Saturday, September 2, 2017

Maps are Complete

I planned to add maps to three books in the Epic of Old series, and now that is finally done. There is still considerable work to be done on the complete world map if I want that to be displayed in any of the books or a possible website I am thinking of putting together. Two continents are only half complete, and Morthanis in particular has not been adjusted at all since I decided to quadruple the number of cells/blocks used to build the map. However, all I needed to do to start work on the map pictures was to finish the coastline since the interior details would be reinterpreted with inked versions of forests, mountains, and even state lines.

Skiven and Aglodon were completed in all their detail, and Hendvlask (with its now simplified spelling) was completed enough to draw a political map of the area. With this, locations should more or less be understood. Instead of remaining a vague idea, the continent will more closely resemble a real place. The maps are also all different in style, with the map of Skiven appearing in book three and the map of Aglodon appearing in book five. It is also good to remember that there is a simple world map on the cover of book four.

As of this moment, I should be done making pictures for the series. Most of the books have three to five pictures now, providing more context for certain scenes and places. It is possible that some of these will be edited or I might make a few more at the spur of the moment. These additions evolved in an organic fashion, so there is no telling if there is more to come. However, there is a good chance that I will eventually design a website, which means I will likely add a few pictures specifically for it. As of now, I am tweaking a few of the stories by making slight alterations to dialogue, which will hint at a few things I want to communicate to the reader. The last book might require one new scene, but only if I can produce the content needed to fill the setting. The same goes for the second book, though I'm looking to get a few more beta readers to figure out if such is even necessary. Lastly, I'm looking into other forms of book marketing, such as creating a mailing list. I will add the details to the blog once I have it all figured out.

Now, getting back onto the topic at hand, this is the current (incomplete) world map I am working with:


And this is the map of Hendvlask that I just finished: