THREE CONTRACTS IN THREE YEARS!

I'm feeling very proud of my writing accomplishments these days. I've just signed about contract which means it's the third one in three years!  This is a contract for an ebook about the Greek Islands, to be published by Hunter Publishing,US. I'm really looking forward to the adventures this is going to lead me on. I've already visited 25 of the hundreds of Greek Islands, and written many stories about these visits. But there are several, namely Crete and Thassos, that I'd like to revisit and also several I'd like to visit for the first time. So it looks like my next trip to Greece will be Island Hopping.  Should be great fun! Like ATHENS AND BEYOND it will not only contain tourist information but stories about the various islands that I have visited.

Signing the contract for the Greek Island e-book, December 2015

A few months ago my second e-book was published,  ATHENS AND BEYOND published on KINDLE, Amazon by Hunter Publisher. I signed the contract for that one December 2014. It is available following this link:  http://www.amazon.com/Athens-Beyond-W-Ruth-Kozak-ebook/dp/B017PKSQZ8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450742135&sr=8-2&keywords=ATHENS+AND+BEYOND

I had fun doing this book too. Of course I have lived in Athens and travel there almost every year so I already had a lot of background stories about the city and surrounding areas. The ebook contains not only tourist information but stories about various places I have visited in the city or for daytrips.

Signing the contract for ATHENS AND BEYOND, December 2014

My first and biggest book signing agreement was in August 2013 when I signed the contract for my two-part novel SHADOW OF THE LION.  Because of the novel's length the published MediaAria-CDM from Bristol England, chose to divide it into two book. So in fact, I was signing a two-book contract.  

The first edition was out in July 2014  SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON and the second volume will be produced in 2016 SHADOW OF THE LION: THE FIELDS OF HADES

This is a historical fiction novel based on a historical time-line that is about the fall of Alexander the Great's dynasty. I did a lot of traveling in Greece and Asia Minor while researching this book and it took a long time to write it with the help of the Greek Ministry of Culture and many academics and archaeological Institutes in Greece.

Signing the contract for SHADOW OF THE LION, August 2013

Available on Amazon or at high street book stores, Barnes & Noble, Chapters, etc. 

So I'd say as we enter 2016 I've gathered a pretty good track record. Meantime I've got another historical novel on the go and hopefully will have it finished before long. Who knows, maybe I'll have another book contract to sign in 2016?

INTRODUCING PHILIP

PELLA

 

 

I have just introduced Olwen to Pella. The first couple of chapters set in the Macedonian royal city have gone fairly smoothly. She has been rescued by the young Alexander and put in the care of a court physician, Theon, on a farm in the north.  But Alexander wants them to come the Pella before winter sets in, so they have arrived there and Olwen is introduced to Macedonian royal life. Quite a stretch of imagination for her after her months of wandering as Sholto's 'hostage', far away from her Celtic home on the Salisbury Plain.

 

 





ALEXANDER, a bust from Pella, aged about 15

 

This is the Alexander who rescues Olwen from her captor. He is fifteen at this time, and soon his life will take a drastic change, just as Olwen's has. 

 

She has already had one encounter with his mother, Olympias, and has been warned.  Now she's going to meet his father, Philip, who has been away in Thessaly.  This is the chapter I'm starting now and having a little bit of trouble setting it up just right. I'm finding it a bit more difficult writing this first-person totally fiction story than I did Shadow of the Lion which was based on an actual historic plot. Dragons in the Sky has a particular cadence and it is strictly in Olwen's point of view, so a bit more restricted than third person. So far, I've managed to capture her voice and my critique group is very enthusiastic about this story. 

 

I'm sure I'll find my way around this chapter, introducing Philip who is an interesting character to say the least. I'll also be introducing Olwen to the family dynamics between Olympias/Alexander/Philip. That should be quite a fascinating experience for her. 

 

KING PHILIP of MACEDON

Artist's reconstruction of Philip's face from the skeleton found in his tomb. Notice the scarred right eye. Quite a formidable fellow!





GOING FOR THE GOLD!

Gold Coin: Alexander. Babylon

 It's now official. After all those years of work, my novel Shadow of the Lion is now in the hands of an agent.  I have my writer friend Scott Oden to thank for this, something for which I am eternally grateful.  I also thank those historical fiction writers who have emailed me with encouragement:  Steven Pressfield and Dr. John (Jack)Dempsey, as well as my many friends and others in the writing community of Vancouver.

It's been a long, long journey and now I am on the road to the 'finish line' I am going for the gold!

I think Shadow deserves it.  This book is for Alexander, and the Greeks.  And I hope it's a winner!

Of course, one must face the possibility of disappointments, but I am staying positive and hope for the best because I know it is a worthy project and I put my whole heart and soul into it.

I just packed away the manuscript boxes that have been on my side board for months.  I lit some incense, as Scott suggested, and put it in front of my statuette of Apollo and two small mementos of the royal tombs at Vergina: one with a gold image of Philip, Alexander's father and the other with the gold sixteen pointed star of Macedon.

So now I'm taking Steven Pressfield's wise advice and I've already started to focus on my other work-in-progress, Dragons in the Sky.  I'll write more about it in days to come.  I know I'm going to miss all my friends from Shadow, but it's great to be back with Olwen again because her story is almost like a time-travel back to my own roots.  And  yes, there is an Alexander connection in it. 

