S.A. Bolich's Blog

You may not know that I write a long-running series at my regular blog called "Horses in Fiction." It aims at helping writers avoid all the Hollywood howlers about horses and write believable equines. I have discovered that readers like these posts, too, and find out all kinds of things they didn't know were wrong because they saw them on film.

The newest post is up today, talking about horses that balk unexpectedly and put their riders into a Situation. This can be funny, maddening, or incredibly dangerous for the rider, and is an excellent, never-ending and believable source of plot mayhem.

Check it out!

S. A. Bolich

From now until July 31st you can hang out in the Museum of the Arcane for 50% off the usual price of the ebook version of "Out of the Vaults" at Smashwords . This fast and funny collection of stories follows the adventures of the curator, Dr. Willoughby Thorne, and his faithful staff as they try to keep the most powerful artifacts in the world out of the hands of thieves, n'er-do-wells, and small children. This is not easy, because some of the objects in those vaults have minds of their own!

Use the coupon code SSW50 at checkout to get the sale price, and enjoy some light summer reading!

The direct link is here: www.smashwords.com/books/view/527098

I'm giving away 10 free review copies of Out of the Vaults between now and July 1. All I ask in return is that you do post a review here on Goodreads and at Amazon. In return, you get to romp through the Museum of the Arcane with Dr. Willoughby Thorne and his faithful crew in his endless quest to keep the artifacts from leveling the place--or worse, bringing down the wrath of the board of directors!

You can claim your copy at the link below. Thanks, and enjoy the read!

http://www.instafreebie.com/campaign/...

How funny! My giveaway of "The Mask of God," which is set on the planet Ariel, produced two winners, one of whom is from Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania! What a wonderful coincidence--or is it the gods of Ariel moving matters to their satisfaction?

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. I hope you'll check out this book even if you didn't win.

Sue

Marshal McLuhan maintains that if you like page 69 of a book you should buy the book. Here's your chance to test that theory. Page 69 of my Civil War ghost story/fantasy is featured today at Barb Taub's site.

I invite you to take a look! I would love your feedback.

Sue

What really lies in heaven's shadow? What's in that place between life and the afterlife, where the ghosts of the dead can still yearn for the living, and the living still have choices? Does love end there? Should it?

Lilith and Joab came late to love but they were happy as larks until the Civil War came along and smashed everything apart. Joab went off to fight Yankees and Lilith spent two years trying to keep their farm in the Shenandoah Valley going by herself. And then Gettysburg came along and killed Joab--but he didn't want Heaven. He wanted Lilith. So he bargained with God and came home to her...and that's when things get interesting.

Aside from scandalized neighbors and magic that pops out of Lilith at the most inconvenient times, her determination to make a life with her husband's ghost has a few bumps neither one of them counted on:

Joab's hand stole out, hesitated, and closed around hers. It felt like a moth had landed on her hand, so light it could have been just a passing breeze, but somehow Lilith knew she would have known the difference even if she hadn’t been watching.

“There,” she said in satisfaction. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

He didn’t say anything. After a bit, she dared to look at him. He had his head down, but even so, she could see he was crying. Shocked, Lilith reached to turn his head toward her, but he pulled away before her hand connected.

“Now what? Joab? What’d I do?”

“Nothing.” His voice came thick and low. He reached up and swiped at his face. “I just—I guess I didn’t think it was going to be like this.”

“Like what?”

“I—I want to touch you, Lil. Hold you. Take you up to bed and love you. This—” He flapped his hand around at nothing in particular. “This is almost as bad as layin’ curled up under a blanket up north, wishing I was here. I got through many a night dreaming about home. Now it just ain’t like I imagined, is all.”

Her throat got tight. “Joab—”

He jerked a hand up to shush her. Lilith shushed, reaching for his hand. She held on when he tried to pull away. It made her throat ache again because she remembered his hands as being so strong, but she kept quiet, cradling a thin piece of life between her hands. Just a little slice, a whisper of nothing, Pa used to say, but when nothing quit whispering, you didn’t have anything left at all. So she fought for her piece, and her man, and all that the war had left them.

