tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39090948368514934502024-03-13T21:00:32.279-07:00Ryan SullivanFantasy AuthorRyan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-91799014378934381882016-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:002016-02-06T00:00:25.329-08:00Colour-Blind Early Childhood Educator<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/elstruthio/4404340043/" target="_blank">Pencil Crayons Black & White</a> by Adam Clarke, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Colour deficiency is when you can see all the colours, but your eyes can't make the distinction between them when taken out of context. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lights are the worst. I describe my perception of lights as warm or cool. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can't tell the difference between red and yellow lights </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">unless they're next to each other. Blue is usually okay. I could mistake a cooler green for blue. I have no idea what colour street-lights are; I think they can be all different colours . . . right? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I used to use red to draw grass. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've called a yellow car lime green. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At work, if a pencil was out of a child's reach, they might ask me to get them the blue pencil. And I might get it for them. Only to be told. That's purple.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was asked to go get the red mop bucket. I did. </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">On my way back a co-worker said: "That's green, dear."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's always a laugh, and I explain that sometimes my eyes can't make the distinction.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The other day in the three-year-old room, the educator had everyone in a circle. She held up pieces of paper with cartoons of different-coloured crayons. First she revised them all with the children. Then she picked out children and asked them to find whichever colour she called out. Or she held up a colour and asked them what it was. The children called out what they were, when I might have said something else.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Occasionally, a child would hesitate, or say the wrong colour.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It made me wonder: How would a colour deficient child feel when presented with these colours? When shown a bright orange that looks like yellow, or a dark purple that looks like dark blue, or a beige that looks like pink, or a red that looks like brown, or a brown that looks like green?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How does it feel when everyone else "knows their colours", but you can't get it right no matter how hard you try? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And you have no way of knowing there's nothing wrong with you.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-23252744898385217452016-01-31T21:57:00.000-08:002016-01-31T21:57:41.759-08:00Wake-Up Weirdness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40047822@N03/13012964813/in/photolist-kPUR5i-98zG91-kJgjKA-rWeEsD-562oai-nYGse-6zPyJn-8CYam8-q64iX5-nfFsFp-o8N7DY-5Yjgnv-djHLDF-7pTNfD-paKuwf-2zmNfx-3LT6v4-csu4SE-2VkG2g-9Rohau-ehDm5j-2CcAc5-5Yjg5K-5Youbu-mgzDPf-5YovbU-AxmMq6-5Yjgda-5You1J-BT6Fdq-k1g3gM-4C4yns-kxjP9D-5nSzJU-7jmGr7-3zCnnG-4T6Yfi-bF1fu9-bTUZMr-a9V8G2-itMVy-8kGrWN-7hpHND-9PNHqh-fd5nCn-D4Jn9K-4rDPtb-w6Rspz-7NCyLZ-e1SgEW" target="_blank">Day 17/365</a> by Crystal Sanchez, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution 2.0</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; text-align: justify;">This has been a weird week for sleep. I should have gone to bed earlier because, being a relief staff member, I can be called early in the morning to come to work.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I went to bed late anyway, and had some weird experiences when work called early.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">WEDNESDAY</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although I'd gone to bed about 1:30 or 2:00 the night before, I somehow woke up before 6:30. After not having much work last week, I'd become insanely bored, and I decided I'd go volunteer at work to get some hours for my placement, and alleviate my boredom. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Funnily enough, a couple of minutes later I got called and asked to go to work at 9:00. Lucky me, I got to go to work, get placement hours, <i>and</i> get paid for it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Being awake already, I decided to get up and have a shower. And for me to have a shower in the morning is a momentous occasion. On any normal day, I would have slept in until the last minute, but having missed my shower the night before, I seized the opportunity to have a day at work with luscious, vibrant hair.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think this is the first time I've been up an hour and forty-five minutes before <i>anything </i>in the morning.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">FRIDAY</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again, I'd been up late the night before. But this time I didn't wake up early; I was still dreaming when work called.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In my dream I could hear my phone ringing. I tried desperately to sit up -- while asleep -- so I could wake up and answer it. I struggled against my brain, and actually heard a voice in my dream say, "Ryan's having trouble getting up." Even while I sat up, I was still dreaming. It was like the world tipped sideways.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hadn't quite snapped out of it until I was upright and answering the phone. I put on my usual "happy-to-come-to-work" voice, and then tried to make sense of what had just happened.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">The Moral of the Story</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Going to bed late and getting up early only works once. Go to bed on time.</span></div>
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Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-74674060496729111482016-01-23T05:53:00.000-08:002016-01-23T05:53:53.423-08:00Reflections on the Blog<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPwvII68f2M/VqOBr33ePLI/AAAAAAAAAm4/QwhqnF7XiO0/s1600/DSC00850web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EPwvII68f2M/VqOBr33ePLI/AAAAAAAAAm4/QwhqnF7XiO0/s320/DSC00850web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Every so often I realise this blog is over two years old, and I remember how easy it seemed to get followers for The Dark Corner of the Mind. Maybe that blog was more accessible, more distant and authoritative with a special title of its own. And here I am with a blog titled "Ryan Sullivan"; not a standout name, just another person in the crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a review once said, with The Dark Corner of the Mind I was sporadic with my posting. But still, people would sign up to follow the blog every now and then, one more follow to boost my confidence.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The funny thing is, I didn't really know that much about how to write <i>well</i>. Mostly I posted updates about where I was in my first draft. Sometimes I posted writing advice, which people appreciated despite me not having published a thing. One thing I have from that blog is a testament to the long haul of writing; <i>Aundes Aura</i> took me a number of years to finish -- a short book -- but I got there, and The Dark Corner documents the things I tried to get me through.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I can appreciate that, at least.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here, I have no niche. I have no unfounded writing advice. All I have are personal reflections, opinions and interests. I feel like that should be more interesting. I'm not saying that it's not, but it's probably been done before.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I also think I have a couple of standout things -- the writing, the childcare. But until I write some riveting article, it's nothing that will bring people here and compel them to follow my unexceptional life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I thought blogging more consistently would improve my rate of follows. It hasn't really, as long as we ignore the five-month gap.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So if I don't have a great many followers, and no one ever stumbles upon my blog, why am I writing it?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By posting about my thoughts and concerns, my future self can look back on issues I was having, and be proud when I overcome them. I can look back on good memories that I've documented.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In my blog introduction, I wrote, "<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have another blog,</span> </span></span><a href="http://thedarkcornerofthemind.blogspot.com.au/" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Dark Corner of the Mind</span></a></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, where I mostly write about how my writing's going, as well as some writing tips that work for me. </span></span><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But writers aren't my audience -- readers are. That's who this blog is for.</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24px;">"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24px;">When I put myself in a reader's shoes, do I want to read about writing tips? Book progress updates, probably, but blogs about how to write? No. That's how I first came to my approach for this blog -- Ryan Sullivan, Fantasy Author.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24px;">It's here, if anyone ever finds it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24px;">If not . . . well at least I'm here to read it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><i>Thank you to everyone who reads this blog. You give it a reason to exist.</i></span></span></div>
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Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-27429429232615901722016-01-19T01:56:00.000-08:002016-01-19T01:56:16.343-08:00Speaky: Like Facebook, but for Language Exchange<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaky is an attractive social networking site I've discovered that serves as a language exchange platform. When you set up your profile, you select your native language, as well as the languages you're learning. "Statuses" in those languages (in my case, English, French and Spanish) pop up in the main feed. However, this is not the main aspect of Speaky.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The site will suggest people who are at varying levels within the languages you're learning, and who are also learning your native language. You can request to "buddy" these people, and begin a conversation over instant message. For example, I see people who are native French speakers and want to practise English. I might also see intermediate Spanish speakers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This way, we can exchange our languages -- I get to practise my French, and they get to practise their English.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One area I haven't delved into yet is the video chat. (Or audio chat, as my laptop camera won't work.) If it works, and I can get past my nerves, it could have a magnificent impact on my speaking skills. I hope it works well, but I can't comment on it yet.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What have I discovered so far? I actually <i>can </i>hold a basic instant message conversation in Spanish, even if I'm making a lot of mistakes.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I spent a few days researching language-learning, and the biggest inhibitor to learning a language is being afraid to make mistakes. Language is about communication. You have a goal to speak well, but children don't speak perfectly to start with. Begin by <i>communicating</i>, and people will correct you along the way.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaky is the greatest platform I've found for this so far.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-41712435927707816672016-01-09T20:48:00.000-08:002016-01-09T20:48:12.726-08:00What I'm Looking Forward to in 2016<h3>
