HEART OF IRON Ch. 21
The next chapter marks the official midpoint of the first draft, and I want to talk about that for just a second.
I actually have 10 more chapters already written (with the goal of finishing this draft by November 30th; it's my NaNoWriMo goal if anyone else is into that). And the more I've written, the more I realized that the second draft is going to have to look a lot differently. Because having the Fae Realm be the setting for only one half of this book--and a prison break at the very end with such little set-up? That's not going to do it justice. Even if I spliced JC's parts with POV chapters from Bob (or Red Wolf, or Diamond), I sincerely doubt it would be enough. Also, the Fae Realm runs on a lot more magic rather than technology (which, duh, its inhabitants are almost all magical creatures), which means it's easier for JC, Nicole, and Cyrus to get their hands on some magical artifacts. Which is really cool (and that does happen in this draft), but it makes them a little overpowered in my opinion, especially since this is supposed to be the first of 4+ novels.
And since I plan on self-publishing an entire series, there's no pressure to try to cram as many settings into a single novel as possible. I get to take my time, linger and meander a bit in certain locations and let them breathe.
I will still finish this draft and continue to upload the chapters onto here as I've been doing--largely because it's giving me the chance to explore the Fae Realm, its culture, where Bob and Cyrus came from and how that's going to affect the way they operate, how the villain operates, etc. But when Heart of Iron finally hits shelves (I'm aiming for a 2025 publication), don't be surprised when the story is 99% on Earth rather than only 50% that we get here.
But this scene that utilizes Nicole's good luck magic? Yeah, that shit's staying for the final.
Comments (16)
I wheeze laughed out loud at the riding crop cut off lmao
Yes the stick to a gun fight was good 👍 but the naughty/knotty stick was awesome 👌 👏
My youngest son wants to be a writer. He was trying out the goal writing style you mentioned. He said he failed when he lost 2 pgs of work. I think that is his ADHD enjoying his disorganized room.
I like the line “you brought a stick to a gun fight and won”.
I beleive the proper name for a horse crop would be "Truth Stick"😏
Hells belles reference!
Quiet day today so I read all chapters at once. Fabulous. Thank you.
Quick typo on page 2: "I’m can’t let her"
Loved this chapter! glad to be at the midpoint and that ending got a real laugh out of me LOL
That was absolutely amazing. Nicole might be the biggest badass of the group. And she's kinky!
Nicole for the win!
Nicole is AWESOME! Loved this chapter even more than the others! Fan-fricken-tastic!
The purpose of a first draft is to START the creative process, start filling in the points of the outline, and allow the author to organize their thoughts. So just do all the rewriting/rearranging you need to arrive at the story YOU want to tell in the way YOU want it told. One good published author tells the story of submitting a short story for a anthology and end up publishing a 3 book series. So you go and write what Athena and Minerva give you.
That was freakin incredible!!! Im grinning and giggling like an idiot! Love Nicole's "fuckin armory"! More than pleased this is gonna be kept in the next draft, and very excited for all the detail we're gonna get when you can actually relax in your story and world building! Brilliant, as always!
It is so strange to hear my husband's work described in a fantasy novel!
Oh I love that