Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Crossblade Chronicles - Fast Paced Action Fantasy?

Now that my original story, Crossblade, has been written into the new story, In Search of the Sword, I can honestly say that it is a fast paced action fantasy story, that encompasses many of the familiar elements found in classic fantasy tales.

In this book, there are battles between several different forces. But it begs the question: Is it fast paced and action packed? How do we define that?

Well, if you haven't read the PROLOGUE for In Search of the Sword, then I highly suggest you do so, as it starts of where Acbain's story leaves off. From there on, the main characters of ISOTS have to overcome many obstacles to reach their goals.

The problem, however, is that many will be turned off by this type of pacing. Some are desirous of a slower paced book that meanders along, drip-feeding the reader minute morsels upon which to feast at a leisurely rate. That's alright for some, but being a young man of the new decade, I find break-neck speed is not only preferred, but necessity.

Haven't you seen videos these days? Intelligent or even somewhat wise novices cut out the boring parts, leaving the audience with only content. No quite parts, no boring bits, only content. While I find this to inversely be a great thing for entertainment value, it has also dwindled (in my opinion at least) the average person's attention span.

Take another example of action packed media: video games. Many of the best selling franchises are action titles, many of them shooters, though not ONLY shooting games.

When I was younger, I played RPGs, or role playing games. These may not have been in your face action packed, yet, they still involved combat in the story in the form of difficult battles of good and evil. To me, this is an underrated form of storytelling, as Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series. Many of the series' older titles blended unique stories, with intense action.

So, with that in mind, when I originally set out to write "Crossblade" my intent was to create a fast paced story that had action as not only as an additional requisite, but as a core, integral piece.  I find that even when I have tried ot stray away from this type of writing, it keeps creeping back in like virus not entriely sterilized.

What do you think? Have you read In Search of the Sword? Do you think its fast paced and action packed? And am I in the wrong here about the whole thing? Is action not as integral as I think it is? Tell me in the comment section below!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Afterwrath Part One Complete, and A Serious Question

Last year, about a year ago exactly, I started a project that I called "nomad." But due to other projects going on in life, and rewriting Crossblade into 'In Search of the Sword,' I was not able to work on the series like I wanted to.

Today I finished part one of the now titled "AFTERWRATH" series, (I like title, don't you?) and it is the beginning of Burk Wallace's adventure into the desert. Part One - Station, will be available soon. If you know anything about my writing, its action packed and filled with believable characters.

When the book is edited and the cover finished, I will let you know. Part Two, a Caw of Ravens, is already in progress.

Exciting stuff.

I have a question for you though. In my quest to feed the voracious appetite of readers everywhere, I'm curious to know something...

What do you look for in a fictional book? Is it believable characters? Original plot? Familiar tones? Realistic story and/or locations? Let me know in the comment section below.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Hey everyone!

It's been a while, but finally I'm back. After a long stretch of writing, then editing, then writing, then editing, I'm finally done!

Yesterday I finished the rewrite for my first book, Crossblade. This new, improved version (kind of a Crossblade 2.0 if you will) goes under the guise of In Search of the Sword.

So what's different?

+ Many new characters added
+ Some minor characters dropped
+ Changed events
+ Different character profiles
+ Fuller backstory
+ Overall better story

If you already own the original Crossblade, be sure to redownload the book. If you have not picked up In Search of the Sword, be sure to start reading the sample of it on Amazon or Smashwords.

Thanks for reading,
Coty