Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Annabelle Foresight

ANNABELLE FORESIGHT

By Adam Diller

Other names:
Ann, Night Child, bossy sister

Name Origin:
ANNABEL: "Beautiful grace." A compound name consisting of English Ann, "grace," and French Belle, "beautiful." Variants include Anabel, Anabella, Anabelle, Annabal, Annabelinda, Annabell, Annabella and Annabelle.


Physical characteristics:
Short in height. Red bushy hair. Red eyes. Small white fangs. Wears a variety of clothing but likes to wear combinations of red and black.

Age Chart:
She was turned at age 11. Every hundred years she ages one year. She actually experiences her years longer than normal humans. Vampire children remain that age emotionally and mentally, perhaps for self preservation so they do not go insane living as an adult trapped in a child body.
Annabelle, however, is more mature for her age. How she handles immortality remains to be seen.

Advancement Chart:

b. October 13th 1681 d. 1692

born a vampire 1692-
Age 11 1692-1792
Age 12 = 1792-1892
Age 13 = 1892-1992
Age 14 = 1992-Present Day

No other ages available at the moment.


Abilities:
She gets dreams that show the near future (but presently in the books she is unaware of this. When she learned of this ability remains unknown). She has the standard vampire abilities.  This means she’s faster and stronger than humans, her senses are extremely acute as are her reflexes. She can fly and turn into a bat. In later years she has shown the ability to transform into a wolf, rat and mist but how she learn these things has yet to be told.  She can control humans through mesmerization and communicate with lesser beasts.

Known History:

In 1692 Annabelle Foresight moved with her family to the wilds of Massachusetts. The Vampire Lord Dominic Pratchet killed her parents and left her and her brother Roland for dead. Dominic's wife Eliza turned them into vampires, taught them the things they needed to know and became a surrogate mother to them.

As the centuries have passed, Annabelle has become a hero to many, constantly fighting Dominic's forces as a member of the Order of Righteous Vampires. She prefers to drink the blood of animals instead of humans. Annabelle is deeply concerned about the safety of mortal children.

She is determined, loyal to family, feels love for others and angry if someone hurts her family.  Annabelle is outward friendly,book smart, a quick learner and sometimes acts too serious to make up for her reckless older brother. She tends to pretend to be brave and mock the bad guys.

She takes life too seriously and can be bossy. She takes over when she should sit back. She can often make decisions before consulting others. She's afraid deep inside if she doesn’t just make things happen, they will fall apart right away.

Before vampirism she loved animals and winced when they got hurt. After becoming a vampire she now sees them as something to eat. In some ways she has lost touch with who she was. She has a deep fear of two men, Hawke the vampire hunter and Dominic, the vampire who killed her parents.

NOTE: I added a "NAME ORIGIN" to Dominic's entry below.

Book Review: Insight by Terron James

Oh ho! This book surprised me! Yes, the cover did throw me off. The guy on the cover is so depressed. But are we not told to NOT judge a book by its cover? Well I’m so glad I didn’t. Before I tell you why, I will say here that this cover actually is perfect after you follow Lon’s tough journey. Author Terron James is planning on changing the cover but let me tell you the story inside is good enough no matter what the cover looks like.

Insight is the story of a boy who becomes a man, gaining “insight” as he discovers everything he knew was wrong. It’s a coming of age story set in a realistic world of warring nations, exiled people and years worth of false hatred. Appernysia could easily be any place on Earth, where people were raised up to believe the other people “over there” are bad and we’re good. Lon grew up in a small community where everyone lived the lives they were expected and never stepped out of line or challenged their world.

But what happens if the “bad guys” come to Lon’s sleepy outskirt community ? What happens when Lon discovers that these Rayders seem to be just as human as anyone else?

It doesn’t help that Lon discovers the reason behind his headaches, the amazing untrained abilities he now has and the terrible dangers those abilities bring his loved ones. If unchecked, his new abilities could kill him.

Revelation after revelation completely turn him upside down. He’s forced to leave his loving parents, his hot-headed twin sister, his home and the love of his life. He must go to the one person who can help him, the scholar Omar, deep within the Rayder’s world.

How does his sharp tongued sister Mellai or his love Kaylen feel about this? What do they do and where do they go as a result? How does Lon fit into the harsh military world of the Rayders and how will he become the man he needs to be? Will he master his gifts or will they destroy him? Will he grow into an amazing leader or die by the sword and his pride?

This book is filled with adventure, romance, shocks, humor, realism and fantasy. It even has a monster or two. I identified with Lon and Mellai. They were two of my favorite characters. I also enjoyed Omar and Tarek. There are also plenty of characters you’ll love to hate like Braedr and Commander Rayben Goldhawk.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone. The chapters end in ways that you just have to turn the pages and devourer more. The story starts slow and continues to build until you just can’t stop reading. The final last two chapters alone are so amazing when… wait. Go get a copy and find out for yourself. It’ll be worth it!

Book Two Name Change again

Yes, once again I've decided to change the name of my 2nd book. Now to clarify, Dark Threats is a collection of short stories and NOT part of the ongoing numbered series. It's an addition to it.

Dark Birth is Book One. Any book that is published keeps it's title. I will not change the name of Threats or Birth.

Book Two is in the edit phase and is scheduled for release sometime next year. I'd had some trouble with it's name but recently my daughter Katelyn gave me a great idea.

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK TRIBULATIONS

There are some major life altering situations in the vampire children's lives. "Tribulations" seems to cover a broad collection of trials so as of this moment it fits best.

Pirate vampires! Shadow vampires! Lots of new characters! Love! Death! Watch for it next year!

Bite of Story Thursday

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS

Chapter Six

Cam let out a commanding bark and the two werewolves that were guarding the exits joined him. They flanked Cam, ready to attack. Annabelle quickly glanced at Thomas. His clothes were torn but he seemed all right. He knelt by Grace. She began to stir.


With a mighty howl, Blood Reaper pushed Roland down to his knees, and then brought up his own knee to smack Roland in the mouth. Roland fell to the ground, dazed. The large werewolf raised his right gloved hand; the silver claws reflected the dance hall lights.


-------

For more check out Dark Threats at your local online store. Links to Dark Threats on the web can be found on the Store Page.

Who's Who in the Annabelle Universe? Dominic Pratchet

DOMINIC PRATCHET

This is the closest I have to a pic of Dominic
 "Vampire: The Masquerade" developer: Nihilistic Software publisher Activision
artist:(if you know the artist, please let me know so I can credit him or her).


