Coat of Arms for your Fictional Worlds

Building up the world of Tiaera has become a bit of a hobby for me. When Jack and I were working on Realmwalkers, it provided a great creative outlet that helped us with our story. I didn't know about the term "Worldbuilding" years ago, but now I do and I have discovered some great sites and tools for developing the world of Tiaera. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, here is the Wikipedia definition: Worldbuilding or conworlding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe. The resulting world may be called a constructed world. The term "worldbuilding" was popularized at science fiction writers' workshops in the 1970s.

If you have a fictional world to base your stories on, have you ever thought about adding some flags or coat of arms to the various guilds, countries, families or cities? If your stories include graphics or illustrations, think about adding a flag or coat of arms. As a graphic artist, I was able to research the rules about heraldry, crests and coat of arms.  It took me some time to design something with my Photoshop program for the Order of the Royal Mystics, but I was very pleased with the result. Here is the grey-scaled version I used for the book Realmwalkers.


Now that I have started working on my third book -- 117 pages rough draft so far -- I have decided to add a few more such regal decorations to enhance the imagery of the medieval fantasy world of Tiaera. And while I was doing this, I thought I should share with you a few of the many links I have discovered for free coat of arms and crest online generators to made the job easier.

I have tested out a couple that I hope might inspire you to use for your own world:

Uplink RPG Site Generator  This was the best I have found so far. It gives a lot of options and colors for you to pick from. It certainly sped my work up for making several coat of arms for my world. I didn't like the font for the banner so I left it blank. I will import these into Photoshop and use another font and perhaps do some tweaking to complete these shields. It only took a couple of hours to learn how to use the tool and come up with appropriate designs.

Naelos Coat of Arms

Vawdrey Coat of Arms

Sangrey Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms/Family Crest Generator  This site was more informative about what the symbols and colors mean and the rules about how to create a realistic design. I found it very interesting, but rather limiting and so I couldn't make a design I was happy with. I still think it a good place to research and learn about heraldry in a fun and artistic way. Give this place a try. 

Make Your Coat of Arms: This was another site that is fun and easy to use. In just seven steps you can design a very attractive coat of arms. You don't have to be an artist and it's also free to use. I started a couple of shield designs and stopped so that I can complete these using another program. I'll post these when I get them finished.

My Blazon.com: This site looks fun and easy to use. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it's worth listing here. I may try this out in the future.

My Tribe 101: Another site that's free, simple and fun. I haven't tried them either, but I may check them out soon for other crest designs.

Once I have the coat of arms done, I will look into the prospect of creating flags for the various nations of Tiaera. If you know of any good free online flag generator sites, let me know. I'm sure there are a number of them out there, but I would prefer some recommendations from you who have tried them. Leave a comment here or email me.







Archaic Words and Phrases

Hello all!

Summer is so ending and I eagerly await cooler temperatures as days begin to grow shorter. I find I have more time to be at my laptop and it's been a while since I did some archaic words and phrases, so let's see what I have here. As in the past, I chose words that are archaic and originated before the 16th century. The English language is ever changing but as a writer, I am still interested in these old terms from long ago. I hope you can use some of these in your writing!


Askance - Origin Unknown - First Known Use: 1530
adverb
: in a way that shows a lack of trust or approval
:  with a side-glance :  obliquely
:  with disapproval or distrust :  scornfully <they eyed the stranger askance>

Troth - Middle English - First Known Use: 12th century
noun
Loyal or pledged faithfulness :  fidelity <pledged my troth>
One's pledged word <I don't remember the details or, by my troth, even the gist — Stanley Elkin>; also :  betrothal

Dingle - Middle English, deep hollow - First Known Use: 13th century
noun
A small wooded valley :  dell
A deep hollow, usually shaded with trees
 
Fraught - Middle English - First Known Use: 14th century
archaic
a :  laden
b :  well supplied or provided
Full of or accompanied by something specified —used with with <a situation fraught with danger>
Causing or characterized by emotional distress or tension :  uneasy <a fraught relationship>

Damsel - Middle English - First Known Use: 13th century
noun
A girl or young woman who is not married
archaic :  a young unmarried woman of noble birth

Wist - alteration of wis - First Known Use: 1500
verb
transitive verb
archaic : to know
  
