Hello, all.
I thought I’d share an update on how things are going with The Severis Tales book. I have nothing general to add from a personal viewpoint, so here is a small FAQ about the progress and the book.
Word Count Updates
The bulk of my Twitter posts have been updates after I revise each short story. As of Sunday, September 26, 2021, I have revised six out of the original 10 stories that I wrote for the first draft. Of all stories so far, only one had a decrease in word count by roughly a few hundred words. In terms of total word count, with six out of ten stories packed away, I’m just shy of 18,000 words to meet draft 1’s word count.
The reason for the bloat is essentially fleshing out the narrative and dialogue. I kind of wrote it semi-compact with the likely intention it would be fleshed out, anyway. So far, I believe I am on the right track, and I may be adding more stories to round it out. There is one story that I am still unsure if it belongs in the realm of “random jobs,” but we will have to see.
Is it still called “Random Jobs?”
I am still calling the book Random Jobs, because the stories that centre on the Severis Family or their friends and the world of Algenon fall broadly in that category. When I thought about a name for a collection of short stories, I wanted to avoid a generic first-release “Stories from The Severis Tales” type of collection. That could change before I declare it finally done, mind you.
Once I am certain of the stories that will be in this compilation, I will dish out the titles and a synopsis for each one in proper form.
What is The Severis Tales, again?
The Severis Tales is a collection of short stories set in the world of Algenon, mixing fantasy elements and species with the ordinary people and days of Earth. I always liked tales of the ordinary and some of the awkward and often humorous adventures people have, and then set it in a fantasy world. I’m sure this theme was done before, and I will not declare myself to be a first-goer at it. It is the “what if” played out in literary form: what if there is a world out there called Algenon with elves and dragons and a mix of them living day by day in their own world? If we dream about aliens and civilizations from across the Milky Way galaxy and beyond, what would it look like? Algenon is one example, I reckon, and that is why I set it in that setting.
As an up-and-coming writer and would-be author with social anxiety and the lot, I needed some way to feel expressive and not feel guilty. I started writing stories—poorly, mind you—and putting them up for free on my website. There are nine releases that set up some characters and settings, all of which the styles improve over every release. I plan to re-edit all these stories and bring them up to a higher standard as part of the release for this book, and then, in celebration, release a tenth instalment. I plan to keep releasing stories every so often.
I’ve often wondered what the hell I am doing, but after working on this universe for so long, I’ve fallen in love with this family and their associates. Regardless of their skin or scale colour, they’re emerging as real people with a non-stop tug of war with the world.
What will the cover look like?
I have bizarre ideas about what I would like the cover to be. Not original, but “out there.” My working idea at the moment is one inspired by 80s geometric shapes and design. In 1982, the Canadian band Doug and the Slugs released the album Music for the Hard of Thinking. I am drawing inspiration from that album cover for an off-the-wall style. Note that I said I’m doing it myself. I’m just designing something, but I’ll more than likely leave it in the hands of a professional, unless I get better at it. I may share a prototype cover for it in the future.
Are you self-publishing or going the traditional route?
Damn hard question, but after a lot of head-banging, I’m going to go the route of self-publishing. This is a very first for me, a first experiment. I do not know how it will work or if it will work. I grant you it may reflect poorly on me if it goes wrong, but if I don’t try, I’m essentially giving up and all of this is for nothing.
The benefit is that someone may see it and think I have a chance. It’s a slight chance, but I have to get my name out there somehow. This seems to be a good way. I just have to make sure I get the name out there.
What else are you doing?
The CBC Books 2022 Short Story Contest is upon us again, and I am going to submit once more. I am continuing to look for places to publish, fantasy or not, sci-fi or not, and work on my other big baby project of Elineer.
Other than that, who knows?