Other names:

Domi (original name), Vlad Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, Domhnall (Gaelic), Dominicus (Latin), Dominick (Old English), Dominik (Czech and Polish), Dominique (French), Domonkos (Hungarian)

Name origin:

DOMINIC: "Belongs to the lord." English name derived from Latin Dominicus. This is a name traditionally given to a child born on Sunday. His mother Lilith named him this as an insult.

DOMHNALL "World ruler." Gaelic name composed of the elements dubno "world" and val "rule."

Physical characteristics:

Tall, commanding presence, night-black hair, red eyes, and sharp white fangs, pale and radiant. Usually wears black suits, sometimes with a cape.

Abilities:

Dominic possesses the abilities of all vampires, only perfected with thousands of years of experience. This means he’s faster and stronger than humans, his senses are extremely acute as are his reflexes. He can fly, turn into a bat, wolf, rat and mist at the very least and has complete control of others through mesmerization, perfecting it at a lever beyond any other vampire.



Known History:

The vampire known as Domi seems to be as old as history itself. He has been behind all the terrible events of history and an advisor to various rulers through the ages. Throughout many cultures and eras there has been rumors of a powerful lord of the night who commands dark armies. His grim goal has always been to rule the world, turning a portion the population into food stock for those creatures he has deemed fit to survive. He has had many names, some lost through history.

Much of his personal history is shrouded in mystery. The vampire Annabelle has told me that she knows more and at the proper time she’ll reveal it to me. As the chronicler of her stories I’m extremely intrigued.

I have so many questions; if he’s so old, how come he hasn’t taken over yet? What is this Exodus War he was tied up in? How can he be the famous Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler if we know Vlad wasn’t as old as Domi is supposed to be? What is his relationship with the Falabranwyn because every time he shows up, they do as well. Why does he have so many wives and who are the Three Queens? Who are the Seven Tyrant Lords? Why did he speak of future events as if he knew them?

I suspect we’ll find out together as Annabelle’s story continues.

This Is Halloween

Originally posted on 11/1/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.




I sit here typing my article, my legs numb and my flesh sore. The only reason my stomach doesn’t ache is because I’m too tired to walk to the freezer to get any candy. If I allowed gravity to win and dropped to the bed, it would be the morning of November 1st before I could open my eyes.

Am I complaining? No. Actually, I’m smiling. I’m going to stay up, watch something spooky and fun, eat some sweets and totally love the fact that this night falls on a Saturday this year.

I love Halloween. Absolutely adore it. This year we walked a couple blocks to the main street Trick or Treat thing. All the businesses along main hand out candy and give off a neighborly feel at a time when small town friendliness is a thing of the past.

We then went to a “Trunk or Treat”. Here in Utah various members of my church park their cars at the church parking lot, open their trunks and hand out candy. They do this, seeing it as a controlled environment so that kids are off the streets. Its fun and a chance to visit your neighbors.

After that we went to dinner, and then knocked on a block of houses, gathering more sweets. For the last month, whenever I’ve passed two houses decorated to the max during the nightly dog walking, I'd swear to visit them.

One had blinking lights set to music. A vampire glowed to the tune while smiling from its coffin. A tombstone reads “Here lies the last dog that pooped on my lawn” as a werewolf glares from behind. Pumpkins flash, a ghost wails as it travels down a wire and various ghouls grin at any visitors who dare hunt for candy. The yard resembled a fun house set to a Haunted theme. More kiddie than scary, I found it very fun.



The other one had a different, yet equally enjoyable effect. Skeletons stood around an eerie graveyard. Some played cards on an over turned barrel while another bent on one knee and purposed to his ghoulfriend. A giant spider crawled down from the roof while a demon lurked in front of the red-lit basement window. All was lit with a strange, soul eating green light as if the other side ripped open, setting free it’s dark citizens into our world for the night.



My mind raced with ideas for that one. How will the skeleton army look when Roland or Annabelle command them in later books? Will there be any giant spiders when Ann visit’s the Arachnid’s kingdom in the 11th book? What strange colors and creepy feelings will accompany the unusual events in these later stories?

Now we’re home, relaxing and resting. Halloween was a success once again. My creative brain is buzzing with even more worlds and situations to make life a unloving Hell for Ann and her brother.

What about you? What seasonal events inspire you?


*Update: In Halloween '10 it rained and we ran a bit late. Regardless it was a good evening. Halloween '11 just finished. We did all the things mentioned above and had a good time. I hope all of you had great Halloweens as well.

Movie Review: Let Me In

OK, I finally saw this flick. I managed to TiVo it and watched it late at night when all the impressionable people were fast asleep and far from nightmares.

First off I'm NOT a gore guy. I do not watch films like Freddy or Jason. I get turned off my gore and of course this film had gore in spades. Yes, the gore turned me off. But that didn't hurt my over all rating of the film.

I liked it. The writing was strong.  I really felt bad for the human child Owen and of course I felt bad for vampire child Abby.

As you know, I am obsessed with vampire children. I suppose that's because I needed to tell Annabelle's story. That obsession, while controlled, is still strong. I worry that with each new interpretation, we'll see Ann exactly rendered in another story before she's made it into the world on her own. I know the fear is silly, but it drives me to search out these stories.

In Let Me In we find a vampire child with a conscience. Abby doesn't want to hurt others, feels terrible for what she puts her adult guardian through (he has to kill innocent people to bring her blood) and fiercely defends her human friend Owen.

This is a world where vampires can't substitute human blood for animal blood like they do in Twilight and in my Night Children series. Abby has no choice. She looses control of the blood lust and kills. To get this through to the viewers, it has gore. But I feel bad for Abby. She wishes she didn't hurt people and longs for a normal life.

She has the current vampire powers; speed, acute senses, strength, speed and agility. It's cool watching her scale a palm tree and a 6 story building. When she fights it's done in shadow. She kinda looks like a blood thirsty Gollum. She crawls/zooms around the victim, biting everywhere. Her eyes go funky and her face slightly distorts. She also goes pale.

As with the title of the movie, it's foreign predecessor movie and the original book, the tile "Let Me In", which is the scaled down original title "Let The Right One In" refers to the age-old vampire tradition that vampires have to be invited in. Other classic vampire concepts are in this film as well. Sunlight burns and kills them. Also as she let go of the high hospital window the closed caption (I watch everything with captions) revealed she "fluttered" away which suggests flight. She herself said she flew during the film. So as with Night Children, vampires in this universe have the Anne Rice current abilities AND the Bram Stoker abilities and problems as well. That earns a high score in my book.

