Category: Sir Edric's Adventures - Thaddeus White

Calm after the storm

5/12/2016

Well, last month was unusually busy. Two books came out (The Adventures of Sir Edric Volume One was out late on 31 March, to be precise), including my first full size book since Journey to Altmortis, all the way back in 2013.

It will not be as long until Kingdom Asunder is released (almost certainly self-published). The results of a poll I ran on my Twitter account (MorrisF1) had the optimal gap between trilogy entries as 1 year. My plan is to get Traitor's Prize (part two in the trilogy) either nearly or completely finished, then release Kingdom Asunder. That'll give me about two years to finish off the third book and, even if it takes a bit longer, there won't be a monumental gap between books.

The first draft of Traitor's Prize is done, but it's undergoing a major redraft (as is normal, for me, at least). I hope to get it finished this year, but that is not certain.

On the comedy front, Sir Edric's Kingdom is finished, and I'm working on the first draft of Sir Edric and the Plague (both novel-sized). In the meantime, there may be short stories (check the Free Stories tab at the top of this page for a couple of Sir Edric's shorts, as well as a story, inspired by true events, starring me).

Going back to recent days: signing your own hardbacks is a weird thing. The hardback is now available on Amazon, and you can also get a signed copy from the Tickety Boo Press website, where they're currently on sale.

And remember, kids, if you do like a book, don't forget to rate, review and recommend it to your friends. Word of mouth is like gold dust for authors.

Thaddeus

The Adventures of Sir Edric - out now

4/1/2016

In trouser-explodingly good news, The Adventures of Sir Edric is now available. Even better, the price is an obscenely low 99p (this will go up in the not too distant future).

As well as the limited edition hardback [which, I should stress, is more than 99p], the e-book is available from Amazon.

Click here for the Amazon UK link.

Click here for the Amazon US link.

If you're reading this I imagine you're quite interested in my writing, so please do buy it, review, rate and recommend.

In the short term, there's more marketing to do for Sir Edric, as well as awaiting more reviews. In mid-April, The Haunting of Lake Manor Hotel (horror anthology in which I have a short story) comes out.

I also hope to get Kingdom Asunder released in the second half of the year, but we'll see about that. In the meantime, enjoy The Adventures of Sir Edric.

Thaddeus

Future Doings - and a picture of Dog

1/3/2016

After a slightly fallow period, many good things are ahead in 2016. The editing of Sir Edric's Temple/Treasure will commence shortly, as will late changes to a short horror story that should also be published in the first half of 2016 as part of an anthology.

And that's just in the short term. Kingdom Asunder is largely done, and the first draft of its sequel, Traitor's Prize, is about 70-80% finished (worth noting redrafting that will take a substantial amount of time). Sir Edric's Kingdom will hopefully be finished off shortly after Temple/Treasure, then I have plans to outline the fourth Sir Edric large story.

Further ahead, I'd like to write a novel around the serial Zodiac Eclipse, published last year by Kraxon Magazine (can be read here, first episode at the bottom), as well as the final part of the Kingdom Asunder/Traitor's Prize story and more Sir Edric shenanigans.

But, most of that is far off. In the short term, I'm hoping to get the short horror story and Sir Edric's Temple/Treasure out in the first half of 2016.

Although not much of an artist, I did an Egyptian style sketch of Dog (also under the Artwork section of this site).

In addition, Sir Edric joined Twitter (under the modest name HeroOfHornska). One suspects he'll be an intermittent and mostly drunk Twitterer.

So, many things happening this year, and in the future.

Thaddeus

Sir Edric's Kingdom, initial draft done(ish)

5/15/2015

In the last few days I've finished off the first draft of Sir Edric's Kingdom. Mostly. I do have a few rough patches that need sanding down, but that's mostly small technical stuff or areas I deliberately left grey in case the storyline developed a certain way and I had to come back and change stuff [that has not occurred, meaning less work for me, huzzah!].

It's currently just over 80,000 words, so more than Temple and Treasure combined. The structure is a little less episodic and has some longer arcs, which is a slight shift from the first two books, which have a more chapter-by-chapter approach [not to say there aren't also longer arcs, just that they're more prevalent in Kingdom].

