Xannu - The Prophecy hits the press again...

Two new mentions of Xannu - The Prophecy this morning - one in a blog review and the other on an Indie Blog.

Never tried Fantasy before? Here's your chance. As Akshay says, this is a great book for people looking to try their first fantasy read...

The review can be found here - Akshay Bakshi: Xannu - The Prophecy review

Juggling two parallel worlds, storylines and switching between them smoothly isn’t an easy task but Paul Dorset does this throughout the book and even makes it feel natural. The life of Terry West is one all of us have dreamed of, whisking away to a different world, having adventures but still returning in time for your mother’s wonderfully cooked food. Dorset employs a tiered approach to introducing his characters and new ones keep coming in till the very end. This method works very well for the most part and is even necessary to unfold the story properly and keep the identity of the Xannu a mystery but the people who come late into the story feel slightly underdeveloped. The villain, Mayhem, supposed to be the enemy if the Almighty one, doesn’t seem strong enough to be so. He’s good (bad ?) enough to be an antagonist but he can’t seem to pull off being the nemesis of all that is good. On the other hand, the character of Maria Pengollen is written damn well. The protagonist Terry West is very human, acting like any 12 year old would but its Maria who took me for the real ride. Though she is supposed to be a mother of perception, supposed to help and heal people, she is also new. Dorset’s words reveal her inexperience and determination equally well. 

One of the highlights of the story, is the friendship between Joe And Terry. Their friendly banter, personal troubles, school life are nearly perfect. The language Dorset uses is exactly how preteens talk, and is a huge help to the narrative. However, the problem is that some of this language and feel carries over to the other world as well where it feels weird because the setting of The Southern Lands is in medieval times. The prophecies mentioned at the beginning of every chapter and provided at the end of the book splendid, I wouldn’t mind reading a book of verses written by Mr. Dorset. 

After going through weeks of epic fantasy, Xannu was exactly what I needed, an easygoing but imaginative tale. It took me back to fantasy at it’s simplest level and is a great read who people thinking of starting the genre and seasoned readers looking for a refreshing story.  7/10

The Indie Blog mention is on Spalding's Racket

Go check these out and then head over to Amazon or Smashwords to pick the book up for $0.99!!

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For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…

Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?

English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'

If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?

Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.

How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!

Book 1 of 'The Southern Lands' saga
“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)

9. Writing Your First Novel: Words & Routine (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 9 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

9. Writing Your First Novel: Words & Routine
Writing a novel is all about getting into a routine and churning out the words on a daily basis. So what is the correct number of words that you need to write each day? This is an answer that I can’t give you. Everyone has their own speed and method. Some writer’s churn our 3,000 words a day, while others stick to 1,000. You’re going to have to experiment and see what works for you.

The important thing though is to set yourself a target. Without a target you’re not going to be successful. This is one thing I will guarantee! If you write a novel like you approach a summer garden project and just get a bit done now and again, you’ll always find an excuse not to get the novel written. You’ll start off well enough but as soon as something comes up, the dedication will stop and suddenly your novel will be languishing on the computer, waiting for you to open it up again.

Writing a novel requires a dedicated routine. Do you work at your best in the mornings, afternoons or evenings? I am at my most creative in the mornings and so that’s when I try and write. I have written at other times of the day (even all day long), but that’s not my norm. So when I am writing a novel I make sure I get up early, and get started before 6am. That way I can write when I am at my best. You need to set yourself up for success.

And what about the number of words? Do you know how many words you write an hour? Try it. Write a simple story. Make it up as you go, but try and write for an hour without stopping for a break. Then count the number of words you’ve written. Then do it again the next day. And the next. After you’ve done this for four or five days, count up your words and see what you average. I average about 1,300 words an hour when I’m in normal mode and I can churn out 1,600 words an hour if I’m feeling very creative and everything is just flowing.

