Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
After a long hiatus, I started writing again about a year ago. Very slowly at first. What I’ve produced is in various states of completion.
They tell us that we should meet readers’ expectations. If you’re known for writing Epic Fantasy with Gay Main Characters, that’s it. You can’t write anything else, unless you do it under a new pen name. You should never confuse readers.
As usual, I’ve ignored well meant advice. Nothing of what I’ve written so far could be called Epic Fantasy.
Let’s see…
The Man by the Lake, a short story: finished, final version & edited.- The Conqueror, a short novella: finished, but needs to be revised and edited.
- Murder in Lorseth (working title), a short novel: finished, but needs at least two rounds of revision and then editing.
In this post I’ll lift a tip of the veil of the last one.
Murder in Lorseth
Murder in Lorseth (working title) is sort of a cozy mystery with two unlikely sleuths, set in the world of Anaxantis, a few months after the Battle of the Zinchara.
The story runs parallel to the main action of Book IV, The Invisible Hands — Part I: Gambit. As such it contains some spoilers for those who haven’t read the first trilogy, The Invisible Chains. Nothing major though.
Murder in Lorseth could confuse some readers. Although it is set in the World of Anaxantis it isn’t Epic Fantasy. It’s more of a Cozy Mystery. In other words: I’ve done it all wrong. Again. Readers of the main series will miss the epic content, and the male-on-male action is limited as well, though implicitly very present. Readers for whom this story is their first venture into the World of Anaxantis and who go on to read the main series, may be horrified to discover the not-so-cozy narrative of those books.
And I’m sure Murder in Lorseth will upset some Cozy Mystery fans as well.
I’m revising this one at the moment. Then it still needs to be edited and I have to find a suitable cover. Last but not least, I have to find someone to draw a map of Lorseth and environs. Because you can’t have a murder mystery without a map. Everyone knows that.
I’ll post a more substantial excerpt in a few days, but meanwhile here is a little tease. Readers of the main series will recognize the structure of the narrator introducing the story. But this narrator isn’t Randamor.
“I see in your eyes that you haven’t come to visit Medwyna the Midwife to hear her moan about her younger days, long gone by. You know I brought both of you boys into this world, and the world was better for it. But did you know that I also brought your mothers into this world? And your mothers’ mothers? The same with your fathers and your fathers’ fathers. That’s how old I am… Still, that’s not why you came. So, why did you?”
…
“Ah, Randamor send you. Got tired of you, did he? I’m not surprised. My dear friend is even older than I am. And all those terrible memories must weigh down on him.”
…
“I’m sure if you leave him be for a week or so, he will be glad to see you again. And he has many more stories to tell. What that man must have heard… and seen.”
…
“Yes, I know a lot of stories too that were told about the warlord and his friends. Not the big ones, though. Not the ones about battles and intrigues, and all those terrible and important events. If you want to hear those, you’ll have to wait until my grouchy old friend’s mood turns and he is prepared to tolerate you again. But, I can tell you some of the minor incidents that happened.”
…
“Now that I think about it, some of them were quite horrible in their own right. Just not on the same scale. Not the clashes of states. More like little tragedies happening between people.”
…
“Let me see… There was this girl from Lorseth — Lorseth Market, not Lorseth Castle — who was murdered. Oh, at first it seemed clear who had done the vile deed, and if not for two obstinate pages the wrong man could have been convicted of the atrocious killing.
…
Yes, it was them. How very clever of you, Verial. In fact, their reputation for solving mysteries stems from then.
…
It was several months after the Battle of the Zinchara, but before the prince-warlord send them as secret messengers to his mother, Queen Emelasuntha.
I’m sure most of you have guessed who the two unlikely sleuths are. The last sentence gives it away. If you know, please leave a comment.
On another note… something else I should have done ages ago but didn’t, was create a Facebook author page. Well, I corrected that mistake recently. It’s still a bit bare, but you can follow it here, if you’re so inclined: Andrew Ashling’s Facebook Author Page.
CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPPPP…. Oh, finally! Thank you Andrew. I am so joyful right now, I could sing. Not one but three expectations. Thank you. Will they be on sale ‘not too long from now’?
I’m quite glad for you and even gladder I get to read more or your work.
What does ‘meet readers’ expectations mean? This is not a smart aleck question, I’m really not sure of its definition. I didn’t know it was a ‘thing’ in the writing/publishing industry.
Shouldn’t it be pretty much about whichever story the writer wants to tell and how the ‘telling’ is done?
How can someone be confused about what they’re reading and who wrote it? Why should it matter that the same writer wrote a different kind of story as well? For example, in our day to day living, we buy and stick to a specific brand that makes many different items for different aspects of our lives because we trust, know and love the brand. How is that different in writing and reading?
But then, that’s just me, one reader, out of millions. (still, this a question I’m going to pose to my readerholic peeps)
I find what matters more to me as a readerholic is this: if I am reading a story that is about the 10th or 12th century and it is not fantasy / AU, I am not expecting to find architecture etc., terms and phrases we are using in this century that were never heard of in those time periods. Stuff like that is way more important to me than one writer using several names because of the kind of story being written.
I do love your writings and can’t honestly say I have anything to criticize about them. So, unless I totally misunderstood, then ignore all expect for the first paragraph.
Happy writings.
Thank you, Missy.
Wish it were that simple.
I think they mean that if you buy a book by e.g. Stephen King, you’d expect it to be horror. Mind you, that is not always true, but close enough. What you don’t expect is King writing Romance. Then again… he might be good at it.
I plan on writing a whole series of posts just on that subject/problem.
I checked in with a few of my readaholic peeps re the question of writers using pen names for different genres so as not to ‘confuse’ readers. And they all issued a resounding, BS!
Other than very valid reasons like, not wanting mama to know ‘I wrote this ‘sh **’ or punitive/dictatorial governments want to lock someone up for writing etc., they felt readers are intelligent enough to deal with One Writer. . . Multiple Genres. It only shows how versatile writers are. A skill to be celebrated, yes?
Expectations? to enjoy or be engaged in what we are reading.
The confusion we all agree would be keeping track of all the unneeded pen names and keeping them straight in our minds, not the genres. Jean Plaidy came to mind -Eleanor, I think.
‘I plan on writing a whole series of posts just on that subject/problem.’
(this one send me into a super spiral every time) so. . .I’m truly looking forward to your posts. It so does need to be addressed.
Yesterday I retweeted a tweet that sums up how I see the relation between the writer and his work. (This was part of another discussion. Click on the tweet if you want to read the whole thread.)
For the rest I agree wholeheartedly with you. Everyone needs to make their own choices of course, but as for me, I don’t plan on using several pen names.
AlexR’s tweets – well said.
Definitely glad to hear you are alive and kicking. Looking forward to reading your new work. Ximerion is one of my favorite places to revisit. I really enjoy your characters and your stories and I hope you continue to write
Thanks, Zach.
You can expect an extensive excerpt of Murder in Lorseth (working title) by next week or so.
Glad to see you are back at it.
Thank you, Caddy… and right back at you.
Glad to see you’re able to use your fingers again after your procedure, you keyboard warrior.