Writing comedy is different in many ways to 'serious' fantasy. The first draft is usually much more fun (you're basically trying to make yourself laugh), but redrafting's much harder. The lack of novelty robs the jokes of humour, and trying to assess them is very difficult.

And that's where beta readers come in. Beta readers cast a constructively critical eye over a work that isn't finished but is quite close to being done, and point out the many ways in which it's awful (in a nice, encouraging way, of course). Occasionally this can be tricky (one joke in Temple was highlighted by two beta readers, one of whom loved it, one of whom loathed it) but mostly it works well.

Kingdom Asunder's redrafting is ongoing, and I am starting to contemplate future full-sized projects. The most obvious is Kingdom Asunder's sequel (it's the first part of a trilogy), and then there's the question of whether I write the fourth entry in The Adventures of Sir Edric or try my hand at a steampunk/sci-fi novel.

And don't forget that as well as the fifth episode of Zodiac Eclipse due out this evening (all episodes available here) May will also see an extra short story, by me, on the excellent Kraxon Magazine website.

Thaddeus

Quantum writing - both ahead and behind schedule

4/4/2015

In a slightly odd position, being both ahead and behind schedule.

The third outing for Sir Edric (planned to be longer than Temple and Treasure combined) is currently ahead of schedule. Normally, my problem is brevity, but I ended up writing 11,000 words for a section that was meant to be 5,000, and the first draft is on course to be done by the end of next month [after which it will be brutalised by beta readers].

In less good news, Kingdom Asunder is a little behind schedule. Extra stuff (map, cover etc) should all be finished before the text is done, but I'm a bit behind on getting the text sorted. It is still almost certain to be ready this year, but the problem may be if Temple's re-release (by Tickety Boo Press) and Kingdom Asunder run into each other. If that happens, then I'll need to delay Kingdom Asunder so I don't have the ridiculous spectacle of releasing both right next to each other. On the plus side, that would delay the wait for the second part of the trilogy after the first's release, but my goal is still to release Kingdom Asunder, then see Temple and Treasure come out.

Plenty of future projects bubbling away in the foetid cauldron of my mind (steampunk story, a sci-fi novel based on Zodiac Eclipse, more Sir Edric shenanigans etc) but right now my focus is firmly on Kingdom Asunder and Sir Edric's Kingdom [working title].

The free 12 part sci-fi mini-series (one episode per month) Zodiac Eclipse is available at the excellent Kraxon magazine. First part is here.

Don't forget to give Prey: Seven Tales of Beastly Terror a look. It's an anthology put together by seven independent authors, including me, with all proceeds going to the WWF (that's the wildlife charity, not the wrestlers).

Thaddeus

The Horror!

2/21/2015

It's a weird thing, writing. Tons of work, very few releases, and when stuff is published it's often weeks, months or even years after you finished it. On the other hand, it's quite nice when there's a pipeline of stuff due to come out.

There are now two episodes (of an eventual 12) of Zodiac Eclipse available, for free, on the Kraxon magazine website. It's my first published sci-fi foray, so far Gertrude seems to be going down quite well.

Also recently released is Prey: Seven Tales of Beastly Terror. Seven independent/self-published authors contributed a horror story each, with all proceeds going towards animal charity (WWF). It's my first horror story (many firsts this year). Particular thanks to LK Evans for getting me the last spot on the boat, Tom Conyers for his work putting it together, helping me with feedback and artwork, and Chance Maree for formatting [which can be rather more difficult than it sounds].

An e-book version will be forthcoming, for now it's a physical edition only.

On larger works: Kingdom Asunder's still going through the beta reader mill. I don't envisage enormous changes, but that may change depending on feedback (important to remember when getting critiques you don't have to take *all* advice, and different beta readers may have diametrically opposing views).

As mentioned before, Sir Edric's Temple should be re-released at some point this year. Sir Edric's Treasure will also come out, though that may be early 2016 (both are being published by Tickety Boo Press).

I'm also working on a third Sir Edric adventure, although that's very much in early stages. As always with comedy, I have no idea whether it's amazing, dreadful, or somewhere in between.

So, after a 2014 which largely involved writing lots and few releases, tons of stuff is coming out. Huzzah!

