Month: June 2019

6/24/19 Check In

On By Dan MelnickIn PersonalLeave a comment

Wow it’s been two weeks since my last post! Time’s been flying by. I try to get something out every Monday, but I’ve just been so darned busy lately. A smarter me would have a bunch of these posts written up in advance and then have them scheduled to come out for instances such as these, but I haven’t had the time to write one post let alone some for a backlog.

Some general updates:

I’m 1/3 of the way through my last draft of Land of Sky and Blood before I release it to my beta readers. It’s always equal parts exciting and nerve wracking when I turn my work over to other people. It’s not that I can’t handle the critiques, I’m just impatient. After working on something for so long I want to know what people think about it now, not two months from now. But I guess other people are busy too or something …

You can never have enough beta readers, so if you’re interested in being one of mine and you like Asian inspired epic fantasy, hit me up!

I finished The Prince of Shadow and … yeah, I’m glad it’s over. After so much build up and the main character, Llesho being carried through the narrative, I was expecting, I don’t know … more? The end has what I guess is a final twist, but it happens so quickly and almost out of left field that it’s hard to be excited. It was more of a “Huh. I guess that happened” kind of a moment. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll read the sequel, but right now, it’s just not going to happen.

My current read is Whisper of Shadow and Steel. I grew up playing and loving the Legend of the Five Rings card game. All of my Asian fantasy reading was getting me back in the spirit to find the old Clan books to read them again, but seeing as how they’re based on a role playing game whose rules have become outdated, I wasn’t that surprised to discover that they didn’t exist in a digital format.

That said, a few new ones do, though. Whisper of Shadow and Steel came out last year for crying out loud and I had no idea! Anyway, I’m already halfway through it – it’s pretty short- and it’s like going home again. Once a Scorpion, always a Scorpion.

Also, my book Fairfax Cleaners will be going on sale for the low, low price of a dollar the whole month of July! If you were ever curious to read some urban fantasy in Chicago that has nothing to do with wizards, now’s your chance!

Inspiration

On By Dan MelnickIn Iceberg, PersonalLeave a comment

Normally when I’m working on something, I don’t like to read that same genre in fear of cross-contamination. It’s different this time, though. As I’m editing Land of Sky and Blood I only want to read fantasies with an Asian/East-Asian lens. It’s not that I’m hoping to get any of that via osmosis, I think it’s more that I just really like that aesthetic and never really knew how much of it was out there. Now that I’ve tasted it, I want more. Hopefully readers of that material will feel the same way that I do and accept my work as well.

Although, I wouldn’t be mad if one of those books helps me unlock this recurring naming convention problem I’m having. I thought I’d solved it, but I still think its too convoluted and the final effect isn’t quite what I was hoping for. Maybe I’ll get it next draft …

So in light of all that, I thought I’d talk a bit about what I’m currently reading. I realized that topic rarely comes up on my blog which could be odd being a writer and all. I’m maybe 75% through The Prince of Shadow and my ongoing review is that, I don’t hate it? Insert confused face.

Life’s too short for me to keep reading a book I don’t like. I can usually tell if I like a book or not forty pages in. Heck, more like twenty in most cases. But this one … it’s just interesting enough that I think I like the world, but plot-wise kind of boring. Benjamin’s prose is often muddy at times. A whole paragraph will go by and I’ll have to reread it because I’m not sure what he’s trying to say. I also tend to like a protagonist with, you know, agency so a whole book where events are happening too a character and not because of a character are not really my thing. I’m hoping this is just a slow burn and that this is all building up to the end, so who knows?

The beginning of the book must have been more interesting than what I’m reading now to get me this far, otherwise I probably would have dropped it. I’ve also come too far to turn back now. I call that my Wheel of Time Rule. Hooboy. We can talk about that ride later.

Anyway, yeah, so there are some things about The Prince of Shadow that I like and plenty that I don’t. If anything, it’s showing me some new angles to an Asian inspired fantasy world and offers some nice examples of how editing can be your friend, but it’s not what I signed on for.

So yeah, don’t hate it, but already looking forward to the end. I guess it’s part of a trilogy, but at this rate, I don’t have any plans of picking up the other two.

Head Case

On By Dan MelnickIn Personal, Writing Process1 Comment

I’d been doing some traveling lately and visiting family which has put me behind on both blogging and writing. Aside from some memories and a boat load of pictures of my kids, I didn’t come back empty handed. My sister-in-law is an awesome photographer who did me a huge favor and snapped me some snazzy head shots.

Headshot for Screens

Nice, Right? I mean just look at that handsome devil.

Okay, all joking aside all credit goes to my sister-in-law who clearly knows what she’s doing. I just sat around and tried not to look like an idiot. Smile more? Less? Serious face? I think I went through the gamut. The old train station also helped. I really like that background!

Anyway, got some time in the sun down south where my kids played with their cousins for a week. Physically, I’m exhausted from traveling — three little kids on airplanes will do that to you — but mentally, I’m all fired up. I’ve got some business stuff to take care of, a short story to finish, and of course editing Draft 2.

Draft 2 has been kicking my butt. It was always going to be rough in the beginning, but I also think it’s because I was trying to cram everything I’d missed in during that second pass. I’ve since come to realize that like anything I’ve ever written, it’s going to be a another dozen or so drafts until I’m finished, so it’s okay to let stuff go for next time. Fix what I catch and streamline those 165k words into a coherent story and then polish, polish, polish while I work out other details. You don’t carve a masterpiece in the second try. You chip away and smooth stuff until one day you’re just finished with it.

Seriously, coming at my problem like that has just freed me. I can’t wait to get through this current pass so I can hone in some more on the next one. Want another metaphor? It’s like zeroing in on a target. I could probably cut down on the overall number of drafts by slowing down, but I’m not sure my work would be as good.

I’d been taking a writing class these past couple months to polish my prose and something I’ve learned is that I like to do that final polishing in little isolated chunks. Take a few “completed” pages at a time and then make them better. I think I was trying to do too much too quickly before. I’m allowing myself the ability to let stuff go, flag it, and catch it later, being more deliberate with my choices. I think it’s going to make me a lot happier in the long run.