New Agenda for Thursday Posts - Novel Serialization
Since May, I've been blogging pretty much every day, and I've enjoyed the challenge of contributing something in a different format for each day. Some of the days--Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday--don't require much prep work, since I've already got everything written out or available to me. But the Wednesday-through-Friday sequence takes a little more time. I've just recently begun a new endeavor, trying my hand at writing a nonfiction book for the first time, so I'm not sure I can keep up my blogging pace along with my new challenge. But I like the impetus to find or produce a poem each week, and I've very much enjoyed the production of my Friday essays. So I think Thursday is going to fall under the axe. But I've decided not to do away with it altogether--I'll move some of my book reviews, and occasionally a painting reflection, to the Friday slot now and then--and for Thursday, I'm going to serialize one of my old novels.
I wrote and published two historical fiction novels when I was in high school (Tactus and Soldiers of the King, still available from America Star Books), and though they bear the obvious marks of the self-produced works of a teenage mind, they're pretty good for what they are. In my final year before going to college, I wrote a third historical fiction novel, A Flame in the Night, set in medieval England. I never tried to publish it, partly because I took a few historical liberties to make the story more exciting, but I think it's better than those two early ones that actually made it into print. And, since I'm never going to seek formal publication for this novel, I thought I'd offer it here on my blog in serialized form (a classic means of publishing literature--many of the great 19th century novels were serialized at first), probably just a scene or two per week. I'll touch it up here and there as we go along, but for the most part it will remain the work of 18-year-old Matt, so don't launch any overly harsh literary criticisms my way for its failings. It's an adventure story through and through, so I think you'll like it if you keep up with it. You can always catch up on posts you've missed by clicking the "A Flame in the Night" option on the Topics sidebar.
Here's a quick synopsis:
A Flame in the Night tells the story of Hannah, a young Jewish woman in 12th-century
England,
who comes into possession of an ancient and dangerous prize. But her family is
torn apart by the anti-Jewish riots of 1189, and she must use the priceless
relic to save the ones she loves. She is joined by Edward, a former monk who is
haunted by the bitter legacy of his own family tragedy. Together, they set off
to save Hannah’s family in the face of opposition from Edward’s estranged
brother and a powerful group of men determined to take possession of the relic.
Look for the first installment next week!