Claudia in Interview With a Vampire was irredeemable due to her selfishness and lack of guilt. The children in The Little Vampire were never shown dealing with real issues like addition and murder. Nessie from the Twilight series is sweet and a personal favorite. Abby joins the list of vampire children and has made my list as well. She does feel guilt and is very relateable.

Chloë Grace Moretz pulls off an amazing and believable performance as someone Annabelle could have become if eating animals wasn't an option and she had to live with the guilt. It's a very adult, strong performance. The same is true for Kodi Smit-McPhee who pulls off the frightened, teased loner outcast child in many of us. Abby's loss of control and blood feast didn't scare me. The bullies teasing Owen scared me much more. Kodi showed the absolute fear we all felt when confronted with a bully at school.

So over all I give it a 9 out of 10. Yes, the gore took it down a peg as did the brief flash of upper nudity from a neighbor. The story and acting is powerful so if my warning about gore, violence and 1 second upper nudity doesn't scare you off on principle (which is why I warn my friends), watch it.

And the winner (for October Blog Hop '11) is...

Mary-Ellen! Congrads Mary! After placing all the contestants into a hat and drawing randomly, your name was pulled out. I'll be contacting you shortly.

I really enjoyed participating in the blog hop. I plan to do many more in the future.

Thanks again to everyone who added me to their followed blogs. It means a lot. I may not be the most frequent poster, but I have plans to change that.

To anyone who wants to read Dark Threats can find it on Amazon electronically as well as paperback. It's also found on Barns and Noble.com and iBooks for the Apple.

Thanks everyone!

Coming Soon:

Hey guys, sorry it's taken be a bit to choose the winner of the Blog Hop. I've had a crazy few days. At this moment I'm putting names in a hat and preparing it for a child to randomly pic. The winner should be announced tonight!

Successful Writer Day!

Friday the 14th: Successful Writer Day!
I think from now on I'll post entrees called "Successful Writer Days". Once in awhile things happen in a writer's life that make all those rejections or brain-stalling less productive days seem worth it. I call those "Successful Writer Days".

Thursday was fun. I spent the day with my sweetheart (October 13th is her birthday, just like Annabelle). It was a very relaxing day.

Yesterday, Friday the 14th, was successful.

1st off Janeen and I visited a Tooele High Creative Writing class. I spoke of my writer's journey and briefly about the books, showing slides of my various influences and research pictures. I'm grateful to say that the students were curious and began to ask questions. Lots of hands went up and lots of smart questions came my way. 
I love creating interest in my stories. I simply want to entertain and inspire, so when people show interest, I just get more excited.
I never spoke to High School students before. I found them very curious and their questions involved a lot of the mechanics of my world. Excellent! It gets me thinking and simply drives my creative juices further.
Janeen got my back, keeping track of those who asked questions so we could give one of them a free copy of Dark Threats. She was (and always is) a perfect help meet. She helps me keep track of who has their arms up the longest and provides added perspective on my books. Also, she loves to throw candy at the students. :)
Congratulations to Shantelle for winning Dark Threats!

We had a nice lunch. Afterwards I spoke with John at the Purple Cow (a local bookstore). He's going to pass out my book marks at his store and at the Children's Book Festival. Also, he's reviewing Dark Threats to see if it's appropriate for the store. More on that as news develops!

Finally, we attended the last speaking engagement of the day. We visited the West Elementary 6th Grade! Janeen had a brilliant idea to set up our projector and her lap top so that we could show my pics again. We let it slip that kids who ask questions might qualify for books. Of course I was assaulted with wonderful questions about the books and characters. We decided to have the kids place their names in a hat and the two 6th grade teachers pic the winners. Congratulations to Andrew and Dawson for winning copies of Dark Threats! My sweetie helped run the slides and answered questions for children to shy to ask me. Janeen got a chance to throw candy to all the kids, resulting in some fun chaos for a minute. :)

Of course everyone got a book mark as well.

So all in all a fine successful writer day. Next speaking engagements will be October 28th. I'll be visiting a High School English class and the Jr. High History classes. Can't wait!

October Blog Hop!

Welcome to the October Blog Hop, where you can visit new blogs, enter to win prizes, and have a great time!



At the bottom of this post, you'll see a list of participating blogs. Just click on each link, check out the prize, and follow the easy instructions to enter. You can enter on each blog, so it's possible to win multiple times. It's frighteningly easy.



On this blog, you can win a paperback copy of NIGHT CHILDREN DARK THREATS!

To enter, all you need to do is:



1. Become a follower of my blog.



2. Leave a comment on this post and tell me why you'd like to win this prize. If your e-mail address isn't visible through your Blogger profile, please also leave it with the comment so I can notify you if you win. You can enter until midnight MST on Saturday night, October 15th.



That's it! You are now entered. Now please go visit all my friends on the list below. It's almost like trick or treating!

October Blog Hop Participants

1. Tristi Pinkston 2. I Am a Reader, Not a Writer 3. Bonnie Harris 4. Michael D. Young 5. Misty Moncur 6. Debbie Davis 7. Mandi Tucker Slack 8. Mary Ann Dennis 9. Deanna Henderson 10. Laura Bastian 11. Kristy Tate

12. Kristy Wilson 13. Jennifer Debenham 14. Jenny Moore 15. Elizabeth Hughes 16. J. Lloyd Morgan 17. Close Encounters with the Night Kind 18. Billy Boulden 19. Scott Bryan 20. Maria Hoagland 21. Shirley Bahlmann 22. Shelly Brown

23. Marcy Howes 24. Lynnea Mortensen 25. Jaclyn M. Hawkes 26. Diane Stringam Tolley 27. Gail Zuniga 28. Betsy Love 29. iWriteNetwork 30. Canda's InkBlast 31. Stacy Coles

Learn more about October Blog Hop here.
View More October Blog Hop Participants
Get The Code

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

The 1st ever BOOK MARK CONTEST!

Welcome to the first ever BOOK MARK CONTEST. Well, it's more of a free giveaway than a contest but still, check it out:

Front

Back

The first 10 people who send me self addressed stamped envelopes will receive a free book mark and the FIRST TEN PAGES of DARK BIRTH!

Envelopes must be sent to...

Scott Bryan
128 West 200 South
Tooele, Utah, 84074

Looking forward to receiving your envelopes!



Book marks are here!

Hey guys, my book marks arrived! Here is an image of the front and back...

I'll be giving theses away at the four school visits this month.

Tomorrow I'll announce the first ever BOOK MARK CONTEST!
Keep your eyes pealed to this site!

