R.T. Kaelin's Blog

HEROES! Anthology Information

In a couple weeks, I will be at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH (June 12-16, 2013), the theme of which is “Superheroes.”

The author list at The Library this year is an impressive one:

Patrick Rothfuss (Yup. Him.)
Michael Stackpole
Timothy Zahn
Aaron Allston
Bradley P. Beaulieu
Maxwell Alexander Drake

I’ll do a post tomorrow detailing The Library, the full list of authors you can meet, and my panel schedule.

This post is to share a bit about this year’s Origins anthology titled HEROES!

Edited by Kelly Swails and with cover art is by Ed Beard Jr., HEROES! has original stories from XX authors, many of whom will be at Origins. This is a limited edition anthology (only 400 will be printed!) and will retail at the convention for $10. If you’re going to be at Origins, pick one up, bring it by The Library, and each author will sign their story in it.

First, the cover:


The Gamer God

Ed had this to say about the art on Facebook:

I have titled this painting "The Gamer God" as you may note there are many hidden and subtle game elements alongside the more obvious mighty D20 hammer!!

I will have limited editions large prints of this available at Origins at my corner booth in the exhibit hall art show area. I will also be please to autograph the cover with my art if one so desires.

Next, the table of contents:

Green Room by Aaron Allston
Hero’s Final Walk by Timothy Zahn
The Raven by Maxwell Alexander Drake
He Was A Marvelous Man by Janine K. Spendlove
A Blank Canvas by Patrick S. Thomlinson
Waking Up by Dylan Birtolo
Fellow Traveler by Donald J. Bingle
By the Seat of Your Pants by Sheryl Nantus
Invincible by Sarah Hans
Blue Boy by Daniel Myers
Bloom by Bradley P. Beaulieu
Memories Like Crystal Shards by Jennifer Brozek
The Caretaker of Mire by Gregory A. Wilson
The Commodore by Bryan Young
Sunny Acres Home of the Specialized Care of the Elderly by Addie J. King
A Fixed State by Aaron Rosenberg
Interview by R.T. Kaelin
By Blood and Fang and Song, We Call You by Jaym Gates
Bindings by Steven Saus
Cheshire Moon by Tracy Chowdhury
The One Where the Dad Dies by Kelly Swails
Field Trip by Michael A. Stackpole


And finally, a bit about my contribution to this anthology.

A somewhat tongue-in-cheek sort of story, “Interview” introduces us to young, wholly unglamorous Alex Butterworth (yes, there are syrup jokes). Currently working at the local Save-n-Shop where he bags groceries, Alex responds to an advertised job posting that he thinks is to be an assistant for the city’s greatest superhero: Lawman. The interview does not go as planned.

I had a lot of fun writing this short. Most of you know me as an epic fantasy author, so it was refreshing to break out of the genre and do something entirely different. In fact, I had so much fun writing Alex, that when approached by a someone (I can’t say who) to contribute a story to another anthology (I can’t say what), I continued the adventures of Alex.

So, without further ado, here’s a link to my other blog where a I have a quick excerpt from the 4900 word short, “Interview.”

I'd post it here, but formatting paragraphs in GoodRead's blog posts is a pain.

That's it for now. Hope to see you at Origins...

Author Blog Exchange: Good, Bad, or Stupid Idea?

Authors write for a variety of reasons.

We write to please ourselves, because we like to know where our stories go as much as anyone else does.

We write for our readers, hoping to share with them a story that will elicit some sort of emotion or—in some cases—make them think.

We write to further our craft, ever striving to become masters (hah!) at what we do, to beat the English language into submission, to bend grammar rules to our will, to craft that perfect bit of imagery.

We write—let’s be honest, here—dreaming that whatever we are penning will be the next Harry Potter and in three years, we’ll be pecking away on our keyboard while sitting on the deck of a forty-foot Caribbean yacht and sipping piña coladas.

Whenever we finish our latest masterpiece, we of course want to share it with the world, to climb to the top of the [insert name of tall building in nearest large city here] and shout, “Look what I have done!”