Thaddeus

2015: The Plan

1/16/2015

Last year was a bit fallow in terms of stuff I released.

There was the milestone of getting my first published short story out (Saxon & Khan, part of the Malevolence: Tales from Beyond the Veil anthology), but that was the only story of mine released in 2014.

The reason for the fallow year was just a matter of circumstance, in the same way that Journey to Altmortis and Sir Edric’s Temple were released a few months apart in 2013, and didn’t reflect any slowdown in how much I was writing (quite the reverse, to be honest). Hopefully, 2015 will be a bumper harvest.

I’m very glad to announce that the first of 12 episodes in the Zodiac Eclipse mini-series is out now at Kraxon magazine. Zodiac Eclipse tells the tale of Gertrude Jaeger, a crippled bounty hunter coerced into piracy on the infamous ship The Sun Dancer. One thousand word episode will be released each month of 2015.

I’m endeavouring to get Kingdom Asunder self-published this year. It’s hard to say when, precisely, as it’s currently being brutalised by a small army of beta readers, whose hard work beating out the weak spots is greatly appreciated. Kingdom Asunder is a fantasy novel which occurs in the Bane of Souls/Journey to Altmortis world.

Those who enjoy comedy may be pleased to know that the second edition of Sir Edric’s Temple (published by Tickety Boo Press) has been pencilled in for release in 2015. Sir Edric’s Treasure, the follow-up comedy, will also be published by Tickety Boo, possibly this year, possibly next.

I have a number of short stories in the pipeline with several anthologies. They range from sci-fi to steampunk (which was surprisingly fun to write. I’m giving serious consideration to a full-length steampunk novel). Can’t say which will be given the green light, or when precisely they’ll be out, but I’m hoping for at least one short story (within an anthology) to be released in 2015, in addition to the 12 Zodiac Eclipse episodes.

So, at the maximum extent this year could see about sixteen short stories and three solo efforts, and the minimum should be twelve short stories and one solo effort. Either way, it’s a lot more than 2014, so stay tuned for announcements on new releases.

Thaddeus

Sir Edric and the Stolen Sherry

12/6/2014

“Sir, I’m sorry to wake you-” Dog began.

“What bloody time is it?” Sir Edric demanded, refusing to open his eyes.

Dog coughed. “Two o’clock.”

The knight’s eyes snapped open and he sat up, but there was no sign of the sun shining through the slits of his windows’ shutters. He frowned. “Two o’clock in the morning? Dog, the only sort of person who I want waking me up at this bloody hour is a thirsty nymphomaniac. Bugger off.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Terrence reported a strange sound on the roof.”

“It was probably a rat. Or a squirrel. Go away.”

“Terrence insisted it sounded very large, sir. I told him to remain on duty whilst I let you know.”

Sir Edric sighed, and threw aside his sheets. “Fine. I’ll go up on the roof myself, and you’re coming with me. And if there’s anything short of a dragon up there I’ll feed Terrence to the slime-beast of the Snottlebog.”

Dog waited outside whilst Sir Edric got dressed and buckled on his sword belt. In the corridor of his rather fine house, a thought occurred to him.

“Wasn’t Basil meant to be keeping watch tonight?” Sir Edric asked. He tended not to remember what the other servants were called, but it was hard to forget such a ridiculous name.

“He’s wounded, sir.”

Sir Edric raised an eyebrow. “Wounded? He hasn’t sprained his wrist again, has he?”

“No, sir. He tried to milk Moloch and was kicked halfway across the yard.”

“Ah. Well, that was bound to happen. There’s a reason milkmaids work with cows and not stallions, Dog.”

“Indeed, sir.”

He led Dog out of the house. The night was frostier than breakfast with his wife. Whilst Dog fetched a ladder, Sir Edric made sure his horses, who slept only an hour or two a night, were all in good order. Hamilton’s Trousers seemed a little down, and Moloch almost bit his hand off when he fed him an apple, but otherwise his sizeable collection of nags was in fine fettle.

He rubbed his hands together in a vain effort to stave off the night’s chill, and tried to devise a suitable punishment for Terrence. A hungry weasel thrust down the trousers was his preferred option by the time Dog finally returned with a long ladder, and propped it up against the wall.

