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Commission: Tildy Silverleaf by Danny Givens

For a while, I’ve wanted to hire some illustrators to help me populate this site with more imagery. Until the book was finalized, however, I knew it would be a distraction to help me procrastinate. Believe me, writers have an endless variety of options to help with that. Just look at our search history.

Now that I’m working on publishing the book, I have time. I recently hired Danny Givens, who was recommended by another creator I admire. Danny was looking for work and I was looking to hire. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

I’ve worked with enough illustrators, designers, and writers to know when to provide direction and when to butt out so they can follow their creative impulses. I’m not going to dictate lines and shading any more than I’m going to dictate seasonings to a chef. It’s the same kind of freedom I appreciate when I’ve taken on a writing job. In my experience, it results in a frictionless relationship. And that’s certainly what I experienced here.

In a recent conversation with another illustrator, I described my philosophy for my art.

I want to give readers enough detail for a scene that allows them to complete the picture in their own minds. It’s a kind of hand-off. In this way, however, I relinquish some control of the story and ownership of it. And that’s perfectly fine. If an artist wants to maintain iron-fisted control over the interpretation of their work, they probably have to keep it hidden from the world. And unshared art is a shame, IMO.

So, I provided some basics about the character and suggested four types of scenes that might make a good visual:

  • Solitude: Tildy perched impossibly upon a branch
  • Action: fighting some of the monsters in the book
  • Friendship: saving her friend Marklin
  • Family: time with her adoptive mother

I let him choose what spoke to him, and then I provided some specifics. Here’s the first sketch, which captured the essence of the scene I provided.

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Chapter One available
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Chapter One available

As I mentioned in a previous post that announced the Prologue, I’ve started working on publishing my book, Tildy Silverleaf and the Starfall Omen. As I release chapters, I plan to write an accompanying post that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the work. To skip right to reading the new chapter, click here: Chapter One – Spring in Dappledown.

I started my writing with Chapter One, not the Prologue, because getting a feel for my protagonist and her home were crucial to understanding whether I had a story worth pursuing. I needed to establish my unnamed hero, her home, and the witch she reluctantly called “mother”. The ideas flowed effortlessly from thought to word, and Tildy, as she would became known, nearly flew from the page into life.

I had something.

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What do you call a book without a cover?
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What do you call a book without a cover?

I wish I had a better punchline for that set-up. It’s been a long day.

Let’s try another one: if an author writes a story and it doesn’t have a cover, is it still a book?

OK, OK, now I’m just procrastinating.

In a recent post about publishing my book, I mentioned looking for a cover designer. An online gaming buddy connected me with a graphic artist in Australia named Hoomie. Her portfolio was excellent and I found her to be a consummate professional. And as the conversation progressed…I knew she would be out of my price range. That’s on me: I have champagne tastes and a lite beer budget. It’s unfortunate because I liked her and was excited to see what we could accomplish together.

What I was able to witness, however, was an expert who knew the right questions to ask. It required me to articulate things I knew – things churning about in the cauldron between my ears – but hadn’t put into words. I find this extremely valuable because it’s challenging to distill thousands of hours of writing time into an engaging and succinct description. I’ve written about the importance of it here: Learn about your writing by talking with people.

The following questions are among the things I will continue to contemplate in this and future writing projects.

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Chapter available: Prologue

A few weeks ago, I started publishing my book on this site. My intent was to finally, actively, truly work toward publishing it in full digital and physical formats, instead of cowing to those fears that always tell you: It’s not good enough. It’ll never be good enough. There’s a point where the author has to listen to voices that aren’t internal. When Trusted Readers regularly provide positive feedback and encouragement, that should carry more weight.

It does carry more weight.

This post isn’t simply an announcement, though you can start reading this chapter here: Prologue: The Children’s Gifts. Consider it a behind-the-scenes look at how a chapter and book come to life. I might not have this context for every chapter I release, but we’ll see. It’s very easy for a writer to procrastinate when fun new post ideas come to mind.

Prologues have been integral to fantasy books for decades. Thoughts on this are cyclical: from “must-have” to “cliche” to “must-have” and around again. IMO, if your writing is chasing what’s fashionable, you’re doing your story a disservice. You’re also not being honest with your Readers, which to me, is the more egregious matter.

Early on, I knew I wanted a prologue for each of my books, and they would all have a corresponding epilogue, as well. This was part of a larger decision: each book is told from the hero’s point of view. You know what they’re thinking, you see the world through their biases, you see how they grow based on their reactions to stress and other factors. Which meant I had a problem for the antagonists of the series. How do I help the Reader understand the machinations of their schemes?

I didn’t want to keep any of that hidden from Readers. In Lord of the Rings, you get a limited sense of Sauron’s plans. The Harry Potter series offers a little more visibility to Voldemort through a prologue or monologue. I wanted more for my Readers.

