Category Archives: Writing

Staff of Sakatha – Copy Edits

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The copy edits are complete on the Staff of Sakatha. I’m still searching for an artist to do the cover page although my friend Den will do it sometime next month if I can’t get anyone else as his other project will be complete.

I really have to get to work putting in the edit changes as I’ve been a bit lazy about my writing for the last couple of weeks. I’m only slightly further along in the Hammer of Fire but the plot is coalescing in my mind.

I did send the original version of the Staff of Naught to my copy editor and work will begin on getting out an edition with fewer typos. Not much else to report.

Staff of Sakatha – Progress

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My copy editor is about seventy percent done and I’m working on the revisions for the Staff of Sakatha. It should not take more than a couple of weeks but the big holdup is the cover art. I have not been able to find an artist who wants my money. Or at least an artist whose work seems along the right lines for my book.

In the meantime I’m about ten percent done with my rough draft of the Hammer of Fire and the good news is that I’ve already got the cover for that one. But, I’m rather discouraged but my inability to get an artist. The woman who did the work for the Staff of Naught is too busy, an artist friend of my agreed to do it but was unable to with his own time constraints, and now I’ve send off about half a dozen messages to various artists and nary a single reply.

Hopefully the situation will be resolved and you, my legion of fans, will soon have a copy of the latest book in your eager little hands!

Tom

June 1st Update

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My proofreader has the last draft of the Staff of Sakatha and is currently making her way through it. Once that is accomplished it shouldn’t take me more than a day or two to get the final copy in order and published. It should end up about 109,000 words. It’s difficult to translate words into page numbers with eReaders but it is a fairly standard amount for a full length fantasy novel.

The cover art is still in the hands of Den Dotson and I’m not sure about it’s current status. I will contact him and find out more soon. He just won an online prize for this photo. I can’t wait to see what my cover art looks like!

In other news, I’ve scrapped work on the Broken Throne for the moment because the story just wasn’t moving along properly. I’ll probably get back to it at a later date. I have 20,000 words written but I think many of them will end up someplace else in the end. The story was getting too spread out without a cohesive center. Instead I’ve gotten a few good days work in on the Hammer of Fire which is beginning to take shape. I’ve only got about 5,000 words written but the story is coalescing and I’ve got some pretty good ideas about where it will go.

Tom

The Hammer of Fire – Update

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The Hammer of Fire is the planned third novel in my Corland series of books. It details the adventures of Dol Delius as he steals the Hammer of Fire from its sacred spot in the hidden dwarf citadel of Craggen Steep and sets out to destroy the greatest and first fire elemental, Gazadum.

I’m currently in the early stages of the rough draft. I’ve finished the prolog and now am in the midst of the opening chapters.

Tom

Staff of Sakatha – Update

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I’ve finished my first run through the working draft of my second novel, The Staff of Sakatha. The story largely takes place in the free nation of Elekargul as Jon Gray from Tanelorn visits the freeriders. He hopes to obtain the Staff of Sakatha for his father, the Gray Lord, in far off Tanelorn.

I’ve also commissioned a friend of mine and an incredible artist, Den Dotson, to do the cover page for me. Finally, my stalwart proofeader, mom, is ready to take red pencil to hand and find all my mistakes so that I can avoid publishing a novel with many typos. Thanks mom!

Tom