<span style="color: #444444;">1. My new job as an Early Childhood Educator.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've always been in pursuit of a viable job that balances satisfaction and consistency. Writing books and teaching piano were unreliable, but Early Childhood Education ticks all the boxes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444;">2. Seeing my baby nephew grow up.</span></h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because let's face it -- the more babies can do, the more fun they are.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444;">3. A potential trip to France.</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's not confirmed . . . but I can still imagine it, right? Hopefully getting better at the language day by day, drinking coffee in shops that say "coffee" on them.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444;">4. Progressing in edits for <i>Knives in the Shadows.</i></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And possibly finishing it. The hardest parts have been done, but I still have a lot of time to put in. The results will be worth the wait.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444;">5. Finishing my Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll understand my job more, be more skilled, and earn more money. I still won't earn much, but more is better.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-39874195050817237282016-01-02T07:55:00.000-08:002016-01-09T20:48:38.070-08:00Gratitude for 2015<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2015 was a difficult year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even with the difficulties, I succeeded in many ways beyond my wildest dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are some things I was grateful for in 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">1. Friends.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm grateful for two particular friends in 2015: my best friend at home, and my close friend at Uni. I have other friends here at home, and I had others at Uni, but without these two closer friends, Uni would have been unbearable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">2. Finishing my Bachelor of Music.</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hate that feeling of always having an assignment due. That feeling's gone now. I feel liberated.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apparently, <a href="http://ryansullivanauthor.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/how-long-til-i-learn-from-my-mistakes.html" target="_blank">I did learn from my mistakes</a>. For some of my classes, I handed in work early. I reflected on seminars and handed in the reflections so I could sleep in on Wednesday mornings. And when given the opportunity to do a performance mid-semester <i>instead</i> of writing an end-of-year essay (of 2,000 words), I tentatively took it up (and did well), knowing it would ease the stress during exam and recital time.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">3. Landing an amazing job as an Early Childhood Educator right as Uni finished.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In July I began volunteering at a childcare centre. I wanted to feel competent in the workplace before going on placement for my Diploma (of Early Childhood Education and Care). </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Working with children came naturally to me, but I knew there were a lot of other things I'd have to learn. So every now and then the educators asked me to do things and showed me how to do them. If I was ever unsure, I'd ask, and over the weeks I built up my skills.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'd expressed that I'd be interested in work when I got further through my studies. So one day when volunteering (and not much further in my studies), I got a big surprise when the director came and asked me if I'd like a paid shift.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like that, I got on the casuals list and am now officially an Early Childhood Educator.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the first time ever, I'm earning real money with a real job, and absolutely loving it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've also been told there is potential for permanent work in the near future.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">2016 is going to be a huge change.</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- No more Uni. Although I'm studying a Diploma, it's online and self-paced.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- I will be going to my job, making money and coming home and being an adult and stuff.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think 2016 is going to be the best year I've had in a long time.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-40219857457695667132015-08-09T07:05:00.002-07:002016-01-23T05:54:31.366-08:00Creating a Language For My Books<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3c5BftRGzqE/VcdaBDgvvxI/AAAAAAAAAmg/j2x9bB6kv-g/s1600/DSC00684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3c5BftRGzqE/VcdaBDgvvxI/AAAAAAAAAmg/j2x9bB6kv-g/s400/DSC00684.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(I'll try to keep the language jargon to a minimum, but when I get to the technical aspects it'll be hard to avoid. A quick search will tell you anything you need to know.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Creating a language sounds time-consuming and complicated. I'm sure many people have gone in-depth and created some awesome languages.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had enough to focus on, so I went about developing a new language in a way that was painless, quick and fun. There could be holes in my approach, but at least there's a sense of structure, and hopefully a sense of authenticity.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The thing that helped me the most was my knowledge of French grammar and words (neither of which is perfect, but I know enough). I knew I wanted to make a language that looked like it sounded beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One point before I move on: This language isn't finished. It's constantly evolving, and you'll see why very soon.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I called it Válkian, the old language of the land of Válkia where <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></i> and <i>Knives in the Shadows</i> take place.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I began with three words. <i>Astan</i>, the word for 'family'. <i>Carmios </i>and <i>carfios</i> mean 'mother' and 'son', but these are more of a dialect. In young Luka's nomadic clan, the <i>astan</i> is all one big family -- all the mothers and fathers are thought of as parents of all the children. The women are all <i>mios</i>, and all the boys are <i>fios</i>. But if a parent and child have a strong bond, they add <i>car-</i> to the front to express this.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At this point I had just a few words, almost floating in a vacuum.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because of the traditions of the clan, Luka knows both the Common Tongue and Válkian. The next time Válkian makes an appearance, Luka sings a song. This meant coming up with quite a few new words, and it was clear I would need to quickly work out the language's grammar before I could go on.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had two approaches to coming up with words. The first one was to come up with a word that looked good and made sense. The other approach was to start with the French word, then mess around with the letters until I had something I liked. Sometimes it'd be completely different when I was done.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Every time I come up with a word, I add it to my 'dictionary', which has the translations of English words to Válkian, and Válkian words to English.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My approach to the grammar was to make it as simple as possible, while covering the necessities of language. The first thing I did was make all verb endings the same. In English you have:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He/She makes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The equivalent in Válkian would be this:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He/She make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They make</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After doing that, I only had to change the endings to show tense. I came up with some basic rules for tense, which could also inform other tenses. For example, things that "had happened" could be formed by adding the word for "had" before putting the past tense verb. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let's take a look at the rules I have so far.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b>-an - infinitive</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b>-as - present tense</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>-a - past tense (perfect tense)</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>no ‘a’ -i - future tense<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>no ‘a’ - present continuous</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">"ne" – makes a negative phrase</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Put into action, it looks like this:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>fiorman </i>- to run</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Fal fiormas </i>- He runs; He is running</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Fal fiorma</i> - He ran</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b><i>Fal fiormi </i>- He will run</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b><i>fiorm</i> - running</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b><i>Fal ne fiormas</i> - He doesn't run; He isn't running</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><b><i>Fal ne fiorma</i> - He didn't run</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>etc.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Without going into the many other quirks of Válkian, what I've shown above gives the language a pretty strong structure that makes it easy to come up with words and slot them in.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-10138549512704992732015-08-01T08:32:00.000-07:002015-08-04T06:06:00.667-07:00How Long 'Til I Learn From My Mistakes?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEGCGqjTq_U/VcC35hvupXI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Tqd7bGIZZwI/s1600/DSC00659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEGCGqjTq_U/VcC35hvupXI/AAAAAAAAAmI/Tqd7bGIZZwI/s320/DSC00659.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You should learn from your mistakes the moment you make them. So why don't I? How harsh do the consequences have to be before I try harder to improve?</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last year I failed History simply by leaving work too late. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been spoilt by a lenient teacher, whose classes, ironically, are the only ones I've failed. He accepts work late, hates administration, and believes that the main thing is that all the work is handed in at the end. I like his outlook a lot, but it seems the lack of pressure has the wrong effect on me. I leave work because I know I can, because I should focus on other work that night, but there's a point where everything must be handed in.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I missed that cutoff with History, which meant I failed. Because of that, I had to go to "summer school" to make it up. I was pretty happy to do this since it meant I could continue into the third year of my degree and finish on time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So did I learn from failing History? </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nope.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm now in my third and final year. I was so focused on my recital that I thought I could leave my big essay until the end. And then suddenly I got an email saying semester results were in. And of course, my essay wasn't.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The class wasn't running again, so if I wanted to finish my degree, I'd have to do a whole extra year of that one class just to finish it off.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was very lucky that my mark was close enough to a pass that I was allowed to submit the essay as "supplementary material" to get a pass and continue next semester. I was given two days to write the essay, and I wrote it in a night and a day. I sent it off, and the next day got an email saying my essay would have been marked High Distinction if it had been in on time. It's a shame that I have the skills but my self-discipline is still lagging.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The thought that I would have to do another year was so demoralising, it made me consider giving up. So I fought for the opportunity to hand in that essay, and I'm lucky that I can now finish my degree this semester. I have to remember that: I don't want to do another year. That's my motivation to get everything in on time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm <i>this close</i>. If I can focus for the next few months, my degree will be done, and everything I'm looking forward to will be waiting for me. To celebrate the end of my degree, I hope to go to France and get better at the language. Around that time, I'll be becoming an uncle for the first time. When I return, I can spend the next year volunteering in childcare, completing my Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, and I can take on more piano students to keep my head above water until I'm qualified to work as a childcare assistant or group leader.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-53261387189831974032015-07-25T06:00:00.000-07:002015-07-25T06:00:04.653-07:00Of Rainbow Drinks<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's bath-time for my friends' son, and after many a bath-watery coffee, he offers me a rainbow drink in a rainbow cup.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"A rainbow drink?" I ask. "How do they get the rainbows down?"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He says, "The rainbow clouds rain rainbow rain down 'til there are rainbow puddles. It makes rainbow trees grow, and rainbow grass. There are rainbow squirrels too. And rainbow houses."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"How do the houses become rainbow coloured?" I ask. "Does it rain on the houses and leave rainbows on them?"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Yep!"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"So <i>everything's rainbow?!</i>" I say with a sweeping gesture.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Yep!"</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-31155259590563166952015-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:002015-08-01T08:46:35.313-07:00Other Things I Do: A "Get to Know Me" Blog Post<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For this blog I've always wanted to discuss not only writing, but various aspects of my life, or whatever might be on my mind. The purpose of this is to give my book readers and blog readers alike a place they can find out more about me as a person and get an insight into my life and thoughts. So rather than just give you blog posts that seem to come from nowhere, right now I will give you a short list of things I do. Any of these things may or may not be blogged about in the future.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">1. I'm studying a Bachelor of Music Performance.</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is my final year if all goes well. Except I failed a subject this semester. <a href="http://ryansullivanauthor.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/how-long-til-i-learn-from-my-mistakes.html" target="_blank">More on that in another blog.</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I major in piano but sing whenever I can.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">2. I teach piano.</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was my dream job. The pay per hour is great; finding students to fill those hours isn't. Amazing work, but unpredictable. So . . . </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">3. I'm also studying a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care.</span></h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Practically every weekend I see my friends and their five kids. They keep me entertained by just being themselves. I've helped out with a good deal of bottles, shirt buttons, "CARRY ME AND WALK AROUND" demands, nappies, baths, toilet training, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">school pick-ups,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">cleaning,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> game-playing, cuddles and more. I've found it all rewarding, and yet, it wasn't until everyone close to me said, "Have you thought about doing childcare?" that I even considered it an option.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next week I'll have my first experience in a childcare setting as a student volunteer.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. I try to learn languages.</span></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm specific about the languages I want to work on, and I'm not that interested in culture. I just think communicating in another language is awesome. I don't like languages that have limited use, like Italian or German. Spanish would be my first preference, but they didn't offer it in school, so I learnt French, which would be my second preference anyway. I took French all the way through high school, and a few years on, I try to keep it up. I want to go to France so I can get good at speaking.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm trying to learn Spanish with the app Duolingo. I can say some things, but I'm not good at remembering them off the top of my head. One of my favourite words is <i>refrigerador</i> (fridge).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. I play video games.</span></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've stuck with PlayStation ever since the first system came out.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6. I overeat.</span></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know those big packets of chips people take to parties for everyone to share? I sometimes have two to myself.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7. I don't stress about things.</span></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Which gets me into trouble because then I fail a subject because I'm not worried about getting things done.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8. I think my poor eating habits are a reflection of my deep-seated, ever-present stress. I don't think I get stressed because I'm actually always stressed and don't know any different.</span></span></h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This isn't a therapy session.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">__________</span></span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What's one thing you love to do? </span></i></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">What brings you satisfaction?</span></i></span></h4>
</div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-68890512428139726882015-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:002015-07-11T06:00:04.802-07:00My New Favourite Font<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKTWm7qxso8/U4h4YRfPVOI/AAAAAAAAAhI/skGtj6oZRMs/s320/minion+pro+1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final result.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKTWm7qxso8/U4h4YRfPVOI/AAAAAAAAAhI/skGtj6oZRMs/s1600/minion+pro+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The paperback version of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></i> has </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">seen many small changes since it was first released. The biggest change was switching out the font on the front cover, but that was only the latest thing to change. Before that, it went through a few other alterations as I tried to maximise its aesthetics. The font of the interior was my main focus.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Its original font was Garamond, which came with Word. But the italics weren't doing it for me, and italics are meant to look good. I mean, the font should look good in general, but italics . . . italics are something special. Is that just me? Garamond's italics had capital letters that leant a funny way, and the tails of the letters had a weird swirl.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though Garamond was the best choice Word offered, I discovered there were better options out there which could be found online. There were free options, and paid professional options. I started with a free option that was popular.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cardo I thought was a nice font. A step up from Garamond, it had an old literature kind of look that would suit historical fiction. So, <i>Aundes Aura</i> being a fantasy, I thought it would suit. PDFs wouldn't encode it properly, though, and when I received my proof, I came across italics that had defaulted to some kind of basic font that was not Cardo. At first I tried to convince myself that the book looked better with Cardo (and it did save for the italics), but in the end I came to the conclusion that overall, this font looked crappy. The bad italics ruined it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know, there are a lot of italics in fantasy. Not only are there character thoughts, but there are letters being written, letters being read, songs being sung, dreams being dreamt, and other languages being languaged. (That's right, you heard me. (Or at least you would have if I was reading this blog out loud.))</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At last I came to the final step in my journey. In online discussions the words "Minion Pro" kept coming up. This was a popular font, and many complained that it was <i>too</i> popular. But there is always a reason things become popular. Sometimes it's a trend, and other times, it's <i>just that good</i>. I gather Minion Pro is popular for the second reason, because when I went to search it out I fell in love. I don't care what font anyone else is using as long as I'm doing my best to make my book look good. Minion Pro was better-looking than Garamond and Cardo. And I can't imagine anything looking better.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would describe Minion Pro as soft and calm. Clean. Inviting. Beautiful.