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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Welcome to the last post of the year… where did time go? For a final final wordcount of 2021, I’ll give numbers next week. It currently stands at 460K. Last week I wrote under 7K because two days were eaten up by… series rebranding. But since it was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I shouldn’t have counted them as writing days, right? (As if I weren’t known as someone who spends the Holidays writing when everybody else is busy celebrating, LOL!).

Anyhow, I had somehow announced it when the Visions of the Future Bundle came out, and now it’s official. Star Minds Universe eBook covers got a facelift! I even redid the series trailer! And I did the last two paperbacks, so everything is in print as well – the Star Minds Lone Wolves Novellas as well as Star Minds Lone Wolves Team! And I took down the five-missions ebooks of the Team, since I think it should be read as a single episodic novel anyway.

Star Minds Universe new eBook look

So, above you see all the new covers. Those are the titles currently available, as eBooks and in print (except the box sets. Those are eBook only, for obvious reasons). If you’re like Tori, you already read them all. If you got the Star Minds Starter somewhere, well, here’s everything you get if you keep going from there! 🙂

There are no other books planned at this time, although I might add a Themed Collection of Original Stories about this alternate future for our planet. Having also updated the series page, here’s the whole series blurb:

Star Minds Universe, a Space Opera Series

In this alternate future, Earth joins the Star Nations in 2012… discover this future where space travel is the norm, starting back in the 20th century and then diverging into a completely different future from our own!

Hey, look! I even updated the Smashwords Series page! 🙂

And I am honored to have some covers by Hugo Nominee Maurizio Manzieri in this series – the ones you see as “video cover” were custom made for me (Star Minds Next Generation and Star Minds Chasing Stardom), others I bought from him and wrote the story to match the illustration on the cover (Star Minds Next Generation Diaries and Star Minds Interregnum, the illo for Star Minds Third Generation Snippets matched my idea of Kaori in the galaxy police).

I don’t know when I’ll be able to give a new look to the Silvery Earth books, because there are many more and I have trouble finding images of characters from the southern kingdoms (India and Persia inspired), the Amazons Country or the Assassins Guild, so I think I’ll leave them as they are for now.

I know I’m supposed to touch up the backlist (it’s been ten years since I started with Silvery Earth, after all), but considering how long it took me with 20some books, I’ll have to take a week off writing to change 40some book covers!

Anyhow, in January I’ll do a last paperback for Vampires Through the Centuries and then it’s ten years of my Italian pen name, so I’ll be busy with that. I’m also taking out the Italian titles from KU, since they stopped getting read, and I do have some readers on Kobo, especially since it distributes to Mondadori and Feltrinelli.

So January will be busy with more housekeeping and more writing. Hope to wrap up the current project and then we’ll see. I have a few more Ghost Bus Riders stories to write and a couple of other ideas that I still need to figure out.

That’s all for this year! See you in 2022! Have a great week!

by Barb on 29/12/2021  •  Permalink
Posted in struggles to get through, world creation
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Posted by Barb on 29/12/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/12/29/wednesday-weekly-roundup-116/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


I’m absolutely delighted to announce that my Star Minds Starter is included in the Visions of the Future bundle at Storybundle! And look at the company! All those awesome authors sharing space with me! As always with StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay.

For 5$ (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format – WORLDWIDE.

• Obeah by Marcelle Dube
• A Little Piece of Home by Kris Katzen
• Star Minds Starter by Barbara G.Tarn
• The Year of the Cat: A Cat of Space and Time by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus SIX more books, for a total of 10 !

• Gravity by Maggie Lynch
• Games of Fate by Kris Austen Radcliffe
• Plurapod Pathogen by Kari Kilgore
• Unexpected Futures by Annie Reed
• Grapevine Springs by Dean Wesley Smith
• Thieves by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, .mobi) for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a
code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when
your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We’ve chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little,
that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for
the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog.
Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there ‘s nothing
wrong with ditching DRM.
• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to AbleGamers !
• Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!
StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for
thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their
desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com
and Lifehacker.com.

