Archives
The first sentences I wrote today…
For Blue Fire: He saw the girl descend from the stage. Words today: 1,180 Total thus far: 11,581 For Magebane: Prince Karl tasted the bitterness of his own thoughts and felt ashamed. Words today: 2,995 Total thus far: 26,552Two, two, two writers in one!
So now I'm writing two books at once: my DAW fantasy, Magebane, as Lee Arthur Chane, and a YA fantasy, tentatively titled Blue Fire, as, presumably, Edward Willett. The former, of course, is contracted; the latter is not, but there is an editor who has expressed a strong interest in it, but can't commit based on the partial manuscript I had to submit, so I'm going to press ahead on the book in the hope that, once it is complete or nearly so, I can get a contract for it, as well. Thus, we now get TWO "the first sentence I wrote today"s. From Blue Fire: In the forests near the village of Thunderfall, Illinen slipped in silence from tree to tree, shadowing ...The first sentence I wrote today…
Mother Northwind's smile faded. Words today: 1,072 Total thus far: 21,062 I only had about thirty-five minutes of actual writing time today, although I did a lot more typing than that: at 2 p.m. I went to the Book & Brier Patch, our local independent bookstore, for Robert J. Sawyer's reading from his new novel Wake (a copy of which I bought, of course), and then after that I interviewed Rob at the request of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, which plans to run the interview in the next issue of its news magazine Freelance. (I'll be sure to post that interview online as well, of course.) Rob, of course, is someone I've known for years now, and as I've ...The first sentence I wrote today…
Mother Northwind sat in a rocking chair by the cheerily blazing fire, a sky-blue shawl drawn around her shoulders and a bright red scarf covering most of her gray curls. Words today: 1,204 Total thus far: 19,990 Had less than an hour to write today, while awaiting my wife at Second Cup in the Cornwall Centre downtown, but still managed 1,200 words. I actually wrote a few more (which means that, for one brief shining moment, I was through the 20,000 word barrier!) but the last paragraph got lost due to some sort of saving issue--a phone call came in just as I was saving the file on the Blackberry Storm, and that seems to have disrupted things somehow. Beats me. Anyway, it ...The first sentence I wrote yesterday…
Brenna looked at the sleeping youth, pitying him. Total thus far: 18,786 Words yesterday: 2,514 Not sure I'll add much to the total today--other things that need doing--but yesterday, as you can see, I had a good session. I just spoke to my agent this morning. There's an editor interested in one of my--er, that is, Edward Willett's, not Lee Arthur Chane's--YA proposals, but she wants to see more than I've written. So I'm going to attempt to work on two fantasy novels at once here in the next little while. Since I'm between major nonfiction projects, I think I can pull it off. Guess I'll find out... But, hey, you know what that means--two First Sentences I Wrote Today, at least some days: ...The first (OK, actually the first TWO) sentence(s) I wrote today…
"He will be able to answer questions," the Healer said. "Whether he will answer them is beyond my control." Words today: 1,440 Total thus far: 16,272 A bit of an annoyance today: I've been writing with my Freedom Universal Keyboard 2 (a fold-up Bluetooth keyboard) on my new Blackberry Storm. All well and good, but today, for some reason, it asked me for a password for the keyboard. Darned if I could remember what it was, and since I was already sitting somewhere that wasn't home, I didn't have ready access to support material. I struggled for an hour or so and never managed to make it connect. Once I got home, I soon figured out what I was supposed to type in (0000--nothing ...The first sentence I wrote today…
After several minutes of cleansing her mouth and hair with snow, she regained her composure enough go back under the blue canopy and look up at the surviving passenger of the...flying device. Words today: 3,594 Total words: 14,854 A mixture of brand-new and once-rewritten material today. I spent several hours at it, aided by the fact that there was a power outage in our neighborhood that began at 10 a.m. and lasted into the afternoon sometime. I went elsewhere, and being cut off from the Internet entirely, was quite productive. Not sure how much I'll get done tomorrow, though. I've got to get my science column out and also have some tax stuff to work on. Hopefully I'll manage at least a short session.The first sentence I wrote today…
Brenna peered out into the snow-filled courtyard as best she could through the thick winding vines of frost-drawn ice covering her bedroom window. Words today: 3,859 Total words: 11,238 I had two good writing sessions today, although the rather high word count is a bit misleading: much of today's "writing" was little more than retyping stuff I'd already written, because today's big scene was pretty good in the first draft, good enough to plug into place in the new version with only minor edits (major edits, if any, will come during the rewriting process for the whole novel, once I've got a first draft finished). My first writing session today was at Second Cup in Regina's Cornwall Centre, the very coffee shop I mentioned ...The first sentence I wrote today…
Lord Falk schooled his face into a steely, expressionless mask as he strode away from Prince Karl's chambers. Words today: 2,116 Total words: 7,379 All fresh stuff today; in my first attempt at writing this story I didn't introduce Lord Falk (don't get too attached to these names, they may well change) as a viewpoint character until much later. Today's scene was all about him.The first sentence I wrote today…
The moment the door closed behind Lord Falk, Tagaza, with a huge sigh of relief, tugged a cloth-of-gold kerchief from his puffy blue sleeve and mopped his tattooed pate with it. Words today: 2,670 Total words: 5,263 Much of what I'm working on now already exists in a previous draft when I was casting this as a YA book. But the already-written material and the new material will being to diverge more and more widely as I go forward until eventually I suspect the already-written material will cease to be useful. For now, though, it allows me to forge ahead rather rapidly; I wrote today's 2,670 words in roughly an hour and a half.
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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