a short update on FW book 14

I post more frequent updates on my MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p/melanienillesauthor.

I'm still writing, although I deal with health issues that can make that difficult. I've been trying to figure out if I might be deficient in my diet somewhere, but testing supplements can be difficult. I can't take multivitamins because they're imbalanced for me. The other part is middle age--getting older sucks!

I love writing too much to not write this series and must see it to the end, which will be spectacular (at least in my mind for what I have planned). I have over half a book written on Forgotten Worlds book 14 and am seeing all my planned scenes get plugged into place despite the unconventional storytelling of this book. It will be an interesting wedding story with a little mystery.

Part of why I love this series so much is that I can play with different story types and even subgenres and situations. MESSAGES has a touch of horror, and this has a bit of a mystery for the characters to solve to rescue one of the team, and it's not Nya this time.

That's all I can say without giving too much away. You'll just have to stay with me to find out. 😉

Later this spring, I'll publish MESSAGES (Book 12), but I have to finish the first draft of this book (14) first.

Happy Book Day!

Voices in the Dark is done! It is publishing now across ebook retail sites. Be sure to check out https://melanienilles.com/books/voices-in-the-dark/ for links to be updated as it shows up in various stores.

Escaping the Paxons caused damage to the Cartegos that requires more extensive repairs than Vel and Shen can perform in space. To access the damage, they need to set down in an atmosphere. To reach a planet with an atmosphere, they need Nya to open a portal, and the Starfire entities have the perfect location.

While the ship undergoes repairs, L'Ni accompanies Nya on a journey into a cave on Karam Three to find the shard left there. However, the wildlife is protective of their world and attack ferociously to defend their territory, driving Nya and L'Ni deeper into the abyss of the cave.

The situation is no better for their friends. While Nya and L'Ni are trapped within the darkness, their friends must make a difficult decision.

Not all is what it seems on Karam Three.

Forgotten Worlds format explanation

I have been wondering for some time if some readers may have an issue with some of the formatting styles chosen for the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds books. So, I thought I might make a quick post to explain some of the styles used for those who aren't certain or who believe those might be errors.

LANGUAGE

First off, because this series is multi-cultural and that involves many made-up languages, I had to find a way to designate when characters are speaking a different language, besides always saying it with every dialogue line. That could get very annoying.

Since the primary language is Standard (pretty cliche with science fiction), short for Standard Galactic Trading Language, I don't do anything special for that. That's your basic "English" language for the characters, because I'm an English-speaking author. However, if I had this translated into another language, Standard would be that language. You get the picture.

Second, in my Starfire Angels books, I have always used square brackets for the Inari language translation [], so I kept that.

Then, I added Ru'owa, the Feri language, so I had to designate that a different way, so I chose the fancy brackets or braces {}.

If I use a third language or don't use Inari, I may use the square brackets in that particular book but will state what language it is. Or I may use a different way to designate that language translation.

In general...

[] = Inari language dialogue

{} = Feri Ru'owa language dialogue

TELEPATHY AND THOUGHTS

This was a little tricky. Traditionally, thoughts were always put in italics and so was telepathy. I've also used quotes around telepathy to designate speech. However, since Nya isn't telepathic but her thoughts can be heard by telepaths and sometimes telepaths can block their thoughts, I felt that it was important to differentiate in a new way.

What I did was only put quotes around non-POV thoughts that the POV character can hear. All POV character thoughts are quote-less. This can also be helpful, if you see the pattern, to know from whose perspective a scene should be seen. Sometimes it gets a bit hazy when there aren't any or are few thoughts or a character is observing another only from the outside.

OTHER ITALICS USED

I also used italics for some non-Standard (aka alien) words and also for ship names. This helps you see that sometimes a word isn't translated in [] or {} dialogue or that a word is actually a ship name and not a word, besides being capitalized.

Another way I use italics in the series is with dreams or Starfire visions, to differentiate dreams or memories from the present or reality.

If I think of any other formatting styles I've used not mentioned here or someone leaves a question, I will edit this post. Otherwise, I hope this helps alleviate any confusion.

SOUL SHADOW News and Cover!

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.

music suggestions for Forgotten Worlds

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.

Now Available - DRAGON AND FURY

It is done! DRAGON AND FURY is finished and published as of last night. It will take time to appear at all the online ebook retailers but is already at the major bookstores (links below image).

