Intrepid Earth: Series Summaries in 50 Words

In the last year, I've been leaning more and more towards the independent self-publishing route. Even so, I took away a lesson from researching the traditional publishing methods. In order to catch an agent's or editor's attention and stand out from the slush pile, a perfectly-crafted query letter has to hook them with the plot. These query letters must be short and sweet, which often means boiling down your entire book to just a sentence or two.

This proved difficult. After working on my characters and worlds and stories for years and years, it's easy to get lost in all the plots, side plots and lessons. There's so much that I want a reader to experience! How on earth would summarizing an entire book with just a few lines possible do the story justice? How on earth could that ever seem interesting?

I started paying attention to movie summaries on the guide channels and Netflix and whatnot. These stories were also given limited real-estate with which to hook the viewers' attention. I started paying attention to what made me want to watch one film over another. Strangely, the short summaries did not always seem accurate in retrospect. It wasn't that they were far off; it's that there was no way to adequately sum up the plot.

Summing up the plot isn't the goal with the query teaser, and it isn't my goal in providing you with them. The goal, rather, is to give you an idea of what to expect as far as a general theme. Keep in mind that I've left most of these stories open to expansion. I'd already like to write a trilogy based off Yamini's adventures, and possibly a spin off featuring her guildmaster, Soliessen, as the main character. There's a ton of lore to explore.

Below are the "teaser" summaries that I might use if I were to write a query letter for each book and submit them to an agent. Which sounds most interesting to you, and why? Would you read them out of order so that you could skip to your favorite character's story first? Who deserves to have their story explored in more detail?

Book 1: Of Avatars and Elementals

Toughened outlaws and a peaceful forest dweller defend their homelands from otherworldly monsters while resisting the urge to kill each other. Humanity's last hopes lie in mana, a once-abundant alien mineral capable of unlocking powerful elemental magic, and the mysterious hermit Avatar who's not entirely convinced humanity deserves saving.

Book 2: Of Shadow and Dissonance

Eager to restore justice to a corrupt empire, Yamini joins an elite guild of adolescent assassins under the supervision of a mysterious woman. With the aid of her shadowspirit companion, Yamini becomes a favored student . . . until she refuses to kill the one politician who can bring balance to the territories.

Book 3: Of Wind and Vigilance

Devastated by the disappearance of his younger sister, Marik Keingel enlists in the military to seek revenge. Trained under Delenthias Epson, the most decorated commander in history, Marik soon discovers that he is the subject of a biological experiment . . . and that the war between territories is not what it seems.

Book 4: Of Water and Malice

Xearo and Aeria retire their weapons and take to exploring their roles of mage and shaman in the peaceful, hidden town of Orphalese. But things take a turn for the worse when DeBrei, the water elemental-turned-demigod, threatens to destroy the city--and the planet--with a great flood.

Book 5: Of Earth and Resilience

Aeria returns to a healing Rhevise to help Yamini and Councilman Turnbase restore the capitol to the Peacemaker's vision without Xearo's knowledge. She begins to fall for a strangely familiar man who seems to know her darkest secrets . . . only to find that he is ultimately out for Aeria's unborn twins.

Book 6: Of Fire and Vigor

Stirred by visions of killing his family brought on by his confrontation with the water elemental, unruly Xearo Ta'Lorence wreaks havoc through Rhevise to track down Yamini and sate his fury. As his destructive spree intensifies, Xearo understands that the only way to free himself is to embrace his enemies.

Book 7: Of Light and Glass

Finding a new vessel in the glass monument Xearo constructed, Avatar's spirit of light travels through time solving mysteries, preventing disasters and righting wrongs. His final vision leads him to a restored Rhevise where an anonymous figure works to assemble the world's remaining mana shards. And the surviving elementals themselves.

The Art of a Prequel

As time progresses and the entertainment industry slowly runs out of ideas, the notion of prequels has begun losing consumer appeal. What was once a creative alternative to sequels, spin-offs and...well...brand new stories with unique characters is becoming a surefire last resort for those wishing to cash in on established success. While prequels have much to offer when done well, more often than not they are carelessly put together and the end result is lackluster. This is partially due to heavy reliance on fan knowledge and support, and largely due to writing backwards being less forgiving than writing forwards. To write a good prequel, one must be talented in all the ways he or she would write any engaging story. However, they must do so with even more limitations, awareness, and demand for surprise.

Time is the writer's primary confines. Care must be taken to maintain accuracy and continuity with previous lore (future events) without threatening to alter thresholds in the timeline. The timelines themselves can pose a problem if significant historical events that were previously alluded to are neglected, or if such events are created for the sake of current plot and are then, chronologically, wiped from future lore via character ignorance.

Another issue of time is settling on the start of it. Going backward from a point, the writer only has so large a window to create a compelling tale (assuming the character is human) before an overlap or parallel occurs. The focus, then, is locating the exact moment in a character's life wherein she becomes interesting. From here it is a matter of creating a series of events to aid in a reverse-arc. The original character is dissected, mangled, and ran through the gamut (figuratively, and at times, literally!) to make sure it undergoes enough change to be considered dynamic and interesting...yet winds up in exactly the same state her future self. In essence, we have to uncreate a character backward.

New characters must also be introduced with caution and their influence monitored. Importance must be such that their existence is crucial to current story progression, but not so much that their absence in future events would go unnoticed or unmentioned by the main character. There are obvious solutions for characters who fail to make appearances later on, solutions which many readers and viewers see coming a mile away. This is an inevitable technical flaw. Concerns should lie in two places specifically: allowing new characters to have an impact in the current story, and making their impact resound in future events. This could be adopted vernacular or mannerisms, skill sets, scars, trinkets and items, or memories. For these reasons, it is a good idea to have every character's history in mind—where they've been, who they've known, what they've done—despite in what order said character appears in the chronology.

