tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68915710566775037562024-03-14T02:22:59.518-07:00 C.R. FladmarkC.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-90750015063686825162017-01-10T11:19:00.000-08:002017-01-10T11:20:09.967-08:00Cover reveal - The Fallen Gatekeepers
The Fallen Gatekeepers will be released on February 15, 2017!C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-56788247833555145602016-02-15T10:45:00.003-08:002016-02-15T10:51:00.900-08:00Labyrinths As part of those teasers I spoke of, The Fallen Gatekeepers delves a bit
more into ancient gateways where shaman cross over to worship the deities in Shoko's world. It didn't take much research to find real sites where gateways 'could' exist. One of them is the Island of stone labyrinths. It's located in the White Sea
on Bolshoy Zayatski Island. It is an ancient site––about C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-77313453622942590102016-01-29T14:28:00.000-08:002016-01-29T14:29:50.445-08:00Where the heck is book 2??I've been taking heat from readers about the delay in getting book 2 out. Well, the good news is, it's on the way. The less good news is you'll have to wait until early summer. Maybe I should start doing teasers...C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-75818545734036715872015-05-23T12:11:00.002-07:002015-05-23T12:13:00.379-07:00The Gatekeeper's Son named Finalist!
The Gatekeeper's Son was a finalist in the Fantasy category at the National Indie Excellence Awards! That makes 3 awards so far! I'm pretty excited about the continued recognition!
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-1405890588380873732015-03-12T20:19:00.002-07:002015-03-12T20:19:41.292-07:00Two book awards for The Gatekeeper's Son!I just found out that The Gatekeeper's Son is a finalist in the Ben Franklin Book Awards, cover design: small format: fiction (Guaranteed silver, maybe gold.) AND also a finalist in Foreword Reviews' 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award: Fantasy! It makes all the hard work worth it.
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-70522983249839834382015-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:002015-02-17T21:43:01.716-08:00On Seeing
I'm told my scenes are very visual, the description full yet
subtle and I believe that's because I really see what's
around me, all the time, and that translates back onto the page.
The clinking of cutlery, trying to wave down a busy waiters, the laughter from a booth not far away--all these things tell you're in a busy, perhaps loud restaurant. That's what show, don't tell C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-1995309382677713042015-02-14T22:32:00.000-08:002015-02-14T22:32:03.448-08:00People along the wayI was thinking the other day about how I got here; a published author, I mean. It was a long solitary haul, hundreds of hours cooped up in my office alone, thinking, planning and typing.
But was I really alone?
No. There were hundreds of people with me every day. The jerks I've met over the years became inspiration for the jerks in the book. Strangers I saw on the street become background C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-71609535442678432642015-01-06T22:53:00.000-08:002015-01-07T15:42:21.201-08:00Happy 2015!What a crazy and amazing year 2014 was. It was one year ago, December 31, 2013, that my editor finally declared that The Gatekeeper's Son was ready to move onto line editing. The book was actually finished! Okay, not really. After the line edit came the copy edit, and proofreading, and interior and exterior design, and more proofreading, formatting, marketing campaign startup. We finally C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-27141715787945906042014-12-26T14:16:00.001-08:002014-12-26T14:16:00.763-08:00Merry Christmas! I was too stuffed yesterday to write a word so merry Christmas everyone! I truly hope you all got exactly what you wanted. All the best!
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-38944118261081930832014-12-22T17:10:00.000-08:002014-12-22T21:18:42.190-08:00Fight like Jason Bourne?
When I set about writing the action scenes for The Gatekeeper's Son, I already knew the fighting style I wanted for Junya. I'd seen The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and a whole bunch of other movies which feature elaborate Kung Fu fight scenes. They're fun to watch but are all rather ineffective as far as ending a fight fast. Enter Jason Bourne. In the first installment of the movie C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-10266810652353493402014-12-16T20:20:00.002-08:002014-12-16T20:20:26.991-08:00A street in Japan.