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMH33NB/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=melanie+nilles&qid=1633108942&sr=8-8

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dragon-and-fury/id1588334813

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dragon-and-fury-m-a-nilles/1140238141;jsessionid=0F4533BE2A02190A7B55C54290583ED2.prodny_store02-atgap08?ean=2940165675799

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dragon-and-fury

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1107325

the bane of a long series

I just realized the addiction that all sff writers must have, which I am calling MSUAIG (Making Stuff Up As I Go, although the "S" could be a certain 4-letter word). I have spent this morning checking through the previous 9 books of the Forgotten Worlds series and realizing how much I didn't add to my series wiki (aka series bible) that I should have in there for when I have questions. I have also realized that I need to break it into some new categories because it has grown to be too much for simple alphabetizing. I knew this would happen but not to this degree.

Fictional worlds with your own made up stuff can get tangled with details of other fictional worlds we've enjoyed, and keeping that straight is like untangling delicate necklaces that were thrown into a box and shook up. (If you've ever experienced that, you know what a frustration it is to untangle.) It's also why I can't read much of other books or watch much television other than news/nonfiction when I'm in a project like this. I can only do that when I'm taking a break or it gets jumbled.

At some point, the MSUAIG catches up and I have too much stuff to manage easily. I need to make the time to organize it better now that it's grown so enormous. I only have half this series written and it's already a monster to manage. I hope that I can keep everything consistent, which was why I was checking through the past books. There are some small formatting inconsistencies, but nothing major, at least nothing major that jumped out at me. That's also why I make notes about certain details that don't fit neatly into any category.

Nevertheless, I am doing my best to stay on top of those details. I am a stickler for it, but I am nowhere near perfect. I would need a photographic memory to keep track of everything perfectly all the time. Since I don't have a perfect memory, I'll just have to keep making time to skim back over the series before I finish new books. This is partly why each new book is taking longer to finish...because I worry about details.

I am constantly worrying about names of people and places and numbers--did I already mention Nik's siblings besides Tatiana (Tia)? Did I mention previously how long Ann was captain or how long Simms was her first officer? I also worry about uniforms and descriptions and sayings--What expression would a Paxon use for frustration? (that I can remember pretty easily--Cursed Issan!)... and that's just a drop in the bucket of details I worry about.

You get the idea. Details like these are difficult to keep on track, but there are many minor details that worry me, perhaps even more so because they more easily slip by.

I am working hard on the final edits of Book 10 in the hopes of publishing later this month. This is but a small part of the editing process, and usually after I've managed the major factors of the story. However, it is very important to me to the point that, if you find any inconsistencies, please contact me. There may be a logical reason for something seeming to be inconsistent, but it could also be that no one else caught the mistake.

Coming soon!

 

unraveling the explanations opens opportunities

I have a lot of fun figuring out the logical side of explaining my fictional worlds. I leave so much out of my books, although I try to offer some minimal explanations to at least give the reader a better understanding of what things are. That's the trick of making up science fiction and fantasy worlds--keeping the science/magic plausible, whether that involves ecosystems, governments, magic systems, or even the technology of a starship. The balancing act is not boring the readers.

I was just thinking about something today. I had already figured out how the shield systems worked on the starships and the limitations of those systems, but I hadn't quite unraveled how Vel and Shen are able to recalibrate the shields of the Iludrin to withstand more than their standard limitations. In THE DESTRUCTION OF WALLS, I came up with a way for them to hold out against the Issan, but I let the technical explanation go without too much thinking. I had a vague idea and didn't get into any great detail.

In book 12, they're at it again with shield systems. Again, I hadn't given it much consideration how. I just knew that these two--a skilled mechanic and an educated engineer (and expert in inter-dimensional physics)--would make it happen since they had already come up with the method in book 5.

Today, exactly how that worked opened to me. It was there but never fully realized until now. Learning this reminds me of how excited I was when I came up with the whole ecosystem of Inar'Ahben back when I was writing STARFIRE ANGELS, the very first book of the Starfire Angels series (or, rather, when I was writing its predecessor, which was rewritten into SA). Follow the logic and the answers will reveal themselves. It all makes perfect sense to me.