And so, the bookends of the story are devoted to the primary antagonists of the series: the dark god Delosh and Its thrall, the Mellifluent, the last survivor of a genocide committed by its master. This is where I communicate their motivations and plans, but also how the actions of our heroes affect those plans.

When I wrote the prologue, I took inspiration from the cinematic opening to the Fellowship of the Ring and the writing of Tolkien himself. It was formal and grand; it had depth and history; and it had necessary exposition to set up the entire series, not just the first book. It was heavy.

It was too much. And Trusted Readers were right to call me on it.

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When your writing pays off
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When your writing pays off

Congratulations! Your site, The Lost Royals, passed 10,000 all-time views!

This week I received a surprising notice on my website. I’ve passed 10,000 views! And I’m now on pace to have my best year ever. Considering I do only a little promotion, aside from sharing links on my social media accounts, this feels pretty good!

The website has served as marketing tool, a place to practice my writing skills, a fun way to share tips and traps I’ve discovered, and an opportunity to share a few personal stories. Some posts resonate with my growing audience; some don’t. And that’s fine – it’s a good learning experience, if nothing else.

Even more rewarding, to my writer’s heart, is that I’ve seen a significant uptick in traffic since I started sharing chapters of the completed novel, The Starfall Omen.

Additionally, it’s not just book content that’s receiving attention. Here’s my most popular post 0f 2024: I Still Owe Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis An Apology, from March.

That post still has a ways to go to reach the Number 1 spot, however. Nothing like a heartwarming family story to get readers to show up: Fourteen Weeks and Fourteen Years, which has 265 views.

To everyone who’s visited, commented, shared, and subscribed, thank you so very much. I’m thrilled to be able to share our world with you, and I can’t wait for you to see what happens next!

If you’d like to keep an eye on my activities, feel free to check out my Progress Tracker!

Mike

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(C) Michael Wallevand, September 2024

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Let’s get this thing published!

A few weeks ago, I posted this on Facebook:

OK. Time to get serious again. Starting my novel on the path to publishing. Current step is putting it on my website while I look for a cover artist. First four chapters are here, with more posted every 1-2 days. Our hero Tildy is a neurodiverse teenage girl who can’t control her shapeshifting abilities, and she’s about to learn what happens when you refuse the call to adventure. I think this will scratch your itch for fantasy!

I’ve shared updates on social media, but weirdly enough, didn’t announce it here to my subscribers (whom I value very much!) So here’s the latest, especially for you!

The prologue and 11 chapters are available here: The Starfall Omen. We’ve had about 100 readers visit the site, with more arriving every day – even when I haven’t shared anything, which is gratifying. I’ll need to figure out how to manage that landing page when the chapter count hits 30 so it doesn’t look daunting to visitors. But I suppose that’s a good problem to have.

I’ve put out feelers for cover artists, with an email to one already. I’m also talking with a mapmaker to see if she can turn sketches into something that brings my world to further life!

In a future post, I’ll describe why I’m getting serious again, and perhaps I’ll explain what’s taken so long to get back to this point. It’s a thing I’ve held very, very close to my vest, but it’s probably time to put it in the open, much like this book.

To end this post, let me offer some encouragement to other writers. The work is hard but it won’t only be hard. Don’t give up on your story or yourselves.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

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© Michael Wallevand, September 2024

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Driven to write by a word

Schmutz.

It’s a word of Yiddish and German origins, and for some reason, it popped into my head this morning.

If it’s a word unfamiliar, it’s often used to describe a bit of unidentified something on a person. Usually their face. For many of us, that’s followed by your mother wetting her thumb with saliva to wipe it away.

Ah, mothers. So loving. So sanitary.

In my part of the world, it’s an uncommon word, which usually means I’m going to work it into my book (and apparently, a blog post).

And then my writer’s brain was off to the races.

In 45 minutes, I whipped up about 550 words, or a page and a half, inspired by the idea that Tildy has schmutz on her face, but due to her ability to unconsciously shapeshift, the schmutz avoids her mother’s efforts to clean it away. It’s actually a pimple, and it disappears and reappears across Tildy’s face.

I immediately fell in the love with the scene, and not just because writers often fall in love with their writing (a PAINFUL truth, except when they hate it). No, it’s because it accomplishes many things in service to the story.

It fits into the first chapter of Tildy’s second book, helping reintroduce our characters to the Reader with things like Tildy’s abilities, her relationship with the witch (her adoptive mother), and a little bit about their personalities. Additionally, we get the melodramatic woes and annoyances of a teenager.

But to me, the best part is the humor. You see, it’s actually an outbreak of acne, but Tildy’s skin is trying to prevent the pimples from surfacing.

