What is “The book of Ascension”?

Aiden Lee

So here is my plot summary guys, this will give you all a taste of what to expect from my work of fiction and hopefully will keep you hooked in and wanting more updates and info on the creation of my masterpiece. I promise I will have the first mini sample of the book posted up on here soon but until then please keep following us and watch out for more on what im doing and the things that have inspired me and the project! ^__^.

The Book of Ascension is a tale that begins

Kit Kat!

Hey guys and girls! Just checking in after a lovely day of… Well just chilling out really.

Today I had a break from work and working on any writing of the book. Instead I went to check out the new library that has launched just recently in September.

I’d been hearing lots of cool things about the new Birmingham, (U.K.), Central library but just never got around to seeing it until today.

There are plenty places to chill out and read in. As well as many quiet areas to get writing done etc. They have a secret garden section on the roof which I could imagine myself brainstorming ideas in also.

They had a nifty little bird hunting game where you have to go around the whole library hunting for statues of different birds. On the statues were famous quotes from books that the bird is featured in. You take your bird leaflet around and fill in the missing quotes, once completed you take it as proof as your conquest and some reward is given to you in the form of book tokens. You could even hire some binoculars to use to hunt them down from afar, which should give you some idea as to the scope and size of the building.

They have a Shakespeare room with sculptures of old bill sitting around, funky pod chairs to sit in and read whilst encased in an orb of comfy hollowed out plastic, weird art and murals decorating the walls and a vast collection of music to sample.

All in all I had a nice chilled day out and an all important responsibility less day to unwind! ^__^.

Check the pics out below!

Hiatus!

Hello to anyone of you faithful followers that are still checking in on me every now and then, and thanks for being loyal to my online nattering. It has been a busy year for me in 2013 and unfortunately has led to a bit of a hiatus in regards to keeping the blog ticking along with posts and content etc. Well that is a slight understatement and I totally understand if you guys are starting to worry about my  dedication to the cause.

That being said again, i know I have said it before, but I have every intention of making my pet project come to fruition. The book is continuing to grow, all be it slowly, but just as equally as it is surely. Im also still conscious of my online presence and will endeavour to keep the blog chugging along.

Its not that I am one for excuses but I have had an exciting year. One that has encompassed car crashes, my marriage, disciplinary meetings (Im totally innocent),moving to a new apartment and a barrage of vile cases of man flu. Understandably this has impacted on the production of my opus and the maintenance of my blog.

This is of course a problem that many writers are faced with all too often, I just feel better when I at least explain myself. Call it a courtesy if you wish.

So I have at least reflected on what I could do to help me tackle the slippery tight rope of life and the least my interventions will do is make sure I at least get minute progress achieved on a more regular basis, compared to times gone past. The most prominent practices and advices that I have taken on have helped me a lot, they might not be ground breaking tips and tricks but I will share them anyhow.

1. Got myself two consultants to help me with decisions pertaining to my book and its direction. I have found that talking about your work with others or in my case trusted friends and people dear to me, can help you to clear you’re head and stay focussed. I have discussed ideas Im thinking of including etc and got good feed back and sometimes alternate opinions and ideas on my original thoughts. It can also be dangerous to do so, but thats why I said trusted. I would love to hear any opinions on this matter or method of beta testing your ideas.

2. Read more. This is something that everyone tells you to do and I hate to be cliche, but it is very helpful for all you first time writers like myself. It will boost your repertoire of skills in learning the different ways you can tackle writing an idea that you have. I have also personally taken to audio books. I find it easier to just pop it on while driving to work etc and can get through a book very quick this way. Its also good to see how well good writing sounds as opposed to just reading it in your own head. You can understand the flow of the prose. Try reading some of your own work aloud and see how easy it is to roll of the tongue, I have had to re-write sections of my book that just sounded awful to recite out aloud.

And that is it guys in a nut shell, keep writing and do not give up even if you are having a hiatus in your work flow, it happens to us all.   ^__^ . Stay tuned.

Character Bio: Saul Stratton

Name: Saul Stratton

Age : 12

D.O.B : Unknown precise date of birth. date used is 01/01/2000 However only the year can be assured of it’s accuracy.

Place of Birth: A children’s playground known to the people in the area as “The Devils Haunt”. Situated in a small park that is frequently used by three distinct types of people. Those being drug dealers, drug abusers and the working girls of the red light district area that The Devils Haunt is known for.