"In Heaven's Shadow" isn't your typical ghost story, nor your typical love story, nor your typical fantasy, which is why I love it so much. Lilith is magical, funny, at times clueless, but very wise in her way of looking at life and death. Joab may be dead but he sees no reason to let it stop him from loving, honoring, and cherishing her for the rest of eternity.

Can they make it work? Better yet, will the neighbors let them?

Now you can find out, because "In Heaven's Shadow" is now available! Buy it in ebook form here:

Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes and Noble
Taliesin Publishing

Happy New Year! I had intended to write a reflective post about the past year, but that's a bit egocentric and I doubt that I could add anything particularly new or insightful. I would rather look forward, since a new year is a lot like the wonderful blank page that is the foundation of every new story. I adore that moment when I sit down to write something new. The page is limitless in its possibilities. That perfect white expanse, awaiting the mysterious little black shapes that spell out letters and words and sentences that turn themselves somehow into scenes and fantastic worlds. And the best part is—I never know where the story is going until it's done. That first sentence? I am always clueless what the world is going to be like, how the magic works, or who is going to inhabit my pages. It's a mystery, it is, and so is every new year until it almost imperceptibly becomes the old year viewed in our rear view mirrors.

What do I know about 2014? I know that I am writing Delver, the fourth and last book in the Masters of the Elements series, the most recent of which was Seaborn , released in September. We will all (including me!) finally learn why Fire is in rebellion against Earth Mother, and what the clans must do to prevent the ultimate firestorm sweeping away Metrenna and every living thing in the land. The story is already developing layers I had no idea were lurking in there. The story-within-the-story is poignant and shy and I hope I am good enough to capture it as it should be captured.

I also know that I will be publishing at least three other books this year, through Taliesin Publishing and Sky Warrior Books. The first is In Heaven's Shadow from Taliesin, a Civil War ghost story/fantasy that I wrote the only time I took up the NaNoWriMo challenge. I like this book a lot because it helped me deal with my dad's death, and it is offbeat and let me put on my historian's hat for once while still getting to put in some cool magic. I have a degree in history and I love to research, so this one was fun to write even though the themes of death and afterlife and respectability often hit pretty close to home. Did you know that the American mortuary industry was pretty much born amid the horrors of the Civil War, as both North and South struggled with the aftermath of battles that produced as many as 12,000 dead soldiers in one day? Before the war, most families buried their own dead; as the big battles began, it became necessary to find a way to preserve bodies well enough to ship fallen soldiers home to their grieving families for proper burial. While coffin-building and embalming took a quantum leap forward, the actual shipping was quickly abandoned as logistically impractical. The sad fact is, as the war dragged on, most families got only the word that their loved ones were dead, with no body to bury and only a funeral service to try and achieve closure. And when so many died at once, often torn to pieces by cannon fire, many families only ever got the thin hope of “missing” to cling to. Hope can be a terrible thing, as we will see when In Heaven’s Shadow comes out February 6th.

I am also launching a new high fantasy/soft SF series this year from Sky Warrior Books called Fate’s Arrow. I love the idea that humankind knows so little of what actually may lurk in the vastness of the unexplored universe. It leaves open the possibilities of what we may encounter on foreign planets when, someday, we may finally set foot there. And when unsuspecting humans encounter alien catalysts—well, who can say what is real and what is not when human wishing and human ambition meet the very stuff of Creation? Oh, my.

The first book in the series, “The Mask of God,” is in the last stages of production. The cover is looking awesome and I have only to return the final proof to my publisher. And then a story I started over 20 years ago will finally get out to the world, full of gods who aren’t gods but have all of a god’s powers—and a god’s single-minded purpose; human pawns who refuse to act like pawns; and two royal brothers who really only just want to get through the day without somebody taking potshots at them. These books are about love and loyalty and the deepest desire of the human heart to believe in something...but just what our hero finds to believe in may surprise you. And they’re about magic, that also has its own, inexorable requirements.