Now, I know exactly what Vel and Shen are doing. It's pretty detailed and I may use it one day if Vel ever feels like divulging that in thoughts or dialogue, but for now, It's a nice chunk of page in my growing Forgotten Worlds wiki file. Someday, I may reveal that too, but for now, it's my series bible with everything I need to know about characters, species, worlds, technology, ships, history, militaries, events, and even synopses for the books to come, as well as other details and clips from what is already written. (I'm always updating it.)

With half the series now written, it's a lot of detail to track and the document is only going to grow. (48 pages total with 29 pages of detailed references of this universe, and counting. The other pages are the synopses of books to come, some rather lengthy, or ideas not fully developed.)

I now have a deeper understanding of how shield systems work in my FW universe, one more logical explanation so that I can keep the tech consistent throughout the series. And I may use what I've developed to create another problem for the characters at some point. (Cue the maniacal laughter of a writer enjoying the creation of difficulties for their characters.)

The better that you can logically explain things, the more plausible the situations of the characters in that setting will be. Also, you'll have far more tools at your disposal to create challenges for your characters to overcome, and isn't that the fun of reading--to cheer on your favorite characters to success over whatever challenges or conflicts they face?

I now have a better understanding of what can go wrong when shield systems are tampered with, and that is giving me ideas... 😈

Forgotten Worlds Book 12 ... DONE!

It is done, or at least the first draft is done. The first draft of Book 12 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is done around 45,000 words.

Technically it's not done done, but it was only a few lines from done when I decided to change a detail about the final battle which would eliminate the final scene I was writing. I had an idea while walking (walking, showering, or driving--always the times when those "Aha!" moments hit). I realized that I had introduced something early on that was not fully utilized.

It was brilliant! I had introduced a piece of the puzzle without realizing it. I love when that happens.

As L'Ni tells Nya, "Use everything."

The best part is that this book means that I'm about halfway done with the entire series. I expect it to be 24-25 books. I keep getting inspired with more ideas, but I don't want to stretch it out too much. It is so much fun to write, though!

Now, I need to rewrite that space battle scene and figure out a new final scene. Then I get to read through and rewrite and add in whatever else I feel the story needs.

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Only then will I go on to finish editing Book 10 for a September release. Watch for more to come on DRAGON AND FURY!

FERIOUS publication!

It's done! The wait is over! FERIOUS has been uploaded and is disseminating to retailers as you read this. What a furious pace in editing! This one was a killer for me to edit--so many complications in this one. However, after initially thinking I was done yesterday and accidentally posting this announcement before I was ready, I can now announce that Book 9 of the Starfire Angels: Forgotten World series is definitely ready for your reading enjoyment. (Now, I'm on to writing book 12.)

Nya has discovered a new secret about the Issan plans, and L'Ni isn't about to let the opportunity for key intel slip away from them. Meeting a contact with the information they need to fight the Issan is risky, but it's a risk that everyone on the Cartegos is willing to take.

The mission leads them to a desolate world that is host to an exchange outpost serving the Issan. Getting in is easy, but finding the Dirnothril contact and getting out with the information attracts trouble. The Duras outpost is a dangerous place, and L'Ni isn't about to leave anyone behind.

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And as a teaser, here are some of the events coming a few books in the future of the series (without giving anything away):

* L'Ni's background will be revealed in Book 13.

* Nya will return to her homeworld at some point. I don't know about you, but I really want Leksel and L'Ni to meet! (I have no idea how I gave them both "L" names, honestly. It's pure coincidence.)

* I had an excellent idea for a setting that does not fit in with the usual places of this series. That's going to be a fun change.

I could say so much more, but these are just a few of the exciting things I have planned at this time. I can't tell you much else right now without revealing key points or giving away details that readers will need to figure out for themselves. Or there are plots that I'm not sure of yet, so I don't want to say anything. I would like to do more with certain characters but am not sure how those stories would develop, so I can't really say anything about that either.

FERIOUS is only book 9. I have finished the first draft of book 11 and am now going into writing book 12, which is about halfway through the series, although it could go longer. I keep getting plot ideas for new stories within the framework of my series plot, side stories and main action stories.  You'll have to trust that I have a lot of excitement planned yet for Nya and her friends.

Book 10: DRAGON AND FURY, will be available in the fall.