Tag: writing about books

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Take the Peace and the Time for Yourself

I am so glad I moved out of the city.

Waking up to birds chirping or even the rooster crowing is so much more serene than waking up to a train blaring its horn. I am so thankful for this residential move out to the country. Yes, the drive to the store is a bit longer, but still, I’ll take the peace over the hustle and bustle of the city.

Maybe I’ll take a horse too.

There is something about nature and the enjoyment of creation that gets the creator in me stirred up.

With everything going on in so many different parts of my life, I haven’t had much writing in my books. But, next week, I’ve planned a whole day of writing. I’m going to first finish the proofreading work I’ve got on my schedule, then make sure I’ve hit some goals in my sales and marketing nutrition and health business.

Once that is taken care of, I’ll just set aside a whole day where all I’m going to do is write. It’ll be mostly in Longevity, Book 5: Treason as I’m behind schedule with that. Hopefully, I’ll get close to finishing that first draft thanks to the writing day.

It’s been a while since I had a writing day (meaning, spent several hours in one day just writing). I think it’s high past time for another.

I would like to do some writing in my Children of Alia series, volume 2. We shall see. This writing day will be my day.

I should also work on something for my Patreon subscribers. You should hop over there and check it out and let me know what you think.

www.patreon.com/irvinnovelist

I could start using my Dungeons and Dragons saga I’ve been working on off and on, but we’ll see.

One thing I plan to do with my next paycheck is to buy a map creator program that some fellow author friends of mine have been recommending. I love maps. I love creating them. I love studying them. There is something about a good map that just thrills the creator in me.

When I’m sketching a map, the creator in me wants to know what the biomes are and where the people live. Who are the people? What are their characters? What do they look like? How do they act?

See, I’m just letting these words flow out while my brain thinks of the maps I’ve created in the past that inspired the stories I’ve either published or will be publishing soon.

Speaking of publishing, I’m still working on an issue with Longevity, Book 3: Wandering. It seems the pdf file that IngramSpark requires didn’t have all its fonts embedded. So, after all that work and money fixing the file, it still has another issue. I’ve reached out to IngramSpark and they just got back to me, offering an idea of how to fix it.


I can’t get to it right now as I’m busy trying to get other things finished. But soon, my friends, soon! You’ll finally be able to continue Ihon’s (pronounced Ian’s) journey!

In the meantime, you can check out the array of books I have listed on my website: johnirvinauthor.com.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 4.

The Dream Cast: Who would I want to see be cast in the roles of this fourth and final list from my Longevity series?

by John Irvin

Today marks the 280th blog post on my website. Wow, that’s a lot of writing. It’s also the final part in this Dream Cast series as you can read above. This little sub-series has been so much fun. Today, we’ll actually have a couple more than the usual number of characters.

Longevity, Book 3: Wandering was quite a piece of work. I enjoyed every second of my main character’s journey through his life and the vast array of historical and fictional characters he met along the way.

But, again, a forewarning: if you see any printed copies (hardcover or paperback) on sale for this book, do not order. It is ONLY supposed to be out in ebook for now thanks to the formatting issue in the printing process.

Back to the tale and my dream cast. In this book, Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze) returns home after a long time in the Haven with Zandra the Immortal. He finds a new structure built into the place where his old house used to be. Castle Iraes is managed by Lady Celia Stuart.

She is the daughter of Desi Wallace, Sir William Wallace’s daughter and Ihon’s ward. While Ihon had gone away, Desi had married an upstanding Scotsman and they’d had the funds to build the Castle Iraes and leave it in charge of their daughter who now runs it with her own daughter Lady Molly Stuart.

These two women play a decent-sized role in the beginning of the book. I’m combing lists of actresses I think worthy of their parts and have decided Helena Bonham Carter would give Lady Celia the proper air I envision her having as ward of Castle Iraes and its valley tenants. From her roles as Bellatrix from the Harry Potter saga to Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech, I tell you what, she would be a superb fit.

Lady Molly is young and slightly naïve, but extremely curious about this strange Laird of the Iraes estates. She wants to know the mystery behind his long life and journey. I believe Haley Pullos could play an excellent Molly Stuart. She’s from General Hospital. I’ve never heard her make a Scottish accent, but you never know!

This next one is one of the few men who play a major role in Ihon’s journey through this third installation. John Knox, the Scottish Reformer, is one of the few humans to actually stumble upon Sanguiatro, the Capital of the Wolf-Born Race. Tucked away into the Highlands, it’s supposed to be well-hidden from human or Spawn eyes. I wonder how James McAvoy would feel about playing this eccentric role. Something to ponder, Mr. McAvoy? I mean, you are a Scotsman.

