Making of a Mage-King

Have you ever had a series of dreams that simply dominated your life? This is the way Making of a Mage-King came about. As I wrote, my nights were rife with dreams of future scenes or events, and sometimes, though I knew they related, I had no idea how. You know how dreams can be? Twisted and nonsensical. Some say it's my muse. I've even heard it described as channeling, and it certainly felt that way from time to time.

I've posted about dreams before and how they fueled my writing most of the time. This story was by far the most loaded up with such dreams - actual dreams - with very little altering to fit the moment.

So here's the evil fun part: Though such dreams increase in book 2, White Star, and even more so in book 3, Mage-King, they are in all three books. I challenge you to find them. I'm not sure what I can offer you for doing so. I'd gladly sign your book but you'd have to send it to me. Course, I'd gladly do that anyway. I'm going to have to figure out how to sign eBooks too. Hmmm maybe I might be able to send you a copy of the next book if you find the dreams in the first book. I'd have to think on that. What do you think? Do you think you could find the dreams that fueled this story? Have fun looking.

The Trials of the Youngest Princess - Soon to be Published

Yeah, go back up there and read that title again. Soon to be published, that's what it said. That makes number three coming out soon, probably sometime early next year. Here and I thought I'd be doing good by getting one out a year and I was a little worried that I might not get all my stories published by the time I kicked it. That's why I pretty much stopped looking for an agent.

Let's just recap. I still find it very amazing.

Making of a Mage-King trilogy
-> Prince in Hiding - coming out very soon
-> White Star - coming out in a year
-> Mage-King - coming out in 2 years

The Speed of Dreams - coming out sometime likely early next year

The Trials of the Youngest Princess - just recently promised though not officially signed yet. I'm guessing it'll come out early next year. Might be earlier though. I'll be sure to keep you all informed.

At this rate, I'll be putting up a shopping cart on my website. Anyone interested in buying a book directly from me? Mailing would be a bit tricky. If you'll read this post -> I've Got Mail - Maybe <- you'll understand why I likely won't do much mailing during the winter. That's not to say it won't happen. We always get a plane load of supplies and a plane load of fuel. There might be another flight of some sort, maybe more than one load of fuel or maybe a trip to town. I happen to be going to town tomorrow morning for a week to do some shopping but most importantly, to mail out a few books to people who sent me a check in the mail.

Well, it's late folks and I gotta get up early in the morning. I promise to do better next week. Let me know what you think about ordering books from me directly. They'll be available online at Amazon I'm sure. I really wanna know. Thanks.

Prince in Hiding, Book 1 of Making of a Mage-King

Young Sean Moselle, sixteen years old, was leading a very normal life until the night his mother died mysteriously. He was just starting to function again, after a fashion, when his father died a year later, so very close to the anniversary of his mother's death. Before he could grasp it all, he was thrust into a whole new life, a life one only finds in movies or in books, a life filled with knights and warhorses and even a few damsels in distress, though not from any dragon. No, the 'dragon' in this case was his uncle, an uncle he never knew existed, in fact, his whole past wasn't really his past. Oh sure, he did all the things a kid growing up in New York does, mostly, but it was all a cover, and he never knew a thing. His father, Elias Moselle, wasn't really his father. His mother, Analeace, wasn't really his mother either. His real father was the heir apparent of a kingdom somewhere else, and his uncle had had him killed. His mother was so close to term that she didn't survive the escape, leaving the infant Sean alone in a strange land with an odd collection of bodyguards.

Young Sean wasn't just the rightful king of this strange land somewhere far away, he was very magical. As a product of some careful breeding, he was supposed to be very powerful indeed. He was handicapped though. Most children begin to learn how to use and control their magic around the age of six or seven. Sean was ten years behind; he had a lot of catching up to do if he was ever going to reclaim his throne.

But it wasn't the throne he went back for, nor was it the power that went with the crown. Only a small part of his reason for going back was revenge against the man who had deprived him of the family and the life he should have had. No, he went back to save the people from the so very evil dictator who sat on the throne. He was the only person who could stand a chance of pulling it off.

