Concept images of Belpo (the main city of The Aeon Academy) and its surrounds:
A Belpo City Train Station, somewhere towards the outskirts of the city.
Concept Images – Part 1
Choosing your Tense and Point-of-View
The point-of-view of your story and the tense it’s written in has a huge impact on the structure of your novel and feel of narration. Done well, your POV and tense will work seamlessly together to create an engaging tale and believable characters. Done poorly, the reader can be left feeling disjunct from what’s happening. This article is a (very) short introduction to the main POV’s and tenses, as well as tips for using them.
Updated Chapters
I’ve recently updated the sample chapters on this website to include some major changes. I’m basically rewriting the entire story, so while these first three chapters might seem quite similar to how they used to be, there are drastic changes down the line.
The biggest one is the setting. In the first draft, the Academy was set in a forest amongst mountains. Now, it’s set in the middle of a city. What about those mountains? Well, they’re now north-west of the city, and come in use later in the novel.
Also, I’ve cut a lot of characters, particularly from the Guard. R.I.P. Vito, Reva, Candace and Michele, who were all members – albeit highly undeveloped members – of the team in the first draft. They may be used in other books, though…
Anyway, those three new chapters are now up:
Any feedback, thoughts, or queries would be much appreciated. Let me know what you think!
Oh, and Happy New Year to all!
2014 in review
The WordPress.com helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Thanks for all your support and views throughout the year!
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,500 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 25 trips to carry that many people.
Updated Blurb
My novel’s changed a fair bit between the last time I updated this site, so I felt that it was important to change the blurb on the homepage too. Here’s the updated blurb:
Wayne is just another faceless, orphaned boy in a backwater city, until a conflict with another orphan spirals out of control. He wakes up in hospital, where he’s told he’s a Neohuman – a person with special abilities – and offered a place at a school for people just like him.
The school isn’t exactly a restful place, the days sprinkled with full-contact sparing sessions and psychotic maths teachers, but Wayne has never felt more at home.
When he becomes the target of a shadowy organisation and stumbles into a shocking web of conspiracy, he must use all of his newfound skills to survive. Alone, powerless and hunted by the very people he must protect, can Wayne outlast the night?
Are there any ways I could improve this? Do you think it’s a bit lengthy? Does it give too much away? Does it make you want to read it? Any feedback/thoughts would be much appreciated. 🙂
Life’s Greatest Glory
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
Gretel and Hansel
Gretel and Hansel is a subversive short story I wrote midway through last year. Recently, I did a little bit of editing, cutting down the story to under 1500 words to make it eligible for a short story competition. This story has also been published on Aubade Rising, as well as Protagonize. If you find any typos in the story, or think of anything I could do to improve it, don’t hesitate to tell me :). Hope you enjoy!
Gretel and Hansel are two poor children living in the midst of a busy, dark and dangerous city. They live with their father and their stepmother, who has nothing but contempt for them. So when she takes them out for a family outing, the two children know that something’s amiss.
A subversive take on the traditional Grimm brothers’ story.
Gretel and Hansel
Jed H
There were a lot of things in Emergan that could wake you up in the middle of the cold, snowy night. If it wasn’t a police siren or gunfire, it was the soft, graceful shattering of distant glass or the sound of squealing tires close by. Tonight, though, it was the sound of their parents arguing that woke fourteen year-old twins Hansel and Gretel from a deep slumber. Continue reading
Protagonize
Protagonize is an award-winning online writing community based out of Canada, established in December, 2007. It’s home to over 25,800 members from around the world, one of which, as of today, is myself. 🙂
Currently, I’ve published two short stories on the website, Indoctrination and Gretel and Hansel. I’ve published Indoctrination previously on this website, but Gretel and Hansel hasn’t been published here … yet.
Regardless, I’d encourage you to head on over to Protagonize. In addition to just plain short stories, it also contains collaborative works that you, that’s right, you, can add to.
Are there any other good writing communities/groups you’re part of? If so, I’d love to know.
Indoctrination
This short story was published recently on Aubade Rising, but for those of you who haven’t visited that site (and also because I just can 🙂 ) here it is!
Ikan is a child in the ancient city of Sayil. He desperately wants to be an adult in the tribe, but when his coming of age arrives, will he choose acceptance or his oldest friend?
Blog-Hopping Nomination
Xos Mel, a fellow blogger, recently nominated me for a blog-hopping nomination about my writing process, or lack thereof. Essentially, I’ve been given four questions about what I’m writing, how I write it and why I write it. Read on for the answers!
The Aeon Academy 