James M. Vargo Books

Still waiting? And so it continues. Estimates in life are the norm, but estimates in writing are something less. Perhaps that's the way it should be.  I estimated a book 300 pages long and a certain word-count, about 100K; but here I sit at 327 pages and I still have story to go.  But a tale takes on its own life, and getting the story right is what counts the most.  Right? In the land of popular literature and journalism, words counts are solid and must be kept that way.  But this is Fantasy where we have no rules, and the only thing that rules is the story itself  (Pardon the dramatic verse).  So once again, the time has come to practice our virtues.  Patience will rule the day!   Prince of the Furies will be good and ready when it is, and no less. 

A new day in Turra Arrither       Yes, tonight is about a very important number; no not 2013, this is a number dearer to my heart -- 100K . A writer should set goals, and 100,000 words is a heavy one. Some books need not go that far, but Epic Fantasies, well, tend to ignore puny word counts. Does that mean "Prince of the furies" is finished? Not quite, but I'm nearing the climatic end. So, a little ways to go; just a re-write or three, some new maps, a glossary. Sigh. Need I go on?    Ok, I better acknowledge the other somewhat important event of this evening -- Happy New Year!  A blessed 2013 for those who enjoy my books, or just like the blog (hey, the pics are nice. Right?). To my writers friends out there, happy writing in this year to come. So whatever you do in 2013, do it well!    To celebrate, Here's another snippet from book three -  Prince of the Furies (not the finished edit, mind you ): B renn was most eage...

Lanfersi Forest in Winter I just had to make an entry here. December has arrived, and I've been holding on to this picture just waiting for a chance to use it. Nature seems to celebrate Christmas its own way...and it is breathtaking.  Here I sit at 92,500 words, and I'm trying to wrap things up in the next two chapters. Big ending?  Well, not the full-scale war as at the end of  Passage , so no, not as big. But better?  Wow, pressures on. I hope so. The edit will offer me a better idea of how to manage lagging parts and such, then you can be the judge. I am ready to give it my best effort -- for some reason, holiday season's past saw a leap in productive writing, and I am excited to hopefully do it again. And since I've collected a bunch of fine winter scenes, here's another for your enjoyment. Happy holidays!

Sorry, that's all.  Busy writing...

Forging ahead.    90,000 words in and the novel is forging ahead. How much longer? Never an easy question. A few more chapters should do it. Then the Prince of the Furies will be ready. Well, almost. Editing and putting together that dreaded promised glossary are still ahead, but it will work out fine in the end. And oh yes, one more map. Yikes! Thank you for your patience.     Also, for those who have not read Passage of the Acolyte, books one and two, I have some ideas to get books into your hands. Maybe a Black Friday sale? Kidding aside, I will look into getting kindle books for FREE , and selling the hard copies as low as I can manage it -- even if I have to sell them myself. Keep you posted.

        Ah, the memories. The books came out early '11 and haven't looked back since. OK, that sounds a little silly, but I can say "Passage" came out I have looked mostly to the future (and that future would be 1654 A.E). Another year and lots of changes. Here's another snippet from Book three, "Prince of the Furies": A sapphire sky greeted them at the crest of a stony gap between taller peaks – Mount Kalia in the north and Mount Tullia in the south, a mother and daughter, wife and kin of Turrult himself who tamed this land. Beneath their stares, the valley of Karn spread out green and wide; the village perceptible as a tiny hamlet in the middle of forests and bare mounded hills. It was then Andro recalled the fire they had seen from the village. “There should be evidence of such a thing. It had to be a grand blaze indeed,” he said.    “If there is evidence, we shall find it soon enough,” replied Turran as they finished the last p...

Mount Equinox - middle keep When a story hits a roadblock, or a snag trips up a writers pace, I found one way of recharging the batteries -- looking back . Seems when I get blogged down and need a stiff kick in the pants, I turn back a few chapters and start reading. Hopefully, you won't easily put it down. The first reason looking back helps: its called returning to basics. Recall details that may have been forgotten, or items you meant to bring up later and misplaced. Second reason: reinvigorate. We are rarely our harshest critic, but in editing your own work, re-reading should ignite those fires that got you there in the first place. What if there is no fire? Maybe it's time to look at your story. And third :   get a jump on editing. There is no stiff rule on how many times you can edit your own work, and if lucky, revision by others; but the writer should be his/her first judge (my opinion) and you alone have the writer's eye. Try it out and see if this tec...