Katie Runyon

…or something like that.

Have you ever wondered about the longest book ever published? Or the longest word in the English language? Well, here are those facts and a few others.

What’s the longest book ever published? Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach is over 17 million words long! Of course there are some other giants, like The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm at 11 million words.

How about the longest word in the English language? Well if you want to be technical, then you can exclude the 189,819 letter word for titin and head over to dictionary.com and input the 45 letter word Pneumonoultramicroscop-icsilicovolcanoconiosis. Try saying that 5 times fast. Or even once.

How long is the longest published sentence? Well, there is some debate about that, but according to wikipedia the top contenders are The Rotters’ Club by Jonathan Coe with 13,955 words, The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm at 2,403,109 words, and finally Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach again with a whopping 3,000,000 words. I can safely say that none of mine have or will ever come close to these behemoths.

Oddest book title? This is a tough one and since there is no technical way to figure this out (and I thought it would be an interesting question), there are many different answers. I can’t help but point out the title to the book shown in the picture above. Since there are just too many to name just one, here are two lists from the following places: 17 Unusual Book Titles and Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title.

17 Unusual Book Titles

1. How to Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer
2. Scouts in Bondage by Michael Bell
3. Be Bold with Bananas by Crescent Books
4. Fancy Coffins to Make Yourself by Dale L. Power
5. The Flat-Footed Flies of Europe by Peter J. Chandler
6. 101 Uses for an Old Farm Tractor by Michael Dregni
7. Across Europe by Kangaroo by Joseph R. Barry
8. 101 Super Uses for Tampon Applicators by Lori Katz and
Barbara Meyer
9. Suture Self by Mary Daheim
10. The Making of a Moron by Niall Brennan
11. How to Make Love While Conscious by Guy Kettelhack
12. Underwater Acoustics Handbook by Vernon Martin Albers
13. Superfluous Hair and Its Removal by A. F. Niemoeller
14. Lightweight Sandwich Construction by J. M. Davies
15. The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes by Michel Pastoureaut
16. How to Be a Pope: What to Do and Where to Go Once You’re in the Vatican by Piers Marchant
17. How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title

100 Girls on Cheap Paper
A Tortilla is Like Life
Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology
Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter
An Intellectual History of Cannibalism
Bacon: A Love Story
Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 1741-1845
Bondage for Beginners
Briefs for the Reading Room
Budgeting for Infertility
Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich
Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes
Curbside Consultation in Cornea and External Disease
Cute Yummy Time
Dental Management of Sleep Disorders
Father Christmas Needs a Wee
Fluffy Little Kitten in Fluffy’s Brother
Food Digestion and Thermal Preference of Toad
Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots
How YOU Are Like Shampoo: For Job Seekers
I Stopped Sucking My Thumb…Why Can’t You Stop Drinking?
I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears
Is the Rectum a Grave?
Jokes by the Not So Famous Redneck
Map-based Comparative Genomics in Legumes
Mickey Mouse, Hitler and Nazi Germany
My Hare Line Meets the Brown Rabbit
Obama Guilty of Being President While Black
Peek-a-poo: What’s in Your Diaper?
Planet Asthma: Art and Acitivty Book
Plough Music
Plug-in Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Bean Conference
Schoolgirl Milky Crisis
Soft Drink & Fruit Juice Problems Solved
Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing
The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The First Home-Built Aeroplanes
The Great Dog Bottom Swap
The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin
The Origin of Faeces
The Quotable Douchebag
The True History of Tea
The Wild World of Girly Men and Masculine Women – And Why Americans Suffer from So Many Other Idiotic Syndromes!
Venus Does Adonis While Apollo Shags a Tree
What Horses Do For Us
What Kind of Bean is this Chihuahua?

Who is the first author of a fantasy novel? It seems that the person most commonly considered the first author of fantasy as we know it today is George MacDonald, who was even a great influence on J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

In delving even further into my upcoming works, in a sense, I figured I’d share some future story ideas. Now there are only a few, since my thoughts have been mainly preoccupied with The Elementi Series, but I do have some fragments of ideas. At this time, I’m only sure that one will be turned into a book. The others are iffy and I’ll have to see how I feel at a later date. Still, I thought I’d share them and see which one(s) you think might make better novels. As ideas, they are subject to drastic changes. And if you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you can probably guess which one is my next book idea of Legendary Race. Anyway, here they are:

1. After a murderous betrayal costs most of the royal family their lives, the only remaining member, and heir to the throne, goes into hiding in order to bide his time. But it is not long before he happens upon a woman whom is much more dangerous than she appears. In fact, she is a member of a skilled and deadly order of magic users, or at least she was before they cast her out and left her for dead. Soon, they agree to help each other in their missions, one in the name of justice and the other in the name of revenge.

