The Overlords

For those of you reading this for the first time, The Overlords is a trilogy written by Mike Squatrito.  The story is set in the fantasy genre, and has been an ongoing project of mine for the past eleven years.  I either found your email address, or got it from you, or from a friend of yours!  Please continue to read this newsletter, and visit my website!

What’s New

I have reached the official halfway point in regards to revisions with my editor, Laura.  I will be sending her back the bundle I have just completed and she has already told me that she will be sending me Round 4 shortly.  That makes 351 pages revised out of the 690.  My goal is to complete the revision process by the end of the year, then concentrate on getting an agent or publisher.  If that fails, I will pursue the self-publishing route.  Hopefully by this time next year I will have a product to sell.  As you can all attest, the process has been long and tedious, but necessary in order to make the story the best it can be.

 About The Project

In the past few newsletters I told you that I was revising the novel and that Laura has been a great help.  To show you what I mean, the following sentences will give you an example of how Laura is making the story sound better without changing the storyline.

Original:  Jason continued until he heard the heavy breathing of the exhausted beast directly in front of him.  Unbeknownst to Jason, he had chased the Scynthian into a dead end.  Jason stepped through the high brush.

Revised:  Jason continued until he heard the heavy breathing of the exhausted beast directly in front of him, then stepped through the high brush.

Original:  Jason buckled over and dropped to one knee.  The blow cracked at least one rib.

Revised:  Jason buckled and dropped to one knee, the blow having cracked at least one rib.

Like I said, the changes aren’t major, but they give the story a better flow.  Changes like these are being made throughout the story and I can already see that the quality of the writing has increased tremendously.

As for Book Two, Chapter 20 is finished and I’m beginning to write Chapter 21.  This story is already 386 pages long and approximately two-thirds complete.

Excerpt of the Month

The Excerpt of the Month is back by popular demand (thanks, JT).  This scene is a continuation of the sentences posted above, where Jason clashes with a Scynthian warrior:

The Scynthian hobbled to a defensive position.  Jason took a swipe at the beast, but this time the Scynthian deflected the blow with his club.  The hard wood of the weapon found the steel spikes of the mace, and Jason ripped the club out of the hands of the savage.  Both fighters stopped their attacks for a moment and assessed their new situation.  Jason, with one quick jerk, dislodged the mace from the club and held it in his other hand.  The Scynthian was defenseless.  A look of panic came across the beast’s face.

Jason looked at the club in his left hand, then gazed back at the Scynthian.  He tossed the weapon back to the barbarian.

            “I’m going to kill you either way!” he shouted.

Contact Information

Send all correspondences to the-overlords@cox.net.  I have accumulated many email addresses over the years, and have used them to create my mailing list.  Please pass this newsletter along to anyone you feel might be interested in my project.  The more contacts I make, the better the chances of having all my hard work pay off!

If you wish me to use a different address or to be removed from my mailing list, please send me an email and I will handle your request.  Please feel free to visit my website at www.the-overlords.com.  There you will find character biographies, more details on my books, and links to other sites.  Be sure to visit them too!