Ok, I know (now), this is so very cliche, but then again, this is pretty much where the cliche ends. Sure, he gets the crown, but it certainly didn't come around at the end of a long, glorious battle. No, it happened so quickly, so easily, that no one knew anything had changed. It wasn't until he started undoing his uncle's damage that word got around. But this is reaching into book 2. And along through book 2, we discover that Sean is on a much larger quest, one he can't puzzle out. Not only is he driven to undo the destruction his uncle went to great lengths to foster, but he was driven to get it all done 'in time'. In time for what, he didn't know. By the time we reach book 3, Sean is driving himself, and those closest to him, to near insanity as his nights were riddled with confusing dreams and his days were spent pushing his magical limits to the max. What is this bigger goal? Well, maybe I'll give you a hint, but only if you ask. But if you're at all diligent, the answer is on my website.

Prince in Hiding is coming out in October. Are you looking forward to it as much as I am?

Prince in Hiding - Soon to be Published

Yep, that's true. I sent the final polish off to the publisher this evening. Already I await anxiously for the planned release date, sometime in October.

Here are a few things I learned from my editor, Crystal Clear Proofing.

The biggest thing was that thoughts were italicized rather than set in single quotes. I really didn't know that.

The ellipse is three periods. My writing book specified they be spaced apart but what it didn't clarify was that there is a difference between the use of ellipse in non-fiction and fiction. In fiction the ellipse is three periods only. The only exception is if the phrase would have been an exclamation or a question. At those times an exclamation or question mark are added to the three periods. Now I did find one problem with this little punctuation. Word will nicely convert your three periods into a single punctuation, it also glues the words on either side into a single word as far as Word is concerned. That means that if you are unlucky enough to have two large words welded together by an ellipse near the end of a line, Word will happily place the whole thing on the next line, stretching whatever else was on the original line out to take up the space left behind. In this case, a space is needed after the ellipse. Keep in mind, the ellipse needs to be attached to the first word, not the second one. If this doesn't work, consider rewording your sentence.

Another little punctuation is the dash. A dash is the same as a hyphen only with spaces on either side. Once again, Word will make the conversion for you. It is however, very important that the conversion is made because they have very different meanings. When I first started writing, I didn't know that and my computer didn't convert the little bugger every time so I turned the conversion off. I really do prefer consistency even in such little things.

As I went through all the rest of the edits, these are some of the other things I discovered.

Swordbelt is in fact two words

Lord is not capitalized unless it is attached to a name. In such phrases as, "Yes, my lord." 'lord' is not capitalized.

The 'T' in T-shirt is capitalized - I suppose I should have looked it up, but in truth I didn't think of it.

I also confused 'farther' with 'further' - farther is a term indicating distance. Further is an abstract term --> "The king couldn't bring himself to punish his son any further for his crimes." is an example.

I also used 'aught' instead of 'ought' - though the two words are interchangeable, aught is an archaic version.

I was just a mite inconsistent with whether 'packsaddle' was one word or two - it is one word.

'Guild master' is two words.

Many of you have already read about my views on names. "Don't confuse your reader with names that are too similar." I had one character named Soran and another named Searron. It reminded me of JRR Tolkein's two main antagonists Sauron and Saruman. Confusing. Soran is my main character's first ancestor and haunts the book off an on throughout. Searron is my main character's grandfather and is only mentioned a few times, but it was still confusing, therefore I changed Searron's name to Lardeain, giving him some connection to the names of his two eldest sons, and allowing Soran to take center stage of the ghostly variety.

I also caught that Aunt Marinda had two names, something I fixed. Whew - that was a close one since the misname was Miranda.

In case you didn't guess, I took notes. I have two more books in this series to make sure of such little details.

Here is the first couple pages of my book - I hope you like a teaser.

