It was a book I didn't even realize I was writing a week ago.
It happened slowly. First, the Royal Road Community Magazine unveiled its killer writing prompt, "Dead men tell the best tales", and the muse gave me an idea: storytelling through the dying words of a limited reincarnater, who transferred words instead of memory-copies on death. I wrote a story of swordfights, romance, adventure, and battle, then hit the contest wordcount and the end of my protagonist's life. I could have cut there--short story complete, done. But there was more story to tell.
Would his true love come home safe? Would the Black Legion be swept from the lands after his first life's final sacrificial act? Would his second life find happiness? I wanted to know, and for that, I needed to write it.
Soon I was telling a story of love, adventure, and epic battles. To resolve the issues, I built towards a climactic battle, the fate of the land hanging in the balance. I built towards an epic final scene. And then...
The next part of the story required a timeskip--peace follows war. To timeskip, I needed to do a denouement. I thought on the best denouements ever written--the end of The Hobbit, the end of The Lord of the Rings, the end of The Chronicles of Prydain, one of the major influences of this story. I looked up denouement in my dictionary. It said it was the final resolution of the story, tying up the loose ends, coming at the end of the book, after the climax.
Pah, I thought. I'll do a mini-denouement, continue the story, and come to another climax. I wrote a heartwarming denouement, took care of the loose ends, posted the chapter.
Then... I took up writing the next chapter, and realized I was wrong. It was indeed the absolute right place to end book 1. Time to publish and start book 2.
You can now buy this story on Amazon--The Lives of Velnin: THE BLACK CITADEL. For the first couple weeks, I'm pricing it at $1.25. I want everyone who has been following along with the story so far to be able to buy a copy for next to nothing.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
If you've enjoyed the first fourteen chapters of The Lives of Velnin, please support the book on Amazon, whether with a review, a purchase, or both. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Amazon link:
Veldin, Velnin's second incarnation, will return next week with the first chapter of The Lives of Velnin II: THE DARK EMPIRE.
review or a purchase.
Veldin, Velnin's second incarnation, will return next week with the first chapter of The Lives of Velnin II: THE DARK EMPIRE.
