Author J. R. DuBois: Unfiltered

Heavens to Betsy, is Book Two's progress slowing down because I know I'm getting near the end, getting overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to make happen before the end -- which is fast approaching -- or is it because I want to tweak the end of Book One so Book Two essentially becomes Part Two of Book One, thus making Book 1 and 2 only one book? *grabs head and screams* Yesterday, I was certain that this (the latter) was what I thought I should do. But now... Eeeeuuughhh... As I've tried to plot and draft such a thing, I realize... well. Maybe yes and maybe no. I really could make this thing a trilogy, but I also want to try very hard to make it a duology with trilogy, prequel, and sequel potential, so either way, the stories are connected, but do I finish book two, finesse it as much as I have Book One, and then ram the two together with the neat little sections of "Part One" and "Part Two," and then leave the prologue of Book Two and some of the vill...

  My Backyard Writing Spot. Isn't it gorgeous?! "They" say it takes a village to rear a child, but I say it takes a village to write a book. I cannot tell you the number of times I thought Conduit of Fire was done. Finished. Finito. Fin. I cannot tell you how many times I was wrong. If I wait for this thing to be perfect, I will never publish it. So perfection is off the table. But there is this thing called "author blindness," where the creators of the work quite literally go "blind" to certain issues that arise in the text. These could be simple typos, where we gloss over them because they're minor, and we know what we're trying to say, to larger ones, where we're trying to explain a concept but it doesn't quite come across because we forgot that either a) we didn't talk about that yet, or b) we forgot what we took out that relates to it and we still think it's in there, or c) some combination thereof. Remember, Conduit of Fir...

"Cat Sunbathes by Excessively Overgrown Pond" One of my writing views this morning. Kota insists on drinking and sun-bathing by our overgrown pond, but it's been a beautiful morning, and she's so cute. Hubs keeps expecting her to fall-in (she's blind), but she's cautious and nimble, and I'm quite sure my heart is Kota-shaped. That's just conjecture, though... Hey Conduits! This week, I didn't write as many hours as I intended (life got in the way), but I spent the same amount of time thinking through issues/plot structures, and still made some very important strides. Since I'm writing Book Two, all those pesky questions I created in Book One need to be answered. Two of the biggest ones are now effectively answered, with another to be answered soon, and I'm proud to say it's not answered via an info-dump (which is hard to do!). As it stands, I am either smack-dab in the middle of Book Two, or much closer to the climax than I realize (isn...

What do you enjoy about fantasy books? (Or books/reading in general?) For me, I love the immersion into a world that is different than the one in which we live. That said, the world must be familiar-enough that I could see myself in it, immerse myself into the role of the characters, regardless what gender or belief-system they have. It is, in essence, an escape, but not necessarily because I dislike my life, but because it is a chance to explore new things and experience situations I might not otherwise be able to -- including the ability to do what humans simply cannot: magic. Stories, to me, are one of the best ways we can communicate with one another, to share our experiences, to record history, and to learn lessons. And communication is one of the most important aspects to connecting with our peers. Which is why I am extremely humbled and grateful to God that I have the opportunity to be a part of building that connection. A little about Chronicles of Liren. Firstly, Liren tends t...