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-91680377415546976742015-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:002015-07-04T06:00:01.931-07:00What I've Been Reading and What's Next<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sometimes go long periods without reading. Now that I've moved back home and have three hours of travel five days a week, there's one thing I can appreciate about a long commute. I can get a lot of reading done when I wouldn't otherwise do it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">The Name of the Wind</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This book was suggested to me for its prose, and I think I've learnt from reading it. I've also seen a different approach to the plot of a book. So far it's not political and there's not much saving the world, but there is tension and conflict as the character has a specific goal and events threaten to get in his way. Because his goal is to uncover a mystery, I myself was intrigued, and felt tension when it seemed he would be stopped from reaching his goal.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was also refreshing to see a character who was naturally exceptional, rather than hopeless, yet falls on hard times regardless and has to go to great lengths survive.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of <i>The Name of the Wind</i>'s strengths is its sense of place.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Stardust</span></h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was going to go straight back to <i>ASOIAF</i> after <i>The Name of the Wind</i>, but my friend suggested I read <i>Stardust.</i> It's a short book, so I decided to get it out of the way.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This book is an example of how to skip the "boring stuff" in a fairy tale. Like having a magic candle that sends the bearer long distances with each step. Or summarising in a paragraph or two.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The conversational prose wasn't for me, but I don't write fairy tales.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">What Next?</span></h3>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">A Storm of Swords (nearly finished)</span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">A Feast For Crows</span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">A Dance With Dragons</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to get ahead of the TV show.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">The Wise Man's Fear</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to continue the story of <i>The Name of the Wind</i> and read more of the prose I enjoyed.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">__________</span><br />
<h4>
<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">What about you? What have you been reading?</span></i></h4>
</div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-24591806653247855002015-07-02T07:29:00.000-07:002015-07-02T07:29:42.346-07:00Making Changes After Publication<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have continually made changes to </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> since its release. Firstly, these changes haven't touched the story, or even the words in the story. Everyone reads the same thing when they read </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aundes Aura</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some authors are okay with editing their story after it's published, but </span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aundes Aura</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is good enough (based on reviews) and I'd prefer to focus on future books.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here are two reasons for the changes I've made:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Improve the look</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Make it cohesive with the upcoming books in the series</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is a list of the changes I've made over time, mainly involving the paperback:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Changed font from Garamond to Cardo.</span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Removed drop caps, instead capitalising first three words.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Chapter headings are still all caps but the first letter of each word is bigger.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Headings for acknowledgements and "about the author" now resemble the chapter headings, but smaller.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Added a note opposite the map letting the reader know about the Pronunciation Guide at the back of the book.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Switched glossy cover to matte.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Changed font from Cardo to Minion Pro.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- <a href="http://ryansullivanauthor.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/see-rebranded-cover-for-aundes-aura.html" target="_blank">Had the font changed on the cover</a>, so it now has the same font that will be on the next book, <i>Knives in the Shadows</i>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I haven't made any changes for a long time now, but there is one more I intend to implement before the next book is finished. <i>Aundes Aura</i> will most likely be getting chapter titles. So instead of the heading "Chapter One" you'd see "The Exciting Beginning" or something like that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have to do this with <i>Knives in the Shadows</i> as well, because at the moment it has "Luka", "Nemain" or "Raste" or "Sateia" as the chapter headings, like <i>A Game of Thrones</i>. Which is nice because I'd like to evoke <i>A Game of Thrones</i>, but uniformity within my series is more important.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Chapter Titles</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It took some time to decide on having chapter titles as opposed to having just names or the chapter numbers. I had to weigh up the benefits and drawbacks.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chapter numbers allowed me to have the same character in successive chapters, or switch characters mid-chapter. It also gives me the freedom to switch to any character I want within reason. Drawback: When you see the number of chapters in the book it doesn't seem like a satisfying length. Yet <i>Knives</i> is much longer than <i>Aundes Aura</i> and it has fewer chapters.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Character names as chapter headings felt more like <i>A Game of Thrones . . .</i> and that's it. Drawbacks: Locks me into a character for the entire chapter. This meant switching characters often made for a short chapter (though most of the chapters were quite long -- thus its being longer than <i>Aundes Aura</i>). I'm obliged to switch character every chapter. Because of all this I had to be extra careful with my planning and give special attention to the timeline.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chapter titles come with all the benefits of chapter numbers, but they don't have the drawback.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Benefits: Cool chapter titles. You can switch character mid-chapter. You can have the same character in successive chapters. You can jump to a secondary character on the other side of the kingdom for a chapter. You can branch out into other characters you might see more of.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't think of any annoying drawbacks.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I've decided, all books in <i>The Válkia Chronicles</i> will have titled chapters.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This should be the last change I make to <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></i>. Anyone with a paperback copy right now has a unique version. Like the classic version of <i>A Game of Thrones</i>, or the painted cover art of <i>Magician</i> before the gold book came out. But once <i>Knives in the Shadows</i> is published, the format of the series will be final. (As much as possible.)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">__________</span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><i>Should books be changed after they've been published?</i></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><i>Should an author improve the story or leave it alone?</i></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><i>What about working on the prose?</i></span></h4>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-15710192323693066692015-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:002015-06-27T06:00:04.434-07:00Mid-Year Catch Up<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What happened in your December NaNo?</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
I got to about 15,000 words then stopped.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Why?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I may have burnt out. One thing I know for sure, I hadn't planned far enough ahead, and I knew I was approaching the end of my plan.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What have you done since then?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's my last year at Uni so writing has taken a backseat. The book I'm working on is just under 18,000 words.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What's happening with Knives in the Shadows?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've added all the new chapters and am currently doing big-picture edits. I'm starting with the hardest stuff and going down the list until I get to the bottom where the easiest stuff is. I made a major change at the beginning, and I have a major change to implement at the end. These aren't necessarily major in the way a character comes back to life, but they are the most difficult and time-consuming to implement (they involve writing completely new scenes) and their purpose is to fix logical issues and make sure all the elements of the story are present. Edits should be finished in the next couple of months while I'm on my Uni break.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Will it be available this year?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm debating it. <i>Knives in the Shadows</i> is special to me and I want people to read it, but with the next one already in the works, I wonder if it would be better to wait and release the two books together.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My theory is this: <i>Aundes Aura</i> has already lost all its sales momentum, so it makes no difference whether I release <i>Knives</i> now or in a year's time. However, if I release <i>Knives</i> and the following story close together, they might have more sales potential.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Are you going to be blogging again?</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would like to, but I'm not promising anything. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On one hand, I'm not sure I have much to blog about. I could blog about writing forever, but I want to focus less on that over here. I want to give more insight into my thoughts and reflections on life and day-to-day things. If it becomes another writing blog, so be it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, I don't have many followers so the incentive to blog is minimal. If you're reading this and not following, please do. Seeing those little profile pictures makes me want to blog more!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If I have enough ideas, I'd like to blog on a particular day once a week. Right now I'm writing some posts to schedule for the next few Saturdays.</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-41274587785196856392014-12-09T05:54:00.000-08:002014-12-09T05:54:51.844-08:00December NaNo Update #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-URuNijFI95o/VIb-aUuDyHI/AAAAAAAAAjc/W2xzyW9ph3E/s1600/word%2Bcount.