Ask the Author: Shei Darksbane
Answered Questions (5)
Shei Darksbane
We do intend to put the rest into paperback, however it is not a priority as we are already working on another cover set for them and will wait until that is finished to get them in print. Print is unfortunately not that requested for indie authors, so a lot don't bother with them at all these days. I like to provide that option for our readers, but it's never the most important thing with any series. I hope you'll enjoy them in digital form until they arrive in print!
Shei Darksbane
Write.
This is the oldest advice in the book and you'll read it a thousand times if you go looking for advice. There is a reason for that. This is the way to become a good writer.
Read.
You will find this advice as many times and there is good reason for that too. You can not make good art without seeing good art. If you don't know what good art looks like, how can you replicate it? Read everything. Read your favorite genre. Read other genres. Read authors you love. Read authors you hate. Read fiction, read non-fiction, read your cereal box, read that scrap of paper on your desk. (I think Neil Gaiman wrote something like this once...;) Can't remember.)
Just make sure you're reading. When you're a writer, reading is part of your job. It can go on your work clock. You need to read actively at all times in order to keep honing your craft. Don't neglect the reading.
Why do I give these most commonly repeated advices?
I'm glad you asked.
Story time.
When I was a young artist (yes, I was mainly an artist before turning to writing), I hated repeating drawings. I didn't like erasing parts I'd already drawn. I didn't want to go back and redo the sketch. I just didn't have the patience for it.
For years, when I asked great artists "How do you get so good?" They would reply, "Practice."
I hated the idea that there was nothing more to it than that. No secret? No tutorials or books I could go through and become a better artist? No schools or programs or anything, just... practice?
It felt like no advice at all and I was always disenchanted with the advice afterward.
Years later, I was in art school for the third time, having jumped around from program to program after finding the first two rather wanting. (Awful drawing? Gold star! As Dakota would say, Yeah, naw.) I was working on pieces and being told to redo them. Over and over. I hated it. I hated every single bit of it. But I had this one teacher who became my mentor and truly the greatest educator I'd ever had. Mr. Thomas Starnes. (He's incredible, btw. Look him up!) and I will never forget what he said to me when I asked how to be so good.
Mileage.
The only difference between you and me is mileage.
Specifically, miles of paper.
The drawings I've done could reach to the moon and back twice.
If you want to be great, just keep drawing. Draw every day. Draw miles and miles of paper. There's no special "talent" or "gift" that makes me better than you.
All there is... is Mileage.
So get to drawing.
The "practice" argument had always discouraged me before.
This was the first time it had inspired me.
I took Mr. Starnes' advice, and I asked him privately what I could do to make my drawings better, now.
He said I should learn to let go of what I'd done and do it again. If I realized I had made a mistake that wouldn't be fixed with a quick erase and a new stroke, if I was too far into the drawing but the proportions were off, or the angle was wrong, or I needed to reframe the composition... to turn the page and start again.
This was the hardest thing for me. I had a serious problem with "killing my darlings" (Steven King? I think so. Not sure.) And I hated, hated redoing things! (See again: No patience.)
But I tried, grudgingly, to take Mr. Starnes' advice. This is how much I respected the man, btw.
I started noticing when a sketch was off, and I would hear his words in my head. SIGH and turn the page.
I started getting better.
And while I'm no great artist, I went from a pretty bad artist, to a pretty good artist during my time under Thomas' mentorship.
He would say it was less to do with his teaching... and more to do with the mileage.
Okay, storytime over.
But Shei, what does this have to do with writing?
Writing is art, silly!
There's no difference.
There is no difference between me, an author with multiple published works that at least some people consider pretty good, and you, an author who wants to write but hasn't gotten there yet.
The only difference is mileage.
Miles of paper.
Miles of screen-text? idk how to parse that. But you know what I mean.
Write.
Write every day.
Write stories. Write blog posts. Write drabbles if you must.
Just write.
And when you realize a story isn't working... turn the page and redraw the sketch. Get the anatomy right. Fix the proportions. Reframe the composition. And make a better story.
You won't make great books until you can kill your darlings.
You won't make great books until you can write every day.
Write.
Read.
Create.
Mileage.
This is the oldest advice in the book and you'll read it a thousand times if you go looking for advice. There is a reason for that. This is the way to become a good writer.
Read.