It’ll be a damned rat. Or a squirrel. Or a starling that’s found its way into the loft. On the other hand itmight be one of Esmerelda’s deranged followers. Or perhaps Grog Bel-Rot is out for revenge. A rooftop fight with a nine foot tall lunatic could be a tiny bit dangerous.

“You first, Dog. I’ll hold the ladder for you,” Sir Edric said.

“Very good, sir.”

The knight watched as Dog climbed onto the rooftop, and waited for his reaction. For a moment, the servant disappeared from sight, and then he returned, silhouetted against the stars.

“You should come up and see this, sir.”

Sir Edric sighed. “Just tell me what it bloody is.”

Dog glanced back at whatever was on the roof. “It’s, er, reindeer, sir.”

“Reindeer?”

“Yes, sir. Nine reindeer. And a sleigh.”

Sir Edric glared up at Dog. “I’m coming up to see for myself, and if this is some feeble attempt at a jest, I’ll throw you off the bloody roof.”

He clambered quickly up the ladder. Dog was not the jesting sort, but nor could he believe reindeer had managed to climb onto his roof. His manservant gave him a hand, and then pointed at an incredible sight.

There were nine reindeer and a sleigh on his roof. The reindeer were arranged in four pairs with a solitary lead animal, which was endowed with a bright red nose.

“How the hell did a bloody sleigh get on the roof?” Sir Edric demanded.

“Magic, sir?” Dog suggested.

Sir Edric raised an eyebrow. “If this is a curse it’s a damned peculiar one.”

He kept his distance from the reindeer and their pungent aroma, and approached the sleigh. Whatever manner of creature he imagined might drive onto his roof, it had abandoned its ensorcelled sleigh. The back of the arcane vehicle was occupied by a massive sack. Sir Edric drew his sword, ready to fend off an assailant waiting in ambush or cut the bonds of a slave if he found one trussed up.

This is queerer than the time I saw Percy Lovelock doing the maypole dance with Clifton Bell.

Hundreds upon hundreds of items were inside the sack, each wrapped in brightly coloured paper. Many had ribbons around them, and their sizes and shapes were of a great variety.

“What do you make of it, Dog?” he asked his manservant, sheathing his sword.

Dog peered inside, frowned, and had a second look. “I’ve never seen anything like it, sir. Either the sleigh-driver is stealing, using his magical steeds to land on roofs and then wrapping up his stolen goods, or he’s visiting strangers and giving away gifts. It’s hard to say which is the least likely.”

Sir Edric stroked his beard and pondered the peculiar situation. “Well, if he’s a thief, we should relieve him of his ill-gotten gains. And if these are gifts intended for strangers, we’re entitled to them. The only rational course of action is to take as many as we can.”

Dog reached in to retrieve a box-shaped item, but Sir Edric sighed at him.

“Don’t be a dimwit, Dog. Get the bottles first. A box could contain anything from a plant pot to a severed head.”

Sir Edric, regretting his failure to bring a pack, grabbed as many of the largest bottles as he could manage, and very carefully returned to the ladder. Descending fully laden was awkward, but his righteous desire to deprive the bizarre burglar of his stolen property drove him on. Dog followed soon after, but, before either man could climb back up the ladder, bells jingled in the night and a deep hearty laugh boomed from the rooftop. Without warning, the reindeer drew the sleigh up into the night sky and flew away.

Sir Edric scrambled up the ladder, but two lines in the frost were the only sign of the sleigh ever having been there. He climbed back down and, with Dog, gathered the various bottles they had manage to requisition. Once inside the warmth of his house, he started unwrapping them when Terrence approached.

“Um, something happened while you were outside, sir,” the servant reported.

“You blind me with detail,” Sir Edric replied, tearing open some paper and revealing a bottle of Andelic brandy. “Huzzah! A thief the magical mischief-maker might be, but he has exquisite taste. So, what happened?”

Terrence looked away. “There was a break-in. I was guarding the door, but the miscreant appears to have come in through the chimney. He, er, downed a bottle of sherry and ate several mince pies. And left a present and a card for you, sir.”

Sir Edric’s eyes widened with rage. “The gall of it!”