When I’m writing a novel I always set myself a target for each day. It’s normally somewhere around the 3,000 word mark – or about two to two and a half hours. I usually split that into two segments, and take a short break in between. Sometimes I will write more, but that’s about my norm.

The other thing I try and do is to split my chapters at about the length of my writing sessions. That way I know that each day I’m writing a chapter (or two if they’re 1,500 to 1,800 words in length). My targets are very defined and I don't allow myself to stop writing until I achieve what I’ve promised. There’s nothing worse than having to start the next day halfway through a chapter because I was too lazy to finish it the day before. Therefore this works as a good motivator for me.

Returning to other things we’ve discussed before about story points, etc., you should have an idea of how your novel is going to be split up and written. Let’s say you have your 200 story points and you’re writing a novel of 80,000 words at 2,000 words a day, that’s forty days of writing. Each day you’re going to get through about five story points. Therefore it probably makes sense to split your novel into about forty chapters and each story point is going to be expanded to about 400 words. Seems fairly straightforward, eh? Not at all. As you begin to write, so the book will start to find its voice and new ideas will come and new story points will be created. Maybe whole new sub-plots will be developed. Maybe whole new chapters. That doesn’t matter. The point is that your plan is to write 2,000 words every day and those 2,000 words should try to map to a complete chapter. There may be days when you finish a chapter at 1,500 words, or another day when a chapter overruns to 3,000. That’s okay too. The important thing is to do what you promised yourself you would do and get the chapter completed. The finished book may turn out at 78,000 words or maybe 82,000 words and it may have 39 chapters or 42 chapters, but either way you know it’s what it should be.

Finally, I want to touch on the topic of how often do you need to write? Is it every day, including weekends? Is it just Monday to Friday? Or is it okay to only write Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays? This is something you’re going to have to answer for yourself. My only comment is that the more ad hoc your writing time is, the less likely you will stick to it. If you force yourself to write every day, including weekends, you will be successful. It’s very easy after a day off to be late the following day, or just not get to it. Discipline is your friend. Discipline is my friend too. I set out to write about 800 words in each of these articles and I write until I have done so, making sure I cover the points I wanted. Lo and behold, my 800 words are written and it’s time to start the next article. How about you? How’s your routine?

8. Dialog versus Narrative - Show versus Tell (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 8 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series (NEW: Buy the book HERE).

8. Dialog versus Narrative - Show versus Tell
It’s very tempting when you’re writing your novel to spend a lot of time describing exactly what is going to happen or what the reason is for something. Sometimes for pages and pages! I’m sure you’ve read those sorts of novels before. Did you know this is called ‘telling’ in the writing business? Let me give you a brief example:

Tom was worried about turning up unannounced at Steve’s house, especially at this time of the afternoon. He knew it was getting late and Steve was never too happy to receive visitors once the sun went down. And what with the events of the previous day, he was probably going to be in even more of a foul mood. Tom hated it when Steve got like that. There was just no talking to him. Still, he was going to have to go and see him. He owed him that much at least. 

Tom picked up a copy of the daily paper just in case Steve hadn’t seen it and stuffed it into his pocket. This would at least give him something to talk about when he got there. He collected his keys from the side table, pulled the door shut behind him and walked up the street towards Steve’s house.

There’s nothing wrong with this example per se, it gets the point across and tells the reader exactly what Tom is going to do and why he is going to do it. The only problem is that sometimes it can get a little boring constantly reading sections of a book that just tell what is going on, or going to happen. Readers like to live in the present and be shown exactly what is happening. So, instead of the previous passage, how about writing something like the following:

As the sun began to set later that evening, Tom knocked on the door of Steve’s house and waited for it to be opened. “Hi, Steve,” he said as the barest crack in the door opened up. “I know you don’t like visitors at this time of day, but there are a couple of things I wanted to talk to you about.” 

Steve poked his head out of the door and took a brief look up and down the street. “I guess you’d better come in then.” He took a step back and pulled open the door to allow Tom to pass by and then immediately slammed it shut behind him. “Why the crap are you here?” 

