Servant of a Dark God galley edit finished

ByJohn Brown

I just mailed my galley edits off to Stacy. My baby is now out on her own. And whether she sinks, swims, or squishes is largely out of my control. I’m excited and anxious. Here we come September 15th!!

I’m wishing I could do one last story edit. But I suppose that’s just par for the course. I’d be doing story edits until the fulness of times. I’ll just have to take what I have and will learn from this one as it plays with audiences and roll it into the next. I’m going to be very interested to see how this plays.

I also just saw the map. It’s very nice. Love the style. I’ll see if I can’t post it here.

And I got an estimated publication date–September 15th. I found out there are two dates, actually. A shipping or release date when the books start leaving the warehouses. And then the date (publication date) when they estimate (a few weeks later) the book will be in stores. The book should be in stores on the 15th.

I expect the cover to be out soon as well. I told my agent I’d try to work in a big-bosomed blond into the series just in case. Not because she’s particularly fond of well-endowed ladies, but because she told me about another author’s book about a Hispanic woman with an initial cover that depicted this Hispanic woman as a blond with mucho clevage, toting a big sword (just to be clear, it was the blond toting the sword, not the clevage). Hey, miscommunications happen. I don’t know which publisher it was with, and to the departement’s credit, they were able to revise. Still, I thought I’d be ready.

And now back to book 2 in the series.

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  • New book description for SERVANT

    ByJohn Brown

    Here’s the latest version of the book description that will accompany the book on the various sites and on the back cover of the trade paperback. It’s purpose is to advertise: to let folks know the feel of the book and pique their interest.

    A young man.

    The girl he is hunting for using the dark and terrifying magic of Slethery.

    And the monster who only wants to be free.

    So begins the towering fantasy series that introduces an elaborate new world, a multifaceted system of magic, and a cast of compelling characters and creatures.

    Trapped in a web of lies and ancient secrets, of right becoming wrong, the three must struggle not only against each other, but also a being of irresistible powers. A creature who is gathering her servants to oversee the impending human harvest.

    If the three win, they will save those they love the most. If they fail, the clans of the land fall with them.

    What people are saying:

    ~ Best Novel of the Year Whitney Awards, speculative fiction
    ~ Engrossing Publishers Weekly
    ~ Provocative Booklist
    ~ Starred Review! Library Journal
    ~ A great setting, a smart story Brandon Sanderson

    Do you think you can do better? See anything to cut? Have some book descriptions you think work really well? If so, comment. I’d love to see what you come up with.

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  • Calendar updates

    ByJohn Brown

    I’ve added a number of entries to the calendar, including three conferences I plan on attending.

    I know I’ll be presenting at the first two. The title and description of the League of Utah Writers presentation are:

    TITLE: The Secret to Getting Story Ideas

    DESCRIPTION: How to stop generating great story ideas by accident and start generating them on purpose, whenever you need them.

    I don’t know what I’ll do for LTUE. I might do a repeat of the “The Secret to Getting Story Ideas,” or I might do something on how to write scenes or how genre is the key to plot. Stay tuned!

    Date & Time Event Location Notes
    Right now Writing Office It’s all for you, Dear Reader
    2015, Summer Release of Awful Intent, a Frank Shaw novel All major online retail venues The date is not firm.
    2015, Aug 28-29 League of Utah Writers Fall Conference Logan, UT League of Utah Writers
    2016, Winter Release of Hard Target, a Frank Shaw novel All major online retail venues The date is not firm.
    2016, Feb 11-13 Life, the Universe & Everything Provo, UT LTUE website
    2016, May LDStorymakers Conference Provo, UT LDStorymakers website
    2016, Summer Release of Glory: The Dark God Book 4 All major online retail venues The date is not firm.
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  • LTUE schedule

    ByJohn Brown

    Life, The Universe, & Everything is an awesome writer’s and science fiction & fantasy conference. This year’s will run Thursday, Feb 13th through Saturday, Feb 14th and is going to be packed. There will be presentations and panels with Orson Scott Card, Brandon Sanderson, LE Modesitt, Jessica Day George, Lisa Mangum, Larry Correia, and dozens of others.

    For those who missed my presentations at LDStorymakers last year, this is your chance to see them.

    VIVID & CLEAR (Friday at 7:00 PM)
    Despite the often repeated 11th commandment for writers—show, don’t tell—writers NEVER show. They can’t. It’s all tell, tell, tell. The trick is to tell in a way that helps your readers imagine with such vividness and clarity that your story triggers an emotional response. In this hour we’ll explore a number of simple but powerful prose techniques that help you do just that.

    STORY TURNS (Saturday at 9:00 AM)
    Story turns–cliffhangers, rugpulls, plot twists, reversals, surprises, revelations (and more)–are a core part of an exciting plot, pacing control, and making a reader want to turn the page. In this workshop we’ll explore the main types of story turns and how they work so you can use them in your writing.

