tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55486466614891071682024-03-05T03:12:53.341-06:00Magic City WritersA blog on Science Fiction and Fantasy Writings, with special focus upon the works of members of the Magic City Writers GroupR.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-53517934988714372712012-11-11T08:59:00.001-06:002012-11-11T09:10:48.820-06:00Review of Battlestar Gallactic:Blood and ChromeA version of this post appeared on my R.B. Davidson web-site. The new web series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, is fracking awesome. Debuting on Friday, November 10th on YouTube’s Machinima channel, the prequel’s first two ten-minute episodes dives immediately into the life of young pilot William Adama, who later becomes Admiral Bill Adama as fans of the excellent Battlestar GalacticaR.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-82517792186537984352012-10-30T13:49:00.001-05:002012-10-30T13:49:20.213-05:00NaNoWriMo Is ApproachingThis post originally appeared on my website at http://rbdavidson.com/ National Novel Writing Month is about to start up again, and I plan to participate just as I have for the last two years.  For those unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, the goal is pretty simple: write 50,000 words (approximately 200 pages) during the month of November. This works out to be about 1,667 words a day. A challengingR.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-11826499991322948012012-10-23T13:52:00.001-05:002012-10-23T13:56:58.004-05:00The Big PictureThis post was originally posted on my author blog. Some days you wonder if the process of preparing your first manuscript for publication ever ends. There are days when countless hours of hard work seem to not progress your plans or move your goals any closer.  It is at such points that it is easy to become frustrated and want to stop trying, to cease the endless cycles of edits and R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-57621391263574934932012-07-13T16:57:00.001-05:002012-07-13T16:57:58.790-05:00I’d Like Your OpinionI have a very simple question: If you read the following on the back cover of a book (book blurb), would you open the book and look inside, or put it back on the shelf?  Any additional information or suggestions you care to give would be much appreciated. Possible Book Blurb Damon Roth, a half-mad wizard with delusions of godhood, kidnaps Princess Tara Rihtwis to prevent her destruction, R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-52273346743219036082012-07-09T09:36:00.001-05:002012-07-09T09:36:34.858-05:00Getting What You Ask ForThe biggest problem with feedback is following it, especially when it might entail a mountain of work. Yesterday I received the Magic City Writers’ Group edits for the final chapter in my first novel. There are always problems, and I expected incorporating the group’s suggestions would take a week or two.  But the extended discussion, which I recorded so I can study it more closely, R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-62840457994666973242012-06-22T08:23:00.001-05:002012-06-22T08:23:42.907-05:00The True Purpose of the Query LetterTwitter is a far more interesting and entertaining form of social media than I expected.  I am constantly discovering great articles and interesting insights about issues centered around writing and publishing.  One such insight came after I read a tweet from a respected agent asserting that a not only does a strong query letter herald a strong manuscript, but that in almost every R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-38574033719851529172012-06-15T08:19:00.001-05:002012-06-15T08:19:36.855-05:00New Music and Updated ChaptersKathryn completed a new piece of music called Guildhall; named after the building housing the central government of The Guild, the decaying empire which dominates the world in Gods Among Men.  As usual, all chapters, author readings, and music MP3s can be found at http://gods-among-men.com/blog/books/book1.  And here is a direct link to Kathryn’s new song: http://gods-among-men.com/R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-64128747225591123042012-04-07T10:01:00.001-05:002012-04-07T10:01:07.308-05:00Still More Music From KathrynKathryn finished another piece of music for Gods Among Men.  This one is called Guildtown at Dawn.  Within the story, Guildtown is the major capital of the empire called The Guild.  Essentially, it is the Rome of my fantasy world.  Kathryn’s song is intended as the city’s anthem.  