Rosaire Bushey's Blog

Good day everyone – just a quick note for you that the latest episode of the Lunatics & Monsters podcast is up and this time we’re talking with Tiffany Trent – traditionally published author finding her way into the world of Indie with her first indie release, Bloodsword, coming out soon.

Also, wanted you to know I haven’t forgotten about you, but I’ve been building a new website which should switch over anytime now – probably minutes after posting which means you may never see this. But if you do see this, be on the lookout for the new site – the new hosting service tells me its in the process of transferring now, so we’ll both know at the same time. When the new site comes up, I’ll relink Tiffany’s podcast and go a little more indepth on what’s going on.

More to come when that new site comes online I promise. For now, go listen to what Tiffany has to say and if you haven’t already, please click the follow button on the podcast.

Well, it’s Easter and I’ve finished the first draft of Evolution which will wrap up the 30 Stones Saga and I’ve got to say, I’ve got mixed emotions. I’m happy to finish the six-book series, certainly, but sad in a way to be saying goodbye to this piece of Eigrae and my own writing journey. But it’s more of a ‘see you later’ than goodbye.

When the editing is finished for Evolution and the book is available, I’ll start my other projects. The plan is to work on two projects simultaneously. Truthfully, I’m not sure how that will work out, but I’ll give it a go.  The first is a brand-new story I’m calling The Shambles, which will be a Science Fiction meets Fantasy story with a little actual science thrown in. (just a little)

The second project I’ll be working on will keep me in Eigrae a bit; so while the 30 Stones Saga is finished, some of the characters will continue and we’ll meet some new folks along the way. The character Mieragon, who is loosely based on a D&D character I played a LONG time ago, will go out on his own, with his family and begin a new chapter of his life. I’m looking at these being a type of mystery series in a fantasy setting. I don’t have any idea how long the series might be, but for now I’ll call it an open-ended series.

The books in both these new series will be a little shorter than the 30 Stones Saga books, so it’s my ‘goal’ (and I’m using that term pretty loosely here) to get 3 books a year out starting in 2022.

As all this is going on, I’m starting season 2 of my podcast, Lunatics & Monsters (also available on iTunes and Spotify) The first episode will release April 7 and feature fantasy author James Duvall. Also on tap are Tiffany Trent April 21, Jason Tudor May 5, and Jenn Nixon May 19.

So, it’s going to be a busy 2021 – whether or not that includes any comiccons or other in-person events, I have no idea yet. I certainly hope it does.

If you’re not a member of my mailing list, please fill out the information on my homepage and be among the first to see things like the new cover for Evolution and read the first chapter.

Until next time, thanks for hanging out with me.

So I was on my way to the keyboard the other day and something happened. Well, to be honest, it happened after I reached the keyboard and opened an email from a fellow author by the name of David Hopkins. David is an author I ‘met’ once on Zoom when he was nice enough to waste an hour of his day talking to me for my podcast (now available on Spotify – search ‘lunaticsandmonsters’).

We had an interesting talk, and I’ll let you listen to the pod and you can hear for yourself, but David is a guy that’s been around a while and done a lot of stuff. He’s written a number of books, is active in the writing of Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, he’s a dad and a father and he creates worlds – specifically through a new series called the Dryad’s Crown. During the pod he said it was going to be a 10-part series which is no mean feat. His first book, A Slow Parade in Penderyn is really good and it’s a fairly quick read. David writes ebooks, shorter than something like Magic’s Genesis, but he puts them out faster in e-book format. It’s not a book you have to dedicate a month to plough through. A good rainy weekend should do it, and that’s not a bad thing. (If you read faster than me, and let’s face it you probably do, you may not need an entire rainy weekend).

Admittedly, I do not read as much as I should these days. I’m more focused on writing than I am on reading, but A Slow Parade in Penderyn was kind of made for people like me. And perhaps that’s why when I opened David’s email I read one of the most honest-to-goodness coolest sentences I have ever read. “Would you write the cover blurb for my next book?”

What? Hells-to-the-yes I’ll do that.

Not only because it’s about as flattering a question as you can be asked with your clothes on, but also because David’s a nice guy and his book is an excellent read. So, the cover you see at the top of this blog isn’t my book, but it will always be special to me because it represents the first time I’ve ever been asked to do this. I’m still enough of a neophyte in this author world to get a little gaga over this type of thing, and honestly, I hope that never changes.

So, thank you David Hopkins for making my day three times. Once when you agreed to be on my podcast; once when I read A Slow Parade in Penderyn; and once when you floored me with what I consider a pretty high honor.

For those of you reading this while you’re waiting for ‘Evolution’ to arrive later this spring, go check out David’s books. Book 1 is available now and book 2, A Hidden Burrow Near Barcombe, is available for pre-order.

The Lunatics & Monsters podcast will return for season 2 starting April 7 with fantasy author James Duvall.

Cheers

Let’s face facts, the 21st century, for all its other faults, is a great time to be a nerd. And if you’re as lucky as I am, you have a significant other who is kind of a nerd too. Or is it a dork? Or a geek? It’s hard to tell these days. So, being the writer that I am I do what all writers do (and everyone else) and I looked it up. The results are mixed to say the least.

From the good folks at Dictionary.com (saving papercuts since you realized you no longer own a paper dictionary)… A dork is an “out-of-touch person who tends to look odd or behave ridiculously around others.” That description at least partially fits me. But my wife, not so much.

How about a nerd? “Socially awkward, intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsensical hobby or pursuit” – again, I’m two for two but this has no bearing on my better half.

Geek? This is a longshot for both of us – or so I thought. “A digital technology expert or enthusiast (A resounding ‘no’) … who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity”  This is only true for my wife and the subject of her affection is cats and how to have five of them in a single house. She has taken her affinity for felines to outrageous extremes. Once upon a time we took cats (note the plural) from Alaska to England. They had to quarantine for six months. It cost, quite literally, thousands. When we lived in the Azores for a time she would collect strays and have them fixed at $60 bucks a pop. Because she likes cats does not mean that she hates dogs. She cheered for John Wick through two movies because of that puppy. So, yeah, she’s a cat geek.

Not to belabor the point too much, but this century so far has given us a tremendous amount of content, and my luck stems from the fact that she reads fantasy, she watches science fiction and is down for comic book based movies. In fact, it’s Friday as I write this and I haven’t yet watched the latest episode of WandaVision, but she watched it this morning. And she’ll happily watch it again with me when I’m done this. Earlier this month we binged season 3 of Star Trek Discovery, and we’ve had marathon sessions of The Umbrella Academy among a list of other stuff that you might not expect a couple married as long as us to watch. Although I will admit she doesn’t care about Star Wars too much, she loves the Mandalorian. So yes, there is a little nerd-like girl in her. She will argue with you that Star Trek is better than Star Wars. But she’ll do it with a glass of wine in one hand and a cat nearby and in a dis-arming British accent that will leave you wishing you were taking her side in the argument. It’s just something I’ve learned to accept.

In the end it doesn’t matter what label you choose, if you feel the need to choose one at all. The Sci/Fi Fantasy genre is expansive and gets more so with every person who sits down and commits their thoughts, their questions and ideas to paper or film. There is a lot of great stuff out there; some really good stuff; and to be fair, some not quite ready for prime time stuff as well, but it all has its own place in the genre at the moment and if you’re willing to open up to different ideas and styles, you’ll probably find there’s more to like than you might have thought.

Call me what you will and call my wife whatever you think you might be able to get away with but at the end of the day, I’m happy to be living now to see the genre I love gathering adherents in every medium.

Happy reading.

 

I may have mentioned it here before – I’d be surprised if I hadn’t, but several years ago I thought the most absurd thing I’d ever heard a writer say was that they were surprised when a character died. How could that possibly be? That would be like a car manufacturer being surprised the vehicle was designed with only three wheels.

And yet, here I sit – again – scratching my head over what seems like the most improbable thing. One of my characters died on my watch.  And to be fair, this time it wasn’t some ‘barely-there-background character.’ No, this time it was an honest-to-goodness long-time main character.

If I’m completely honest, I had an inkling the character wouldn’t make it to the end of the series at the end of book six. I kind of figured there would be losses and this character was likely to be among them. After all, this book culminates in what is basically a war and even Dobby and one of the Weasley twins died in the end.

Nevertheless, it was a surprise to me when I reached a point when I knew what was going to have to happen.

