Wizard's Child - Sixth in the Series

Wizard's Child 

is now available on Amazon!

Book 6 in "The Mindbender's Rise" series.

After rejecting all other options, Viper undertakes the Wizard’s Route, the grueling physical and magical journey all would-be wizards must endure. And he’s none too sure he’s going to make it.

Lorel must survive – waiting. Is it possible for a girl to die of boredom? She has no idea how much trouble a bored warrior can stumble into.


You can read a preview Here! Just click on the cover under "Look Inside!"

Tooting My Horn

I’m embarrassed to be writing this post.  I hate to blow my own horn.  I don’t even like to talk about my writing, or myself.  But if I don’t tell you what I’m up to, how will anyone know?

Sooooo, I’d like to announce that I’ve released two new Mantua-Maker historical sewing patterns this year.

#1880-15 

1870 - 1890 Sunset Knoll Polonaise, Redingote, and Tea Gown

   Three major variations for dressy or severe styles.  It can be made as a ball gown, an evening gown, or as a working woman's plain, tailored redingote.  Personally, I love the Tea Gown version.

#1880-29 

1880 - 1895 Artistic Classical Gown

    While it really was worn by the Artistic set, this dress with its Grecian-style undergown are perfect for a masquerade.  It's surprisingly simple to make, and I think it looks wonderful.  (I know, I'm biased. :-)

My other news:

I’ve also opened two shops on Etsy, an online marketplace for handcrafted items.  My first shop, MantuaMakerPatterns, was intended for my historical sewing patterns, but my mom asked by to sell her bead work and my dad’s silver jewelry.  I said, “Sure thing!”

Four jewelry boxes later (and more still appear intermittently!), I opened a shop for them – I wasn’t sure how many more boxes would appear.  Not feeling terribly original that day, I named it MomNDadsJewelry. 

I hope you’ll have a look.  I’ve included links to both shops in my side bars.

What have you accomplished lately that you’d like to share?

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo starts November 1, and I’ve decided to join in. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month – about half a fantasy novel.

I have about half an outline at this point, and hope to have it finished by Halloween. The beginning is clear, but the ending is shaky. I’d rather have the final chapters settled before I start writing, but I know my current three possibilities have been done many times. I need to think up a twist.

Now my problem is my twists usually come from a detail that crops up during the writing. That makes it hard to plan an ending! Right now I’m keeping track of my lame endings (#1 was so lame it limped off a cliff) and I'm hunting for a better one. They say throw away your first ten ideas, so I have a ways to go. :-)

Starting Rose Blue

Tonight I started my new novel, Rose Blue.


A traveler hesitates at dusk, at a crossroads, because she sees a corpse hanging on the gallows, but the vision vanishes. She continues on to the village and asks the innkeeper, who reports it was the ghost of a man hung years ago for horrible crimes. Only a brave person would face the ghost at night, as it is reputed to climb down from the gallows and walk – and kill.


Many thanks to Mike Pennington for this beautiful glass rose, and for the inspiration he regularly gives me.


I have decided to put Hatching Disaster / Dead Wizard's Loot on hold - mainly because I realized it was the fourth in a series, and I haven't sold the first three yet. I hope to come back to it later, but I don't want to spend time on a novel I can't sell.

Have you ever shelved a project you loved because it wasn't currently feasible?

Hatching Disaster

B.E. Sanderson of The Writing Spectacle II suggested a title that I'm becoming very attached to: Hatching Disaster. It's high on my list. I'd add it to the poll, but Google won't let me.

The writing is coming along more slowly than I'd like. It's rather funny - I had a terrible time outlining Monsoon Rain, but the words just poured out of my fingers. I had very little trouble outlining the new book - especially once I let Viper come and play - but I'm squeezing the words out like a chicken laying ostrich eggs.

I have to wonder if the difference is that I knew Monsoon Rain would be the title by the time I finished outlining, but now I can't come up with the perfect title, no matter how long my list gets.

What do you think about Hatching Disaster ? Does it give away too much of the plot? I don't want the reader to figure out we've loosed a demon in the world too early!

Starting the new novel - in need of a title

Today I started my new novel, tentatively titled Dead Wizard's Loot. Right now I don't like any of the titles I've tried: Wizard Loot, Opal Egg, Blood Stalker, Autumn Blood.

The blurb for the novel currently reads:

Stealing from a wizard is always a bad idea, but when Jason and Aidan steal souvenirs from a dead wizard, they crack open a cage they don’t even know existed, for one of the things they steal is a demon egg bespelled into a delayed hatching. Disaster stalks them from the wizard’s workshop, across the city, growing larger with every person it kills. The life the hunter wants most is the person holding the magic, but Aidan and Jason don’t know which part of their loot it’s after – or even what is hunting them.

Do you have any suggestions for a title? Please let me know in comments.

Second time through the first draft

I've reread Monsoon Rain, and other than it being far shorter than I'd planned, I'm very happy with it. Tomorrow I'll send it off to my beta reader and wait for her comments.

I probably should find a stronger name, unfortunately. Even though I think the name fits it perfectly, Monsoon Rain does not imply the fantasy genre.

I'm slowly catching up with 'real life' enough that I can start planning the next novel.

First time through

Tonight I finished the first draft of Monsoon Rain. Or rather, my first time through the first draft. I plan to go back and add the little details that were only inside my mind. Plus catch as many of the 'tell's as I can and turn them into 'show's - I know of one off the top of my head. Rosette loses a shoe. The circumstances around - and her reactions to - the loss of that shoe are more important than it sounds.

After those changes, Monsoon Rain will rest for a month while I re-edit Magic's Child.