Now. Here’s the problem.

The marketplace is crowded. Super crowded. Like $1 hotdog night at Yankee Stadium crowded. There are a thousand other authors perched atop that building with you, trying to out-scream you.

More avenues exist today for people chasing their writing dreams than ever before. Author supply has increased while demand has remained flat or—some could argue—decreased. With the plethora of entertainment options available today—on-demand television and movies, mobile gaming, etc.—finding people willing to sit down and read is challenging.

Cultivating an audience is hard. Very hard.

So, what is my big idea and how will it solve all our problems?

Well, let me answer the second part of the question first: it won’t solve all our problems. Sorry, but I don’t live in a slightly used bronze lamp you bought off a shady character in some dusty, hot bazaar in Saudi Arabia.

Now, about the first part of the question…

We all (hopefully) have a devout readership, fans who anxiously await our next story or novel, scoop it up the moment it’s available, read it in two days, and then ask “When’s the next one out?”

What I’m proposing is leveraging our audiences via a sort of reader exchange program whereby authors spotlight fellow authors using reciprocating guest blog posts. Author A hosts a guest post for Author B on their site/blog. Author B writes something pithy, clever, or awe-inspiring, includes some details about themselves (manners in which to contact or follow them and where to read their work) and in exchange, Author B hosts Author A, tit-for-tat.

That’s it. That’s my giant, not-so-novel-now-that-I’ve-typed-it-out idea.

A lot of authors already do this to some extent, pumping up their buddies or favorite writers. This is a logical an extension of that process, a way to let writers who are otherwise unfamiliar with one another to provide potential exposure to additional readers.

Granted, a post exchange between me—a self-published fantasy author who recently signed with an agent and is shopping his series—and Brandon Sanderson would be unlikely, but nothing’s impossible, right?

Each of us is constantly trying to come up with topics for our own blogs, yes? Ideas for posts to enlighten and entertain our readers and industry-mates. Why not write the article and post it on another author’s site as a way to drive traffic to and from one another?

The guidelines would be simple.

1. No blatant self-promotion. Let the post topic and writing speak for itself.
2. The authors would agree on everything else: length, out-of-bounds topics, level of salty language allowed.

That’s it. In addition to the article, you would include the standard stuff: a short bio, recent works, social media links, and website.

When both articles are ready to go, the authors post on the same day and cross-promote the heck out of one another.

So, then. That’s my giant idea.

Now, I’ll step back and you can tell me why it’s good, bad, or stupid.

--R.T.

PS - If you are perhaps interested in participating in such an endeavor, that’d be useful to know, too.

Where Am I and What Am I Doing?

People have been inquiring via email and Facebook as to how book three is coming. Rather than respond individually to each one (which I always do) with the same answer, I decided to post an update.

I’m almost done.

Aaaaaannnnd, there you go. Thanks for stopping by.

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Now for the legitimate update:

Current word count is 240k with 6 chapters left to write. It’s turning out longer than I wanted, so I’ve started to identify sections I can cut. I’ve already removed an early chapter that I plan to turn into a short story and release for free on my website at some point. I don’t want to just toss it as I like what happens in it, but it’s not needed for the novel’s story. Hint: it involves a character from the Terrene Chronicles: Family collection of short stories.

70% of the book already has one editing pass on it, 25% has two. I write and edit in waves. It helps me keep evolving storylines straight as I go.

I had hoped to have the final first draft done by the end of April, but as some of you know, my father was ill. Well, on April 13th, he passed away and I’ve had a tough time focusing.

Once I do get a complete manuscript, I foresee heavy edits in my future but I hope to have it ready for my alpha readers by end of May. They’ll read it, point out any confusing plot points, disconnects, etc. and I’ll course correct. Once that’s done, my beta readers get their chance to proofread as I am awful at it.

In other news, in case you missed it, I signed with an agent back in February and things are progressing well regarding finding a traditional publisher for Progeny. A couple things are happening there which have me crossing my fingers.

This summer, I’ll have stories published in two different anthologies, both of which are a departure for me as they’re superhero themed. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.