I plan to resume writing my “Horses in Fiction” blog series this year as well. I confess that I have not had the heart for it because my own riding was so severely curtailed this last year. It is tough having horses standing around the pasture that you are not medically allowed to get on and ride. But, rather than sit around and whine, I will play with them to the best of my ability and share what I know with you all. Heh, see there? In Heaven’s Shadow, which is set in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, is lingering on my tongue, as I hope the story itself will stay with you.

Have a very delightful new year, everyone. I hope we can share part of the journey together!

Alas, for some reason known only to Goodreads, when I added "Seaborn" to my author page it did not bring in the cover. So beneath that ugly plain picture Goodreads is using lies a book that is NOT self-published, but released through Sky Warrior Books and found everywhere. You can see the actual cover at my website: http://www.sabolichbooks.com, or at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Seaborn-Masters...). Or Smashwords. Or B&N. Or... pick a place.

So don't be put off by a boring cover image, please. I can't control what Goodreads puts up there, or at least, if there's a way, I haven't learned it yet. Anyone know how to fix it?

Heh, heh, heh. It has been a good day. Not only is it a gorgeous Indian summer day in my neck of the woods, tinted with gold and crowned with blue, but it has been productive as well. At long, long last I have all the threads of Seaborn in my hands.

This is a bigger victory than you know. This year has been a struggle on the writing front because of the concentration factor caused by my back. I've been trapped in a vicious circle for awhile, of back pain leading to no sleep leading to fuzzy concentration leading to serious drop in productivity leading to anxiety leading to insomnia... You get the picture. I've had the mental acuity of a gnat lately.

Several things clicked today. For one, I actually got a little decent sleep last night, always a plus. For another, all my winter wood is now in the barn, which means I can relax and not worry about the gathering chill at night and the slow creep of the year toward winter. I like heating my house with wood heat, not least because it is proof against power outages, of which there was one memorable 9-day marathon that was...not fun. But it is a yearly adventure getting it in. That's one.

Two, I actually remembered to haul out the ladder and sweep the chimney. I confess it was to avoid sitting on the deck pounding away at Seaborn, which until today was crawling onto the page rather than bounding with the usual exuberance of stories wanting to be told. Some of my novels have poured out like Tigger arriving at a party; Seaborn has sat there like Eeyore, stubbornly refusing to come out and join the gang. But--but!!! Somewhere between putting the ladder away and sitting back down with the laptop, Tigger must have goosed Eeyore, because the second I sat down I wrote a line of dialog that broke the whole dang plot loose.

All of it! At last I know why my sentient elements are doing what they're doing in this book. And it was waaaaaaay better than anything I imagined. Up to this point I only knew that Water was very upset, and making it known in spectacular fashion. I knew what the climactic scene would look like but I was definitely mired in the muddle in the middle trying to figure out how to get there. And I was having a bit of a hard time wrapping in the thread from Windrider that I had envisioned at the end of that book. (Yes, series can be tricky things to write when you had not originally envisioned book 1 as part of a series.) As I am firmly in the make-it-up-as-you-go camp of writers rather than the outliners who plot everything out in advance, this was not unexpected but still somewhat maddening. Usually my subconscious is much better at spinning threads together much faster.

Although each book in the Masters of the Elements series can be read as a standalone novel, independent of the rest, there is a definite overarching storyline that runs through the series, with each book picking up and advancing it. Maintaining the integrity of the story arc, making the action in previous books relevant, yet not giving away the entire plot of those books, is an interesting and complicated balance that must be kept in a series like this. Some authors just plunge ahead with the continuing story and don't give you backstory; others spend half the following book catching you up on the series. I like to ground you without burying you in detail, so that you can savor each book on its own. I am thus very grateful for that line of dialog that will now help me pick up the threads of both the previous books rather effortlessly.

Yep. I definitely hit a trifecta today!

Just from curiosity, how do you, the readers, like your series? Tolkien-fashion, as a continuing story? Dresden fashion, with a loose arc and a stand-alone set of books? Total understanding of the previous action, or just enough to feel like you know what's going on? Drop me a comment. I'd really like to know.