Tom stopped and turned around and watched as Steve’s expression changed again and Steve sank back against the door, almost collapsing to the floor. “You alright?” Tom asked. “I really didn’t want to disturb you but I didn’t know if you’d seen the paper or not?” 

“Well you’re here now. You might as well say what you came to say.” 

Tom pulled the newspaper from his pocket and handed it over to Steve. “Just thought you might want to see this.” 

“Right.” Steve took the newspaper and opened it up. “Holy crap! All over the front page.” Steve balled up his free hand and punched the door behind him.

This version of the passage gives the reader a good idea of exactly how Steve is feeling and why Tom is worried about going over to his house. But because it’s set in the present time and not a theoretical passage, it’s much easier to read.

Readers of books generally don’t need to be told what is going to happen or why things are the way they are. Usually they can get it from the setting and the content of the scene. Generally readers actually prefer to work things out for themselves! So, when you are writing and want to write about the reasons why something is the way it is, try and think of another way to put it. Trying to wrap the section around some dialog that moves the plot forward, shows the reader what people are thinking and generally gets the point across. You will be thanked for it.

In conclusion, it’s not a bad thing to have passages of tell from time to time. Telling can transition a story and move it from A to B very quickly at times when you don’t want to get bogged down with things. But using telling to signal something to the reader that they could otherwise work out for themselves is not a good technique.

Remember the old adage that ‘actions speak louder than words’? Well this is what it’s about! Showing the reader what is happening and letting them become involved is a much more powerful technique than just telling them what is happening and why it is happening. So, give it a try. Dialog versus narrative, show versus tell. Write a passage and give the reader the chance to work things out for themselves!

Ray Guyll & Ventriloquist Central - A Gwillville Radio Interview

If you have 45 minutes to spare and you want to curl up and listen to a fun Radio interview, click on the link below. It's me and Ray Guyll (my Gwillville co-creator) being interviewed by VentriloquistCentral.

Discover more about me...

Laugh aloud...



(You will need a Flash player to click the link above. If you do not have a Flash player click THIS link.)

I'll be posting a link to the VetriloquistCentral original as soon as I have the link.

->->-> VentriloquistCentral link here <-<-<-

Have a great day... :-)

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Farnsworth is worried. He’s counted them over again and again, but bags of the Food Factory’s vegetables are definitely missing! What will his boss, the ever so exact Fergus Fedderfeeny, say when he finds out? And then there’s the matter of the new wonderful tasting pies that Farnsworth is making. Farnsworth doesn’t exactly know how the recipes got changed or if the missing vegetables played a part in it. Armed with his toolbox of hammers and staying well away from The Mangler, he’s determined to get to the bottom of it all.

But things get complicated when unknown to Farnsworth, Fergus’ evil brother, Hamish wants to get in on the action and steal the recipe for the famous pies. What ensues is a comical adventure the likes of which Farnsworth has never had before. Can he save the day and also win the love of the beautiful policewoman Daisy Driftwood? Or will time and The Mangler catch up with him and lead to his ruin?

Fergus Fedderfeeny’s Food Factory is a comical adventure story set in the dummy town of Gwillville; a small coastal harbor town with a Fire Station, a Police Station, a school, restaurants and stores. There are houses too, where the dummies live and work and carry on their ageless day to day life. Yet not everything in Gwillville is exactly as it seems. Some of the laws of nature, which as humans we take for granted, work in slightly different ways.

Gwillville is populated with colorful characters that every reader will soon take to their hearts. With the bumbling hero Farnsworth, the precise and exact Fergus Fedderfeeny, the self-professed police action hero Sergeant Romeo, and the mafia dummy mastermind Sofia, there are a wealth of citizens to get to know. And you will as you follow the crazy everyday antics in Gwillville. After all, ventriloquist dummies get to have a life too!

ONLY $0.99 as an ebook on Amazon!