Zach's Game Room now has puzzles!

At the top of this page is a link to Zach's game room. Go try your hand at some puzzles. At the moment there are four to choose from but more will be added in the future.

Author Reflections

It's so hard for me to realise that Book One is on Amazon. I simply can't get over the fact that this book, the self same one I've tiled over for seven years, is now available for others to enjoy.

All those many years ago I couldn't get her out of my head. I had to write about Annabelle. At first I thought she belonged in the Parodyverse (a beloved fan-fiction site I belong too). As I posted tiny stories with her there I realised she needed to reach further. She had to be in school libraries and book stores and regular libraries. She needed to inspire and entertain children everywhere.

Is she doing that now? Of course not. These things grow very slowly.

But I feel inside that she will. One day.

For now, Smashwords, Kindle and the Nook will be the beginning...

My review of Dark Birth on Goodreads

Night Children: Dark Birth by Scott Bryan


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What more can I say about this book? It was fun to write it. Obviously I’m biased as the author, but there is something about Annabelle and Roland. Once I step into their world, I just can’t let go. I thirst for more. I hope you feel the same way.




View all my reviews

I won the Liebster Blog award again!

Another big THANK YOU, this time to my fellow Tooele Writer and a great friend, Roseanne, for giving me this award...

This is my 2nd time winning the Liebster Blog award and I'm very grateful to have another chance to pass it onto others who need some attention.
As I mentioned before, Liebster means "friend" in German.  This award is aimed at those who have fewer than 200 followers.
Here are the rules...

- Link back to the person who gave you the award.

- Pick five other people to give the award to and notify them on their blog.

- Post the award on your blog.

- Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.

- And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.


The winners are...

Terron

Clare

Emily

J. A. Bennett

And my fellow writers at Tooele Writers

Night Children: Dark Birth News!

All sorts of news about THE book.

Night Children: Dark Birth is my first novel. "Wait Scott, wasn't Dark Threats your first one?"

Actually no. Seven years this month I watched Interview With a Vampire and found myself searching for something. Days later I found it as I tried to write my own vampire child story and Annabelle walked out of my imagination and onto paper.

Years of beta readers, critique groups, 6th and 8th grade classes, a professional editor and several drafts brought me to the current version of this novel. 

Dark Threats is one chapter removed from that original novel plus a lot of new stuff written just for the my debut  into the world of eBooks. Threats is a collection of short stories to introduce people to the world of Annabelle and Roland.

Months ago I decided to break the first novel into two books; Dark Birth and Dark Trials. Last Friday I changed my mind. This story stands better as one.

I've gone through and formatted it for online publishing. I had some troubles but I finally mastered it last night. I uploaded it to Smashwords and it's available there.

Dark Birth on Smashwords!

I wont reveal it to Facebook and Twitter yet because I'm waiting for it to be reviewed by the Smashwords team for any format errors.  Once it's good, I'll load it on Amazon and Barns & Noble.com.

Also, thanks to my Highland-loving coworker and pal, Don Phillips, I have a pic that has been used for the cover.

So much going on! I can't wait for you to read my real first book, Annabelle and Roland's origin story! Hope you like it!

10 years ago - 9/11/01

I was reading a book about life in America after the world collapsed. It was by Orson Scott Card and seemed to be pretty good. The UTA bus dropped me off at the International Center, on the outskirts of Salk Lake City. Just another day. I don't remember September 6th or 5th or the 1st but I remember that morning.

I get to my desk, turn on my computer and got ready for the day. Chuck (a coworker and fellow drafter) had his radio on. Normally the morning DJ's would be goofing or music would be playing. Pop? Country? I don't remember. I think country but it doesn't matter. It was 7:50 AM so NYC time it was at that fateful hour.

Those morning DJ's weren't joking. They were talking about a plane that crashed into the 1st tower. At the same time they were trying to figure why a plane would crash (they thought it was a small one) I opened my Internet explorer.  The same event was plastered on MSN.com but they were stating it was big. I remember those DJ's reporting the second plane and the Pentagon crash. One guy on the radio said their were dog fights in the air of New York. It's amazing how panic and fear can affect how we report things.

The office was a buzz. It was a small staff of 10 to 15 people but on that morning we were less than ten. Soon everyone was in the conference room watching Good Morning America. We were in shock.

The personnel manager called a meeting and told us we could go home and be with our families or since we were contractors to the government, we could keep working to show the terrorists life will go on here. We elected to stay.

I do feel pride in the American spirit. Even as a child I welled up with tears when I heard America the Beautiful.  I love this country and am fiercely loyal to it. I hope my future novels will illustrate some of my patriotism.

To this day, however, I question if remaining at a small company, trying to focus on drawings that don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and listing to the radio play patriotic songs all day, was the best place for me. That job went under. They are a foot note in time. I couldn't focus on tracing PDF files of electronic F16 harnesses into Auto cad. All I could do was force back the tears as Amazing Grace played with bagpipes and I thought of those poor people.

I wanted to be home. My wife and kids were glued to the TV and I wanted them in my arms. I was and will always be grateful that we are blessed to be alive. I just wanted to be with them.

It was hard those days. We felt defeated as a nation. Maybe the last time Americans felt that defeated was when Kennedy was shot. I don't know. That was seven years before my birth. But we also felt something else. Remember? Yes, we had hate and anger and those are wrong but understood because of the circumstances, but we felt pride.

Strong, unified, powerful pride. Like Pearl Harbor. Like the Alamo. Like those long gone days of the Revolution. The kind of pride that made Paul Revere and Sybil Ludington race at night to warn their countrymen.

We have our differences. We cant agree on money or jobs or the environment. We believe lies about each other and worse, spread them. We lose faith in one another and fear the future.

BUT WE LIVE ON. In ten years we will still be what we are now. In twenty, eighty, a hundred years. We will be Americans. We were forged by a desire for personal liberty. We will not die. We will continue to be a nation and we must forever remember who we are and how we became.

Remember.

Proof II The Sequel

I've experienced a lot during this journey as a writer. I've watched the dream die only to be reborn. A legion of helpers have carried me each step. I've gone in different directions and return to the starting point more times than I'd like to think of.

But I've never held my own story in my hands. I don't mean a print out, bound or loose, I mean a gloss covered BOOK.

My first proof arrived in the mail last Friday, right before I headed off to the critique group no less. I shared it with them, then my adoring wife who shouted with excitement! After that we took it to family and showed it off. I even carried it to Wal-Mart to show people I knew. I also compared it to other books on the shelf to see A) What Annabelle would look like next to the likes of Percy, Harry and the rest and B) To compare the text size to see if mine was indeed too small.