On his wanderings, Ihon finds a solitary life in the forests of medieval France. There he meets a young girl by the name of Joan d’ Arc and sort of becomes a mentor. She, believing him to be a spiritual apparition of one of the saints, claims he is one of three. I’d like to see Mia Talerico being cast in the role of Joan.

She’s the baby star from Good Luck, Charlie. Such a cutie!

The other two supposed “saints” to give Joan her tutelage in the ways of religion and warfare are two sisters Ihon actually meets. The three of them have a short tryst together you might say. I’m not going to spoil any more. But their names are Guinevere and Margot—they are French Wolf-Born who actually choose him as the alpha of their little pack.

I’d love to see Alexandra Daddario as Margot and Scarlett Johansson as her older sister Guinevere. Perfect match. I fell in love with Alexandra as Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Scarlett was why I fell in love with Black Widow from her very first scene in Iron Man 2.

But good things come to an end and Ihon must move on after a dilemma that has to do with the Supreme Council and other officers of the Creed Army.

And now, the final character I want to dream cast an actor for—or rather an actress—is the Princess of the Chitimacha tribe. Ihon actually makes his way to the New World and ends up continuing his wanderings into the vast wilderness there. He stumbles across a native tribe that sees him as a fulfillment of a prophecy. The chief’s daughter, Fawn, is supposed to wed a white stranger, according to this prophecy, and they would bring great prosperity to the tribe.

Fawn, is played by Emma Watson. Made famous by her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter saga, and every nineties baby’s crush, I’d love to have her cast in this romantic role.

Well, there you have it, my dream cast for the first three books in my Longevity series. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 3.

The Dream Cast: Who would I want to see be cast in the roles of this third list from my Longevity series?

by John Irvin

It’s already that time again. Yes, the time I post part three in a Dream-cast blog series for my world of Longevity, if it were ever made into movies. Because, why not? I’m sure all writers dream of the perfect cast for their books.

Now, in parts one and two, I covered the main characters and a few others from Book 1: Revelation. Today’s blog will cover a few characters from Book 2: Independence.

A quick back story again, Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze) has returned from his first haunt in the Haven where he met the Immortal, Zandra. Now he returns to find his human homeland in the middle of a war for independence.

His best friend is the renowned Guardian of Scotland, Sir William Wallace. Naturally, being of Scottish descent, I had to bring this hero into the story. And also, because I’m a fan of Braveheart, no one should be surprised that when I imagined this character, I saw Mel Gibson.

Hence the blue eyes.

But, Mel Gibson has grown a bit older thanks to time. I’m so torn with this cast role to be honest. William Wallace will always look like Mel Gibson to me in my mind. I just don’t know who could play the part. I don’t care if his accent was off, he still did a darn-good job.

I wonder how his son, Louie Gibson, would do in the role.

Next character is another historical player known as King Robert the Bruce. According to history—and Braveheart—he took up the mantel to lead Scotland to victory and finally win what they had never had before: a country of their own.

Angus Macfadyen played this role in Braveheart and its sequel, which I have yet to see sadly, and he did the perfect job. He’s also actually Scottish. But, again, he’s up there in age like Mel. Although, the Bruce was about forty when he fought the Battle of Bannockburn, which was the decisive battle that led to Scotland’s independence.

Angus is fifty-eight now, so he could play the part. But, I mean, he’s already played Bruce twice now. Would it really be fair for Mel Gibson?

How does Henry Cavill or Jamie Dornan sound? Cavill starred as Superman in the Man of Steel and I find he did a good job. Jamie Dornan was the sheriff in Once Upon A Time—at least, that’s where I know him from. That is a favourite of mine. I wonder how their Scottish accents are. Dornan is Irish and Cavill is British.

Then there is King Philip of France, who, in this series, is actually not human. He’s a Wolf-Born Higher Officer of the Ancient Creed. He tasks Ihon with a mission to Constantinople. I’ll also give a hint, he may or may not play a role later on in the series.

I think the best actor to play this mysterious character would be Raphaёl Personnaz from Anna Karenina. He’s French and he did a superb job.

And the final role we’ll talk about today is that of Sir William Wallace’s daughter, Lady Desi Wallace. Yes, the real hero actually had a daughter—this is not shown in the Gibson film. And in the Longevity series, she becomes my main character’s ward for a short time. Her lineage actually plays a role throughout the series.

I won’t go into it any further. You’ll simply have to read the books. Although, I’m going to pause again right here to remind you, Book 3: Wandering is ONLY in ebook form for now. If you see any print copies for sale, those are errors. There was a format problem that I haven’t been able to get around to fixing yet.

With Amazon’s new “hardcover” option, that may be just around the corner though, so hang on.