I’m attending Origins again this year and perhaps GenCon. I would like to beef up my convention schedule, but as I still have a day job, I can’t.

Something nifty about Origins this year: Patrick Rothfuss will be there.
Something niftier about Origins this year: I’m on a panel with him.

That’s it for now.

Good days ahead.

--R.T.

P.S. – I did an interview at SFFWorld.com not long ago. Check it out. Paul Weimer did a nice job with it.

P.P.S. – Shameless plea time: if you’ve read Progeny or Prophecy and enjoyed it/them, I would appreciate a quick review both here (Progeny (The Children of the White Lions, #1), Prophecy) and at Amazon (Progeny, Prophecy). They really do help in the long run.

Did That Just Happen...?

So this happened to me today.

I’m driving home from the gym after work. I have the windows cracked a little, enjoying the sunny, 75-degrees-warm weather. As I approach an intersection, the light turns yellow. Sifting my foot from gas to brake, I start to slow while flipping my turn signal down, readying to turn left. I stop and begin my wait for a green arrow.

As I'm sitting there, I hear music blaring from car speakers. Looking in my rearview mirror, I see a small, silver, two-door car coming up behind me. It pulls up on my right and stops. Two young women—high-schoolers—are in the front, dancing in their seats, singing along with some pop song I don’t recognize.

Side note: I love current music, save for mindless, studio-generated pop. Blech.

Anywho, I look back to the light, anxious for it to turn. I’m hungry, after all, and desire a snack before I start making dinner. A few seconds later, the music in the car next to me cuts off. Curious, I glance over to find both girls looking in my direction. The driver starts gesturing for me to roll down my window. Thinking they need directions, I reach for the window button on the door, push it, and watch the glass glide down.

I didn’t say anything at first, rather I simply lifted my eyebrows in a “can I help you?” sort of way. Doesn’t matter that I didn’t speak, anyway, as the teenagers immediately glanced at one another and, while giggling something fierce, faced me to shout something that simultaneously flattered, irritated, embarrassed, and made me a little ashamed of myself.

“Hot dad!”

I was flattered because apparently I’m a *HOT* dad!

I was irritated because I am apparently easily identifiable as a dad.

I was embarrassed because total strangers rarely go out of their way to comment on my attractiveness.

I was ashamed because—for goodness sake—these girls were like 16. Realistically, I could be the same age as their *actual* dads.

So, what did I do?

I turned a nice rosy hue, offered the young women an awkward smile, and think I said “Thanks?” Thankfully, at that moment, I got my green arrow. I gave my car some gas, turned left, and hurried home, my ego boosted even though I was feeling a little bit creepy.

Book 3 Update and Course Corrections

There are as many approaches to writing a novel as there are authors.

Some people are meticulous outliners, marking out every scene and character arc before writing word one. They know how many chapters a book will have, what happens in each, and will not deviate from their plan. I could never, ever write this way. Too constraining. If I want to step off the trail and wander a ways to see where an unintended plot point or character will take me, I will do it.

Others take an entirely organic approach, writing without purpose. They start on page one and write straight through to the end. Now, this can be a good writing exercise or for short fiction, but it’s a bad idea to think you can write a book this way. It would be like getting in your car without having a destination in mind. Sure, you might end up somewhere great in the end, but only after driving around aimlessly for a while. More than likely, you’ll stop and start a few times, retrace your steps, and—if you aren’t careful—perhaps even run out of gas.

Most authors fall somewhere between these two extremes. I certainly do.

Before I start a full-length work, I have in mind the beginning, the end, and a number of key points in between. I outline chapters as I go, keeping a buffer of four or five ahead of where I’m writing while always aiming for whatever the next key point is. This gives me structure and purpose yet allows me to vary if the story calls for it. Some variances might be small, while others are massive. For example, in Progeny, Nundle Babblebrook, who is many readers’ favorite character, was an accident. I had never planned for his role to be as large as it was, but halfway through his intro chapter, I realized how much I enjoyed writing him. So, I made a very, very large course correction.

