From Un-me To Real Me: The Birth of "Children of the Falls"

Part 7

We now return to the exciting adventures of Craig William Thomas, his turbulent start as a writer, his hatred for all things Twilight, and how a dip into the waters of self-publishing re-ignited his passion for writing.

---

If you're truly passionate about something you can't give up on it. Even if you try, your passion won't let you.

I tried to ignore my passion for writing for six years—there had just been too many disappointments and unfulfilled expectations. I thought I was done. I thought my interest in writing was a phase that had come and gone.

But passions don't die.

My employer had recently cut my hours to 20 per week. On top of finding myself with extra time on my hands, a royalty check from Amazon for some ebooks I had self-published lit a spark under my butt.

And that's when my desire to write returned with a vengeance. Unbeknownst to me an entire cast of characters had been building in my brain and they had a lot to say! Once I started letting them speak they wouldn't shut up. For a year I wrestled with sleep, anxiety, and attention problems as these characters poured their souls out to me. I couldn't write fast enough. The story just flowed.

Children of the Falls was born.

Where Serpents Strike Children of the Falls, Vol 1

Where Evil Abides Children of the Falls, Vol. 2

And this time, I didn't care about Stephenie Meyer and her crappy multi-million dollar novels. I wasn't writing to compete with her. Nor was I writing to impress some big publishing house. They could go play their money-grubbing marketing schemes all they wanted, preferably far away from me. I also decided I wasn't concerned about an audience. I had wasted too many years writing what I thought people wanted to read. It was clear to me that, good or bad, people would read anything, so trying to convince them that my work was superior to anyone else's was a waste of time.

I was writing for an audience of one—me. I was going to write my ultimate story. It would incorporate everything I love, take all the directions I wanted it to take, be as violent and scary and fantastical as I wanted it to be.

Sorry mom.

Children of the Falls actually began with an idea I had about nine years prior. The idea was simple: make an army of medieval super soldiers by training children from the youngest age possible. Think Spartan warriors meets kung-fu meets horror movies.

I had actually outlined a trilogy of books based on this premise called Edhen that I tinkered with over the years, but I was never satisfied with it. It served as the backbone to this new incarnation, expanding from three books to nine, from a trilogy spanning one continent with multiple kingdoms to three continents, dozens of kingdoms, multiple religions, languages, and cultures, and hundreds of characters.

It's been a fascinating journey, but something tells me it's just getting started.

---

Part 1: From Un-Me To Real Me: Discovering My Passion For Writing

Part 2: From Un-Me To Real Me: Writing For My Mother

Part 3: From Un-Me To Real Me: What I Learned From Horror Movies

Part 4: From Un-Me To Real Me: Giving Up On My Dreams

Part 5: From Un-me To Real Me: How Stephenie Meyer Killed My Muse

Part 6: From Un-me To Real Me: How Getting Laid Off Gave Me My Spark Back

Part 7: From Un-me To Real Me: The Birth of "Children of the Falls"

My Pregnant Wife Might Think This Comparison Is Odd

Labor pains.

No man on earth will ever know what those are like. We know that. We get it. But laboring to create something and then finally seeing it born? I think there are ways us men can relate.

Maybe. My wife will probably disagree with me.

But I digress.

They arrived today! Two beautifully printed volumes of an epic journey, the first leg of which I have only just completed. I'm so thrilled to finally be able to share these with readers.

Years from now, when my son is older, I'll say, "The day I held you in my arms after you were born was the happiest day of... no, wait. That's when my books arrived in the mail."

Is This The Beginning or the End?

It's been about seventeen months writing books one and two (172,290 words and 187,200 words respectively), a total of 359,490 words in about a year and a half. By comparison the first Harry Potter book was only 77,000 words, but book 5 was 257,000.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. It may have been seventeen months of writing, but it's been almost nine years of world building. From a tiny concept of a story to an outline for a trilogy to a "Ah, the hell with it! Let's make a whole series!" kind of attitude, the series has birthed and is ready to fly.

Some people have asked me if I'm writing this series on a book-by-book basis, and the answer is no. I've got an end game in sight. I know the fate of every character and what the last scene on the last page of the last book will be. Granted as the creative process unfolds some things might change—in fact I know they will—but I think my road map is pretty well set.

I say this because I think it's more exciting knowing when an author has a plan. Knowing that the author isn't just waiting for another brilliant idea to strike, but that he knows what he wants to say makes for a more interesting reading experience.

Whatever your opinion on that matter, I hope you enjoy what's to come. Both books are now available on Amazon in print and digital formats.

