Writing work on the project has accelerated over the past few months. Seeing as this book will be a little longer than the others I have mentally split it into three ‘Acts’, of which the first one is already complete. The last few weeks have seen me build up my plans for the next two acts, writing detailed chapter breakdowns ahead of the main writing pass. With Aquis I’m going to be juggling a lot more in the way of characters and intrigue, so it should be a wonderful read when complete. I first started this project in 2012 when Children of the Crater was still only halfway written, and so it has about four years of world-building thought going into it.
Hey there folks, a quick update on my progress with Tales from Aquis.
Writing work on the project has accelerated over the past few months. Seeing as this book will be a little longer than the others I have mentally split it into three ‘Acts’, of which the first one is already complete. The last few weeks have seen me build up my plans for the next two acts, writing detailed chapter breakdowns ahead of the main writing pass. With Aquis I’m going to be juggling a lot more in the way of characters and intrigue, so it should be a wonderful read when complete. I first started this project in 2012 when Children of the Crater was still only halfway written, and so it has about four years of world-building thought going into it.
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While writing, I never really erase anything in its entirety- If a section needs to be taken out I generally save it in a separate document of deleted scenes. Sometimes they get worked in or salvaged later, but many do not.
The Clouds of Escalion has over 8,000 words of deleted scenes that popped up in that way- including an entirely different opening chapter. The book went through a lot of restructuring in the early days of writing, and sometimes I would remove entire pages of text if I found a better way of working through a scene. While writing Tales from Aquis, I had a look back through the deleted scenes archive as I was in there anyway- and thought I would share the following snippet of Fenrir and Bragi discussing the longhouse. -- “I never did tell you what my ability was, did I Fenrir?” He paused for a moment, lighting a long pipe that emerged from a small chest in the corner. “The longhouse and I are connected in a way that defies explanation. While one of us exists, the other cannot die. If you burned this building to the ground right now another would take its place, so long as I lived. Likewise, I cannot die while this building holds together. The moment those men destroyed the longhouse, I felt drawn to this place, as I do whenever I leave. The impulsion is strong; I am shackled here more strongly than you can imagine.” -- Incidentally, chapter six of Tales from Aquis is now complete. The manuscript is already approaching the 25,000 word mark; it’s been quite the train ride.
Researching my books often leads me to strange places, but none quite this strange so far. As you may already know, Tales from Aquis will be set in a city at the bottom of the ocean, and the question of how the city can grow food came to mind.
Turns out there already is an Italian venture on that very front, growing food in pressurised capsules under the sea. Nemo’s Garden is a project to create a means of sustainable farming, which could potentially be of use in areas that lack fresh water sources. By managing an elevated level of carbon dioxide, they are actually able to accelerate plant growth. I love reasearching this sort of thing, as the harsh underwater environment of Aquis will surely have an impact on the city’s food source, energy, and just about every aspect of daily life What kind of fish could you catch that deep in the ocean? What crops would be best for growing under those conditions? I’ve already had to work out how one would make alcohol down there, having settled on a drink called coyol that could be produced from the sap of palm trees. I always find that it is these sorts of details that help bring a fantasy world to life. As the wonderful Leah and I continue our journey across Europe, I find my brain buzzing with ideas for the world of Aquis. While most if not the entire novel will take place in the eponymous city, A larger world is forcing its way into existance. I’ve seen some wonderful places on these travels, particularly Monaco, and Aquis is demanding attention from my subconcious. I literally had to tack in a temporary notes section on the bottom of the draft I was working on on the train to deal with all the geopolitics that are blossoming in this brave new world of mine.
Today I had a good old writing session. Which is to say, I lazed on the grassy riverbank outside and contemplated my next story. Still in the process of outlining it, but the core characters are already arguing with one another. We are going to have some hilarious dysfunctionality with these folks, I can assure you of that much. The story has changed massively in the six years it has been bouncing around my head!
While the unnamed inbound project (soon) is off for editing, I’ve shifted my focus over to that good old hydropunk novel I have been talking about, ‘Tales from Aquis’. Still thrashing out a plan on that one and getting to grips with the characters again. Started that manuscript back in 2012, but it is going to be redone from scratch. It is tremendously fun going back over these old notes from university, reading about all the misadventures of our heroes.
Continued my big proof-read of the new book the other night, and three hours melted away before I realised that time had passed at all. Life is funny that way.
On another note, we now have these fancy progress bar things on the right! I set those up today; they will let you guys keep track of just how far I am into my projects. As you can see; two major projects on the go at the minute. First off we have the “85% complete” item that I swear to god will tell you about soon. I’m actually going to be working on the cover for that this week, but more on that later. ‘Tales from Aquis’ be our second item. I actually started writing that project waaaaay back in 2012, but at some point Children of the Crater and its sequel became the focus of my attention. Good ol’ Aquis was never forgotten though, and I have bounced back into it from time to time. Seeing as I have talked about this on my old art blog over the intervening years, I guess there is no problem giving out some details that are already public. I have heard the term hydropunkthrown around a little bit, but one could equally call it a fantasy story which just happens to be set at the bottom of the ocean. It actually started out life as a tabletop gaming story I wrote to play with some friends back at university, funny how things evolve that way. Suffice to say, I plan on giving it some more time when the more immediate projects are finished. Seeya! |
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