I’m in the midst of writing book three now (past the 80% mark) and have been making quite a few course corrections as I go, more than I did in either Progeny or Prophecy. While the ending of book three has remained constant since…well, since before I even finished Prophecy, the path getting there has shifted a few times. While I have 57+ chapters written and have had the last 14 chapters outlined for a while now, recently I’ve spent a lot of time rewriting/editing large swaths of the book’s earlier sections. A lot of authors will warn you away from doing this, but if I get a new idea of how things should work that is better than the old, I go back and fix the foundation to support the change before tacking more on.

Turns out, writing a multi-book series is harder than writing a standalone novel. There simply are more threads to interweave from book to book.

I find it a bit ironic that I’ve come to this conclusion as I’ll be doing a panel at Origins this year with Patrick Rothfuss and Bradley P. Beaulieu germane to this topic: How to Write a Trilogy. Perhaps I’ll learn as much from them as the audience will.

Guess what? I got an agent.

It’s been a long time coming. A very long time. But as of yesterday, I have an agent.

I signed with Andrew Zack of The Zack Company, “full-service literary agency representing works of commercial fiction and nonfiction.”

Here’s a quick blurb about them:

Unlike other literary agencies, we really do focus on quality versus quantity. While some literary agencies take on new clients willy-nilly, only to discard them if their work doesn't sell in the first ten submissions, The Zack Company prides itself on sticking with clients until their work finds a home.

Our literary agency is associated with numerous co-agents around the world, assuring that your work, if it has the right qualities and international appeal, will be submitted to publishers around the globe. Our principal, Andrew Zack, has nearly 25 years experience in the publishing industry as both an editor and literary agent.

The Zack Company is also associated with various agencies in Hollywood, ensuring that clients' works with film or television potential will be seen by the major producers and studios behind the blockbusters you see in the theaters every week.

It was a difficult choice. I did have a couple other offers, and I sat around longer than I should have, trying to make a decision, but I finally settled on Andy.

I’m in the midst of doing ONE LAST revision of Progeny, cleaning up every little thing I can. When done, it goes to Andy and he starts shopping it.

Wish me luck.

--R.T.

7 of 7, Sneak Preview of Book 3

So, there’s this thing going about the author world called 7 of 7.

It’s pretty simple, really. You go to line 7 of page 7 or page 77 of your current work in progress and reveal the 7 lines that follow. Well, my current work in progress is book 3 (title withheld to protect the innocent). So, out of curiosity, I looked at both page 7 and 77, line 7.

Hmm….

Well, you aren’t seeing the page 7 chunk. Why? Well…because I just wrote it. I don’t always write linearly. While I have 40 chapters done in book 3, I just wrote a new chapter 1.

But the page 77, line 7…that was intriguing. I read it a few times (and made a few edits), wondering if I wanted to share what was there. Why? Well, I don’t want to give away too much about the future of the book and/or series.

However…the next 7 lines starting on page 77, line 7…well, heck. They were just too much of a tease not to share.

So, world. Here’s a peek into book 3. Nobody has seen this. NOBODY. Not my alpha readers, not my beta readers. Not my mom (yes, I still run stuff by her and I’m 35), not my wife (who really doesn’t like to read, anyway—go figure), not anyone. You will be the first…assuming you’re the first to read this blog post. If not, go find the number of views for this post at the bottom of it and that’s your number. Congrats!

Before I reveal, I will say this much: readers of my short story collection, Merchant (also affectionately known as “The Nundle Bundle”), will get a tremendous kick out of this. Oh, and an Easter egg I put in Prophecy might just become a little easier to find.

Enjoy.

*7 lines starting on Page 77, line 7:

     Peering back to the fabric roll, Julo took a step closer and leaned in to eye the knob. A scowl spread over her face as she read the only three words seared into the wood.

     Babblebrook Mercantile Company

     She bit down hard, glared at Nish, and spoke, her tone terse and sharp. “I am sorry, but we will not be purchasing anything today. Safe day to you.” With a quick glance at Pansy, she said, “Let us go,” and stepped into the flood of people moving north and began to walk away.

