Well the blog has been lagging lately. I do realize. Last weekend was the writer’s conference in Austin. The trip was an enormous success I feel. The agent I wanted to talk to the most also showed the most interest in my pitch! She asked me for a synopsis and 50 pages. I am more than eager to comply. The events going on right now are what I have been waiting for for weeks. It is time to send out query letters, synopsis, etc. to agents. It’s been fun writing and editing this book, but now it’s time to sell it. Or try to at least.

Tuesday Night Story has suffered, but I promise it will be back and running in July. And it’s going to have an upgrade as well! I’m going to wait to tell you guys about it to keep the surprise going. The anticipation will be eating you up soon, I know it!

I’ll leave everyone with some words about how difficult it is to be a writer.

I can see why all authors suggest you give up trying to be a writer if you don’t truly love it. The amount of work that you have to do just to be a writer, let alone a successful writer, is pretty intense. I hope to learn how hard it is to be successful, but for now I am struggling to keep up with the first.

Beyond writing a book, going through 5 drafts, and reading it 7 or 8 times, there is the business side which some suggest is even more important! Creating a professional query letter, condensing your work to a 1-page synopsis, and doing a speed read of your book hoping to find any last minute errors that could be lurking.

I love it, every last minute of it. And I can’t wait to do it again on the next book. I had the idea to post some perspectives on writing query letters and a synopsis, but should I wait to find out if I even did a good job? I think so. If an agent asks for the rest of my manuscript then I will jump around and share the secrets I stumbled upon and the great advice I found in research.

As I’ve read over websites for agents, editors, and writers, I have learned a great deal about the writing industry. I pour through books on writing, blogs, and forums for anything I can pick up. It is for these reasons that I feel I really am ready for this weekend. The business side of writing is something that definitely interests me.

So when I found this gem of an article, by Linda Rohrbough, I was very happy. It really does simplify the pitch process in a practical way. I am glad that I took the time to read it. In the article she talks about Log Lines. In essence, this is two lines that describe your entire book. It was a great deal harder than it sounded, by the way. The first line is the basic hook for the protagonist, and the second is the hook for the sub-plot(s). After many drafts I finally decided on one and thought I would share it. I’m so very excited, we leave in the morning.

See you guys next week! (Unless I sneak in a night post from Austin.)

To Colby Chemil, being different was nothing new, but when the headmaster of his school suddenly vanishes, he is swept into the middle of a power struggle leading him down a path that sheds light on his own mysterious past.

When Colby is forced to flee into a magical forest, his closest friends are left with the duty of finding the headmaster and discovering how he was so quietly replaced.

You probably noticed I’ve been a bit quieter this week than usual. I’m also going to skip the story tonight. I’ve been very, very busy this week and this weekend is the conference in Austin. I do not feel ready! But I’m doing everything I can to get ready. Studying agent’s, their authors, their interests, basically anything that might bring up a conversation that ends with, “I would love to see the first three chapters of your novel.” That is the goal of the weekend. I hope to hear that from at least three agents. There are six in attendance who dabble in my genre. Half is a good hope, right?

I’ve had things I want to post, but I simply haven’t gotten to them. Some might appear this week. It just depends how much research I get together for this weekend.

So wish me luck! This is a big deal! Next Tuesday will unravel more of the threat to Braydon and his home village.

I’m rather late in my “what I did this Summer” post. I’ve already gone back to work for a week and all. Things have just been so hectic. We all wait for it to come so we can relax, then try to fit as much as we can into that time. Oh well, what can you do?

I had a blast, we even got to visit places this year. We rarely get to travel much. We didn’t go far this year, but even a week in Houston was a blast. Or maybe it was a week with my sister and her family that was a blast. Of all the fun, getting to talk to her kids about my book was the best. They are the main characters after all. They loved it, asking question after question. Harris and I spent hours talking about books, characters, and ideas. I told him he can make up a character for each book that I write. He thought that was very cool. He wants to be the head bad guy in my Draknor books. And his ideas are awesome! Poor Colby had a broken toe while we were there, that kept him from moving about much, but we had a lot of fun talking. He even got through a couple dozen pages of the book while we were there. I gave them a copy to put on their laptop. All in all we had a great time.

We also spent a lot of time in Dallas with Samantha’s family. In addition to getting to hang out with them, we also get to use their pool. Oh how I love to swim! I have a few pictures to go with my Summer.

Well I started my new job teaching at Tarrant County College. It inspired me to write a little bit about it. I’ve had a lot of fun.

On a side note. My wife is holding a jewelry give-away right now. All you have to do is write your favorite quote as a comment on her blog for a chance to win a piece of her jewelry. If you aren’t a woman, there is probably something that would be fun to give to a special someone!

I’ve been anticipating this job for some time. I was a bit disappointed when it started because they told me I was no longer teaching web design. This was said after I had spent weeks working on lessons plans and ideas to make it fun and interesting for children. After my first week I am less upset of course. It isn’t about the subject, it is about the kids, and the kids are hilarious.

Instead of web design, they put me in a class teaching strategy games. I wasn’t sure how learning to be better at games would help them in life, but I was certainly qualified to teach it. They didn’t give us ANY cool games to work with either. So we are mostly relying on flash games online. It was still fun though, we took certain games and dissected them to find the strategy behind them. It worked too, because in the beginning the kids weren’t really trying different styles. They would do the same things again and again — content and having fun. By the end they were all trying to do it better through different methods and that is where I found the real lesson behind the class.