Writing Updates

Another month unfolds and I thought it was an opportune time to update you all on where I am with my writing. To date I have five books launched and another Xannu novel written and awaiting my redraft. I'll get to that later this month. I'm also about a third of the way through the third Gwillville book and about a third of the way through a new ebook I'll be releasing soon: 'How to Write & Self-Publish Your First Novel.'

This month I've decided it's time to start a new book, something more adult and maybe Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance genre. It's going to be an interesting voyage. I have the main story highlights in my head now and I'll be spending the next couple of days getting more story-lines and sub-plots together, ready to start writing by the weekend. I think this is going to be something quite different and fun and I hope you will all like it. I'll keep you all up to date on progress as I write. In between writing this new novel I'll be finishing off the ebook and getting that published.

I'm also waiting for several reviews on my fantasy novel Xanuu - The Prophecy to be published. Hopefully as new reviews start to come out, so the sales will start to increase. Feedback on this book to date has been exceptional, certainly beyond my hopes and I would encourage any of you that enjoy fantasy, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Narnia stories, to give it a try. I believe you will be hooked, just like everyone else who has read it so far.

Then there are my Gwillville stories, received well so far by readers, but still awaiting reviews and a breakthrough. If you like comic Middle Grade adventure, give these charming books a try.

Lastly, my project management book, 'The 10 Hour Project Manager' continues to be more successful than I ever imagined. Join the sensible reading crowd and get a hold of this small book, crammed throughout with wonderful advice, and start managing successful projects in 10 hours a week.

7. Writing in the Third Person (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 7 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

7. Writing in the Third Person
Previously we wrote about how difficult it is to write a successful novel in the first person and in this article we are going to discuss an alternative: writing in the third person. What is writing in the third person? Well it’s actually how most novels today are written. It’s a viewpoint that’s taken in the book that allows the author to take a step back from everything and describe what’s happening from an alternate viewpoint than the first person (like a sort of god perspective). By way of an example let’s start by re-writing the scenes we had in the first person essay into the third person:

Steve was sat alone in the living room of his house later that afternoon, sipping on a glass of whiskey and contemplating the events of the previous day. He put the glass down and looked up as he heard the living room door open. 

“How’s it going?” Tom asked, standing in the doorway. 

Steve shook his head a little. “Alright. Just a little tired, you know.” 

“Tired?” 

“Well you know, after the last couple of days. The police and everything.” 

Tom wandered across the room and sat in the chair opposite Steve. “So, what are your plans now?” he asked. 

“Don’t know truthfully. I’m really not thinking straight.” 

“Yeah, I guess it is a little worrying,” Tom said, reaching out and taking a hold of Steve’s hand as he spoke. 

Steve reached out for his whiskey, drained it and slammed the empty glass back down on the table, pulling his hand away from Tom as he did so.

As you can see, this version has lost some of the emotion of both of the first person examples, but it conveys the scene well enough. The reader understands what’s going on and can relate to both people. Tom has come around to see how Steve is doing and he’s obviously not coping very well. Is this enough? Does the reader need to know more? Does the scene convey everything that you wanted as an author? If it does, then move on. If not, then there are other tricks we can employ.

This sample piece is written from a neutral third person viewpoint. You are neither in the head of Tom or Steve, but merely reading the scene as it plays out from a distant third person viewpoint (the god perspective). But what if there were a couple of points you wanted to get across about Steve’s frame of mind? How can you do this if you’re writing in the third person? Let’s rewrite the passage a little:

Steve was sat alone in the living room of his house later that afternoon, sipping on a glass of whiskey and contemplating the events of the previous day. He put the glass down and looked up as he heard the living room door open. 

“How’s it going?” Tom asked, standing in the doorway. 

Steve shook his head a little. “Alright. Just a little tired, you know.” He fought back a tear. What did Tom know about how he felt? It had already been the shittiest couple of days of his life. 

“Tired?” 

“Well you know, after the last couple of days. The police and everything.” Was everyone going to ask him the same questions over and over? 

