urban fantasy

Happy anniversary!

~ JP Marshman ~ Leave a comment

I missed it. Like some kind of forgetful man.

Yesterday was my second anniversary blogging here. How time flies when you’re having fun, right?

In writing news, Purity is just finishing up the very last dredges of editing and will be published at the end of the month, as per my last post. Abomination is just about 150 000 words in, and aside from a writer’s block I’m currently weathering, still going strong. I planned out the next few chapters (which is terribly rare for me) and it looks as though it’s going to very easily overcome Changeling’s 180 000+ word count that being said, Changeling could have easily gone longer, but I thought I should probably end it at some point. The Of the Arbour rewrite is about 17 000 words in and things are really kicking off. So things are happening, albeit a little slowly. Purity is my first priority right now, naturally.

What better way to celebrate an anniversary than with a publication?

A tentative Purity release date

~ JP Marshman ~ 2 Comments

JP Marshman - Purity - Book Cover

 

An update on my little vampire ditty, Purity:

Though she is still in the process of being edited, I have tentatively decided on a release date.  If everything goes to plan, she will be for sale to the public a week or so before Halloween 2013.

Around October 20 or October 24, Purity will be available for purchase.

So hopefully everything goes according to plan. Once I have a more concrete idea when exactly the publication date will be, I will inform you all.

I’m very much looking forward to this, especially with that gorgeous cover.

The cover of Purity revealed!

~ JP Marshman ~ Leave a comment

JP Marshman - Purity - Book Cover

Purity’s cover is designed, and the book is finished!

I neglected to announce it on the old blog, but Purity is completed, with round one of edits done. Everything is prepared in the file, including not only the manuscript, but acknowledgments and a little author bio at the end, and with the cover finished it’s nearly ready to be put for sale! I have some beta readers lined up to go through and edit for me as well, and hopefully the book will be ready for everyone to read around the New Year.

This is happening quickly, so be on the lookout for more updates!

Naming a book

~ JP Marshman ~ 2 Comments

And what a bloody process it is.

The title of the book is, obviously, one of the most important parts of the writing process itself. If you have a stupid name, despite how good the book may be, people are going to judge it and be less likely to pick it up or buy it.

Being that I work in a bookstore, I encounter some pretty heinous book titles quite often. Namely, romance and mystery titles. They’re often punny or just straight up ridiculous.

Ideally, you would name your book something enticing that relates well with the plot or characters. For example, my favourite book, Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon, is called Outlander because the main character, Claire Randall, is nicknamed Sassenach by her confidante Jamie Fraser; Sassenach is a Scots Gaelic word meaning, you guessed it, outlander (at worst; at best, it means Englishman, which Claire also is).  Continue reading →

The dogs of war: Purity teaser

~ JP Marshman ~ Leave a comment

He could feel anger radiating from Vanessa like steam. He understood why, of course. He had ample opportunity to shoot Heinrich in a fatal zone—the heart, the head—and end this foolish war without further bloodshed.

But Vanessa didn’t understand. Vanessa had never been truly lost and alone in her darkest time of need, had never found that one person with whom to seek solace. In truth, Vanessa had no friends. Only allies.

No matter what happened, Heinrich had been a friend.

Fane gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the pistol at his side. Joachim was right. He wasn’t strong enough to kill the man who had been his pillar of strength after the deaths of his father and Verity.

Heinrich snarled another curse in German. He released his injured arm and, before Fane could even move to react, grabbed a fistful of Joan Gwyther’s hair, yanking her upright. She shrieked, thrashing, but Heinrich held tight. “See what you have done, Fane!” he roared, loud enough to startle birds from their roosts. “This is the end! Everything you have fought so hard to protect will die today!” Continue reading →

The process of writing

~ JP Marshman ~ 2 Comments

Everyone does it differently. Some people write passionately with pen and paper, and only pump it into the computer once there’s a significant amount. Some take notes and plot the entire story out before even writing the first word. The goal is the same – write the story – but getting there is different for everyone.

I write by the seat of my pants. The one time I can remember plotting out entire points throughout a story, I veered so drastically off course from the timeline that it could have been a different story altogether. I learned then that plotting out every detail is not for me. So I changed it, and I gave up trying to write down what I wanted to happen. If I stuck to a single idea, that was all well and good, but if not, hey, as long as I ended up liking the story, I really didn’t mind.  Continue reading →

Putting oneself into one’s characters

~ JP Marshman ~ 9 Comments

Everyone who writes is guilty of this. It isn’t bad, of course. We can relate better and work better with a character we know, who is derived from ourselves. But even if we strive to avoid putting too much of ourselves into our characters, it still happens, and it comes as a big shock when we notice.

For example, the main characters of my three main muses are Sage, from OtArb, Aisling, from Changeling, and Caitlyn, from Purity. Sage, despite being male, is very much like me – or at least, he certainly was when I created him a few years ago. Generally pretty quiet, a little awkward, agnostic, and something of an insomniac. He represents my solitary side, and I’m fully aware of it. It’s similar with Caitlyn. She’s more of my goofier side, with immature jokes and a girlier nature. Continue reading →

Judging a book by its cover

~ JP Marshman ~ 2 Comments

Of course there is the old adage about trying not to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes we’re guilty of just that. And I do mean literally judging a book by its cover, not some thoughtful thing about inner beauty and crap.

When I started reading the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, prompted by my love for the HBO series True Blood, I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I couldn’t believe the editors and publishers of these books, which aren’t terrible to read, actually looked at them and said, “Yes, this is exactly what will sell these urban fantasy novels.”

Why. Just, why.

Continue reading →

The Darkness: Purity teaser

~ JP Marshman ~ Leave a comment

The sun was still setting; a violet haze still lingered on the horizon, streaking the clouds rainbow hues. It was beautiful, despite the faint sting on his flesh; he had forgotten just how much he once enjoyed simply sitting outside and watching the last dredges of daylight struggle against the night. It was poetry in nature.

A twig snapped beneath his perch, and he squinted through the cover of leaves to see three people trudging through the dense forest beneath him. Two strigoi morţi, famished but well rested, dragging a limp figure through the dry grass and fallen leaves of autumn.

Continue reading →