The Destination

   An important part of any story, especially a fantasy, is the journey to a destination. There can be many destinations or just one, as long as there is movement. Characters that sit around waiting for something to happen, or trouble come to them is boring. There are so many different ways to travel, by walking, riding, spaceship, or you could make up something totally new.
   Traveling opens up uncounted opportunities for the writer to show a little bit of the world, show how their characters react to obstacles, and show how they treat others if not alone on their journey. Which brings up another point. Characters rarely travel alone. Some may start out that way, but soon gather up companions to help them or secretly hinder them.
   These companions may be human, animal, or maybe even an unseen spirit. But please don't give them someone who just functions as a place holder. Every companion should have a story of their own. They will have likes and dislikes, strong opinions about the world, and a personality that blends well with the MC. Most important of all, they should be able to aid the MC in some way, such as a protector or a teacher, someone to help them gain confidence.
   The destination and the importance of it should be revealed early in the story. Readers will soon lose interest if the characters are just traveling, but no one knows where they're going. For a stand-alone, arriving at the destination should coincide with the climax of the story. If you're writing a series, have secondary destination that can be reached at the end of each book. Readers will probably be turned off if the story ends and the characters haven't made it to the final destination.
   There are so many possibilities for destinations and they don't have to be physical. It could be a new plane of existence or spiritual level. Even death could be the final destination. Send your characters out into the wild unknown and have fun writing your story!
   As always, this is my opinion. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your ideas.
   Thanks for reading. Sorry I don't have any writing to share this week.

The Writer I used To Be

   Apparently I'm one of those strange animals who really enjoy stories I wrote many years ago. Especially now that I've lost so much and have re-read all of my previous books in an effort to reestablish those worlds in my mind. I feel I'm once again a part of the worlds I built, but it's the characters and their motivations I'm still not sure of.
   I see so many writers out there bad-mouthing their own writing and complaining of, "Impostor Syndrome", what ever that is. Seems to me if you don't enjoy reading your own writing, no one else will either. First and foremost, write to please yourself. Believe it or not, there are plenty of others out there who enjoy the same stories as you. Ignore the 10% who will dislike you and your stories no matter what.
   I've gone back and read some fan-fiction written many years ago that was the catalyst for making me want to learn how to write. Those words still hit me emotionally. Granted, the grammar is atrocious and punctuation is non-existent, but the emotions of the characters still comes through. I wrote the story I wanted to read at the time. I enjoyed it then and still do now.
   I'm so afraid, since the surgery, my writing no longer has the depth to it as before. I can still turn a phrase or develop a scene, but my characters fell flat. What I've written in the last few weeks is okay, but still feels like something is missing or not right.
   Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and I'd just love to hear from you.
   Thanks for reading.
   If you're interested, here's a small sample of the fan-fic from years ago.

   “Please tell me more about those memories,” she asked. “I don’t understand how memories of past battles could be of much benefit to you.”

   “I didn’t just get a few memories of battles, Moraine. I have the complete day to day memories of close to a hundred men. Oh, not any memories of childhood or growing up, but starting in adulthood. As near as we can figure, they start around four to five hundred years before the Trolloc Wars when I was a general for Maccine, King of Eharon, and end around the time of Artur Hawkwing. I’ve been a First Lord of Manetheren and an Eharon High Prince. I led armies during the Trolloc Wars and fought against Hawkwing numerous times as different men, rarely with any success. I remember attending balls at the palaces of kingdoms that are now only piles of rubble. Those ballads you sing Thom. Some of them are about me and a few I wrote to mourn the loss of someone dear to me or to celebrate a victory in battle. Those memories used to be all separate men but now they are all a part of me. I am those men.”

   Moraine glanced up at Mat when he paused and was surprised to see him shaking. She saw that Thom’s eyes were locked on Mat in a way that told her some of this was new to him also. With a profound shiver and a clearing of his throat, Mat continued.

   “Some of the memories are short because those men made mistakes and died young. Some last for years of men who were very successful. Unfortunately, every one of those men died in battle. I remember every death. I remember choking on the blood from an arrow in my throat or chest. I remember all the sorrow, anger and hopelessness as darkness came. You have no idea what it feels like to die over and over again.” Mat paused. “And here I thought Rand was the one who was going to go crazy.”

   Moraine and Thom both stared, struggling to comprehend the enormity of what Mat just shared. How could any man deal with something like that and remain sane? Now she understood why Matrim had been shaking. This was what she had seen in his eye but was unable to fathom. How could she? The pain and sorrow of a hundred men’s deaths lay smoldering in the depths of his soul. For what he had done for her today, she vowed to find something or someone to ease that pain.

It's Official

                                                           The Arches of Rineron


   I can finally say I'm officially writing again. I told myself I wouldn't post another blog until that time so here I am. It's been happening off and on for about a week now. I'm sure it'll take a while before I can be consistent again, but I'm almost finished with the next chapter in the second book of the "Queen of Darkness" series. There are still days where I set up my notebook, grab a pen, and then just stare. The blank page simply a reflection of my mind. Now if I can just continue and finish this WIP, that'll be great!
   Over the last year of not posting, a number of folks have continued to check my blog maybe hoping to find something new. I certainly appreciate your dedication and promise I will try to give you something new every week like I used to. Please hang in there with me as I try to re-order my life.
   One thing I'd like to mention is the results of my free e-book giveaway several weeks ago. The few places I posted always contained the link and a picture of my epic fantasy, "The Pain of Compassion". However, my novella, "The Princess and the Apprentice" out performed the epic 2 to 1. I wish I had some idea why folks chose the novella over the full length epic.
   The results of the giveaway did bring me a pleasant surprise. I don't normally check my numbers on Amazon, but when I looked to see how my promotion was going, I saw that someone was reading my short story, "Arizona" on their Prime account so I checked Amazon and found that someone from the UK had read the story last summer and left a wonderful 5-star review. That has always been one of my favorite short stories, and I wish I could figure out a way to get more people to read it. No new reviews on the other stories yet, but hopefully I'll see a few in the coming weeks.
   After I have written more new material, I'll start sharing snippets again
  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

   The picture is a drawing I made of what I think the arches look like that Navon has to enter in "The Pain of Compassion"