Audio version of Servant available Aug 2nd!

The Dragon Award winning novel Gun Runner, by Larry Correia and me, is being adopted into a graphic novel by Hound Dog Media. The writer is the legendary Mike Baron (The Punisher, Nexus) and the art is by Marcelo Salazar.

This is a story about a smuggler crew who specialize in stealing battle mechs and selling them to worlds that aren’t allowed to have them. The book is great. I can’t wait to see it as a graphic novel.

This is going to be awesome. Check it out. There’s even a pledge level to get yourself drawn as a member of the crew.

This last June, I stood outside Warwick Castle next to a longbowman and stared up at the massive structure. The curtain walls rose forty to fifty feet high. The great tower soared even higher—one hundred and twenty feet. But it wasn’t just the walls. 

The moat. Holy schnitzel, folks, the MOAT. 

On one side of the castle, the River Avon provided a barrier. On the other, a dry moat stretched forty to sixty feet wide and twenty to thirty feet deep. Standing at the bottom, you’d be staring up at seventy feet of turf and stone. That’s like staring up at a six-story building—with armed soldiers waiting at the top. 

My only thought was: good night, what kind of madman would assault these defenses? 

The answer, of course, is almost no one. Medieval sieges were usually about starving the defenders out, not storming the gates in a blaze of glory. Unless you had a trebuchet—which I also saw demonstrated that day. 

It was the kind of moment that makes a writer’s brain spark. Assassin, the fourth book in my Drovers series, is set in the capital city of Broniss, which bristles with towers and walls of its own. Standing there at Warwick, I realized: no sane army would attack such walls directly. Which is why the High King of Osson has other dark plans. 

Of course, Warwick had more than just military lessons. There was a falconry show where hawks, vultures, eagles, and even a condor soared just above our heads. Here’s a tip. If you go, sit on the benches, not under the tree. The benches are where you get the most flyovers.  

There was a dungeon tour that turned into a hilarious series of skits, complete with a plague doctor and a judge who convicted one of us.  

And afterward, we went into the city to a Thai place called The Giggling Squid (yes, that’s really its name). The food was amazing. 

It was a glorious day, and it reminded me that some of the best research often comes from first-hand experience. Although some things—like being pierced through with a sword—I’m happy to leave to my imagination. 

I’m back at the desk now, hard at work on Assassin. It’s turning into a terrific ride, and I can’t wait to share more soon. 

Here’s to Ferran, Sura, and Lagash—will they foil the traitor’s plot and stop the hashida’s creature, or will Ferran and the others fail and find all their dreams dashed to pieces?  

You’ll soon be able to find out.  

Sincerely, 

John 

Carrie Hinkel-Gill at Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem has been interviewing me. It’s been thought-provoking and fun and is presented in four weekly installments. Check it out: http://mlmfantasy.blogspot.com/

I believe that there are three things you need to know to write stories. The better you know them, the better and more stories you’ll be able to write. Those three things are:

1. What stories do, i.e. what you’re trying to do as an author.

2. The principles of how character, setting, problem, plot, and text work to do those things.

3. The principles of coming up with and developing stories.

About this time last year I wrote my series on the key conditions for creating reader suspense, which went into depth on things 1 and 2. And I’ve written a bunch of other blogs on those topics. This year I’m going to be doing one on the key principles of getting and developing killer story ideas. I’ll be presenting it in a shortened form at this year’s League of Utah Writer’s roundup on Saturday (see my calendar for more details). One neat thing about this series is that I will have a number of other authors illustrate the principles with their own work. When learning this type of stuff, I don’t think we can’t get enough concrete examples. Keep your eyes open. I think it’s going to be a good one.

You want to go to a writing conference dedicated to writing commercial (popular) fiction. Stuff people like to read. You want a conference that actually helps you on the business end, not just with craft. You live in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, northern Arizona, or maybe a bit farther. What if you could go to one that featured the following:

1. AUTHOR: Anne Perry. Yes, that Anne Perry, the mega mystery goddess.
2. LITERARY AGENT: Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich Literary Management)
3. LITERARY AGENT: Hannah Bowman (Liza Dawson Associates)
4. LITERARY AGENT: Alyssa Henkin (Trident Media)
5. LITERARY AGENT: Michelle Witte (Mansion Street Literary Management)
6. EDITOR: Victoria Curan (Harlequin Heartwarming, which is a line that focuses on wholesome contemporary romances that celebrate traditional values, strong communities, family connections and true love)

Plus lots of other great folks. Including some who are making some nice numbers on Kindle selling independently.

Geez, John. Sounds fab!

Yeah. It’s happening May 10-11, 2013 in Provo, UT (a glorious time in Utah). It’s the LDStorymakers conference. There’s not a better conference in the Intermountain area. I presented last year. It was fun and insightful. I’ll be there this year. It’s great for meeting other authors (that includes lots of friendly folks trying to break in). And, obviously, meeting agents and editors.

The thing is the attendance is capped. Last year they turned folks away.

If you want in, I suggest you register now.

See you there! (Really, I hope you come up and say hello.)