A Quiet Saturday...

A quiet Saturday of writing and drinking coffee.

Today I'm working on breaking Dragon Hunters into two parts, which requires a bit of modification of the story.

Once I have the two parts cleaned up, I can start working on the publishing and marketing process.

As always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Dragon Hunters, Part 1 and Part 2?

Well, we are back from the cruise. A nice relaxing week without having to think about anything beyond what to have for dinner or what to have to drink while laying around the forward pool.

As I said before I left, Dragon Hunters is complete. Time to start on the marketing side of publishing a book. Ugh, I'm not very good at marketing.

Dragon Hunters is a large novel. The current manuscript is 143,091 words spread over 539 double spaced pages. Those who are knowledgeable of the publishing world say that the average book should be no more than 80,000 words.

So I think I will break it into two parts. Part 1 will be about 293 pages. Part 2 will be about 245 pages. A little modification should further equalize them out.

All of that work should take a couple of weeks, if I don't get sidetracked by work.

Well, its late and I am tired. As always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Dragon Hunters is Finished

Dragon Hunters is finished! The first book in the DragonHawk Saga is ready for... what?

That's a good question. The work list right now looks like this:

Update all of my notes and background information:

• The DragonHawk Saga Rules Manual, which describes all the rules of how things work in the Star Trader Galaxy.
• The DragonHawk Saga Development Manual, which contains notes on characters, storylines, plots, sequences, etc.
• DragonHawk Saga History Manual, which is my attempt to write a formal history of the Star Folk/Star Traders.
• DragonHawk Saga Reference Manual, which  is a reference to everything Star Trader, including the Major Star Trader Families, the Trade Stations, Star Trader technology, food, beverages, starship construction details, military organization, governments, and a myriad of other details.
• Star Trader Data, a spreadsheet that is a quick reference to everything in the Reference Manual that I frequently refer to.
• Master Storyboard, a spreadsheet that describes each story by chapter and is the primary sequence of events in the DragonHawk Saga.

Then there's publishing. What to do with the story? I may send queries to some of the "paper" publishers, but I don't hold out much hope for that route. So I will e-publish in a variety of formats and list the book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

And eventually my own website. (Anyone know someone who does really good website design cheaply? And graphics! I draw about as good as I sing... I think you can figure out where I am going with that!)

Meanwhile, Book #2, Dragon Heart, is already underway. The prologue and the first two chapters have been written, and there are some other bits and pieces in place. This story will be more challenging, because I have to write about the courtship of Elias Hawkes and Annie Tolen, more romance than sci-fi and fantasy, although I have to have enough action to make sure these elements are taken care of.

But, I will be taking a few days off for now. Cindy and I are taking a four-day cruise on Disney Magic from Galveston, Texas, to Cozumel. Be back home by Saturday. (If you've cruised to Cozumel before, and have any suggestions for places to shop or eat, leave a comment!)

I'll probably get back to work on the DragonHawk Saga on Sunday. Not sure I can stay away from the computer that long, but we'll give it a try. As always,

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Dragon Hunters

Just some clean up of the last chapter and epilogue and its done!

Maybe tonight!

Thanks for reading,

Dave

Dragon Hunters Update

I'm closing in on the finish to Dragon Hunters. I stayed up late last night until about 1:30 AM working on an important chapter, the Battle of Conborine. It's still a bit rough, but I think it is more coherent than it was.

I tempted to end the story here. I wanted to end with a good lead-in to the second book, Dragon Heart, but I think I can accomplish that with what I have.

Hmmm....

I may be closer to the end than I thought I was.


Thanks for reading!

Dave

The Battle of Conborine

Dragon Hunters is approaching its end, starting with this battle in the warehouse district of Conborine!

“Attention on deck!”

The Hawkkur Combat Team, assembled in one of the empty warehouses, snapped to attention as Lord DragonHawk Elias Hawkes strided into the room, followed by Commander Obrie Lorcan and the command staff, all wearing their battle armor. Although they were standing at attention, the Hawkkur troops could not help but notice that Lord Hawkes was carrying the Dragon Helm under his arm! Those close to the front could the hilt of the Dragon Sword sticking up above its scabbard strapped to his back.

Ever since their arrival and the rescue of Lady Tolen, there had been rumors of a Black Dragon – a Rahhol DragonHawk – somewhere on Conborine. The rumors had been reinforced by the capture of the Dragon Afflicted Reska Dragon Hunters during the assault on the Guilded Cage. More Reska Dragon Hunterhad been captured or killed tonight when the alert company responded to Lord Bane’s emergency beacon.

And now, the Lord DragonHawk was here with the Dragon Helm and the Dragon Sword to lead them into battle!

The only sound in the room was the whine of hydraulics as a cargo handler lifted Lord Hawkes so that all of the assembled Hawkkurs could see him.

“It has been fifteen thousand seasons since Drakkon battled Rahhol!” Elias Hawkes said, his voice loud and strong, echoing off the warehouse walls. “Since their defeat, the Rahhol have remained hidden among our eternal enemy, the Reska. The StarHawke Tycho has always known they were out there. As have all the generations of StarHawke Tychos before him. We have all known, the generations of StarHawkes and loyal Hawkkur Warriors that a day would come, when the time of the Great Dragon would grow near. That one day the Rahhol would come out of hiding and the battle between Drakkon and Rahhol would be rejoioned!”

“That battle started at the Diplomatic Dock at Gaanard!” Elias declared. “It continues here on Conborine!”

“Drakkon!” The Hawkkurs yelled in response, their combined voices rattling the walls of the warehouse. Elias grinned and turned to Commander Lorcan.

“You have your orders, Commander!” He said, as Procyon’s battle cry filled the warehouse with Dragon Magic. “Let’s get moving!”

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Dave

Dragon Hunters Update

I've been working long and hard on Dragon Hunters. Tuning it up and reworking the story. In the spirit of being determined to do things my way, I have added some deleted parts back into the story, and written a couple of new chapters. More action, more attacks on the Tycho Star Traders and more DragonHawk vs. Dragon Hunter action.

Of course, the big battle between Drakkon and Rahhol is coming up as well.

It's slow going, but I'm finding a lot things I don't like. Mechanical things like sentence structure, grammar, and word usage.

All you kiddies out there in school, pay attention to your English grammar teachers! If you want to write coherently, that is.

I've gotten over the disappointment of this project taking so long. But that doesn't mean I'm going to change what I am doing now. I have a plan in my head that I'm going to follow.

Thanks for reading!


Dave