Lately I have been working on a chapter in A King of Kesselt where I expound upon the religion of Kesselt. It has been weird coming up with this new religion.
When I first wrote Greggs of Kesselt I used the battle between two gods as a backdrop to the story. I wrote about the battle from different perspectives but did not go into great detail. It was my intention to just present that there was a good benevolent god who watched over and loved his world like a doting parent. Then along comes an evil "reaver" god who wants to take the world for himself. The fight is on.
That was about it for the in depth look at the religion of Kesselt. I barely mention the gods or the religion of Kesselt in Princess. But now in A King of Kesselt I have a High Priest character and as part of the story I have to tell about the religion of Kesselt.
Kesselt was for a very long time a monotheistic society. In their religion their god was a frequent presence in the lives of the Kesseltians. The people were at peace and prospered through this more hands on guidance by their god. Bor Gregg was a constable in his local city only because there were those who despite having it good, always wanted something more. In a King of Kesselt I have expounded upon how the temples were for worshipping and that there are five main tenants to their religion: Faith,
Life, Love, Mercy and Knowledge.
Faith is the basic history of the God of Kesselt and a record of the various miracles and interactions between god and mortals. Life is about honoring life and healing of the sick and wounded. Love is about marriage and good relations between peoples. Mercy is the hearing and judging of transgressions. Knowledge is about the collection of those ideals and knowledge to preserve the society of Kesselt its idealistic state.
This is all for promoting the fiction of the Kesselt books and story. I am not trying to espouse a new religion. Nor am I trying to use it as a metaphor to any existing religion or beliefs.
I have seen how people have twisted George Lucas' Star Wars- the force and Jedi and tried to institute it for real. I just shake my head. If you need a belief system we have some wonderful religions already established.
I'm enjoying writing A King of Kesselt. I promise I wont get to heavy in the religion of Kesselt. Its still only a backdrop. But its more prominent this time around.
Good day, and may he rise again.
ML Stidmon
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
What I am working on April 2014
I just wanted to write about what's going on in my author world. First of all I have two books now epublished through Smashwords.com. I am pleased that I have had quite a few downloads. I obviously wish I had more sales. Tell you friends and spread the word.
Supporting the books, I am finally on twitter as MLStidmon. I also set up two other twitter accounts ThomasKinkaid11 and RichelleNeville. I am tweeting the books strictly from the perspective of the characters. Its been fun.
A good friend and I were talking about marketing and came up with some ideas. Now I need to get out of my shell and make it happen. As he said you need to spend a little and do what you don't want to do. Of course he's right. I have been trying other things. I know its always a combination of many endeavors that finally succeed.
In the meantime I have moved on to finishing A King of Kesselt.
After I wrote the sixth chapter I was going through all I had written to that point doing a spot edit. When it occurred to me that I had two chapters entirely wrong. I like the style of each chapter being from the point of view of a particular character. But when I first switched to this style I kept the perspective the same regarding one character. As I started to outline the rest of the book and I saw that there were two early chapters and possibly a third one that need to be re-written from the original character to another character. I believe this will be better for the overall book.
I'm please with the over all tone of the book. Its coming together right nicely. I don't think I will struggle with it. It's a cool story line that's enjoyable to write. The first book at times was a chore. The second book was fun to write because it was a story I wanted to share. A King of Kesselt is shaping up to be fun as I am really motivated to write it.
I am hoping to get it done and also epublished this fall.
ML Stidmon
Supporting the books, I am finally on twitter as MLStidmon. I also set up two other twitter accounts ThomasKinkaid11 and RichelleNeville. I am tweeting the books strictly from the perspective of the characters. Its been fun.
A good friend and I were talking about marketing and came up with some ideas. Now I need to get out of my shell and make it happen. As he said you need to spend a little and do what you don't want to do. Of course he's right. I have been trying other things. I know its always a combination of many endeavors that finally succeed.
In the meantime I have moved on to finishing A King of Kesselt.
After I wrote the sixth chapter I was going through all I had written to that point doing a spot edit. When it occurred to me that I had two chapters entirely wrong. I like the style of each chapter being from the point of view of a particular character. But when I first switched to this style I kept the perspective the same regarding one character. As I started to outline the rest of the book and I saw that there were two early chapters and possibly a third one that need to be re-written from the original character to another character. I believe this will be better for the overall book.
