Aleks Canard's Blog: FROM THE CONCESSION STAND

I don't know if anyone reads these, but since I have essentially deleted all other forms of social media, here is as good of a place as any.

I published a new novella last year, The Lies of Lucas Gaspar which once again features Xu. And tells an important origin story of an Eternal within my shared universe. I really do need a name for the overarching story at this point. I'll get there, eventually.

Onto the actual news.

Three new novels will be published hopefully by the end of this weekend, at the very most within the next fortnight. I thought it would just be one novel when I began. But they total nearly 750K words across all three.

They are still within the Terrae world, however, they take place a few years before Shadows Over The West in Graschwulf's kingdoms, though you could read them either before or after Jedd's first adventure.

Currently, I'm writing Jedd's next story Where The Dead Men Sing which stands at over 250K words and is nowhere close to done. It'll be another few volumes much like the soon to be published trilogy.

This trilogy will be momentous for any who have finished the Machina Novels. Fair warning, there are huge spoilers for the Machina Novels in this new trilogy which features Launcelot of the Lake.

Having said that, you could still read them before or after Trix's adventure. Much like Trix's books have spoilers for Dante's tale. I've thought a lot about the ideal reading order for all my books. I'm not sure if one exists. Different orders will just have different pay offs.

That's all for now. Back to work on Jedd's next adventure. Maybe I'll be able to write fulltime by the time I post next.

Until then, I am just grateful to keep writing.

While I am far from living solely off my royalties, more people than ever are reading my books.

If you are one of those people, thank you. Each sale still has me in disbelief.

Given this marginal increase in popularity, I thought it'd be appropriate to update anyone who might care about my latest series. This update is especially necessary since I despise using social media and will only post when a new book is published.

As Charles Bukowski says, only assholes talk about writing. I agree. So, I'll keep this succinct.

Shadows Over The West is my latest book which was published in July. I'm currently writing another novel still set in Terrae, just slightly earlier than Jedd's tale.

For those of you who've read well into the Machina Novels, this new story takes place after a certain tourney, near a peculiar lake.

I initially thought it would only be one novel comparable in size to Jedd's debut. It's since grown to the point where it may be in three parts.

God willing, I plan to publish the entire story in one hit sometime in late 2024 unless I sell enough books to quit my day job. Then I'll go back to writing three thousand words a day and it should be ready sooner.

Then it'll be straight on to Jedd's sequel. I miss him and the others and cannot wait to see them again.

Until next time, dear reader, I hope you enjoy the stories.

I pray I'm able to keep writing them forever.

I posted these responses to questions on Reddit a couple months ago, and thought I'd repost them here.

I can no longer remember the writer who originally said this, or even if this is exactly what he said, but it goes something like this:

"You cannot summon creativity. You can only set an attractive trap, and wait."

Gustave Flaubert said: "You must be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work."

This quote, and the one above, have essentially shaped how I wrote 3,000 words a day, without fail, for four years straight.

Establish a set time you can write every day. It doesn't matter when it is. It doesn't even matter if it's only fifteen minutes. I typically wake up, eat breakfast, exercise, then sit down to write. Find what works for you. Force yourself to sit at your desk for the time you have allotted, even if you don't write anything at the beginning. But don't sit there and procrastinate. Have your work open. Stare at the blinking cursor. If that's all you accomplish the first couple of days, then so be it. I certainly didn't go from not writing to smashing out 3k words a day. I built up to it. And some days will always be better than others.

Aim for maybe a hundred words a day. Every day. Take Sundays off at the start. Then, if your commitments don't allow you to extend the time you can write, aim to write two hundred words, then five hundred in the same time. See if you can hit a thousand words every day of the week. You'd be surprised how fast a book can be finished at this pace.

Reading books in your downtime also helps. So does consuming any media you deem to have a good story, whether it is a single player videogame campaign, or a movie. But don't fall into the trap of only writing when you're "inspired." Anyone can do anything when they feel such a way. But you will never be able to write consistently if you can't be consistent in your efforts. At least, I am yet to see an example to the contrary. Though anything is possible.