"Wist you not that I be about my father's business?"
________________________________________________________

There is not overmuch to do here.  (too much)

She showed pluck in getting up on stage.   (courage & determination)

My Memories Software Freebie Winner!

www.mymemories.com


Congratulations to Kelley! She is going to get the FREE My Memories Suite 5.0 program (a $40 value) along with all its extra freebie graphics and tools that every member enjoys. I'm amazed by all the wonderful designs and embellishments that one can download once they become registered users. I hope Kelley has a lot of fun with this program and finds it just as useful to use with her writing projects as I have. Check your email, Kelley, for the special link and instructions on how to get your program.

For the rest of you who did not win, don't forget you can still buy this program using my code to get $10 off. Just click the link banner below. You get everything in the My Memories Suite as I mentioned in my previous blog post.


Use the code
STMMMS34133 to get $10 off instantly! 


Thanks to all who participated in this software giveaway!
Happy writing and scrapping!

My Memories Free Digital Software Contest


www.mymemories.com 

As much as I enjoy writing on my books and blogs, sometimes I just have to take a break and craft. That being said, I've discovered the fun and convenience of digital scrapbooking! I have tried a few online programs this summer and I am delighted with this one. This is a winner! I like that I can use it both offline and online. And it's always growing with new graphics and improvements. Yep! The owners of My Memories have come up with a great Digital Scrapbooking Software that is easy to learn and loaded with lots of tools to make beautiful albums, books and journals!

Not into scrapbooking? Why should you be interested in this software? Well, I thought the same at first, but once I thought about it, I realized I can use this for my novel writing and to organize my research materials. And any book I design with this software can be printed into a real book that you can carry and reference while you are writing. The software is so good the wonderful people at My Memories have decided to offer one Software Download for FREE to one of my readers here at my blog!

To enter, simply do one of the following:
-Visit My Memories Website and choose a favorite layout from their gallery, then tell me what you chose with comment on this post.
-Like My Memories and Realmwalkers on facebook and tell me you did in a comment on this post.
-Follow the My Memories Blog and leave a comment on this post saying you did!

Winner will be drawn Thursday July 31, 2014.

If you don't win or just can't wait, then how about a special discount just being one of my readers? Use the code STMMMS34133 to automatically receive $10 off your purchase of this software!
 Just go to My Memories.com and enter the number for your discount and start downloading this popular scrapbooking program. 

 
Here are a few layouts that I just created with My Memories!

Put your notes, mind maps, research information, charts, etc...
Add all your character sheets and sketches.
Add all your maps so that they are in one place for quick reference.
And don't forget, you can have all these professionally printed into a one of several size hard-cover books or just keep them as ebooks on your computer. Other ways you can use this software is for your blogs, world-building, book signing flyers and invites, book event ads, ebook samples and other promotional materials. The list goes on! Still not sure you can figure out how to use this creative program? No problem. Check out this link for a series of My Memories Suite tutorials.

Still want to learn more? Then check out these links. You have till July 31st
to get your very own FREE My Memories digital scrap booking program.
 

My Memories Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite




Use the code
STMMMS34133 to get $10 off instantly! 


Crossbones and Tiaera



http://www.nbc.com/sites/nbcunbc/files/files/styles/nbc_mosaic/public/images/2014/5/27/2014_0527_Crossbones_Feature_05_FL.jpg?itok=vGWrosUy


I'm looking forward to the next episode of "Crossbones." I'm eager to enjoy and learn what I can about the pirates as they brawl, pillage and cavort, and to relish the way they speak in this weekly series. The writers have won my heart for their colorful terminology as a means to depict a bygone era where words such as succeedingly generous, bastard thwarting, supplicate, recount, transpires and my favorite so far: discommoding are used. As a writer, I am impressed with the way they did not do as "Black Sails" did on Starz, mixing old English with vulgar profanity by both men and women. I suppose that pirates curse and use such words and so the actors use them, but for viewers like me, I find it very offensive and distracting. Yes, of course, I don't have to listen to them as they portray uneducated criminals who can only express themselves with four letter words and the like. Yes, many a pirate may not have been fortunate to learn how to read and write, but "Crossbones" doesn't feature only pirate characters. Some of the characters are well-educated and high ranking. And John Malkovich? Well, I better check my history book about how educated and eloquent the real Blackbeard was. John does a wonderful job so far. I was so impressed and eager to learn some of these words I sought and found a place online with scripts for TV shows. Here is the link should you wish to study the scripts for your own studies.