“I no longer think it is a simple pimple moving around your face. I believe there are many, but your skin is resisting the outbreak. I wonder what would happen if you stopped doing whatever you are doing?” the witch mused, as she turned Tildy’s face, that way and this, as she looked for the next pimple’s appearance.

Tildy didn’t particularly care, but as the thought entered her mind, her face grew red and itchy.

“Oh ho!” the witch laughed, her face delighted. “Now they are everywhere! You really are a sight.”

I think it also creates some tension for Tildy. She has the ability to fight acne, something that many teens would be jealous of, but she can’t control it. Quite the opposite. Ironically, her efforts only seem to make it worse. Her struggles, however, eventually result in new mastery of her abilities, which is a recurring theme throughout the series. It helps us see Tildy growing up.

Sometimes, inspiration comes as simply as that. A single word demands several hundred in response. If only it was always as easy as that.

It’s a good start to a day, and as I write this, it’s now time to get to my office job. Good luck with your own writing (and that other work that pays the bills).

Mike

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© Michael Wallevand, October 2023

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Give that writer a little nudge

“Got any big plans today?” the cashier asked as I inserted my card into the machine. It was the typical checkout small talk we all experience, but never give much thought to.

“Going to do some writing,” I replied. I had my laptop in the backpack hanging from my shoulder.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she said mechanically, but politely. Probably her typical response. If you’ve worked in retail, you probably still reply this way sometimes. Like when you tell a cashier, “Thanks for shopping today.”

Her eyes widened as she comprehended what I’d said. “Ohhhhh! That’s interesting.”

“Thanks!”

“What do you write?”

“Horror and fantasy.”

“That’s so cool. I used to write in middle school, but you know, I don’t have much time. Maybe this winter I’ll get back to it.”

Writers say similar things all the time, especially the lapsed ones. But I know from personal experience that it often takes a simple nudge to push us back into the chair. So I replied, “You really should get back into it. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

The smile that crossed her face contained something more than the typical expression that customers get during idle chitchat. “Thanks. I will!” she promised.

And I hope she does.

I doubt I’ll ever know if she kept that promise to herself, but I like to think so. There are so many of us writers who need just a little more encouragement. I’ve gotten plenty myself, which I always appreciate, and I like to pass it on when I get the chance. Who knows what amazing stories could come to life as a result? Who knows how many masterpieces have been lost because someone said, “I just don’t have the time”?

Take the time. Accept the encouragement. Pass it on.

The world needs more stories. Good luck with yours!

Mike

Enjoy what you just read? Leave a comment or like the post, and we’ll ensure that you see more like this!

© Michael Wallevand, October 2023

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Author’s Journal – I Put Myself In Editing Purgatory

Altar from Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, Washington, D.C.

In December 2019, I finished the final draft of Tildy Silverleaf and the Starfall Omen. I exhaled, wrote a post, and put the book aside for the holiday season, intent on querying in 2020. I started researching agents over the winter and began querying in earnest in early spring.

Around that time, rumors had begun, followed by vague news reports, about a new disease that would eventually be known as Covid-19. In March 2020, I said goodbye to my office desk and began working remotely for nearly 3 years. In May, riots erupted in Minneapolis and elsewhere over the murder of George Floyd. As the year progressed, the political landscape in America became fraught, then angry, then vicious, and civil discourse became less common.

The world seemed to stop.

And so did I.

I tried to write, and in two years, I had about 100,000 words of my next book, which featured Samor, Tildy’s brother. There was some joy, but the weight of things beyond my control pressed upon me, and the work became more grind than pleasure. I struggled to recapture the magic.

I decreased my blogging output in that time, too. After all, what did I have to write about my process? I wanted to share positive things and my passion for writing, but they were hard to think of, much less give enough attention to bring to life. There seemed to be more important things in the world.

I started Project 3 in that time, hoping a return to Tildy’s familiar story would help me push through. For a time, it did.

It wasn’t enough.

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The Synonym Trick: Affect vs. Effect

When I was in elementary school, phonics played a prominent role in the curriculum. Even at that young age, I recognized and appreciated the structure and rules, and I remember being surprised when others struggled. It was a method that resonated with me (heh), and I usually achieved high marks in spelling.

However, there are times when phonics lets me down, especially in the use of similar-sounding words: “appraise/apprise”, “elicit/illicit”, “passed/past”, and “awhile/a while”. Suffixes can also be a pain, such as “-ible/-able”.

“Affect/effect” is another, and I’m not alone in my confusion. They are among the most misused words in English.

While editing my manuscript today, I discovered a pesky “affect” had survived several rounds of revisions. I’m at the point with my writing where I don’t chastise myself for the miss, but I’d still prefer to learn from the mistake. So I decided I would find a way to minimize it happening again.

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