In my experience, writer's block is an apt phrase because it is exactly that. It is the writer's block. It is the writer who is blocking the story. A story only wants to be told. Don't stand in its way by thinking you know best, by forcing it down a path you wish to see, by allowing others to influence you, or by being fearful that you'll make mistakes. Put your faith into the story. Let it guide you to the end. All you will have to do is type.

What has helped me the most in terms of quotas and feeling a sense of dread if the words don't flow right away is to not view the word count as some dragon you have to slay. You have to look at it with soft eyes. See the place where the Heavens and the Earth, the stars and the planets, the place where everything that is, has been, and ever will be, all come together. Then you just have to remember, because your story, the one that wants you to tell it, it has already transpired.

Sit at your desk, or wherever it is you write. Just sit there for a moment. Still. Real still. Begin thinking of the story you want to tell. Allow yourself to see the main character. See the world. See characters you don't even know yet.

Eventually all these images will distil into a moment. That moment is how your story starts. But don't think about the story, or where it's gonna go. It has already happened. All you have to do is remember. Then begin typing. And let that initial moment guide you to the end. To places you never could have gone if you sought them out.

The rest will come if you let it because all a story wants is to be told. Don't stand in its way by worrying about the idea you originally planned. Don't worry about what others will think. Your job is just to tell the story, and, if you listen, you'll hear it being told to you. Maybe you'll even see it as though you're in a cinema. Then it's only a matter of copying down what transpires on the screen.

Have faith in the story. You'll be just fine.

I like Bob Dylan's definition of success the most.

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.

All too often I think people confuse financial success with success in general. I'm a prime example. I don't make much money from books at this point in time. Let's say that I couldn't afford to rent an apartment for three hundred a week, but I could live under a one million dollar bridge indefinitely if I had to survive on nothing other than royalties.

And that's fine. I never expected to be an overnight financial success. I'm just happy writing. As long as I hit my quota of 3,000 words a day, I count myself successful regardless of what my Amazon sales graph says.

I bring this up because I've been asked by a few people if I'll finish my Machina series, and my fantasy trilogy which has its first book releasing at the end of 2017. It's a fair enough question. I'd hate to become invested in a world then have it left unfinished.

That's why I'll be releasing one book from each series every year until they're done, regardless of how many sell. I always tell people that while I publish in the hopes of making a living, I write to see how the story unfolds.

So if you're one of the few people who's read Trix's first adventure and can't wait to see what happens next, you can rest easy. So long as the Projectionist keeps his films rolling, I'll be here, at my desk, transcribing them.

I'm not really a fan of social media. If it wasn't for promoting my books, I probably wouldn't use it. My disdain generally manifests by me taking the piss out of myself in every post. I mean, at the end of the day I'm a pretty average bloke. I sit in my room, watching a cinema inside my head and jot down what I see. The Bible calls it being the instrument, not the hand. I call it being a glorified typist. The Bible's version definitely sounds better.

Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to be serious for just a moment. Not about myself, rather about The Price of Royalty. It's my debut novel and it's out today. It's actually not the first novel I've ever written. That one's coming out at the end of the year. But I don't want to get ahead of myself now.

The people most important to me are mentioned before The Price of Royalty's opening pages, but there are a few others who deserve thanks. For their words were part of what gave me the courage to self-publish this story.

First, Geoff Ford, one of my father's friends, who said he didn't typically read science-fiction. Had never really liked those kinds of movies either. However, he wanted to give my book a chance. And he loved it. I was beside myself with happiness when I found out. Someone complimenting my writing is beaten only by writing itself.

I must also thank Scott Turner. I'd served him as a waiter a few times when he found out that I was an author. He handed me twenty bucks on the spot to purchase a proof copy. He finished it a day and a half later with rave reviews. I was elated, to put it mildly.

Lastly, my friend of many years from work, Emma Wishart, who purchased this book for her friend, Rebecca Coote. I am so grateful for what you said, Rebecca, and to Emma, for thinking my work was worthy enough to be given as a gift.

Today marks the first in a long adventure, dear reader. One undertaken by Beatrix Westwood and her many companions. I've seen glimpses of future stories in the cinema within my mind. And I can promise you this. You and I have seen nothing yet. Our journey has only just begun.

I hope you will be with me at the end.