plenty of books you'll love, and updates on my books!

May 27, 2022 6:35 am

Hello again!

I love winter in Australia.

As winter approaches I am all too happy to put the oppressive heat of last summer behind me.

My parched garden gets a long-awaited watering from the rain. My fireplace is now crackling merrily, after spending the warm months filled with old soot. My collection of warm slippers and fluffy jumpers emerge from hibernation.

I just love keeping warm inside when it's cold outside.

It's the perfect weather for writing!

New Opening for Death of the Tree Path

From June 9th to June 13th, the eBook edition of Death of the Tree Path will be free on Amazon!

While preparing for it, I read the opening section and found that I wasn't too happy with how it had turned out. Fortunately, as an independent writer, I have kept the rights to all my books. If I'm not happy with something, I'm free to change it!

So I rewrote the opening lines, and I like the result much better. I've learned so much since I first published Tree Path. And besides, first impressions really do count for a lot in books. Everyone knows the first lines have to be the strongest.

So here are the new opening lines of Death of the Tree Path:

The Wind had ceased on the day she drew her last breath. Now the lifeless air had a terrible weight. It hung on Riekalt's skin, a constant reminder that his Anna was gone, and that the breath of the forest had gone with her.

If you already have the eBook of Tree Path, I believe you should be able to update the book in your e-reader library and these new lines will be there for you.

If you don't have a copy of Tree Path ... you only have to wait until June 9th to get yours for free!

(The print version will take a little longer to update, so it contains the original lines)

Let me know what you think. Does it seem any better than the original? Should writers ever go back and change things in books they've already published? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The Elixir of Power - Second Draft Progress

After a few weeks of neglect, I finally got back into a rhythm of editing The Elixir of Power. I'm now 62% of the way through.

I'm still re-writing every chapter from scratch. I could have finished it all much more quickly by keeping more from the original draft, but everything is coming out much better. From the plot to the characters to the writing itself, it's all coming together into a better book.

Even with this slower pace of editing, I think the remaining chapters should be easier to get through. At least, I hope so.

As I mentioned earlier, the title of the book isn't final. Since I'm approaching the stretch before the final stretch, I've been putting a bit more effort into brainstorming possible titles.

It's a tricky process, since there are a lot of elements in the story that could be included. The trouble is in deciding which elements matter most.

Here are some of my very rough attempts:

(Current) Legend of the Elixir of Power
Telethymia
United We Fall
We March to the Song of Cannons
Bluepowder Bore / Bluepowder Cannons
To Drink the Power of a Thousand Men
A Blast of Powder, A Whistle of Wind
The Elixir with the Power of a Thousand Men
Elves, Guns & Gardening
The Elf and the Alchemist / The Alchemist Elf
A Lovely War for Man and Elves / Man Against Elf: A Lovely War
Her Excellency’s Distillery / Her Excellency’s Great Bombard
The Alchemist Who Won the War
Elves Don’t Live in Cities / Elves Don’t Believe in Alchemy / Elves Don’t Drink Potions
Their Pointy Ears Hear Our Cannons Roar

Some are shorter, some are longer. Some highlight certain aspects from the story, others try to capture certain moods.

I'll probably brainstorm a list triple the length of this one before I find one that's 'just right.'

Do any stand out to you? If you walked past one of these titles in a bookstore, would you stop to check it out? Let me know!