As reported on Twitter:

My second novel is (finally) complete.

The novel's title is The Five Elements. It's a blending of fantasy, YA, and steampunk. It's an adventure novel, with powerful magic, sorcerers, swordsmen, snake warriors, alchemy and alchemical engines, and flying ships. I'll post a full description once I have that ready.

The next steps will be to have some others take a look at it and help me find any obvious issues. In the meanwhile, I'll begin work on the query letter and getting together the list of agents and publishers to send it off to.

On this blog I've spent considerable space talking about self-publishing, or at least selling your writing while bypassing the traditional model of agents and publishers. I've also spent a lot of time thinking about what's best for me. At this point, I still think the traditional model is the way to go. Publishers and agents bring a lot to the table; more so for someone who does not have a built-in audience or a long list of titles to peddle. Going it alone works well for some. But, for now, I'm going to continue to go down the traditional road.

That being said, if this new novel doesn't sell and I honestly feel it is worthy of being read by others, then maybe I'll revisit and put it online similar to what I did with The Hall of the Wood.

In terms of quality, I think my writing has improved. The novel took a long time (3+ years) only because I went down some roads that I realized were either dead-end's or too long to traverse and still stay within a reasonable word count. I do outline, but an outline for me is not necessarily set in stone. There has to be some room for exploring new ideas. As I was writing, boy, did I come up with a lot of new ideas. I think I was able to integrate those idea in fairly well, and hopefully tie up loose ends while still telling an entertaining story.

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I'm wrapping up my second novel, a fantasy/steampunk adventure novel which I'll likely blog about in more detail soon. But as I begin to think about my next novel, I already know there's some things that I want to stay away from and some things I want to try. I'm calling these my "story rules". Think of them as guidelines; not necessarily set in stone, but I'm going to look to them as I start outlining. If and when I violate one of them, I'm going to have to rationalize such rule breaking (only to myself, of course).

As an example of a rule, a writer of fantasy might have one called "No elves". Another might be, "No quests". I saw a list geared towards writing science fiction once where one of the rules was "No FTL".

Some people don't like setting these sorts of boundaries. I suppose going in already having decided to do or not do something can stifle creativity. These are probably the same people who feel outlining creates the same barriers. To each his own, I say. Personally, I like planning things out beforehand. This is just another way to help in that process.

So, without further adieu, here are the rules I will be using for my next novel.

1.) No traveling

For this novel, I want everything to happen in one place. In my first novel, The Hall of the Wood, it's a journey (of non-epic proportions) just to get to where the action is happening. Even when they do get there, they're running around in the woods quite a bit. I guess the latter can't be helped, whether it's the wilderness or a city. They can't exactly sit in a room the whole time. But, for this novel, I want the story to take place in only one place. No traveling about. I have a pretty good idea what sort of setting I'll be using, too.

2.) No ancient relics

No devices of ancient origin with powers waiting to be revealed.

3.) No fated heroes or special ancestry

Everyone has a past, but in this story no one will have a past all that extraordinary or far-reaching. Sure, they may have heroic or villainous deeds in their background, but it will be their background and not some legacy passed down from generation to generation.

4.) No characters with dark, personal secrets or pasts

Not all main characters have to have dark secrets hidden away to be gradually revealed to the reader. Such secrets all too often have something to do with the current antagonist. I'm as guilty of this one as the next writer. It's a trope that works well, albeit readers can sometimes grow tired of it, right? In this next novel, no deep, dark secrets. It's a road I just don't want to go down on this one.

5.) Minimal or no magic

I lean more and more towards this anyway as my world-building moves away from sorcery and to a sort of pseudo-science. I'm finding it's much more interesting than trying to think up the next great magic system or leaning too heavily on one that's already been done to death.

6.) Do have a strong supporting cast of characters

Main characters should be strong, smart, and daring, but they shouldn't be the only ones with the brains and the brawn. In this novel, the main character is going to be average in some ways, but exceptional in others. But one of the first things he does as the story gets rolling is setup his support infrastructure. I mean, where would Special Agent Jethro Gibbs be without his team? (sorry, the wife's got NCIS on in the other room)

7.) Do have villains who are motivated by more than just greed

Greed is nice, but all too often it can become the sole motivating force behind a villain. This tends to lead to flat or boring villains that we've all seen too often.

8.) Do research pertinent topics thoroughly

I research, but only enough to make it sound like I have some idea what I'm talking about. I'd like to take that a step further by infusing some authenticity into my writing. I don't know how this one will go; I'm all for basing certain things on reality, but I write fantasy, so… If nothing else, I have certain topics in mind that I'll like to read up on, if only to give myself ideas.

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The greatest threat to authors today is obscurity. This belief has led many new writers to give away their work for free in hopes of attracting an audience. Even established writers and publishers have gotten in on this scheme, using a sort of bait and hook method by which they give away the first novel of a series in hopes of making sales on the subsequent books or other books by the same author.

I've tried some different schemes myself with my novel, The Hall of the Wood: I've given it away for free from this site, charged for it, put it up for sale in the Amazon Kindle store for prices ranging from $0.99 to $2.99 (currently, it's at $0.99), formatted it into a variety of different formats, sold those formats on Smashwords, and, finally and lastly, I'm going full circle, for The Hall of the Wood will forevermore be given away for free from this site.

In a way, I've been experimenting. I gave it away for free with some success, with about 2,000 total downloads and a lot of favorable comments in return. But with the advent of Amazon's Kindle store, I wanted to see what sort of success I could garner by selling my novel. The tally on that: not much. I've sold a handful of copies each month, but it's so very difficult to get noticed in the Kindle store because of the sheer volume of novels out there (there's that obscurity thing again). It would help to have more content, which I continue to work on, but writing novels takes time, especially when it's not your primary focus. However, that being said, I'll continue to battle against the forces of obscurity by doing what I need to do. Right now, that's giving The Hall of the Wood away for free once and forevermore. I'm done experimenting; it's going to stay free from now on.

If you haven't already, please download The Hall of the Wood (click-through for a description of the novel) and let me know what you think. I give it away in PDF format. You can do what you like with it from there assuming your usage fits into the Creative Commons license under which it is given away. Other formats can be found on Amazon or Smashwords.

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It's been a long while since I've posted anything that only focused on my writing progress. For a while there, I had committed to posting every week. I was using this as a way to hold myself accountable for getting some writing in on a regular basis. The reason I stopped was exactly what I worried about from the start: just doing the weekly posts became a chore unto itself. No reason I can't make a post every once in a while, though, and so here we go.

I'm still working on my second novel. Most of it is done, but I need to go back and smooth out some rough edges and consolidate the ending as I think it's too long right now. I actually set it aside for a little bit about a month ago while I shift gears to some shorter work. From that effort, I posted Fine Wine, a short story about an assassin who makes a deal, in my short fiction section. From that story emerged another, longer tale, about the same assassin who is hired for a particularly unusual job. It's called Killing the Dead, and is out to Realms of Fantasy right now. If that doesn't work, there are other top level magazines (top level being defined as those that have the highest pay rates) it will go to next and then to the lower paying markets and then possibly to the free markets. Worst case, I'll post it here.

There's something satisfying about working on a piece that is small and finite. Novels take a long time to write, with little or no reward waiting at the end. Short stories have the potential to bring satisfaction much quicker and with greater frequency. So, I'm exploring those markets now with the intention of getting a credit or two.

It's a little known fact that I do actually have one publishing credit to my name. It was so long ago I sometimes forget about it myself. I was about twenty (I'm 39 now), it was the first piece I'd ever submitted, and I made a very small amount of money off it. I actually still have the check; I never cashed it. The story itself is bad, bad, bad. I have a hard time even looking at it now, but there are few writers who don't look back on their early work and shudder.

So, that's it. I have another idea brewing for my "assassin with no name" character, as well as some initial background information that may leak little by little into each subsequent tale I spin about him. I'm having fun writing about him, especially with the shorter form; it has none of the "drudgery" of the longer one.

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Below you'll find a short (but growing) list of short fiction I make available for free. There's no commitment to do anything but read. However, if you enjoyed a story (or even if you didn't) and would like to let me know, please leave a comment either below or click-through to each of the stories and leave a comment there. You can read in HTML, MOBI/Kindle, or PDF format.

 

Fine Wine

In which an assassin makes a deal.

"Fine Wine" is a short piece I wrote in about an hour, with several edits following that initial brain dump. It started with a single sentence that just popped into my head: "Abelard ate a lot. That was why, after I'd slashed my knife across his belly..."

[ Read this story ]

You're probably familiar with the "buy me a coffee" or "buy me a beer" campaigns some bloggers engage in. I'm starting my own and I'm calling it "Buy Me A Book".

What that means is if you read a story, blog post, or book review on this site, and feel so inclined, feel free to send me a small donation (I'm not a non-profit, so it really isn't a donation, but I'm sure you get the idea).