    I’ll also be participating in the RULES FOR WRITING MAGIC panel (Friday at 5:00 PM).

    For more details about all the wonderful panels and guests, go here: http://ltue.net/Schedule

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  • NEWS: LDStorymakers Conference

    ByJohn Brown

    I have finished the final drafts of my two presentations for the LDStorymakers conference which will be held next Friday and Saturday, May 10-11, 2013 in Provo, UT (usually a glorious time along the Wasatch Front in Utah).

    “Vivid and Clear” – Despite the often repeated 11th commandment for writers—show, don’t tell—writers NEVER show. They can’t. It’s all tell, tell, tell. The trick is to tell in a way that helps your readers imagine the situation (action, thought, dialogue, description, etc.) with such vividness and clarity it can trigger an emotional response.  In this hour we’ll explore a number of simple but powerful prose techniques that help you do just that. That includes:

    • The three main types of telling
    • What “showing” really means
    • 5 key techniques for making that telling vivid and clear
    • Lots of examples so it’s all clear

    “Story Turns” (they’ve got me scheduled to do this one twice) – Story turns, cliffhangers, rugpulls, plot twists, reversals, surprises, revelations (and more)–are a core part of an exciting plot, pacing control, and making a reader want to turn the page. In this workshop we’ll explore the main types of story turns and how they work so you can use them in your writing.  This includes:

    • A clear definition of what turns are and do in general
    • The 5 main types of turns
    • A whole bunch of examples to make it all clear
    • 3 tools I find helpful when developing turns
    • A session where we actually will use the tools to develop turns for a scenario I’ll bring

    I’ve got to run through both presentations to make sure they have the zing I look for in these things and that I don’t have too much content for the time allotted. I’m very excited about both. And, as always, I learned a lot bringing all my ideas together on these topics.

    I’m planning on having a great time giving these AND listening to the other presenters AND chatting with folks I know AND meeting others. Last year was fabulous! This year looks to be even better.

    For those of you who haven’t heard about the conference, it features 2 days of excellent programming focuses on helping writers who are serious about writing but who also want to have fun doing it–let’s call them hard-working, laffy bees.  Special guests include goddess of mystery Anne Perry plus a bunch of great agents and an editor from Harlequin’s new line focusing on “wholesome contemporary romances that celebrate traditional values, strong communities, family connections and true love.”

    Although I have to say that if I were thinking of submitting to Harlequin, Kris Rusch’s posts would give me pause:

    I think registration is still open. For those of you already planning to go, please come up and say hello.

    BTW, I’ll post a PDF of both the presentations and my notes here afterwards.

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  • Rest in peace, Dave Wolverton

    ByJohn Brown

    I was saddened today to learn that Dave Wolverton, best known by his pen name David Farland, passed away this week.

    Dave was such an incredibly helpful mentor to me. It was the workshop he held at BYU back in 1993 that made me think I could actually write stories that entertained people. It was that workshop that prompted me to start submitting to the magazines.

    And when I finally got my first publication, he was involved. He was the initial judge for Writers of the Future when my story won a first prize. And he was there, helping lead the writer’s workshop in Cocoa Beach, Florida and cheering all of us on.

    Later, when I started writing novels, it was his thoughtful feedback that helped me improve my second novel to a publishable level. He believed in it enough to write a recommendation for me to Tor Books. When they decided to publish me, it was Dave that agreed to take me on tour with him. I enjoyed hours and hours driving with him, chatting, laughing, and signing at bookstores in Washington, Oregon, and California.

    He was always interested. Always friendly. Always willing to talk and share his expertise. And always had great stories to share about his life.

    As an entertainer, his stories thrilled me. In college, I was swept away by SERPENT CATCH, PATH OF THE HERO, ON MY WAY TO PARADISE, and THE GOLDEN QUEEN trilogy. My wife and I had so many delightful hours reading that trilogy to each other.

    I still remember going to the bookstore in Pleasanton, California in 1998, hoping to get a copy of RUNELORDS when it was first published, being so excited when I found it on the self, opening it, and reading the first pages. They completely enthralled me. Blew me away. I felt like I was in the cinema. I loved that series and was always waiting for the final book.

    I loved Dave’s stories. I appreciated so much his many kindnesses to me and his good humor.

    May you rest in paradise, my friend, until the trumpet sounds.

     

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  • Curse now available in audio!

    ByJohn Brown

    I’m very happy to announce that Curse is now available in audio format. The other nice thing is that the audio performance of Servant is getting great reviews. Wyndham did a fab job.

    And for those who graciously leave reviews, well, you never know when you’ll become famous. A reader, Jared Smith, left a review of Curse some time ago for the text version. Who knew the publisher would have decided to slap a quote from his review on the cover? Thank you, Jared!

    audiocovercurse

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