You will find this advice as many times and there is good reason for that too. You can not make good art without seeing good art. If you don't know what good art looks like, how can you replicate it? Read everything. Read your favorite genre. Read other genres. Read authors you love. Read authors you hate. Read fiction, read non-fiction, read your cereal box, read that scrap of paper on your desk. (I think Neil Gaiman wrote something like this once...;) Can't remember.)
Just make sure you're reading. When you're a writer, reading is part of your job. It can go on your work clock. You need to read actively at all times in order to keep honing your craft. Don't neglect the reading.
Why do I give these most commonly repeated advices?
I'm glad you asked.
Story time.
When I was a young artist (yes, I was mainly an artist before turning to writing), I hated repeating drawings. I didn't like erasing parts I'd already drawn. I didn't want to go back and redo the sketch. I just didn't have the patience for it.
For years, when I asked great artists "How do you get so good?" They would reply, "Practice."
I hated the idea that there was nothing more to it than that. No secret? No tutorials or books I could go through and become a better artist? No schools or programs or anything, just... practice?
It felt like no advice at all and I was always disenchanted with the advice afterward.
Years later, I was in art school for the third time, having jumped around from program to program after finding the first two rather wanting. (Awful drawing? Gold star! As Dakota would say, Yeah, naw.) I was working on pieces and being told to redo them. Over and over. I hated it. I hated every single bit of it. But I had this one teacher who became my mentor and truly the greatest educator I'd ever had. Mr. Thomas Starnes. (He's incredible, btw. Look him up!) and I will never forget what he said to me when I asked how to be so good.
Mileage.
The only difference between you and me is mileage.
Specifically, miles of paper.
The drawings I've done could reach to the moon and back twice.
If you want to be great, just keep drawing. Draw every day. Draw miles and miles of paper. There's no special "talent" or "gift" that makes me better than you.
All there is... is Mileage.
So get to drawing.
The "practice" argument had always discouraged me before.
This was the first time it had inspired me.
I took Mr. Starnes' advice, and I asked him privately what I could do to make my drawings better, now.
He said I should learn to let go of what I'd done and do it again. If I realized I had made a mistake that wouldn't be fixed with a quick erase and a new stroke, if I was too far into the drawing but the proportions were off, or the angle was wrong, or I needed to reframe the composition... to turn the page and start again.
This was the hardest thing for me. I had a serious problem with "killing my darlings" (Steven King? I think so. Not sure.) And I hated, hated redoing things! (See again: No patience.)
But I tried, grudgingly, to take Mr. Starnes' advice. This is how much I respected the man, btw.
I started noticing when a sketch was off, and I would hear his words in my head. SIGH and turn the page.
I started getting better.
And while I'm no great artist, I went from a pretty bad artist, to a pretty good artist during my time under Thomas' mentorship.
He would say it was less to do with his teaching... and more to do with the mileage.
Okay, storytime over.
But Shei, what does this have to do with writing?
Writing is art, silly!
There's no difference.
There is no difference between me, an author with multiple published works that at least some people consider pretty good, and you, an author who wants to write but hasn't gotten there yet.
The only difference is mileage.
Miles of paper.
Miles of screen-text? idk how to parse that. But you know what I mean.
Write.
Write every day.
Write stories. Write blog posts. Write drabbles if you must.
Just write.
And when you realize a story isn't working... turn the page and redraw the sketch. Get the anatomy right. Fix the proportions. Reframe the composition. And make a better story.
You won't make great books until you can kill your darlings.
You won't make great books until you can write every day.
Write.
Read.
Create.
Mileage.
Shei Darksbane
We are NOT done with Dakota! I have only written what I consider her "Origins arc". I'm working on the next book, albeit slowly while we deal with some personal family issues. My health has been exceedingly poor the past several months, until I was finally given a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia which allowed me to get onto medications that are ACTUALLY helping me! So, as sorry as I am to my fans for having been so long astray on writing Dakota stories faster, I intend to write them faster this next quarter and the year that follows. I have so many Dakota stories to tell, and I don't want to let you down! My health just hasn't been cooperative, nor has my life in general lately.
If you want to be sure you see the next release notifications as soon as possible, please go join our newsletter (on our site) and like our facebooks. We have one for Darksbane Books where we announce new releases, but if you want to like mine and Anna's author pages, you'll get the most updates.