Where Serpents Strike: Children of the Falls, Vol. 1
http://amzn.com/B01BZVIHG6

Where Evil Abides: Children of the Falls, Vol. 2
http://amzn.com/B01D6EF6I2

Changing An Elephant

Writing is a lot like cooking. The ingredients don't always have to be precisely measured out. If you want to add a little more paprika, go for it! If halfway through you decide to change things up, then change things up. You don't have to follow the recipe.

On my bucket list of things to accomplish while writing the first book in the Children of the Falls series was to hit 200,000 words. Comparatively, the first Harry Potter novel was about 75,000 words, while the longest in the series, The Order of the Phoenix, was over 250,000 words. I had never written a novel longer than 129,000, and I wanted to shatter that standard with something epic.

However, when my book reached 300,000 words—that's right, 300,00!!!—I knew I was running into a problem. I didn't like the idea of beginning a new self-published series under a new pen name with a massive 300,000 word novel. I wanted the series to be more accessible to tentative readers who weren't ready to bite off such a massive novel.

My wife was the first to suggest splitting the book in half, and after I thought about it I realized there was a good midpoint at which I could accomplish that. I knew it would require shifting a few events around and possibly adding a couple extra chapters to wrap things up for a new ending, but the idea was exciting. It instantly gave me two books to start marketing instead of one. It also allowed me to narrow my focus in the first novel and spend a little more time building my characters.

Where Evil Abides, the original book one, became book two, and a new 170,000 word book became book one. This meant I needed a new title. I mulled it over for a few days, but couldn't come up with anything.

After one particularly dream-filled night's sleep I awoke around 6am with a title sitting on my lips. I whispered it, hoping to commit it to memory, and promptly fell back to sleep. Thankfully my brain was able to recall the title and I quickly plopped it onto a new cover for a new book one.

Coming soon: Where Serpents Strike.

The Dilemma Of My Ballooning Word Count

At roughly three quarters of the way through my first draft of Where Evil Abides, book one in my upcoming fantasy series Children of the Falls, I did a word count—169,000 words. Yikes!

On my bucket list of things to accomplish with this book, reaching 200,000 words was one of them, but with many chapters still to go I'm kind of in freak out mode right now because this book is sure to be much longer than that.

Do I forge ahead and hit 250,000 words? By contrast, the first Harry Potter book was about 77,000 words, with the longest book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 257,000 words. The first edition in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was almost 298,000 words, with the sequels easily surpassing 300,000.

Staying on this path means continuing with an insane level of detail. On the other hand, I can strip it down, simplify the narrative, cut to the chase, and make a more streamlined story. Less immersive? Absolutely. Better? I don't know yet.

My aim at this point is to punch the last of these chapters and hand my manuscript off to a trusted friend who has agreed to give the story a once over.

Meet The Characters: Merek Viator, The Wildcard

Children of the Falls is a massive seven book fantasy series spanning several decades, three continents, hundreds of characters, and seven main narratives telling one massive story. Key to this narrative is Merek Viator.

About Merek

A praised knight and a skilled soldier, Merek eventually allowed the fame to go to his head. Through alcohol abuse and gambling, he brought the ultimate disgrace upon his family. Now an outcast, Merek seeks to find the one thing that could restore his family's honor: his lost sister, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a result of Merek's selfishness.

To get her back Merek accepts a job from a mysterious man working under the high king. His mission is to journey to a neighboring country, kill a wizard, steal from him a rare gem, and return it to the high king in exchange for the help he needs to get his sister back.

I picture Merek as the John McClane of my series. The guy is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has the worst luck, and knows how to take a beating.

Ultimately, Merek is a wildcard. A good guy? Maybe. But he's not above making morally ambiguous choices to achieve his goals.

Half Way There

I reached the halfway point on Where Evil Abides last week, volume 1 of Children of the Falls. My estimated word count based on the average chapter length should be around 190,000 words. I currently stand at just over 100,000, which is about the total length of the first book I ever wrote. Whoa.

This series is presenting two major challenges.

1. The reason I refer to the individual books as Volume 1, Volume 2, etc., as opposed to Book 1, Book 2... is because each book is essentially a collection of seven narratives. That means there are seven distinct characters ranging in age from 5 to 20, each with a unique arc, personality traits, and narrative styling.


2. Worldbuilding. I've designed medieval fantasy worlds numerous times—in other books I've written or co-authored, with children in schools during writing workshops—but what I've incidentally immersed myself in is map-making on a global scale. I'm currently working on three different continents roughly the size of North America, Africa, and Eastern Asia. Each realm has different governments, religions, superstitions, people, clothing, architecture, language, and more. It's world-building on a scale I've never done before.

Just telling you about it now has exhausted me. Off to bed!