Before I start my post: My most recent book titled, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice is available on Amazon Kindle for Free today, Friday, July 2, 2021.
After taking a week away from my day job, getting back into the swing of those tasks I left behind has not been easy. Understandably, I’ve been a little more stressed this week, but my stories have helped. Writing each day has helped me step away and recharge. Just like writing my nearly 700 page book, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice, I had to approach the enormous load of tasks in my day job this week by taking small steps.
When I write books, I generally start with writing short sketches of the characters. I include physical descriptions, and move on to their attitudes. Before I outline the books, I try to flesh out the characters as much as I can. Slow, steady, and one step at a time is how I tackle writing. Steadily working on them, keeps the idea fresh in my mind, but because I have written short pieces about my characters and locations, Outlining comes easily. When I begin writing the book, sometimes my characters take on a life of their own. The end of my outline is more fluid because my characters sometimes have to act differently than I thought. But one step at a time helps me get the books done.
I approached this week in my day job with the same mentality. I started with small things I could accomplish. Most of the tasks in my day job have been building for weeks, so, like my characters, I knew what direction to take. Even though I’m a little more caught up now that the week is ending, my day job’s tasks will never end. The work will always be there.
I’ll just keep my work steady. I’ve done the same with my books. Sometimes, tackling a large task requires steady steps. Anything can be accomplished by steadily working toward it.
My most recent book titled, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice is available on Amazon Kindle for Free today, Friday, July 2, 2021. It is an epic fantasy set in a world with limited technology, think of an empire like the Romans or Greeks. Sacrifice is necessary to gain magical power. The greater the pain and suffering, the greater the magical power. The story follows two main characters from different sides of the empire. Corinne is from the outer barbarian kingdoms and Lukas is the son of a landowner inside the empire. They’re both after the same thing, but working together is not easy. I had a lot of fun writing it.
My current work in progress, Dissonance, is almost ready for my beta readers. It is a sequel to Resonance, and is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle until September 3, 2021. Both deal with the dangers of time travel. If time travel technology gets out, the whole world would change.
If you’re looking for a science fiction story, try my books The Promise of Dust or Progenitor’s Legacy: Deceit.
If a young adult science fiction is more to your liking, check out my series This New Earth, that starts with Demons of a Dead World and Secrets of a Dead World.
If you are looking for a young adult fantasy, check out my book The Threads Unbound.
DANIEL R. BURKHARD 