Reaching The End

I finally rewrote the end of the novel for the second draft. In the end, it’s far closer to what I wanted than what I had originally. It actually feels like the end of a book this time. Is it emotional? Oh yes. Does it leave room for a second book? Definitely. Am I asking too many questions? Most certainly. Should I stop asking them? Ok, ok, fine.

Anyway, I’m much happier with the end product than I was before. I still have tons of stuff to edit. About 50-100 pages, to be precise. It’s actually far less than I’m making it out to be, but it’s a decent sum. 

In case y’all want a real emotional trip, here’s link to the song I listened to while writing the end. 

It’s a trip to Sad-Mart, where your greeters are Melancholy and Dismay.

It’s pretty sad.

In good news, I have recently arrived at school for my senior year at good old Liberty University! I have an excellent year in front of me, mainly because I never have to wake up before 9:30 for any reason whatsoever. I mean, I still do because they give me bacon if I come to breakfast, but I don’t have to. Technically.

This is the life of a Fine Arts student. 

In the meantime, I plan to raise awareness of the awesome Dark Veil Saga by creating the life size version of “Leviathan Killer” in some media besides metal. I don’t want to kill anyone by fake-stabbing them, which is the ultimate purpose of this endeavor.

I also now have an Instagram (sirgabrielpenn) so you should all follow me for cool book/writing/reading stuff! I’m super sorry about those awards and challenges I’ve missed recently, so now that I have so much time I’m going to try to get to some of them. “Try” is the key word. There’s a lot of them.

Expect a revamping of short stories and Faith Friday soon!!

A Beautiful Mess

After reading a post on what should be seen more in YA novels, I realize that mine doesn’t really make sense. And yet, it still works together somehow. So for the new fans who haven’t heard this, the Dark Veil saga (coming 2016) includes:

• Asian dragons and camouflaging wyverns
• Griffins (whatever happened to those anyway?)
• “Shadow of the Colossus”-sized monsters
• A non-white main character (There are white people in the book, just not as much, as they’re in a tropical region)
• A plot that doesn’t involve saving the entire planet from a god-like force
• Cultures based off medieval Italy, Ancient Egypt and Russia
• A blend of steampunk and fantasy (a.k.a. elves with guns)
• Elves with guns
• In case you missed it, elves with guns
• Judaism-based mythology
• A lot of politics and next to no actual physical battles
• Characters that use weapons other than swords (lots of them)
• Consistent fourth-wall breaking

There’s way more that I could put, but nobody would read it. But I’m curious to see how the fans react to all this. Because it’s a beautiful mess. Still trying to find a few YA fantasy publishers, and we’ll see how it goes from there.

(Featured image is promo art from Shadow of the Colossus)

Monthly Book Review Coming!

I have a saying. You should read a book for every ten selfies you take. Well, I don’t take many selfies, but I haven’t been into reading too much recently, either. So we’re going to change that! Once a month, along with all my writing posts, you’re going to get a full book review!

I haven’t decided what the first one will be. It’ll either be one of the many Neil Gaiman books I have lying around or Pilgrim’s Progress, which I just got in the mail today. Still not sure. But it’s a comin’! So watch for my first book review coming July 1, 2015!

I Am Not Here

If you are seeing this post, then I must inform you that I am, in fact, not here. This is a post from the past, sent to the future, to let you know that I am in Canada at this time. I am visiting my relatives in the great wild Yukon.

Ok, it’s not really the Yukon, it’s Ontario. Close enough. They still have Tim Hortons, which I’ll have you know makes the world’s greatest coffee and bagels.

Canada as described in a single picture.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

For your information, I actually have used this image before. This is the kind of gold that comes out of this blog, and exactly why you should follow it.

This means I can’t actually reply to your comments or like your stuff for the next couple days. It also means I can’t participate in the Blogging 101 assignments. But. BUT. You should still keep tabs on this page. Why? Because I’ve scheduled a few awesome posts for you to enjoy in the meantime. This includes Faith Fridays (coming later today) and Short Story Saturdays and the regular awesomeness!! So keep up on all this!

Ciao

Another Social Media Spot?!

Perhaps I shouldn’t start writing these in the middle of the night. But, this is something somewhat big, so I’ll admit it. I have returned to an old social media, not for the sake of critique, but to show them what’s going on. I am officially returning to DeviantArt.

And I am thankfully returning as a much better writer than I was before.

New Creature Announcement!

We are announcing a new creature in the series! I don’t have a name for them yet, they’re owl/cat mixes. And that’s really all I have on them. They have wings and paws and cute faces. And the first one you meet is small enough to perch on someone’s shoulder. I have no idea how they’re going to look.

But I really like the images I found off one DeviantArtist, RobtheDoodler, who makes owl griffins.

So, a lot like the creature I thought of, but still quite different. You shall see! (And so will I, because I gave the illustrator super-freedom with this one. I basically said “make a owl cat mix thing” and let her loose.) I swear I did not see his stuff before coming up with the concept.

Making Words: An Announcement

I’m doing it. I’m making a language.

At eighteen, it is probably one of the greatest undertakings of my life. It may take some time, and the language may not even be complete by the time the series is over. But I will do my best, and I will try.

Why am I making a language, you might ask? I am a writer, so really, I do whatever I want. But if you really must know the reason, it will be one of the official languages in the book. It is known only as the “Original” for now. During the era of Dark Soldier, Book 1, it is a dead language. But a few of the characters, and me, being the writer, are going to be bringing it back.

And this is where you, the fans, come in. This is going to be the first of a few collaborative projects between me and my future and growing fanbase – we are going to make the language together! You get to help construct one of the most epic languages since elvish, and it will be awesome!

Ok, so maybe it’s not quite that awesome, but it is interesting. It is a mix of a European letter-based alphabet and a Egyptian-style hieroglypic system. Basically, certain sounds are represented by different style lines and shapes, and together they create a symbol. Ideas, like movement, can also be represented. In the case of movement, it is represented by a wavy line, like in the very first letter of this system, shown below (apologies, I am no photo-manipulation master):

Showing all the pieces of a letter for the current setup. Word shown represents wind/air/sky, depending on how it is written.

This is only the beginning of the “Original” system, but with your guys help, I think we can make a complex, understandable, and beautiful language. This language will feature both uvular and rolling sounds, so it’s also quite varied in its sounds that can be made.

Can’t wait to begin working with you guys on this, and seeing your ideas for how to better the language!