I thought that being a writer meant writing the best book I could manage.
Oh, what innocence! Oh, how mistaken I was! Oh, how dumb!
I’m not going to say that writing a five-book series wasn’t hard. Of course it was. I buckled down with every bit of discipline I had in me, wrote every day, and had table upon table of details regarding the world of Eria, where my books take place.
Because it’s not just a story. It’s a whole world that has to make sense and has to be consistent. While my protagonist may travel quickly, he can’t teleport when teleportation isn’t a thing in my world. So getting places takes time. And that time has to be consistent from chapter to chapter and book to book.
So, stuck to the shelves round my desk are charts and tables with distances to and from locations on my map, walking speeds, galloping speed depending on the type of horse, sailing speeds (with and without the aid of powers – ie, magic), animal characteristics, beverage names, etc etc etc. And many of these are specific to different locations, so will vary. For example, while Reordans drink trega for breakfast, Mehruvians drink tokoa. And gods are different, coin is different, as are dress-codes.
And there was a thirty page timeline, starting from Year 1 of the New Era, charting everyone’s movements.
So yes, that was hard and while a lot was in my head, a lot was hanging all round on post-its and scribbles.
And then came the backs and forths with my lovely and brutal editors, the despairing over minutiae in the cover design, and the formatting choices.
I thought that publishing without a gatekeeper, doing it MY way as an indie, would be easy and straightforward.
IT SO IS NOT.
After the book was done there was no sitting back and basking. In fact, I still haven’t basked, though I’d really like to.
Instead, a new player entered the field. Me again, but with a different hat. Bow the knee to Tumulus Press Ltd. So yes, now not only am I Berna Hudson, the author of my books, but also a teeny tiny publishing company that does everything a big publishing company does.
I hire editors, formatters, illustrators, and all manner of professionals who know more than I do about their respective fields and thus can do things better. But, being adamantly against AI in the creative space, I need to check and double-check that none of them use AI on my work, which is another quagmire.
And so, I manage my own calendars, other people’s schedules, and try and figure out logistics that seem established by someone pointing fingers in the dark to the background of discordant music.
Despite that, I’ve managed to decide when and where, how and why. And it’s been hard, and scary, and exhausting. But it’s also been exciting, exhilarating, and the steepest of learning curves (despite the lack of basking).
By now I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, she’s been ranting for a while now, what’s the promised news???
TOUCHED BY LIGHT is available for pre-order.
All sorted, I hear you say. We can go ahead and buy it!
Kind of.
You can order and download the e-book from Amazon worldwide on the 31st of March. Which should be the day you get this letter.
What about other formats?
They’re coming.
Print is on it’s way. It’s been a journey! The paperback and hardback will be available worldwide through bookshops (and Amazon) in a couple of weeks. The printing companies have been slow in sending out their proofs and even if you see pics below, I haven’t yet held one! The one below is the international version, printed in the US, which I sent to my brother to check. It was quicker that way. I should get the proofs this week. Sigh. Hopefully.
The audiobook will also come. Right now I’m in the process of choosing the narrator. Again, that’s hard because they’re all so good and each with their own strengths. So I ask for feedback and everyone comes back with a different opinion, making it even harder. But I’m almost there.
And the super nice hardback (with wolves and blue) will be coming in May and only on my website. Stay tuned for pics, but in the meantime, I’ll give you a sneak peak of the ‘wolf’ end papers…
Anything else to tell?
Some sad, some cool.
I’ll start with the sad.
After almost two years of playing the same campaign in Dungeons & Dragons every Monday night in the basement of a very cool pub in London, our story is coming to an end.
I’ve been playing Sacharina (Sacha for short) a not very smart, mercurial, but extremely loyal, Eladrin of the Feywild. Sacha has been trying to save the world alongside a pink and flamingo loving bard, Reggie, and an old soldier who’s some kind of very wise revenant, Kelsior.
Our incredible DM has spun a tale for the ages and kept us laughing, debating, and (in Sacha’s case) fire-balling at will for almost two years.
For those who don’t play or don’t really know what Dnd involves, it’s basically storytelling in action, with role-playing and a lot of math, laughter, and moral debate – eg, is it acceptable to deem sentient mushrooms food? The correct answer is no, though some in our group would disagree.
So our quest is almost wrapped up and we have just a couple of baddies left to deal with. We may die or may emerge victorious, but in any event, the chapter ends.
And I think we’ll all be a little sad, even though a new game is on the horizon.
And now for the cool.
It’s Easter next week, and hence I’m off to Eastercon in Birmingham.
What is that? I hear you ask.
Eastercon is the annual British National Science Fiction Convention that’s been held over the Easter weekend every year since 1955. It gathers fans of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and similar genres for panels, workshops, talks, quizzes, competitions, an Art Show, and a Dealers Room selling books and other goodies.
So apart from the innate cool factor of any convention (and no, I will not wear a costume, it’s not that kind of con), the really cool and terrifying fact is that I’ll be on my first ever panel AND my books will be for sale in the Dealers Room.
Both very exciting and also absolutely terrifying.
I’ll be talking about animals in Fantasy, which is an interesting one because there are no anthropomorphic animals in my books – no wise dragons and not even a lowly talking mouse.
Animals in my world serve to give depth to the world, to illustrate danger and ways of life, but also they exist as symbols.
I showed you the wolf endpaper above. Wolves feature strongly throughout the Hand of Reason series.
Peryst de Arranu, the protagonist of Touched by Light, travels with a wolf that his dead wife saved and tamed. The wolf, Nela, keeps him safe and alive when he’s reeling from the loss of his wife and so, in a way, represents her.
The High Luk (ruler) of Mehru is called the Wolf by his subjects and his heir, the wolf cub. They’re animals that are independent but also pack animals, tough, and who survive even when the environment conspires against them. They’re loyal canines that can be ferocious. It makes sense, therefore, for the wolf to be the symbol of the rebellion.
And that’s the perfect segue to the sleepy Great Dane lying by my side.
Echo is well. Greyer by the day, stubborn, and like wolves, she can be ferocious.
Only last week, when I was up at an ungodly hour and took her out to do her thing in the dark of the early hours, she spotted a would-be burglar trying to break into the house across the road. For once, she barked and kept on barking till the masked person skedaddled.
Queens has a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, here, we have a friendly neighbourhood Great Dane.
So there we are.
For now, my tales are all told.
Enjoy Spring if you’re in the Northern hemisphere, wear a scarf if you’re in the South.
And read my book!
I’ll keep you posted.
Best,
Berna
One Response
Yay! At last! Looking forward to reading it. I’m so impressed by the amount of work you’ve put in to becoming an indie author – it’s huge! Congratulations on getting it all done and Happy Publication Day!!!