For those who missed the live show, you can find the recording of the Dungeon Crawlers Radio interview here or you can find a link on the DCR site. I had a great time with Malak, Revan, and Joe. Talked about the current and upcoming series and some other stuff.
The very observant will note that the progress bar for draf 4 of CURSE OF A DARK GOD has moved. Here’s the opening, although I’m sure it will change. We’re on our way, folks.
It was well past midnight, and they were deep in enemy Fir-Noy territory. There were eight of them: Talen, Sugar, River, and five of Shim’s soldiers, all of them staying back in the deep moon shadows at the edge of the wood, crouching low in the dry autumn weeds that had not yet been eaten down by the village livestock. They had to be careful. Talen, Sugar, and River all had sizeable Fir-Noy bounties on their heads. And even though they wore weaves of might, being multiplied didn’t make their flesh impervious to arrows and blades.
This vulnerability had been made abundantly clear to Talen in his training. In addition to his many fine bruises and the finger which had recently healed from a break, he wore a bandage around his arm where a soldier had cut him in practice two days ago with a spear.
The night shadows of the clouds played over the moonlit fields and houses and road that ran through the village of Plum. The village where Sugar’s father had been killed and her mother taken and beaten. The village where the Fir-Noy had burned her life to the ground. The village that was their destination.
Purity, Sugar’s mother, had hidden valuables there. Weaves and maybe a codex of lore. Talen and the others had been tasked to steal into the village and retrieve the items, right under the noses of the sleeping Fir-Noy.
Except this wasn’t right. They were supposed to have come out across from the ash ruins of Sugar’s old house. “I think you’ve brought us to the wrong end,” Talen whispered to Sugar.
“No, I’m just coming to get what’s mine first.” Sugar pointed up the road to the entrance of the village.
Talen followed her finger. The Fir-Noy here had begun to build a wall around their village. A wooden palisade atop a mound of dirt. But she wasn’t pointing at the half-finished wall with its timber supports still showing like bones. She was pointing at a tall pole that had been erected at the gate of the village. Something had been fastened to the top of the pole. Talen peered closer and saw a skull shining pale in the moonlight.
“That’s your father’s, isn’t it?”
“You’re going to help me,” she said. “He deserves better than that.”
Today Awful Intent went on sale and is currently ranked #33 in the whole Kindle store. You can enlarge the screenshot below. Nice to be on a list with Harry Potter and James Patterson 🙂 To see it in it’s full glory, click on the screen shot, then click it again to zoom.
Edit 8/21/16: And it looks like its #5 in the Nook store.
BTW, I talked to Stacy Hague-Hill today and got the release and due dates.
Book 1
Revisions due May 15th, 2008
Final due July 1, 2008
Hardcover release Sept 2009
Paperback release Aug 2010
She said because it’s my first novel and because it’s a trilogy they want to make sure they properly lay the groundwork, getting cover quotes, working up excitement, etc. And that’s why there’s such a space between the contract, final delivery date, and HC release. Although the schedule repeats for every book. On the one hand, I wish they were coming out on a 9 month schedule. On the other hand, I think my focus should be making these three books the very best they can be. And this gives me the time. Besides, there will be a HC release and then a paperback and so each book will get two pulses each year. Although the paperback is released usually right before the second book comes out.
Book 2
Draft due Feb 2009
Final due July 1, 2009
Hardcover release Sept 2010
Paperback release Aug 2011
Book 3
Draft due Feb 2010
Final due July 1, 2010
Hardcover release Sep 2011
Paperback release Aug 2012? Not sure.
That’s a ways out there. Holy cow.
2011?
I haven’t planned anything out that far into the future since college and that wasn’t really planning but a lifestyle (grin).
The copy edits for CURSE and RAVELER are finished. The artist has also begun working on the cover for RAVELER.
The next task is to review and add anything necessary to make the ending of CURSE and the beginning of RAVELER work in their new roles.
And then it’s pub time. Getting very close now, folks.
Check it out. “The Clan Lands of Whitecliff” by Isaac Stewart. I think he’s done a great job. Here’s the full PDF. BTW, this is not the map that will appear in the book. That one’s being done by another artist selected by Tor. This is one I commissioned when I got my book contract.
Where: Salt Lake City at CONduit
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008
Time: 2 PM – 4 PM
I had tons of great feedback from the last workshop. It seemed to be helpful to quite a few people. There are a number of other good workshops for writers going on before and after mine that you’ll want to look into as well.
For more information go to the CONduit website.
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Great interview! I was really happy to hear that you’ll be writing a thriller down the road.
Question: will you be using a pen name? I read a very interesting blog post on Daniel Abraham’s site about just why people use pen names.
http://www.danielabraham.com/?p=61
I guess in the end it boiled down to authors wanting to be known for a certain “type” of writing, and authors that publish in several genres under the same name end up with a reputation of “you never know what you’re going to get with their books.” Interesting stuff.
Probably. Fantasy and thriller are very different genres. However, I don’t know that it’s critical within a genre. Koontz seems to do okay with one name as do Card and Bujold and many others. I think it’s when you go way outside the genre. Still, I know Wolverton created Farland for his fantasy for this reason.
I think Abraham’s comments on people being invested in a specific project is interesting. Terry Brooks has had this problem. But others haven’t. I don’t see that Brandon Sanderson’s fans are only invested in Mistborn or Elantris. They seem to have at least given Way of Kings a decent go. But maybe that’s because it’s the same KIND of stuff. Terry Brook’s Landover stuff wasn’t the same type. It had a freaking dog with sunglasses on the cover (if I recall). So maybe Abraham is right and there are types of fantasy that act as separate genres.
I’ve noticed more and more in my reading that I tend to skip over the epic fantasy books at the library and the bookstore in favor of something with more of an urban fantasy feeling. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s just that I’m starting to find the tropes in epic fantasy aren’t to my liking anymore or if I’m just struggling with length due to not having as much time to invest in any one story. Either way, I can honestly say that your book was probably the last epic fantasy that I’ve read. I’ll eventually get to Way of Kings and probably read Wise Man’s Fear by Rothfuss, but those are the only real guaranteeds on my list these days.
That’s interesting. I wonder if the divide is urban and epic. Urban because it’s usually contemporary. In fact, maybe that’s the divide. Contemporary and historical other world stuff. I think it would be an interesting survey.
Hi John, loved the interview. I was happy to hear that you and Larry are planning to do a podcast, but are you sure you want the Dungeon Crawlers guys to do your tech stuff. It was the first time I heard one of their shows and I have to say with all their microphone switching and other things they sounded less then professional to me. Anyway, all the best.
Thanks for the feedback OlettaLiano. Nothing’s in stone right now. But I’m sure the DCR guys can fix whatever the problems are should we go with them 🙂