     “Wait!” called Nish. “I will drop the price. Thirty silver pips per arm!”

     Julo ignored him. The bolt of cloth could be free and she would not take it.

*I reserve the right to TOTALLY change this when I edit.

One last thing. You're supposed to tag a few other authors in the process of doing this, forcing them to do the same thing(after asking nicely of course).

So...

Philip Athans
Bryan Young
Janine Spendlove

That is all.

--R.T.

PS - On a side note, today and tomorrow, you can get Progeny free on the Kindle. This is the last time I'll ever be doing this. If you know someone who might like the book and has a kindle, let them know.

My Dad is Dying

Back in November, I wrote a post about my father. This is a follow up.

My Dad is dying.

There is no sugarcoating it. No “nice” way to say something so horrible. You try to avoid the d-word, to pretend that’s not what is happening, but it is.

He—and we, the family—found out about his diagnosis in November. It came as a shock to most of us. Dad, however, had been expecting it for a while.

Twenty years ago, Dad had thyroid cancer. They removed, treated it, and declared him cancer free. Once a year, he would go back for a checkup to ensure it had not come back. A few years back, he started to lose his voice. Only in the winter at first, but it got worse and worse until he could only whisper. Doctors found nodules on his vocal chords and removed them. He’s had a number of those surgeries since that one: do checkup, find nodules, remove them. It almost became routine.

Until the last one.

One evening in early November, I stood in the gym at my daughter’s school. My wife and I were there for our first parent/teacher conference for Kennedy, our five-year old. It was our turn to go in and speak with the teacher when my cell phone rang. I looked at the number, waved my wife into the room, and then answered the call. You see, Dad had another surgery that day, but this one was different. This one was at the Mayo Clinic with the intention of helping fix his vocal chords, to give a man his voice back.

My stepmother was on the other end, upset and crying. She explained that when the doctors had started cutting, they found things that should not be there. What they had thought was scar tissue in pre-op was actually the surface of a deep-reaching cancer. Think of a dandelion. They had seen the flower and now were discovering the root.

I remember standing in that gym feeling small, powerless, and utterly useless as I struggled with what to say to my stepmom. How do you comfort her when who is thousands of miles away?

The sad answer is you don’t. There’s nothing to say, nothing you can say.

Nevertheless, I tried. “Hey, we’ll figure this out.” “Let’s see what the other doctors say tomorrow.” Eventually, after a few rounds of clumsy platitudes, I told her to pass my love to dad, hung up, and then stared at a basketball hoop while trying not to cry.

A day had started so hopeful had ended with a dozen kicks to the gut.

I was still standing there when my wife emerged from my daughter’s room, a smile on her face and ready to share an amusing story about something Kennedy had done in school. I had a different story to tell her.

Days passed.

The prognosis was bad. Very bad. Recommended treatment was to remove the larynx and do radiation and chemo. And even if he did all that, they could only give him a 50% chance of survival. Dad visited a survivors’ group, saw the quality of life those people “enjoyed,” and then chose not to seek treatment himself. That was not how he wanted to spend his last days.

I supported his decision, as did my stepmom. Would we prefer to have him fight, just to have him around a little longer? Of course, but that is selfishness speaking. His life, his choice.

He made plans to come visit us in mid-December, to spend some time with the grandkids, but the flu-bug hit my household and he was forced to cancel. So, Dad and my stepmom instead planned to come for Christmas, to fly into Columbus on Christmas Eve and stay for a couple of weeks. One last, bittersweet holiday where my kids got to spend time with their Grandpa.

The week before, I got a call from my stepmom. Dad was not doing good. The breathing was getting worse as the tumor was growing, closing his airway. Could I fly to Phoenix the next day?

After a hellish day of travel full of delays, I made it out there. I did what I could to help ease Dad’s mind and anxiety: I went to meetings with his lawyers, took him to church for last rites, reviewed their finances incase my stepmom needed help with things later on. In order to counteract the morbid surrealism of it all, we also did normal things: we went to the hardware store to buy salt for the water softener, headed to Fry’s for groceries, watched football or a movie.