Tom wandered across the room and sat in the chair opposite Steve. “So, what are your plans now?” 

“Don’t know truthfully. I’m really not thinking straight.” 

“Yeah, I guess it is a little worrying,” Tom said, reaching out and taking a hold of Steve’s hand as he spoke. 

Steve reached out for his whiskey, drained it and slammed the empty glass back down on the table, pulling his hand away from Tom as he did so. Worrying? It was frickin’ frightening. He had basically been accused of murdering his own wife by the police. Just how could Tom relate to that?

In this example which is clearly written from a third person viewpoint, the reader is allowed inside Steve’s head during the scene and certainly gets a better understanding of how he is feeling. And if this is important to get across, this is how to do it! Writing in the third person allows the author to show the reader different viewpoints and different scenes that are crucial to the reader’s understanding and fuller enjoyment of the story. With these third person techniques you now have the tools available to explain the evidence the police are sifting through at the station and the affair that Tom was having with Steve’s wife. These are both things that you could not easily do if you were writing the story from a first person perspective!

Practice writing scenes in the third person and then revisit them to see if you need to focus in on a particular character to add more definition. Just be careful. Do not jump from the head of one person to another within a single scene. The reader will get confused and they will lose the flow. Pick a viewpoint and stick to it for the complete scene.

PRESS RELEASE: Jai and Jasmine's Jeopardous Journey

Jai and Jasmine's Jeopardous Journey - comical Middle Grade adventure novel released!

Redmond author and resident, Paul Dorset has published “Jai and Jasmine's Jeopardous Journey,” a comical adventure story that continues the hilarious and entertaining new adventure series written especially for middle grade readers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – May 01, 2011 – Redmond author and resident, Paul Dorset has published “Jai and Jasmine's Jeopardous Journey,” a comical adventure story that continues the hilarious and entertaining new adventure series written especially for middle grade readers. The book, published at an introductory price of $2.99, is available on Amazon Kindle at amazon.com and all major ebook stores. The Gwillville series is based on many characters of the award-winning master dummy-builder Ray Guyll and is released in partnership with the Guyll family.

Jai hates the stink of rotting vegetables. He’s been thinking about them ever since he arrived in Gwillville. He hates being boxed up too. But his cousin Jasmine doesn’t remember anything about that. She’s more concerned with meeting new friends at school. And there’s an assortment of other dummies to meet there. Lily Longfreckle is only eight years old but Chuck Handle is sixteen and has been at school for three years already. Then there’s Trevor Tightrope who’s twenty-five. It’s all very strange indeed, and oddest of all is Wonky Williams. He’s eleven and is so accident-prone that Jai and Jasmine wonder how he ever makes it through a complete day.

But despite all the new experiences that Jai and Jasmine are having, the ship that brought them both to Gwillville is weighing heavily on Jai’s mind. So no matter what, he’s determined to discover more about the elusive ‘ship that sails north.’ Maybe it’s the secret to being reborn and maybe it’s a way to find Farnsworth’s missing father. Jai finally decides it’s necessary to take a jeopardous journey of discovery.

Jai and Jasmine’s Jeopardous Journey is a comical adventure story set in the dummy town of Gwillville; a small coastal harbor town with a Fire Station, a Police Station, a school, restaurants and stores. There are houses too, where the dummies live and work and carry on their ageless day to day life. Yet not everything in Gwillville is exactly as it seems. Some of the laws of nature, which as humans we take for granted, work in slightly different ways.

Gwillville is populated with colorful characters that every reader will soon take to their hearts. With the bumbling hero Farnsworth, the precise and exact Fergus Fedderfeeny, the self-professed police action hero Sergeant Romeo, and the mafia dummy mastermind Sofia, there are a wealth of citizens to get to know. And you will as you follow the crazy everyday antics in Gwillville. After all, ventriloquist dummies get to have a life too!

