No, I did not copy Martin

No, I didn't copy Martin.

So, in season seven of Game of Thrones, Bran Stark has become the Three Eye Raven. A mystical seer that can see all things that have or will happen. Basically he's omniscient. And what's intriguing about the character is that he is struggling to come to terms with this new found power. He is still learning how to use it and control it. And then how to interact with those around him. So far in the TV series he's struggling.

I actually like the story telling. Not that I have a say in it. I like that Bran is struggling in learning to use this second sight. I like it that people are creeped out by him. It will be interesting how his intimate knowledge of events are revealed to the rest of the characters. I thought for sure Little Finger was screwed in the episode, Spoils of War. I hope the ultimate fate of Little Finger is far better than what could have happen. Imagine as Little Finger is cooing on about the dagger, Bran throws down the BS card and says, “I know all of what you have done. Sansa!”

In many ways the Bran Stark character is very similar to my character Mor Gregg. With Mor Gregg I asked the question what would it be like if a person suddenly knew everything that ever was? How would that impact them? With such knowledge how could they convey information and still keep the suspense of the plot line going? My answer was that a mere mortal could not possibly handle such sensory/ knowledge overload and would likely become catatonic. It also saved me from having to write, "Hey, don't go in that cave, there's a big bad dragon in there." What a boring story when the characters know before hand what's lurking around every corner.

Writing about Mor Gregg as I have is about how awesome powers can be more of a curse than a benefit. Oddly enough that idea came from Marvel Comic's X-men, Cyclops. Scott Summer has an awesome power with his eye sight force beam. Without ruby glasses, wherever Cyclops looks, he can cause great destruction. So I wrote that Mor Gregg went into a catatonic coma state, when he was unable to cope with knowing everything there ever was, is or will be. And then on rare occasions he interacts with the other characters in limited ways. And naturally he doesn't tell them everything. I know it’s a cliché character, i.e. Merlin and Obiwan Kenobi. But wait for future stories with the Gregg. A good story could be had with the idea of a Cassandra character that people actually believe. “You mean, there's a dragon lurking in there with all that treasure and the magical talisman we're after, and Bob the dwarf will get killed if we go in there?” And after a pause as the characters look at each other and at Bob, “Okay, let's go.”

In closing, Mor Gregg started out in my early writings of Kesselt as an all powerful wizard as I was pounding away at early drafts of Greggs of Kesselt. I then made Mor Gregg an omniscient mortal who was unable to cope with his new found ability. The book was first published in 2004 well before season six of Game of Thrones. Honestly, its another example of writers coming up with similar ideas.

He will rise again

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


  

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 

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

Coming Soon: A Princess of Kesselt

I'm done.

That is, I'm done with the major re-write and editing of A Princess of Kesselt. Now I have to go through and make it ereader-able, await a cover, and then go through the process of up loading onto Smashwords. I'm hoping all this is done by November.

So here's the tease.

Princess Richelle Neville of Dormir is taken captive along with her little cousin Maria by a Dormirian rebel lord Salmut Park and his evil compatriot, the sorcerer Mathalo. Richelle is the step daughter to Thomas Kinkaid who has become the King of Dormir. The bad guys bring Richelle and her young charge to the far northern mountains of Kesselt to the Grem La'or valley. They are on a diabolical quest to use the little girl in some sort of ritual that involves dragons.

The story starts with Richelle escaping her captors when they run into a band of kobolds and trolls. The kobolds, a canine like humanoid race, are invading the Grem La'or. Richelle meets Cullen Telleride a ranger from the area. Cullen offers to help Richelle get back her little cousin unsure if there is a connection between the band of southerners and the invading kobolds. After a number of skirmishes with kobolds and the southern men Richelle and Cullen fail to get Maria back. They are forced to go back to Cullen's village for more help. By this time they have met up with a mountain man, Clyde Karpeth, and his friendly bear companion who have been dragged unwittingly into the chase and conflict.

At the village the trio learn that the kobolds are about to attack the simple fortified hamlet. It is there that Richelle meets Cullen's aunt Torianna, who is one of the Greggs of Kesselt- Tor Gregg. The attack comes and all is thrown into chaos as the kobolds and their troll allies overwhelm the village defenders. Richelle, Cullen, Karpeth are now joined by Tor Gregg. First they escape from the battle of the village. Shortly later Mor Gregg visits with Tor Gregg to warn her of the danger of Salmut Park and Mathalo.

Now the foursome travel over the rugged mountainous terrain in pursuit of the bad guys. They have more close calls and meet a trio of elves who have also come searching the Grem La'or for the southerners. It turns out that Mathalo stole a magical scroll from the elves.

I would love to tell you about the climatic scene. But I can tell you how the book ends. A shadow cuts across the heroes as they set out for Dormir.  

I completed the first version of this manuscript in 2005. I spent the better part of 2006 trying to get it published. Frankly no one would touch it because my first book was published by my former publisher. The second book all though a separate storyline from my first was still considered a continuation of the first. It was not till I was able to recover all my publishing rights for the first that I am now able to present this second book.

I enjoyed writing this book far more than the first. Where the first was a beginners endeavor in so many ways the second was a book I truly cared about. I believe fans of fantasy will not be disappointed.

Up next for me is to decide to finish either my third Kesselt book or take a break and finish my civil war book.

regards,
ML Stidmon 

What's on the horizon

Mickey Spillane once said to the effect on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, "That you aint a writer unless you can write a book in two weeks.

