Seven Days of Self-Promotion - Day 2
Anyway, so here's my Seven Weeks of Self Promotion, hopefully there will be something entertaining:
The Days:
1. Something Old
2. Something New
3. Something you made for someone else
4. Something you made just for yourself
5. Something for a major fandom/pairing/character
6. Something for a minor fandom/pairing/character
7. Something you're just really proud of
My "Something Old" is actually both old and new. I am currently pushing hard to finish my Doctor Who fan novel " Up a Tree." I'm within about three chapters of the end. The thing is, I started this story nearly three years ago.
It's been a mammoth journey, and this is the longest, most epic story I've written yet. (It's already 80,000 words, and likely to reach nearly 100,000 by the end.) Don't let the word count put you off if you want to read it, I specifically write my longer Doctor Who novels in a serial format, like Classic Doctor Who, so that everyone can read just one chapter at a time, and end with a cliffhanger. Each chapter is intended to add it's own interesting part to their journey, while also moving the story forward.
" Up a Tree" is the story of the 11th Doctor, Amy, and Rory landing on an alien world where humans live in the tops of gigantic trees. Whole cities in the treetop. All high above a dangerous alien jungle.
When a strange force starts randomly attacking people, the Doctor, Amy and Rory join an alien safari into the jungles to find the source and stop it.
One of the main things I wanted to accomplish with this story, is to give readers the feeling that they've really visited an alien world. To breathe the air and see the vistas. From the nerve wracking feeling of walking on tree limbs, to the wonder of giant, stained glass like butterflies with the sunlight through their wings.
I wanted it to feel real; dirty, gritty, the buffeting of storm winds, the comfort of a clean quilt to get dry and a snug cubbyhole to sleep in, the itch of alien bugbites, the heat and sweat of a jungle safari, the cool moonlit nights.
I wanted the story to be an immersive experience. What it really might be like to travel with the Doctor and see strange new worlds.
Yet at the same time, I wanted it to be believable, and friendly. I've introduced a whole host of characters, from the tough scrawny little head treetop farmer, to the fat lady parachute instructor, to the pubkeepers cute eight year old daugher who "shows them the ropes" of treetop living, to the bearish safari leader who is patient with Rory, annoyed at Amy, and just sure the Doctor is going to cause him all kinds of paperwork by getting himself killed.
There are strange animals, even stranger habitations, and a local race of long-limbed, suede-covered, spidermonkey-like locals, that just might be intelligent.
The local scientist has raised one of them from a chubbling, a rare white Trelwin,and taught her how to use sign language. It is her "father" who is the first human to be "turned off" by this invisible monster. She joins forces with the Doctor, Amy and Rory to help hunt down this monster that has preyed invisibly on her people for millenia.
An old, dappled gray Trelwin nicknamed "Zeke" by the humans, is first blamed for the "deaths" then later becomes a source of local knowledge and legends.
And a brave young brown Trelwin named Chitchi is the first to welcome them to the planet Yblis, and goes along to act as bodyguard to the old Trelwin and the human. Saving them on several occasions.
And yet, all the Trelwin are mute. They can't speak, only communicating by scent. And it's never quite clear how smart they actually are, are they animals, or people?
This story is new, because I'm currently finishing it, and because in the last few months, the ending has taken on a new twist, a new factor that has added more story ideas and a richness to the ending than I ever thought of when I started the story.
They've finally entered the "Zone" an area of electromagnetic instability that seems to be the source of the strange signal that is "the monster."
And as they get closer to the monsters lair, things get even more strange...
Yet it's not all monsters and strangeness. It's also a story of friendships, and humor, and the Doctor being his usual goofy, adorable self.
So that's my "something new" - " Up a Tree."
If you've read the story, let me know how I'm doing. Have I succeeded in making the reader feel like they've visited an alien planet? Other than it taking so long, what have been the things you liked or disliked about it? The humor, the alien animals, the mystery?