# # #

Paul Dorset was born in England in 1960 but now lives in America. He has been writing for many years with early works published in 'teen advice' columns. He has many technical articles published, mostly in the field of Computing and now writes YA fiction.

6. Writing in the First Person (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 6 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

6. Writing in the First Person
A lot of first time authors write their debut novel in the first person. So I’ll start by recommending straight away, don’t do it! Writing a complete and engaging novel in the first person is one of the most difficult things to undertake in writing and very few authors that do it are successful.

Why do writers do it then? Quite simply because it’s what they are most familiar with. We spend our entire lives living in the first person (I’m assuming!) and therefore when we write it’s easiest to do it in the first person (just like I’m doing here). We write everything as if we are experiencing it. After all, we see things through our eyes and we can only imagine how others experience the same things as we do.

Let’s start with a little example of some first person writing that we can use as a basis for discussion:

I pushed open the door, gritting my teeth as it creaked a little, and peeked inside the room. Steve was sitting in the armchair, just as I had expected him to be. “How’s it going?” I asked. 

He turned his head to face me. “Alright. Just a little tired, you know.” 

“Tired?” I asked, a little unsure as to why he would say that. 

“Well, you know, after the last couple of days. The police and everything.” 

I nodded and walked over to sit down in the chair next to him. “So, what are your plans now?” 

“Don’t know truthfully. I’m really not thinking straight.” 

I felt sorry for Steve and I reached out a hand to take his. “Yeah, I guess it’s all a little worrying.” 

I had never been arrested in my life and to think that Steve was now a suspect in the murder of his wife certainly evoked many different kinds of emotions for my best friend.

What’s wrong with this passage? Nothing really; it’s self-explanatory and the reader understands how the writer feels towards Steve and the situation he is in. The problem is that you don’t really get a chance to understand how Steve feels about it all. Is he really coping okay? Is he sad, or is he angry inside? It’s all assumption; the writer’s assumption. Is that alright? Maybe it is for some parts of the book, but if the book was written completely from this viewpoint you would never understand Steve and his motives. So what if instead we wrote the passage from Steve’s point of view? Let’s make him the focus of the book instead:

It really had been a shitty day. I put the glass of whiskey down on the table and turned my head as I heard the door to the living room open. 

“How’s it going?” Tom asked from the far side of the room. 

I shook my head a little and fought back a tear. “Alright. Just a little tired, you know.” 

“Tired?” 

“Well, you know, after the last couple of days.” Did I have to go over this with everyone? Is this what it was going to be like now? “The police and everything.” 

Tom wandered across the room and sat in the chair opposite me. “So, what are your plans now?” he asked. 

Yeah. It was going to be a couple of rough days ahead for sure. “Don’t know truthfully. I’m really not thinking straight.” 

“Yeah, I guess it is a little worrying.” 

I pulled my hand away from his and reached out for my whiskey glass again. Just what did Tom know about it? Worrying? It was frickin’ frightening. I had basically been accused of murdering my own wife by the police. I drained the whiskey and slammed the empty glass back down on the table.

The emotions in this piece of writing are very different from the first. In this fragment you get to see just how worried and messed up Steve is, but his best friend Tom comes across as pretty unemotional.

Don’t be fooled by reading the samples I have given here that it’s easy to write in the first person. Sure it is straightforward for some sections, but for 80,000 words? How will you explain the evidence the police are sifting through at the station? How will you explain the affair that Tom was having with Steve’s wife? It’s tough to add plot complexity to a novel written in the first person. As a result, debut novels that are written in the first person tend to fall apart and get boring and repetitive after a little while.

Writing a complete novel from the perspective of the first person means you will always have to make compromises. Are those compromises worth it? Only you can answer that, but generally first person novels are a hard sell for the reader. A reader wants to experience a full set of emotions when they read a book and get inside the heads of everyone to a certain extent. First person perspective books don’t give the reader that opportunity. In the next essay we will look at writing in the third person, an alternative approach to writing your bestselling novel!