I'm please with the over all tone of the book. Its coming together right nicely. I don't think I will struggle with it. It's a cool story line that's enjoyable to write. The first book at times was a chore. The second book was fun to write because it was a story I wanted to share. A King of Kesselt is shaping up to be fun as I am really motivated to write it.
I am hoping to get it done and also epublished this fall.
ML Stidmon
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
About A Princess of Kesselt
As I have said before, I wrote most of A Princess of Kesselt in 2005 and tried getting it published through a different publisher. I was schooled in the art of being told no by just about every publishing company and literary agent out there at the time. I had to shelve the draft until I got my publishing rights back for my first book.
I really enjoyed writing this book. I had been kicking the story idea around for some time. I actually was thinking I would write it first as my first book. But as I developed the story there was so much back ground material that would have to be covered in order to introduce the world of Kesselt that I felt the back ground would bog the story down. Thus I chose to write the Greggs of Kesselt in its first incarnation. Greggs was the vehicle to introduce the world and Princess was able to capitalize on it and move along as I intended. I don't have to spend a lot of time rehashing how Kesselt came to be. I can now concentrate on the story and how the characters have to live and deal with this strange world.
As for the story I wanted to write a different adventure story. As I have said I grew up reading just about every Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E Howard book written. I am also a big fan of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales. I know Mark Twain hated them. I love the ending to Last of the Mohicans. So yeah, I copied some of that element into Princess. But as you read it you will clearly see the distinctive differences.
What I was looking for was a strong female lead but not another Red Sonja clone. And after a lot of careful thought I settled on my lead using a bow and arrow. What better weapon for a young lady than the unrealistic heavy broad sword or axe. I did think about arming Richelle with a spear but settled on the bow for more dramatic effect. This was all before I heard of the Hunger Games and Catniss.
As for the title yes its a take off of my other most favorite book ever: A Princess of Mars. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a title that did not sound like a romance novel. When I got my publishing rights back for Greggs, one of the first things I did was shorten the title. Then with the second book it kind of made sense in a thematic way to title it A Princess of Kesselt. Considering the next book will be titled A King of Kesselt I think it all fits. But yes, it also is titled in my way to pay homage to the book that got me hooked on fantasy and Sci Fy. Thank you Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I hope you enjoy A Princess of Kesselt as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ML Stidmon
I really enjoyed writing this book. I had been kicking the story idea around for some time. I actually was thinking I would write it first as my first book. But as I developed the story there was so much back ground material that would have to be covered in order to introduce the world of Kesselt that I felt the back ground would bog the story down. Thus I chose to write the Greggs of Kesselt in its first incarnation. Greggs was the vehicle to introduce the world and Princess was able to capitalize on it and move along as I intended. I don't have to spend a lot of time rehashing how Kesselt came to be. I can now concentrate on the story and how the characters have to live and deal with this strange world.
As for the story I wanted to write a different adventure story. As I have said I grew up reading just about every Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E Howard book written. I am also a big fan of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales. I know Mark Twain hated them. I love the ending to Last of the Mohicans. So yeah, I copied some of that element into Princess. But as you read it you will clearly see the distinctive differences.
What I was looking for was a strong female lead but not another Red Sonja clone. And after a lot of careful thought I settled on my lead using a bow and arrow. What better weapon for a young lady than the unrealistic heavy broad sword or axe. I did think about arming Richelle with a spear but settled on the bow for more dramatic effect. This was all before I heard of the Hunger Games and Catniss.
As for the title yes its a take off of my other most favorite book ever: A Princess of Mars. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a title that did not sound like a romance novel. When I got my publishing rights back for Greggs, one of the first things I did was shorten the title. Then with the second book it kind of made sense in a thematic way to title it A Princess of Kesselt. Considering the next book will be titled A King of Kesselt I think it all fits. But yes, it also is titled in my way to pay homage to the book that got me hooked on fantasy and Sci Fy. Thank you Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I hope you enjoy A Princess of Kesselt as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ML Stidmon
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