Perhaps the biggest technical flaw of all is regard (or lack thereof) for the main character's safety. The audience already knows our character survives to take place in future events. Why, therefore, should they be concerned at all for her health and well-being? For all intents and purposes, the character is immune from death and her success, in one form or another, is guaranteed. This is where strong character building and storytelling come into play, and also where many prequels fall short.

Rather than manifesting a literal theme park and throwing beloved characters on a series of rides to thrill the audience, the writer cannot be lazy and forsake one of the most important rules: Make the reader CARE. To do this, sometimes the character has to be reinvented from the ground up. Her path to the state of mind in future exploits must consist of more than petty action sequences and memorable (or not-so-memorable) dialogue. It must consist of very real emotional struggles, impossible decisions, forged friendships and severed bonds. The audience must be forced to forget that our character survives her obstacles...and one of the best ways to do this is by reminding them of that character's humanity through loss, suffering, and physical pain.

So long as we can relate to and feel something for a character, the mere fact that they survive becomes a moot point before long. By that time, it will become clear that the character does not arrive at her future incarnation physically or emotionally unscathed.

What is Shadowplay?

In Part 2 of Yamini's story, we are presented with a rogue's game called Shadowplay. Inspired by ideas of the Battle Room from Ender's Game and Drizzt's melee tournaments in Homeland, Shadowplay is a quarterly guild event wherein combatants enter a large arena with sparring weapons. The arena is sealed and all lights are turned off, creating an area of complete darkness. Combatants must navigate the arena floor, which consists of several pillars, obstacles and fall-throughs, whilst avoiding--or dispatching--other rogues. Dispatching another rogue requires striking a vital area with the sparring weapon of choice, resulting in a temporary stun state until the end of the match. Wound points are taken into account during the final round for placing purposes, but whomever is left standing is named the ultimate victor regardless of point accumulation.

The philosophy behind Shadowplay, in Soliessen's eyes, is to train the students to rely on instincts as well as other senses besides sight. For years, rogues train to manipulate their surroundings and use cover of darkness as their primary advantage. By turning that advantage against them, essentially leveling the playing field between combatants, Shadowplay forces the students to become even more creative, adaptive and resourceful. It also forces them to become more conniving. Alliances and betrayals saturate the playing field. As Soliessen has stated, the only trustworthy rogue is oneself.

Fortunately for Yamini, sometimes the best partner is a specter from another plane...

At the behest of my fans...

Okay. I should say fan. Singular.

I realize it has been some time since I've updated. This is due partly to life having gotten a bit busy recently, and partly due to there being very little to report. Work on Of Shadow has slowed considerably. Continuity issues. Fears and uncertainties. Nothing out of the usual for me. First drafts aren't easy, and they aren't quick. Couple those things with one of the world's most adept procrastinators and you'll have quite a wait for a piece of literature.

Thankfully, you can be assured that it ends up pretty good. =)

With weekends being the only time I can sit down and focus, and these past several weekends being loaded with weddings and festivals and everything else keeping me away from the keyboard, I've gotten a bit lazy. Sorry to report, I still haven't applied my edits to Of Avatars. That goes without saying, no query letters have been crafted, no agents or agencies submitted to--basically, no progress other than that of the new book. Maybe this is good enough, maybe it isn't. For me, it signifies failure and inadequate motivation.

I'm torn between perfecting my first piece and finishing the second. For being this late in the game, that's kind of bad. Especially since I have to literally wait for Yamini to finish telling the story. I don't know everything that is going to happen, and neither does she. I know where she ends up...just not how she gets there exactly. That is the fun part about writing these stories. It is as much an adventure for me as it is for the characters. They never fail to surprise, never disappoint.

I, on the other hand...

*sighs* Back to work.

"I am Not Reckless"

To celebrate my motivated progress with OSaD I thought I'd share an excerpt of a future chapter with you, dear reader. I thought this bit would be suitable for showing off the main character, Yamini, in her natural setting (and spunk!) three years after her story begins. For a fourteen-year-old, I'd say she's a pretty cool kid! Then again, I am biased...

"Wait, what are you doing?" Henrik asked, his face contorted with concern.

"Is it not obvious?" said Yamini. "I am going after him myself."

The two boys looked at each other and laughed. Then they realized she was serious. "You can't do that!" said Sebastian.

Yamini cocked an eyebrow. "Can is a matter of ability and ambition," she replied, "and I most certainly have both!"

Henrik watched with disbelief as Yamini unsheathed both daggers and concealed each blade behind her inner forearms. "It's bold enough that you've attempted to steal Master Soliessen's recruits--"

"She is no longer our master," Yamini spat, "and by being here you have proven my attempt successful."

"Breaking away from a former guild to forge your own is one thing," Sebastian argued, "but claiming Soliessen's marks is suicide, Yamini!" She ignored him as she stood and crept into the shadowed archway of the arena staircase. "There are codes to adhere to, principles to follow. You are nothing but a rogue, a brash vigilante with a taste for vengeance. Why should we follow you? Your impulsiveness would mean our deaths!"

Yamini glared at the boy. "I am not a vigilante," she breathed. "Vigilantes thrive on chaos. They are mindless seekers of blood and terror, aimless wanderers hoping to vent their discontent with the world on those who appear at first to have caused it. These individuals have become lost in their own corruption, their own greed, resorting to violence disguised as justice while they seek the definition of themselves. They do so recklessly and without planning. I am an assassin."

"And what's the difference between them and you?" said Henrik.

Her wicked smile was enough to make both boys step backward. "I am not reckless."