Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post. Wednesdays will be character profiles, and I'd figure where better to start than my main character. Progress on Dauntless took a brief halt, then sped back up again once I realized that I truly hate the snowflake method of outlining method of outlining. For those not familiar (and for those who don't give a crap, skip to the next paragraph) the snowflake method has you start with the bare bones basics about your plot and characters, then has you go back and add more, and more, and more. Every step where it asked me to add more to this or that character, I'd sit and wonder why it didn't have me do that in the first freaking place. So what I'm doing instead is splitting the outline into chapters, and writing one or two paragraph summary about what happens in each chapter, along with writing what I hope will be what I imagine my perfect review to be (and hopefully it includes the phrase "here, take the keys to my lambourgini). Ahem, anyway.
So with that out of the way, we return to the character profile of Kacey, or as I would describe her, the broken hero. Kacey is a character of contradictions. On the surface, she is fierce, powerful, and independent. A lifetime (for her, she is only 18) of martial arts training, combined with a near obsession with physical conditioning, has made it so that she could go anywhere, anytime, with the confidence that she will be perfectly fine. This confidence extends to other areas in her life as well, when forced to learn any skill, she enters the challenge knowing that not matter what happens, she will rise to the task and overcome it.
Of course, there is another side to her, a side she keeps hidden away from anyone. When Kacey was a young girl, she lost her mother in a tragic accident that she blames herself for. As a result, she hides herself away from everyone, scared that if she lets anyone close, they will suffer the same fate. Her independence is tinged with isolation. She has to rely on herself, because there's no one else that she believes she can rely on. The accident with her mother is never far from her thoughts, and whenever she faces a physical challenge, it's not done due to any love of the sport, but so she can hide away for those thoughts, and for a few hours at a time feel alive. There are two exceptions her isolation, both friends that she had long before her mother's tragedy.
When Kacey is first faced with the mystical world she finds herself in, she refuses to believe it. She runs and hides, doing everything in her power to deny the birthright she was given. It isn't until Pyrus, a strange mercenary she'd never met before, kills a number of her classmates in an explosion, that she forces herself to face the truth about her family, to forgive them for lying to her, and learn to use her powers. She throws herself into training, shedding herself of all of her old guilt, sadness and fear, all in order to become the warrior she needs to be.
Kacey is an internal mage. Thus far she's only been exposed to the physical domain of magic. She's able to unconsciously heal herself from grievous wounds, move faster, think quicker, and fight longer than any normal human could. Over the time of her training, she becomes a master swordsman, preferring the agility of a single short sword. She's also a master of throwing weapons, able to throw blades at great distances with significant force. In the end though, her greatest ability is her determination. If Kacey sets her mind to doing something, there is no force, natural or supernatural, that can stand in her way.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
News and creature profile - mages
Hello everybody, it's your friendly neighborhood author. I hope everybody's weekend went well.
To start with, some news. A few of the admins and I have decided to compile an anthology for short stories. They are all tremendously talented, and I consider it an honor to be included. More information on the short story will be available as it comes up, and if I get off my lazy butt, I may even be able to include a preview of the short story I'm planning on sunday.
Now, onto your regularly scheduled profile. So monday I plan to do a look at some of the creatures that exist in my world, and for the first update we will start with the creatures that make up the vast majority of my stories, sparkly vampires! Wait....wrong notes, sorry. We start with Mages!
So most of the time you think of mages you imagine the Merlins, the Harry potters, and the Dresdens, who is definitely one of my favorite wizards. You imagine men with long white beards throwing fireballs, calling down lightning, and manipulating the basic forces of the world. That's certainly part of it, but mages also consist of the yogi who can slow his heart to one beat per half hour, the master martial artist who can shatter stone and catch arrows, and the gurus who can sit at the bottom of a pool of water for hours.
There are two kinds of mages: Internal and external. External mages manipulate the forces of the world around them, while internal mages manipulate themselves. Internal mages can leap over buildings, heal themselves from horrendous injury, and perform great feats of strength. Both are limited by their own strength and conditioning: drawing on mystical powers is very draining, and as a result a mage's power is often due to their own strength and stamina.
Mages are at their core the same as every other human. Mages work in corporate law offices, are titans of industry, wait tables, and pump gas. They live in all aspects of human life, and have the same desires and drives as everyone else. This leads some to become heroes, others villains, and most are just trying to live their lives.
To start with, some news. A few of the admins and I have decided to compile an anthology for short stories. They are all tremendously talented, and I consider it an honor to be included. More information on the short story will be available as it comes up, and if I get off my lazy butt, I may even be able to include a preview of the short story I'm planning on sunday.
Now, onto your regularly scheduled profile. So monday I plan to do a look at some of the creatures that exist in my world, and for the first update we will start with the creatures that make up the vast majority of my stories, sparkly vampires! Wait....wrong notes, sorry. We start with Mages!
