-grandfather seated just to his right. Obviously they'd been heartbreakingly young when they became orphans, and their older brother and sisters were teenagers. How did these five siblings cope with such tragedy? And what had happened to their parents?

While The Blessing isn't my great-grandfather's actual life story, this image, combined with my mother's comment, was enough to send my imagination down numerous paths and into the era that became the setting for The Blessing.

Sometimes inspiration takes more than a glance. It takes an emotional tug to pull an author's imagination into a new plotline, to cheer on beloved characters as their story unfolds.

I'm eager to share this story with you!

Blessings,

Kacy

R. J. Larson: Naming the Next Series

Now that The Blessing manuscript is nearing its finish--with proofing and editing planned--I'm beginning to kick around names for the next R. J. Larson series.

What? A new series? 

Yes.

I'm envisioning a world, not unlike our own, finally stirring to life as it emerges from the terrors of its Dark Ages.

Legendary creatures have returned to stalk mortals. Words, long forgotten, are spoken for the first time in a thousand years, and the soul of an ancient forsaken empire is stirring to life. One family has been entrusted with a treasure that endangers all who possess and understand its mysteries.

No one is safe. 

Armed with the above information, naming the series seemed straightforward: Forsaken Empire.  However, a quick online search pointed out that nowadays, Forsaken Empire is the name of a rock band. Alas, there are no rock bands in this series, sorry, rock fans. 

Long story short (is such a thing possible?) I've landed upon a tentative name. 

Legends of the Forsaken Empire. 

Thoughts, brave readers?

Quiet Characters

Not long ago, a reader sent me an email--YAY!--listing his favorite characters thus far in the Infinite series.
1. Bryce, the dauntless household steward turned spy in Judge.
2. Tsir Aun, the calm, efficient commander in Prophet.
3. Pet/Scythe, the ever-hungry monster warhorse in Prophet, Judge, and King, who is not, I repeat NOT, based on Maximus from Tangled. (Prophet was on my editor's desk months before Tangled hit the big screens. I bought tickets to Tangled, enjoyed the show, bought the dvd, and told DH, "I'll receive mail asking about Max/Scythe." Sure enough.)

I was intrigued by this list because this reader, Jeff, had chosen two of my favorite supporting characters, Bryce and Tsir Aun. I replied, of course, and asked why these two made the top of his list, and in our ensuing emails, we agreed that Bryce and Tsir Aun were quiet characters. The sort of friends we should all be lucky enough to number among our own. Read more Here.

Ever since this email exchange, I've been pondering Quiet Characters. Why are they important in life and, as a result, in fiction?

I'd like to think of Quiet Characters as the everyday heroes who cross our paths and our Main Characters' paths routinely--calm, efficient, dauntless, honorable and faithful souls who are pleased to remain in the shadows while they work in humble occupations. In short, Quiet Characters provide glue that holds our societies together. This is not to say that Quiet Characters lead boring lives and are content with everyday humdrum. They don't, and they aren't. Didn't Bryce volunteer himself as a spy and infiltrate an enemy army's encampment to aid his own people? Didn't Tsir Aun accept and undertake (honorably and efficiently) a punishing political task after striving mightily to lead his country away from defeat in battle?

Hats off to you, dear Quiet Characters, in life, poems and prose. Life on Earth would be bedlam without you.

Clarifying Characters

This morning, while shuffling through files, I came across this charming yet out-of-focus test image taken at a photo-shoot earlier this summer. Here, Brianna Anderson poses as one of my protagonists, Araine of ToronSea, as she appeared in an earlier manuscript.

What made me pause and give this previously neglected image a second look?

Potential. Glimmers of promise for the Araine-images yet to follow—a mood that reflects my current writing stage. I’m in the rough draft arena again and loving it.

As Araine’s story progresses and all my ideas tumble into the computer in a semi-organized fashion, I’m still seeing many of my newer characters in this fascinating slightly out-of-focus fashion. 

What will these characters become as the plot intensifies, sharpening and clarifying their personalities?

Will my current gathering of fictional personalities, particularly the minor ones, help or hinder Araine and her friends as they embark on new adventures?

I’m eager to find out! Which means…I must clarify my new characters by writing until they come into focus, starting NOW. 

Blessings, everyone, and have a phenomenal day!

R. J.

Writing in Joy--and A Giveaway!!!

When I opened my email and found Natalie Bangheri's delightful artwork depicting Ela and Scythe from PROPHET, I was struck by the joy she'd added--Scythe's just-fed tranquility and that secretive quirk of humor in Ela's quiet little smile and bright eyes. 

Humor--to say nothing of outright joy--was the furthest emotion from my mind when I wrote the initial scenes of PROPHET. After all, my brave young heroine, Ela, had just accepted a death sentence. How could she possibly enjoy life while facing assassins, battles, tyrant kings, and hideous venomous monsters at every turn?

However, mortals in every realm intuitively stave off stress by seeking joy in some form. A hug from a cherished sibling before facing an army, spiritual encouragement from prayers, coltish devotion from an overgrown monster-horse, and even jesting with fellow prisoners when you've been unfairly sentenced and tossed behind bars. With every chapter, the more I wrote of Ela's perils and fears, the more joy surfaced in the manuscript and in my characters' thoughts and emotions. 

Mid-manuscript, I paused, stared at my computer screen, and thought, "Even Shakespeare's tragedies featured clowns. Why shouldn't I add some joy and let readers have fun along the way?" 

What do you think? Do dark scenes demand a touch of joy now and then--the merest hint of hope to encourage our heroes, heroines, and readers on their journey?

Adding to the Joy! Enter to win a copy of Prophet, or Judge, or King in paperback or MP3! Outside U.S.A., win an e-book copy!  To enter, click on the Rafflecopter form below, and follow my blog. You may also select other options for additional chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway