Today M.L. Chesley is back with a fabulous guest post. If you’ve ever wondered what all goes into writing fantasy, what else there is to being an author besides writing the book, or just plain wonder how easy or hard being an author is…this post has the answers you seek!
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When you hear about people writing a book (and there lots of them out there these days!), you think, ‘I think I could write a book. It’d be easy!’
Wrong.
Okay, well maybe a little bit. But overall, writing a book isn’t a piece of cake. No matter what genre you write in, there is loads of researching that needs to be done. When I did the interview with our lovely Selah Janel, she asked what was my writing process like? Well, at first I was a ‘pantser’, meaning I wrote by the seat of my pants. But that was AFTER all of the research I did.
Now I have so much to keep track of, I have to outline my stories.
But to build the world I write in, I had lots of work to do!
First of all, you have to figure out regions and areas of extreme temperatures. North is cold, south is hot or maybe the further east you go, the hotter you get? It has to be plausible, even in Fantasy. You just can’t keep making stuff up or using magic to fix problems.
Then you have to think about money exchanges, hierarchies, magical properties of dragon dung…
I know. Ew, right?
Well, come on, no one said it was easy.
Oh, right.
Ahem. Anyway… I have notes on everything from armor and weapons to sailing. I have pirates in my book, you know. If you write about pirates and don’t know even the slightest bit of the nautical/pirate terminology, who’s going to believe it? Skimming over it doesn’t give the details. So yeah, I have a stack of papers about three inches thick on sailing terminology and ship parts alone.
But if you thought the writing process was difficult, wait ‘til you get to the query, the synopsis of the book, sending off either full or partial manuscripts to agents, editors and beta readers. If you self publish, you still have to go through editing processes, formatting processes and then the hardest part of all:
Promoting. Your. Book.
You have to sell yourself, baby and that is like another full time job. If you work and have a family, kiss your social life goodbye.
So why go through the hassle, you ask? Why would anyone ever want to write a book? It sounds like too much work!
Well. You’re right. But if you really, really want to tell that story and share it with hundreds, possibly thousands or millions of people…
It’s totally worth it.
So think about this the next time someone says writing is easy. Direct them to the many blog posts on the subject. Listen to authors pour their hearts out, but then read between the lines and look at the pride they feel to have accomplished such a feat! It might not be easy, but it’s a labor of love. The drive behind writers to get their story out there is not fueled by how easy it is, but the story they are dying to tell. Next time you run across an author, tell them what a good job they’re doing!
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Two kingdoms, two goals.
The king of Relavia is determined to wipe out his warring neighbors in Paridzule, a worthy adversary for over five hundred years. News of an arranged marriage between his son and the daughter of his lifelong enemy has fueled the temper of Relavia’s tyrannical king. What he doesn’t realize is the true measure of his son’s honor and how far he is willing to go to gain peace.
M. L. Chesley is an Alaska based author, online blogger and MMORPG junkie. She has been writing fantasy for several years. Between writing, work and family she barely has time for much gaming, but some days, raids take precedence over all. If you would like to learn more about her world, created in this book, go to www.mlchesley.webs.com. You can also follow her blog at www.caledonialass.blogspot.com.
Links:
Blog: www.caledonialass.blogspot.com
Twitter: @MLChesley
Website: www.mlchesley.webs.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mel.chesley
Come Selahway With Me... 
None of it is easy. But the end product is worth it. Congratulations, Mel!