When I first visited Japan, it was little things that surprised me, like a street with shops and restaurants. At home, that means a straight row of buildings of different sizes, plate glass windows, maybe trees lining the sidewalks and a bunch of parked cars. A shop in japan is often at the front of the owner's house and they'll hustle in from a back room hidden behind a curtain to serve you. C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-14853432049036057242014-12-14T20:27:00.002-08:002014-12-22T21:27:49.529-08:00The Shrine of love?Ōkuninushi (Ōkuninushi-no-mikoto), famous as the Shinto deity of marriage is also known as 'En-musubi', the creator and arranger of relationships. The relationships are not simply those that bind men and women together in marriage. They are also the relationships that help us grow into respectable adults, create a bright and exciting society. Bring all things happiness and good C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-33816024677027130782014-12-14T19:14:00.000-08:002014-12-14T19:15:05.225-08:00Junya's Father? Can you tell me his name?I'm getting a lot of people saying, "What's the deal with Junya's dad?" Well, it's true that he didn't show up very often in book one. He really didn't have a role other than showing that Misako (Okaasan) had a husband and Junya a dad. And when he did show up, he wasn't a strong character either. He was, and is, a quiet man who had his share of bad experiences and just wants a quiet life. HoweverC.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-34239215418831890332014-12-12T21:20:00.000-08:002014-12-22T21:23:26.696-08:00More on the ancient Izumo Shrine
If you remember, after Junya's nightmare, he described the Izumo Shrine as have massive posts: 3 huge trees, tied together and painted red. 'According to the Kuchizusami, a book written in 950 AD. the main structure reached 48 meters, topping the 45 Meter height of the Great Buddha Hall of Nara's Todai-ji Temple and making it the tallest building in all of Japan.' The first records ofC.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-22029577473537840922014-12-11T20:17:00.001-08:002014-12-11T20:17:28.287-08:00Izumo-Taisha Shinto shrineOne of the main locations featured in The Gatekeeper's Son is the great Izumo-Taisha shrine. It's considered one of the most important shrines in Japan and has a history going back a thousand years. The general area around the shrine is full of artifacts and archeological sites dating from the bronze age and reinforce how old the area truly is.
Izumo Taisha present day
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-57677142164837241742014-12-11T20:16:00.000-08:002014-12-12T18:47:04.572-08:00Izumo-Taisha a 1000 years agoOn my many many visits to the Izumo shrine, it was easy to imagine what it would've been like back then because really, it hasn't changed much, other than its height off the ground. The theory that it once stood 40 meters high was reinforced when the remains of huge posts were found buried at the site. So, on the Other Side where the Gatekeeper's guard the gods, I made the shrine in the style it C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-77021659164544773802014-12-10T21:11:00.000-08:002014-12-10T21:11:00.015-08:00A different storyboard idea
I'm always on the lookout for ways to keep plot and storyline organized, especially since I have a terrible memory. I came across this one used by Joseph Heller while writing his famous novel, Catch 22. There is the expected vertical list of scenes/chapters on the left but what is really interesting is what he does across the top. In case you can't see it, Heller has a column for each character C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-15672355066055778522014-12-09T15:04:00.000-08:002014-12-09T15:05:19.014-08:00Weekend in WhistlerI took my son to Whistler for an overnight stay. It was to celebrate his 18th birthday. Now I know being 18 means you still can't drink or vote but for me, it is the gateway to manhood. We didn't ski, the mountain just opened and the snow was sketchy, but we did ride the gondola to the top. Besides that, we mostly chilled and did a lot of talking. I think it brought us closer together at a C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-47948996238183077632014-12-07T18:16:00.002-08:002017-04-12T18:26:27.220-07:00The day my first copy arrived
This is from October 1, 2014 when the first copy of my finished book arrived. As you can see, I was very pleased with it. After all the years of hard work, I had it in my hands!
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-77520681282635228582014-12-07T18:07:00.001-08:002014-12-07T22:04:00.098-08:00My new palm tree!Here's my latest victim. I have to admit that I am a serial palm tree killer. My last one, which looked this good when I bought it, was dead down to its last stubby brown branch in 5 months. Apparently I drowned it. Usually I kill them by forgetting to water them. Is there no way to keep these things alive and thriving? I'll keep you posted.
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-63793102198183337012014-12-01T14:20:00.002-08:002014-12-01T14:22:39.339-08:00First Interview!I just did an interview with Tonja Drecker at "bookworm for kids". You can read it via the link below.
http://tonjadrecker.blogspot.com/2014/12/an-interview-with-cr-fladmark.html
http://bookwormforkids.blogspot.de/2014/12/the-gatekeepers-son-by-cr-fladmark.htmlC.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-91420323645074195092014-10-19T19:31:00.001-07:002017-04-12T18:27:47.789-07:00Launch party today!
Party was fun, gave a speech and thanked everyone who'd helped make the book a reality. Sold lots of books too!
C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-26310504337399155832014-09-24T21:23:00.001-07:002014-09-24T21:23:45.850-07:00<!-- Show static html as a placeholder in case js is not enabled -->
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.goodreadsGiveawayWidget a { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0; C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-47709562341500567752014-09-24T20:37:00.001-07:002014-09-24T20:37:08.010-07:00Waiting for the proof from the printerI should get the proof copy of the GKS in my hands on September 29th! A quick review and it'll be ready for publishing. I can't wait to see it.C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6891571056677503756.post-27812821650955237352014-09-18T20:47:00.002-07:002014-09-24T20:32:04.060-07:00
So it's official. The Gatekeeper's Son will be released by Shokunin Publishing Company on October 1, 2014! It's been a long journey to this point. Now the real adventure begins! Pre-order it on Amazon and if you like it, please write a review on your favorite social media site and tell your friends.C.R. Fladmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18047341967148948513noreply@blogger.com0