And now to the less important news! The latest title, Children of Darkness, is related to my story in the Halloween Spectacular. These seven stories of vampire-making as well as “Under the Samhain Moon” may well be the start of the next Vampires Through the Centuries novels or novellas… as soon as there is some interest, that is.

Because at the moment I’m fully immersed in another world, and until I finish those books, I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else. But I wrote 11K+ last week on this project, so I’m not complaining! 😀

A funny-sounding Kickstarter to back might be Artists are Weird but Writers are Crazy – if you still have some sense of humor, that is. Considering that I’m both artist and writer, I must be both weird and crazy, but then, normality is overrated! 🙂

Another good news for paper-books lovers is that Books2Read links will now include the print edition! Since I’ll have to add it manually, though, it might take some time until all the links are updated on the publisher page… But I’m on it, and I will announce there when I’m done! 🙂

The above rebrandingof the Star Minds Starter is only the beginning. The whole series will get a face-lift in December, around Worldcon. Some covers will be new, others will only have new lettering on them. Next year I’ll tackle Silvery Earth, but it’s a much more complicated and longer series of standalone…

And that’s all for today! Have a great week!

by Barb on 03/11/2021  •  Permalink
Posted in the Human being, world creation, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 03/11/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/11/03/wednesday-weekly-roundup-108/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


And the Kickstarter stress is over, yay! And it funded at the last minute, thanks to a very special person! Now I’ll be busy preparing the rewards, so even less time for writing this week, but I’ll catch up – I’m between projects anway, LOL!

Maybe next year I’ll do another, for a different series. I certainly learned a lot with my first attempt, and I thank again all backers for believing in me! 🙂 And if you’re a backer, your reward is on the way as soon as I figure out how to do it! 😀 (and if you didn’t select a reward, I have already thanked you)

Last week I wrote a little over 9K and this week I probably won’t write much, since most afternoons are busy with the above, physio and going through the next Ghost Bus Riders book that just came back from Mighty Editor. Gotta hit that “publish” button in the weekend, it will have to be ready, LOL!

The rest of the month I will write more short stories to submit to various anthologies – actually, for the rest of the year I’m probably writing short stories, and will start on the next long-form project in January. Maybe. We’ll see.

I hope to announce an anthology I’m part of soon, the editor sent us the proof and the cover and both look great, so stay tuned! 🙂

This is quite short, but not much else is happening, so I’ll go back to my editing and wish you a wonderful week! 🙂

by Barb on 22/09/2021  •  Permalink
Posted in real world inspiration, struggles to get through, world creation, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 22/09/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/09/22/wednesday-weekly-roundup-102/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Since I’m well into that book 2 of the trilogy, last week I wrote 13.5K words, which brought my yearly total to almost 260K. Still behind since we’re past half the year, but I can still catch up. And if I don’t, I don’t care. The next project might be a novel, or it might be a series of short stories. I haven’t decided yet.

And I also want to write more stories to some themes so I can put out a few more short story collections before the end of the year. The publisher’s newsletter is coming soon, you can subscribe by entering your email on the home page.

This is also the last week of the Smashwords sale, everything 50% off (except titles at 99c and the two latest), so hurry. It ends on Saturday!

I have ordered the paperbacks of the latest two titles, but unless they deliver them a day early like they did for the previous ones, they won’t make it into this post. Very busy mornings at work with special thanks to this lovely pandemic, so I hope to have some energy to keep writing!

I won’t bore you on how Roman buses make it even worse by not showing up or having you wait for 35minutes. I can do that on foot in 20minutes, but at lunchtime it’s really tough. When they show up on time, it takes me thirty minutes (10 minutes first bus, get to the other bus stop in 10 minutes, 10 minutes second bus) to do those 5km, when they don’t, they don’t. One hour or more in total.

There, I said it, I bored you! 😉 But you have one more reason why I want to move away from this town. A colleague suggested I get a two-wheels, but I used one for twelve years and that was almost twenty years ago and I’m not young enough anymore, especially on the Roman streets, famous for the “sanpietrini” and its holes (that can be deadly on a scooter). And my almost-26-year-old car is ready to retire, so… buses.