So most of the time you think of mages you imagine the Merlins, the Harry potters, and the Dresdens, who is definitely one of my favorite wizards. You imagine men with long white beards throwing fireballs, calling down lightning, and manipulating the basic forces of the world. That's certainly part of it, but mages also consist of the yogi who can slow his heart to one beat per half hour, the master martial artist who can shatter stone and catch arrows, and the gurus who can sit at the bottom of a pool of water for hours.
There are two kinds of mages: Internal and external. External mages manipulate the forces of the world around them, while internal mages manipulate themselves. Internal mages can leap over buildings, heal themselves from horrendous injury, and perform great feats of strength. Both are limited by their own strength and conditioning: drawing on mystical powers is very draining, and as a result a mage's power is often due to their own strength and stamina.
Mages are at their core the same as every other human. Mages work in corporate law offices, are titans of industry, wait tables, and pump gas. They live in all aspects of human life, and have the same desires and drives as everyone else. This leads some to become heroes, others villains, and most are just trying to live their lives.
Friday, January 23, 2015
A-Z blogging challenge: A is for Anger
Hello everyone, and welcome to my first blog entry. My name is Tom Atwood, and this blog is about my writing and primarily Dauntless, a novel about Kacey Alexander, a young woman trying to find her place in a magical world. I'll primarily be discussing that series, but will occasionally pop up with other series I'm working on.
So, inspired by the amazing and talented Angie Grigaliunas, who I am a huge fan of and am in no way using her to try and get additional views on my own blog, I have decided to start the A to Z blogging challenge. To give you a bit of background, The A to Z blogging challenge is a challenge where every week you take one word and describe it's significance in your story. Considering I had to ask for help with the letter A, I am not confident in my ability to complete this blog, but I've watched enough episodes of Sesame Street to at least give it a valiant effort. With that in mind, and this being my first blog of the challenge, we shall start with A, which is for Anger.
Anger is a major factor in Dauntless. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to...what? That's the wrong series? Are you sure? Well anyway, anger is a major driving force in Kacey's life. Kacey lost her mother in a tragic accident, and Kacey blames herself for that accident. The anger that she holds, directed at her mother and herself, has poisoned her psyche to the point where it has affected her personal relationships. She dropped out of school, choosing instead to pursue an education online where she's isolated from any of her former peers, and views anyone outside of her two friends as an obstacle to be cast aside or plowed through.
More important than anger itself, however, is the triumph over it. When you let anger consume you, like Kacey has, it rots you from the inside, and takes away so many opportunities for friendship and love. Kacey overcoming the anger and the pain that she's balled up inside herself is one of the major journeys of the series, and represents what happens when we let anger over a slight, or an event, eat away at us.
So that's all for anger, join me next Friday when I search through the dictionary for a B word that I like (Not that B word!). In the meantime, on monday I plan to do a monster spotlight, where I highlight the various supernatural creatures that exist in that world (We have wererhinos!) and on Wednesday where I will do a character or location spotlight. Have a great day, and keep writing!
Tom
PS: In case you were wondering, angie's blog is located at angiegrigaliunas.blogspot.com
So, inspired by the amazing and talented Angie Grigaliunas, who I am a huge fan of and am in no way using her to try and get additional views on my own blog, I have decided to start the A to Z blogging challenge. To give you a bit of background, The A to Z blogging challenge is a challenge where every week you take one word and describe it's significance in your story. Considering I had to ask for help with the letter A, I am not confident in my ability to complete this blog, but I've watched enough episodes of Sesame Street to at least give it a valiant effort. With that in mind, and this being my first blog of the challenge, we shall start with A, which is for Anger.
Anger is a major factor in Dauntless. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to...what? That's the wrong series? Are you sure? Well anyway, anger is a major driving force in Kacey's life. Kacey lost her mother in a tragic accident, and Kacey blames herself for that accident. The anger that she holds, directed at her mother and herself, has poisoned her psyche to the point where it has affected her personal relationships. She dropped out of school, choosing instead to pursue an education online where she's isolated from any of her former peers, and views anyone outside of her two friends as an obstacle to be cast aside or plowed through.
More important than anger itself, however, is the triumph over it. When you let anger consume you, like Kacey has, it rots you from the inside, and takes away so many opportunities for friendship and love. Kacey overcoming the anger and the pain that she's balled up inside herself is one of the major journeys of the series, and represents what happens when we let anger over a slight, or an event, eat away at us.
So that's all for anger, join me next Friday when I search through the dictionary for a B word that I like (Not that B word!). In the meantime, on monday I plan to do a monster spotlight, where I highlight the various supernatural creatures that exist in that world (We have wererhinos!) and on Wednesday where I will do a character or location spotlight. Have a great day, and keep writing!
Tom
PS: In case you were wondering, angie's blog is located at angiegrigaliunas.blogspot.com
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