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-URuNijFI95o/VIb-aUuDyHI/AAAAAAAAAjc/W2xzyW9ph3E/s1600/word%2Bcount.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The fact is, I've dropped off and I'm not where I'd like to be.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The other fact is, I've written a heap of words in 9 days.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The sad fact is, most of those words were written in the first 3 days.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are the rest of the facts.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 1: 3,487</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Total: 1,3487</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 2: 3,231<br /> Total: 6,715</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 3: 3,118<br /> Total: 9,869</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 4: 820<br /> Total: 10,689</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 5: 2,909<br /> Total: 13,600</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 6: 0<br /> Total: 13,600</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 7: 980<br /> Total: 14,580</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 8: 0 (planning day)<br /> Total: 14,580</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Day 9: 278<br /> Total: 14,858</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">(I should be at 25,859.)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">WHERE I'VE GONE WRONG</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. Not pushing myself hard enough. I've spent more time on the internet than necessary</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. Going out without writing first. I think going out is important, but if I'd written first, then I wouldn't have fallen behind.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. Not getting up early in the morning to give myself a head-start. The first day I got up at 6:00am. The next day it was later. Now I'm back to my normal self. Getting up earlier is the single best thing I could do to keep my targets.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I think I can catch up if I put my mind do it. However, if I think of it as trying to catch up, it could be self-destroying. So for now I just continue as if I'm right on track.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An idea: You see how in the first 3 days I wrote roughly 10,000 words? Maybe I should do a few more intense bursts like that, at times when I have no plans to be anywhere. That sounds plausible to me.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What would you do at this point?</span></strong></em>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-38830472905485956492014-12-01T07:39:00.000-08:002014-12-01T07:39:53.883-08:00Psych! NaNoWriMo in December!<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For various reasons I've decided to do my NoWriMo in December rather than January. I just succeeded my first day, however, I've decided only to post my numbers once a week, so as <span style="color: black;">not to clog up my blog with boring number posts. (Not that many people actually read it.) That means I still have accountability here, and if I succeed I'll be able to look back on my success. As for now, I'm posting daily updates on my personal FB page, as well as publicly on Twitter @RyanSullAuthor.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">See you around!</span>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-32429294026333544432014-11-06T01:10:00.000-08:002014-11-06T01:10:39.824-08:00NaNoWriMo in January<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> ARE YOU DOING NANOWRIMO THIS MONTH?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> No.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> Why not?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> Because it's exam time, and not only do I have to rehearse and play my own 20-25 minute recital, I'm playing for three others as well.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> But how will you write a book?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> Usually I just write it. But I like the idea of writing a book in a month, so I want to try it myself. January is when I have the least going on, so I'm going to do a NoWriMo (Novel Writing Month) then. It also means I get all of December to finish editing <em>Knives in the Shadows</em> and thoroughly plan the NoWriMo novel.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> But</span> </span><a href="http://thedarkcornerofthemind.blogspot.com.au/2010/12/pernowrimo-delayed.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">you failed epically back in December 2010.</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: black;">What makes you think you can do it this time?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> You never know if you don't try. <em>Not trying</em> guarantees you won't succeed. At least giving it a shot gives you a chance of success.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> But what if you fail again? Will you give up writing forever?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> So what if I don't manage 50,000 words in a month? If I'd given up in December 2010 I wouldn't have </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">a book out on Amazon</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. I have too many books in my head for me not to write them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You:</strong> What about the whole NaNo community that's buzzing about in November? You won't have that support.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me:</strong> I'll have the support of my best friend, who will probably be writing at the same time, plus those online I regularly check in with.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You: </strong>So what made you suddenly change your mind and want to try again four years later?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me: </strong>I was reading </span></span><a href="http://www.kiazishiru.com/nanowrimo/pre-nanowrimo-2014-words-word-counts-and-reaching-the-finish-line/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">this blog post about NaNoWriMo</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: black;">by Kia Zi Shiru which detailed ways to approach NaNo, and something called the Reverse NaNo jumped out at me. She says, "This is my personal favourite way to write as it builds some leeway in your writing early on. It pushes you to your limits early on so that you have a calmer end of the month. The first day you write 3346 words and on day 30 you write 1 word."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You: </strong>That's awesome.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me: </strong>I know. Normally you have to write 1,667 words every day, but with Reverse NaNo, once you pass day 15, you write less than that. And less and less each day. It's also a good idea because you're the most enthusiastic at the start of the project, but then as your enthusiasm wanes, it turns out you don't have to write that much, so you may as well.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>You: </strong>So you're really just going to do this by yourself?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Me: </strong>You're welcome to join me. If you can't do NaNo in November, but you still want to write a novel in a month, do this NoWriMo with me in January. Some extra company and accountability is always a good thing. I imagine I'll be updating on progress here on the blog, and we can also follow each other on Twitter and update progress with a unique hashtag.</span></span><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/RyanSullAuthor" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">@RyanSullAuthor</span></a><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">#NoWriMo</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">__________</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><em>Comments make me feel loved.</em></span><br />
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Have you done it before, and have you won? What book are you working on?</span></em>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-71615149869208428662014-08-25T05:05:00.000-07:002014-08-25T05:05:00.725-07:00See the Rebranded Cover for "Aundes Aura"!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EisyrzylBc8/U_sdtr1BjtI/AAAAAAAAAiw/VNHvKwq6ahs/s1600/rebranding%2Bblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EisyrzylBc8/U_sdtr1BjtI/AAAAAAAAAiw/VNHvKwq6ahs/s1600/rebranding%2Bblog.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">So I'm not revealing the cover for <em>Knives in the Shadows</em> just yet, but I'm too excited not to show off <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399303007&sr=1-1&keywords=aundes+aura" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></em> with its new facelift. You'll at least get a hint of what the font might look like for <em>Knives.</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Firstly, here's what <em>Aundes Aura</em>'s cover has looked like since it came out a year and a bit ago.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh-OzVr3nRI/U_shSo9CYfI/AAAAAAAAAjE/DzqE_lnP8Pw/s1600/AURABIG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh-OzVr3nRI/U_shSo9CYfI/AAAAAAAAAjE/DzqE_lnP8Pw/s1600/AURABIG.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">And secondly, here's what it will look like when I update it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fjLZa_EKVBE/U_siOS_eBvI/AAAAAAAAAjM/D8H-lDifox4/s1600/AudesAuraebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fjLZa_EKVBE/U_siOS_eBvI/AAAAAAAAAjM/D8H-lDifox4/s1600/AudesAuraebook.jpg" height="400" width="262" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">I did like the original cover, but it was important for me that there be continuity between the books in the series. I like this one even more. It feels more mature.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><em>Comments make me feel loved.</em></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><em>When should I update the cover? Straight away, or should I wait until the second book is out? </em></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><em>Do you agree that covers should be branded, or doesn't it matter?</em></span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-13440744329654811872014-08-21T10:22:00.000-07:002014-08-21T10:22:52.630-07:00New Cover, Title Change, Rebranding and What Gets Me Writing<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">There's no photo today, because the only logical photo would be a screenshot of the new cover, and I don't intend to release that until the book's out, or maybe just before. For now, only a few people have seen the cover, and there's been a great positive reaction from everyone. But who knows, I'll probably end up showing it off early, because it's so darn cool.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">So while that's under the wraps, I have something you probably should know -- the new title for the new book. <em>Three Bridges</em> has been <em>Three Bridges</em> ever since I first came up with <a href="http://www.thedarkcornerofthemind.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/idea-for-another-novel-prequel.html" target="_blank">the bare basics of the plot as it was four and a half years ago</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">. So when it came time to contact a cover artist, it was strange for me to think <em>Three Bridges</em>, while fitting for the three characters, wasn't particularly evocative. (I ended up adding a fourth character anyway.) I knew there'd be better titles out there, and weird as the experience was, I went to brainstorming new titles, thinking about themes, tone and events. I came up with a list of twenty or so titles, most of them slight variations of another, the difference between <em>in</em> or <em>in the</em>. So <em>Three Bridges </em>is henceforth . . .</span></div>
