This new epic fantasy is off to a great start!
GUEST POST
Author D. Robert Pease has dropped by to talk a little bit about his writing of Shadow Swarm, the new epic fantasy that is off to a roaring start. Early readers are loving it and spreading the word, and we wanted to do the same. As part of this, D. Robert Pease is hosting a raffle on Facebook (linked below), so be sure to check that out. And now, we’ll let Mr. Pease tell you how this entertaining book came to be.
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Bringing an Epic Fantasy to Life
Of the four(ish) books I’ve written, Shadow Swarm took the most effort, by far. I have a blog post dated June 3, 2007, and in that post I state that I had been writing what was then called Crimson Swarm about two or three years. I had actually written the post just after I finished the first draft. So, here we are in July of 2014, meaning I worked on it (off and on) for approximately ten years. That’s a long time to spend in one imaginary world.
I wrote the first drafts for all my other books during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and then edited for about a year afterwards. I’m not exactly sure what this comparison means, but I poured much of my heart and soul into this book, to be sure. I wrote a total of about thirty blog posts during the editing and rewriting phases of Shadow Swarm. It’s a fun exercise for me to look back and see my process along the way.
I posted little sketches, and detailed drawings of various locations and scenes (click the images to enlarge).
Of course there was a map, and I talked about creating a calendar to keep track of the days. There’s a post about languages I created for the book. High Aerodore is more of a code where I switched out letters for other letters, and changed the orders of words to make something that sounded pretty cool. I actually created this back in high school, so I guess you could say I worked on this book for almost thirty years.
Through the editing and rewriting phase I was a member of an online critique group called The Silver Griffin. This group of writers was invaluable in really helping me hammer out the story and prose. We were all at various stages of completion and experience but I’m convinced the story wouldn’t be near what it is now without their help. I highly recommend this approach, especially on your first book or two.
Several friends read through early drafts (and ripped into it good at times). I even shopped it around to a few agents, getting great feedback from one of my dream-agents, Kristin Nelson. Then the world of publishing changed with the self-publishing revolution, and I decided to go a new route. Eventually I did end up with Evolved Publishing, more of a hybrid small press than the traditional publishing company of the past. Much of what I do now, in terms of control over my career, is very similar to self-publishing, but I have great editors (Marissa van Uden and Lane Diamond) and a publisher behind me ready to lend support and ideas when the need arises.
I hope if epic fantasy is at all your thing, that you’ll give Shadow Swarm a try. To help push you over the hill of indecision, I’ve set up a raffle with a giveaway for a free signed hardcover version (U.S. only please) and a $50 Amazon gift card. Click the link below, and while you’re at it, I hope you’ll pick up an eBook version to read while you wait to see if you won the hardcover (and doing so will give you 10 more chances to win.)
LINK: RAFFLE ON FACEBOOK
Shadow Swarm by D. Robert Pease
Aberthol Nauile doesn’t know that he once led legions in a war that had raged since the dawn of time, against an enemy that could not be killed. He doesn’t know that he rode on a dragon with his father, or that his mother died while giving birth to him. He doesn’t know that he once saved his great, great, great grandfather by defeating the black enemy on the slopes of a volcano.
Aberthol doesn’t know that he beheld the creation of the world, as his grandfather eight generations before took the planet, ravaged by a war of the gods, and began anew.
All he knows is that he awoke in a coffin deep within a tomb, and now the whole world thinks he is their savior. All he really wants to know is his name, and why he keeps hearing voices in his head.
