M. K. Theodoratus, Fantasy Writer, blogs about the books she reads--mostly fantasy and mystery authors whose books catch her eye and keep her interest. Nothing so formal as a book review, just chats about what she liked. Theodoratus also mutters about her own writing progress or ... lack of it.

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Friday, May 27, 2011

Writing with an Irish Lilt

Writing Lesson:
Kevin Hearne wrote a nice Irish-oriented book -- Hounded, the first part of his Iron Druid Chronicles trilogy -- a well conceived fantasy.  His druid uses magic to work iron into his spells while he plays with the Tuatha De Danaan.  Maybe that's why this last of the druids has managed to survive 2000+ years.  

Don't get me wrong, Hearne has a firm grasp of Irish mythology, much better than many writers I've read.  He really manages to make the god characters fit in the modern world while, at the same time, they don't understand our foibles.
  
His set up of the druid is just as knowledgeable.  No new-age druid knock-offs for him.  The magic his protagonist uses fits seamlessly into the plot while he's trying to save his wolfhound's life as well as his own.  Each appearance of a god may seem idyllic -- until all hell breaks out and the tension winds tighter.  The best part?  Hearne managed to tie up all the loose ends and give the reader a neat forshadowing for the next book.  --  Any time spent studying his chapter arcs will be time well-spent.

And, what a nice feeling, it was, to see the book on my grocery store bookshelves -- an actual big publisher book by a blogger [Writer's Grove] I read and comment at regularly. But that doesn't make me biased.  I would have put the book on my trade pile and not mentioned it, if I didn't like it.  I liked the Irish voice and the Irish setting [in Arizona, for a good logical reason without belaboring the back story] a lot.  

Web Links:
I'm sure I use Twitter the wrong way lots of times when I tweet.  Nathan Bradford gives a run down on how to tweet correctly to give the most exposure to your comments:  How to Use the Twitter @Reply.  

Guess I'm in a Twitter vein.  Thanks to the AW Water Cooler Promotion forum, I found the new blog LKWatts Confessions.  She has a piece: Marketing Useful Tips.  Since I picked up an idea from her, I thought I'd share it.  On the same page, she talks about Twitter too.  If you're puzzled by hashtags [#], you should give her a click.

Since Twitter is a prime networking site, let's talk about another type of Networking.  Tamela Buhrke at Chiseled Rock blogged about networking with critiquers and agent/editors.  Interesting.  As I often said, good critiquers are worth their weight in gold ... or is that royalties?

 Progress:
I've managed to beta and critique a couple people's manuscripts.  Still, have some more stuff to go.  I'd use this as an excuse for being late in posting the blog, but I can't.  I wasted a whole day when my old man had cataract surgery [which, while not serious, is still a pain in the a*&@].

It's not all bad.  I only have four more chapters of Demons to edit.  Hope to have it done over the week-end.  But then, I thought that last Friday.

Trivia:
I found a new hobby -- as if I didn't have enough drags on my time -- bad haikuI'll be posting them on Facebook and Twitter ... and archive them here if I can figure out how to set up the page.  But, first ...  I have to get the fan page link for the Far Isle Half-Elven up on my website.

Sigh, a writer's work is never done.     



6 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Ref: cataract surgery...is still a pain in the a*&@].

Probably wasn't the best part of his day either. LOL.

I have yet to get into a Twitter groove. It's not my favorite form of communication.

Unknown said...

It still isn't. I just got back from chasing him away from the water hoses. Actually, he's pretty creative about finding ways to do things without bending over.

As for Twitter. I'm playing with it. I think my Bad Haiku is one on those snide double entenders [sp].

N. R. Williams said...

I need the lessons about twitter but they will have to wait for another day. Thanks for sharing.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium

Unknown said...

I think all of need help with promoting on Facebook, Twitter, and other free media. From what I hear, not very many publishers help with marketing. Mine doesn't seem to, anyway.

At least, she didn't on Facebook ... and I follow her.

doreen said...

Twitter goes so fast! I am so glad they are now e-mailing coments that people make:)

Unknown said...

Doreen: I noticed the tweets this morning. Was this the first time it happened? Anyway, I didn't come up with any snappy comments.

Reading and commenting in gaps has always bothered me ... though I do get some traffic from Twitter.