First Magics

Sixteen-year-old Sean stood in the queue, waiting his turn to compete with the saber. He looked up at the bleachers. He had no problem locating his dad; his parents sat in the same place every time. His dad was talking to their flat mate, Gordon. His mom couldn’t make it this time – she had to work. Every year since Sean’s first tournament, his parents gave him a choice. Since the tournament and his birthday were generally only a few days apart, Sean got to pick which event his parents would attend, since it was impossible for them to get both days off from work. Sean thought of a compromise. He really wanted them to watch him compete, so, as a birthday present of sorts, they could take him out for a special dinner afterward.

When Sean, Gordon, and his father returned home that evening, they were greeted by a squad car waiting in front of their apartment building.

“Sorry sir,” the officer said as he met them at their taxi. Sean’s father was a sergeant with the mounted police. The officer looked uncomfortable talking in front of Sean and Gordon.

“Go ahead, officer. We’re family,” said Elias.

“Sorry sir,” the man repeated. He hastily took off his hat and gripped it in his fists. “Sir, you need to come down to the station. It’s your wife, sir. She…she’s dead. You need…”

Sean didn’t hear anything else. The monotone voices of his father and the officer no longer translated into words. He found the hood of the police car and leaned on it, his sword case hitting the pavement with an audible thump.

Gordon wrapped an arms around his shoulders. “Come on, I’ll get you inside.”

When school started two weeks later, Sean didn’t go; he still wallowed in a fog, aimless and lost. Elias was no better, though perhaps more animated. He went from brooding in his chair for hours, to pacing the floor furiously. If he spoke, it was generally one version or another of the same thing. “Analeace was found dead at the door to the tower where she worked, and no cause could be found. They say it was as if she had simply stopped living. People here don’t simply stop living. They’re not looking hard enough.”

After Elias was allowed to go back to work, Gordon took Sean to school and then spent hours helping him catch up on what he’d missed. He was also there to keep him going – quite a difficult task at first.

Between relentless lessons with Gordon and those with the sword, Sean slowly started functioning again. When Master Mushovic decided to include the claymore in his sword lessons, he discovered it to have a very satisfying weight with which to work out his emotions.

For an entire year, Sean struggled at every turn. The vacancy left by his mother’s death haunted him. His grades slipped, but Gordon made sure they didn’t slip too far. He wanted to quit his lessons with the sword, but his father wouldn’t hear of it. It helped that every class left him feeling like he’d won something, though he couldn’t identify what.

On the anniversary of his mother’s death, Sean and his father visited her grave. They stood there, not speaking, with their hands in their pockets, wishing it wasn’t raining.

Ten days later, Sean found himself back at the cemetery, this time standing over his father’s grave. Killed in the line of duty was all he knew. The particulars of the incident had not been released, nor had the results of the investigation – Sean was still a minor and Gordon wasn’t family.

With the first anniversary of his mother’s death only a few days old, Sean felt so lost; he just wanted to stay in his room. He stopped going to school and even skipped his sword lessons. Not even the Sword Master’s heavy claymore could ease this pain. The fact that he suddenly didn’t have time was the only thing that kept him from falling apart completely.

From THE MAKING OF A MAGE-KING - unpublished

FIRST STEPS

As they walked back to the apartment building from the bus stop, Sean felt like he was walking on wet ice. Everything he knew about his life was slipping out from under him. The man who had given him his swordbelt had also given him a blue stone. There were six of them and they were supposed to be of some use - some magical use. The man and woman he had known all of his life as mom and dad, were not. Air for his lungs seemed difficult to come by. He was a king - somewhere ‘not in this world’. “What is my name?” he asked, his voice sounded hollow in his ears. He had been Moselle all of his life, but if Elias wasn’t his father, who was he?

“Your name is Seanad Éireann Barleduc-Ruhin, and as soon as you can wrest your crown from your Uncle Ludwyn, you will be king and rightfully so,” said Gordon in a strange voice. “Nearly all of your protectors are now dead, and though the circumstances might be seen as pure dumb luck, we must assume that you are no longer safe here. You must learn everything about what you are and who you are, then we must find a way to take you back.”

Questions refused to organize themselves into coherent words; the questions about his family, the stones, questions about - questions about everything, flung themselves through Sean’s head like a tidal wave, or perhaps a frag-grenade.