Build : Skinny and gaunt in the face.

Hair : Black

Mother: Deceased during labour during the birth of Saul. Guardianship was taken up by a friend and colleague of Saul’s mother, who found baby Saul crying between the legs of her dead friend on the round about in Devil’s Haunt.

Father: Unknown

Persona: Quiet and withdrawn, only ever says what needs to be said, and prefers to be a recluse reading any factual source of information he can find. If he cant read about something then trying to find something on the television that feeds his hunger for knowledge and need of education and learning becomes his main priority. A dark side of his psyche dwells deep down within him and threatens to take over his usually passive nature. He finds it difficult to allow certain unjust situations that life throws at him happen when his darker side could easily rectify these problems when combined with his unique intelligence.

An abnormally intelligent boy for his age, able to sum up mathematical problems with little thought process needed to do so. Able to see between the normal conventions of puzzle solving and just understands what needs to be achieved in order to come to a desired conclusion. His I.Q. is helped by his keen photographic memory and Only limited by his unfortunate living circumstances and lack of wholesome parenting to guide his unique talents towards something deserving of them. A boy destined for greatness but held back by those around him, a true “Rose Among the Thorns”.

Likes: Reading Books. Watching World News whilst mapping the stories and events on the news to a large world map that he has in his bedroom. Deserts, after one of his frequent “cramming sessions” of knowledge he has noticed that even though his attention span is far greater than any other person his age or most people to be honest, that eventually his mind grows weary. Saul has found that when he eats certain foods, (which he has scientifically tested on himself), he can hold the attention for much longer and in tern continue what he likes doing best. Learning. Most people use such things like energy drinks etc but Saul has used strict scientific methodology to construct a system of foods that enable him to keep his brain in peak condition at all times. Even if it makes him appear to be eccentric and labelled a “weird kid”.

Dislikes: Loathes bullies, mainly because he is a prime target for those that are stronger and farther up the popularity chain than he is. Its not just children either, adults who use the simple fact that they are older than he to justify a reason as to why they are right and he is wrong even though Saul is almost always right with any argument that he may find himself in. He has great ability but is restricted by the young frail body of a 12 year old boy. 

Hates awkward social interactions that put him out of his comfort zone and avoids any situation where they are likely to happen. He is unique and very different from those around him but situations that highlight this make him feel small claustrophobic. 

Fears: Saul is only afraid of what he is capable of when he is pushed too far, or challenged by those who try to prevent him from being himself. A fear of the dark thoughts that plague his mind when someone sets their sights on stopping him from doing his thing. He is fed up of taking tourment, being a punch bag or any abuse that he would otherwise have someone backing his corner as a friend or concerned parent to protect him if he was not so elevated because of his skills and abilities. He is far removed from anyone that might be his friend. So he struggles with the thought of revenge and dealing with these problems himself and what that might result in.

Banned Books…Really?

So yesterday was the final day of the Banned Books Week that ran from 30th of september up to the 6th of october. To be honest its the first time I have heard of it ^__^ hehe, but lots of blogs and websites have been putting up various lists of books that libraries around the world have been banning or books that have had people petitioning to have banned by concerned and disgruntled people who feel the content within the aforementioned books is something that should be censored or witheld from the reaches of our young fledgling book worms.

Okaaay! Well thats fine I suppose, Im not against the protection of our children’s minds when it comes to certain subject matter, should they accidentally come across 50 Shades of Grey for instance in the school library and start to ask mom and dad what anal fisting is and can they try it…

But what surprised me was that while reading many of these lists, many of them have titles on their are really quite harmless and I was perplexed by the unexpected books to appear on them. For instance there were titles that were shocking to see on a banned book list, titles that were understandable as to why it could be but ones that I wouldn’t have put onto the list and some that were your usual obvious ones that you might expect to see.

Violence in Books

Another great post found out in the blogverse, this one is from a blog that I follow myself and it has to do with a subject that I have discussed here on the bookofascension blog. That being the issue of violence and its use in your story! please check this post out and let me know what you think?

Hoover's Corner

While attending Chicon 7 I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussing violence in fantasy and how much was too much. Or if there was such a thing as too much.

The usual things you expect to be said on such a topic were said.

But I was surprised, genuinely surprised, no one seemed to really get it. I mean they kept saying things like “Violence is terrible and we don’t know why humans are so excited by it. It must say something fundamental about the human experience.”

