SCRIBBLES: September 2012

Thank you, Trish, for tagging me in this little questionnaire for current projects. To check out her blog, just visit http://pmterrell.blogspot.com/ for some of the projects she's been working hard on lately.

Current Project:
Wisdom Novels & Art Book

1. What is Wisdom Novels?
    - Wisdom Novels is a series of books centered around a young man discovering his relationship to an ancient race of Healers. Their duties to Nature have been put on hold in order to confront the growing concern of humans invading their territory. What they don't realize is the major threat is not just about humans, but a Darkness that seeks to claim a new body, and replace the land's magic with its own.

2. Is this going to be a series?
    - Yes. I have already written two books in the first trilogy. I am currently working on the third. There will be one more trilogy after this one, which will complete the initial storyline. But I would like to continue even afterwards with a few characters I've developed along the way.

3. Have you come across any stumbling blocks while writing, concerning either plot or character development?
    - Of course! While not a main focus in the story, I've recently decided why Healers are a necessity throughout their particular world. They are in charge of what Nature would do today, seasonal changes. Now maybe I only mentioned a part of this, it's not something that is present in the first two books. That, at least, will be easy to include later on as more Healers are introduced. The other issue I had was character plot. While the main storyline is generally worked out, I had a lot of characters that were seemingly in for kicks. So I had to issue them a REAL reason to be there. That means a lot of editing out stuff I didn't need.

4. What's the major challenge to writing a series?
    - Haha, probably having enough information to talk about. When I finally started writing book three, I began to think about where I wanted it to go for the rest of the books to come. I realized that one of the books didn't have enough information to continue writing in the current setting. So I decided book four will backtrack and start in the past, leading up to the creation of the Dark Unicorn in book one. That will explain and tie everything together, and also delve into a part of the world I haven't put much thought into yet. Where did humans come from and how did they enter this world? We'll find out soon enough.

5. Is this series going to be so complicated in terms of language and magic that I'll need a companion book just to follow along?
    - It's actually pretty straight forward. Magic is a type of energy that's recycled through the course of Nature. Magic-users do not own limitless amount of this energy, and the language of Healers is (most of the time) explained in the next sentence. However, as I do plan to expand on the elements these Healers use, I've decided to include an art book to go along with it. Since I have so many illustrations just sitting around on my computer, I thought they'd be more useful in a nice colorful book with tips of information about each one (and have an excuse to create fresh artwork!)

6. So you're an artist as well?
    - Oh, yes! I work mostly digital, but now and then I'll pull out my trusty traditional mediums just to try something different. It's good to be able to draw because I can use that for reference while I'm writing. Sometimes, it's just helpful to "see" what a character looks like. And sometimes, it makes the writing even better because the drawing is more interesting than the original description.

7. Do you have any plans for future genres?
    - I have a couple of sci-fi ideas in the works. No series, though. There's two sci-fi, two children books, and (oh, I lied) I did plan a western-fantasy short story series! (First one's complete called "Weapons Caster" and was inspired by the game "Red Dead Redemption").
8. Do you keep a gallery of all your work online?
    - Thought you'd never ask! Just visit www.wisdomnovels.com and check out all the links around that site. There's short stories, future ideas, blogs & more!

9. How did you get your first two books published, and when is your next book coming out?
    - Well, it wasn't easy. After several years of querying publishers, I decided to self-publish just to get something out there. That eventually led to meeting some pretty cool authors, joining clubs and other social groups, and finally got accepted by a traditional publisher: Agile Writer Press. Hard to say exactly when the next book in the series will be complete. I'm far from the halfway point. But let's aim for late 2013.

10. Any advice for rising writers of today?
    - Never...give...up!!!!! If you have a story you think is worth sharing with the world, then never let that passion die! There are so many ways nowadays for writers to get their work out there. You just have to find the right one that matches. If you need some help getting started, I put together this little website with some places to look into: www.foreseerproductions.info. There's publishers, online groups and critiques, a growing list of writers and artists, and has potential to do more. So if you'd like to contribute, feel free!

Happy Writing!

Bonnie Watson
www.WisdomNovels.com
Author/Designer/Illustrator