Clean Speculative Fiction

New week, new promotion! If you enjoy reading speculative fiction, then you don’t want to miss out on this free book promotion: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanepicfiction11/1ntrvw4tqg

It starts today and runs until December 20th, 2022. There are fifteen titles available to download for free and at least two of these books are about dragons. Who can resist a good story about dragons? Not me, that’s for sure. I’ve downloaded those two, but all the covers are pretty, intriguing, or both pretty and intriguing. My already beefy “To Be Read” list is growing exponentially!

As the description says, these books are both “speculative” and “clean.” What does that mean? Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Dystopian genres–anything that’s epic or otherworldly. If a book is clean, that means there is no graphic violence, minimal cursing, and a lack of on-page arousal. Put in simpler terms, it means you could let a thirteen-year-old kid read it without worrying they’ll either be scarred for life, start dropping F-bombs, or learn things about adult activities you’re not comfortable with them knowing.

Two of my short stories are featured in this promotion: “Wyldling Hope” and “Traveler’s Song.” Both of them are set in the Tehara universe and take place before the events of Wyldling Snare. Over a thousand years before, in the case of “Traveler’s Song.” The other short story, “Wyldling Hope,” takes place roughly fourteen years before Wyldling Snare.

 For those who prefer to be surprised about things, I suggest reading “Wyldling Hope” after you’ve read Wyldling Snare. I tried not to spoil anything, though, so perhaps it’s a moot point. Everything seems glaringly obvious to me because I am intimately familiar with the plot, all the characters’ backgrounds, and every machination going on behind the scenes. Curious about whether the short story spoils the book? You’ll have to read both Wyldling Snare and “Wyldling Hope” to find out!

The other promotion, Epic Fantasy Freebies, is still happening, too. You have until November 30th to check out those titles. If you are more interested in strictly fantasy books, here is that link: https://books.bookfunnel.com/epicfantasyfreebiesnovember/2mvb7astzy

NaNoWriMo Update

My goal for NaNoWriMo is twofold. One, to finish the first draft of Wyldling Trials by the end of this month. Two, to write fifty thousand words by the end of this month–eight more days. As you know, if you read my previous newsletter, I’ve been setting my alarm for four thirty in the morning, so I have time to write. I force myself to get up, fuel my body, and brew some green tea to wake up my brain. God has blessed my efforts and I’ve been logging progress every day. Some days, I even logged three writing sessions. It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something. Life has been hectic, as life tends to be. As a result, I’m a smidge behind NaNoWriMo’s recommended daily target, but I’m sure these next few days will bring my word count right back up where it needs to be.

Wyldling Trials is currently divided into six parts. Each part contains four or five “chapters” that include anywhere from two to five scenes. Whether it stays this way depends on how I distribute the scenes once I complete the first draft. The first four parts are done. Right now, I’m right smack-dab in the center of part five. This part was very difficult to write, probably because there is not much “action” per se as there is in other sections of the book. I feel like I’m writing boring stuff. Sadly, some of what I’ve written probably won’t make the final cut for the novel. But we shall see. Maybe I can rework some of them. Even though I believe the scenes may be a little boring, I needed to write them in order to work out what was happening and to set up the final act of the story. Often a writer has to do that. Hopefully, tomorrow’s writing session will see part five completed. And then, onward to the home stretch!

Are you writing something for the 2022 NaNoWriMo challenge? Let me know in the comments. In case you wanted to take a break from writing to read something, here is that link for the free book promotion again: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanepicfiction11/1ntrvw4tqg