Crossbones - Episode Scripts

What does this pirate series have to do with Tiaera? Simple. Anyone who has read my stories here, as well as Realmwalkers and The Priestess and the Ravenknight, will know I have an affinity for using archaic words. They will also know I have pirates in my medieval fantasy world. Thus I am inspired by the dialogs in "Crossbones" as I am in many historical dramas on BBC America and PBS.  I've sat with pen and notebook while watching "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Sense and Sensibility," jotting down phrases and words that are clearly archaic or seldom used these days. I still take the trouble to look up words I'm not familiar with and check when they were first used so that I may incorporate them in my future stories about Tiaera. My aim is to make the language used in Tiaera somewhere between the 15th - 17th centuries and still try to make the stories understandable by modern readers whenever possible.

"The Musketeers" have just premiered on BBC America and I didn't get the chance to see the pilot yet, but I did record it so I can see it later today. I hope the script there is also entertaining and enlightening for this medieval fantasy writer.  No, I don't have musketeers on Tiaera, but pirates are often known as swashbucklers as are the knights, rogues, guards, etc... Tiaera has them all. If they carry a sword, let it be so. Better get my pen and notebook ready!


Puppy Imposed Hiatus

Yes, I got one on April 2nd and my life has changed so much. The impact has been so great that my writing has all but totally stopped. Today is the first day I've had a chance to write a post. And it's gonna have to be a short one because I need to tend to the little creature that has wormed her way into our hearts and home, Lobita. She's a breed-mix of Chihuahua/Pug aka Chug. She looks like a tiny rottweiler but she is tiny and is an XS size in pup clothes. We doubt she will be getting much bigger than this.



I was totally ignorant about how much time puppies require.  Since bringing her home from the Animal Shelter in Parker, she needs CONSTANT.... repeat CONSTANT supervision. I have had a few "meltdowns" too, but she is still here and is three months old now.  As a writer, I have had to put aside my book and all marketing and blogging. I can't even do my gaming like I used to. My gaming partners have to tolerate me suddenly going AFK at any moment because Lobita needs to go outside to relieve herself - and that's if I catch her on time.

As a writer, she hasn't been all bad news. Yes, I have to stop working on my third book for now, but she is learning and growing and in just a matter of a few months, she will be allowed more freedom around the house.  The book can wait till then. And I have lost almost 5 pounds walking her twice a day.  My doctor is very happy and thinks she is more of an asset to this writer. I think she is right. I am not chained to my computers all day long now. I feel healthier and stronger. I enjoy the walks and I hope to continue them even when I get back to working on my book.  So I guess, I'll keep her and try to resume my writing once she is better trained and housebroken.

For now, it's a life of constant supervision, potty pads, near-misses, pet shopping, training, walkies, blessed naps, and bonding with our little pup, Lobita.





Here is my album I am making about Lobita on Flickr if you want to see more of her.
 Lobita's Flickr Album

Book Signing Tomorrow at Hastings Bookstore!






It's time again for another Hastings Book Signing!  
If you live in Lake Havasu City, AZ come on over to the

Hastings Bookstore 
321 Lake Havasu Ave.
(928) 680-7272 

12:00 - 4:00PM

Saturday, March 22nd.


I 'll be there to promote my two books and to talk about the third
 I'm working on: "Guardians of the Fayre Sea."  I hope to see you!







Why aren't you writing?

I was checking through my Google+ writers forums this morning and found this article shared by Chicki Brown. This article comes at a good time. I am getting ready to start on my next book now that most of my book signing events are over. I still have a few to do in the next two months, but I really need to get down to doing more writing. After reading this article, I realize I have become a slacker and have lost the momentum.  Even my blog here is not as active as I want it to be so I am going to have to do something about it. This is the right place to begin creating and sharing ideas about my characters and places which, in turn,  may inspire you to do the same with your project.

