Archives: Writing

Dabir and Asim Contest Winner

I want to  thank Periklis Begzos for his winning contest entry. Some weeks ago I asked for titles to name the Dabir and Asim book series, and many of you responded with excellent suggestions (or, in the case of J.C. Hocking, very bad suggestions. Baghdaddies, for instance).

Peter Wolverton of Thomas Dunne Books and I looked over all the entries, and it was that of Periklis that won out. So he’ll shortly be receiving a free advanced reading copy of the book, as well as a hardback as soon as they become available.

But what did he name the series? Click to see a mock-up. You may note from the cover that reviews and blurbs are starting to trickle in…

The Whys and Wherefores of Convention Going

As I was contemplating my departure for Worldcon/Chicon in just a few days, I realized that I was eagerly anticipating the convention. And I wondered how I came to be THIS guy, looking forward to seeing old friends and acquaintances and meeting new ones, because when I drove off to my first convention I was confused about exactly what I was doing and why I was going, and more than a little nervous. All I knew is that I trusted the advice of my friend E.E. Knight. He assured me that I really needed to start attending conventions, so I went.

I didn’t used to  know why someone would want to go to a writing/reading convention. I knew they existed, but I knew plenty of writers and readers and reasoned I didn’t need to go meet any others. After all, it was a long drive, and I’d be among strangers. (I used to be a lot more introverted until I got old enough to be comfortable in my own skin.)

Back From GenCon

I returned from my whirlwind trip to GenCon late Saturday night. The four days of GenCon  aren’t long enough to see and do everything, which means that the one day I was there didn’t give me a chance to really do the convention justice at all.

Still, I met (or re-connected with) a whole slew of interesting people.

Before I get into any recounting, I want to pass on my pleased impression about the GenCon staffers. There was some mild confusion about where my badge was supposed to be. When I arrived at the GenCon hall twenty minutes before I was scheduled to appear on a panel and my badge couldn’t be relocated, staff member Rik DesChain personally escorted me to the panel to make sure that I could get to where I needed to go, then marched off to sort out the matter with the missing badge.

Bones of the Old Ones ARCs Are In!

The advanced reader copies of The Bones of the Old Ones are here!

And there was much rejoicing. My great feeling of satisfaction and contentment upon holding the actual ARC is here portrayed by this Captain Kirk Mego action figure.

Soon, very soon, the contest winner will be announced, and copies of the book will be heading out for review…

Meanwhile, I am still working the bugs out of this new web site setup. It’s getting better, but my posts are apt to be a little shorter for the next few days. Right now the thing that’s driving me nuts is that NONE of my italics seem to be working, so all book titles now appear as regular text. I’d also like all the font sizes in body text to be a little smaller. I have asked for help, so I hope to be able to make corrections soon.

Writing Business AND GenCon Schedule

This morning I sent off my list of possible titles for my next Pathfinder novel to James Sutter at Paizo. I have a favorite from the bunch, but it’s possible that they’ll cook up a better one. It’s James who named Plague of Shadows, a title I not only like, but one that I think sounds like something I would have come up with myself.

The rest of this week I’ll be working on the business end of my writing career. I’ve heard from my editor Pete Wolverton that the bound copies of The Bones of the Old Ones are in, which means it’s time to start work on the marketing campaign. I’m hardly an old hand at this publishing thing yet, but I’m no longer wet behind the ears, and I now have a much better idea about things I can do to help get the word out.

Pete and my agent Bob Mecoy and I have settled on a series title, which means there’s a contest winner, but we’re still playing with the wording of it a bit (whether or not we should slap the word “chronicles” on the end, for instance). And that means that a contest winner HAS been chosen. I’ll be notifying him or her after we experiment just a little bit longer.

Reaching the Summit

Every once in a while I realize that my writing instincts ARE getting better, or, at least, I’m getting better at listening to them. I may have a really solid outline in hand for the third Dabir and Asim novel, but as I came closer and closer to the two-third’s mark I resisted the temptation to drive forward to finish the section. Now I realize it would have been an exercise in finishing rather than writing, and that the outline may look solid for the next two chapters, but that it’s not satisfying. By not pushing forward I saved myself at least a week writing prose that would simply have been cut in the end.