As an aside – there are two types of writers – plotters and pantsers. Plotters have a nice outline where they have an idea of what’s going to happen at every point in the book before they actually write it. See the author of the aforementioned Harry Potter for a writer who is a plotter. Pantsers, on the other hand, and as the name implies, are seat-of-their-pants writers – making the whole thing up as they go. This is how I’ve written all six books of this series – in order from front to back as I go. This is not to say one way is better or worse than the other – it’s just how things are. Many pantsers would probably like to be more plotter-ish (guilty), and I assume many plotters would rather be a little more spontaneous. They both work fine for the people who do things that way.

As I typed, about mid-way through book six, I realized that I had written the story into a place where the only logical outcome was going to be this person not carrying on to the end of the book. But I kept typing, trying to convince myself that I could get out of it; that I could find a way to keep the character in a way that made sense.

Alas, it was not to be. So, now, when I hear a writer talk about how surprised they were when a character up and died, I can empathize with them. It’s far more shocking, if not outright traumatic, than you’d think. 

Consider, this is a character who you, as a writer, gave life to. This is a person on the page who has been a critical component of a large story and the building of a world. There might be more stories in your little writer’s head that this person would have been perfect for. But this isn’t the MCU – there is no Time Stone or do-overs. (If this were science fiction, then maybe, but it’s not.)

So, yes, it’s a very cool thing to make worlds out of whole cloth and create kingdoms and religions and after-lives and magic. But the other side of that coin is that sometimes the world you create becomes almost sentient and makes some of its own rules and twists fate – and you just have to roll with it to maintain the integrity of your creation.

And if you can maintain the integrity of the character as part of the loss… well then, maybe it was meant to be all along.

There are always a few high points when writing a book – obviously, when you type ‘the end’; when you get the cover; when you get the book; and another is when you finally figure out the title. Now, some people know the title when they start writing, and that’s useful too, but when you’ve been writing for six months (plus the odd few months of not writing) and you don’t have a title, coming up with one is rather satisfying.

So, welcome to the final book of the 30 Stones Saga – EVOLUTION.  I’m happy with this name (but I’m not foolish enough to think it may not change). It’s a fitting way to finish up the six book series because book six will herald another evolution for the world of Eigrae. It won’t be as dramatic as the introduction of magic into the world, but it will be significant nonetheless.

Another series in the world of Eigrae is on my schedule – but I’m going to diverge into The Shambles for a bit first. When we come back to Eigrae post-30 Stones, we will find a world much more comfortable with magic, and where magic is much more common – but in many ways very different than what we have now. In a way, the 30 Stones Saga has been providing all the back-story that future books will draw upon.

In other news, 2021 is shaping up to be a younger brother to 2020 – but with a vaccine, hopefully it won’t involve so much indoors time. That being said, the outlook for comic-cons is tenuous at best. I know some folks are trying to have them in February, and while I’d like to take part, I don’t think we’re at the point yet where that is a good idea. For those vendors who actually make a living doing shows, perhaps the math is different. I am, however, happy to be taking part in Steppin Out 2021 in Blacksburg, Virginia in August. As an outdoor show this makes a lot more sense – and by August I’m hoping a lot more people will have had a chance to avail themselves of a vaccination.

Until next time, thanks for dropping in to check up on what’s going on here and we’ll see you next time. Stay safe.

It’s been quite a year. But that’s not telling you anything.

It seems ages ago since I launched ‘Ascension’ but it’s only been about 6 months – 6 months to the day in fact, so I’m not as hopelessly far behind on the as yet untitled book 6 as I feel. But I just hit publish on the last episode of the Lunatics & Monsters podcast for 2020 and I’m going to pick up season two of that in April 2021. My hope is that I’ll be able to go to some comiccons between now and then (or when I get vaxxed and then) and see some people. That will be awesome.

For the final episode of L&M I interviewed a writer from Norfolk, England. So in 13 episodes I spoke to people from New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, California, India, and England and a few other places to boot. Not a bad spin around the globe.

