Noob

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Hello all - I've just joined and I'm feeling my way around.  I am posting two novels online, one a revision of my published solo novels (Lion's Heart and Lion's Soul, Baen Books, 1991) under the title The Philosopher in Arms and one a sequel, asa kraiya.  I've been posting every weekday since mid-March and have a total of about 400,000 words up as of mid-August.  Start here: www.chevenga.com .  Thanks for this community.

Comments

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Cool! What made you decide to start doing this?

I'm barking mad

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Seriously... I got inspired by the financial success of Alexandra Erin as well as numerous bloggers on the American political scene. More is explained on the FAQ page of the splash site. I like dealing directly with readers rather than go through middlepersons... there's an elegance to it. I was emailing back and forth a bit with Alexandra and one thing she said to me was that since I'm used to trad publishing it might take some adjusting to the immediate feedback of readers. My response was, are you kidding? That's like nirvana! My commenters are growing more numerous and I love it.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Re: I'm barking mad

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I can appreciate barking-madness. I feel much the same way. I shall go investigate your website, thus!

Re: I'm barking mad

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Heh... I wasn't meaning that as a sales pitch but I guess sometimes it's going to work ;-)

Enjoy! BTW your username rocks.

Re: I'm barking mad

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Thanks! My journal used to be entirely in haiku before I moved to prose. :)

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I am thrilled to find you here. I have always loved the Fifth Millennium novels, and yours stand out as some of the best characterization I've ever read -- and I've recommended them to writer-friends as examples since they came into my hands. Having them online will make that so much easier. I've added your website to the Links list here.

I'm busy for most of the rest of today, but I will most definitely delve into your site as soon as I can. I've also added you to my Friends list.

Re: Welcome!

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Thanks Ysabet, this comment made my day! I hope your writer friends have derived some benefit.

In my own opinion at least, the online version is way better... certainly it's longer and more complete, and of course I am writing from greater maturity and knowledge. I really notice that in the parts about parenting, for instance, since I wrote the dead-tree version BC (before children) and now have a 14-year-old and an 11-year-old.

My characterization method is pretty simple: I just make my characters into real people in my mind, and the rest follows.

Thanks also for adding my link.

Re: Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I've had people say that the scenes I pointed them to were very inspiring. Some of them I can describe from memory, like the sparring match on the balance beam. I'm so looking forward to the new material!

>>My characterization method is pretty simple: I just make my characters into real people in my mind, and the rest follows.<<

*chuckle* Yeah, I thought Chevenga acted like someone who had the bit in his teeth. Headstrong characters may be a handful, but they're worth it. If we wanted to do all the work ourselves, we'd be writing catalogs or something.

>>Thanks also for adding my link.<<

We do a lot of networking here. We're actually outgrowing this community in some ways. Some folks are kicking around ideas for a separate site so we can build a searchable database of all the cyberfunded projects people are doing.

Re: Welcome!

[karen-wehrstein.livejournal.com]

Chevenga ALWAYS has the bit in his teeth. I just give him his head totally and whatever we careen into will at least be interesting ;-)

I should note Shirley Meier is doing same as me with a new Fifth Millennium novel, _Eclipse Court_ -- see www.eclipsecourt.blogspot.com . She was at Anticipation a little while back blowing our respective horns...

I was just perusing your blog... health care debate? OMG, don't get me started. I'm Canadian and therefore know the truth about single-payer... everyone up here is like, "They're saying it'll kill grandmothers? Really? They're really saying that???" Our minds are collectively boggling. Great blog, btw.

Re: Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I saw that Shirley Meier just joined; thanks everso for pointing her here. I added her to my Friends list and plan to visit her sites soon.

The health care debate in America is pretty wild right now. Fortunately I have folks from other countries to help provide a wider perspective. I favor single-payer myself, but I'm trying to cover a variety of perspectives. I don't want to go into great detail here, but if care to join the fray over on my blog, feel free; we could use more outside perspectives.