Truly, every book is a mountain, and while you have to get to the summit, and use the same kinds of climbing gear, every approach is different. Unless you’re simply writing the same book over and over, you have to change up your tactics.

I’m going to allow myself a slight smile of satisfaction, then stop and start revising the earlier bits to get into better position or the final third.

On Historical Research

I received a note from a German writer/reader the other week asking me about how I research my historical fiction.

These days I’m pretty methodical about it, but then, at this point, I’ve got a handle on where to look and what my important historical sources are. Originally it was hit or miss because I was reading out of curiosity rather than because I planned to write a series of historical fantasy novels. As a result, I stumbled around a lot.

One of the earliest movies I remember seeing in the theater (I was 6) was The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, but I’d no more count that as research than a viewing of Aladdin, although the former is an occasional guilty pleasure. I certainly wouldn’t count the Sinbad movie as the thing that launched my interest in Arabian fantasy, though it surely ignited an interest in adventure movies, heroic swordplay, and the thwarting of evil villains.

August Update and New Review

I was delighted to stumble across a glowing new review of The Desert of Souls earlier this week. You can find it here, over on a great looking site titled Podwits. The Desert of Souls got singled out as the starting entry in a new column about “great escapist literature.” I would pull out a few of the quotes talking about how awesome the book is, but, you know, I’m humble and all.

I’m super pleased that The Desert of Souls is still getting nice write-ups almost a year and a half after its initial printing. Here’s hoping the next one does as well!

In other news, I’m nearly at the two-thirds mark on the rough draft of the third Dabir and Asim novel, The Maiden’s Eye. It feels odd to be so far along with number three when number two is still five months from release, but it also feels pretty good. I don’t think there will be nearly as long a delay between the second and third book as there has been between the first and second.

Each book is a little different. Book three is a little longer and more intricate. I’ve often told writing students that there are many ways up the mountain, and that each project may require a slightly different route to the summit. And so I’m going to try something different this time because my gut tells me I should.

Pies and Plans and an Update

I finished reviewing galleys for the second Dabir and Asim book yesterday, The Bones of the Old Ones, drove them over to the post office, and sent them away. When next I see these words they’ll be bound in a sort of “preview edition” or advanced reader copy (ARC). But I’m not sure when I will actually READ it again.

After I sent those galleys away I had trouble switching gears from reviewing to rough draft mode, but I still managed, just barely, to draft two thousand words of the third novel of Dabir and Asim. The rest of the week I hope to get at least three thousand words in a day.

A few of you have written in to ask about my birthday. It was very nice, thank you. Apart from some practical matters like some shirts, I received two graphic novels, Conan Volume 11: The Road of Kings, and Fatale Volume 1: Death Chases Me. I enjoyed both of them very much. I haven’t been that big of a fan of the recent Dark Horse Conan comics because most of the time the writers don’t get Conan right (for those of you who aren’t in the know, Conan’s a lot more complex than he might seem in the cinema), but Roy Thomas did it properly, and pleased me mightily. John C. Hocking tells me that the second half of the new Roy Thomas run is even better, and I’m now looking forward to reading it when it’s collected later this year. Fatale is a kind of noir/supernatural/detective/adventure story that’s compelling and captivating and I can hardly wait to read the next story arc.

Galleys, then ARCs, then… the Book!

My galleys arrived the other day. Those are the printed copies of pages as they will look (as far as spacing and fonts) once they’re actually bound into the final book. As a result, The Bones of the Old Ones is starting to feel more and more real, because now I can see what it will look like when laid out. (After this I’ll see it in an advanced reader’s copy, or ARC… and then the real thing.)

I’ll be spending the next week going over the text a final time. Of course, at this point in the process I really have to keep changes to a minimum because the book is now laid out, and each change here could re-wrap all the words in the entire chapter… and that, as you can probably guess, can be a huge problem and expense.

Once I turn the galleys back over to St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne Books, I have to start gearing up for the marketing push. One aspect of that will be designing a newer, snazzier web site, but I will also be needing to get out there talking about my book and writing and doing everything I possibly can to spread news that it’s coming soon.