Richness

I recently finished reading the Harry Potter series, and one thing that struck me was how short the first three volumes are in comparison with the last four. I really noticed the difference in the stories: the last four had a lot more story-richness, and I enjoyed that very much.

The contrast reminded me of the Hardy Boys stories. The originals ran for about 220 pages. Later on in the series, though, they shortened the stories to 180 pages or less, and again, I really noticed the difference. The later stories felt thinner, poorer; I missed the richness of the longer stories.

So where I am headed? I realized that this is something I want to do with my stories. With self-publishing, I don't have to worry about length; I can make the stories however long I want. Cutting and efficiency are well and good, but I'm writing stories I like. :) And the best stories are always too short: always.

But, when I applied the idea to my first fantasy novel project, Beastlord of Underrim, I discovered the plot became much too long for me to conceptually juggle. It had already been that, however, I just hadn't realized it until now.

So, I've chopped the story into three novels, each of which will, I hope, be "enriched". :) I had condensed a great deal of story that I would rather have explored, and now I can have fun doing that. At the least, I can visualize the plot of the first novel, and it should be much easier for me to finish.

Here are the prototype names for the three novels:

The Beastlord of Underrim
The River-Spirit of Archenworld
The Golden Circle

Cover Art

Here's the cover art for SmorgaSword, done by Katherine and Sarah Ausura:

I'm very pleased; the work exceeded my expectations. :)

Great Signs and Wonders

My dad, Bennie Nelson, has published his first ebook to Amazon (with a Createspace print-on-demand paperback version to follow shortly). The title is Great Signs and Wonders, What is wrong with Christianity?

The book asks the question: if Jesus promised that signs would follow those who believe, and there are millions of believers in the Western world, why don't we see millions of signs following those believers? The answer is that what is now called Christianity no longer conforms to the teachings of the Christ.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus sent a letter to the church of Laodecia, considered a prophetic picture of the Church in this age. He told them they were poor, miserable, blind, and naked. But the Church thought the opposite: they were rich, increased with goods, and had need of nothing. Jesus rebuked them, because he loved them, and showed them the way back to Himself.

As the first volume in the Friends of the Living God series, the book Great Signs and Wonders begins to describe how the Church of the Laodecians may become the Friends of God.

Genres or Authors

Do you read genres, or authors? I've always followed authors. If I find a story I like, I'll check out whatever else they've written, regardless of genre.

Admittedly, I read few new authors. I'm speaking of folks such as G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, William Heyliger, L. M. Montgomery, and George MacDonald. In their case, I consider the author to be the genre, in which no one else can write. My attitude is, "Surprise me!" Sometimes reading their lesser-known works can be disappointing, but often it's not.

Finding that kind of author is a pleasure, and I'm hoping to be that kind of author.

Romance

I've recently come to a conclusion regarding romance in my novels. I want to describe the friendship, camaraderie, and unity that exists in a true romance, not at the physical layer, but at the personal.

Sex sells, of course, but it's also been done. I can think of far fewer examples of romantic camaraderie. One such example is the Thin Man movie series, starring Myrna Loy and William Powell. They had a romance that was already "happily ever after". It wasn't the problem to be solved. And the banter and just plain fun between the two was a highlight of the series.

At the time, Hollywood was under strict guidelines about including sex in movies, and that restriction resulted in the classic screwball comedies. Writers had to rely on something other than sex, and romantic comedies became a thing of exceedingly enjoyable repartee between the actors (such as in His Girl Friday).

The dialogue made those movies, and I'm hoping to do the same. Of course, I won't have Cary Grant delivering my lines...

Chapter Titles

Folks may judge books by their covers, but I also judge a book by its chapter titles. As a young fellow, I'd look at the cover, of course, but we collected old books, many of which didn't have dust jackets or pictures on the binding. The title, frontispiece, and chapter titles were sometimes the only way to quickly judge a book by an unknown author. Good chapter titles drew me, but merely numeric chapters were an obstacle.

For example, consider the Messenger of the Black Prince, published by Thomas Mawhinney in 1928. Besides having a good story title, it boasted intriguing chapter titles such as these:

The King's Fool
I Am Attacked in the Woods
A Trickster
We Hunt the Wild Boar
The Silver-Hafted Dagger
The Highwayman of Tours
I Find a Companion
The Three Crows Inn
The Scrivener Disappears
The Scrivener Turns Traitor
The Defense of the Cave
The Abbot of Chalonnes
The Black Prince Again

And, of course, no classic juvenile fiction would be complete without at least one chapter title such as "Trapped!", "Escape!", "Pursued", or "Besieged".

The book did not disappoint.

In my own books, I hope to have equally interesting chapter titles. Perhaps they will be good advertising through ebook previews (since the table of contents will be visible for free). But even if they aren't, I still want to be able to read my chapter titles, and find the same indication of a good story I did as a young reader.

Pen and Parchment

I've added a new link, to the Pen and Parchment blog. It's by Nichole White, and like me, she's a new author writing Christian speculative fiction (scifi, fantasy, etc.). The projects she's working on are intriguing, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished books.

I've only seen a few folks writing in this vein, by the way, and I'd like to see more.