But then, without those buses, I wouldn’t have come up with the idea of the ghost bus, so… whatever! 😀 Have a great summer!

by Barb on 28/07/2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 28/07/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/07/28/wednesday-weekly-roundup-94/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


And here’s a new title, the last for the summer! I’m taking August off except for another collaboration anthology still in the works. Here’s my historical time travel stories, some very nice experiments to prepare myself to the next project – when the Urban Fantasy Trilogy is finished, that is!

Lost in History – A collection of original stories with reenactors or tourists lost in time, through portals or timeslips, from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, in Europe, India or the United States.

A Real Tournament (12th century France)

Living History (12th century England)

The Pink City (19th century India)

Stranger Than a Movie (19th century U.S.A.)

Jazz Times (20th century U.S.A.)

I have started on the third book of the Trilogy – actually the middle one. Again, I’m changing how I write, I never wrote so badly out of order before! But since I’m not publishing anything until I have written all the books, I should be fine. I’m only 10K in, but I’ll probably pick up speed next week.

I have a couple of friends who are on Kindle Vella. It’s available only to US authors and customers at this time, but eventually (and when I’m ready, which is definitely not now!) I might be able to get on it too. For those who don’t know, it’s to read serialized things.

So, if you’re in the US, first check out Debbie Mumford, who has quite a few things there! 🙂

Wildfire: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/product/B093DS7CCQ

Prentiss Twins: White Buffalo: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/product/B097QFC3HL

Confessions of a Teenage Tree Sprite: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/product/B093DSD4YP

Then don’t miss Circus Galaxus by Dirk Walvoord about a trickster hero in the deadly world of the ultimate gladiator game show.

Last week was cooler and with plenty of thunderstorms, but I doubt the heat wave is over. I’m still better off than people in Germany and Belgium with floods or in California with fires. We’re destroying the planet, no wonder it’s trying to shake us off!

I’m experimenting with TikTok, but I don’t like making videos with my phone, so I’ll probably stop soon. It doesn’t look like I’m going viral yet – not that I care. Like Instagram, when I’m fed up with it, I’ll just leave it out there. Or maybe close the account, since I don’t really follow anyone – except Khabi Lame.

Oh, well, we’ll see… Since it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to travel much this year either, the rest of my vacations I will use to for more online workshops. I might be able to finally set up a Kickstarter, if I finish watching the videos! 🙂 If you’re interested, it’s free.

And I also have another online workshop to do whenever I get off DayJob again. So, plenty to keep myself busy even if I can’t get out of Italy – or move around it much.

A couple of interesting Kickstarters: Pulphouse Fiction Magazine subscription drive (hint: I might have a story in the coming issues as well) and Starbarian Saga, a fun project by my friend Robert Jeschonek! Check them out and have a wonderful week!

by Barb on 21/07/2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 21/07/2021

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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


And the brand new collection of original stories is out! Check these Lands of Wonder part of a new series of original short stories!

Five original stories to visit Otherside, Elsewhere, Silvery Earth and alternate future timelines of Earth. Travel to these magical, weird or hyper-technological places with the characters.

Can they find their way back? Do they even want to? Do they have any choice in the matter?

Portals can be tricky like that.

Enjoy these travels through time and places, a batch of fantasy portals that even gives a preview to the coming Duology. It’s available also in paperback!

I went back to Book 2 on Thursday as I traveled to cooler places for a few days and ended up writing almost 7K by Sunday, which is more that I wrote in the previous three weeks put together, LOL!

Writing the epilogue this week and a couple more things in this world. Editing is still scheduled for September, so you won’t see any of it before then.

You know I don’t like to give writerly advice because I grew up in the age of the typewriter and changed my ways and what I want to write many times in 40+ years. But if you want a 10-year summary, head off to Chuck Wendig’s who has one lesson for the ten years in the writing mines.