Even with something as simplistic as video games, I am teaching them to actually sit down and think things through. Is that not the goal of anyone in education? In my opinion, teaching kids to think is the greatest of all lessons. It is something that they can take with them to help later in life. That is the beauty of teaching kids in groups. Each one of them thinks so much differently than the rest. So I have been pushing them to work together and think of ideas. Since they are younger (3rd-8th) they don’t yet have that inclination to solitude, which is great.

There are always little lessons that you can find in anything you do. Which only once again proves that it isn’t what you do as much as how you go about doing it. There is always a silver lining on my outlooks — something I have always been very grateful for.

Well I have more to talk about than I care to fit with a TNS post. So expect a lot more posts for a few days (minus Wednesday of course, that is my no-post day). This story was too much fun and I cannot wait to continue it. If you missed the voting post, #2 got the most votes. “An old retired hero returns home and brings danger at his heels.”

I couldn’t resist the temptation to have a Wheel of Time moment writing this piece. Not that it is a hero returning to Emond’s Field or anything, the story (so far) declares no specific world. But all the same I could just picture the village in the forest cut off from society so I ran with it. I doubt that the two with have anything similar beyond the quiet village aspect.

As always, I hope you enjoy the story.

Dedicated to the late Robert Jordan, who changed my writing forever.

“Home,” even as he whispered the word it didn’t feel right.  How long had it been since he left, thirty years, forty?  Braydon’s leather boots made no sound as he crossed the north bridge.  After this long, his memory of every creak brought a smile to his lips.  He walked with the stealth of a seasoned warrior.  The fine blade hanging comfortably at his waist matched those steps.

It had been thirty-five years ago, crossing this same bridge, when the appeal of the outside world took over him.  He wondered if any stories had made their way here over the years.  When he left it had been night and nobody knew of his plans.  Not even his closest friends, then again even they were never very close.

The Brookwine Inn was smaller than any he’d seen in a long time.  Next to it was the Four Oaks Brewery, packed surely by the sounds traveling all the way to him, still hundreds of paces away.  He thought again about the day of week, remembering to be Sunday, the day of rebirth.  Of course, every Sunday would give the place great business.  What was the last village he noted with only one main brewery?  The thought brought a smile to his lips, a remembrance of simpler times.

As he approached the village it really came into view.  He noticed the real changes then. Since the village only had one easy way to it there had been no way to tell before now.  A large mountain loomed over the city from the north, and the river blocked any way to come from the east. It would be possible to arrive from the west, but not easily. The trees were cluttered so close that an average sized man would be shoulder to shoulder against them. That left the only logical path from the south, where the long, sturdy wooden bridge crossed the river at its slimmest width.

The new buildings stood far taller than any standing when he left. Some were even three stories tall!  It was nothing to the cities he had seen with tall stone structures up to six stories or more, but this was far more than he expected here.  It brought another large smile to the his lips. With everything that had happened to the world, the cities that had fallen to the various wars, the kingdom’s overtaken, this very stretch of land trading hands more than once, his hometown had thrived.  It was such a proud thought.

Braydon noted the multiple towers scattered within the city. Archers were the heart of this village’s protection.  He then noticed the passages carved into the mountain.  Tall wooden platforms led to and between them, complete with rope pulleys for transport.  It was a truly amazing sight.  Mining made sense, but it was nice to see such technology coming this far from any major cities.

He tied his horse to one of the stands in front of the Four Oaks, still surprised by the fact that it seemed bigger than before.  With a start he realized that it had been rebuilt, both buildings had.  They were far larger than before, but appeared to be to scale with the originals.  He noted twice the horse stands out front while tying up his mustang.

With each step more and more faces brought back distant memories of friends and family.  Braydon scoured the crowds for the face of his father, wondering if he was still alive.  He had just turned thirty when his little boy of only twelve vanished during the night.  He laughed when he met his old man’s inquiring gaze.  In an instant he saw the recognition. Tears filled the man’s weathered eyes.

With a firm voice Braydon spoke over the crowd.  “Hello father,” was all he said.  The room went silent for a time.  Then at once the room seemed to burst with offers of drinks, people yelling his name, laughing about his strange clothes, tears, cheers and everything in between.

“Home,” the swordsman said quietly. It really didn’t feel so strange after all.

Well I missed my Tuesday Night Story post this week. It was not on purpose of course, Samantha and I went out of town and I simply forgot about the new story. In some ways it isn’t a bad thing I think, because I still haven’t thought of a new story idea! Or rather, I have thought of too many story ideas and have been unable to narrow it down. So I thought I would try for some input from my readers to decide what story will start next Tuesday!

1. A story of a mercenary for the Gods.
2. An old retired hero returns home and brings danger at his heels.
3. A student of magic is faced with the death of his home and his people.

What would you guys like to see? Leave your answer in a comment, and we’ll see what wins! Until then, I’ll be back in a few days to continue regular posts!

Some may have noticed that the current projects listed on my front page were all reset to 0%! This isn’t a bad thing at all, and nothing was messed up in the process. I’ve begun plotting out my next book while my wife reads and edits my current. It is so refreshing to take a break from the editing process and work on something new. So far it is only a prologue, so I just updated it to 1%. Hah.

I’ve currently plotted out 13 Chapters of the new book. It still has a long way to go. My percentage for this book is based on it being 100,000 words. I’d like to make it a stand-alone novel and not part of a series. That isn’t to say it will be the only book in this world; if I enjoy the characters enough I might make more tales from it. But I want to try my hand at a book that works by itself since I only have worked on books designed as a series so far.