Either I forgot, or I thoroughly repressed just how bad episode four was. At least, I hope it was one of those two, because I would hate to think that as either an author or a reader I ever looked at this episode and thought it was good. When I went to start revisions on this episode, I floundered around, looking for some way to start, because I thought that it was so bad that no amount of revision could help. I was very nearly tempted to throw out the entire original text and start over again, and the only thing that restrained me was that I'm still nominally calling these revisions, and have promised to be somewhat true to the original episodes. That meant, unfortunately, that I was stuck with the silly plot involving some thieves, some poison, and some gold.
Blood Magic S2:E3: Strange Lands Release
I've been wanting to write this episode, or something like this episode, for quite a long time. The idea is best summarized as Star Trek's Prime Directive, from the perspective of the "primitive" civilization, and it's an idea that I've really wanted to find a way to explore in a story. So I put it into a plot in my initial outlining of the Blood Magic second season, and have been looking forward to the chance to write it ever since. That's probably why it ended up being so difficult to write.
Blood Magic Extra: Merolate Charter
As I was writing the first two episodes of Blood Magic's second season, and working on revisions for the first season's episodes, I realized that I didn't have an adequate vision of how Merolate's government was actually structured. I knew the broad outlines - the Prime is in charge, he or she has an advisor, the Sub-Prime is the successor, the provinces are run by Governors who are subject to the Prime - but that's not really a full government.
Blood Magic S1:E3: Thicker Than Blood Re-Release
Going back and re-reading these early episodes has really made me recognize just how much my writing has improved (in my opinion, anyway) in the less-than-a-year since I started releasing Blood Magic here on the site. The beginning of this episode, much like episode two, was told in a weird, semi-omniscient viewpoint, before reverting to the third person limited that is characteristic of most of the series. I think this was probably me trying to do a sort of "establishing shot," like would be done in a television show, but that technique really doesn't work for writing. It makes me wonder if I even recognized how jarring the viewpoint switches would be, or if I even knew I was doing it.
Maps and World-Building
I like books with maps in the front, and since you've found a way to a publishing website that primarily focuses these days on fantasy and science fiction, there's a good chance that you share my opinion. Although I'm not a reader who spends hours pouring over the maps at the front, trying to chart out the course that the characters took, or catch the author in a continuity mistake regarding the reasonable travel time between two cities, I do consider a map in the front as a sort of mark of merit. If the author went to the time and trouble to have a map included, then there's a better chance that it's a book I'm going to want to read.
Blood Magic S2:E2: Witch’s Heir Release
I hope that you've been following along with Blood Magic this year, because it's already been pretty exciting. I'm very pleased with how the revised editions of the first season episodes are coming together (revised versions of the first two episodes of season one should now be live here on the site), and the first two episodes of the second season have been pretty strong, as well. At least, I think so, which is mostly based on how the writing process went for them. Usually, that's a decent guide.
Blood Magic S1:E2: Here There Be Dragons? Re-Release
Hopefully you remember from last month that one of my projects for this year involves revising and re-releasing the previously published episodes of Blood Magic's first season. When I first thought about undertaking this initiative, I mostly imagined it as an editing pass, finding grammatical and typographical errors and cleaning them up, maybe tightening up the narrative a bit. However, when I went back and actually began revising, I found that I had a lot more to change than I had expected.
Blood Magic Season 1: A Look Back
This post is loosely inspired by Brandon Sanderson's habit of posting complete annotations for many of his novels and stories, detailing how the story changed and evolved throughout his planning and revision processes, as well as what thoughts went into certain key decisions. I've found those annotations incredibly helpful as I've been working to improve my own writing, especially the copy of Sixth of the Dusk in which he includes complete drafts from various stages of the writing process. My goal is to offer something in a similar vein here, aimed both at fellow writers, and those of you interested in learning more about what goes into bringing Blood Magic to life.
Blood Magic S2:E1: Flailing in the Dark Release
I am very excited to present to you the first episode of a brand new season of Blood Magic, the short story series that I've been publishing for over a year now on IGC Publishing to minimal fanfare. If you're not already familiar with it, I encourage you to go over to the main Blood Magic page or any of my myriad posts on the subject to learn more. Better yet, I encourage you to start at the beginning, and read the first episode. We even have a newly revised edition here on the site, newly re-released for 2021.
Blood Magic S1:E1: Pilot Re-Release
Last year, we began publishing a series of short stories called Blood Magic here on IGC Publishing. I've written extensively about why and how I chose to do this, and the benefits it has provided me from a writing perspective, but there are things that I would like to do better, and things that I would change about how the publishing was executed if I had to do it over again. Fortunately, as I discussed in our announcement for the second season, I've given myself the opportunity to do just that.