Also, if you’re still afraid to put yourself out there, check Kris Rusch’s latest post on fear and all writers. I still struggle in finding my bookshelves on the various retailers because I don’t follow trends, but I keep publishing because I enjoy the process of writing those stories, creating covers for them and putting them out there. Eventually my audience will find me.

If you write for younger audience, you might want to consider joining TikTok – it’s taking the book industry by storm. It seems to be working well for sci-fi romance too… I doubt my readers are on TikTok, so I shall pass for now. I have enough dealing with Facebook and its Page antics.

I mentioned last week that there were changes at BundleRabbit… a brand new name and a brand new site! Folks, welcome PubShare! I’m still studying the new dashboard, but it’s not as bad as WordPress! 😉 Soon you’ll get the results with a brand new curated anthology. Stay tuned!

The heat is already frying my brain, so not much else to say. Back to writing and putting together that anthology. Have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 07/07/2021  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 07/07/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/07/07/wednesday-weekly-roundup-91/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


A bundle so packed full of fantasy,
you’ll need a bag of holding.

Over twenty authors have joined the International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors (IASFA) in a massive book bundle to enchant readers everywhere.

IASFA Book Bundles are a way for people to discover quality books written by popular authors. You know how it’s always hard to find something good to read? IASFA can help solve that with monthly free book promotions as well as through a massive Book Bundle like this.

https://20bookpacks.com/IASFA-Fantasy-Bundle

The Fantasy Book Bundle! Discover fantastic worlds where princesses are assassins, elves cavort with dragons, and orphans aren’t always what they seem. From enchanted forests to perilous seas, there’s an adventure for everyone in these stories. Find your next favorite fantasy author in this fantastic bundle. We’ve compiled over twenty exciting titles and can offer them in a bundle for much less than a dollar each. Begin your epic fantasy adventure today.

Books included:

Truth and Other LiesBy Lyra Wolf
The Blood Stone: Curse of the Drakku Book OneBy Jason Nugent
MercenaryBy Catherine Banks
The Glass GargoyleBy Marie Andreas
Unbreakable FuryBy Kevin McLaughlin
Reecah’s FlightBy Richard H. Stephens
Book of the Immortals – AirBy Barbara G.Tarn
Fenzig’s Fortune: A Gnome’s TaleBy Jean Rabe
FairmistBy Todd Fahnestock
Creature Feature: A Horrid comedyBy Steven Paul Leiva
Sanctum: Sands of SeteshBy C.S. Kading
The Stones of ResurrectionBy Tameri Etherton
Bone TradersBy Rachel Ford
The Shape of DarknessBy D. Fischer
Dragon’s ChoiceBy Debbie Mumford
The Crimson ClaymoreBy Craig A. Price Jr.
Half-Bloods RisingBy J.T. Williams
By the PactBy Joanna Maciejewska
The Shadow and the SunBy Monica Enderle Pierce
Black Heart of the Dragon GodBy Craig Martelle
Sharp SteelBy William Alan Webb
The Watchers of Moniah Blade of DissensionBy Barbara V. Evers By M. Telsch-Williams

The International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors (IASFA) is a professional organization focused on aligning readers with authors. We are building the organization that currently numbers over 600 authors published within the SFF genres and growing. Stay tuned as each month we’ll offer full book samplers for free along with less frequent paid book bundle promotions. Help yourself to find your next favorite author by joining the IASFA newsletter. https://iasfa.org/book-promotion-calendar/

The Fantasy Book Bundle will be available from April 19th thru May 9th.

***

And we’re back to your scheduled program! That was the big announcement, you can get Books of the Immortals – Air very cheaply and along with all those wonderful authors if you still haven’t read it! Go check out that awesome bundle! 🙂

Last week I wrote less than 5K, again, but life is really getting in the way. I don’t want to talk about it, but whenever I’ll be able to quite that part-time day job, I might finally reach the pulp speed I’m trying to aim for. If you have no idea of what I’m babbling about, here’s some history for you, part one and part two. There’s even a meme on Facebook about the maths of doing it.