It turned out that he was better off than we had thought. Anxiety was severely exacerbating things, making it hard for him to breathe. So, we all got on a plane Christmas Eve and made it home to Columbus.

Christmas was good. And it was hard. Watching Kennedy smile as she climbed over her grandpa was as awesome as it was heart-wrenching. She still has no idea what is happening. Neither does my son, Nikalys. What the hell do you say to a 5 and 8 year old about this?

New Years came and went. We got hospice setup for Dad at my house—oxygen, anti-anxiety medication, steroids to help with the inflammation. In the weeks that followed, my stepmom cleaned and organized our entire house (it’s how she copes) while my wife and I went about our lives and jobs as best we could.

Dad’s been staying with us for almost six weeks. His breathing is labored now. Stairs leave him sucking air. But he’s hanging on. We’ve had the opportunity to make what I hope are lasting memories for my kids. Dad, me, and Nikalys went to a movie just the three of us; three generations of Kaelins. Last Sunday, he took Kennedy to mass with him and came back smiling. I sit with him as much as I can, watching movies, basketball, TV shows on Netflix. We just wrapped up BBC’s Sherlock Holmes last night.

We’re not sure how much time he really has. When we brought him to Columbus, we had all thought weeks. Turns out, it might be months. That being the case, last week, Dad made another tough decision.

He does not want to spend the last few months of his life sitting in an empty house five days a week while my wife and I are working and the kids are in school. Columbus winters are too gray, too cold, and too lonely for that. He’s going to fly back to Arizona and enjoy the nice weather.

I, again, support him. His life, his choice.

He leaves Saturday.

Throughout my life, Dad has been the rock of the family, the unwavering force upon which everyone can count. He’s been there for me, my stepbrother and stepsister, my stepmom, my wife and kids, his friends…again, pretty much everyone. The man is incapable of putting himself before anyone. He’s the one with cancer and he’s mostly concerned with how it’s affecting all of us.

My Dad is the least selfish, most-giving, best person I know.

And when he’s gone, my world and the world of everyone he has known will be diminished.

Release Day! One—wait, no—Two Days Late!

Perhaps the most anticipated book in the speculative fiction genre came out yesterday two days ago. A book for which people have waited years. Lines wrapped around the block at bookstores, curled down the street, weaved through the parks, and reached all the way to the sea.

Oh, and Triumph Over Tragedy: an anthology for the victims of Hurricane Sandy was also supposed to come out.

Yesterday Two days ago, A Memory of Light, the last installment of the long-running Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson), was released. I’m sure the novel will be flying off the shelves—virtual and real—for a few weeks. By late afternoon, the book had garnered as many reviews as it took Progeny to get in two years. Ah…the life of an unknown indie…

(Side note: A large number of those reviews for AMOL were undeserved 1-stars. People apparently were protesting the fact that there was no Kindle version on day one and felt it necessary to drop a 1-star without even reading the book as some sort of protest. Really, people? I mean…really?)

Someday, I’ll pick my copy of AMOL up. Someday far down the road. I’m a little ashamed to admit I’ve only made it through the first three of the series. And that was like ten years ago, so… It’ll be a while until I get to it.

But the Triumph Over Tragedy anthology, a collection of forty-one short stories by fantastic authors, was to come out yesterday two days ago as well. It includes Nebula Award winners, a handful of NYT Bestselling authors, and some of the biggest names in the speculative fiction genre, such as: Elizabeth Bear, Mark Lawrence, Robert Silverberg, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Philip Athans , Michael Stackpole, Michael J. Sullivan, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jean Rabe,, Maxwell Alexander Drake, Alex Bledsoe, Stephen D. Sullivan, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Marquitz, and Timothy Zahn.

Oh, and I have a new story in there, too. It’s a Terrene Chronicle story, too. One that gives a sneak peak in to a character you all get to see in book 3.