My fictional world of Tiaera is far from finished and I have some new characters I'll be introducing with my next novel.  The working title that most of my Google+ writer friends liked was "The Guardians of Fayre Sea." Other suggestions are welcome, so leave me a comment below if you can think any.  Other suggestions are as follows:

The Fayre Sea Pirates
Souls of the Wave
The Trident and the Cutlass
Fayre Sea
The Merfolk of Fayre Sea

The story I am working on is about not one but two races of merfolk (or merpeople) who inhabit the waters just off the coast of Athrylle known as The Fayre Sea. They are rivals who strive to live in peace while menacing pirates sail their ships between those two continents. The story will involve the piratess, Felucia Athlynn, a character you met in "Realmwalkers." There will be raiding, romance, betrayal and mystery if everything turns out the way I plan.

I've been working on the story outline this week and I've done several pages so far. Right now it looks like it's going to become a novel (as opposed to another novella) and I hope to have it done by the end of the year. It will be a follow-up story that takes place after "The Priestess and the Ravenknight" and ends right before "Realmwalkers."

 THIS IS THE PLAN SO FAR!  

Yes, I guess you can call me a plotter. I need to do research and write notes. I update my maps, notebook, character sheets and outline before I can do any actual writing.  I don't find this method of writing too rigid for my creativity as my methods and outline are always subject to change as the story unfolds. This is why I won't give out too much about it at this time. Once the book takes shape, I will give more details for those of you interested.



And none of this will ever get done if I keep finding too many things to do instead of writing, which brings me back to this article. I hope you find it helpful as I did.  Keep writing even if its short stories, articles, poetry, etc... I meet readers hungry for a good story at every event.  Whether it's by ereader, audio or the printed book, readers still abound in search of a great story.


The Clock's Ticking: Why Aren't You Writing?


Amazon's Automatic Updating Service

Did you know that you can opt to receive updates automatically for some of your Kindle books? A new book version will be made available after they confirm that improvements were made to your Kindle book. I just found out about this tool and I think it's a great idea. Too bad it's still a bit buggy.

Case in point: The Priestess and the Ravenknight ebook I promoted at Amazon's KDP last autumn. After the first promotion, I decided to go over the ebook file again and revised it. I didn't make many changes, but I am happier with the newest version.  Then when I ran another 3-day free promotion at KDP, I wanted to download the newest version to my Android and Cloud Reader. The end result was that I got the same old version even though I deleted the copies I had on both readers. I tried it again and again, thinking it was just "operator error."  Well, it wasn't.

Fortunately, KDP has a good Help Chat Service at their site and I didn't have to wait long at all to get someone who fixed the problem. The rep had me remove the ebook from both my Android and Cloud Reader once more. Then I downloaded my ebook again and checked. This time the copy I got was the most current and best available. I don't know why the automatic updating tool did not work. I decided to check with a friend and had her check her copy and she also had problems with the automatic updating tool. In the end she ended up going the same route I did so a rep could reset and send her the latest copy of The Priestess and the Ravenknight.

It troubles me that after two free promotions, there may be readers out there that only have the old versions of my ebook. You should NOT have to pay for the newest copy even though the promotion days have ended. Please log into your Kindle account and go to Manage Your Kindle
and see if you have even opted for Automatic Updates. If you are opted in, you should see a message saying that you have an update. If you do as it says, you should get any new versions of ebooks that have been updated since your original purchase. Be careful if you use this service as it will remove any annotations or bookmarks you may have made in those Kindle ebooks.  

If you do not get the new update or if you are not even sure you did, I recommend you look up at the menu tool bar (once logged into Amazon.com) and click on HELP.  Look to the left column under TOPICS and click on KINDLE.  Under QUICK SOLUTIONS click on the button "Contact Us"  and scroll down the list of methods you want to use for contacting Amazon KDP.  You can use Phone, Email or Chat. I chose the chat option and got a rep almost instantly.  I explained the problem and she was able to guide me through the steps, which were the same ones I did before but this time she reset something on her end and made the update available to me. Once I verified I got the newest copies on my Cloud Reader and Android I thanked her and decided I should write you all today about this.