And if you haven't read it, let me know what you think of the idea. Has this post made it sound like something you'd be interested in?
Know Visits
The Days:
1. Something Old
2. Something New
3. Something you made for someone else
4. Something you made just for yourself
5. Something for a major fandom/pairing/character
6. Something for a minor fandom/pairing/character
7. Something you're just really proud of
My "Something Old" is actually both old and new. I am currently pushing hard to finish my Doctor Who fan novel " Up a Tree." I'm within about three chapters of the end. The thing is, I started this story nearly three years ago.
It's been a mammoth journey, and this is the longest, most epic story I've written yet. (It's already 80,000 words, and likely to reach nearly 100,000 by the end.) Don't let the word count put you off if you want to read it, I specifically write my longer Doctor Who novels in a serial format, like Classic Doctor Who, so that everyone can read just one chapter at a time, and end with a cliffhanger. Each chapter is intended to add it's own interesting part to their journey, while also moving the story forward.
" Up a Tree" is the story of the 11th Doctor, Amy, and Rory landing on an alien world where humans live in the tops of gigantic trees. Whole cities in the treetop. All high above a dangerous alien jungle.
When a strange force starts randomly attacking people, the Doctor, Amy and Rory join an alien safari into the jungles to find the source and stop it.
One of the main things I wanted to accomplish with this story, is to give readers the feeling that they've really visited an alien world. To breathe the air and see the vistas. From the nerve wracking feeling of walking on tree limbs, to the wonder of giant, stained glass like butterflies with the sunlight through their wings.
I wanted it to feel real; dirty, gritty, the buffeting of storm winds, the comfort of a clean quilt to get dry and a snug cubbyhole to sleep in, the itch of alien bugbites, the heat and sweat of a jungle safari, the cool moonlit nights.
I wanted the story to be an immersive experience. What it really might be like to travel with the Doctor and see strange new worlds.
Yet at the same time, I wanted it to be believable, and friendly. I've introduced a whole host of characters, from the tough scrawny little head treetop farmer, to the fat lady parachute instructor, to the pubkeepers cute eight year old daugher who "shows them the ropes" of treetop living, to the bearish safari leader who is patient with Rory, annoyed at Amy, and just sure the Doctor is going to cause him all kinds of paperwork by getting himself killed.
There are strange animals, even stranger habitations, and a local race of long-limbed, suede-covered, spidermonkey-like locals, that just might be intelligent.
The local scientist has raised one of them from a chubbling, a rare white Trelwin,and taught her how to use sign language. It is her "father" who is the first human to be "turned off" by this invisible monster. She joins forces with the Doctor, Amy and Rory to help hunt down this monster that has preyed invisibly on her people for millenia.
An old, dappled gray Trelwin nicknamed "Zeke" by the humans, is first blamed for the "deaths" then later becomes a source of local knowledge and legends.
And a brave young brown Trelwin named Chitchi is the first to welcome them to the planet Yblis, and goes along to act as bodyguard to the old Trelwin and the human. Saving them on several occasions.
And yet, all the Trelwin are mute. They can't speak, only communicating by scent. And it's never quite clear how smart they actually are, are they animals, or people?
This story is new, because I'm currently finishing it, and because in the last few months, the ending has taken on a new twist, a new factor that has added more story ideas and a richness to the ending than I ever thought of when I started the story.
They've finally entered the "Zone" an area of electromagnetic instability that seems to be the source of the strange signal that is "the monster."
And as they get closer to the monsters lair, things get even more strange...
Yet it's not all monsters and strangeness. It's also a story of friendships, and humor, and the Doctor being his usual goofy, adorable self.
So that's my "something new" - " Up a Tree."
If you've read the story, let me know how I'm doing. Have I succeeded in making the reader feel like they've visited an alien planet? Other than it taking so long, what have been the things you liked or disliked about it? The humor, the alien animals, the mystery?
And if you haven't read it, let me know what you think of the idea. Has this post made it sound like something you'd be interested in?
Know Visits