As you might be aware, I reached half-pulp speed in 2018 and have been keeping it since, but I still hope to increase the output. Reading those two posts was helpful to remind me I don’t need a beta-reader or three because I’m experimenting with a new genre. My trusted Mighty Editor and Proofreader already provides any feedback I might need.

So I might be writing less than usual this month, but I know I will catch up eventually. I can write 3K-5K a day if I set my mind to it. Doing it every day with everything going on in the world is clearly not possible right now, but eventually I’ll be able to train myself to do it.

Still, 145K words in almost four months are down. The Duology is helping me to deal with the pandemic, adding some magic to a dreadful world. I’m having trouble with older protagonists to put on the covers, though – I can’t find them anywhere on Depositphoto, so I’ll have to improvise.

I know that “a work is Urban Fantasy if it has a half-naked woman on the cover, and Paranormal Romance if it has a half-naked man on the cover.” (from TV Tropes) I know that mid-rifs for women or abs for men are a must, but if you have older protagonists (Generation X in one case, Millennials in the other), I don’t think they’d want to be represented as half-naked heroes or heroines in their twenties. Because none of us is in their twenties anymore (okay, some millennials are still in their late twenties, but the rest of us is not).

Since designing covers is the only thing I like about publishing, I’ll keep tinkering with them, since there’s no hurry to publish them. And I hope there are readers out there for fully adult protagonists dealing with magic in our cities. I still aim for an October publication, but I’m still world-building and I need to take another break from these characters.

The Portals Collection workshop starts soon, and I need to write a couple more Star Minds stories to close an era. Probably, LOL! I thought I was done last year when I published the box sets! 😉 But then I’ll get back to the Duology and then a new series that popped into mind and for which I already have the perfect covers.

Did I mention I like tinkering with covers and making mock-ups? Maybe I should start making premades instead of trying to get into translations! 😀 We’ll see…

Now go grab that awesome fantasy bundle and have a great week!

by Barb on 21/04/2021  •  Permalink
Posted in real world inspiration, struggles to get through, world creation, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 21/04/2021

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2021/04/21/wednesday-weekly-roundup-80/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote a little over 10K and wrapped the Future Earth Chronicles Prequel. Then I added a short story to complete it, although I finished it on Monday. I didn’t write much during the weekend because it was a creative weekend with my friend Cristina, so I concentrated on other things – namely the next strip, since Star Minds Kids and Teens ends in September.

And it was also time for another title up, my first with an F2M protagonist. When Azur revealed in Himalayas he’d been born Anna, it shocked even me, and I had to tell his story! So go check it out! 🙂

I also started preparing the new paperbacks – new covers and corrected interiors for the first five books, then this week I’m formatting the new ones, including the one that will come out in October, so it will be ready and come out at the same time as the ebook, haha!

While prepping the new paperback covers, I noticed Book 4 had a missing graphic and a white dot where there shouldn’t have been one, so I also had to update the ebook cover and all the banners on Facebook and the publisher’s page. Sigh. It used to go so smoothly, but this year I keep messing up! 😦

So I’ll probably postpone the Curated Antho I had in mind to next year, since most of the authors are Americans and they have enough trouble at the moment. After the elections maybe they’ll listen to me, and I can even send out a reprint – again I don’t think now is the right time.

But there will be my vampire story in that anthology coming out October 10, so you won’t be completely abandoned after FEC 10 comes out! And November 1st, as is tradition, another vampire novel, about the apocalypse and beyond. The story starts five years after the end of Kristine the Youngest, which means… 2020!

Unlike the previous novels, this is a multiple points-of-view story, seen through the eyes of Rajveer, Kris, Ingolf, Miyako and Claire, whom you’ll meet in FEC 10… but she gets the cover on this one! 😉

This week I’m off Day Job, so I’m working on those paperbacks and beta-reading for an author I love (as soon as he publishes this series, I’ll let you all know, it’s wonderful). Which is good after abandoning a couple of novels found in bundles – one because it didn’t grab me, the other because oh boy! It badly needed an editor/copyeditor/proofreader whatever it’s called.

