Okay, after last week's 21,000 words I wasn't expecting this week to be great for writing, so I focused on other things that needed to be done - such as mapmaking and epublishing.
So, this week's main achievement is:
epublishing of entire Rebound of Power collection of stories!
This involved:
- A fresh out-loud read of each of the stories as a final proofread/edit.
- Researching current epublishing options.
- Learning how to use the Draft2Digital platform (recommended by several blogs as the best epublisher for the moment.)
- Creating two new maps for Kranisis and Varkevand for Ocean of Empathy - one of these I took you through a step-by-step process as I edited an old version of the map into something new and spectacular (in my opinion, anyway...) Here's the end result:
I also spent time:
Researching how fast ships can go
This is so that I have a basis for travel times in Terrenden.
The fastest hydroplanes in our world (sometimes called the "Other World" in Terrenden) go 276 knots or 318 mph (511 kph) - I'm using km simply because it suits me better. That doesn't mean everything is metric, but a lot of it will be.
Anyway, I'm figuring that ships going roughly 500 kph makes a lot of sense considering that they were trying to keep people out of the skies more and still get things done expediently in a world where a hoverbil travels at 200 kph as standard. If Terrenden is roughly Earth-size (not really established yet, but it would be reasonable), it would take 3 1/2 days to circumnavigate the world in a straight line at 500 kph.
So, yeah, that's a good speed to avoid slowing things down. At the same time, cargo ships probably go a lot slower - say, half that speed - which is still very fast in today's world where cargo ships travel only about 30 knots or 34.5 mph.
Researching the size of islands and population densities of the world's most cramped cities (Manila, apparently)
This is in order to set a reasonable size for Irola with its population of 100 million people, stacked many stories deep.
I took Manila's population density and doubled it to be about 100,000 per square kilometer. So, Irola needs to be about 1000 square kilometers - or about the size of Tahiti.
Note: this is a rough idea and not perfect. Neither does even Irola have to be uniformly dense - there are areas that are dozens of stories deep and other parts that are less - but the premise of Irola being paved over and having a pseudo-ground level that's a dozen stories up still remains.
After all, even in modern cities, there are areas where the buildings are higher and denser than the current population requires - exactly the type of set-up that allows the Balan to have a secret base on Irola - even though they don't appear to be active there at present!
Learning to use eSteem (thanks to @kaliju for introducing me to this great app!)
eSteem has turned out to be a really great application/editor that I plan to continue use with Steemit - especially when I need to schedule posts, such as when I posted my mapmaking series this week.
Rethinking my relationship with Dbooks.
I want to like them - so much! I like how it integrates with Steemit so well.
Unfortunately, they have been very slow to impliment any of the changes I have suggested that would allow me to recommend them to others. They still have some issues handling my LibreOffice files (requiring me to hand-code HTML to fix), I can't put my own signature files at the end or my own tags - nor can I easily edit my Steemit posts from them due to the fact that their HTML doesn't mesh well with Markdown!
As such, I am regrettably scaling down my work with them. I will finish publishing the Rebound of Power collection with them, but will stick to directly epublishing through Draft2Digital thereafter. This will even work with my developing Terrenden Encyclopedia which will be kept free, but will also update somewhat frequently.
(I may keep doing the piecemeal things on Dbooks, such as my Steemit for Newbs series - though when I feel it's done, it may go to Draft2Digital after that.)
Thinking about a couple of loose ends I felt I had after Ocean of Empathy
As such, I ended up writing another 4000 words yesterday to tie them into the next collection, in Acting the Part.
So, announcing...
Online Publishing details!
(With blurbs!)
Rebound of Power – (Free - will remain free at all outlets.)
Meet Iyva, a homeless teenager in Irola with a strong connection with the leya. Totally untrained, her power rebounds catastrophically, leaving her close to death. A Nameless hero saves her life, but hides. Anyone would be proud to teach her, but will she choose the safe, trustworthy A’mara or the shady ones who teach her what she wants to learn? Can she trust her hero… the Nameless One?
Friendship on Fire - ($2.99 - still free at Dbooks )
Meet Marc’la, a breeder of prized caballus in Kasago. Her heart has long lived in the past – before her uncle died. Her friends have long since given up on trying to match her up with anyone. The thick walls around her heart are firmly cemented by pain and grief. When Ek-ul, her uncle’s student, suddenly returns to visit, he uncovers all the pain she had tried to bury in her work. Can Marc’la forgive him? Can anyone get through her walls?
Courage to Trust – ($2.99 - still free at Dbooks )
Meet Zukie, a widowed mother and gardener in Iloren whose confidence was shattered by an abusive husband. Zara is unwilling to let it go and is determined to get her twin sister more-happily married, but Zukie resists, frightened to try, lest she end up miserable again. When Zukie bumps into Akeld, she ends up embroiled in A’mara business and in serious danger both physically and emotionally. Can she find the courage to trust again?
Elect to Change – ($2.99 - still free at Dbooks )
Meet Jenna, an elections manager and masseuse in Gaskarii who has a strict rule – never massage an A’mara! Her best friend Tirry has never known Jenna to have a prejudice, but when Tle-sun is called in to oversee their elections, Jenna is hostile to the very existence of this handsome A’mara. But then, Tirry doesn’t know what Jenna knows… A’mara break hearts. Still haunted by dreams from her past, can Jenna let go of the fear to open her heart to something beautiful? Can she elect to change?
Ocean of Empathy – ($2.99 - will be free at Dbooks for awhile.)
Meet Ardin, an artisan on the beach of Varkevand who has a good reason to distrust A’mara. Simply being a survivor of the disaster that orphaned him has made him a target of the Neví, something that Kami and Moxara wish to rectify. Yet, their unwelcome attempts are repulsed by Ardin who wants nothing more than to be left alone. Together, can they unravel the mystery in time? Can Ardin open himself up to be healed? To love?
Next?
I plan to get Birth of the Neví ready for Draft2Digital with the idea of epublishing it at the end of July.
I also plan to keep plugging away at the Acting the Part series which has opened another can of worms that will carry it into another series after that. But I promise that it's a very exciting can of worms! (I can hardly wait to tell you! I can hint that Iyva is still involved, as is Betel, Hira, Leena and Princess Shana - as well as someone from our world!)
With Birth of the Neví planned for completion, I need to work on its sequel(s) too as we hear about the Rise of the Neví and work towards the collection that will cover the Ilim City Diner Disaster which is mentioned throughout the Rebound of Power set.
Anyway, I'd better stop now before this becomes a novelette of its own!
Don’t forget!
I’m still offering 1 Steem Basic Income share for any newbie (100 SP or less) who asks me a question which prompts an “Ask the Author” post! I’m thinking about putting these into a Dbooks ebook all its own, actually.
Image Credits:
Cover art based on image from Pexels – creative commons, no attribution required.
Shaze based on a katana from Pixabay – creative commons, no attribution required.
Shaze chapter ender from Wikipedia Commons – used within terms of license – sword adapted for use as a shaze.
Grass texture for maps from Pixabay
All maps/editing by myself on GIMP and Photoscape, both free programs.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Although the penalty of knowing me in real life is that you will influence the creation of my characters; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2018 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Lori Svensen – A'mara Books & Viking Visual
Banner by @shai-hulud