Well, the year is basically in full swing, at this point. There's no denying it. I mean, we can't claim a mulligan at this point, can we?
No. I don't suppose we can.
Anyway, I thought it was well past time to give an update on all things me. Yeah, that does sound kinda self absorbed, doesn't it?
Ravania Entertainment has an ambitious year planned, with lots of cool stories ready to be released on the world. There are comic books, fantasy stories, epic science fiction and a whole lot more. Well... Maybe that's it, but there is a lot of it, let me tell you! It's a hard slog, trying to get all this stuff done, but we are all getting the work put in.
Right now, I am in the process of putting some final edits into the planned re-release of Shadow Mountain and the Secret of the Gatekeepers. This is a fantasy story about a couple of orphans who are sent to live at a magical orphanage where they train to become the mystical, ancient, Gatekeepers. I wrote it a long time ago, now, and it's always been a story that's stuck with me. It ignited my love for writing, and telling stories. It's the first in a series, but because of life, and never being completely happy with the first story's presentation, I've never got around to getting the next in the series out.
Well, I've come to terms with my story, and while I'm not going to re-write it, I've done some... shall we say... housecleaning. When looking at the spirit of the story, I realised that I couldn't just go in and gut the book, then expect the magic that it had to remain intact. In fact, a lot of times, I think writers are too quick to throw a story away because of some imagined notion that it's not salvageable.
While there may be some truth in the notion that you can't sit around, trying to fix something forever, and ignore the new stories, ideas, and adventures that come up, I don't hold with the idea that if something isn't exactly how you want it to be, that it has no value. Writers, as a culture, are often told to throw away ideas, works, and whole manuscripts on a whim. If this hasn't worked by now, it never will, etc.
Well, call me stuborn, call me a romantic, but I couldn't part company with Shadow Mountain. Yes... there are problems with it. I've tried to address the most glaring things in this new release. But then, some of the rough edges helped give it the magic that has endeared the story to me.
No, the book isn't perfect. Maybe it's not a masterwork of fantasy fiction. But it is fun, and it's got a little heart. I like it, and in the editing process (The bane of my existence) I've grown closer to the tale. This book will stand as it is, after the last edit. It's a good story, and I'm confident that the story will hold it's own.
As for a sequel, I'm going to be working on that later in the year. While the manuscript is finished, it needs a deeper operation to fix the problems contained within it. I am, again, confident I can fix these, however. It will take work, but I know the story, and I know how to fix it. So, I will fix it.
So, that's Shadow Mountain...