Terrence handed over the card, and a bottle wrapped in silver paper. The knight set the bottle aside and looked at the card. It had been folded in two, and the outside depicted a jolly fat man driving a flying sleigh pulled by nine reindeer.

No wonder he’s so bloody fat, flying about purloining pies all night. Thieving git.

“The cheeky bastard! He stole my sherry and left a card bragging about it!”

If you enjoyed that festive tale, there's another free short story up here.

To read more of the adventures of Sir Edric and Dog, click here to see Sir Edric's Temple .

Thaddeus

The Middle of the Tunnel

10/7/2014

Perhaps the most difficult stage, in terms of making progress, is after the first draft is done and I'm knee-deep in the first redraft (which is pretty hefty for Kingdom Asunder). It's over a year since I started background work (ironically, I only started Sir Edric's Temple, soon to be re-released and traditionally published alongside the sequel, because I didn't want a massive gap between releases) but I'm still miles away from the end. There's no light at the end of the tunnel, yet. I know there will be, but it's a bloody long way off.

I've done most of the redrafting for this first pass. I still need to insert the substantially rewritten portion of the start into the first draft. Almost all the finickity little changes are done and the largest substantial change has been written, but I do still have some more big changes to make.

I'm hopeful it'll be ready for release in 2015. If so, there's a chance I'll have three books coming out that year (Temple's re-release, Sir Edric's Treasure and Kingdom Asunder), not counting several potential short stories as parts of anthologies and another project.

Mind you, that will follow 2014, in which I have released nothing, so it's swings and round-abouts (or peaks and troughs).

I haven't begun making changes yet on Temple and Treasure (editor/publisher suggestions), but I'm hoping there won't be too many or too difficult changes, particularly for Temple, which has generally been well-received.

Back to KA: I anticipate, after finishing everything on the to-do list now, at least two more major redrafts. I have lots of things set in stone but several major plot points are still changeable (mostly a matter of timing rather than reversing decisions). I'm also finding the strange problem of lack of humour, possibly because I spent so much time with Sir Edric and Dog, and their shenanigans are pure comedy.

Thaddeus

Something finished, something started, something redrafted

8/25/2014

I've very nearly finished Sir Edric's Treasure. Much like Temple, I seem to have a blind spot a mile wide, and have great difficulty telling whether it's any bloody good. Temple went down well, but that's no guarantee Treasure will do so, despite the many improvements made by changes following beta reader suggestions (thanks once again to Springs and Prizzley).

Proofreading takes me a long time, although I'm running a bit ahead of schedule so far. I'm hoping Treasure will be more or less done (in terms of the text) by the end of this week, or next week at the latest.

However, it won't be released for some time. I can't go into the reasons now, but they're positive rather than negative.

Another thing I can't into much detail is a strange new project I may be embarking upon. Unlike Treasure or Temple, it won't be too long and should not distract from my impending redraft of Kingdom Asunder (my main focus, after two Adventures of Sir Edric and various short stories, will be firmly on Kingdom Asunder once Treasure's text is done).

I am going to have to thoroughly change the first few chapters of KA. In addition, some characters need more time, the plot requires rebalancing, and I'll probably have to write a new battle scene. In many ways, big changes are easier and more enjoyable than small ones. They're almost like a first draft, part 2 (draft harder), whereas small changes involve fiddling with existing scenes and chapters to try and bend them into a new shape. It can be tedious, takes longer, is more difficult and harder to assess when it comes to productivity. Writing whole new material has the handy productivity rating of the word count.

I'm considering slightly reducing the death toll. Each of the major deaths makes sense, but a flurry occur all at once and it makes the plot feel a bit lopsided. One could definitely be delayed to the next book, and might even fit better there.

However, with most major plot points I'm happy, and I'm especially pleased, at this stage, with how the two lead female characters have turned out. A couple of the chaps need more meat adding to their bones, though, particularly the Esden brothers and perhaps Sir James, the cross-dressing knight.

Anyway, even going full steam ahead I do not believe there's any prospect of Kingdom Asunder being released this year, though I shall work hard on it. The mystery smaller project, if it occurs, will be released in 2015.

Thaddeus