Friday, October 14, 2016

"Journey of Choice" | WIP

Now that Befriending the Beast is out there, my focus has turned to my WIP, Journey of Choice. I have shared snippets of it off-and-on, here and there... I'm really bad at keeping track what I've shared here on this blog, and what I've shared here or here or here. So bear with me. ;)


So, I'm going to pretend you know nothing about Journey of Choice. Let's get a few things straight.

1) Journey of Choice is part of the Orphan Journeys collection. But let me explain this collection.

     a) There are stand-alone novellas (like Journey to Love).

     b) There are spin-off short stories, when I can't leave a character alone (like "Letter of Love").

     c) There is going to be a connected novel series, Lord willing (the two I know of now are Journey of Choice and its sequel, Journey of Purpose).

     d) Journey of Choice is NOT connected to Journey to Love in any way except that Marie and Nat both traveled on the orphan train.



2) Journey of Choice takes place in 1861-1865. That's right, you history buffs: Choice spans the Civil War! :) I am having a B-L-A-S-T digging into the history of this war. I'm now officially a CW fan for life!


3) This is my first time to really write from a guy's perspective (I tried a little with "Debt of Mercy" and "Peace, Be Still" but short stories aren't near the caliber as novels). It has been challenging and super, duper fun! I mean, I get to let my character do things that wouldn't be seemly for a young lady to do -- especially in that era. Oh, there's so much versatility!! :)



4) I have no clue what my "goal" is for word-count or chapter length. It definitely won't be a novella, though. For example, Journey to Love is around 25,000 words in completed form. The first third of Journey of Choice reaches 24,000 words. There is SO much more territory to cover! So, with your prayers and God's help, I will finally unearth a full-length novel. ;)




Okay! Enough about me and my project. What about you? Are you a writer? If so, what are you working on? If you're not a writer, what other projects do you have that you're working on (is it music? crafts? baking?)? I'd love to hear about it!

6 comments:

Phoebe Knapp said...

I can't wait until Journey of Choice comes out, I love the Civil War era.And am a huge lover of Amanda Tero books!!!!
Right now, I'm writing a book set in the Medieval era. It is really fun!!!

HisPrincessWarrior said...

Since BtB has been realeased and you've been posting all these updates about "Choice" on FB, I have started getting excited foe this one!! From what i've seen and read, i can already tell this one is going to be awesome! My wip is from a young man's perspective too, and I, obviously, am not one. Any advice on how to make it sound and feel realistic? Im loathe to let a young man read it whenever i get it gutted and finished for fear it will be completely awful lol

R. Franklin said...

I'm totally excited about this book now. Please hurry up! :D

Kellyn Roth said...

I'm excited to read it! I love the Civil War era ... I spent a lot of time researching it once a while ago, but I haven't in a long time.

I can't write from a boy's perspective! I've tried; I always get really stressed-out and feel like I'm writing him weird.

Jewels said...

I'm a writer! I enjoy it a lot. I have been writing 'books' for a long time, though none have ever got finished :) I am in the process of three different books right now--switching between them--and if the Lord sees fit, hopefully these will get finished :) I have more hope for them than I have any other book that I've attempted writing anyway. And if the Lord helps me persevere, maybe they will be someday completed. It helps to have a mom and writer friend who can read my story(ies) as they go along and give me some input. They are all from different aspects: one is a future point of view, one is a historical-fiction book from the 1850s, and the other one is a fantasy story. (I've never been into fantasy much, but I thought it would be nice to be able to write a book where I don't have to do any research :) ) The 'main' character in the future book is a boy, and I would be interested to hear your thoughts in response to HisPrincessWarrior.
I'm excited to see how Journey of Choice will turn out, and very happy that it is turning into more than just a novella!!

I found your post on praying for authors interesting and have started praying now and again for authors--including you.
Blessings,
Jewels <3

Amanda Tero said...

@ Phoebe - aw, thank you so much!! :) <3 You're such an encouragement!! Have fun with the medieval era! I LOVE it!!! And am praying about someday writing a medieval series! :)

@ HisPrincessWarrior - mmm...good question! Maybe I should finish this one then let you know. I was blessed to have been raised with four brothers (two older, two younger), so that gives me some "guy insight." Plus, they're really great about answering questions. One was, "What do you feel when you're angry?" To which the replies I got were: "Face tensing up, eyebrows furrowing" - "tighten jaw, take a deep breath...then proceed to pummel somebody into a bloody pulp." ;) (that latter part was teasing) At another time, I asked my brothers and a few friends, "Do guys cry when they're alone?" To which they all replied that yes, they do get so overwhelmed with things at times that they'll just go alone and cry. No one ever knows about it though.
Guys are like girls in that you take ten guys, and they're all different. Some guys are way more emotional than I am (of course, I'm not super emotional). So it all goes back to the personality of guy you're writing as well. I'd say overall they tend to be less fickle, more focus-driven. But even then, my four brothers are all quite vastly different. :)
So yeah... I'm definitely learning here in writing from a guy's perspective. I will probably find 3-4 guys to read the rough draft when I'm finished though, and give me some pointers to make it more genuine. I know that's something you're not too keen about doing, but it's the best option to be authentic. ;)

@ R - haha! Thanks so much! :) I'm praying to have it ready in the first half of 2017, Lord willing!!

@ Kellyn - the Civil War has been a BLAST to research! I'm learning so much ... and turning into a true history buff (or more of one than I already was).

@ Jewels - what fun projects you have on your plate!! I hope at least one of them becomes "publish-worthy." :) :) And you may read above for my answer to HisPrincessWarrior. ;) Hope it helps just a tad! And a huge THANK YOU for the prayers!!!! I know that I definitely need them! <3

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