Next season I hope to ramp it up a bit and offer listeners a chance to get their hands on some of the stuff my guests produce. Still working that out, but it’s in the plans. If you’d like to help, there are a few things you could do – consider this my Christmas list…

Tell a creative friend of yours about the podcast – send them the link – tell them to send me an email or message asking to get on the show. It’s that easy.
Subscribe to the show. Just go to the link, click the subscribe button. It’s free and easy and there’s no obligation.
Join me on Patreon. A few bucks a month helps run the show, buy microphones, pay for sites etc.
Just keep on doing what you’re doing and hanging out with me a for a few minutes now and then and keep encouraging the creatives in your life to keep doing that thing they do. The world needs more stuff that comes from the heart.

If I don’t get back on here before the holidays – enjoy them – whichever ones you take part in. And in the words of the immortal Bill and Ted Esquire – be good to each other.

Later dudes.

Just a quick update this December 1st.  Nanowrimo is officially in the books and while I’d love to write that I made the goal of 50,000 words, that wouldn’t be, strictly speaking, true. I’m not sure I even had three days in a row at any point – but I did get about 15,000 words of The Shambles down and I have a pretty good idea of where the story is going, so it was a worthwhile endeavor. And now I can get back to finishing book 6 of the 30 Stones Saga. The break was energizing.

Also, for the month of December, I’m happy to announce I’m part of a new Giveaway – Just click the link here – or use this URL – http://www.jennnixon.com/giveaways/decembergiveaway/

There are five ebooks included for the winner as well as a $25 Amazon gift card and all it takes to enter is an email address.

As I say, just a quick update today, but more later this month. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and are staying safe and well.

Also, don’t forget to check out the Lunatics & Monsters podcast – it’s me talking to other creatives about their work be it books, movies, toys – all sorts of different things – but honestly, mostly books.

Cheers to you all

Rosaire

Because I’ve seen these done a hundred times, I thought it might be fun to do my own holiday book list – so below I’ve included a few books from Indie authors you might want to check out this holiday season, and a couple of ‘traditionally published’ books I’ve read as well.

Most of the books here are by authors I’ve interviewed on my Lunatics & Monsters Podcast, so the date you see next to the book is the date and episode of the show. If you haven’t listened to my podcast yet – how dare you? After you’re done reading this, go and listen to these authors talk about their books. The links are everywhere – click one.

Missing Persons by Rex Crossley [image error]

Episode 2 – July 2

No, not the 1980s band (Although their ‘Spring Session-M’ album was in a pretty steady rotation in my cassette deck for a while there in the mid-80s I’m not ashamed to admit. …ok, I’m a ‘little’ ashamed.)

Missing Persons is a horror story, but not a blood and guts story. It’s also a vampire story, but not the sickly sweet teenage angst vampire story. It’s got a little grit and integrity behind it. Rex (who writes despite suffering from Parkinson’s) has made it his aim to not only put some horror back into the genre, but also to put a different take on an old stand-by. Set in modern day, Mitchell Kershaw is looking into the disappearance of more than 50,000 people and uncovers the existence of a vampire-like race who are harvesting human blood. Likeable characters and a quick pace. There are currently 6 books in the series.

Terror on the Trail: A Hike Gone Wrong by Rob Ward [image error]

Episode 2 – July 19

Rob takes his love of hiking and penchant for murdery mysteries and combines them into a suspenseful cat and mouse between a serial killer claiming victims along one of the nation’s most storied hiking trails, and a man and his dog. Those who like hiking will appreciate the realism from a fellow hiker, and the craft of a good vs. evil story in the woods.

The Clockwork Detective by R.A. McCandless

Episode 3 – Aug 4 [image error]

Winner of 2014’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll, and a finalist in 2015s EPIC ebook awards, R.A. has also appeared in In Shambles with Kevin Anderson. In 2019 he launched the Constable of Aqualinne series – a steampunk tour de force with the instantly intriguing and captivating heroine Aubrey Hartmann, a Veteran of the wars with medals, attitude, and a clockwork leg. Hartmann is investigating the murder of a druwyd – and if she can’t find the killer, she may become involved in another war – this one with the Fae. McCandless is at his best here. If you’ve never read Steampunk, this is a great introduction. If you’re a long-time fan of the genre, you’ll fall in love with Hartmann as a character, and McCandless as an author.

