It’s been a long time, adventurers! Ranger’s Odyssey has been out for two and a half months now. New readers are adding up as they get it for Christmas or use some of their Christmas money to get a copy. I’ll be adding more about Realm of Chaos in the coming months, once it’s been long enough to minimize the chance of spoilers. There will be a few vague updates between now and then, but first …
NaNoWriMo went down the tubes after about 15,000 words. I realized that in trying to meet the word count in such a short time (especially during an intense work time), I was compromising quality. I wrote a lot, but most of it is going to end up being rewritten. Some details were glossed over, giving me little idea of how long the actual chapter would be. Some sections included “[add details about_____]” or “[look up photos of _____]” instead of any actual description. It’s definitely going to take some work. So, instead of continuing to cause more problems, I stopped writing “just until NaNo was over.”
I’d planned to spend November working on NaNo and sitting with my husband while he played Assassins Creed: Valhalla. I love Celtic and Norse history and mythology. I’m not good at games, but I like them. I can really only play platformers and turn-based RPGs. But he had an extra copy of Valhalla due to odd circumstance, and after watching him a bit, I realized that there was an easy mode and the story was compelling. So I decided to play that during Thanksgiving week. I logged 97 hours in less than 2 weeks. More than I’ve played any other game. By far.
Much of the content was accurate—or at least close. To the point that when we fought the “heathens” (the Picts) at the Wall, I found some things I recognized. When I went to Scotland 9 years ago, I walked 3 miles of Hadrian’s Wall. We went from Twice-Brewed to Housesteads Roman Fort. Housesteads is in the game. On the way to Housesteads, there’s another distinct location: the Sycamore Gap. It’s been there for centuries. I ended up spending some time just going back and forth up the wall, trying to find other places that somewhat line up with my pictures. Like the Sycamore Gap.
I played some other games afterward until the bug fizzled out. At the start of Christmas break, I had 3 days at my parents’ house to work off the Ranger’s Odyssey cover. We did some cleaning and some painting, and I went out to see the animals. Roulette the cat, old and chonky, gingerly stepping around the barn. Wonder Boy the horse, also old and chonky, who did not appreciate our painstaking attempts to de-burr him and give him a brushing and a loving. And Cerridwen “Squirt” the goat, who’s older now but still nibbles. Just like her mama, who inspired a supporting character for the next two books. More on that later.
I also worked with the cover artist on Realm of Chaos. We’d talked about the design a lot in the past few weeks and tweaked some things, so I approved the final layout on the cover. It’s just a mock-up, so the figures were drawn 8×10, resized, and taped on the draft paper for position reference. We went through her supplies to select coloring for the full cover, went through references for mushrooms and other forest floor debris. rubble for a stone path, wicked trees … and made sure that the cover design didn’t include any spoilers from the book. Just like Ranger’s Odyssey, the cover snapshots one scene in the book near the end. This time, it includes all of Mara’s companions (aside from the furry one) and some baddies. Now the design is complete, the work begins on the final cover. I’ll be posting some vague pictures here and there as I receive them. Like this one:
In other news, Ranger’s Odyssey will finally be available in select libraries in Ripley County, Indiana, starting next Monday. Reviews have been posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, if you want to check them out. If you’ve finished reading yourself, please consider leaving a review as well! They’re helpful for other readers, and I’d love to know what you think! Also, remember there’s a terrible typo tournament! There’s no entries yet. Remember, even if you’re not interested in the audiobooks, first and second prize are copies of Realm of Chaos!
Otherwise, I’m back to work on Realm of Chaos this week (finally). I’m leading into a big turning point for Mara in this chapter, and the time away from writing has actually helped me to work out some other stuff. Get some big things ironed out. I’m excited to finish this first draft, even if it’s going to take a few months to get there. I’m excited to see the cover completed, even if the complexity of it means that it probably won’t be completed until the fall. I’m excited for October, when Realm of Chaos comes out, because I know the process now and that I do at least have some readers who loved Ranger’s Odyssey and will be excited for the next installment.
2020 was a dumpster fire for a lot of people in a lot of ways, and there’s no sign that 2021 is going to be magically better, but there are lots of good things in the works for Ambergrove. The new year brings adventures, good and bad. Have some good ones.
Until next time, adventurers!
Tales of Ambergrove 