As usual, links to all downloads for the first book can be found at http://R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-50841091974340750602012-04-06T10:57:00.001-05:002012-04-06T10:57:56.496-05:00More Music From KathrynKathryn has been busy writing new music for Gods Among Men.  She has added the song Ilium and Dog Days Of Ilium.  Within the story, Ilium is a long lost capital city of the empire that Demiurge once ruled.  Ilium is built under a mountain range and was the center of a cataclysmic battle that nearly destroyed the world.  The song, Ilium is the anthem for that once great city.&#R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-89937487657894681952012-02-26T18:06:00.001-06:002012-02-26T18:06:54.018-06:00More New MusicKathryn created a few “piano only” version of the music she wrote for my story.  She created piano version for the theme song, At The Lady Behest Comes, and for the songs I Remember Marcus and I Remember Marcus Reprise.  She also created sheet music PDFs for the piano only versions of At The Lady Behest Comes and I Remember Marcus. All files can be found at http://gods-among-men.com/R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-63256151398756328032012-02-21T20:26:00.001-06:002012-02-21T20:26:58.445-06:00New Reading, Song, and Sheet MusicI have added new content to my website, all of which can be found at http://gods-among-men.com/blog/books/book1. Included is a reading of Chapter 5, Through Persuasion and Force,…, as read by my wife Kathryn.   The direct link to the reading is http://gods-among-men.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Book1Chap5Kathryn.mp3.  Kathryn has also completed a new song, called Zephyr.&R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-12701058232326810372012-02-08T20:58:00.001-06:002012-02-08T20:58:46.439-06:00New and Modified MP3’sKathryn has been writing music which I am now using in my audio readings.  I have replaced the music in the first two chapters with snippets from three of the songs she has composed.  I have also posted my reading of chapter three, ...Warns the Ruling Circle,..., which also uses Kathryn’s music. I also added mp3’s of the songs Kathryn completed.  She is working on several others, R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-72496020195795974152012-02-06T21:20:00.001-06:002012-02-06T21:20:57.969-06:00The Benefits of Reading Your Work AloudToday’s Magic City Writers’ Group meeting was canceled, so I have not had full reviews yet on my submission.   I did, however, talk with Lindy and Kathryn enough to have an insight.  Lindy liked the pacing of the chapter better than my previous submissions.  In our conversation I realized my writing improved in part from the audio readings I had been doing.   TheR.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-7364374212697536822012-01-08T14:16:00.001-06:002012-01-08T14:17:24.465-06:00Audio Reading of my Chapter Two Now AvailableLast night I finally finished adding sound effects to the audio reading of my chapter two.  The MP3 can be downloaded from my website at http://gods-among-men.com/blog/books/book1.  I also made some improvements to the audio file of the first chapter.  Specifically, I added an effect so it will be easier to distinguish someone’s thoughts from dialog. R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-17392732999612034762011-12-20T21:14:00.001-06:002011-12-20T21:14:29.938-06:00MP3 of My First Chapter Now AvailableI am pleased to announce that I just completed my first ever author reading of a chapter from my Gods Among Men series.  That is to say, I recorded myself reading  aloud the first chapter in book one, At the Lady’s Behest Comes….  I then scoured the web for sound effects and music which I added to the audio file to give the reading more flavor.  Both the chapter, entitled R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-37635470253535788522011-11-29T21:54:00.001-06:002011-11-29T21:54:28.120-06:00Crossing the Finish Line Above is the certificate I won for finishing NaNoWriMo.  I crossed the line a day early with 50,0042 words.  Considering how many thousands of words I was behind a week in, I’m justifiably pleased with having finished early.   Below is another picture I can also proudly display. I spent almost all of this NaNoWriMo writing down the backstory of perhaps my most R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-59678713869681877652011-11-08T07:36:00.001-06:002011-11-08T07:36:57.176-06:00My First Query LetterI’ve been bouncing off the walls since “finishing” my first novel. First I hired a professional editor, then canceled that.  I reformatted my manuscript into standard format, which was a bigger task than I expected.  (I had to replace all my italics with underlines.  I thought this strange until I saw how poorly italics show up in a courier font.)  I sent off copies of the R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-10939916811812768982011-11-03T13:56:00.001-05:002011-11-03T13:56:23.883-05:00A Moment of ReflectionIt has been a long time since I added a post here.  This is not because I haven’t been writing, but because I have been incredibly focused on writing.  For over a year, all my energy and efforts  have focused on completing the second complete draft of the first book in Gods Among Men, At The Lady’s Behest Comes… At the beginning of October I finished the second draft.  This R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-87447923883070896492010-12-01T16:19:00.001-06:002010-12-01T16:19:24.692-06:00Brant’s NaNoWriMo Wrap-UpBefore delving into this post, I want to thank Kathryn for all the posts she wrote during the last month.  She put a lot of effort into picking music and posting about how her choices inspire her.  I for one found her posts and choices of music interesting and thought-provoking.  Great work Kathryn. My Final NaNoWriMo  Status My Cumulative Word Count: 57,580 Average R.B. Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08625498874231733165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-83461860072942646652010-11-30T08:31:00.004-06:002010-11-30T08:48:06.638-06:00The End of NaNoWriMoIt is finally here! Brant did an awesome job at 57,623 words on his story, which from what I have heard so far is awesome! I hope to write a little more tonight, but so far I am at around 37,000 words and some change. Not bad, all in all. They goal is not to write just 50,000 words, but to get writers' behinds in gear and write that story they always wanted to. And I did that. The competitive Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-27487983010417806502010-11-26T08:59:00.003-06:002010-11-30T08:31:50.347-06:00NaNoWriMo Day Twenty SixBrant and I had a productive evening last night. After watching fun stuff, I still managed to write over 1500 words and pul my characters forward out of the mire I had them stuck in. My hero made the next move in protecting his country and an unexpected ally came to the fore. Not bad for a short writing session. Hope I can keep up the pace of the story, it was starting to slow down.Today's song Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-31070816067571215162010-11-25T23:16:00.003-06:002010-11-25T23:24:32.870-06:00NaNoWriMo Day Twenty FiveEvening, readers. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. I know Brant and I did, we enjoyed familial conversation over a banquet of freshly made goodies. After we were full, watched WKRP's Thanksgiving special, and ate some more, we decided to get down to writing. I was well into my process before I remembered that I didn't share my motivational song of the day.Today's song, in honor of Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-14953091814908721392010-11-24T08:06:00.002-06:002010-11-24T08:12:23.095-06:00NaNoWriMo Day Twenty FourWhew! I wrote about three thousand words yesterday, squeezed in a little here and a little there. I also made a cheesecake, two pumpkin pies and three pumpkin breads last night in preparation for Thanksgiving. So now I am almost at the 30,000 word mark and I have plenty of sweet things for the holiday. I think I did well, if I do say so myself. So, I am in for a treat...The song for today isKathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-74909175489603496902010-11-23T09:34:00.003-06:002010-11-23T09:40:26.678-06:00NaNoWriMo Day Twenty ThreeBoy, am I far behind on my writing. I am still sitting at arount 26,000 words, and the last few days have been enough trouble to keep me from writing. I really, really want to, but there are so many other things that need to be done this time of year that take precedence. Like excersizing a little more room into my tummy for the holidays.Today's inspirational song is an old favorite of mine, Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5548646661489107168.post-510687097820795832010-11-22T06:17:00.002-06:002010-11-22T06:26:05.885-06:00NaNoWriMo Days 20-22First, a little shout out to Brant. He is just a few words away from the 50,000 month quota. Hooray for Brant!Sorry about this weekend, it completely slipped away from me. I wrote very little, because of an injury, but don't worry. I feel better now. I did however work on my story. I dug around and learned a little strategy so the battle scenes will read a little more realistic. I just Kathrynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11799177915475360117noreply@blogger.com0