There's obviously no obligation. I'll keep doing what I'm doing regardless. But even small amounts add up and would help cover some of the initiatives I'm ramping up. One of those is supporting writers who have self-published in the Amazon Kindle store. In that case, your donations will be going to help support these new writers as I purchase their novels and review them.

Other initiatives are in the works, though it's important to note that I won't be using any of the money collected through the Buy Me A Book program to pad my wallet. All of it will go back into this site or to other writers via purchases of their books.

I do something similar with my Amazon Associates account: the associate fees I make are paid to me as an Amazon gift certificate, which I then promptly turn back over to Amazon via book purchases. So, again, the money goes right back into the community.

That being said, this is not a way for me to make money. Think of it more as a way for me to keep things moving along smoothly.

Thanks for your time.

Hello. I'm Scott Marlowe. You've no doubt come to this part of my site looking for information about me. The short version is that I'm just a guy devoting what time I can to getting published. The longer version follows...

I'm what I like to call a Texafornia: Born in Texas, grew up in California (San Francisco area), but back in Texas since 1997. I attended the University of California at Davis where I received my BS degree in Computer Science Engineering in 1994. I've been working in the software industry ever since, having brief forays into the arena of software consulting, telecom, and, finally, the tax and accounting business (which, not surprisingly, is the most stable industry of those listed; it's true what they say about death and taxes).

I'm coming into the writing game a little late. At some point after entering college I had a choice to make: major in English (or similar literary subject) and thereafter commit myself to a career in writing, or fulfill my other desire, that of being a software engineer. The decision was not an easy one. Ultimately, it was a consultation with one of my English professors that made up my mind for me. This professor (whose name escapes me now) basically said, "You can always write regardless of what other field you enter." That cemented it for me. I graduated with an engineering degree but had also tacked on a minor in Comparative Literature by the time I was done (I think I was one class away from an English minor, also; I was really ready to graduate by that time, though, so I left it alone).

While writing was always on my mind, after long days toiling away at the keyboard, the last thing I wanted to do was spend my nights doing the same. About fifteen years passed. In that time, I married, bought a house, acquired a couple of four-legged kids, changed jobs a few times, got laid off once (from the telecom industry), sold the first house, built a second in the country, and, finally, decided it was time to write a novel. That novel is The Hall of the Wood.

Now, I'm working on another while doing what I can to promote myself and my writing. I'm selling The Hall of the Wood myself (as well as through various online retailers), but that doesn't mean I've given up on traditional publishing. In fact, I think every writer today should be looking at all avenues of getting one's writing in front of readers. We're lucky in that we have so many ways to connect with readers directly and at such minimal cost (except for our time).

If you'd like to read a sample of my writing, I have shorts that are always free. Also, you can download the first six chapters of The Hall of the Wood from my site (or all of it from Smashwords; it's listed as "you set the price") for free (or you can purchase the whole thing, of course; I offer it in PDF and MOBI/Kindle formats).

Let's see... what else? I own a Kindle and absolutely love it. When given the choice, I'll take an eBook over a traditional one any day of the week. I'm a firm supporter of the Amazon Community boycott on eBooks priced higher than $9.99. The literary world is changing; publishers need to change with it.

As for my life's goals, I'm happy with my career in software, and while I'd rather not give it up, I'm also dedicated to pursuing my writing and making it a success. You'll find posts on this blog mostly centered around that pursuit, though I occasionally dive into how the literary world converges with the digital one. I think I have a unique perspective on it.

That's all for me. Thanks for visiting.

FAQ

In case any of the above didn't answer all your questions about me…

Where else are you on the Web?

Twitter

Flickr

Amazon Author Page

Posterous

LibraryThing

In some of your posts you lean towards electronic/self-publishing. In others, traditional. Which is it?

I think you have to consider both. I wrote up an eight part series about self-publishing online. But I concluded with the different possibilities--traditional and electronic--I see open to new, emerging, and even established writers. The bottom line is that in today's world there is more than just the traditional publishing model available to writers, and I think we need to take advantage of all of them. Traditional publishing is still the most important: it provides the furthest reach. But it's not the beginning, middle, and end of the story anymore. Authors are expected to market themselves and their own work more and more, so taking advantage of selling online, serializing content, and giving away content for free are all ways to bring in more readers. Ultimately, that's really what's most important.

What do you think of podcasts/audio fiction?

I think they're great. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some are informative about the publishing industry and writing in general. Others are audio fiction. Lots of good stuff here and I love that "regular" people are often the ones creating them.

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