When I started writing Book One of the Last Paladin Series, I was really having difficulties deciding where to start the story at. Since the world of Irlendria has so much history there were many places I could start the story from, but I wanted an Urban Fantasy novel that mixed in Real World and a Magical World. That desire to have both made me decide to start Flight with Startüm on Earth.

I’ve received some criticism on how quickly I started the story out. While the story if fast paced and fun, there were people who wished for a little more back story on Startüm, and rightly so. To be honest, in a way I look at Flight as being the “Star War’s” of my series in the sense of how you are introduced to everything going on in the middle of Startüm’s story.

With Book Two, this will be a lot different. Partly this is because my writing ability is that much better and I am more confident in keeping the action flowing, while giving readers a deeper appreciation of the characters and their cultures. While Flight was about fun and action, Book Two has those same characteristics and much more. I really love the depth of the story.

A good example of this is with the new species and characters being introduced into the story. Legatus Tiberius Decius Lupus, prince of the Minotaurs of the Imperium is a prime example of this. I really wanted to make his culture come alive and give you a depth of his honorable character that is so much more than the beasts so many people think of when they hear the word “Minotaur”.

Nessa Manitou, Centaur of the Great Plains, is her own person with a very distinctive culture. Her people are very different then the Minotaurs of the Imperium. Her beliefs, magic, culture and viewpoint of life come to life. She is much more than just a traditional Centaur from Greek Mythology. The pains of her heart and her loves have a suffering that I believe many readers will be able to identify with.

Also, the Elves in Book Two are similar yet different to the Fantasy we all know and love. Growing up on stories and concepts of D&D and Lord of The Rings, Elves for me had a spectrum of flavors. Wild, Forest, Gray (High) Elves were distinctive and unique in their own ways. I’ve added my own twist to their cultures and story, but without a doubt my past influences flavor their cultures strongly. Lúthien Narmolanya, Enelya Tasartir, Warden Morwen Telemnar and others are distinctly  different between one another, but at the same time very Elven.

Just thinking about the story and talking about it here gets me excited all over again, so back to writing.         

Even though this was a short week I’ve managed to squeeze in several more novels from John Conroe’s Demon Accords. An amazing series btw if you’ve hadn’t checked it out yet. I’ve had a couple friends point this series out. This weekend I’ll be sure to give Mr. Conroe some well deserved reviews for his writing. Since I’ve started writing there is never just a “pleasure read” so to speak.

It’s not that I’m not fully enjoying the writers I talk about in my blog, but there are really important examples of how the writers have done something in particular that I’m also researching. It’s one of the best things about writing. I can research and learn while enjoying great stories. Gotta love that!

What’s really interesting about John’s main characters are that they are so incredibly overpowered. For those of you that have read Flight, then I expect you can understand my interest in how he handles his characters stories. I know some people might instantly think that an overpowering man character would make for a dull story, but that’s entirely not the case. No matter how powerful you are, there are always things that make you vulnerable. Also, I just enjoy the raw power of the main character and how it's welded into an incredible plot line. I take my hat off to John for his amazing stories. As enjoyable as the “Good Intentions” series is, the Demon Accords are just as good. Although not at the same level of eroticness they are definitely worth reading.

Just in case you were wondering, the answer is "yes". I was also researching the different levels of sexual/eroticness between the stories to assist in my own learning/writing of my own stories romantic scenes. My ideas are definitely falling somewhere in-between these two writers flavors.

For those of you wondering how I can write and read in an evening, I tend to finish off most normal sized books in around six hours or less. Yea, we are not talking about Wheel of Time books, those just give me a headache because it takes me like three or four sittings to finish a freaking book, although great stories. So far I’ve been faring better when I read first and write afterword, since the reading will keep me up to 4 in the morning, but the writing I’ll go to bed by 1. It means I get a little more sleep for my work day.

Right now I’m working on the Elven part of my story. All of my characters are there in the middle of it, so it’s like not “ALL” Elvish, if you know what I mean. But there is so much culture involved that it keeps my mind working full time on getting the flavor where I want it to be while bringing the world to life. It would have been easier to just make one species of elf, but in all of my time playing D&D or reading Fantasy. Just having one type of elf didn’t seem right, hence why I have three distinctive Elven cultures in the story.

Anyway, it’s time to get writing tonight, so I’ll blog again another day.          

I'm trying to get back to doing two updates a week again on the blog. Preferably I would like to get back to three updates a week, but between work, family, writing and life I’m not sure if that’s possible. But it’s always good to have goals, right =D

Here are two characters that I’ve had a lot of fun with and have pictured from the very beginning of the story. I hope you like the brief history of the Elven Races on Irlendria that comes with them: 


On Irlendria there are three distinctive groups of Elves that make up the Elven Kingdom that resides within the Great Forest. Although they all live the same general domain, they live separately from one another, internally dividing themselves into Clans: Gray Elves, Forest Elves and Wild Elves. Albeit when referring to themselves, most Gray Elves consider themselves High Elves, a title of pride left over from the Great War. Because it was Daeron Fortress, the Gray Elf ancient home, that stopped the invaders when the Tuonellians sent their hordes to destroy the Elven Race over forty-seven years ago. 

While both Gray and Forest Elves are xenophobic to the other races of Irlendria in the extreme, they respect one another and work closely together due to their mutually shared philosophical perspectives on the evolution of the Elven Race. Unfortunately, this commensal relationship does not extend to the Wild Elf Clan. While the Gray and Forest Elves did work closely with the Klavikians at the onset of the War and even altered their metaphysical beliefs to stand against the Tuonellians, the Wild Elves have never left the core values that their race was founded upon. This adherence to the old ways greatly weakened the Wild Elf Clan’s effectiveness during the Great War and caused a rift between them and the other Clans.   

This brief history of the Elven people I thought was somewhat necessary to explain my next characters from Book Two, Enelya Tasartir and her soulmate Argus. Enelya is a Spirit Shaman from the Wild Elf Clan. She has an animal companion named Argus, which she calls her soulmate due to the spirit-link they share. While the spirit-link enhances them both, their lives are linked together from this bond. If one dies, so then does the other.

Argus is from a race known as the Wenci, which are apex predators within the Great Forest. The Wenci families are formed into Packs that hunt and live together in small communities with the Wild Elves. Although their bodies are long and slender with short legs, they are large enough to act as temporary mounts for their Elven Companions. The Wenci naturally have incredible dexterity and are armed with long claws and sharp fangs with hides that are protected by thick fur coats that combine to make them tough aggressive fighters.