A Slow Parade in Penderyn by David Hopkins

Episode 8 – Oct. 8 [image error]

Now, to be entirely honest, I haven’t read all of this book yet – in fact, it’s not even available until Dec. 8, but if you look at David’s work, and listen to the podcast, you’ll realize right away he’s not some Johnny-come-lately – he’s been doing this a while, including a 3-book series called Wear Chainmail to the Apocalypse (read the reviews!). David also writes Dungeons & Dragons modules (which catapults him into a nerd nirvana stratosphere on its own). He’s been a contributor to D Magazine, Smart Pop Books, and Fanboy Radio. He also writes op-eds for the Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News, and he writes comic books and graphic novels. David is planning on the Penderyn series to be multiple books so get in on the ground floor of this series.

Office Pool: Orientation by DL Blackburne [image error]

Episode 10 – Nov 5

An artist – a real artist with paint and drawing and stuff – DL Blackburne has turned his talents toward the written word, and come up big with Office Pool – a story about … pens. Yes, you read that right, pens. Blackburne has used the humble writing utensil to tell a story about learning who you are and what you can become. It’s charming, witty, and there’s a sequel – Office Pool II: Extraction.

A Ladder of Panties by Sandeep Jayaram [image error]

Episode 11 – Nov. 19

All the way from Mumbai, India Sandeep Jayaram unleashes his debut novel on the world and it’s so much more than you might think. First, it should be noted, it’s not erotica, but satire and Jayaram does not hold back, looking at the life of Sri from boyhood to middle age showing off the social norms, constraints, and struggles to succeed. Listen to the podcast and you’ll come away wanting to hear more from Jayaram.

 

Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles [image error]

I got this book for Christmas last year and was a little suspicious, but for a book where the action is minimal, the bad guys are subtle, and the pace relaxed, I could hardly put this down. The main character is a Russian aristocrat under house arrest in a hotel that he can’t leave lest he be arrested and sent away. The hotel becomes a character all it’s own; a living, breathing thing and you can’t help but be caught up in the world Towles has created. More importantly, you can’t help but be caught up by the characters Towles has created. It is a lovely surprise, a book like this, that you’ll want to share with others.

 

Ok, that’s my book list for this year – there are others of course, but they’re all mine so feel free to check those out as well of course. You can get them from a link on this site and I’ll be happy to sign them and send them to you.

And one last thing, congratulations to P. Morgan who won a copy of one of my books of his choice. Morgan was the winner of my October contest!

The image above is the eminent and unparalleled John Cleese, who yesterday (Oct. 27) turned 81 years of age. Happiest of birthdays to you, sir.

So, I did a weird thing last week, I signed up for NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – an event that takes place every November (right in line with MoVember, so maybe I’ll grow a mustache too!).

The idea behind NanoWriMo is to get people writing, to get them used to setting time aside every day to make something out of words. The goal is 50,000 of those words and it’s a goal that I …. I don’t know if I’ll make, because 2020 has not been a good year for me to sit down and right regularly.

Still, I thought I’d give it a go. And if you thought I might use this time to finish the final book of the 30 Stones Saga, well you’d be incorrect.  I’m going to put that on a shelf for a month and try to crank out the first draft of what will be book 1 of The Shambles – a Young Adult trilogy I’ve been nuggeting around in my head for almost a year.

The Shambles follows Earnest, a young man who discovers that he is capable of harnessing The Shambles, a level of matter so minute, that if one can control it, one can do what can only be called, magic. Now, I don’t have a lot on this yet, despite thinking about it for so long, but let me tell you a bit about it.

Once upon a time there were 100 people who could harness The Shambles. Each is effectively immortal barring some horrible accident. Once a magician takes an apprentice, however, they’ve cast their lot with mortality. If a magician dies without taking an apprentice, their line is lost. By the time we meet Earnest, there are only 26 magicians left.

The story will take place in modern day, or at least start there. It’s all very up in the air right now, but let me describe The Shambles as best I may. If you are of an age, you may remember when the Atom was the smallest building block of matter. In the late 20th century, the Quark took its place as the smallest. The Shambles is perhaps another half dozen steps below the Quark – all of them as yet undiscovered, but leading to science that is far enough developed to be considered magic.

So, that’s what I’ll be working on in November. With any luck … with a lot of luck, I will have a draft of book one nearly complete. I’m looking at 50,000-60,000 words for a finished product, unlike the 30 Stones Saga which range from 90,000 to 120,000.

If you’re looking for a new challenge next month, check out NaNoWriMo, and come find me. It’ll be fun.