Yeah; I ain't anywhere close to being a writer then. (and also for other reasons ;))

I'm making the attempt though, not for fame or fortune (that would nice) but to just do it. I like to write and I have some good stories bouncing in my head I believe. The next thing is to make it happen. Happen, that is, by writing them down and getting them out there. I am my own worst obstacle to making this happen. Like most writers I procrastinate. I plan on writing and I end up surfing the net or wasting time on some other meaningless thing.

I wish I could blame it on my day job my lack of productivity. I work 12 hour and fifteen minute shifts. I spend about another 2 and half hours getting ready and driving to and from work. So on those days I do very little other than eat and sleep. On days off I have all the time in the world to knock out many pages of stories.

It basically boils down to discipline. I need to make it happen.

So what's on the horizon for me and writing?

Again, I'm finishing up editing and revising A Princess of Kesselt. A follow up of my first book set upon Kesselt. It is about a young princess who escapes from her captors who have brought her and her younger cousin into the northern Dragon Mountains of Kesselt. There she meets a young ranger and Tor Gregg who help her track down her abductors to free her cousin. Along the way they gain more companions in this quest. The princess's abductors want her cousin for an evil rite to control dragons.

Next on the list is a partially completed third story of Kesselt, A King of Kesselt. This is about the crowning and reign of Thomas Kinkaid ruling over the Kesselt kingdom of Dormir. Yes there will be more dragons.

Then I want to shift gears in genre. I have a keen interest in the American Civil War. I have outlined and started writing a novel based on the First Minnesota Infantry Regiment. In the book I follow two friends who joined the regiment in May 1861 at Fort Snelling to the regiments return in the winter of 1864. I am looking forward to writing about Gettysburg.

I then want to continue on with the Civil War with a second book about a Minnesotan who serves in both the First Minnesota Artillery Battery and the Second Minnesota Artillery Battery. That book will include the major battles and campaigns of the western theater from Shiloh to the March to the Sea.

After that I want to switch gears yet again and write a book tentatively called Minnesota Wrecking Crew. This story started out as BS talk when I was in the Army back in the day. The story has evolved into a contemporary tale of veterans of Iraq taking on drug dealers and the mob.

I would then like to go back to fantasy/ sci-fi and write an epic space opera. Think Game of Thrones meets Star Wars meets Greek tragedies meets Roman history meets Prometheus meets the New Testament. Yeah, I'm still wrapping my head around the concept and outlining it. I can say, it starts with a powerful man drinking a cup of tea while watching a sunrise. And no prologues.

And that's the beginning of a list of story ideas that I would like to write. My problem in writing is that I think up story ideas, wasting colossal amounts of time, instead of just writing. I can think up a cool scene and write about it but that's all the further it goes.

I told myself this past winter that I need to make it happen. So I need to stop this blog and get to work on 'Princess'. Or I'll never be a writer like Mickey.

Regards,

ML Stidmon     

A Princess of Kesselt

A Princess of Kesselt is my second book to be published soon. I wrote it soon after the first publication of The Greggs of Kesselt. The idea of the book was not to be a direct sequel of the first book. I always envisioned writing separate novels of the Greggs and not a closely interconnected trilogy or series.

The idea of A Princess of Kesselt started with the simple rescue of a princess. Then it evolved into the elaborate story of Princess Richelle's coming to the Grem Laor valley of the Dragon Mountains in North Kesselt. As I was writing it I wove into it Thomas Kinkiad and more back story. In the end I ended up with a story closely connected with The Greggs of Kesselt.

Two books that influenced me in writing this story was Thuvia Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. Its not that I copied the story lines. What I liked from Thuvia was that a young lady could endure an adventure just as well as the big brawny men like John Carter and Conan. As for Last of the Mohicans I liked the element of a story in rugged mountain wilderness.

But what really influenced me was a panel from Marvel Graphic Novel #21, Marada the She-Wolf . In the full page panel Marada is clutching a bow with arrow while straddling a log in a dense forest. Lets face it she looks badass. That image stuck with me for many years.

I started writing A Princess of Kesselt late in 2004 while finalizing the publication of The Greggs of Kesselt with my former publisher. I understand that there will be accusations of me copying Hunger Games but until the movie came out I was ignorant of Suzanne Collins's work. Besides other than having a bow wielding young lady for a main character the similarities end there.

When I was first looking to publish The Greggs of Kesselt one submissions editor of a Sci-Fi Fantasy publishing company actually questioned the use of a dragon in my first book. Not because it did not fit in the book or was gratuitous he simply did not like the use dragons and their use was amateurish. Really. Dragons are a part of fantasy as much as magic, swords and funny little men with hairy feet. I reject the premise that you must exclude major elements of that genre when writing in it. That's like writing a Private Eye story and never being able to have  a good looking dame in it. It can be done but why is that so much better. (Notice: no question mark). Having a particular element does not diminish a story. Its how the element is used. Think about George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, if there were no mention of dragons. How would the story feel or would it have been as appealing? My feeling is if you don't like dragons don't read it. Which leads me to why I went off on this tangent...

I purposely wrote in dragons in this story. I even set up this story for a major plot line in the third book of Kesselt concerning dragons. And the dragon element sets up Tor Gregg with my original first attempt at writing a book. A story I would like to finish.

In the meantime I need to get going and finish preparing A Princess of Kesselt for publication.

Until then, enjoy.