I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand then and I don’t understand now. Violence is human. It’s who we are. It does define us. We can pretend otherwise, but the fact remains we are a violent species. All you have to do is open a history book of you don’t believe me. We respect and elevate and revere people like Gandhi, Dr…

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Story crafting methods, what’s yours?

Great post here! Reminds me a lot of myself and some of the thought processes that I have when trying to think up writing gold as opposed to when the gold finds me when not even trying to be creative.

Waiting Outside of Parnassus

This doesn’t happen to me anymore.  But through my latter years of high school and my first few years of college, the one time I was guaranteed to be inspired was when I was driving.  I’d switch lanes and suddenly a line pop into my head.  With one hand, I’d pull a pen from my purse, and whenever I stopped at a red light I scribbled, as quickly as I could, on my arm, praying that the light would not change.  At those moments, I seemed to catch all the green lights.  When I arrived home, I transcribed the words scrawled across my skin, desperate to find that spark I felt when I was getting off the freeway.  What I was able to save seemed to die on the page, in that rush to catch the muse’s words I missed something and that magic was lost.

As of late, I’ve…

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Doing it tortoise style

You all remember the hare and tortoise fable right? (google it guys) ^__^

Whether you are writing the next epic best seller or you are reading the latest epic best seller as an avid fan of

Story building and Idea cultivation

I would very much like to know other peoples views and experiences with building their story from scratch and the methods they employ to do so!

Nail Your Novel

I’m hatching a new novel.

It doesn’t yet have a title, but I know its setting. So until something better comes along I’m calling it The Venice Novel.

I have a main character. He doesn’t yet have a name. I don’t know what he looks like or how old he is, who his friends and family are – except that these people will cause as much conflict as comfort, of course. They can’t be in the story if they don’t. Some of them will change, some will not.

For some reason he’s male because it feels right. This is not the time to interrogate my instincts, so male he shall be. If later he feels insistently feminine, I’ll switch him.

In any case, his gender is insignificant compared to his problem.

This problem is the touch-paper waiting to be lit and I understand it very clearly. At the moment…

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2 Funerals and a Disciplinary hearing!!

Hi there guys, I am back in the swing of things after having recently been through a lot of trials and tribulations recently that have unfortunately have affected not just me but the production of the book. A lot of drama has kept me from writing and concentrating on focusing on all sorts of projects that I wanted to finish. but the drama is over now and I can return back to normal.

I have had the unfortunate task of having to mourn the loss of my father recently, and then two months ago I lost a long time friend and brother from another mother after he commit suicide. Shortly after that I ran into a spot of trouble at work and had to prove my innocence after a disgruntled car park attendent decided to tell malicious lies about how was supposed to have hit him with my car no less than 5 times…ridiculous I know! 

How not to be a copy cat?

Evil genius Light from Death Note!

 

Hello again guys. Today I am talking about  creating your characters for your story and finding out that the detailed and complex motives that those characters have also create complex and detailed writing challenges for you as write your story. The main character in my book The Book of Ascension, has recently put me in one of those situations. Ive recently been trying to write a murder into my story, and I think writing a normal bog standard murder, however easy it may sound to write, is actually a difficult thing to do well.

Theres all sorts of continuity and minor details to think about in terms of the story etc, and theres the fact that murder in literature has been done countless times, so finding a method for murder that hasn’t been done before is a tricky one to tackle. Now this can become even further difficult when your character has life, motives, and personality traits that dictate the type of method that they would choose to use.

My main character Saul, is a bit of a genius, akin to that of Light Yagami from the awesome show “Death Note” (Please watch if you have not already), and so the murder method that I had to come up with for him to use had to be as equally intelligent and orignal. If the MI5 were to search my laptop they might think I was a strange individual, I have  been searching the web for information on murder, poisoning, assassinations and all manner of dark and questionable tidbits I could use to craft a suitable method of murder for my character to run with.

Just when I would come up with an amazing idea, I would later find out that its already been done elsewhere in other books, or T.V. shows. Thankfully I think I have finally found my method and although similar methods have been used, I think I can change it up and make it more unique enough to pass the originality test from my readers.

So please guys if you have ever had similar problems like these, then please let us know below and share your experience for anyone that is currently going through the same problem. Are there any tips you can give regarding being original when writing your story?