Salisbury.Fake Weekly Update, writing

Writing Journal #4

I’ve been working rather steadily on the first draft of the third book. Lazarus Rising. Not the religious connotations it might seem to have, but kind of? Based purely on Tobias (the creator of Telaroth) liking the story of Lazarus so much he used the name as a way to distance himself from the problems he caused. It goes so much deeper than that, of course, but this book is one of the first we see into Lazarus. Characters go into the sister-world and it is truly one of the coolest places to spend an afternoon in my head.

I am currently doing some typing so I don’t have an entire book to type in a few months when I have the first draft done. But I’m writing chapter sixteen now. Just scootin’ right along.

I’ve been thinking more and more about submitting a few short pieces for magazines/journals/etc, but I know next to nothing about that process. I have a few friends who are regular submitters and they’ve offered advice, so when I get the confidence to start collecting rejections, I’ll implement what I learn from them.

Sometimes I beta read as well, and one of the things that surprises the people I read for is how fast I get it done. So, I’ve considered maybe turning that into a side hustle. Get some dollars for a hobby? I don’t know. I truly enjoy reading through people’s work and seeing how I can help them tell the story they want to. I don’t really do line-edits, but I do broader content and some typo assist. I keep waffling back and forth on asking for money for it, though, because it is something I really do enjoy.

But my father told me once never give my work away for free.

And the part of me that breathes words says the delight I get from doing this kind of thing is the payment I need or even want.

Things to think about, of course.

Aside from that, I have a secret-not-so-secret project looming for the summer months, and I’m excited about that in the sense that it’s a piece I never really thought I’d publish. It’s a romance novel of sorts, and one I’ve worked on for yeeeeears and years. Never putting it anywhere more than a now defunct forum.

I will get the first draft of Lazarus Rising finished, and then work on Daisy while Lazarus steeps. When I get to the fourth book in the Maker series, that’ll be a challenge because I’ve never written a draft–first person or third. Everything else has at least been through a first person POV version. Uncharted territory ahead, and it’s exciting but intimidating all at once.

Thanks for reading this ramble of writing thoughts. Until next time, friends.

Salisbury.Fake Weekly Update, writing

It’s All In How You Say It

Hey, how ya doin’? I hope you’re doing well. This blog is a sort of update on my writing projects. Not only am I reworking the first book of my trilogy, I’ve made some progress on my worldbuilding journal. I finished the setting discussion for Lazarus, including the history of Moarteans. It was a lot of insight into a world I neglected during my first few go arounds on this story. Discovering an entire culture has been so satisfying. The rise and fall of leaders, the growth and stagnation of policy, the wealth of “art” history. I say “art” because the Moartean way is more scientific, and more visceral. They aren’t a romantic bunch of people (in terms of love or historical era), so they tend to dwell on the pain and suffering aspect of life a lot more than the people of Fulcrum (our world).

As I was developing this background, I was thinking about how there’s this phrase that they use as a kind of blessing, “nantu sonsprek moartea-hi,” (the strength of the dead goes with you), and it struck me that this was a small insight into their language. They came up with a new language as a way to be above humanity and it slowly spread to the mega cities. Some humans of Lazarus can speak Moartean, but mostly it’s just used between the Moarteans.

Which brings me to my coolest thing I’ve done so far creatively. I am creating the Moartean language. Actually creating their language with real words and grammatical rules and there will be poetry, scientific literature, regular literature (all of that will be alluded to, because I’m not that cool yet). I’d kicked the idea around in my head for a while because I liked that they had a different way of speaking. It elevated them above the humans and then it became their way of surviving. Which is hella vague, I know, but the book explains more.

The words have a sound that’s got a combination of several of the Romance Languages, Russian, and Japanese/South Asian. The reason for this? It sounds good. The word for star is gakima (the plural being gakimai) pronounced “guh-KEE-muh” or “guh-KEE-muh-ee” and the word for everything is winexi, which is pronounced “wee-NEY-zhee.” There doesn’t appear to be a pattern to the words or anything so far, but I feel that’s accurate for the Moarteans in their earlier arrogance. They wouldn’t want the humans to learn their words.

So that’s where I’m at currently. Still working on the actual story, yes, but my side projects are keeping it all fresh in my head. I know my approach to writing isn’t necessarily what will work for others, but I enjoy sharing the process and the side bits to hopefully help others in their work.

Until next time, friends.