But Amazon’s publishing service was apparently on vacation, had the flu, or was otherwise occupied. I hit “PUBLISH” on the anthology at 12:13 AM yesterday two days mornings ago, fully expecting it to be available when I awoke. Based on past experiences (Prophecy took only four hours to show up), it seemed like a reasonable expectation. Silly me.

Two days later...it is finally out and available for purchase here for Kindle and here for the Nook.

The nook version (essentially epub) will come out as soon as it winds its way through Barnes and Nobles’ publishing service. They always take a couple of days, so, I’m not too worried about that delay.

I’d like to thank all of the authors who contributed a story, as well as the three volunteer editors, and dozens of bloggers who helped spread the word. This was no small effort, getting this thing together in two months, but here it is.

We managed to raise over $1600 so far in the Indiegogo campaign, and will continue to raise money over the next six months on the sales of the anthology. I’ll give periodic updates as to how sales are going.

It’s currently available on Amazon, and will be shortly at Barnes&Noble.com once it works its way through their system.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks, and good days ahead.

--R.T.

The Next Big Thing

This has been a difficult holiday season for me and mine.

My father has late-stage larynx cancer, which prompted an emergency run by me from Columbus to Phoenix the week before Christmas. I had a connecting flight in Chicago during the winter storm that tore across the Midwest and turned my scheduled 6-hour trip turn into a 14-hour one.

I plan on writing about this in depth one day, but here is the short of it: I was able to get dad back to Columbus where he will probably stay until the end. You don’t know the meaning of the word melancholy until you watch your kids—who are wholly ignorant of his prognosis—climb over their Grandpa during his last Christmas.

But that’s another post for another time. Through it all, I am learning to focus on the good things, to find the happy amidst the overabundance of sad. Which is why, in the middle of all this, I was incredibly grateful when author of The Riyria Revelations, Michael J. Sullivan, tagged me for The Next Big Thing meme.

First off, let me explain what a meme is. Actually…no, I won’t. I had originally intended to do so, but as Michael’s explanation in his The Next Big Thing post is so thorough, I invite you to hop over there, read it, and then come back.

Go ahead. I’ll wait. Just make sure you come back.

*** humming Gangnam Style ***

Oh, thank goodness you’re back. I was thiiiiiiis close to dancing.

Now, the idea behind The Next Big Thing meme is pretty simple: another author tags you, you answer ten standard questions, and then you tag five other authors, propagating the meme through the intertubes like some sort of virus.

So, without further ado, I will continue to pass along the infection and answer the ten questions:


1) What is the working title of your next book?

Book 3.

Sorry. That’s all you get. The real title is a secret. Although I will say an astute reader of Progeny and Prophecy will probably be able to guess it.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

As it’s part of series, I’ve had the basic idea of what happens in book 3 since I conceived the series. Granted, some storylines that I had not anticipated wove their way into the book, but the ‘soul’ of the book has been clear for a long time. I wanted it to be where lines were blurred, where characters and readers alike began to question who is on what side, who can be trusted and who cannot.

I’m halfway through writing it and I’m happy to say I’m succeeding.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Fantasy for sure.

On Amazon, it’s listed under both Epic Fantasy and Historical Fantasy. ‘Epic’ because the story…well, is epic. Lots of moving pieces, lots of characters, lots of things going on. ‘Historical’ because anything not ‘Urban’ fantasy sort of falls under the ‘Historical’ designation.

I actually think it might be a YA title, too. It satisfies the largest YA criteria: protagonists are in their teens (at least when the series starts). But as I have received email form readers ranging from 11 to 92, I think the book has broad appeal. I rather expect my readership looks a lot like Christopher Paolini’s, the author of the Inheritance Cycle series, albeit much, much smaller. Imagine that Paolini is the Sun. Me? I’m Mercury: a tiny speck of rock lost against his brilliance.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it before. Now, I’m no casting director, but here are my choices for a few:

Nikalys: Taylor Kitsch. He could easily pull off the brooding Nikalys of Progeny, as well as the more mature Nikalys of Prophecy. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2018237/)

Kenders: Chloe Grace Moretz. She’s not huge. Yet. She’d need hazel contacts, though. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1631269/)

Jak: Mark Salling. Best known as Noah Puckerman on Glee. I just picture Jak looking like him but with longer hair. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0758597/)

Sergeant Trell: Tom Hardy. The dude can pull off a beard. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362766/)

Broedi: Chris Hemsworth. Most people know him as Thor in The Avengers. Movie magic would be necessary to make him seven-feet tall, but he’d be perfect for Broedi’s strong, mysterious, taciturn style.