If you downloaded my ebook or have a library of Kindle ebooks, you may find the Automatic Update service useful in ensuring you have the best copy of your ebooks at hand. If you have any questions or problems with it, know that their Chat Reps are highly recommended and I will use them again for their fast and excellent help.

Happy Reading and Writing!


My Experience with KDP Select

Now that I am feeling stronger and healthier, I am happy to be back at my laptop to write about my plans to leave Kindle's Direct Publishing Select when it comes up for renewal at the end of this month. I am still using Kindle Direct Publishing for selling my books as Kindle ebooks but KDP Select is a program by KDP as a way to help ebook authors promote their works. It sounded like a great program to try out with my novella, The Priestess and the Ravenknight (P&R). By signing up and promising to sell P&R exclusively through KDP Select offered the follow (copied from their site) :
1. Earn higher royalties and earn your share of the KDP Select Global Fund amount when readers borrow your books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Plus, earn 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico.
2. Maximize my book's potential by using their two promotional options: Kindle Countdown Deals, time-bound promotional discounting for your book while earning royalties; or Free Book Promotion where readers worldwide can get your book free for a limited time.
3. Help readers discover your books by making them available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and reach the growing number of Amazon Prime customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Japan. 

It was all free and so I thought to give it a try. I filled out the forms and entered appropriate key words and categories that best described my book. I began spreading the word via emails and social networks. I spoke about it with my fellow writers locally and some of them also tried it. I did several free promotions and even tried the Kindle Countdown deal for a short time. 

All with very limited success. 

I'm not going to grumble or complain about KDP. Amazon did as they promised. I had no problems with them. I can only guess that I haven't marketed enough or correctly. If they did any promoting of my novella, I never saw it. I never got email promos or ads about my ebook so I am not even sure if anyone did.  I tried a email campaign service also and it helped a little. My download numbers were a meer few hundred at best. So how can readers try out my book if they don't know about it? How can KDP Prime members borrow the book if their can't find it. Heck, I couldn't find it without using the URL I copied and saved. My novella was buried or lost where it was difficult to find amongst so many many other ebooks available at Amazon KDP.  During my second enrollment I tried other keywords and categories and kept promoting as I could without driving my friends and the public crazy.  I created my author profile also and keep blog ads linked to Amazon. My marketing budget is very limited and without using a professional service, I can only expect what I got.

The result was most disappointing and I've decided that when my enrollment in KDP Select is up on Jan 31st, I will quit the program. I have 3 more promotion days to offer my ebook, The Priestess and the Ravenknight, for free. You're invited to download it tomorrow, Jan. 12th through Tuesday, Jan. 14th.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GEIK1N8

Remember this is only my experience with KDP Select. I am sure there are other writers out there that have done very well with the program and got a lot of downloads which turned into sales after the promotion was over. If this has happened to you, I welcome any advice or suggestions on you did it that resulted in many downloads and sales. What kind of marketing did you use? How long did you use it? What days did you promote your book? What kind of keywords or categories did you use?

Once I am done with KDP Select, I will turn P&R into an Epub ebook and begin marketing it and selling it at various online sites independently. I may even put it into CD form and sell it at book signings. It's time to plan my next move as I continue to sell both Realmwalkers and P&R this new year. 

And now that I am doing better, it's time to get to back to work on my next book.

I look forward to your comments and reviews of The Priestess and the Ravenknight, free tomorrow through Tuesday at Amazon Kindle.

Keep on writing! Don't give up!



Happy New Year!

Dear friends and colleagues,
Sorry for not posting here in a long while. I have been battling a nasty cough and cold for over a week now. I am doing better and hope to get back on my usual blogging routine and blog story. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you a happy and prosperous new year. Are you ready to write new books and stories as we enter into 2014? I plan to get back into writing my third book plus return to drawing once my health improves. Sadly, this may still take a few more days of bed rest. But I can't wait! I'm ready to work on my next book.
This cold medication is making me woozy so before I drift off to la la land once again, I want to thank all my friends and readers who have been so supportive not just in 2013, but ever since I have started writing in earnest. I want you to know how much I appreciate your support and encouragement. I wouldn't have gotten these two books done without it. I am grateful to have such good friends and colleagues around both locally in Havasu and online. Thanks so much!
Happy New Year and keep on writing!