My Projects | Karavansara

5 August 2014
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Research… and fun

I said it, I’ll repeat it – for me, one of the best bits of writing fiction is doing research.
After all, it means digging up strange facts and reading great books and have a good excuse for it.

I’m doing research for my next book

Sounds cool, too.
AND it’s a great way to decompress after a whole day spent writing.

Now, ok, working in scientific research should be the same – and it used to be just like that: you get paid to learn, experiment and discover new things.
Pity nobody’s paying researchers anymore, not in Italy, anyway.
On with my writing projects, then.

Continue reading →

20 July 2014
by Davide Mana 7 Comments

Writing on a dare

Ok, it went like this – I was wasting time yesterday morning, on Facebook, having a friendly chat with some author/publisher friends, here in the old C Block of the Italian Blogsphere.
We were talking original ideas, imitation as tribute and nuisance, and all those things, while each one of us was having breakfast at home (isn’t this web-thingie just great?)
Anyway, we were chatting away and sipping cappuccinos, and I really don’t know how it happened, honest, but one thing led to another, and…

So I bet the guys I can write a fantasy novelette in a weekend, and self-publish it on Amazon Kindle in less than a week.
And not only that!
Being an overconfident fool, I bet I can write a novelette that will be the first in a series, featuring a new setting and a new character.

And yes, this is stupid.
I mean, it’s the weekend, it’s summer, there’s 40+ degrees and 90% humidity, I have two deadlines approaching…
Ah! Continue reading →

15 July 2014
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Summer homeworks

So I was not busy enough, right?
And I decided to find me something to do in my spare time (what spare time?!!) this summer.

Fact is, if I want to reach the largest audience possible with my books, I need to widen my distribution.
Granted, Amazon holds 80% of the market – but what about the remaining 20%?

Also, what about those readers that keep asking for epub and pdf versions of my ebooks and don’t feel confortable enough with the idea of justpla in converting the .mobi files*?

So, I’d like to try and put a book or two of mine on Smashwords.
And to do so, I have to learn to format my files for the Smashword Meatgrinder – that is, to prepare files that can be uploaded to that platform, and then be converted.

The process, from what I saw, is a lot different from the standard procedure I use to create my Kindle books.
Not necessarily harder, but different.
And that’s the main snag.

Thank goodness I have a nice selection of handbooks here with me.
Now I only have to sit down and read them, and then start experimenting.

On the other hand, I could just adopt a double standard, and upload epubs directly to Smashwords and mobis directly to Amazon…

Decisions, decisions… I’ll keep you posted.

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* Using Calibre, for instance.

26 May 2014
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

You don’t know Jack… but you will

Many years ago I spent a long night with some friends, eating Chinese and talking writing.
Fueled by Cantonese Rice and Flambé Dumplings, we came to the conclusion that the best ideas are those that feel completely crazy, and that make us a little scared, a little uneasy.
Not so much scared as in a John Carpenter movie, more scared as in “heck, how am I going to pull this one?”

If you can answer that question, you’ve got a good story idea in your hands.

So each one of us, that night, set down his own impossible story idea, and the morning after, these were forgotten.
Or at least tucked away in some dark corner of our memory.

That night, I invented Jack Nada. Continue reading →

12 May 2014
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Just pitched a new story

And so I did it – I just pitched a story to a big, highly respected American publisher.
The pitch is for a pulp adventure story .

I will not disclose too much, but the proposed story features the Silk Road, a few (mostly dead) dinosaurs, raiders, madmen, and assorted historical weirdness.
And some (hopefully!) not-so-cliché characters.

Having spent years collecting historical facts and assorted informations about the Silk Road and the Silk Road countries, building the setting and the background should be easy – and fun.

Continue reading →

28 April 2014
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Writing the blues away

Ouch!
The post for today did not go online as planned, due to a web glitch while I uploaded it.
This is bad!
Here’s the belated post.
Sorry sorry sorry.

I’m going through a writing bout – partially caused that my professional life has come to a complete standstill after my PhD dissertation.

So I’m sending CVs around, and writing like there’s no tomorrow.
Because, in all fairness, there could be no tomorrow.

To me, ebooks and author-published stories are really today’s pulp racks.
Which means I suddenly understand in a very hands-on way what being a hack in the golden age of the pulps might actually feel like.
A heady mix of dread and exhilaration.
Ideas come freely, and writing them is easier than usual.
As long as this lasts, I’m on a roll. Continue reading →

23 April 2014
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Outlines and Images

I’m doing something I never did before – I’m going through the outline/index of my next book (a roleplaying game supplement) noting the number and kind of images that might be needed for each chapter/section.

This is a first for me, because I normally write fiction – and then there’s only the problem of the cover* – or academical papers – where all the images needed are part of my job: field shots, microscopic photographs, graphs and maps.

I can handle the illustration of my academical work, and I can handle covers (sometimes) – but trying to imagine what images will be needed to illustrate a roleplaying game book… ah, that’s something else altogether! Continue reading →