Publishing Woes, and other news

Hello readers!

It has been a while (over a month, in fact) since I last wrote on the Magical Realm. Alas, this is inevitable: there was too much work to do in June—the final month of my studies—and after July 1st, when I graduated. The wonderful housing corporation, which every single AUC student is obliged to rent from, made me move out on July 15th. That’s barely two weeks since I graduated.

After I managed to sell my furniture—or rather, a single piece, the rest of which I simply dumped—I travelled with my parents to Romania, and visited beautiful places in Austria along the way. The journey is about 2300km in length, and we were in no hurry, so we stayed 2 weeks on the road. You can check out my album here.

In Romania, I hoped for some peace and quiet, but naturally, got neither. Part of it is because of my family. Part of is it also because of a medical problem: I have developed foliculitis decanavans on my scalp and hair, thanks to years of antibiotics and reclacitrant acne. The good news is that I have convinced a local dermatologist to put me on isotretinoin (also known as “Accutane”). This is a Vitamin-A derivative that drastically reduces sebum production—sebum being a fatty secretion on the skin. Acne like mine has a variety of causes, but a huge overproduction of sebum is the main cause.

(The above is still a very simplified explanation: you can read more about it online, if you are interested.)

The medicine is, unfortunately, known for its side-effects, and I will need monthly medical supervision during the 6-month treatment course. But it’s the only permanent treatment available for both my acne and foliculitis.

You, dear reader, are probably interested to know more about my new novel—Fallen Love—as well as my experience at AUC. The latter is a topic I will be addressing in an upcoming blog post, entitled “My Experience at AUC: A Review”. I will be posting that shortly.

As for my new book, progress has once again stalled. I have queried another batch of agents, receiving one rejection and no replies after 1 month. The situation is so bad that I’ve seriously started considering how I will self-publish. Self-publishing requires three things: knowledge, time, and money. Naturally, money is the most difficult of the three. One good thing about AUC is cost; the cost of living in Amsterdam was manageable thanks to student housing and subsidies, and the tuition was mostly covered by loans. The loans have 0% interest and a 15-year repayment period starting in 2021. This means that I am not broke.

Even so, I have divided the self-publishing option into two plans: the cheap plan, and the expensive one. It is impossible to self-publish effectively without a good cover and a solid marketing strategy; and since editing is expensive, it must face the financial guillotine.

The two plans cost as follows:

• The cheap plan costs €2500. This includes cover design (in the region of €500); the services of a marketing professional (€1000); miscellaneous expenses including a self-publishing course, for around €200; and the remaining €800 is budgeted for ads.

• The expensive plan costs €5000. It budgets €2250 for editing (developmental + a proof read) and €750 for cover design, just to make sure I get the best cover I can.

The cheap plan is feasible for me right now; the expensive plan is predicated on getting some sort of job.

Right now, I’m honestly still uncertain as to what to do. I have applied for a master’s degree and a scholarship at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, where I can save rent living with my parents. If that doesn’t pan out—and there’s no guarantee it will, financially—I will look for a job or start a master’s degree in the winter.

Now you understand my quandary. I will leave you now, dear reader, for I need review the quality of my university’s education, on which I shall be writing again soon!

A Writer’s Work

Hello readers!

I have been away in my Romanian country home, and have, alas, been bereft of Internet. Please do excuse my lackluster efforts here on the Magical Realm. Nonetheless, this has presented a different opportunity: writing Fallen Love.

I am very pleased to announce that I have written more than 60,000 words on the book; I am not very far from finishing. Another 15,000 words or so will do it, and then I will begin the process of seeking agents, and trying to acquire a publishing contract.

In the meanwhile, I have decided to release some excerpts from the book. They will appear in the ‘Upcoming Books’ page of the blog. If all of my announcements have made you at all excited, do check it out—there is plenty to entertain you!

The blurb, which I have perfected, may do some of the convincing:

When Upperclassman Conall falls in love with Mark—a Fallen boy—two things become clear. First, he’s immediately and irrevocably in love with him. And secondly, he’s biting off more than he can chew...

Ireland, 2620: a world haunted by mutants at night, and by the terror that is the Party at day. A brutal class regime is maintained through secrecy and precisely targeted violence, ensuring the rule of the Party and the economic dominance of the European Superstate.

But one woman is planning on turning it all to rubble. Kaylin, a clairvoyant and spell-caster, is building an army of Familiars—others like her, gifted with strange powers.

Her plans are led astray, however, when two boys mysteriously enter her visions. Why do they matter, she wonders? And what of the dark beings her visions foretell; what of the Fallen Ones? A storm is coming, and it is bigger than any of them...

Still, the rest of this post will not be concerned with Fallen Love directly, but rather with an intriguing and related discussion: what promotes good quality, productive writing?

Inspiration: The Age Old Question

Inspiration is much talked about, both in writing circles and by well-intentioned laymen. The latter usually assume that natural beauty has some contribution to good writing: perhaps, they think, the desolate beauty of the Scottish Highlands has some bearing on the Scottish poets. A few even naively assume that said natural beauty will turn them into great poets and writers.

In writing circles, the discussion tends to be a bit more nuanced: we writers, after all, experience the power of art in a more intimate and direct fashion. We all know that great writing is something far from trivial; that simply gazing upon a desolate peak, or a beautiful indigo sunset, is not nearly enough to turn someone into a brilliant artist.

My personal take on this is that external beauty, while awe-inspiring and wonderful, isn’t really relevant to the internal beauty an artist creates. JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter in a train. And some of my strongest writing, both on Fallen Love and the Necromancer, was not created on the top of a mountain—it was written in much more banal circumstances.

One might argue that seeing natural beauty is enough to instil the seeds of inspiration; that the experience continues even after we’ve left the site. There may be some merit to this idea, but I would nevertheless point out that writing—especially my kind of writing, fantasy—often stretches reality in ways that non-artists cannot see. I believe Sartre had it right when he used the analogy of light. We can shine light on a painting, but this does not illuminate its inner mysteries; and indeed, art itself seems able to shine a light on the world, and one that cannot be emulated by even the sun.

Still, something did allow me to write nearly 10,000 words in the space of a week. Maybe it was the lack of anything better to do (although many people in that situation never become great artists). Or perhaps the star-lit landscape, yet free from the vagaries of modern cities, brought some inspiration from the heavens. Who knows?

In any case, I hope you enjoyed my little philosophical digression. Now, I must leave you, dear reader, to continue my writerly work. I will return—both with excerpts from the book, and even with a new poem I also wrote while away.

Until then!