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<em><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Knives in the Shadows</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And boy does it look nice on that cover! I'm in love with the fonts she's used, which takes me to my next point.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I'll be rebranding the cover of <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></em> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">so that sitting next to <em>Knives in the Shadows</em> they will look like they are part of the same series -- which would be great because they <em>are</em> part of the same series. All this means is that the fonts on the cover of <em>Aundes Aura</em> will be changed to the same ones used on <em>Knives</em>. This also means I can update the blurb on the paperback to the more recent version found on Amazon.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">There isn't much that can get me writing. Writing is one of the hardest things in the world, and that can put me off it, but I still come back to it because I love creating the worlds, creating the stories, coming up with great passages, and seeing a project all the way to the end. I love having written, and no amount of difficulty in writing can stop me from eventually finishing my books. I've proven it once, I'm about to prove it again, and I'll keep doing it with this series and the next. I'm getting faster each time, and my writing's becoming more refined, my characters deeper and my world richer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">With all the difficulty of writing, all that time spent staring at the screen thinking, <em>What am I going to write now?</em> (which happens even when I've planned things out), what can get me writing after a full day of stuff? A shiny new cover, that's what! </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I couldn't write much because I haven't been in the swing of things and I got really stuck at 95 words. I pushed on, though, up to an almost sort of reasonable 192 words. It isn't much -- I tend to write closer to 500 words -- but it's done something very important. It's pulled me through a part I was stuck at. Now that I'm through, next time I'll be at an easier spot. Sometimes you get those 100-200 word days and you just have to think, <em>I'm glad I'm through that tough spot now.</em> Thanks to that, the next session will be easier.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">If not for that awesome cover, I wouldn't have written anything. I'm eager to show it off and that's part of why I want to hold back. I want it there to motivate me to get cracking, because every time I write, it puts me closer to finally showing off the awesome cover and, best of all releasing my new book (which I believe is also awesome, and will be even better once I've finished editing).</span></div>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-3790946112985601132014-06-02T06:00:00.000-07:002014-06-02T06:00:08.175-07:00Enter the Kindle Fire Giveaway - Author Feature: Deborah Jay with "THE PRINCE'S MAN"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Welcome to the June Free Kindle Giveaway! Every month, </span><a href="http://www.freekindlegiveaway.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">FreeKindleGiveaway.com</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> gives away free kindles to one or more lucky giveaway winners. Entering is simple–just follow the directions on the rafflecopter at the bottom of this post! But first, take a moment to learn about an amazing book from one of our giveaway sponsors!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjvu_kAJAho/U4lSr050WsI/AAAAAAAAAh4/uKRxAs7HdXY/s1600/the+prince's+man+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjvu_kAJAho/U4lSr050WsI/AAAAAAAAAh4/uKRxAs7HdXY/s1600/the+prince's+man+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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"THE PRINCE'S MAN" BY DEBORAH JAY</h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Rustam Chalice, hedonist, dance tutor and spy, loves his life. So when the kingdom he serves is threatened from within, he leaps into action. Only trouble is, the spy master, Prince Hal, teams him up with an untouchable aristocratic assassin who despises him.<br /><br />And to make matters worse, she's the most beautiful woman in the Five Kingdoms.<br /><br />Plunged into a desperate journey over the mountains, the mismatched pair struggle to survive deadly wildlife, the machinations of a spiteful god - and each other.<br /><br />They must also keep alive a sickly elf they need as a political pawn. But when the elf reveals that Rustam has magic of his own, he is forced to question his identity, his sanity and worst, his loyalty to his prince.<br /><br />For in Tyr-en, all <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">magic users are put to death.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: black;">Award winning novel, THE PRINCE’S
MAN, has been described as ‘Jam</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">es Bond meets Lord of the Rings’ - a
sweeping tale of spies and deadly politics, inter-species mistrust and magic
phobia, with an underlying thread of romance.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Purchase
links <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Amazon:</span> </span><a href="http://mybook.to/PrincesMan"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://myBook.to/PrincesMan</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id676995721"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: blue;">https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id676995721</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-prince-s-man"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: blue;">http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-prince-s-man</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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priced at $0.99<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S5BgywlmuO8/U4srtSPl-VI/AAAAAAAAAig/F8_uwfB9kBs/s1600/author+photo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S5BgywlmuO8/U4srtSPl-VI/AAAAAAAAAig/F8_uwfB9kBs/s1600/author+photo.jpeg" height="200" width="157" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">Deborah Jay writes fast-paced fantasy adventures featuring
quirky characters and multi-layered plots – just what she likes to read.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already
invested in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic,
mystery-filled Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find
time. Her taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of
keeping too many dressage horses, and her complete inability to cook.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Her debut novel, epic fantasy THE PRINCE’S MAN, first
in a trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, was published in July 2013,
with THE PRINCE’S SON due out in 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Urban fantasy, DESPRITE MEASURES, published in
December 2013 is the opening novel of the projected five book CALEDONIAN SPRITE
SERIES.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">She also has non-fiction equestrian titles published
in her professional name of Debby Lush.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Find out more about Deborah at </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://deborahjayauthor.com/"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://deborahjayauthor.com/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
or follow Deborah on twitter </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://twitter.com/DeborahJay2"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">https://twitter.com/DeborahJay2</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">,
facebook </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DeborahJay" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">https://www.facebook.com/DeborahJay</span></a>
Pinterest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/debbylush/">http://www.pinterest.com/debbylush/</a></span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
Goodreads </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172608.Deborah_Jay"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172608.Deborah_Jay</span></a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></span> </div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB"><h3>
READ AN EXCERPT FROM "THE PRINCE'S MAN"</h3>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
laid the elf in the shade beneath an ancient spreading oak. His breathing was
audible now, but that was no more reassuring. Now it rasped and bubbled like a
drowning fisherman, and when Rustam touched his face, the skin burned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He
looked around for Risada and found her kneeling by the stream, scooping water
in her cupped hands. She had removed the net and hat, and her pale golden hair
tumbled down her back, kinked into waves by its confinement. Rustam’s eyes
fixed for a moment on the graceful arch of her throat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He
shook himself. “My Lady?” he called softly, aware that she was still furious
with him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">She
glanced up, frowned, and then rose to her feet. “Yes?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
pointed at the supine elf.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“What
do you expect me to do about it?” she inquired icily. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought you might have some idea; he’s hot as a
baker’s oven.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“What
did you expect? He has very little chance of surviving this journey.” The
sunlight faded from the clearing and Risada glanced up at the clouds beginning
to amass overhead. “Especially if winter decides to break early.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">She
knelt down beside the elf and touched his flushed cheek and forehead. “He has a
fever—”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“That’s
what I said!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If</i> you will let me finish? In my
saddle-bags you will find a small twist of blue paper. No, the other side. Yes,
that’s it. Bring it over here with a canteen.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">From
the paper she took two pinches of powder and mixed them with a small amount of
water in the canteen cup.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Hold
his mouth open.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Slowly
Risada dribbled the potion into the elf’s mouth, holding his jaw closed when he
choked and gagged. Then, satisfied that he had swallowed enough, she rinsed the
cup and stood up. “That should reduce the fever, always supposing he responds
like a human. It’s all I can do; I’m not an apothecary.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
tightened the horses’ girths while Risada filled the canteens. They had just
remounted when thundering hooves pounded down the slope behind them and three
riders burst into the clearing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On
the edge of his vision Rustam saw Risada drop the bay mare’s reins, draw her
dagger and raise a blowpipe to her lips in one fluid set of movements, while he
struggled awkwardly to free his sword from the saddle scabbard beneath his left
thigh. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Nightstalker
pranced eagerly, destroying the tiny moment of concentration he needed to snap
his mind into high speed. The elf bounced in front of him, blocking his view.
