Scott D. Muller's Blog

I am up to my ears in ideas. My fourth book, the Web of Chaos is 50% done. Now that the holidays have passed, and we have managed to survive birthday season in our house, I should have more time to write. The kids are a blast, but they consume many hours of time. We have recently started playing Guitar Hero. My daughter seems to be a natural and the son (3 yrs. younger) is showing promise. So, here is an update about what is going on with my latest adventure.

The story is progressing nicely; the only problem is getting enough hours to put it all down on paper. It is looking like it will be close to 500+ pages and is packed with action, demon betrayal and magic. There are several new characters whom I have learned to love. Speaking of characters, I read an interesting essay the other day about how to create and reinvent fantasy. They stoned the typical stereotypes; said they were killing the genre. Lucky for me, my characters don’t follow those stereotypes, they are all dysfunctional is some fashion.

As we are now in the middle of the first month of the year, I look forward to delivering another book that continues the saga, probably April or May. I want to express my gratitude to those who have read and enjoyed my books enough to keep purchasing the next edition. As a request, if you enjoyed the book, please write a short review on Amazon. The Amazon reviews are the only way that we independent authors can generate movement.

My first book, the Eyes of the Keep, made it into Amazons top 100 for Action and Adventure, and also the Fantasy category last November and stayed there for a couple days. I guess I can now claim to be an Amazon top 100 seller. I cannot put into words how thrilled I was for that to finally happen.

Eyes of the Keep, the first book in my series made it into Amazon’s Best Sellers List for Action-Adventure->Fantasy. I made it to #38 and was sitting at #4800 book rank in all of the Amazon paid store. I never imagined having my book listed with the authors I read and study. My book was nestled between N. Gaimen, T. Goodkind on one side and T. Brooks on the other. I don’t know how long it will last, but I am enjoying the moment. Thanks goes out to everyone who has supported my work, bought books and offered words of encouragement.

I have spent a significant amount of time working on the outline, which currently sits at 82 pages. This book is shaping up nicely and many questions from the first three books are answered. I try not to pull a ‘Jordan’ and leave bread-crumbs of unfinished sub-plots scattered throughout the stories, especially if they are never resolved; I hate that!

So, back to the outlines. I find it useful to create detailed outlines; they help me visualize the entire story and see time and places where I might have conflicts. For example, you can’t have a character in two different places at the same time. That sort of thing isn’t allowed. I am not one of those people who can just sit down and hammer out a 500 page book without planning. I’m too anal…I guess. Although, I would be the first to admit that during the course of writing, stuff comes up and needs to be addressed. The characters will speak to me and tell me that there are things they wish to say and do that I did not originally plan.

I have character sheets, timelines and maps to  aid me in creating my world, but I try not to let these tools become a crutch. The tendency is to be too rigid and follow the outline to the letter, after-all–you put a ton of work into it! Well, sometime the characters have something to say about that, and the writer had better listen. Pissed-off characters are unpleasant to deal with. Best to keep them killing each other off and plundering the realms, otherwise they may invade my dreams!

I have finished editing Darkhalla and it is coming in at around 479 pages. I am waiting on the cover to be completed. The artist says that it will be ready by the end of the week. He promised… Once I have the cover in my greedy little hands, it will take me a couple days to finish the final formatting. The eBooks will hit the shelves of Amazon first; the physical books will follow by about two weeks, because I am forced to actually review the final printed copies. Better safe than sorry!

This book will be enrolled in the Amazon Select program, so you will be able to borrow the book for FREE if you are an Amazon Prime member.  Price is still being negotiated, but I think it will be $4.99 for the eBook, $15.99 for the 6×9 trade paperback.

It has been a journey. Darkhalla, the third book in the Legacy of the Ten series is almost out. It takes up where Eyes of the Keep and The Third Sign left off. I’m working on the edits, am updating the maps, and have a preliminary cover designed. What I originally outlined and planned as a 375 page book is now well over 470 pages. It seems that many of my characters had much more to say, and wanted you to know even more of the back-story of my world. That meant I had to slip the date a couple months, but the story is turning out great. I have really worked on further developing the characters and the plot is ripening as the scope reveals more of the treachery of the Ten. What were once just random events, now seem to be showing a pattern and the complicated politics of the Kings is coming into focus. My dark mage has put a devious plan into action, the world has shuddered, and even the mighty dragons are filled with trepidation. One has to wonder if a rag-tag group of wizards can prevent cataclysmic events that echo of the battles of Ror.

I know that people can get impatient while waiting for the next book of the series to come out. I thank you for your patience. Please know that I am working hard to make this book memorable. If I can get the last few hundred pages back from the editors, I can wrap this book up and get it out to Amazon in a couple weeks. I am humbled by your continued support.  Thank you all!

So, today I spent untold hours(7) rewriting a 10 page chapter. I struggled. I wrote the original chapter in about 4 hours and was happy with it. After giving it some time, I reread it. It felt a bit like Harry Potter goes camping. The story needed to be told, but the pace wasn’t right. My character was struggling with both inner demons and survival. I wanted it to come across without being…self-indulgent and …ah-em…boring. As the scene played in my head, I tried to put it down on paper. It seemed a little too much like “talking to a volleyball.” Scrapped that(its been done). Three chocolate-chip bagels with peanut butter, and six cups of coffee later… I’m happy…ish! It wasn’t exactly writers block, but it wasn’t easy flowing prose popping into my noggin either. This felt a bit STRANGE. I don’t usually struggle to find the right words. Was it worth the effort? Meh! I think so, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my story. I just want Darkhalla to be the best that it can be. Status update — still editing.

Hello everyone! My third book in the series, Darkhalla, has reached 350 pages. I am at the point where I will need to quickly decide between my two ending points. Option one requires 8 more chapters, where as the other will require 17 more chapters (to finish the rough draft). At this time, I am favoring the 8 more chapter version, which will bring in the book around 420-450 pages. Not sure I want this one to end up 575 pages+. I’ll move the other 9 chapters to book IV, which I am tentatively calling, Dark Mage Rising. None of the story will be lost either way.

My other consideration is schedule. I think I can finish book 3 with the first option by mid December, for an early January release. Otherwise…late February. Since this is another book in the multi-book epic, Legacy of the Ten, either would provide a satisfying conclusion. I’d love to hear people’s opinions…

Darkhalla, the third book in the Legacy of the Ten Saga, has reached 110,000 words.  The way I see it, the book is two-thirds done, or darn near that. The story picks up from where the Third Sign left off. Once again, I have decided not to write a prologue. The story is just too complex to try to explain in a short introduction; I feel that people should actually read the story in sequence.

I intend to spend this weekend writing two chapters, both of which help transition the book toward a series of conclusions around many of the smaller plot lines. The book needed a new creature which I mentioned in my outline.  Over the last few days, I pondered the attributes and formed a picture in my head. I’m happy with what I came up with and have started writing ‘it’ into the story; I am sure everyone will like what I’ve come up with.  There is going to be a onslaught of activity in these last fifteen or so chapters, just looking at my outlines makes my head spin.  I am extremely happy with how the book is developing.

Because there is much to do, I’m keeping this post short. Back to writing!

I am writing about 5 pages a day and have completed just shy of 200 pages on the third book, Darkhalla. I would say that I am almost half done, but I have only made it about a third through my outline. I am deeply satisified with the way the story is coming together. There are new twists, memorable characters and the world is getting more complicated. I am trying to weave together more bits-n-parts of the story in each chapter. I hope this will keep things rolling along nicely.