It was interesting (or ironic) that I was going to write a blog posting today and happened across an article in the LA Times. Gotta love Google News feeds.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-endurability7-2010feb07,0,4119789.story

What struck me about the article is how broken the publishing system is today. It has not transformed fully yet and the processes of submitting to agents, weeding through the submissions, taking risks on new authors, losing money on books that get returned, etc, etc, — it really highlights the difficulties of being a writer today. As I read the article about the hopelessness and despair, it made me appreciate the fact that I have a great day-job (that I’m not earning my income as a writer), that I enjoy writing regardless and will continue to, and it has also made me appreciate those who have read my books and offered feedback. That is the true payoff of a writer.

The future of publishing will be writers using self-publishing venues (there are plenty) and then getting the word out themselves. Rather than relying on a network of bookstore owners and publicists and marketing folks, I think writers will carve their own niches, find their own audiences and use the tools of the internet to make their work available more cost effectively. Those that prefer to read on a Kindle or an iPad can consume it that way. Those who prefer audio books will get the content that way. Those who want it in hard-cover or soft-cover, or in any shape or size will pick what they want and it will show up in the mail or pop out of an Espresso Book Machine (which Google has been touting lately). The consumer will get the content in the form factors they want.

That is the future of publishing.

During the holidays in December, I was able to start on the third installment of the Muirwood series. I have completed the first 80 pages so far and hope to finish the project by September 2010. There are a lot of words to write between here and there, but I am excited about finishing this trilogy and especially for the feedback coming in on the series. There is an Army dentist in Iraq reading it right now (yes, he’s my brother-in-law) as well a group of moms with little kids in Caldwell, Idaho. There is also a 12 year-old daughter who steals her mom’s copy when she’s not looking. It is definitely motivating me to keep writing and enjoy the process. Wish I could write as fast as people like Chelsea can read. But that’s impossible.

Being an amateur Photoshop-ist myself, I have been brainstorming some ideas for covers for the series. These are just ideas to get the creative juices flowing. I would love it if anyone else has thoughts for scenes or cover ideas for the series. Just for fun. The first block hais more of an “outdoors” feel, and the second I’m calling “reflections”. No people on the covers in these versions, but it’s a start. Any/all ideas or suggestions welcome.

It was a treat in mid-November to visit H. Clarke Powers school in Loomis, CA. I was invited to be the guest author to a group of kids who had read all the required reading in their classes. There were about forty to fifty kids there and I read them an excerpt from Wishing Lantern, signed copies of the book, and answered questions. It was a great experience.

The feedback I have gotten from Blight is very positive so far. I’m excited to start writing the final book in the trilogy, Scourge of Muirwood. I’ll try to go back to the rhythm of a chapter a week and see how long it takes to finish. I’ve been outlining the destinies of all the major and minor characters and now it’s time to start laying tile again – piece by piece. The first tile is a flashback to Lia’s father. Time to start setting the stage.

Releasing a book into the hands of readers can be exciting as well as anxiety-producing. I love getting feedback, positive and negative, because it helps my become a better writer. While writing BLIGHT, I was getting regular feedback from my sister and my niece during the process. Now that I’m done, I have started to let people read it and the feedback is coming in. Very positive so far. Just yesterday I was sent an e-mail of an instant message exchange between my sister and her friend Melanie as they discussed the book late the previous night. It is so helpful to see the different interpretations that exist, the opinions about what will happen next, as well as the spots where I’ve confused readers by not identifying the pronouns (gasp!). But general positive tone makes me eager to start writing the final book. If all goes according to plan, I’ll start in December during the holidays.

I have PDF versions of WRETCHED and BLIGHT available for readers. As I just said, getting feedback is very helpful as a writer. If you’re interested in reading, shoot me an e-mail.

October 1, 2009 – finished the first draft of Blight of Muirwood. Right now, it’s around 450 pages, so longer than the first book and I’m heaving a sigh of relief for being done. Last weekend my wife read it all and we’ve had some good discussions about it. I need to read it again for continuity (I know there are some inconsistencies in there), but after that, it will be ready for some proofreaders.

It’s funny how writing can meld into reality sometimes, so here is a funny story. One of the ongoing elements of this series is Lia’s fascination with Muirwood apples (Fuji apples in our world). I’ve found that certain kinds taste the sweetest and showed my kids how to spot the tell-tale signs. Well, my wife told me this week that the kids will stare at the apple bin with the fridge door open for *way too long* trying to find the ‘best’ apple to put in their lunch. I admit I’m pretty picky myself. At Intel, our Corporate Services group provides free fruit to employees in the cafe and so I pick one up every day and always linger over the apples to find the best one. This week, I found an especially promising one and brought it home and my daughter’s eyes widened with delight. She would have picked that one too.