Thanks to the help of my wife, daughter and the crit group, I found various things that needed to change. Over the extended weekend I made those changes and resubmitted it.

Tomorrow I'll send for another proof. Once Dark Threats passes the proof stage, it'll be ready for people to order soft copies right from Amazon!

Passing friendship to others...

A big THANK YOU to Krista for giving me this award...

The Liebster Blog award! "Liebster, for those of you who are not Nightcrawler or cannot speak German, means "friend" and is aimed at those who have fewer than 200 followers. Yes, that is me. But we'll get more. I swear it!

At any rate, here are the rules...

- Link back to the person who gave you the award.


- Pick five other people to give the award to and notify them on their blog.

- Post the award on your blog.

- Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.

- And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.

1st I want to say something about Krista. She's always warm and supportive and I'm grateful she takes the time to post a reply. It means a lot when us struggling writers get replies to our posts. I try to do the same.

The winners are...

My wife and strong defender for those with ADHD, Janeen

Katie

Nicole

Laura

Melanie

Proof!

I ordered my proof! What does that mean? It means that I ordered the pre-printable version of my soft cover book from Create Space. Once I review it and OK it for distribution, everyone will be able to buy a soft copy of Night Children: Dark Threats!

Can't wait till it arrives!

Here is the cover before I added the price on it.

The Blog is a-changin'

I'm sure some of you have noticed but I'm slowly improving this blog. I've had it since '06. I started it right after I finished the rough draft for my first book. I didn't realise back then how much learning I had coming.
I'm still far from perfect and I look forward to much more education coming my way.

Anyway, watch this space. I've added info pages about the books, the characters and so on. The store is up (soon to have print on demand books). I'm planning out a place for some small games, maps and so on.

It was difficult choosing a color scheme for the blog. I really wanted to keep it black with white text. After all, this is a vampire adventure series. But ultimately I decided to go with a off-white with black text. After all, you need to be able to read it!

So... more changes coming. Watch this space!

I won an award for the blog!

I got a blog award!

I received a Brilliant Writer Blog Award from Author and artist Deirdra Eden-Coppel.
You can find her blog here. A great place to visit and learn so much about the crazy world of writing and publishing.

Thanks Deirdra!

I'm in the local paper!

Reporter Emma Penrod did a story on my hometown's local e-published authors. I'm going to scan the article and post it because it's not on their website.

I spoke heavily about e-publishing and why I do it. In the interview I mentioned by book's title (Night Children: Dark Threats) and where it could be found (Amazon) but there was no mention of that.

At any rate it's a start. Now to find my way into other papers and such.


UPDATE...

Here is the article.

BOOK REVIEW: Night Children : Dark Threats

Night Children: Dark Threats by Scott Bryan


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Would it be wrong to say I love this book? Yes, I’m biased because I’m the author, but I can’t stop reading or writing her stories. I have to tell them, share them, and get them out into the world.


As the author I’ve fully aware this story isn’t perfect, but I believe it’ll entertain.


Give it a shot!






View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW : Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just finished! I loved it! I can really like being in the heads of Carter and Sadie. I enjoy reading their adventures. Riordan is always fresh and an inspiration to me as a writer. There are surprises and very fun characters. Some twists in the story throw you for a loop. A+




View all my reviews

I'm published on Amazon!

Now you can find DARK THREATS on Amazon for the Kindle or just online reading.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E59LOC

Come check it out!

My cover for Dark Threats

Let it be noted:
ADAM DILLER IS AN ART GOD.

http://www.adamdiller.net/portfolio/

I'M PUBLISHED ON SMASHWORDS!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75648

Come see! Come buy! Come enjoy the beginning of the Night Children Series!

Good bye Harry

In 2001 I knew two movies were coming to theatres. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Continuing with my goal to read the books before I saw the movie, I checked out Harry Potter book 1 from the local library.
I was swept up into the story and had to have more. I went back to the library and grabbed the next and the next. I read four books before that 1st movie came out. Back then I was the only one in the family to know these characters for who they were. I couldn't get enough. My favorite was Hermione.
The decade continued, bringing midnight parties at Wal-Mart while we waited for new books, followed by my even later night reading sessions. All the while wondering how each scene would translate into a movie.
Now I know. And I'm so very glad I do. I could go on for hours, sharing my opinions of Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and so on. I could spoil your brains out on the movie and how it compares to the book. I wont. Those things will be elsewhere I'm sure.
What I will say is I feel a milestone has happened. After 7 books and 8 movies, this era has ended. I'll always miss it but the great thing about books and movies is we can always revisit them.

Good bye Harry, thanks for the wonderful decade of memories. See you around sometime.

At last: a cover!

I'm so excited I have to post this from my phone. Last night I got a wonderful surprise! The magnifisent Adam Diller sent me the cover for NIGHT CHILDREN : DARK THREATS.

It's amazing! It's like she's real! 

Since the launch is very soon, I'll save it for then but watch this space!

New titles!

More Big news!


I’ve decided to change the title of my Annabelle books. In keeping with my upcoming eBook launch and the fact that “Book One” is now Books one and two, I’ve re-titled almost everything.

See, when I was writing this book I turned to Rowling for inspiration on a title. She had “Harry Potter and the…” for every title so I picked “Annabelle and Roland…” for my titles. It was easy and told the reader who the protags were.

Since I’m in charge of this whole launch, it rises and falls based entirely on me. This has made me rethink a lot of things and cleared my brain quite a bit.

Boiling things down to their basic core, this entire series really is about the life of vampire children or “night children”. So without further ado, the new titles planned are…

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK THREATS (Brief looks into Annabelle’s adventures, a short story)

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK BIRTH (How two children from England became vampires in Colonial America)

NIGHT CHILDREN: DARK TRIALS (The vampire children face werewolves, vampires a vampire hunter and the Salem Witch Trials, as well as a confrontation with Dominic, the vampire lord who killed their parents)

All three will be published soon on Smashwords, the Nook and the Kindle.

Meanwhile I’ll be taking the next installments (DARK SEAS AND SHADOWS) and breaking it into two as well as running it through the critique group when we restart this fall.

Watch this space!

NEWS FLASH!

Big News!


I found a way! A hidden door that opens up a word of chances and choices! Yes, it’s true, Annabelle and her word will be published!

See, I discovered, while traditional publishing won’t look at vampires, online publishing will. I can publish my novels on Smashwords, the Kindle and even the Nook. Things will start out slow but that’s the norm for publishing anyway.