Apollo



SOMETIMES IT SEEMS NEVER-ENDING!

Me, at my work station

Sometimes it seems the work of putting a novel together is never ending!  I've been working nearly non-stop on the SHADOW OF THE LION project for literally years. I finished the book in December 2010.  Spent all of 2011 editing with two reader's critiques.  And this year, so far, more editing (professionally done). I still have to go through it one more time just to double-check spelling etc.  

There's way more to do than the actual writing and editing of a novel.  So far, I've compiled the glossary, cast of characters, Author's Note, Acknowledgements, short synopsis, and my map designer says he's almost done.  But I am still working on the long synopsis.  I've spent many hours on it so far and it isn't quite right yet.  And the synopsis has to be as near perfect as you can get it because it's part of your sales pitch.  Then there's the query letter, although I'm not too stressed about that. 

I'm aiming to get it all off and sent out into the publishing world by the end of the month.  After all these years and hours of work I am more than happy to send it on its way.  I know SHADOW OF THE LION is an excellent novel and it's my best writing.  I put my heart into it — actually my soul!

So you novice novel writers out there — especially you historical fiction writers — don't get the idea you can whip off a novel in a few months.  If you want real quality you need to do the work and spend the time.  Blood, sweat and tears, baby!  That's the way it is.  And in the end, if you are lucky, somebody might publish it! 

PROGRESS REPORT #60: RETRACING STEPS

LOOKING BACK AT MOUNT OLYMPUS

Sometimes when you get stuck and find you are blocked by that old writer's enemy 'Resistance', just simply looking back at where you've just come from, retracing your footsteps, will help you sort out where you are headed for. I've had to do that a number of times while writing SHADOW OF THE LION, and the other day when I got stuck, that's exactly what I did. Sometimes it means reviewing your research (I did that), reading back over previous chapters (I did that, too) and rechecking your plot outline (it's definitely a help to have a road map when you're on a journey!)

In my case I have often got baffled with the complexity of the politics I am dealing with as I am not a political science student and the ancient politics with all the plots and sub-plots and twists and turns is often very confusing. So I go 'back to the drawing board' so to speak, bring out my research notes, read through them again and again, until finally I clarify just what exactly went on and when.

One problem with the last bit I'd written was that I had thought it sounded too similar to a previous chapter segment I'd written in the point-of-view of Polyperchon. However, when I read back I realized this wasn't the case. So instead of having to scrap what I'd written for my first draft I was able to keep it and proceed.

Another small problem was figuring out the dialogue between the Macedonian generals. What would they say in this particular situation? How would they react? How would Polyperchon, in particular, react when given the bad news he is about to receive. All the way through my novel this has been a challenge -- to make the voices of the Macedonians sound genuine, like the voices of rough warriors and not my own. As far as I know, I think I've nailed it, but often I have to stop and look through other novels of the same period (written by men!) to see how they handle the dialogues.

Another thing that often stalls me is figuring out the time-lines of events and trying to be as true as possible. I've run into this before and decided that as this is not a history book it isn't really necessary to be 10o% accurate because what is really 'accurate' according to those ancient time-lines considering that the histories were written several hundreds of years after the fact and the calanders of measuring time then is different than now. I still like referring to the line I read by another author in the National Post
"A historical fiction writer can take any number of liberties with the facts." Since running into criticism earlier on about this. I have now adopted this as my mantra.

So, with all these steps taken, I looked forward to see where I am going, and I found it really easy to complete the chapter segment that had stalled me on the road to THE END. Now I am ready to proceed with the journey. I even found myself jotting down random notes last night so I have a clear start for the next scene There's one more chapter segment to write and then one more complete chapter to finish. Then a bit of work on the Prologue and Epilogue. (Some of this has already been written.) So I'm that much closer to the end of my journey.

(NOTE: Some of the characters, such as Polyperchon, continued on long after the end of my particular story so their future activities will be mentioned in the Afterword so readers will know what became of them. Some died or were murdered. Some faded into oblivion. Some went on to become successful and famous. Amazingly a lot of the generals lived to very old ages. They were indeed a hardy lot of characters!)

MOUNT OLYMPUS

PROGRESS REPORT # 56 : MAPPING YOUR PATH

AMPHIPOLIS

I used this illustration because this is where I am now, and this is where my story ends. I am only four chapters from the finish and most of that is already written. But coming to the end is not easy. If you leave holes in the tapestry, it will spoil the pattern. So you have to tie up the loose ends. It's okay if some things are left somewhat ambiguous, but you need to make sure that the small details are dealt with: characters can't just 'vanish' off the map. Where are they now? What will (or might) happen to them?

So I had to stop, look at the "map", see where I was going for the last four chapters. Where are the gaps? (I found a couple.) What do I need to add to clarify certain actions/scenes? And how much?

This kind of break in the action slows you down and makes you pause for thought. So I had to take a careful look at the last bit: time-lines, completion of scenes and episodes, all the time remember that I must not let the tension falter because even though I know how the story ends, I don't want to give it away too soon to the reader.

This little pause helped me to see things more clearly. Where I am heading. what needs to be added to complete the pattern of the tapestry.

Four almost completed chapters and two weeks to "THE END". Can I do it?