It's done! The first draft of Book 13 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is complete at just over 49,000 words. Up next--editing.
And I have a cover for Book 13. I think this conveys the internal struggle of the story about something dark and sinister. The story involves L'Ni's memories, so there's plenty of science fiction to it, but a space station or space battle might give the wrong impression of this particular story.
The plot isn't this series's typical action type of story but something more dramatic, personal, and of an internal conflict nature, which is why it's difficult to fight for such a warrior as L'Ni--the battle is taking place completely within him. (He can't fight it with his hands or weapons.) He's defied its rule, and now the creature he once called a god has found a way to attack him from within, since it can't yet breach the barrier between dimensions. It essentially is a demon.
I just hope this cover is intriguing enough for the series.
ps - The blurb was harder to write than the cover was to design, and I may still tweak it before publication.
The new website is finished! I enjoyed the old melanienilles.com but it was based on Wordpress, which hates me. I'm surprised it lasted almost two years before breaking.
This time, I decided to get a quote from someone I know who designs and hosts websites professionally. The last designer tried to make a business of it, but couldn't. I wish him well in whatever he does. I had to pay more for the new design, but it was worth it. I hope you enjoy it too. It has all the same basic features but in a little different style. You'll notice that I've kept the same header, which I also use on this blog. The image has become my brand. I'm sticking with that. I've even adapted it to my Amazon author page profile.It only took me... twelve years to figure it out... and finding the right image. I don't like personal photos.
I've never applied it as a reader of any particular book, but as an author, music definitely has an influence on me. There's something about music that inspires, whether it's a deep, thumping bass; a lively jig; a dramatic score; something discordant and creepy; or soft and gentle. Music can affect ones emotions and inspire ideas. Its affects are well documented in studies.
As a writer, I often hear a song that connects with a particular scene or character. It has a power all its own on my creativity, igniting a focus that I can't escape.
All of my books have at some point had songs or scores that hit the right note (pun intended) with a scene or character.
In my latest series, Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, I've found some scores along the way that kept me going, but when it came to Book 10: DRAGON AND FURY, there have been two now that really struck me. Initially, Shadowlands by Revolt Music Productions struck me as the combat games entrance of each titular fighter, the Black Dragon and the Fury.
I can't help but to picture their entrance, the pause before the fight starts, and then the beginning of their fight. It first struck me at some point while writing the book. I could see it for other possibilities too.
And then, after releasing the book, I was struck by Undefeated by Skillet.
This one too, I could see for the intense action between the combatants, but I could see this in general for many parts of the series.
And long before these, when I heard Everlasting Legacy by Really Slow Motion, I saw a trailer for the series.
Similarly, there's In Ascendance, also from Revolt Production Music. (I find the whole album to have a very action-intense/science fiction feel, but this one in particular has hooked me with the trailer feel.)
Others on my playlist that inspire me in this series include music not only from the composers I mentioned but also Two Steps from Hell, Ivan Torrent, Audiomachine, and Future World Music. There are others, but I just thought I'd share something of what I like when I'm writing this series. Two Steps from Hell is soft compared to some of the others I listed, but you hear their music in many trailers and are hearing more of these others. I've listened to these so often that I'll watch a movie trailer or hear a commercial and instantly recognize the music.
There are far more songs and compositions I could go through, but this will give you an idea of what presently inspires me in my science fiction and some of the music that really grabs me with imagining particular points in the Forgotten Worlds series, up to this point in it. I'm sure there will be others as I continue to write.
Off topic, I just have two other notes... I can say that the first draft of Book 13 is two-thirds done. It will be interesting, but I hope all the books are. I also saw a first glimpse of my new website and... WOW! I can't wait until it's ready for the big reveal.