I’ve only wanted one thing; to get Annabelle’s story out there. I’ve discovered through my journey that I actually need to see how it ends, too. But if I can share her tale with others, all the better. Through online publishing I can do this.

This year I wrote a collection of short scenes, all tied together as a short story. I was going to take a break from Ann and focus on Myths and Multi-Mart, but the online publishing bug hit me. I wrote this new Annabelle short story, pushed it through a great critique group and now I’m just waiting for a cover from the amazing Adam Diller.

I was going to launch it mid-July but might have to hold back a bit. Regardless, it’s coming!

As for my novel, it’s been broken in half and set up for the next two online books as well. I’ve re-titled everything and I’m experiencing a rebirth of sorts as a writer.

More to come!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

Originally posted on 4/4/10 for the


Charge of the Write Brigade.


Well, it’s April and with that statement we should see flowers blooming and baby livestock running. It’s true in my town those small horses and cows are falling over themselves. But the flowers are scared.


I live in Utah and Mother Nature never understands a simple thing like seasons. The last few days we’ve been pelted by snow. It’s freezing at night and scorching during noon. Ah well.

Another sign of the first weeks of April is Easter. I won’t wax religious here. That’s not what this blog is for and besides, it’s not my style. I will say that Eater is about living again. Spring is about rebirth, too.

So, how to tie this season into a topic about writing? Simple. Editing.

We come up with these great ideas and eventually write them down. We create these rough drafts and are so proud of our babies. But unless we want them to simply live forever on our hard drives, we want to share them. Some of us want to get them published.

Problem is, they’re not ready. All sorts of imperfections run rampant through them. Things like improper POV shifts, telling far more than showing and even problems in story flow and continuity. Face it writers, our babies aren’t as “cute” as we thought.

The only help available is to find fresh readers to look it over and be honest. After the proper blood bath they create with their red pens, our poor child has fallen into the dirt. All it’s blood oozing on the pavement.

What to do? We pick it up and begin to apply edits. We fix the POV, we unpack scenes to show instead of tell things. We cut and change and fix.

In other words, our baby is reborn. This resurrection of word will happen multiple times. It’s where I live as a writer at this very moment. Like the butterfly from the caterpillar, something far better comes forth.

So have a good Easter, writers, and don’t be afraid of the edits.

Writing is Eternal

Originally posted on 5/2/10 for the Last one!


Charge of the Write Brigade.


The other night I was walking my dogs. I’ve got three. They’re big and strong and one of them seems to suffer from ADHD mixed with Speed. Nevertheless they’re good dogs and mind me pretty well. Being rowdy, I like to walk them at night.


Sometimes I don’t get started until rather late but I like it that way because it’s just us and the night. No pestering pedestrians to gawk at the stranger and his pooches as they pass people’s lawns (don’t worry, I do clean up after them).

During these walks I have an opportunity to clear my head and think on things. One such night I stopped by my wife’s late grandmother’s house and pondered life’s brief stint. Right after as I continued down the path I noticed the beautiful moon and considered when the next group of people would stroll its surface. That’s when something occurred to me.



Think for a moment of some writers of old. Kipling, Twain, Longfellow, Dickens and Stevenson.





Their work still exists. They’re dead but their work is still with us. Every book you pick up, regardless of your feeling for the author, those words were first created by people from long ago. Faces that smiled and cried in the Victorian era. Feet that walked the market places of ancient Greece. Hands that toiled Colonial soil. Minds that were inspired to share stories, ideas, concepts from lives we can no longer fathom, minds long dust, whose children are long dust. Their words are still with us.

Have you looked up at the moon and thought that one day, long after the politics of today have changed a hundred fold, we might step on that ivory surface again? Sure, not us, but people. People with our words tucked in their computer chips. Fun reading while they wait for their lunar test results. Just like those authors of old, will our words last long after everything we know has changed?

Will what you write now, what you edit for the thirty-seventh time, will it be loved by children centuries from now? Will souls thrill, cry or laugh at those very words you wrote today?

Why not? Shelly, Hawthorne, Shakespeare, and the rest are still with us. Sure, they’re all worm food, but their minds still entertain and show us new ways of thinking.






Why wouldn’t yours do the same?

So next time you struggle with that painful critique or review, think on the generations of people who could gain from the finished draft. Those men and women of old had nothing more than you. They had a drive, an idea and the gumption to learn and do what they must to get their words out into the world.

Why can’t we do the same?


----

Jack Roberts lives in a small town in the western US. He’s married with four children and six pets. As the scribe of Annabelle and Roland, he chronicles the vampires many adventures through the last three hundred years. Along with their YA fantasy stories, he also has plans for more fantasy and some Sci Fi.Check out Annabelle and Roland, The Site.

Pacing

Originally posted on 4/18/10 for the


Charge of the Write Brigade.


Pacing


I never even realized it was a problem. When I came up with Annabelle, I simply sat down and started to write. The story wrote itself. What that means is that the characters traveled the paths they wanted and as each story idea presented itself, I wrote it. Obstacles were resolved and a conclusion finally happened.

Boy was I green. I feel for those first beta readers. I knew stories needed beginnings, middles and ends but what I didn’t realize is the journey needed to be tighter.

As writers, we get caught up in our worlds. We want to spend all day with our muses. We’d be happy sitting at a kitchen table with them, chatting away. But that’s not interesting to our readers.

People want to read stories that keep them entranced. We as writers want the same things. Recently a professional editor taught me a few things on this subject. I can’t profess to be an expert and when I get my manuscript back, I’m sure they’ll still be pacing issues to work on. Regardless, I did learn some very valuable lessons.

I had a beginning and followed it with the main threat and a turn around event that set the story agenda. But afterwards my story went from event to event. Sure, there were threats and the main characters learned things, but the big bad guy didn’t constantly threaten them. He seemed to be ok with leaving them to stir and stew.

Shouldn’t he have a vested interest in them? Why isn’t he trying to kill them more? Or at the very least, why aren’t his servants doing more to further his goals? It may be fun to see vampire children learn to be bats, but what if there’s a time limit to learn before the big bad returns to kill them?

There were plenty of fun scenes that I originally showed. Things that even helped the characters grow. But these scenes had no bearing in the story I wanted to tell this time. If they don’t add to the general story, cut and paste it into a new file and tuck it away for later. Tell them this story.

Create a Novel Elevator Pitch, create an outline from it, and then sit down with your novel and remove anything that doesn’t contribute to the story goals. Keep in mind that as the story continues, your events should add to your goals.