Also, we have a Patreon. If you want to help us put out books faster, this is the best way to do so. I know you already pay for the books, but you have to remember that we're indies and we have to pay for everything that gets our books to print (or digital). I ask that people join our Patreon ONLY if you REALLY want to see us succeed and just want another way to help us get books out faster. Otherwise, I do offer that at $1 pledge level, you get lots of extra posts, behind the scenes stuff, and access to everything we post there. So at the very basic level, you get something for your money.
Long-winded answer is long-winded: Yes, there are more Dakota books to come. I'm sorry for how slow I am. Stuff is hard right now. If you want to support us more, please check out our Patreon.
I hope this answers your question. Thank you again for being a fan of our works! I really hope to release more enjoyable content to you as soon as possible!
In the meantime, check out our Dying Ashes series if you haven't, and Anna's also completed her Steel & Steam novella series for Kindle Worlds. You don't have to have read anything else in that world to read her series. It stands alone. :) So there's more if you want something to read while you wait! We also have several short stories. If you aren't sure you've read everything we've put out, feel free to message me and I'll help you find it!
Thank you!
If you want to be sure you see the next release notifications as soon as possible, please go join our newsletter (on our site) and like our facebooks. We have one for Darksbane Books where we announce new releases, but if you want to like mine and Anna's author pages, you'll get the most updates.
Also, we have a Patreon. If you want to help us put out books faster, this is the best way to do so. I know you already pay for the books, but you have to remember that we're indies and we have to pay for everything that gets our books to print (or digital). I ask that people join our Patreon ONLY if you REALLY want to see us succeed and just want another way to help us get books out faster. Otherwise, I do offer that at $1 pledge level, you get lots of extra posts, behind the scenes stuff, and access to everything we post there. So at the very basic level, you get something for your money.
Long-winded answer is long-winded: Yes, there are more Dakota books to come. I'm sorry for how slow I am. Stuff is hard right now. If you want to support us more, please check out our Patreon.
I hope this answers your question. Thank you again for being a fan of our works! I really hope to release more enjoyable content to you as soon as possible!
In the meantime, check out our Dying Ashes series if you haven't, and Anna's also completed her Steel & Steam novella series for Kindle Worlds. You don't have to have read anything else in that world to read her series. It stands alone. :) So there's more if you want something to read while you wait! We also have several short stories. If you aren't sure you've read everything we've put out, feel free to message me and I'll help you find it!
Thank you!
Shei Darksbane
Hi Merciella. Thanks for the question.
The answer is that my wife has become a writing machine in the past year and I can barely keep up with her. We credited our works honestly. You can tell who did the bulk of the writing by whose name is first on a title. And on the few where one of us didn't really do more than edit the other, we include only the main author's name.
If you want to be sure to always keep up with our releases, why not join our mailing list? You can find it easily on Darksbanebooks.com and never miss a new release. :)
The answer is that my wife has become a writing machine in the past year and I can barely keep up with her. We credited our works honestly. You can tell who did the bulk of the writing by whose name is first on a title. And on the few where one of us didn't really do more than edit the other, we include only the main author's name.
If you want to be sure to always keep up with our releases, why not join our mailing list? You can find it easily on Darksbanebooks.com and never miss a new release. :)
Shei Darksbane
Hi, Adam! I'm glad you've enjoyed our works.
I assure you there's plenty more coming.
We had a hectic few months last year after our last release due to our family moving across the state and a few other things that happened all at once.
That said, books are in the works, and more than just book 3!
A large part of the delay has also come from the fact that book 3 has taken me on a ride and I've re-written the beginning at least half a dozen times. That said, each time, I've come closer to creating the book I want, the book you guys deserve. I do hate to leave you all waiting for so long, but I'm hoping when you get your hands on it, you'll feel it was worth the wait.
I hope to have a release announcement soon! If you're not already signed up for our newsletter, hop over to the website and join up so you won't miss it!
Shine on!
I assure you there's plenty more coming.
We had a hectic few months last year after our last release due to our family moving across the state and a few other things that happened all at once.
That said, books are in the works, and more than just book 3!
A large part of the delay has also come from the fact that book 3 has taken me on a ride and I've re-written the beginning at least half a dozen times. That said, each time, I've come closer to creating the book I want, the book you guys deserve. I do hate to leave you all waiting for so long, but I'm hoping when you get your hands on it, you'll feel it was worth the wait.
I hope to have a release announcement soon! If you're not already signed up for our newsletter, hop over to the website and join up so you won't miss it!
Shine on!
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