Back to Desi, what an interesting lass this character was. I immediately fell in love with her when writing her in and wish I could have had more time with her. But that’s how it goes sometimes. Who knows, maybe I’ll write a short story for her about her time at House Iraes, I don’t know.

The best actress I could see fitting in this role would be Maya Hawke from the recent Little Women. We’ll have to call her up and ask for her example of a Scottish lass. Perhaps. 😉

Next up will be Book 3: Wandering and its cast of characters. I won’t give any names out this time around. Make sure to stop by next Saturday for Part 4!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 2.

The Dream Cast: Who would I want to see be cast in the roles of this second list from my Longevity series?

By John Irvin

If you haven’t read last week’s blog, please hop down and check it out. I’ve already talked about several different characters from the first book in my Longevity series, Revelation, and which movie stars I’d love to see star in their roles.

Now, I’m continuing on with the theme and going to mention four more characters in the book!

This will probably continue on with a Part 3 next week because there are so many characters in the three books that are already published. Oh, and there will be five more books before the main series from the Longevity world is complete.

I do want to restate, Book 3, Wandering, is only available in ebook format. There was an issue in the printing, so if you see any hardcover or paperback versions, those are not correct and they are mistakes.

So, the first character for today that plays a minor role—yet he is responsible for my main character’s enrollment into the Creed Army because he happens to be the Chief Councilman of the Supreme Council.

The Supreme Council is the governing body of the Wolf-Born Race. There have always been eight seats on the Council since its founding—which is mentioned in Book 1, Revelation and will be expounded upon in the upcoming ebook novella The First of All.

Noran Mars is the Chief Councilman when Sir Ihon Iraes (pronounced Ian Eraze) arrives on the scene. He is a firm, yet understanding character. Though he’s often presented as a serious individual, he can have a sense of humour.

This one was a hard one to come up with. But, after much consideration, I believe Gerard Butler or Russell Crowe would make great candidates for this position. Russell has that serious leadership aura about him and played a great role in Gladiator and Robin Hood.

Gerard Butler has done a number of characters from Machine Gun Preacher to 300 to The Phantom of the Opera—he’s also Scottish.

Then there are two other characters who are also on the Supreme Council. They are the “Chroniclers” for the Council. They’re also brother and sister. Angus and Merryn McKlean. Both carrying full heads of Scottish red hair, they’re a couple of the younger council members and very accepting of Sir Ihon.

Merryn plays a role that pops up at random times throughout the series, I will not give any spoilers away. But, I believe there is no one who would fit her part better than the Scottish redhead Rose Eleanor Arbuthnot-Leslie. She was my favourite woman in Game of Thrones.

The best man to portray Merryn’s brother Angus is a tougher decision. I’m going to be open here with you. When I birthed this character, there was a reason his name was Angus. It’s because the person I saw when he stepped onto my pages was Angus from Braveheart, Sir William Wallace’s redheaded best friend.

But, Brendan Gleeson is a wee bit too old now and it would be a bit redundant if he were to play another Angus who is similar to his Braveheart persona. Wouldn’t you think?

David Wenham is a redheaded actor who played the role of Faramir in the Lord of the Rings movie saga. He’s an Australian native, but perhaps he’d be superb pretending with a Scottish Accent?

Now the final character I’m going to write about and dream about in this blog today, she arrives at the very end and we don’t know much about her in Book 1, but she plays a bigger part in Book 2. What I do want you to know is, she’s an Immortal who has been a friend of the Wolf-Born Race for millennia.

Her name is Zandra. I’m going to let you in on a secret, she’s going to get her own book trilogy one of these days.

Now, there has been only one person in all the world whom I’ve envisioned could play this goddess-like character. And that would be Jennifer Garner. There’s no one else who could even come close to being considered perfect for Zandra in my eyes.

I can see her walking the peaceful Haven she created inside a parallel dimension in a mountain near the Capitol, Sanguiatro, of the Wolf-Born Race.

Now, we’ve got this far into this little mini-series of my blog and you may be wondering why I haven’t shared ANY photos of each of these actors and actresses. I’m going to be open again, it’s for copyright purposes. I’m sorry, but I would prefer to not insult these amazing people ahead of casting them in my books’ future movies.

Yes, I know, that sounded hilarious. But it’s true.

This is another reason why I haven’t done a vlog on my YouTube channel to correspond with these blogs for the past two weeks now. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that channel for now. I’m leaving it open though!

Next week, I’ll bring up more characters from Book 2, Independence, as I continue with Bringing my Characters to Life, Part 3!

