News about the Dark God series is here . . . almost

ByJohn Brown

I cannot share any details at the moment, but just know that news about the Dark God series is coming in a few weeks. This isn’t me saying “I hope to be able to share news.” This is me saying discussions have occured, decisions have been made, and it’s going to take a few weeks before it’s all finalized. 

I want all of you who have contacted me in various ways the last 2-3 years expressing your enjoyment of SERVANT and interest in CURSE to know that I appreciate your letters and tweets and emails and comments.  I will, at long last, be able to answer your questions. Stay tuned.

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  • Listen to Loose in the Wires for free

    ByJohn Brown

    far-fetched-fables-logo

    Far-Fetched Fables has released the audio version of “Loose in the Wires.” The narrator, Eric Luke, did a great job. This story was so fun to write. If you haven’t read it yet, go give it a listen. It’s free. You’ll also be able to hear the flash fiction piece, “Older, Wiser, Time Traveler” by M. Bennardo, narrated by Rish Outfield. The podcast is the perfect size of a commute.

     

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  • Awful Intent: sheep block busted

    ByJohn Brown

    SheepOnTheRoadSometimes the writing flows. And sometimes you get to the chapter you’ve sketched and realize you’re stuck until you get the sheep off the road.

    You had no idea they were going to be there, but there they are, bringing you to a halt.

    For me, this means I have got to do a lot more thinking to make the scene work realistically. Or work at all.

    That was chapter 13.

    It stopped me dead in my tracks. Some folks say to write on, get the first draft done, but that isn’t how my brain works.

    Besides, I tried that strategy with my first draft of Curse. I ignored the little Spideysense warnings I had about a fundamental situation and wrote on. I ended up with a big old honking manuscript that had to be rewritten from almost the beginning because everything from about 1/3rd the way through had taken the wrong trajectory. So instead of taking 10 hours to figure it out and fix it, I spent 300-400 rewriting.

    That’s called stupid writing.

    So for the last ten writing sessions I was researching and thinking and researching. And when I finally had a sketch based on how things actually work, I went back into flow and wrote the chapter without much trouble at all.

    Huzzah.

    Chapter 14 looks like it will be quick and easy. Some sneaking, some fighting, and a big discovery of a plot turn.

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  • Need your Dark God T-shirt input

    ByJohn Brown

    I’ve got a deal to make t-shirts for my book available, and I have to make some decisions. The problem is that I am terrible at making these kinds of decisions. So I’m asking for your help. Any input would be appreciated.

    Mind-boggling question number 1

    So we’ve decided on the design. It will say “Servant of a Dark God” on the font as shown. We might put “Welcome to the Grove” or “Beware, the Mother is Watching” on the back. It will NOT have the Tor logo indicating it’s a book. Who knows what that is anyway? Instead, the question is whether to put my name on the shirt in some fashion.

    Option 1

    Some suggest that it’s better to just have a shirt that has the crazy label, suggesting the wearer is a servant of a dark god. It’s provocative, and if someone asks, the person wearing it can talk about the book. With this option we would NOT put my name on the t-shirt, just a small open book icon under the title. The idea behind this is that those who would buy the shirt would already be fans and the provocative statement will do more to spread the word than my name because going this route will make the shirt more fun to wear.

    Option 2

    Others think that you should have your name on the shirt to advertise. So we’d put “by John Brown” underneath the title. Or we’d put it on the back of the shirt. But some say it would make the shirt less fun.

    What would you prefer and why?

    Mind-boggling question number 2

    Because of the way we’re going about this, the color of the letters must be fixed. So the question is do we simply let people choose their own shirt colors that they thing will work with the color of the lettering or fix both the color of the lettering AND the shirt?

    Option 1

    Fix the shirt colors. Brown for guys and plum for women. Make the lettering a fantasy green or cream.

    Option 2

    Give people as much choice as possible and choose a font color that will work with the bulk of the shirt colors here: http://gildan.com/distributors/colorpalette/.

    But what would color would do that and still say fantasy, or would it matter?

    So which option to you think would work best? If you chose option 1, which colors?

    Mind-boggling question number 3

    Why is John worrying about this? Shouldn’t he be spending his time tracing his ancestry back to old grandpa lemur?

    The answer to that is that John’s mind works in mysterious ways, dear Reader. You must bear with him. And you must now face your greatest fashionista test ever: which colors would say fantasy and still be something people would want to wear? I will be making shirts up for the book store employees to wear before I come to signings.  So I have to decide. Someone suggested plum is all the rage this year for women. Make the letters a nice new willow green. We could have another color for men. Any ideas of what would appeal broadly?

    I await your ideas.

    (Ha, look at this. It appears one of my greats did indeed live his life out in the Prague menagerie. Hum.)

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  • New business cards

    ByJohn Brown

    Devon Dorrity, who helped me put together my covers, just helped me put together some business cards. I’m pretty excited about them. I’m biased, but I think they look awesome.

