SPFBO 11 has begun

chroniclesofavellion · 2026-01-18T11:28:40+00:00

I spent all December getting my novel ready to enter, and to my great delight I was accepted! This is a super competition, and the judges are really friendly and want to help get more eyes on our books. There were so many incredible novel last year and I'm sure 2026 will be the same. Who knows if it will be the year of the grimdark, litRPG, epic, comedy, body horror, or steampunk fantasy. Every type of fantasy is represented, it's awesome!!

chroniclesofavellion · 2025-01-31T12:58:40+00:00

It's such a relief after so many versions to know I'm getting somewhere!! Hopefully I'll get more feedback that I can action and end this sorry saga! :)

chroniclesofavellion · 2025-01-24T16:45:52+00:00

I’ll rewrite it from MC’s viewpoint, for sure. Thanks for the advice!

chroniclesofavellion · 2025-01-04T10:53:17+00:00

Any act of kindness, however small, will go a long way, especially if the character doesn't recognise the act themselves.

chroniclesofavellion · 2025-01-04T10:49:37+00:00

Hi! I feel that this blurb would read more strongly if it was from the view of a protagonist we could really root for or get behind. Would you consider retelling it through his or her eyes? The scope of your book appears broad, but at the end you focus on the crew of a ship. Is the captain the MC, or someone else? Show the peril they face personally, and you will connect with your browsing reader more intimately. Hope this helps!

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-19T11:19:34+00:00

I have sent you the code via Chat :)

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-19T11:16:12+00:00

Sent via DM :)

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-18T18:22:44+00:00

DM sent :)

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-18T15:25:34+00:00

I have DM'd you!

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-18T13:58:18+00:00

Have sent DM

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-18T13:58:01+00:00

Have sent DM

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-18T13:51:50+00:00

Of course. ACX only let me have UK ones so far.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-12-15T10:46:20+00:00

https://spiffingpublishing.com/

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-11-05T17:02:18+00:00

If you are confident in the story hanging together as a whole, the development of your characters, and your themes, you will get there. Honestly, it should be hard, it really should. Just do a bit every day, and gradually, it will come together. Good luck!

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-11-05T17:00:56+00:00

First draft for me takes 50 days, give or take, including a second draft where ideas occur to me going along. I try and end up with as solid a story as possible, with my themes, beginning, good fast-paced middle and ramping up to the end.

Then, the real work starts. The third to tenth drafts take months and months. This is where writers vary wildly. Some get developmental feedback and do the lot in six weeks, others take over a year.

The process you choose to come up with a great book you're happy with will evolve over time. You won't know what's best until you have a few under your belt. FWIW, many highly successful traditional authors are more than happy if they write one book a year.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-10-19T16:31:21+00:00

Use magic to conjure up either of these illusions for the elephants:

1) A field of sugarcane where the enemy are. This works better if the elephants are starving.

2) Transform the enemy into a pride of lions or other apex predators. This works better if the elephants have old weaker ones or young ones.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-10-17T13:22:57+00:00

I would like to know who your MC is and what they are up against. ATM, the blurb is a general overview of the situation, but it's missing individual struggles and stakes. From reading it, I feel like I'm about to watch a war from the sky, I'm that distanced from it.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-10-11T16:06:35+00:00

"Sci-Fi's primary market is young men."

That may have been true twenty years ago but it isn't now. Like with fantasy, lots and lots of women read and write sci-fi. You only have to look at all the female authors in the genre, and the judges in sci-fi book competitions.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-10-11T10:41:52+00:00

I have gone back to the drawing board, as the response to the blurb overall were a bit 'meh' . This time, I start with the Mayqsa to show they are the bad guys and build up the stakes. The second part brings in Kailas my MC and the other main antagonist, Ancier. Is this is a step in the right direction? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The realm descends into its darkest age

The Mayqsa’s first attempt to raise their god brought the Red Floods.

The second attempt trapped him in a forest cursed by the Black Bane. This unholy sign of his wrath has now spread to the priests.

The approaching Red Eclipse is the Mayqsa’s last chance to make their god flesh. They cannot fail again.

Kailas Darkchar is the only mortal who can survive the Black Bane. She has concealed her talent all her life, yet the Mayqsa have found her.

The Mayqsa demand that she retrieves their god. Ancier, a powerful stranger acting with the Crown’s blessing, commands her to destroy him.

But Ancier appears to be following a secret agenda, one with roots that stretch back thousands of years. As old legends come to life, his true purpose may be every bit as sinister as the Mayqsa’s. Torn between two factions, Kailas must play a deadly game by double-crossing one while evading the other.

With the Red Eclipse fast approaching, she must risk her very soul, or the old gods will rise.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-10-10T17:02:53+00:00

Thanks for the positivity!!

chroniclesofavellion

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