Next time, a Horse in Fiction post. Any suggestions or something you'd really like to know?

September is down to a few hours, which seems impossible given that yesterday it was June. Or something like that. It has been a lovely summer since it finally quit raining in July, and it seems to want to linger, which I don't mind at all. Because my back is still hurting and I was awake several times last night, I had occasion to note that the air coming through the open bedroom window was not at all cold. This is good! It means I don't have to think about splitting wood for a while longer. It also means I don't have to say goodbye to summer just yet.

I love the change of seasons, though I always hate to see summer go. It always seems so long until the next year and the start of my favorite of all seasons. But this in-between time before the fall rains set in has its charms as well. I appreciate the daylight because it is getting shorter every day. I appreciate the cool evenings to ride in (as do my horses) and the colors starting to burn through the mask of green in the woods. And I appreciate the leisurely feel to autumn, which always seems to slip quietly by, unlike the frenetic summer when we're all trying to seize every moment before it's gone. You resign yourself to autumn being here, and quit worrying about mowing the grass (mine is done for the year), and just sit on the deck and breathe air that is not quite so dusty, a little bit crisp, a little bit laden with the tint of the coming cold. It shakes you out of the August doldrums and reminds you that life is out there, waiting to be captured onto the page.

My writing group, the Other Worlds Writers' Workshop, does a series of Short Story in a Week challenges twice a year, in March and September. The September challenges for this year just finished on Friday, and while I had little time to write for fun this time, I did get four stories in (usually I try for and get eight). Each time they were written on Friday, beginning sometime in the afternoon and finishing usually an hour or two before the midnight deadline. Every week I would look at the mandatory word lists and get...nothing. Only once, in Week 1, did a complete story jam itself into my head full-blown from one of the words (dollhouse). The rest were a matter of staring at the page waiting for an interesting first sentence to shape itself.

That is usually where my short stories come from: the first sentence, which leads to another sentence that intrigues me, which eventually presents a story idea, which eventually resolves itself into a plot and I can see where the story is going. At that point the thing writes itself. Up to that point the story often flounders, however, as sometimes evidenced by the critiques from the workshop, which complain that the story starts slowly or bogs down somewhere in the middle. Yep, I get that. But sometimes you just have to wait it out, write it, and then figure out where it really starts and which bits are essential to keep.

Once again the challenges reminded me that writers write. Every single week, despite a distinct lack of enthusiasm, as soon as I sat down and said to myself, "I will get a story in", lo and behold, the tap turned on and the words came out. This happens every time I work on Seaborn as well, my current novel WIP. The problem is in wedging writing time in amid work and life obligations, lack of sleep, and the constant, concentration-blowing demand for attention from my back. Writing should not be a matter of inspiration, though it is ever so much more fun to have the words pouring out rather than being dredged up one at a time with a bucket. Motivation is a far bigger determinant as to productivity. Deadlines help. So do fans who let you know they like your books and want to read the next one. But if you don't have those, what gets you going?

For me, it's always been about simply loving to write. I actually adore that blank page because it presents endless possibilities. Of late it's harder, though. When you're tired and you hurt all the time, life loses much of its wonder. Working up enthusiasm even for the things you love becomes difficult. I am, therefore, glad of the SSIAW challenges for the reminder that no matter how I feel, the words are still in there. All I have to do is get it done.

And having said that, I think I will take my achy back out onto the deck, into the nice soft chaise, plug in the laptop, and see what my characters in Seaborn are up to today. The stinkbug invasion this year is truly awesome, but the fall days when I can sit outside won't last forever. I will ignore the little monsters crawling on the house and occasionally dive-bombing my head, and write. Motivation. Yeah.

Screw that. Just do.

Seaborn will be the third book in my Masters of the Elements series begun in Firedancer and continued in Windrider . Thank you all for the kind reviews thus far! I hope you enjoy Seaborn as well when it comes out next spring.