This week at A’mara Books:
Low word-count week due to apartment inspections (finally done!!!) and what writing I did do wasn’t on the main project… But I did score Curie upvote #23 on a supplemental chapter for Sands of Survival (more on that to follow… because it really was surprising!)
This week, I wrote:
nearly 7000 words
- All of these went on a supplemental writing further exploring the relationship of Kianda Bentin and Haldi Uushin. It was mostly for fun, but perhaps will feature in a book of supplemental sections sometime. It will probably end at 9-10k words, so a nice novelette, I think it is, at that length. Anyway… this evolved...
NSFW post
I’ve mentioned @breezin’s contest before (Whaleshares). Lots of fun, and very good for my 3D modeling training. Of course, a few weeks ago, I decided that it was a good excuse to add some additional information for my stories, seeing as I was already seeing the pictures as my characters… so, I wrote an additional scene – very steamy, of course. You can’t exactly back down once you’ve entered kama sutra land!
So, this week, since I was already writing about Kianda and Haldi (as relaxation following the huge amount of extra cleaning that had to be done this week – guys, of all the things I am, it is not a housekeeper!!!) I decided to grab one of the chapters for that story, tweak it as needed to eliminate too much backstory and keep it a little shorter (I don’t think I managed that part…) and used it for this contest.
If you want to read it... here it is - it's on Steem, Whaleshares and Hyperspace. (WeKu does not support NSFW material and it sort of looks like Publish0x doesn't either.)
Here enters…
Curie
I realized last September or so, that once you’ve got the attention of the Curie team (on Steem), especially more than once, you seem to get onto a special list for “regulars” - for awhile, it was roughly every two weeks. At some point, it became exactly two weeks – to the degree that once, I had to post maps and supplemental materials (November) and could almost feel them waiting for the first real chapter to upvote me – which is exactly what happened! More recently, when I had to do the same thing, they grabbed a slightly older post to keep the two weeks thing.
Yesterday, I knew I was at day 14. I presumed they’d grab my regular chapter of Name of the Neví – a chapter full of sweet and tenderness and a little bit of scandal when Tarja’s mother works out that she fed Marosio gærre – more on *that to come. That story arc will continue in Mind of the Neví and future books.
So, when I got Ginabot’s notification of a Curie upvote yesterday, I wasn’t surprised – though I’m always delighted (they are my biggest – upvotes – supporters on Steem!) However, you don’t see which post it’s on until you click through.
Flabbergasted is probably the correct word… the upvote was on my NSFW supplemental chapter! I didn’t even know they would support NSFW material! Plus, I’ve not been super confident in posting steamier work. (Understatement. I knew I could write it, but I never felt I would be able to share/post/publish it!!!)
So, that was just… WOW!
Ewan McGregor and George RR Martin
Two men I have huge, huge respect for!
Okay, yes, I also have had a huge crush on Ewan for many years – and yes, his name/likeness get used from time to time in my books, but always altered in a way that makes it almost impossible to tell that’s where the inspiration comes from, but it goes beyond that.
Ewan doesn’t do movies “for the industry” - he always has a reason. For that, I have learned I can trust his judgment – that I will get something from every one of his movies, even if it takes me out of my comfort zone.
I remember reading once that Ewan didn’t back away from doing nude scenes such as the ones he ends up doing in Trainspotting – a movie which really should be required viewing for every 18-year-old. It’s harsh, but it’s life (and a bad one at that) – but that was precisely Ewan’s point – it’s life – he portrays life.
George, I admire for the same reason. The fact he has no taboos – he covers gore, death and sex too – even death on a toilet, for crying out loud!!! His reason seems to be the same as Ewan’s (well, beyond a strange desire to kill characters) – that it’s life in his world… (Not so different from life in our world at some point in the not-so-distant past.)
So, yes, NSFW is part of life. :-)
Racial issues
Assumptions!!!
These get me all the time – even now.
At one point, I realized (thanks to a friend of mine) that I only described skin color when it wasn’t white. I fixed that… but I still get caught about blushing! I believe that it’s basically a physical response that happens in everyone despite skin color – but it’s not always visible! In darker skinned people, it might never be visible.
Though for those in the group who can feel beyond their bodies, a blush can’t be hidden – simply because it’s more than just a reddened face.
I made a last-second correction even this morning, catching someone who blushed… she has very dark skin, it can’t be visible in tone! But, I think there is still a facial reaction that would make her appear to blush… so that’s how I’ve corrected it, lol.
Mapping
Two maps completed this week. So much easier in Krita!!!
The map of Hailu, X’lea, is required later this week… so, that was top priority.
I'll share more about that map later this week.
The other map of of Felida, Atrua, is primarily for the 852 TCE set, but would have been nice to use for Name of the Neví – though it wasn’t super important this time. It will be featured again in the future as we cover Tarja and Marosio’s story further.
Both maps were done 95% on Krita with just the labeling to do on Photoscape. The process on Krita was a lot easier and much faster.
Change of Scheduling
Starting with Mind of the Neví, I will reduce my chapters on Steem by one, so taking Saturday off as well. This is partly because of the NSFW posts, but to give me a little bit of respite as I continue to produce material at break-neck pace. It will also give me some breathing room in completing Game of the Neví (if I stick with that title.)
Coming this week
- Four more chapters of Name of the Neví on Steem.
- Two more chapters of Sands of Survival, then five chapters of Acting the Part on Whaleshares
- Work on finishing Game of the Neví
- Work on Neví 5
- Decide which story to do next for Whaleshares – probably Brighid’s Blood, but I don’t want it to distract me on another writing tangent right now.
- Encyclopedia work, maybe some epublishing work and preparing the end materials for Mind of the Neví
Reviews?
If you have liked any of my books, please take the time to leave me a review/rating at Goodreads
Anyway, that’s what’s been going on here at A’mara Books this week! I hope you manage to take a few minutes to immerse yourself in my world of Terrenden – which I’m so delighted to share with you!
Crossposted on Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu and Publish0x.
Purchasing information here:
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
find me on Twitter
blogging on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace, Publish0x