Even in the reviews they mention it badly needs editing (or possibly just someone going through it before the author hit that publish button!), so I won’t name it, but I’m considering more and more to offer beta-reading/proofreading services to fellow authors. Spellcheck won’t see the right words in the wrong place, the missing words, the extraneous words and all that stuff that makes the prose unreadable.

I mean, we all deal with those darn typo faeries, but in some cases it really looks as if the author hit “publish” a little too fast. If you have a spouse or significant other or best friend who loves to read, please give them your manuscript. Or pay someone like I do because I’m ESL writer and I don’t have friends who read English in a timely manner, therefore I pay Mighty Editor Zoe to go through my manuscripts.

Does that make them perfect? Hell no! When I go through them, especially printed out, I still find mistakes. And even if it’s a hassle to re-upload the manuscript to all retailers, I try to do it as often as possible (I think I re-uploaded the first 5 FEC books 6 or 7 times already…).

It might definitely take me longer to update the paperbacks, but since they don’t sell that much… 😉 Now I better go back to working on those new paperbacks and writing a few more stories before the end of the month. Gotta submit something while I wait for the replies on the current submissions… Have a great week!

by Barb on 23/09/2020  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 23/09/2020

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2020/09/23/wednesday-weekly-roundup-50/

Sunday Surprise


Hi guys,

I’m Samantha and I come from another world – the original, old Silvery Earth, where people are immortal and never grow up. When I’m not switching bodies at will, I travel to other universes, especially books or movies. That’s how I met Rajveer the Vampire, for example!

So, I’m taking over the interviews on this blog! And here I am, meeting people from other books/universes/whatever! Today we have someone from the new Silvery Earth. And since I’m such an awesome witch, I shall ask them questions at two stages of their lives! Or at least at two stages for the human, since the other barely changed in twelve years…

Let’s get on with this. Meet Torik, woodcutter’s son at Bargsea Fortress, a small kingdom on the northern great bay of Varia – I wonder if it has a name, but I guess that lazy author forgot to give it any denomination… Tell me a little about yourself, Torik.

CHILD TORIK: Er… I’m Torik. I’m Human. I have no magic. I’m short-lived. I’m a barbarian to the Magical Races. I’m ignorant. I know nothing of gods and goddesses. I’m scared of dragons. I’m ten, but I already help my dad chopping wood.

ADULT TORIK: I’m twenty-two and moved to the castle a few years back. Wood-cutting duties fell to my younger brother Baldric and I became the prince’s companion. Lambert is king now, we’re the same age.

Describe your appearance in ten words or less.

CHILD TORIK: dirty-blond mop of hair and poop-colored eyes.

ADULT TORIK: Long dark-blond hair and brown eyes.

Do you have an enemy or nemesis? If so, who are they and how did they become an enemy?

CHILD TORIK: Hannibal! He’s a bully! Him and Klaus are the reason I left the village and found my magical friends!

ADULT TORIK: Myself, mostly. I feel like a failure and don’t understand why people would want to follow me.

Where do you live?

CHILD TORIK: in the village outside the castle of Bargsea Fortress.

ADULT TORIK: in the castle of Bargsea Fortress.

Are you involved in a relationship? If so, with who and what is it about them that you find appealing?

CHILD TORIK: Are you kidding? I’m just a child! Although I like gifting flowers to girls. Florina is quite nice among the Humans. And I like Kareena too, but she came and went too quickly, sigh.

ADULT TORIK: I’m a widower. I hope one day I’ll find Kareena and if she’s still free… Although I’ll probably never find her.

What is the biggest challenge you face in the story?

CHILD TORIK: Growing up?

ADULT TORIK: Finding a place to call home.

Do you have a family? Tell me about them.

CHILD TORIK: Yes! There’s seven of us – should have been twelve, but they died when they were really small. I have dirty-blond hair like mom, as does Mathilda, who is eight, Greta, who is two, and Baby Alric. Alexa, thirteen, Baldric, seven, and Elsa, five, have Dad’s brown hair. And then there’s Mom and Dad, of course.