He cursed and curbed the mare sharply. She half reared in protest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
glint of a blade sliced towards him. Rustam threw himself sideways just as
Nightstalker squealed and lashed out with her hind feet. Already off balance,
Rustam slithered from the saddle pulling the elf with him, and they crashed
heavily to the ground.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Hooves
rose and fell finger distance from his face, trying to trample him, and they
might have succeeded had his beloved black mare not lunged at the attacker’s
brown gelding with her teeth bared.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
rolled away, finally managed to shift his time sense, regained his feet and
darted in beside Nightstalker. He dragged his sword free with a satisfying rasp
of metal on leather. The soldier, dressed in Melcard’s maroon livery, guided
his frightened gelding around the angry mare, and with a curdling battle cry
attacked Rustam. His sword arced downward and Rustam ducked, twisted around as
the horse passed him and sliced upward. A severed arm thudded to the ground at
his feet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Uttering
a hysterical shriek, the soldier dropped his reins, and his horse lurched to a
confused halt. The man sat frozen in shock, gazing without comprehension at his
bleeding stump. Rustam sprinted forward, swerved around the spurting jet of
bright blood—no point soiling yet another shirt—caught hold of his victim’s
sword-belt and dragged him from his saddle. One quick dagger thrust ended the
man’s worry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
turned to see Risada not faring so well. The blowpipe was nearly useless
against fast moving armoured targets, and her dagger was too short to menace
their swords. She was still mounted, but one rider was circling to get behind
her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rustam
vaulted into his saddle. Nightstalker grunted an objection at his rude arrival
but bounded obediently forward. One soldier’s back was towards him; the other
saw him coming and cried out. The nearer one began to turn, pirouetting his
horse on its haunches, but Rustam’s charge brought him quickly within range and
although the man managed to raise his sword awkwardly to parry Rustam’s first
blow, it flew from his grasp and the backswing sliced through his neck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Turning
to confront the last of their attackers, Rustam found only an empty saddle. The
man lay spread-eagled on the grass, a tiny yellow feather adhering to his
exposed throat. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Risada
was already off her horse, kneeling beside the sprawled tangle of limbs that
was the elf. As Rustam jumped down from Nightstalker’s back to join her, she
rose gracefully to her feet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Somehow
I don’t think falling on top of him has helped his chances of survival.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span> </span> </span><br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
ENTER THE KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY BELOW</h3>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span> </h3>
<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-5272491028279173652014-06-01T06:00:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:00:03.990-07:00Enter the Kindle Fire Giveaway - Author Feature: Rebecca Hamilton with "THE FOREVER GIRL"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Welcome to the June Free Kindle Giveaway! Every month, </span><a href="http://www.freekindlegiveaway.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">FreeKindleGiveaway.com</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> gives away free kindles to one or more lucky giveaway winners. Entering is simple–just follow the directions on the rafflecopter at the bottom of this post! But first, take a moment to learn about an amazing book from one of our giveaway sponsors!</span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJZxeoUZQ8s/U4k_hAqgVBI/AAAAAAAAAhk/Tb3lcTAwiCw/s1600/the+forever+girl+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJZxeoUZQ8s/U4k_hAqgVBI/AAAAAAAAAhk/Tb3lcTAwiCw/s1600/the+forever+girl+2.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</h3>
<h3 class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
"THE FOREVER GIRL" BY REBECCA HAMILTON</h3>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A Cult. A Murder. A Curse. <br /><br />At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her. <br /><br />Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous. <br /><br />One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. <br /><br /><br />The Forever Girl is a full-length Paranormal Fantasy novel that will appeal to lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, witches, vampires, ghosts, paranormal mystery, and paranormal horror.</span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Girl-ebook/dp/B00729GQ0A/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Buy "THE FOREVER GIRL" at Amazon for $0.91!</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8dtmrZAZmDg/U4k_hC9Wm8I/AAAAAAAAAhg/vA9vBLAF_ic/s1600/The+forever+girl+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8dtmrZAZmDg/U4k_hC9Wm8I/AAAAAAAAAhg/vA9vBLAF_ic/s1600/The+forever+girl+1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
</h4>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
ENTER THE KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY BELOW</h3>
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<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-48362015399190934912014-05-29T03:16:00.000-07:002014-05-29T03:17:31.819-07:00This is a past Ryan Sullivan appreciation post<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii9-AByTdms/U4bteq-KONI/AAAAAAAAAg4/AuCgJYHtxJs/s1600/woods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii9-AByTdms/U4bteq-KONI/AAAAAAAAAg4/AuCgJYHtxJs/s1600/woods.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Destination</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Dear Past Me,</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I appreciate you.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Well done for getting over your cold in the space of a week. Even though you didn't get the 1200 word essay in that Friday when it was due, you sacrificed sleeping on Sunday night and handed it in on Monday. You didn't give up on it and I'm proud of you for that.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Well done on getting your recital band together and practising. For a first rehearsal, it sounded awesome. You played better than you thought you would, and though it wasn't perfect, it was cohesive. By the way, you can play an A blues scale over that II-V-I comp in C. So much cooler than just D dorian.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Thanks for completely scrapping two components of your piano test on Thursday. You relieved me of a ton of stress. You will lose a lot of marks, but you'll pass quite comfortably. You're right not to be worried about the sight-reading. You were commended on your expressive playing. Don't stress about "The Silly Exercise". Play the bits you can, and bash through the rest. You'll get more marks that way. And DO ask Craig if you can do the arpeggios test you missed earlier in the semester. It could be the thing that pulls you through.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">You'll get sick again on the Tuesday before the above test, but supermarket medication is surprisingly effective and it'll pull you through so you can keep practising. You'll be better on Thursday.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Well done on publishing your first book last year. Realising your dream at 20 years of age is pretty awesome. If you keep going at this rate, it's a good thing you've got a lot of dreams. You may not have worked on <em>Three Bridges</em> for a while, but if you focus on your assessments for now, you can have a stress-free six week break where I know you'll finish all your edits, have a cover made, publish it and start working on your next one.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">I'm proud of you for advertising as a piano teacher back in February. Occasionally you'll get contacted by potential students, but nothing will come of it. Don't worry. Keep going. Because the night before your Thursday piano test, a woman will comment on your Facebook post and suggest you also post to a particular page. And you will. And the morning of the test, you'll be greeted with a message and two comments enquiring about lessons. Don't get your hopes up yet because I have no idea what happens, but it was a good move opening lessons up to 4 to 6-year-olds. You've been hoping to hear from this person.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">You'll procrastinate the night before the test by staying back at Uni and talking to cool people. But practising isn't going to do much at that point anyway, so go ahead and help your friend practise for her recital. She'll appreciate it and you'll enjoy it. Even before then it'll come up that you teach piano in Scoresby and are trying to get some private students, and she'll give you the Facebook page of her friend's music school and say you should email them and see if they have any work available. You haven't done it yet so when you contact Present Ryan tell him he should. Jumping in at the deep end is scary, but he'll have to do it many times if he wants music teaching to be his primary income. After a few years it won't be so scary.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Thanks for doing all the things that make you who you are. Learning French, speaking French poorly, singing, playing and teaching piano, writing books -- you do these because you enjoy them and you love seeing yourself improve. People say it's about the journey and not the destination. Sometimes that's true. But so often it's about the destination. Working on these things can be difficult. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Spending an hour at the piano working on a single difficult passage can be harrowing. Writing a book can take a year or more. Usually the words don't flow from your fingers, but come in bursts of three.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">But it's not about the journey; it's about the destination. And the destination can be amazing.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Sincerely, </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Present Me</span>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-14009205357088590962014-05-13T03:43:00.000-07:002014-05-13T04:40:23.352-07:00I Have A Cold<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dmw1TiKRf6s/U3H24JMRaMI/AAAAAAAAAgo/AHMCzTQtxJo/s1600/main-cold-season.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dmw1TiKRf6s/U3H24JMRaMI/AAAAAAAAAgo/AHMCzTQtxJo/s1600/main-cold-season.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I was perfectly fine yesterday. I got up, went to Uni, came home and relaxed. It wasn't until I was trying to go to sleep that I thought I might be getting sick. When I woke up it was unmistakable.