What is this story about? Where do I want my characters to be by them end? What conflicts will there be and how can they ramp up the story? How can these events or new events keep the readers invested and help my characters to grow?

Take a good look at your story structure and you’ll make a better novel.

Ok, direction not quite changed

I was planning on taking a year long break from Annabelle but Editor Jennifer told me about the wide world of publishing on the Kindle. I decided to look into it and this does seem like an amazing opportunity.

So I wrote a short story about Annabelle and Roland set in modern day. I'm going to polish it with the help of my critique group and get it ready for the Kindle. Then I'll shop around for cover artists and ready the book. After I put it up, I'll return to my break and Myths.

Wish me luck.

Top Five Misconceptions about Writing: A Keynote Address from Rick Riordan

Top Five Misconceptions about Writing: A Keynote Address from Rick Riordan

Two quotes from this I love...


"You have to find the story you must tell – the story so important to you personally that you have no choice but to write it." & "I would have written it whether it was published or not."


This is why I stick with... Annabelle, folks. This is why I endure the pain, struggle and disapointment. This is also what I feel for Myths.See More

Deadlines

Originally posted on 3/21/10 for the


Charge of the Write Brigade.

Recently I’ve been working hard on my novel. I’ve been tasked with edits and re-writes. My editor has given me two months to get this manuscript in place and that’s plenty of time.


This means I have to get serious and knuckle down. Some scenes only need to be reworked a bit and folded into the general story. Other scenes have to be completely thrown out and new ones put in to replace them. It needs to be tighter, more interwoven and the pace needs to be brought up quite a bit.

Now, if I decided to put off my edits until later, one of two things would happen. I’d either find myself at the end of the second month, scrambling to meet my deadline and producing shoddy work, or I’ve have to confess I wasn’t ready and couldn’t accomplish the job.

I long to be a published author. Do I intend to produce crap for my agent and the editor at my future publisher or do I intend to not produce anything at the required hour? Either answer means failure. What’s worse is that after the long, painful period of trying to find an agent and that agent finding a publisher, to throw it all away because I got lazy or distracted just seems purely insane.

Sure, my current situation isn’t that serious, but I must create a working habit of sticking to my writing deadlines. Interestingly enough, when I was working on book two I had no deadlines so I took my sweet time. Now that I have a professional editor waiting on my pages, it feels real.

That’s a good thing. I find that I behave more seriously about my writing now that I have a goal. I have until the last day of April to get all thirty-two chapters polished enough for her to see it. Sure, I don’t have to cross every ‘T’ or dot every ‘I’ as it were, but a complete story must be in place with all the changed.

Heck, it’s a Young Adult Historical Fiction Fantasy and the ‘Historical’ part means research. So to properly tell this tale, I find I’ll need more research, too. This means I’ll need to make time for that research with the time allotted.

Deadlines can’t be matched without writing goals, a chapter a day for instance. They’ve got to be realistic goals. If it takes a day, great. If a week or a month, also great. But don’t set a goal for two months of writing on one week. Be honest with yourself. You know the take before you. You know how long it takes you. Plan out the time you know it’ll take and the time you want to start. Once the time arrives, jump in and get it done.

A big help for me during this challenge is my cheerleaders. Hey, I could tell you plenty of story plotlines for comics and Sci Fi shows but when it comes to who plays which sport, I’m lacking. One thing I do know about sports; they set up pretty cheerleaders to shout praises at the guys while they’re struggling to make the goals.

Same principle. Remember your beta readers and critique group partners? Remember the members in your writing group? How about family, friends, co-workers? These people have either read your story (and it’s not as bad as your inner voice says) or listened to your struggles. Tell them your goals. Tell them what you plan to accomplish the next time you sit down at the keyboard. Set it up so they’re waiting to hear your progress. That way they can nag or remind you.

You may say, “But Scott/Jack, I hate it when my mother calls and nags me. Why would I want to have her voice doing it about my recreational hobby, too?

Well, why are you writing? If you’re serious about getting your work out there and sharing it with the world, if you’re serious about really getting published, then you’ll have deadlines and that means it’s also work. Yes, work you love, but work. That means you’ll need those friendly reminders from the people who want you to succeed.

Ok, my article is finished and it’s still pretty early. I’ve got scenes and chapters to do today so I’m signing off. Can’t let this deadline slip.

Direction change

I've tried every thing. Critique groups, beta readers, reading out loud, reading to classes and a professional editor. I spoke with two agents and caused a certain degree of interest in them for Annabelle.

I tried very hard.

I just got the final rejection for awhile. The agents have good reasons to reject it. There are still things to rework. The problem is, I lack the strength to do this work. I still love Annabelle, but I can't bring myself to look it over again. I'm so very tired of it.

There are two choices available to me. 1) Give up writing/ take a break from writing, or 2) Try again with something else.

There have been moments when I've taken a break and tried to write other things. I think they're good but then I thought Annabelle was ready. So I'm going to try Myths. I'm going to go down that path, honing my writing and trying to get inspired for it instead.

 Annabelle, I'll miss you a great deal. I've spent 6 years with you and I wish things had been different.  There will be times it will hurt but I must move on.

The Climb

Originally posted on 3/7/10 for the


Charge of the Write Brigade.

What is your anthem?


As writers we thirst for inspiration. We sail the ocean of procrastination and distraction. The far off shores of creative thought and completed manuscripts or at least chapters seem so far over the horizon that we wonder if we’ll ever get there.

Life gets in our way. Sometimes we need something to spark our juices. I’ve already written about how music can inspire a writer. I won’t go into length about it now.


I do want to share with you some of the songs that set my writer’s brain on fire. I’m not talking about what songs or music styles inspire certain ideas or stories. I’m speaking of those songs that remind me that this dream is reachable. That despite all the things I can never seem to learn and apply, all those rejections that pile up, these songs make me stand up and forge ahead with the dream.

At least three songs come to mind.

Go the Distance by Michael Bolton

Created for the Disney movie Hercules, this song represented young Herc’s longing to be something more. He sensed within himself the ability to take his talents and do something important with them.

Whenever I hear this I feel it too. I don’t think of glory or fame. I don’t give a crap for those. Instead I think of the joy my stories bring to others. I think of how they can make kids dream and wish for things in life. I think that maybe one day, beyond this mountain of rejections, one day there will be a line of kids and adults wanted to discover Ann and Roland’s latest adventure. That one day I can get these stories out there into the world.