2. Afraid of their powers, all magic users are being rounded up and put into prison camps. But one woman decides to take matters into her own hands in an attempt to win their freedom once again. But what will be the cost?

3.When a girl gets the chance to have her wishes granted, she doesn’t hesitate. But nothing is ever that simple. As it turns out, her wishes are twisted in horrible ways, changing the world as she knows it. And on her quest to undo the terrible magic, she must face more death and darkness than she ever wished to.

4.A Seer is a powerful tool for those in power, or who wish to be. So many of those who possess such magic stay hidden. But one young woman had the horrible luck of being found and sold to the highest bidder on the black market. As his slave, she must struggle through intense pain as she attempts to force her visions to present themselves in order to please her master and stay alive. But those visions she receives at night, are ones she fights to keep to herself. Because if anyone finds out about them, it could give them the power to imprison them all.

Which one would you like to see written next?

Since, according to the poll I presented on my website, readers wish to know more about my upcoming works,  I am going to give out a few teaser facts (at least some that are relevant at this time). They can and may change at any time though, sorry! If you weren’t one of the people that wanted a few little, tasty spoilers, than you may wish to skip this post. Anyway, here they are:

1. At least 3 named characters will die by the end of the novel.

2. Kari will catch another glimpse of the future and it will shock her even more than the first time.

3. Someone makes a deal with the devil (aka Onisepla).

4. The Darkness isn’t acting alone.

Not much, but it’s a little taste. Hope it doesn’t spoil too much!

No, not lots, as in “a lot”. I am talking about Legend of the Seeker, the TV show that is based (only in broad terms) on The Sword of Truth series written by Terry Goodkind. I know many people don’t like the show for what they’ve changed, but I am able to see them as two separate things, which allows me to enjoy it every week. Today, after just watching the newest episode via Netflix, I was given this link. It’s a “recap” of the episode, but made as a joke and I found it pretty funny. So I figured some people, at least those that watch the show, might be interested in taking a look. So there it is, go and have a laugh. It seems the lead actress, Bridget Regan, does. At least according to her tweets.

As I move on to my third book, I’ve begun to work out my own process for writing. It’s nothing special, but it’s how I approach writing. I’m sure many others out there have their own way of doing things, and I’d be happy to hear them, but I figured I’d use this time to tell you mine.

Obviously it all starts with an idea, either written down or just floating about in my brain. Then this idea begins to grow, usually of its own accord, but sometimes with a little prodding. With the wish to turn this idea into a book, I get out paper and pen and write down what I know so far. It may only be a few paragraphs or even a few sentences, but it is a beginning. In my notebook for Legendary Race, the first page consists of only two short paragraphs of notes. This is followed by a quick (paragraph) scene summary that I had in my head.

Next I move deeper into the story, fleshing it out. Since I already had an idea for something I thought of as only “The Darkness”, I wanted to get into that first. What is the darkness? Where did it come from? What can it do? Those are some of the questions I posed to myself while jotting down a page worth of notes about anything that popped into my head concerning that topic. Then it was on to the Legendary Race, where I jotted down another page of notes.

So after I wrote down some of the basic ideas for two of the main parts of my book, I moved on to my questions page. I think I’ve done this for all three books now and I find it pretty helpful. I jot down some questions that still need to be answered, even if they are as simple as: “What is so and so’s name?” These questions allow me to visually see which things I still don’t know and allow me to think about them all separately in order to concentrate on one at a time.

After the questions stage, I move on to more notes in order to flesh out more details about the story from what I have just figured out. This can also mean doing a lot of event summaries/ideas, which seem to be a very common thing for me now.