Monsoon Rain now stands at 64,790 words, which is at least 15,000 words too short. I can see I may need a new subplot.

I have also started plotting my next book. I need to do some character building before that one goes any farther, though.

Today I wrote a biography for myself. It's supposed to be 300 words long. No way. Sigh.

Deb Salisbury is a Californian living in Texas. Her lifelong love of fantasy - from J. R. R. Tolkien to Mercedes Lackey - inspired her to create a world of her own. She has completed a trilogy showing a boy’s journey from helpless outcast to powerful wizard. Her current project describes a girl’s misadventures with a mad wizard and her family’s attempts to rescue her.

She has written a dictionary of color in history, Elephant's Breath & London Smoke. She is the creator of the Mantua-Maker historical sewing patterns. Her costumes have won Best in Show at Costume Con, organized by the International Costuming Guild. She is a member of Forward Motion, an online writer’s group.

Deb grew up in Northern California, and has lived in England and Colorado. She currently resides in sunny Central Texas. She has been a receptionist, a waitress, a computer programmer, a warranty clerk, a real estate assistant, a costume maker and a dressmaker. Above all, she has been an avid reader.

You can visit her at http://debsalisbury.blogspot.com/, www.DebSalisbury.com and www.Mantua-Maker.com.

Does anyone have any suggestions for improvements? Please leave me a comment. I'd be grateful to read your thoughts.

Should You Consider Submitting to a Micro-Publisher?

I wrote a short article for Vision, an e-resource for writers, offering a bit of advice on finding and working with a micro-publisher. I happened to be lucky in my choice - my publisher works harder at promotion than I do. But there are many things to think about when you try to choose a micro-publisher.

You can read my article here:

http://lazette.net/vision/Vision52/micro.htm

I had a very productive day. Monsoon Rain is nearly half done, clocking it at 44,333 words.

It just occurred to me that Rosette is a bit like Pandora, returning evil to the world while acting in innocence and in good faith.

I don't think that innocence will save her.

Inspiration

I have found inspiration in many places. I often turn to books. I am an addictive reader, although lately I prefer to write.

Sometimes inspiration comes in the form of a little gray cat. Well, a rather large gray cat who is getting old and cranky. My boyo has dementia, and aging is turning into an adventure for both of us.

My most recent inspiration came in a box from Alaska, in the form of a pair of beautiful glass roses. These roses helped me define one small segment of my system of magic.

These roses also inspired me to redesign the maze into a much more sophisticated pattern. I am delighted with the way it turned out.

Monsoon Rain is more than a third finished by word count, although I suspect that it is nearly half finished as a first draft. There are places that need a bit of filling out. Overall, I am very pleased with it.

What inspires you?

The Mantua-Maker

In my other life, I am the Mantua-Maker. Or, more accurately, I am the owner of the Mantua-Maker line of historical sewing patterns.

What is a mantua maker?

The mantua was a fashionable style of gown in the late 1600's. While the mantua was popular, women gained the legal right to make this loose, flowing gown. Before this time, women could make underwear, but only male tailors were allowed to make upper class clothing and corsets - by law! Women won the right to make unboned gowns during this period, and these women were know as Mantua-makers.

These women quickly branched out to hats and accessories, then to other types of clothing. Since the unboned mantua was popular for only a couple of decades, expanding was necessary for the female dressmakers' survival, no matter how much the tailors complained.

The term mantua-maker was used for a fashionable dress designer/creator long after the mantua was forgotten, even as late as the 1890's. It was replaced by the more modern term of modiste.

In my current novel, Monsoon Rain, Rosette aspires to become a Mantua-Maker. She has studied fashion trends, present and past.

Monsoon Rain is now up to 31,175 words. I'm writing a bit slower than I'd planned, but I'm pleased with the quality.

StoryToolz Progress Meter

I have found a new tool today. It is a progress meter by StoryToolz. I plan to use it to track my progress on Monsoon Rain, which is now at 25,752 words. More than 1/4 done!

Have a look at the StoryToolz website here.

Happy Father's Day

I spent part of the day with my dad, and too much of the rest gardening - which is a bit of a joke here in Central Texas. Gardening is merely a battle to keep my veggies alive in the hope that they might get big enough to offer a squash or a tomato.

One gallant little squash plant is trying to bloom. If it succeeds, the flowers will grow bigger than the whole plant. I can't decide if I should pluck off these early attempts, or let the plant do its own thing.

My dad was very quiet. I think the blossom spoke more loudly. I'm afraid this may be his last Father's Day, since he has been getting weaker and weaker, and drawing away from the world.

Because I spent too much time eating my mom's cheesecake, watching golf with my dad, and talking to my garden, I didn't get as much done as I'd planned. Well, honestly, that is my excuse. I spent too much time staring at the screen, cursing myself for writing a vague outline. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Room to grow, places for the magic to happen. But instead I'm spending too much time saying, "I can't get 2,000 words out of this! I'll be lucky to get 500."

But generally I can squeeze out 1,000 with plans to go back and flesh it out later.

Monsoon Rain is up to 23,573 words, and almost that many grumbled cuss words.

Searching for the magic

Having started my fourth novel, it seemed time to start a writing blog.

Sorcery's Child is in search of a snappy query letter. Writing the blurb has been harder than writing the novel.

Dragon's Child has gone to a beta reader, who is keeping me honest.

Magic's Child is chilling out. I need fresh eyes to do tougher edits.

Monsoon Rain currently has 17,562 words to its credit.

Elephant's Breath & London Smoke, a dictionary about color usage in history, is available at my website, www.mantua-maker.com.

Should you run across my blog, I would be grateful for comments.