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Growing up, I went to school regardless of how I felt. Colds, fevers and headaches weren't enough for Mum most of the time. I'd be sick for a week or two, tired, unable to concentrate properly.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">It's taught me some kind of resilience, and that's great I guess, but now it's up to me how I approach this. Rather than continue being sick for the next two weeks, I want to get it out of the way as soon as possible.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">On Saturday I'm going to see the musical <em>Wicked</em> with some friends. I'd really love to have a good night, feel happy and positive and not worry about giving a bug to my friends.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">So I stayed home today, rested, and drank a lot of tea.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">This is probably an awful blog post, but hey, what's a blog for? Here's a snapshot (literary snapshot) of my life.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Time to go make another tea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>Do you have a killer remedy for colds?</em></span>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-84622696341935769892014-04-17T11:11:00.000-07:002014-04-17T12:12:05.702-07:00Hindered by Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wdf0f7Emexk/U1ADq210H9I/AAAAAAAAAgY/-zUPnrCW0zk/s1600/ea3634cee9080aa5feff799eca8d27a0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wdf0f7Emexk/U1ADq210H9I/AAAAAAAAAgY/-zUPnrCW0zk/s1600/ea3634cee9080aa5feff799eca8d27a0.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Ultimately I think that's what it comes down to.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Sometimes it's a simple fact of me being busy at the time, or maybe I'm between projects. That's not when it happens. It's not until I actually have a project in front of me that this fear springs forth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">I don't believe in writer's block. All that means is that you haven't planned enough. I firmly believe in procrastination. No, it's not a good thing; it's the worst thing. But it definitely exists. It's not enough to realise that you procrastinate. If you want to stop doing it so much, you have to find the reason behind it and attack <em>that</em>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">For me, the reason behind it is fear, at least in some form.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">THE BLANK PAGE</span></h4>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">What isn't scary about a blank page? It's like Microsoft Word's depiction of an atheist's death: nothingness; blank space; no thought or existence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">FEAR OF WRITING</span></h4>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">When I finally get past the blank page and start throwing down words, certain scenes can give me pause. Why? They're never what I imagined. When I have scene ideas, I see a movie in my mind's eye, or maybe three-second Snapchat videos. Translating film to novel doesn't work the way I'd like. I'd love to write a scene and for that movie in my mind to start playing in my reader's mind. But it doesn't work like that, and when I write it, it actually comes out better than I could imagine -- but different. Because of that, I can never know how it'll turn out. Like people are afraid of the uncertainty of death, I, on a basic level, am afraid that what I write may not be up to the standards of my imagination.</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span> </h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">FEAR OF EDITING</span></h4>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I've only run into this more recently as I've begun editing <em>Three Bridges.</em> Can I really make it better? Really? Do I actually have the required skills to implement my editor's suggestions? Am I up to the challenge, the
great undertaking that would lift my book to greater heights? What if I destroy
the book I've worked so hard for? What if the time I spend editing could have
been spent writing a new book, and what if the editing makes no difference to
how the book fares in the real world?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">It's all fear of the great unknown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">While fear still hinders my progress,
I've learnt to take steps to make the challenges of writing a novel less
daunting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">PLANNING</span></h4>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Planning three different phases of the novel-writing process is what's helped me the most. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Writing:</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">While writing <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY" target="_blank">Aundes Aura</a></em>, I only ever planned three to five chapters ahead, with a basic overview in my mind. It took me three years to write the first draft. <em>Three Bridges</em> had a chapter-by-chapter plan from start to finish. It took me a year and a month to write the first draft. I had a better idea of what was coming, and so was able to approach it more aggressively without fear of the unknown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><strong>The Blank Page:</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Through pre-writing, I was able to get a sense of the scene without getting bogged down in details and trying to make the writing sound good. I write the basics of what's going to happen in the scene. Often I put down in quotes any sentences I might like to include, or dialogue ideas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><strong>Editing:</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Because my editor covered lots of different aspects of my novel, I found it daunting. To divide it into achievable chunks, I pulled out the points that needed addressing and separated them into "big-picture" and "small-picture" edits. Now my only focus is on the big-picture edits, starting with the most difficult task -- adding new chapters. I'll keep chipping at the dot-points until the big-picture edits are done, and then I can work on the small-picture things: description, emotion and character voice.</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"></span> </h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">WHY DO YOU THINK YOU PROCRASTINATE? HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH IT?</span></h4>
Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3909094836851493450.post-56574924366991947162013-11-21T09:13:00.002-08:002013-11-21T09:13:52.036-08:00Photos of my matte createspace cover<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My proof copies came in the mail today. I spent hours writing an overdue essay before allowing myself to open the box. I was happy with the proofs except for two small things, so I'll get those out of the way.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">1. My map was still low resolution. That's my fault for not having proper programs.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">2. The end of more than half the chapters had part of the last letter and the punctuation mark cut off. That may have to do with my font choice. I mean, it's not a cover problem, so nothing to worry about there. I've emailed CreateSpace about it to see if they can sort out the problem.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NY9lcamzlvk/Uo43Z4kYiQI/AAAAAAAAAeE/CrQGd93S1O8/s1600/P1000288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NY9lcamzlvk/Uo43Z4kYiQI/AAAAAAAAAeE/CrQGd93S1O8/s400/P1000288.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Now for the cool stuff!</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Here's the box.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-NWwQ4KRPA/Uo44XliwQaI/AAAAAAAAAeM/p5r-wh8vKc4/s1600/P1000260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I-NWwQ4KRPA/Uo44XliwQaI/AAAAAAAAAeM/p5r-wh8vKc4/s400/P1000260.JPG" width="400" /></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Tada!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cBfaTlwuUB0/Uo44eXeOlhI/AAAAAAAAAeg/9EfxwkLx1AU/s1600/P1000261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cBfaTlwuUB0/Uo44eXeOlhI/AAAAAAAAAeg/9EfxwkLx1AU/s400/P1000261.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The front and back. The book on the left will be left mostly untouched. The one on the right I will read through to see how it fares after handling.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5B-npznywGk/Uo44bxtYqlI/AAAAAAAAAeY/ziYJezHLnKA/s1600/P1000262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5B-npznywGk/Uo44bxtYqlI/AAAAAAAAAeY/ziYJezHLnKA/s400/P1000262.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The map, along with the new notice pointing readers to the pronunciation guide at the back.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uGVVxvkosqE/Uo45Gajw8II/AAAAAAAAAe4/_FYTN69CEiw/s1600/P1000264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uGVVxvkosqE/Uo45Gajw8II/AAAAAAAAAe4/_FYTN69CEiw/s400/P1000264.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> The Chapter One spread with the new font and formatting.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZINvztKRv8/Uo447JPufPI/AAAAAAAAAew/9CeQLCywDss/s1600/P1000265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZINvztKRv8/Uo447JPufPI/AAAAAAAAAew/9CeQLCywDss/s400/P1000265.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A spread from the middle of the book.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y_VuHVt-XCg/Uo45Vo7W4gI/AAAAAAAAAfA/SofI3uTVn7w/s1600/P1000266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y_VuHVt-XCg/Uo45Vo7W4gI/AAAAAAAAAfA/SofI3uTVn7w/s400/P1000266.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Side-by-side comparison of the glossy cover (left), a traditionally published matte cover book, and <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aundes-Aura-V%C3%A1lkia-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00D7F82BY">Aundes Aura</a></em> with its matte cover.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Q605IN4cA4/Uo45otBZjeI/AAAAAAAAAfU/xKFstb4H7oY/s1600/P1000268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Q605IN4cA4/Uo45otBZjeI/AAAAAAAAAfU/xKFstb4H7oY/s400/P1000268.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">So far I'm happy with the cover lift. It's more natural. I'll post what it looks like in a week's time or so.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usTEPHIQLpI/Uo46QKlI-bI/AAAAAAAAAf8/YjQ6jVqFGoc/s1600/P1000273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usTEPHIQLpI/Uo46QKlI-bI/AAAAAAAAAf8/YjQ6jVqFGoc/s400/P1000273.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Overall, I'm very happy with it!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span>Ryan Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11093880801598251933noreply@blogger.com4