And this leads me closer to the actual writing. After I’ve jotted down a general summary for the story, I move on to the final stage before writing. This is the scene summary stage and happens throughout the whole book. Usually before I write a scene, to help work out the details beforehand, I write a scene summary detailing the basics of what I see happening in the scene. Depending on the scene, it can be anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few pages. But I’ve found, especially when I’m stuck, this helps me to push forward and work out the obstacles I might find when approaching a scene. If I’m not sure what is going to happen next, which is a frequent occurrence, I just sit down with paper and pen and write what I know and soon things begin to work themselves out. But if I find myself in a really hard place, trying to decide what action to take, I write down the choices and the impact they may have or pose questions to myself. This usually gets things rolling and sometimes once I write it down, I know what I’m going to do right away. Occasionally, even drawing out a location to see possible movements when in a fight scene, etc. I guess I’m a very visual person and writing it down on paper seems to help.

So pretty much my process is this: main ideas/brief notes, begin to flesh out story/characters, pose questions that still need to be answered, brief story events, story summary, begin writing (with event summary before each scene).

Of course, since this was a continuation of a story about a world I already know a lot about, my job is made a little easier. But once I move on to a new book, a new world, there will be a lot more in the beginning notes and in fleshing out story, characters, and setting.

Now if only I could work on keeping everything a bit more organized, things might go a little smoother.

Being my usual self, instead of writing or even planning, I’ve been working on other things. Mostly my site, which I usually enjoy tinkering with. I’ve added a few mods to the forum that do a lot of neat things, some games, updated my Books section with new pictures for each books since I’ve spent way too much time messing around with this neat site. So I haven’t just been staring off into space…But neither have I done any planning or writing. Part of me isn’t actually all that excited about writing. It might be because I’m thinking too much about the book I’m going to write after this, or it may just be that everything going on around here has made my brain a little frizzled. I want to work on it and finish it, I really do, but the motivation doesn’t seem to be there in large quantities at the moment. But I am going to try writing the first scene tomorrow. It should be short, but it will be important, as it introduces two new characters and sets off the whole chain of events that are to come really. Maybe once I get started, it will all come flooding back to me…?

As far as other things go, I have read the first 4 chapters of Rides a Dread Legion…I know its not a lot, but usually I am too tired to read much when I get in bed at night. And if I start reading during the day, I’ll probably keep at it until after the sun goes down and the day is over. Which isn’t a good idea at the moment, there is already not enough hours in a day.

Even though I might not be super excited, I hope that’s not how everyone feels. Too bad writing a book is a long process for me. I’d love to be able to dish a few out a year. Then again, I’d probably run out of material a lot sooner and have nothing left to do! Instead of having ideas, but having to wait a year before I can really pay them any attention.

I decided to pop over to my Google Webmaster Tools today and I ended up checking out my Top Search Queries. This shows Google searches that have listed my site in the results. Some are a bit…odd…so I figured I’d share with you the top 25 search queries for my site.

December has come and gone and I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be. Most of the last month I spent being busy with other things or feeling like I was on my deathbed. Things have been hard, especially the last few weeks and I am just hoping that a new year will bring better times. As far as my progress, I still have not finished the second book I purchased…in fact, I haven’t even started it. I’ve also barely done any plotting or planning for Legendary Race. It doesn’t help that my shiny new book idea is trying to take precedence over this third book. For this reason, and others, I want to finish this book as soon as possible. There are so many different ideas I want to explore that things seem to take so long. But I have no choice but to be patient.

So, let’s talk about what I do know about Legendary Race. While things have taken a completely different direction than I expected when I began The Dark Within, which is a big part of why it’s more difficult to plan, the place I’m taking it hopefully won’t be too disappointing. Now Onisepla will seem even less of a bad guy with the new arrival of The Darkness. And what that means for his own plans, you will have to wait and see. The back story behind The Darkness and the Legendary Race are intertwined. Way back, I posted a spoilery bit on the forum in the Legendary Race section and while it is only a small part of a much larger story (and a bit outdated), it still pretty much holds true. Unfortunately, the things that I don’t know, that I still have to decide, are far greater than what I do know. But I have a decent grasp of the background for those two newcomers. And for those that like Onisepla, don’t fret, he will still play a major part in this book. In fact, we will learn a lot more about him and even meet someone important to him that has been watching him without Onisepla ever knowing.

