Double Trouble

Tee Morris, author of the Morevi Series, Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword, and host of The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy & Philippa Ballantine, author of Chasing the Bard and host of Whispers at the Edge, present to you Double Trouble, a dual run at Amazon.com to claim the top spots on the charts with their new squeal books:

The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery
Digital Magic

Troops: listen up!

Do not pre-order these two books!

Briefing: in order to make their mark, these two Dragon Moon Press authors must show the publishing world (once again) that small publishing is a force to be dealt with; especially through the medium of podcasting and podiobooks. Like those who have come before them (Sigler on April 1, Harwood on March 16), this run is critical to giving all small print and prospective writers the edge they need to redefine the world of publishing. Thus, ordering on this date will make sure that message is loud and clear!

Your mission: On August 8th, 2008 (08-08-08) starting at 0800hours Pacific Standard Time (USA), for 24hours you and everyone you know who enjoys fantasy or books in general buy The Case of the Pitcher's Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery and Digital Magic (along with any other of their already published books; but these two at least!) through Amazon.com (the USA version ONLY, NOT any other country specific version). The top dogs in the publishing industry are starting to take notice but they need more convincing before they will start thinking about taking action. Seeing two small press authors in the top two spots on Amazon.com should be the shot in the arm they need to keep this momentum going strong. Let the revolution continue as Double Trouble takes on and conquers Amazon.com.

Troops: you have your orders; dismissed!

Will-o'-the-Wisp

Will-o'-the-Wisp is my latest story, with the first chapter ready to read! The artwork above is a commission by MoonlightAlchemist. Be sure to check our her website "Ameiga Art" in the Linkage lists to the right! I get got the sketch and original in the mail today. Man, it puts this scan above to shame. Now I really know what they mean when they say their scanner rapes colors. I will be buying frames for it and the Erwin R. Morgenstern commissions this week.

So, since this is a writing blog, Will-o'-the-Wisp started as "Plight of the Faerie". Originally a very short tale that was edited down to a summery of less than 500 words, this sparked three more short summaries. The series stopped when I changed jobs. More recently, another deviation inspired me to do another; but this time it was a "full story" with dialogue and expanded plot. This helped me to begin expanding the summaries into chapters; and thus an adventure was born. Still, something was missing, drive and motivation. This is where this commission come in. It really was the key that got me where I am now with this story. The fire two chapters are comprised on two summaries each, with the third chapter comprised on the fifth installment plus new material. There are links to the original parts in the chapter descriptions.

The story revolves around Arthur Geoffrey, a young man of the Crown who is on holiday on the western shores of England hiking the coastline. There he encounters many fantastic and mythical creatures. While surprised to find them, he is not shocked at their existence. The time frame for this story is modern set in a world much like ours, where such myths are thought of a just fiction. Arthur is a kind man with a big heart and smile who is always willing to lend a hand, which gets him into the adventure of his life. What is it about this young man who can befriend faeries that draws Fate near? Read the story and find out!

It was inspired by a deviation (this is the term given to art postings on devantART) of a bound faerie, which you can find linked in the story description (use the link above!). This is how Gloriana, the nude faerie in the commission, got her start. For the fifth installment, the inspiration this time was another deviation of a sad Gothic faerie with a wish curse. This is where Morgan la Fay comes into play. Arthur gives them nicknames due to his in ability to sing their true names, which are in fact songs. I thought this to be a unique take (though I doubt original) and allows me to better fit names. Arthur is just a product of my brain. As you can tell, these names have connections to each other. While this will be a continuing trend in most all character names for this story, the names are more symbolic than descriptive. Still, the old tales will have an influence.

Biggest concern here is that Gloriana and Morgan are based on other's designs. This is why I had MoonlightAlchemist be sure to take the descriptions I originally gave and run with them. She did this that while keeping to whom they are. I have since modified their descriptions to better match what they look like in the commission. Same goes for the plight to which Morgan is first found. It is a fine line I do not want to cross, that of copyright infringement. However, I am taking an idea and making it my own, not stealing another's work and calling it my own. This is one key factor in my favor. Plus I will likely give credit to the original pieces as inspiration for this work; though this will not be enough should I have to defend myself. In my defense, what I have here is pieced from many sources combined into something more. I have never once taken credit for another's work in this matter so I doubt there is little to fear. Still, I need to delve into this more.

Blog Bullshit & Commission Stuff

So, I was listening to No Agenda with Adam Curry & John C Dvorak and they spoke on how blogs can only be successful when they are updated regularly and (sometimes more than daily) and have catchy titles. Under this formula, this blog is doomed! Well, I never kept to trends, no matter how "successful" they claim to be. I'm not here to please anyone, just keep them up to date on my writing adventures; especially with all these RSS feeds to keep people updated, there's not no excuse for this type of lazy behavior in readers. Srsly.

Anyway, got my commission from my good friend down in Argentina, know as kamikaze777 on deviantART. Think I told you about this sometime before (he posted it on dA about June 18) but unsure if I linked it properly. Well, here it is for those of you who haven't seen it; here is Erwin Rommel Morgenstern:

He, of course, is the leader of Section Nine from the U.N. Security Council charged with protecting three special ladies, known as Hybrids. For all the details, check out Hybrid History. Need to get a good frame for this when I hang it in my room.

Will likely wait on their venture until my other commission arrived from MoonlightAlchemist. She was very fast with this one was did a superb job. I've seen the final product and now am waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Once she posted it online, I'll give you guys the link. It is of my three character from my "Plight of the Faerie" series, which I have officially retitled. I am letting my friend be the first to expose the name of the second faerie plus the new title; so you will have to wait 'til then. Got another commission in the works with Meam-chan for my character Marcus from my Rogue Wave Rising Eureka 7 fan-fic. This is by far the most expensive commission I've requested and will be 19x24". Really looking forward to working with her on this one.

I've been working on the revamp of the story formerly known as "Plight of the Faerie". I am trying to coincide the re-release of the updated format and story with the posting of the commission to draw some attention to it. I have a better idea now of where this story is heading but have been too focused on getting what I have done updated to really produce more material. This said, I have added another part to it. What I've done is take two parts currently posted and made them into short chapters. So far I have three, with the additional part tacked onto the end of the fifth part, which is where my third main character is introduced. From here, things will finally start to get interesting. I think you'll like what I've done if you've already read the first incarnation. For the rest of you, let the adventure begin... once I post them. (You'll not I'm no longer linking to the original stories; this is on purpose.)

Should have the next part of Rogue Wave Rising posted next week. That and my redux of Shattered Reality have taken up much of my time. The sooner I get done with them the better, though I still enjoy them very much. Helping my sister move yesterday cut a lot of time out of my day as well. Tomorrow will be a perfect catchup day since with the holiday, I won't have to come in 'til late just to do my nightly run. Want to start some other projects I've been sitting on but for now these three stories are enough. I will be moving rooms sometime shortly so this will also decrease my writing time. Too much to do and not enough time in the day!

One last thing to add: my friend Agent-Elrond has a fun new book/guide out that you should all check out (see her blog in the link to your right for more info)! Wet Money: A Cartoon Guide to Raft Guiding

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans!