Tim Frankovich

With the upcoming arrival of Viridia, I will have two book series going on simultaneously. Readers might naturally wonder about that. What is wrong with this guy? Does he have no commitment? Will he ever actually finish anything? To explain, I need to get into some details about the reality of being an independent author, as well as some thoughts about the writing process.

First, as an independent author, I have to work extremely hard just to try to get noticed by readers. There is a ton of competition out there, and it’s very easy to be completely overlooked. Because of questions of quality control, editing and so forth, many readers have become very picky about the authors they choose to read. If an author only has one or two books out, they’re more likely to be ignored. But if an author has a lot of books out, it gives readers the idea that if they give this author a chance with one book, they’ll gain a lot of reading enjoyment. As such, many independent authors work hard to get a large number of books published as rapidly as they can.

Viridia was already written several years ago. I had to do some rewriting, editing, and proofing, but the primary work was already done. Getting it together after the publication of Until All Bonds Are Broken wasn’t that big a deal. And by doing so, I get a third book out faster and start to look more like a serious author.

Viridia also may serve to expand my audience. It’s a very different type of book. Whereas the Heart of Fire series is epic fantasy on a large scale, Viridia (and its eventual sequels, the Dragontek Lore series) is fast-paced young adult science fantasy. Many readers will be able to enjoy both, but some will only enjoy one or the other.

Second, it’s hard work to write epic fantasy. My brain needs a break from it every so often. Viridia‘s style is much easier to write (but not simplistic!). This both gives my brain a rest from one type of work, and stretches it in a different direction, improving my overall skill.

So the plan going forward is to alternate books in each series as I continue both. I’m writing the third Heart of Fire book now, Until All the Gods Return. When it’s complete, and while I’m editing/proofing it, I’ll start in on the sequel to Viridia (currently titled Incarnadine). Once that’s done, I’ll shift back to the final Heart of Fire book. After the third Dragontek Lore book… we’ll see. I have many, many book ideas. I hope you stick around to see them!

A little while ago, I was interviewed for the High Fantasy Podcast. That interview is now live on YouTube!

Check it out and hear what we have to say about Peter Jackson’s biggest mistake, why Marshal (in the Heart of Fire series) couldn’t communicate, and the purpose of fantasy stories.

The last few days, I have been living in the past. And the future. And another world.

I’ve mentioned that I started the work of re-writing/editing my earlier novel, Viridia. I struggled with it for a while, wondering if it was even worth bothering over. But I knew that I needed to get more books out, beyond the Heart of Fire series. Working on this one would give me the chance to do that faster.

So I enlisted some help from my friends in the Apex Writers Group. All of the responses I got were very positive and encouraging. This story could work. They even helped me overcome one of the difficulties I had with the opening chapters.

I got excited. I started making serious progress. You can see from the bar on the right how far along I’ve come in recent days. I’ve been re-reading and re-writing this story I wrote several years ago. Sometimes, I have to ask, “Wow. Did I write this?” Other times, I have to ask, “Ugh. Did I write that?”

Tonight, I even pulled up the outline and opening pages I had written for the sequel. Wow, this is some crazy stuff. And it just might work. 

Dragons. Cybernetics. Swords. Trains. Magic? It all fits in here. And it’s all coming together.

What does this mean for the Heart of Fire series? Nothing, really. I’m still working on the opening chapters of book three. It is going a little slower than I’d like, because my creative energies are split. But I try to divide my time between the two books, so neither is neglected. If I am motivated enough, I can get this done.

Out of all the names of characters and places in my books, this is the one people ask me about the most. Ixchel is a great character to write, and I’m looking forward to seeing how her story continues. But how do you say her name?

The answer is… not as easy as it seems.

You can literally google “how do you pronounce ixchel” and you’ll get multiple answers.

This video, for example, pronounces it the way it’s spelled in English:

But this video pronounces it more like “ee-shell”:

Ixchel is a Mayan name. The culture of her land and people in my books is loosely based on the ancient Maya. So logically, the best guide to it would be an explanation of how the Mayans pronounced it, right?

Here’s one:

http://www.native-languages.org/maya_guide.htm

If you read that, you’ll find that “ee-shell” is close, but… it actually ends up something more like “eesh-chail” including the “ch” sound and pronouncing the “e” as a long “a.”

So which one is right?

It’s a fantasy novel, with names and cultures that I created. I’m sort of the final arbiter here. Except… it may come to a huge surprise to readers that I don’t always pronounce the names in my head while writing them. And since I was raised on American phonics, when I do pronounce names from other languages, I often do it completely wrong.

I like “ee-shell.” And “eesh-chail” is a bit too cumbersome for my tongue. But you know what? You can pronounce it however you choose. I won’t mind. 

But I’d better start getting it right myself. She scares me.

I apologize for not updating the blog in a while. Between everything going on in the world the last few weeks and my own slow sales, I haven’t felt motivated to do much writing.

One of my struggles has been the opening chapters of the next book. Yesterday, I finally got a solid outline for them and I believe I can move on now.

I’m also talking with some other writers about accountability and motivation with each other. We’ll see how that goes.