An exclusive invite & guest blog post
Dear reader,
I am thrilled to share a guest blog post by award-winning author Dan Rice and invite you to my upcoming Book Launch on May 7th!
Guest Blog Post: Deleted Scenes by Dan Rice
What happens to deleted scenes? For movies, those are often packaged up as extras for super fans to enjoy. Of course, writing a scene isn't quite the same as filming one. Writing is often the work of a solitary scribe or only a few opposed to the hundreds working on a film.
Of course, if you are an author with tens of thousands, maybe millions, of zealous fans who will read anything you scribble on paper, you might release an author's cut of a novel. Personally, I can't imagine doing this. Anything my editor suggests I change makes the story better.
What I used to do
When I started writing, I didn't delete anything. This wasn't for any reason other than I didn't put enough effort into editing my prose. That, of course, was a problem. I have discovered that it's during the editing process that the writing, the story, comes alive.
Once I learned the hard lesson that a rough draft does not a final manuscript make, I started spending more time editing: hunting down typos, slaying continuity errors, and rephrasing gnarly sentences. Still, I wasn't going so far as deleting scenes wholesale or rewriting them.
Eventually, I discovered many scenes required rewriting to make them work. Often, that wasn't far from deleting the scene altogether. Sometimes, I would copy a scene to a separate file in case the rewrite didn't work out. In practice, I never returned to the original scene after rewriting it. This holds true today.
I did the same thing when I advanced to the editorial level of deleting scenes. Instead of condemning the words to the ether, I'd save the axed snippets to a deleted scenes file. I thought I might want to use pieces of the wayward scenes later in the story or as germs for an entirely different yarn. Once again, I discovered that, in practice, my deleted scenes file was, in reality, a round file.
You might wonder, why not go back to my deleted scenes file to mine it for future story ideas. The answer is simple. Ideas are easy to come by. To quote George R.R. Martin: "Ideas are cheap. It is execution that is all important."
What I do now
While editing The Wrath of Monsters, the third volume in The Allison Lee Chronicles, I dispensed with the pretense of saving deleted scenes altogether—almost. If I came across an excellent turn of phrase or action sequence fated for removal, I'd cut the prose and paste it at the end of the file. Did I ever come back and reuse these clips? Honestly, I don't remember. More likely than not, the prose was deleted without being reused.
Right now, I'm writing the rough draft of the fourth and final volume of The Allison Lee Chronicles. Perhaps when I slap the draft down on the editorial butcher block, I'll dispense with all sentimentality and immediately consign deleted scenes to the trashcan. I've never used them before, and I don't imagine I'll begin using them in the future.
And, after all, there's always the undo command.
Author Bio
Dan Rice pens the young adult urban fantasy series The Allison Lee Chronicles in the wee hours of the morning. The series kicks off with his award-winning debut, Dragons Walk Among Us, which Kirkus Reviews calls, “An inspirational and socially relevant fantasy.”
To discover more about Dan’s writing and keep tabs on his upcoming releases, check out his blog and join his newsletter.
A special invitation just for you!
Please join me at the Running From The AIs Book Launch on May 7th!
In the stacks with Kevin
Blood is power. Love is pain. And destiny awaits beyond The Door.
Two worlds. Bound by magic. Divided by a door. On the barren, war-ravaged demon world of Eriis, the fierce queen Hellne fights to keep her people alive and her son Rhuun's heritage a secret. On the green and gentle human world of Mistra, demons have faded into myth. Only a handful of old men and fanatical children still guard The Door between the worlds. Different and shunned by his demon kin, Rhuun finds refuge in a book that tells of a human world of water and wonder. Forced by his mother's enemies to flee Eriis, he finds himself trapped on the other side of The Door in the very place he has read and dreamed about—Mistra. Chained to the deadly whims of a child who guards The Door, Rhuun must balance serving and surviving, even at the risk of exposing his true identity. Riskiest of all is his task of kidnapping an infuriating young woman who is about to find out that the demons of Eriis are much, much more than just an old bedtime story.
A girl conceals an enchanted ring. A young soldier fights to protect her. Demons hunt them.
Growing up in a peaceful village, Ana has kept a secret all her life. She possesses an enchanted ring, the legacy from a mother she never knew. When powerful demons attack the village, attempting to kill her and take the ring, keeping it hidden is no longer possible.
Guarded by Zarek, a resourceful young soldier, Ana begins a desperate journey to escape the enemies hunting her. They must reach the borders of Sarine with its enchanted defense. Without Ana’s help, the barrier will fall, allowing the demons to destroy the kingdom and, with it, Ana’s only chance to discover the truth about the ring and the fate of her long-lost mother.
The pursuit grows ever closer, until cornered at last, Zarek sacrifices himself to protect her. Badly injured, his wounds are too serious to survive. Only the ring’s power offers him a chance to live. Ana must unlock its healing magic, and endure the agony of using it before the demons return to kill them both.
Fresh out of Immortal Testing, our antiheroes are deeply traumatized after being killed thousands of times in increasingly ghoulish ways to prove themselves capable of being Immortal. Kayn has become a Dragon, capable of shutting her emotions off. Zach has been made her Handler. They are brought to another world of Third-Tier to celebrate their victory, where Second-Tier are amusement for pure-blooded Immortals. Dark Comedy ensues as they are thrown into the deep end by their leader. The five new Ankh must sink or swim as they find their way through emerging powers and new dynamics. With Romance, thrilling Adventure and Comedy that will keep you giggling, the new Ankh start their forever jobs.
Fear is normal, it's what you do with that fear that determines if you are strong or weak.
A reluctant thief. A caring robot. A death that changes everything.