Another month and what have I done? Am I nearer to my goal of e-publication? I’d say yes.
Asaric Axis (Asaric Tales Book Two)
Though it was late in the month before I tackled the amendments suggested by my beta readers and critiquers, once started I fairly zipped along. Now the main outstanding item is to rewrite the dreams. Since these are the Asars only memory of their life before banishment, they are essential to the plot. But, in true dream-fashion, the knowledge they contain is couched in symbolism. From the start, the challenge has been to make these scenes work without causing the reader confusion. I thank Lauren, my critique partner, for suggesting how I might do it. I’m not surprised I’ve been putting it off. High levels of concentration required as I cut, separate and rearrange. Yet it must be done.
Asaric Skies (Asaric Tales Book Three)
I can now loudly declare that the revision of Asaric Skies is complete. I didn’t manage to lose as many words as I’d hoped, but the loss is in pounds rather than ounces. And so …
BETA READERS WANTED
For Mythic Fantasy
What is a beta reader?
A reader who offers detailed feedback on plot, characters, clarity and pacing.
What do I want?
Readers, all genders, young adults, adults and above, to help me perfect the Asaric Tales.
What do I ask of you?
That you read the book—sent to you in five sections—and answer a few questions, some specific, some general, in as many or few words as suits you.
Simple, yea?
But what are the Asaric Tales?
A Mythic Fantasy quint that begins in an age before the gods, in the between-time when ice gave way to warmer days, when nomadic hunter-fisher clans turned to settled agriculture, when villages began, and spirits and demons held sway. We follow Kerrid, an Asar with abilities beyond the human, as she weaves through ages fraught with floods and droughts on a mythic quest to discover what she has done to draw the venom of the darkest demon.
Asaric Skies: The Blurb
The Spinner, Lady of the Oracular Web, has tasked Kerrid to eradicate the demon Neka (Book One). Analysis of her own and her fellow Asars’ dreams have revealed the Asars to be banished divines (Book Two). But for what crime were they banished? For failing to oust an intruding demon from their high divine world—or so believes her husband, the Asar Gimmerin. With no better suggestion, Kerrid accepts it. Now she must find a way back to their usurped world and, this time, successfully oust the demon. The Spinner uses a pole to move through the dimensions. If Kerrid can find it and use it to reach that high world then she might also discover what she has done to draw the demon’s hatred of her. Equipped with that knowledge she then can do the Spinner’s bidding and eradicate the dark demon. But there are those she meets along the way who would distract, delay or hinder her. Some might even try to kill her.
Interested in beta reading this? Just fill in and submit the form on the Contact Page. I then can send you further details.
More information on being a beta reader can be found at beta-reader etiquette
Next update: first Sunday in December.
crispina kemp 
Glad everything is going well, Crispina – sounds like you’re ploughing ahead nicely. I can imagine how daunting that dream sequence rewrite must feel, so good luck with it all
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I thank you, Lynn. I’m taking a breather the next two days, but not entirely away from it. Beta readers are loud in my thoughts; Lauren and I have been discussing the possibilty of starting an online noticeboard/forum, thinking of ways to achieve it.
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Interesting idea – are you thinking of a place people can meet up and exchange beta readings/find readers for their books? Good idea. I did join a couple of facebook groups that were supposed to be good for finding beta readers but fortunately found people through the blog in the end. Which was nice because with all but Lauren I had some kind of existing online relationship and as Lauren was introduced to me by you and is lovely, that was great too. Must be harder when you don’t have those existing connections, fishing in the dark for readers, you might not know who you’re going to find
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I think we’ve all been in the place where we’re looking for beta readers. Initially, I found the readers through this blog, but met up with Lauren through a noticeboard type site that no longer exits. We both feel there is a need for some place where people can met, contribute, exchange needs, views etc. I discovered that Google+ has such a group, but one wag put it, we only post here to promote our work, no one’s interested in helping each another. That’s sad. Other than that, I found two sites that will match up writer with reader.
We don’t know where we’ll go with it yet. Whether to have it simply as a noticeboard, with wanted ads. But where is that different to Goodreads, and as you know, very few of those adverts are answered.
We shall see. I’ve suggested we might be able to use WP, with a kernel of administers, and invited contributors on various levels,
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It’s a fair point, though as you say, very sad that many of these online places – facebook groups included – are often used just to promote with very little reciprocation. But so many people are like that – with some of the writing prompts I do I’ve given up on certain writers because I got tired of reading and commenting on their work with no response. Good luck with it
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Thanks, though it may not come to anything. It needs to be low maintanence, and preferably free. We only started talking about it yesterday. so, we’ll see.
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I know what you mean. It’s great idea, but you don’t need it taking your time away from your writing. these things can become a part time job if you’re not careful
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Yea, if we do it I expect to recruit additional administers for the core, for the work to be shared.
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