Glad to be done with book 2 of the series. After doing some proofreading over the next month or two, I’ll probably start on the final book in January.

I am almost finished writing BLIGHT. Only a few chapters left. It’s always an exciting thing to finish a novel. My guess is I’ll be done before Halloween and then will be looking for some readers to help critique and edit it (you know who you are…Mike Loos). This novel has definitely taken some unexpected twists and turns, but I am really pleased with how it has turned out so far.

Also, because of the massive spambots that visit this website every month, I’ve deactivated all subscribers. Instead, I’ve created a facebook page for Muirwood so that comments and questions can be directed there instead:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155152605655&ref=mf

I also have a friend who has a printing business in Rancho Cordova who said he did a paperback version of WRETCHED for me from his POD printer. I’m interested in seeing how it turned out.

With school about to start, we took the kids up to my parents cabin in the Sierras last week. On the way, we stopped by Big Trees national forest and enjoyed the giant sequoias there. It was in the morning, a little bit of rain to make things interesting, and ask we walked the north grove road, the clouds descended and hung like mist over the towering trees. It was an awesome sight and definitely inspiring. Some of these trees are 24-30 feet in diameter and some have fallen and been burned through, leaving shells big enough to fit our family, or hollowed-out tunnels that the little ones crawled through.

The setting will definitely come into play in a future chapter of BLIGHT. I’m nearly 300 pages into the book and ready to kick up the tension even more. With everything on my plate right now, I’ve decided to focus my energy on finishing the trilogy. When the series is completed, I’ll make the decision to either look for agents again or try the self-publising route again, maybe through Amazon’s service. I think over the next few years, the industry will have changed significantly. More and more authors will leverage the technology available to publish their own works, build up their readership, before the big publishers will look at them.

Had a neat surprise this morning when I checked my e-mail. My sister Emily, an artist in the Boise area, did a little sketch of a scene from WRETCHED. She’s also been giving great advise on the sequel, BLIGHT, which I appreciate. It was neat seeing the scene through her eyes so I thought I would share her work. She’s really talented: http://emilybradshaw.googlepages.com/

 

Finished with Chapter 17 of Blight last week and I’m going through the whole manuscript again to gauge the flow. I finally wrote a pivotal chapter that I’ve been anxious to do since the beginning of the novel. Writing a book is a little like laying tile – sometimes you focus on the squares and then look back and see the whole. Even though I do a rough outline of my novels in advance, it still surprises me how much the story weaves itself and bumps me away from the original plans. I especially had fun writing the Earl of Dieyre’s character. He’s the antithesis of Colvin and it is fun playing them off against each other.

Back to the squares again…

As part of the Amazon entry, they promised to write reviews. These just arrived last night.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

The concept of the dead being reanimated and then a knight in trouble in some kind of fantasy world are hardly new ideas. In many ways, the injured and mysterious warrior being treated by a young lady has been heavily overused. At this time, I do not see how the two main plot devices introduced in this excerpt can be combined. I did not find the story of great interest as it would take a greater expression of these old ideas to engage my interest.

And the other one:

ABNA Expert Reviewer

It is not yet clear whether this is a medieval novel or a fantasy. There are elements of both. 
 
There is good tension being built. In the first chapter the cemetery has flooded and there are no bodies, only wedding rings. It is speculated that the bones of the dead have joined the flesh and are again living. THe abbey’s master halts the storm with a wave of his hand, evidently invoking the “Medium”. This is all observed by the nine year “wretched” – the help. 
 
The next chapter is four years later and the wretched is awakened in the night by a man she learns is a “knight-maston” who has brought a wounded young man with him. As she works to heal the young man, the knight leaves telling her to take care of the youth and to keep him hidden while he gets the sherriff off his trail. 
 
The girl is bright and denied the chance to learn to read, which is her biggest dream. One gets the feeling that someone will be her white knight and educate her. The terminology and the floating rock in the cemetery makes me think there will be a fantasy element to this book. If it were straight dark ages, I would be interested. Since I am not a fantasy fan, I would not be interested if it goes in that direction. That, however, is a matter of taste, not a judgment on quality, for the writing is good, and the early bits have good tension to hook the reader.

I thought it a little strange that they weren’t expecting the novel to be fantasy, since that is what it was categorized as in the submission. The comparison to the injured warrior archetype is fair – though it wasn’t a common theme in many of the fantasy novels I’ve read. Still, feedback is useful.