Tag archives for Fantasy - Page 3
Yngvild Needs Beta Readers [Fantasy]
My son sketched out Yngvild's story arc on a napkin when we having a coffee in Norway. (photo: James Kemp) I'm looking for s few people to beta read the second draft of my fantasy novel, currently titled "Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams". It started life as my 2016 NaNoWriMo project and has been added to and edited over the last three years. Inspired by a trip to Bergen in Norway and a box set of Game of Thrones, it's now in a near complete second draft. Yngvild weighs in at about 70,000 words before it goes into a final edit, then proofreading ahead of publication. I'd really like some people to read it and tell me what they think of it. Before you send the email volunteering you'll want to know more about the story. It's probably only…
Emilie Knight – Author Interview
Knight with the hardback of Dagger and Scythe (photo: Emilie Knight) This week's post is an Author Interview with Emilie Knight, her new book Dagger and Scythe is officially released tomorrow! It's the second title in the Ichorian Epics series, the first being Era of Undying. Here are Emilie Knight's answers to my questions. Emilie Knight - Author Interview How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing? I’ve been writing seriously for a few years. I’ve been writing since high school, but in 2017 I really sat down to focus on it as a career with novels, rather than short experiments for myself. Do you write for a living, or do you also do other work? I work in a call center in a car dealership. It’s a fine job, customers can be rude quite…
Horse-Riding Research Round-Up
My pseudo-viking YA fantasy novel moved from seaborne to horse-riding. Yngvild met a cavalry troop and learnt how to ride with them. Like Yngvild, I've had to research how to look after horses, and how far you can travel on horseback. I've not done much horse-riding, I've been on horseback fewer than half a dozen times in my life. I've done it just enough to know that you can take a teenager and give them the basics of horse-riding in about half an hour, but I'm far from being a Dothraki! Horse-Riding for Writers An Argentine Lancer, this is pretty close to how I've imagined the cavalry unit that Yngvild met. (picture credit ) There are many good websites for writers interested in realistic portrayals of horse-riding and horse borne expeditions. There are some links at the bottom, but by…
Bjorn the Beardless [Short Story]
Bjorn the Beardless is an origin story for one of the supporting characters in Yngvild the Fierce. Here we see the first voyage of Bjorn Johansson (AKA Old Bjorn), and his original nickname of Bjorn the Beardless. There's also the kernel of his later nickname, Counter of Battles, in the question that Ragnar the Red asks him. Bjorn the Beardless Viking helmet and axe (photo: Morket via pixabay) The tide was out in the fjord, and the ship’s prow rested on the strand. A red and white vertically striped sail was furled against the spar ready to be dropped when the ship sailed. Oars were still, ready to help the ship manoeuvre off the beach when the tide came in. A black haired youth with his brand new battle gear, approached the ship. He bounced with each step, despite the…
Yngvild and Noren – Editing my 2016 NaNoWriMo Novel
Working cover for Noren the Strong, my 2016 NaNoWriMo entry (image: James Kemp) At the end of May I went back to my 2016 NaNoWriMo novel, having left it in the early hours of December 2016. After a gap of 18 months I figured that I would have the detachment from it necessary to give it a good edit. Reading my 2016 NaNoWriMo novel It stood up pretty well on my first read through. I spotted many typos, and highlighted bits to re-write. But for the most part it got left alone on this read through because it was better than I'd expected. I'll do more with it as I find time, mostly when waiting for trains, or traveling. The main things that I noticed that I need to fix are: It needs a new title. The first six scenes…