ADULT TORIK: Greta, Alric and Mom passed away when I was still a child, which made me grow up faster. Alexa, Mathilda, Elsa and Baldric are all married and have children of their own now. Well, Elsa is expecting her first. My father is also gone, as is my wife and the children she gave me.

Please give me an interesting and unusual fact about yourself.

CHILD TORIK: I have four awesome magical friends!

ADULT TORIK: I still have awesome magical friends, they all grew up like me, except Copperscales…

Which leads us to our other guest! You might see her as a girl with brown braids coiled around her ears or a teen with the same looks, but she’s not really like that. Hello, Copperscales. Tell me a little about yourself!

I’m a Fajrulo cub, barely over a century old. When Torik is adult, I can be considered a dragonette, since I’ve grown in size – from donkey to elephant – but I’m still a cub. I will live about nine centuries, so my life is still in its infancy, sigh.

Describe your appearance in ten words or less.

Dragon cub with copper-colored scales and bat-like wings.

What is your role in the story?

Torik’s bogey man, then Torik’s teammate, then, twelve years later, Torik’s travel companion…

What is your relationship with the protagonist?

Torik is sooo cute! I want to mate with him when I grow up! Except I’ve been bluntly reminded that when I’m old enough to lay eggs, he’ll be long dead of old age, sigh!

Where do you live?

My lair is in a cave up the mountain towering over Bargsea Fortress and its forest, and it can be reached only in flight.

Please give me an interesting and unusual fact about yourself.

I’m a member of the Magical Races along with Goldenberry (Genn), Erwan (Waiora) and Winged Ylenia (Sila). Fajrulo don’t like their peers – in fact, after my mother left me when I turned a hundred, I’m the only one in the area – but they love humans. I’m particularly fond of Torik, in case you didn’t notice…

____________________________
Book(s) in which the characters appear:

Silvery Earth Kids (strip)

Silvery Earth Kids and Related Short Stories

Magical Friends

by Barb on 01/12/2019  •  Permalink
Posted in world creation, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 01/12/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/12/01/sunday-surprise-240/

Random Friday


So, after drawing Rithvik and Kerrien, I decided to get back to comics. Maybe a new strip, maybe a webcomic. Not sure yet about formats, but definitely for online consumption first.

Researching the topic I see some webcomics are single-panel cartoons, others are three- or four-panels comic strips that ave the same structure as newspaper format. I probably won’t use the “infinite canvas” and will do a mix of single vignettes and strips.

I hate the infinite canvas… I won’t be reading Ren Rou’s next comic When We Fall because it’s an infinite canvas – she says it’s comes out better on phones… pity I don’t read on a phone because guess what? I’m old, and I  can’t see the damn screen very well! I loved her previous comic Stolen and saved the page to print them out and read it offline, but I’ll have to pass on this one.

For comics I’m still very traditional. Yes, I might follow Facebook pages of cartoonist, but I’d rather go to comicons and buy the books, possibly with a little sketch on them! But I understand the need to evolve, so I will give this webcomic thingy a try. Althought there’s the problem of finding a format that can be future-proof.

Da Strip was like the Peanuts, four identical squares that could be put on a square or vertical or horizontal, so that might be a good format for this project too. I still have the four-panels squares that I used for Da Strip, so I may start with that.

In the meantime, here’s some sketches I did while toying with the characters. I have no problems at drawing human-like chibis, but the little dragon was a challenge… so here you have some studies, a sort of cover art and a first sequence… in WiP format. It will need clean-up and colors before going online, but I thought I’d give a sneak peek.

And since #8Sunday was so successful, I’ll keep going with Beautiful – and since I have the drawings, I’ll post the 8-10 sentences referring to that particular vignette… have a wonderful weekend! 🙂 By the way, tomorrow Himalayas goes live… book 4 of the Future Earth Chronicles is here! 😀

by Barb on 01/03/2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Art works, world creation, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 01/03/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/random-friday-347/

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