Tag: Book Series

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Crafting Generation Mars 14 (illustration)

As the author, it’s important to own the copyright on your illustrations. You want to be able to remix them yourself and use them for future purposes (promos, merch, whatever), without having to ask permission.

Specify this in the contract. This will cost a bit more, but it’s worth it.

Also allow the artist to retain the right to display them in their portfolio. This helps them and can be good for you as well if they have social media reach.

image: Photograph of Greg Wilson taken by Ian Tilton. It was used as artwork for the Credit To the Edit album compilation by Greg Wilson released on Tirk Records. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greg_Wilson_C2TE.jpg https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

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Crafting Generation Mars 13 (illustration)

My current WIP is now in illustration. Since Generation Mars is a children’s book series, this means more than just a cover. How much more has been evolving along with my books. 

The prelude was an early reader chapter book and was filled with illustrations. Each successive book has been more advanced than its predecessors and has needed less illustration. For the penultimate book, Water, I had two maps and a diagram at the beginning, and an opening illustration for each of the three parts.

Aside: Writing a series that spans multiple maturity levels is not the best idea for marketing. I knew that and did it anyway, because that’s what I wanted to write. When you’re self publishing as a hobby, you can do stuff like that. Think hard, if this is not your situation.

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Haw flakes

While vacationing in San Francisco, I picked up some haw flakes in Chinatown. A fun little confection for me; a conflict trigger for the kids in the next Generation Mars book.

“So, in the interest of preventing strife, Jun and Keiron suggested it would be best if the Chinese ate their own rations until they were gone. Then they would adopt the Metzger menu. Ro reluctantly agreed, as it delayed dealing with the issue of the Chinese eating what she thought of as ‘our’ food. This plan would have worked except for one item the Chinese had in their stores: haw flakes.”

(Excerpt from Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. Coming soon.)

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Starliner adventure

This is a riveting interview with the Starliner astronauts about their experiences with that capsule in its maiden crewed flight.

Orbital dynamics, proximity operations, thruster failures: all play a big role in the coming Generation Mars book. It’s interesting to read about similar events IRL. I had to stretch physics a little for narrative purposes, but it turns out I’m not far off.


Starliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought

Starliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought

“Hey, this is a very precarious situation we’re in.”…

Ars Technica Ars Technica
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Progress report

Current word count for Food: Generation Mars, Book Four.

Parts one and two are tight. I stalled for a bit in part three, but the momentum is back.

Never written an opus before, but this kinda feels like one.

 

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One year

Scrolling back through my writing journal, I see that today is exactly one year since I started work on Food: Generation Mars, Book Four.

My entry from that day outlines some elements of the plot that have made it into the manuscript. But, oh my!, the Doug writing that entry had no idea of the many wonderful and terrible things that would find their way into the story over the next year. The manuscript I am working on now bears only passing resemblance to what I had in mind then.

And that’s awesome!

I still have a long way to go. What new surprises are lurking out there (or in my subconscious), waiting to find their way in? I don’t know!

And that’s even more awesome!

image: generated by ImageFX

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Food update

Status update for Food, Generation Mars, Book Four

At some point during the past week, the manuscript passed 50K words.

Manuscript is a loose term that covers everything from get-it-down-and-fix-it-later sketch to fully edited and ready for formatting.

At this point, Food is closer to the sketch. A 50K sketch. I won’t say much more, but I will say this: It keeps surprising me, and I think it will surprise you too.

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Progress

This image shows the progress on the next Generation Mars book as of May 30. Since then, I’ve been on a wild and wonderful vacation with the family and haven’t written a word. I expect this number is about to start growing. A lot.

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Author intervew

Here’s an interview I did with Elena Jagar at Willow Wren Books recently.

From the interview:

What do you hope young readers will take away from your books?

Optimism is a superpower. Kindness is strength. Society is something you create with those around you; what do you want it to be? In the confines of Martian habitation, tolerance is a key virtue. Care for others, as well. No one can exist without the help of others and nowhere is this more evident than in a colony on a distant planet.

Exploring Mars and MG Fiction with Douglas Meredith — Willow Wren Books
Exploring Mars and MG Fiction with Douglas Meredith — Willow Wren Books

Douglas Meredith, author of the Generation Mars series, shares insights into his journey of writing middle grade fiction. Inspired by the need for engaging and age-appropriate content for advanced young readers, Meredith crafted a series following Cas, the first kid born on Mars, and her sister, Ori
Willow Wren Books Willow Wren Books