Apr 9, 2010

A Bunch of Randomness

     Greetings, dear readers! Just a quick update to let you know what is going on.
     
     1: I am still agent hunting. Or, better said, agent researching. Some authors, publishers, and even agents I  emailed for information haven't responded. I emailed them all several weeks ago, so I think it's time to buckle down and decide if I want to spend the energy on the agents, even though I don't know much about them.

     Another reason I haven't been vigorously pursuing agents lately is because I have been thinking about the alternate ways of publication. Two publishers in particular have caught my eye: Creation House and Marcher Lord Press. I am thinking I should email some of the authors that have worked with these publishers and ask for their opinions. What do you think about small publishers like these?

     2: I asked several other authors to read my manuscript, and a few of them agreed! Whoopee! I do not have permission to release their names, and it may be a while before they are finished reading it, but I am praising God for these opportunities! (Writers, if you are looking for endorsements, see my post "How to Get a Book Endorsement.")

     3: I've been tagged by Madeline at The Stuff I Throw Under My Bed. The rule of the tag is to list eight books you would like to live in for a week, then tag eight people. So, here goes:

     Book 1: The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis). I would love to watch the world of Narnia come into being. And talking to Aslan wouldn't be so bad, either (hee hee).

     Book 2: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne). Hey, Captain Nemo, can I please drive your ship? Just once?

     Book 3: DragonQuest (Donita K. Paul). Minor dragons rule.

     Book 4: The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien). By the time one week was over in this book, I would have enough of walking and battles to last me for... oh, about forever.

     Book 5: The Black Cauldron (Lloyd Alexander). Never, ever judge a book by its movie. Ever.

     Book 6: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (L. Frank Baum). Oz is one step above Wonderland in insanity, admittedly, but I think I could survive it for a week. 

     Book 7: Tears of a Dragon (Bryan Davis). Let's skip chapter 19, shall we?

     Book 8: North! Or Be Eaten (Andrew Peterson). Beware the nameless evil named Gnag!

     Now to tag eight people. I will comment on your blogs to let you know if you are tagged.

     Seth, The Narrowing Road

     Squeaks, Hidden Doorways

     Araken, Writer's Passion

     Macey, A Girl's Journey
 
     Izori, Evening Stars

     Jessica, safirewriter

     Silver Angel, Silver Angel's Musings

     Galadriel, The Wordsmith's Shelf

     Alright, well, if you've made it this far, you have more patience than I have. So much for a "quick update." lol

     Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST

  

21 comments:

Mackenzie A. Lockhart said...

Cool! I'm up to it! Mine should be up sometime soon on my blog

Squeaks.

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Yay! :)

Izori said...

Thanks for tagging me!

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Sure thing, Izori!

Squeaks, I published your comment, but I can't see it right now. :S Just so you know I'm not ignoring you.

Silver Angel said...

what does one do when tagged?

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

One usually does exactly what the person that tagged you did, Silver. Namely, list eight books you would like to spend a week in on your blog, then tag eight other people.

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

You can look at Squeak's blog, Silver, to get another idea of what to do. (I tagged her in the post also)

Silver Angel said...

hhmm... alright, thanks ST :D hehe... i will do it in my next blog post, as the one i be doing right now is looong XD lol

Always Hope!

Unknown said...

same ^_^ like your blog ST ;)

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Can't wait to read all your answers!

Thank you, Macey! That was nice to say. :)

Anonymous said...

GAHH!!! The Black Cauldron! I love that book! The series was epic until the last two. The penultimate one I found just plain boring and the last one is probably the most sad thing I have ever read. Huzzah for Fflewdder! A Fflam never hesitates!

-whisper

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Not only is it fun, it's extremely quoteable! Great Belin! Crunchings and munchings! And so on....

I agree; the end of The High King is so sad! I once wrote a fan story about all of them coming to earth. It was horrible. *laughs*

Silver Angel said...

i am so gonna do this tag thing wrong but.. here goes :O LOL

Anonymous said...

Oh indeed, so very quotable! Not the best, but one of my favorites:

"I'm very glad to meet you. I suppose you're a lord, or a warrior, or a war-leader, or a bard, or a monster. Though we haven't had any monsters for a long time."

I ought to read them again... ah, those are some great books. Epic characters, too! Eilonwy, Dallben, Doli, Prince Rhun... very memorable. :)

I'm sure the story wasn't that bad! :D Do you mean they all came to earth or back to Prydain?

-whisper

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

You can do it, Silver!

Whisper, Eilonwy is quite the character! Actually, they all are. *laughs* The story had all the companions come to earth. True to Prydain, the whole thing centered around magic; it was the last story I wrote that involved magic and not God. I decided after the story was done that magic wasn't worth writing about, that God was the only One worth my time and effort.

Mackenzie A. Lockhart said...

This series you're talking about sounds kind of intriguing. :P I might just have to look into it

(and no, I don't feel ignored XD )

Squeaks.

Anonymous said...

Good commitment, ST! :) I have been pondering God in fantasy... in my current works He is not there and I have been wondering as to the ethics of that. The thing is, I'm tired of Biblical allegories; I don't want to just come up with another one. I compose plots and they do not naturally have God in them; I feel that in order to put Christianity in I will have to alter my characters in ways that will cliche them and alter the plot. Have you any thoughts? (And thank you for engaging me in this prolonged conversation, as you have with so many others...)

Squeaks, you should indeed read them! :D But for your own personal health and sanity, I would advise not reading the last one. :)

-whisper

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Squeaks, the Prydain Chronicles are very good in my opinion, unless you would rather stay away from reading about magic. The series contain spells and enchanters and such. I am personally not bothered by it, but I thought I had better make sure you knew.

Whisper, I love conversations on here! Questions and comments are always welcome. :)

As for adding God into your stories, I think it is a matter of conviction. Everyone must decide for themselves what is acceptable. For me, I want to incorporate God in my stories because, as I said, I feel that everything else just isn't worth writing about. However, if you decide not to mention God in your story, I don't think that is wrong.

I might mention that, should you feel convicted to have God in your stories, there are ways to do it beside allegory. The book I wrote is not an allegory, but God is clearly seen through the prayers of the characters to Him, the decisions the characters make based on their faith, and the gospel that is presented by the main character to another character.

If your desire is to do what God wants you to do, then I encourage you to talk to Him about it. Ask Him to give you direction. Also, seek council from your parents. I hope this helps. :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your openness to these discussions. :)

Aye, I understand that allegory is not the only way to put Christianity in a story. I think I'm averse also to the idea of using Christian characters in most of my stories. Within my limited writing abilities, I feel Christianity will either be out of place in the tale or I'll lapse into cliched characters and behaviors.

I'm not against the idea altogether... way back in the old days I posted on the UG a segment from an Ancient Rome story. Inserting Christianity in that story went well and it was fundamental to the plot and characters. In other stories, I feel it will be awkward.

I will be praying and thinking about your advice. Thank you very much. :)

-whisper

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Anytime, whisper. Thank you for accepting my advice! :)

Jake said...

Whisper: I was just reading these comments, and I came across yours. The thing is with me, I CAN'T leave out God in my stories. Somehow, He comes up as a fundamental part in the plot of my stories, lol! I just can't leave Him out... It's kind of funny. I write, and He manages to slip in there unconsiously... Exactly what I want to happen. :)