Now, as for this untitled book that I will be working on after Legendary Race, most of what I posted earlier still holds true. Right now, it is mainly about two characters. The first is a prince, betrayed by someone close to him and forced from his own kingdom after his family is murdered. Of course he plans on doing whatever he has to in order to take back his throne and avenge his family’s murder. But while in hiding he meets a woman in a bit of a similar predicament. She is an elite fighter, and magic user, exiled from her people and left for dead. She wants revenge and will help him as long as he returns the favor after he regains his kingdom. Much of this may change, since that is how it seems to go, but that is the basics of what I know as of now. I’m trying not to think on it too much, wishing to devote my time to Legendary Race first, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

Well, I hope this year brings everyone health and happiness. And for those waiting for the Legendary Race, I’m hoping to start writing soon, so keep an eye out.

Well, we are already 6 days into December and I have more on my To Do list than I planned. A month that was supposed to be a simple, easy time away from projected release dates and the like, is turning into even more. I have my short story to write, which is still untitled and only consists of 3 paragraphs at the moment. Then there is planning for the third book, which is mainly unknown to me still and will have to wait until after I finish my short story.

Of course, this chaos would not be complete without even more going on inside my head, with bits and pieces for the possible next book I will be writing after this third book closes The Elementi Series (either on a temporary basis or more permanent). I had no idea where I would be going, but bits come to me out of nowhere these last few days and I try to write them down. If I will actually be using them for anything, I don’t know. Mostly, it is character information more than plot or story events. About a prince who is betrayed and his family killed, sending him fleeing from his kingdom, where he goes into hiding in order to live another day to work on taking back his crown. And a woman who is part of an elite group of warriors, or at least was before they kicked her out and left her for dead. This is still in very early development and I won’t be intentionally going any further with this until my mind is off the work I’m on now. But things will continue to blossom without much thought, I’m sure.

Anyway, besides that major distraction, I was also hoping to get some work done on my website and I am trying to help another with her novel (which I have been awfully remiss about working on). To add to all of that, I just ordered two books I’ve been looking forward to reading (The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind and Rides a Dread Legion by Raymond E. Feist) and was hoping I could get through those since my reading list has been a bit slim this year. All in all, with the toils of everyday life in the mix, I find myself both busy and distracted. Needless to say, there is not enough time in a day for me at the moment. And the promise to myself of a bit of relaxation without the pressure of time restrictions seems to be cracking under the weight. But then again, life seems a bit boring without my writing. I’ll just have to find the strength and motivation to get things done. So if anyone has some extras, I’d be happy to take it off their hands!

On our drive today, we saw an interesting sight. The Loch Ness monster (and baby Lock Ness if you look closely). Of course we were not in Scotland, nowhere near. Instead, we were driving along in PA and there they were, in a small lake a few yards away from the road. I decided to get a picture as we went by as proof. PA seems to hold a lot of oddities, but I’m sure many other places have theirs as well.

While riding in the car, I also was able to write up a quick summary for chapter 22 (which of course is the last chapter for The Dark Within). It is a very rough outline, but things usually come to me more as I write. I’m nervous about this chapter in particular, since I don’t want to mess it up. I want to write it as I have imagined for the last few months, but I feel as if I won’t be able to get it quite right. I guess if I don’t, there is always another chance when I edit.

Of course, this is all up to my computer. Thankfully it hasn’t seemed to give me a lot of trouble while I’m writing, just while I’m doing anything else. It restarts out of no where, locks up, blue screens, etc. And many times will do it over and over again in the span of a few minutes. This has led me to recently abandon it for a while in hopes it will behave after getting an hours break (and I won’t be on the verge of throwing it out the window). My cell phone has also taken up a bit of childish behavior by imitating my computer. I lose texts or don’t get them when I should, it freezes sometimes when I try and watch a video, every so often songs will pause for a few seconds in the middle of playing them, and so on. And of course my laptop has been broken for quite some time and in the hands of another, waiting for at least an attempt to be made at solving the dilemma. If you search back far enough in this blog, you will see it was not my fault. But I really hope it can eventually be fixed. *hint* *hint*

Time to go. Wish me luck this week. If I don’t post again before Thursday…Have A Happy Thanksgiving!