Some of the characters I’ll mention will be:

Sir William Wallace – Hero and Guardian of Scotland, best friend of Sir Ihon

King Robert the Bruce – King of Scotland and later friend of Sir Ihon

King Philip of France – Wolf-Born Higher Officer of the Creed Army

Desi Wallace – Daughter of Sir William Wallace, Sir Ihon’s ward

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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A Question-and-Answer Session for today’s Blog

What am I? I’m an Author.

By John Irvin

First, before we start, I want to bring up the fact that I did publish the series finale for my Patreon-exclusive Ikkilion Chronicles last weekend. It felt so good and a bit bittersweet to say farewell to Pwyll and Fea Libane. But I’m happy I accomplished something else.

What am I going to do next for Patreon? The only way that can be answered is if you become a sponsor here on my page:

Patreon Irvinnovelist

While I’ve been steadily writing steadily every day in my Strangers to the Realm novel, I’m also looking at getting to know more people on mostly Instagram and LinkedIn. It really is all about engagement and content creation and making connections.

So, here’s a little Q&A for today’s blog. I’ll also work on this for my YouTube vlog for today as well. Here is the link for your viewing pleasure.

            First question: Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

            Answer: Yes, I’ll admit, there have been days where I simply don’t feel like reading. That’s mostly from exhaustion, I think. So, I understand—to a point—when my friends say they just don’t feel like reading. But there does come a point where I make myself get back into reading and I find I wonder why I’d been blocked in the first place.

            Second question: If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?

            Answer: Have patience. Don’t be so quick to self-publish a book. Make sure to hire a better editor and be willing to wait and save up for a good artist. Quality takes time.

            Third question: As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

            Answer: That’s easy, I’ve already chosen. A wolf. Many of my books have variations of werewolves. They are such magnificent creatures and can teach us humans a thing or two, such as loyalty, faithfulness to one’s spouse, community, etc.

            Fourth question: What does literary success look like to you?

            Answer: I think I’ve finally decided what this looks like to me. Literary success, to me, would look like me being able to buy a house with the book royalties alone and paying off the mortgage in less than ten years.

            Fifth and last question: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

            Answer: Yes, I definitely read all my books’ reviews. So far, I’ve had one bad one and it was ridiculous. I don’t respond to negative reviews, I’ll laugh and move on. Good reviews are highly encouraging and I appreciate them so much. If there is good constructive criticism in a review, I’ll take it to heart.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

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A New Schedule and More Promo!

Testing, 1, 2, 3…

By John Irvin

            If you’ve checked the post I made on my Patreon page, you’ll know that I’ve done a little rearranging. Yes, instead of Thursdays for my blog and vlog, I’m moving to Saturdays. And the same goes for my Friday Broadcasts, they’ll be moved to Saturdays as well.

            I may be shooting myself in the feet here, but we’ll see how this goes.

            Speaking of which…

            And back to my present WIP for my Patreon subscribers, The Ikkilion Chronicles. I have only the Finale left to publish. It was due this week, but I don’t want it to feel rushed. People have told me in the past, they can tell when my writing is rushed. So, I’m postponing to next Saturday (18 September).

            Just a reminder about the premise for the techno-fantasy serial my sponsors get to enjoy:

            The story begins with a man and wife who are both amateur mages. They’re summoned by a usurper, the Witch Queen, who demands the location of what she calls the All-Stone. They have no idea what she’s talking about. So, like all good tyrants, she throws them in her dungeon. They escape and a long chase comes about that takes these two across several kingdoms.

            The Ikkilion Chronicles is Patreon-exclusive, which means, it will not be published anywhere else. The only way you can read it is to subscribe as a one-dollar-a-month patron. There will also be extra goodies in the near future too. So, don’t miss out.

            Before I continue, here’s the link to my Patreon, so you can join in the world:

www.patreon.com/irvinnovelist

            Now, on to this week’s spotlight of my own published books.

            The complete collection of my Shattered series is in PRINT! It has been for over a year now. The end of the old North American nations is turning out a little differently than I imagined, but still.

            New nations form after the global blackout caused by a natural EMP in the atmosphere. But can these new nations survive? Can they even thrive possibly? With some people still wanting to resurrect the old regimes, will these new nations be launched into a North American War and can they win?

            Here’s the page link: https://johnirvinauthor.com/book/shattered-the-complete-collection/

If you’ve been keeping up with my author journey, you’ll know that I’m also running a YouTube channel. I may not post EVERY week, but I do try to post often. They usually run about two to three minutes long just giving updates or promoting one of my books or a book I’ve been reading.

          And for your viewing pleasure, here’s the video for today’s episode:

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist—the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

I’ve now been hosting a YouTube channel called John Irvin, Author Journey Series. Check it out at YOUTUBE.COM/AUTHORJOURNEY

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com