Someone’s Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff

In the movie Raise Your Voice, Duff plays a girl who wants so bad to sing. The problem is her father won’t let her spread her wings. Well, her older brother (played by John Ritter’s son) always believes in her. Without her knowledge, he sends out her application to the music school she wanted to attend. He dies shortly afterward and she discovers what he did later on.


The ballad is soft and reaches out. It reminds me of the doubts and fears that always cloud my mind. It also makes me think of my dream. It causes me to reach for the impossible. I think of how important this dream is. How the fears and impossibilities aren’t important. I refocus my mind and sit up straight. I can do this. I can achieve my dreams.


The Climb by Miley Cyrus

This is the new kid on the block for my personal anthems. It’s currently my favorite. Created for her movie to represent the character’s feelings about failure and hope, I resisted it at first. I have four children who practically live on Disney Channel so I tend to get sick of their TV offerings.

I couldn’t resist it though. I hear the quiet beginning and soft words and my mind travels to the same doubts I mentioned before. I think of the hard reviews and tough decisions I’ve made. Stephen King said you have to kill your babies and I’ve got so much blood on my hands. But it’s not the end of the journey I should focus on. It’s the actual path I’m taking. Each rung of this latter is important. Am I scared of what my editor is going to say? Yes! But I need those bad reviews. I have to fall again and again if necessary to learn how to walk. I can’t become a author unless I learn how to write.

So there you go. Three anthems that make me believe in my abilities. What are yours and what effect do they have on you?

End of the World As We Know It; Dangers of too much world building

Originally posted on 2/7/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.


Last time I wrote about the joys of world building. I went on to explain the fun of creating your own world and how to build on that for many future stories.



Today I’d like to touch on the dangers. Yup. There are dangers. Not danger in the sense of the word where your mouse will bite you if you click it again. I’m talking about distraction and procrastination.

Yes, those two evils that destroy a writer’s potential. Two of our greatest adversaries lurk within world building, waiting to strike.







A friend of mine has an amazing imagination. He’s inspired by many writers to sit down an pen the great American novel. He lives on the other side of my state, too far to visit. Because of this distance, we keep in touch through nightly chats on the phone. I respect him a great deal and expect him to soar if he put his mind to it.


Some nights we discuss writing and our mutual progress. When ever he speaks of his ideas I’m entertained to great concepts involving wonderful plot twists and well thought out characters. He tells me of histories and back stories and future plans where multiple novels revolves around generations of heroes and villains.







But in every story, on all the many worlds he’s discussed over twenty years of discussions (not always nightly, but that’s still a long time) I know there is one question that will always have the same answer.

“Have you actually begun writing this book?”

“Well no. It’s all just in the planning stages.”

Now to be fair, he did write two short stories and a chapter. But this makes it worse in my mind because I now know he can do it. I know all these great ideas are more than wishful dreams. I realize he can do something wonderful with them if he’s just sit down and do it.








As writers, we can’t help but create worlds. It’s in our blood. It’s a wonderful ability and our main super power. But there must come a time where we sit our butts down and WRITE THE DANG NOVEL. We need to call a time out, take these ideas and actually begin the sentences, paragraphs and ultimately the chapters of our projects.

We can get distracted in the big picture and caught up in our creations. We love how it all fits together. It’s so amazing! We want to take out outlines or notes and run right out and shout our incredible discovery to the masses.

But they won’t ‘get’ it. It’s raw. Sure, our friends, family, fans and support groups may even sit beside us in eager anticipation as we expound upon our creations, but it don’t mean jack if it never becomes an actual story.







Anyone who has actually written a novel knows that your plans change during the telling of the story. The characters’ voice alters things. Sometimes they won’t play as instructed. If you never begin, how will you discover these changes?

So why do we do it? Are we to afraid to start? Maybe. Is our time limited? Definitely.

What do we do about it?







Set a time limit or goal. Make a plan like “I will build for a week or a month, then begin writing this monster.”

Write something about your world. Start a scene to get in the flow. You don’t have to keep it and it doesn’t have to be in chronological order. Set a time and jump in.

So if you’re trapped in your own worlds, jump on to a chair and just write.

Part of Your World: The Joys of World Building

Originally posted on 1/17/10 for the

Charge of the Write Brigade.






We all write in our own worlds. World building is as natural to the writer as breathing.

Maybe you have a space saga with strange planets or a fantasy epic with golden lands populated with elves and dragons. Some of us spend time in the past where knights rescue ladies or gunfighters meet at high noon. In your world monsters could exist, be they romantic immortals who have gotten a bad rep or horrific demons of old who’d rather eat you than look at you. Does your story take place within a secret society of magic users or deep within an ancient institution where deep coded secrets await discovery? Maybe your world is the tough crime ridden streets of New York or a quiet suburbia where your heroine tries to avoid love?



Regardless of where you place it, the scope of your world is governed by the scope of your story.

My first novel is set in the frontier colonies of the New World. Moving from smoggy, crowded London, Annabelle finds the peaceful clean air a stark contrast to her first ten years of life. The fresh smell of pine and the crisp sound of chopping wood becomes a comfort to her.




There can be pain and pleasure to writing about the real world and real history. It means tons of research so the past you use is as accurate as can be. I must read books, watch period shows, search out and save web pages about certain topics and set up a 2nd home on the History Channel. I save pictures of period style clothing and maps of locations, preferably from the era’s I’m writing about. All the while trying to imagine my characters strolling those old streets and seeing those historic events.



World building research isn’t just for historical fiction. In the realms of Sci-Fi and fantasy you still need governments, currency, food, entertainment, transportation and history

Base it on the real world. Ok, you’re writing about happy elves that live in a tree and make cookies. Who is the head elf? How did he or she become head elf? What is the hierarchy? Are they paid? Why do they live in tree houses? Are they hiding from something? What do they do on their time off?



We each find our own ways to create our worlds. Long walks, music and prior concepts we want to change are some ways. Recently I discovered one of my own.

I’m taking a break from friendly child vampires and trying my hand at regular fantasy. I’ve created my own mythical world of elves, dwarves, mermaids and dragons called Farnalla.




To create Farnalla I needed to make a map. Because of the nature of the story, I needed to think about the various mythical creatures and how they would migrate across the globe. This led to several maps, each covering a different era in their history.




As I created and altered the tribal and later, national boundaries, my mind had to do something. So it wandered. I found myself explaining to my daughters (whom were fascinated at the story) why the elves and fauns would merge their tribes, why the giants and dragons went to war over the mountains, and so on.




Before I knew it, I had an outline for the world’s entire history up to the present day when the novel starts.

That’s one way to world build. What are your favorite ways ?