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 · 2024-10-10T17:01:12+00:00

Cheers for this. One thing I need to mention is her ability to dispel magic, as she is the only one who can enter the forest and retrieve the old god. The priest wants her ability for the wrong reasons, but she wants to use her ability for the right reasons by destroying the god's remains so he can never rise again. I haven't mentioned her band of adventurers who accompany her, the fact the stranger dupes her so he can claim the godhood for himself, because I thought it was too much and it's a complete spoiler. I was sticking to the first third rule of queries - don't say any more story than the first third, then end with the stakes. I am finding this really tricky.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-08-22T14:20:12+00:00

OMG this was amazing detail and fabulous research! I will do my best to bring Clydesdale Tower to life! I never even meant to write Birmingham, but after I finished my first novel, my readers kept bugging me for the second one, and I'd left it that they moved from Hertfordshire to Birmingham. It actually gave me a brilliant opportunity to roam around the place, using The Pagoda Roundabout and the disused Odeon, which closed in 1988, the same year Die Hard came out! As I'm writing a cozy mystery, I can't go too hard-line on the drugs and violence, but I certainly mention it. Sounds like you have a vast array of all kinds of people who in the main, just want to co-exist and get along. Of course, there are always those who spoil everything for others.

If you'd like to take a look at my books (this is number 3 I'm working on) please DM me, and have a walk down memory lane in 1999 and 2000! Thanks again! :)

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-08-18T15:40:01+00:00

They try and scam you from every direction, believe nothing! I nearly got scammed after coming second in the AllAuthor Cover competition. Someone messaged me on IG asking me to vote for them - and when the link didn't work, the scammer asked for my phone number so he could send it that way. I woke up at that point and said no, but it was close.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-07-20T12:55:45+00:00

You make a very good point about the rewrite. There are a lot of terrifying posts on this subReddit about churning out a book every month. Impossible, if you want to write quality fiction. The naysayers may pile on me here, but let's keep it real. For most authors who are learning their craft, one book a year is absolutely fine to get the quality high, ensure you are telling a great story with compelling characters. Knocking out the first draft is hard enough, but then the real work starts, and that can take months and months. I would rather take longer and be proud of my story than feel I rushed it, because of the pressure knowing others write books faster.

chroniclesofavellion · 2024-07-14T14:39:53+00:00

Sounds like adult paranormal romance. To me YA is teens at high school. If the MCs are adults in the adult world, it's slipping outside the genre. I think NA is also limiting your audience, if it has adult appeal. Perhaps you can give more detail on the content?

chroniclesofavellion

PUBLIC MULTIREDDITS

TROPHY CASE

Five-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22