Nundle: I have no idea. None.

Zecus: Michael B. Jordan. I liked him on Friday Night Lights. I think he could pull Zecus’ character off well. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0430107/)

As far as the director: Joss Whedon, please.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

As the war spreads, consuming the duchies, the question of who is friend and who is foe grows increasingly difficult to answer.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Not sure.

I have a couple offers of representation based on Progeny, which was self-published. I have yet to choose an agent, however, as I am holding out hope for one in particular who has the manuscript under consideration.

I will choose an agent eventually, and what happens with book 3 rather depends on what happens with said agent finding a traditional publisher for Progeny and, hopefully, Prophecy.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Still writing it. I’m 130k words in and probably a little less than 60% done. It’s taken me about 3 months to get this far. But remember, I’m indie and have a day job. All my writing is done in the evening.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t much like to make comparisons of myself to other authors. I feel presumptuous doing so. Therefore, I will list a couple review snippets and let the reviewers do the comparisons:

"For me, Progeny is in league with both The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings and far better than Harry Potter - Progeny has a wealth of depth to it that I haven't seen in many books."
- Clover Hill Book Reviews

"Robert Jordan. George R. R. Martin. Stephen Donaldson. Brandon Sanderson. These are the masters of fantasy and readers of Progeny will be able to discover a new voice that is destined to match those authors."
- Booksie Blog

"I would favorably compare his writing with Brandon Sanderson, Scott Lynch, Robert Jordan and even a bit of David Eddings flavor mixed in."
- LuxuryReading.com

Eek. Even reposting those reviews makes me feel like a braggart.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ll answer this in regards to the series.

When I get asked this question, my answer is always the same: my kids and bad books. Let me explain.

When I was younger, I read a lot. Tolkien, of course. T.H. White, too, and others. When I was in high school, I read Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist and really enjoyed it (along with the other three books of that series).

As time passed—I went to college, graduated, got a job, got married, had kids—my free time evaporated and I stopped reading. A few years back, my family and I were going on vacation, and I went to the book store to get something to read for the trip. I stumbled over Magician by Feist, remembered liking it when I was younger, and bought it. I breezed through it (and the other three books of the series, again), and then discovered that Feist had written numerous more books set in the world of Midkemia. I made time in my life to read again (farewell, television) and read them all, after which I moved onto some other authors. Some I liked, some I did not.

After three bad books in a row—predictable plots, stereotypical characters—I commented to myself that “I could do better than that.” I challenged myself to try, and here we go. It’s been a learning experience, I’ve made a lot of mistakes (if anyone finds a first edition of Progeny, you’ll see them all), but I wouldn’t be where I am now without them.

Now, where do my kids come in?

I wanted to write something my kids would love and enjoy for years. The two main characters in the series, Nikalys and Kenders, are named after my own children, Nikalys and Kennedy.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

There’s a pie hidden in every one.

Nah…

Actually, one thing that might be of interest: I’ve written the books in such a way that they will mean something totally different on a second read through. I’ve dropped hints about things here and there that a reader who has already read the series will note as they read it again.

Now, as to the authors I am infecting—er, tagging—here they are in a very particular order, ranked by number of letters in their name. Every person below has proven to be both a good writer and very nice guy. I am glad I have gotten the opportunity to know them all.

Bryan Young www.bryanyoungfiction.com
Erik Scott de Bie http://erikscottdebie.com/
Bryan Thomas Schmidt http://bryanthomasschmidt.net/
Maxwell Alexander Drake http://www.maxwellalexanderdrake.com/