    Servant

    John-Brown-Servant-Business-Card

    Curse

    John-Brown-Curse-Business-Card

    Raveler

    John-Brown-Raveler-Business-Card-Front

    You can see here a mockup of how they’ll look. That bit on the back is the Blacksword Books logo.

    John-Brown-Raveler-Business-Card-Mockup

    I’m not sure about the one for Bad Penny. Devon liked it. Any opinions?

    John-Brown-Bad-Penny-Business-Card-Mockup

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  • |

    Update and The Shape-Changer’s Wife

    ByJohn Brown

    Assassin is moving along. I’m heading into the last quarter of the book, which is where the fireworks start. I appreciate all of you who have been so patient. My goal is to end this arc of the series with a bang. 

    In the meantime, I’d like to recommend a fantasy novel. I enjoyed it many years ago and recently reread it, finding myself swept away with as much intrigue and delight as the first time. 

    It’s The Shape-Changer’s Wife by Sharon Shinn. 

    The story follows an aspiring wizard named Aubrey who is nearing the end of his training. He asks his mentor, the wizard Cyril, to teach him transmogrification—the art of changing form—but Cyril refuses. Aubrey protests. Cyril knows the spells. He has cast them himself. Still, he refuses. 

    Eventually, however, Cyril’s conscience gets the better of him. A well-rounded wizard should know every branch of magic, even the ones Cyril dislikes. So he writes to another wizard, a shape-changer named Glyrenden, and asks if he will take Aubrey as a student. Glyrenden agrees. 

    As Aubrey sets off, Cyril gives him a warning: “Learn everything he teaches you so well you can cast his own spells back at him. Glyrenden respects only those stronger than he is, and those he hates. If you cannot beat him, he will destroy you.” 

    And so begins the tale. 

    There’s mystery, wonder, betrayal, loss, battle, and even love. Best of all, it’s a complete stand-alone novel, a rarity these days. 

    If you’re hankering for a fantasy adventure that can be read in one volume, I think you’ll be very pleased with this one. 

    Happy reading,  

    John 

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  • United Authors Association Conference Oct 24th!

    ByJohn Brown

    UAACon1.5

    The United Authors Association is holding a fiction writing conference October 24th in Springville, Utah, and it’s free to the public!

    The conference schedule has some great presentation topics on it by authors who are delighting a lot of readers as well as an editor, agent, and a magician.

    I’m going to be presenting on the fundamental core of story–“Scene and Sequel”–expect we’ll be replacing those two terms right off that bat. Hope to see you there.

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22 Comments

  2. Every time I finish a book my eyes start straying to my two copies of Servant of a Dark God. “Is it time to reread it yet?” I’m hoping soon I can say yes.

  7. I’m working my way through “A Song of Ice and Fire” and Bernard Cornwell’s “Grail Quest” series right now, but I’d put them both down to read Curse. I hope it’s good news!

  8. Well, you know it’s coming out. The question is how and when and will the goats be involved 🙂

  11. Hi. I hope this finds you well. I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but, is there an audiobook version of your novel? I’ve looked everywhere and cannot find one.

  12. Absolutely loved Servant! I really NEED the next book NOW! I’ll be checking here often for news on the release….Please make it soon. 🙂

  13. Hi John.

    I was wondering if there is going to be an audiobook version of your novel Servant of a Dark God?

    Cheers,

    David

  14. David, sorry about the slow response approving. There is nothing in the works right now for an audio version of SODG. But that is something I hope to have at some time in the future.

  15. I have been on Tor Books’ back about your much anticipated sequel! I get regular updates from them on my Facebook page, and when I do I automatically ask about “Curse”. All I can say is, I hope it is not too much longer, because I will keep after them until the announcement.
    Best wishes to you.

  16. I have been after Tor books about “Curse” since my last note, and today I received an e-mail message that they would not be publishing anymore books by John Brown! Is this true?
    You need to give your fans an update as of March 13, 2013, please!

    [EDIT: This was submitted 3/13/2013. I removed it because I was still in talks with Tor at the time. I’ve restored it now that the deal is done. Here’s to a dedicated reader! Thanks, Tim.]

  17. Wow, I was late to the party, looks like! I’m super excited to hear more about Curse, John!

    With your other novels, do you plan to shop them all through agents to publishers, or are you considering doing any self-publishing? Just curious, since it seems like things are really changing quickly in the publishing world these days.

  18. Bryce! Hope all is well back East. Nice to hear from you, bud. Was just thinking about you the other day and wondering what was up. My goal is to get product out the door and into the hands of readers. I don’t care what the method or distribution channel is. So self-publishing is a totally viable option for that now. In fact, I’m currently taking a class on cover design just for this purpose.

  19. Sounds awesome! I’ve been reading lately about “hybrid authors,” that have some titles published traditionally and some self-published, and how they seem to be the most successful type of self-published authors because they know the business and have that stamp of approval from a traditional publisher in the past, which makes people a little more likely to take a chance on their self-published work.

    Things back East are awesome. Nice people, good weather. It’s going to be hard to get me to leave if we decide to move back West in a few years.:)

  22. Very excited about the news… How much longer are you gonna keep us hanging on John?! 😉

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