Peter Laurent's Blog - Posts Tagged "book-two"
Inspiration, homages and a Progress Update
Enough about the marketing already!
Ok.
I don't know if anyone is interested, but throughout The Covert Academy, there a quite a few little winks and nods to other popular media.
It's like those sayings, "Stealing from one person is plagiarism, stealing from many is research," and "If you're going to steal, steal from the best."
That's not to say I've ripped off other people's work. It has merely inspired me to write my own.
However I can not resist including homages in my book to some of them.
(Very minor spoilers below)
There are a couple obvious ones, such as: invisibility (Harry Potter's cloak, the One Ring from LOTR etc.)
the super suits (Halo, Crysis, Iron Man and many many others)
Then there are many smaller homages, like Joshua saying "I'm making this up as I go." That is a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
How about "assuming direct control," which is from Mass Effect.
There are more, can you spot them?
I am a product of my media consumption like many others. My all-time favourite book and movie is The Lord of the Rings. I'm a huge geek!
It's not just media that is inspiring though. I traveled to Chicago in 2010 and seeing the layout of the city inspired me to set much of the book there.
I enjoy reading about futuristic technology. The Nyctalopia is very loosely based on the HyperSoar by Preston Carter from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I can't remember where I first heard about it but the concept has always fascinated me.
(Minor spoilers over)
As for book two, I haven't started yet! Yes, this blog is a great way to procrastinate.
I've been going over my notes from early 2012. They are way out of date, and much has changed since writing the first one. The core ideas are still there, but it has gotten much more complex.
At the moment I'm updating old character bios and writing new ones for new characters.
It's exciting. Part 2 of a trilogy is often my favourite.
Time to get back into it!
Cheers,
-Petes
Ok.
I don't know if anyone is interested, but throughout The Covert Academy, there a quite a few little winks and nods to other popular media.
It's like those sayings, "Stealing from one person is plagiarism, stealing from many is research," and "If you're going to steal, steal from the best."
That's not to say I've ripped off other people's work. It has merely inspired me to write my own.
However I can not resist including homages in my book to some of them.
(Very minor spoilers below)
There are a couple obvious ones, such as: invisibility (Harry Potter's cloak, the One Ring from LOTR etc.)
the super suits (Halo, Crysis, Iron Man and many many others)
Then there are many smaller homages, like Joshua saying "I'm making this up as I go." That is a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
How about "assuming direct control," which is from Mass Effect.
There are more, can you spot them?
I am a product of my media consumption like many others. My all-time favourite book and movie is The Lord of the Rings. I'm a huge geek!
It's not just media that is inspiring though. I traveled to Chicago in 2010 and seeing the layout of the city inspired me to set much of the book there.
I enjoy reading about futuristic technology. The Nyctalopia is very loosely based on the HyperSoar by Preston Carter from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I can't remember where I first heard about it but the concept has always fascinated me.
(Minor spoilers over)
As for book two, I haven't started yet! Yes, this blog is a great way to procrastinate.
I've been going over my notes from early 2012. They are way out of date, and much has changed since writing the first one. The core ideas are still there, but it has gotten much more complex.
At the moment I'm updating old character bios and writing new ones for new characters.
It's exciting. Part 2 of a trilogy is often my favourite.
Time to get back into it!
Cheers,
-Petes
Book 2 Update - The Covert Academy series
Yep. "Book 2". That's the title for now!
I have several proper titles I'm still deciding between.
Titles are tricky, but oh so important.
The original title of The Covert Academy was in fact "Hyperacuity", until about 3 weeks before publishing.
The purpose of that name was a bit obscure, and the series was always going to be called The Covert Academy anyway, so I thought why not just call the first book by the series' name?
And now I think it's much more suitable.
I am making progress with Book 2. First I organised and updated my notes for Book 1 as a refresher, then wrote several pages worth for new characters, plot twists, locations and more, for Book 2.
Today I have been writing out a much more detailed plot summary, which will help guide me while writing the bulk of the text in the coming months.
I am going into more detail with my notes this time around, since Book 2 must sync up perfectly, continuity-wise, with Books 1 & 3.
Though I do want to also leave room for spontaneous creativity while writing.
I am aiming to have Book 2 done and published before Christmas 2013 or earlier if possible, but that is a very tentative estimate. I may well end up writing a longer book this time, since several people have commented on how the pacing felt very fast in Book 1. That was intentional, I like fast-paced books. It's a tricky balancing act, Book 1 was over 65,000 words, but maybe my writing could stand to be fleshed out more in a longer format novel.
We'll see!
Cheers,
-Petes
I have several proper titles I'm still deciding between.
Titles are tricky, but oh so important.
The original title of The Covert Academy was in fact "Hyperacuity", until about 3 weeks before publishing.
The purpose of that name was a bit obscure, and the series was always going to be called The Covert Academy anyway, so I thought why not just call the first book by the series' name?
And now I think it's much more suitable.
I am making progress with Book 2. First I organised and updated my notes for Book 1 as a refresher, then wrote several pages worth for new characters, plot twists, locations and more, for Book 2.
Today I have been writing out a much more detailed plot summary, which will help guide me while writing the bulk of the text in the coming months.
I am going into more detail with my notes this time around, since Book 2 must sync up perfectly, continuity-wise, with Books 1 & 3.
Though I do want to also leave room for spontaneous creativity while writing.
I am aiming to have Book 2 done and published before Christmas 2013 or earlier if possible, but that is a very tentative estimate. I may well end up writing a longer book this time, since several people have commented on how the pacing felt very fast in Book 1. That was intentional, I like fast-paced books. It's a tricky balancing act, Book 1 was over 65,000 words, but maybe my writing could stand to be fleshed out more in a longer format novel.
We'll see!
Cheers,
-Petes
