Rob Howell's Blog, page 55
May 22, 2017
Weekend Notes
The basis of my plans most weekends involve either doing something with my writing, like a con or event, or spending time with my sweetie. This weekend I got to do both.
We had planned to go to an SCA event on Saturday, but the weather literally put a damper on that. Plus, I couldn’t sleep for some reason on Friday night. So we ended up going to Ikea and getting barbeque.
I don’t buy much from Ikea for two reasons. One, their modern style simply isn’t to my taste. Give me Victorian, Edwardian, or medieval and I’m happy. Two, as a non-svelte man I find much of Ikea’s stuff terrifyingly light. My big butt needs a big chair.
However, I do like going to the store because they often have interesting ideas and cunning ways to arrange things. They’re really innovative, even if they don’t fit me. I got some ideas for my next house.
Plus, my sweetie really enjoys shopping there, even if her tastes match mine to a great degree. We’ll be moving in together at some point in 2017 and had a great time talking about how we would prefer things in our house arranged.
We went to Joe’s KC initially for barbecue. When we got there, the line was hugemongous, out the door, and around the building. I don’t blame them. Joe’s KC is my favorite KC barbecue place. However, I didn’t want to wait that long so we went to another barbecue place I had heard good things about: Q39.
The reviews were correct. Not quite as good as Joe’s, in my mind, but still very tasty. The pork belly, white bean cassoulet, onion string appetizer was fantastic.
However, they did something that I hate hate hate. Did I mention hate?
For all that is holy, barbecue restaurants should never serve their meat with sauce already on it! Anybody can make a sauce, but it takes real skill to make great meat.
Yes, I know I could order it dry. Yes, I normally do so. However, Saturday, I was tired and forgot. And I want my meat without sauce!
What? Oh, yes, that’s a pet peeve, why do you ask?
Anyway, I’d still recommend going there. It’s not quite as good as Joe’s KC, but still very good. Just remember to order it dry.
Yesterday, I drove around 550 miles to St. Louis and back to record two episodes of the Write Pack radio podcast. One episode focused on Plutarch and writing non-fiction. Obviously, as a historian I was able to use my academic experience here. My big point of emphasis was to constantly critically examine your sources and to get as many different sources as possible.
I suspect most of you reading my blog already know this, but it is important enough to mention again. Every source is biased. You need a bunch of sources from different points of view so you can reduce the overall effect of those biases. The most biased source you will ever deal with is yourself, so always try and account for it. You’ll fail to do so completely, but it is a windmill that one must always tilt at.
I believe this episode will air on Sunday, 4 June.
The other episode we recorded involved how to use editors and criticism. Among the things I talked about is creating a team of people around you, like a race car driver does, and trusting them to do their job.
I also talked about how Kellie has improved my writing by telling me some of the mistakes I’ve made time and again, so I can eliminate them in the future.
This episode should air on Sunday, 11 June.
You can find Write Pack Radio and all their podcasts in a number of places, depending upon how you like to listen:
BlogTalkRadio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WritePackRadio/
Winding Trails Media: http://www.windingtrailsmedia.com/write-pack-radio.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/write-pack-radio/id870221780?mt=2
TuneIn: http://tunein.com/radio/Write-Pack-Radio-p627614/
And their Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/writepackradio
All in all, a fun, productive, and tiring weekend. The way they oughta be.
May 19, 2017
Rob’s Update: Pre-Order Madness!
Week of 14-20 May
Greetings all
Sorry for the delay this week. I’ve been wanting to wait until I could announce that Where Now the Rider is live on Amazon for Pre-Order!
Yes, Where Now the Rider can be ordered on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071462WXM
I still have one last editing pass to do. That’ll be done next week. The pre-order is listed as coming live on 3 June, because Amazon has a rather draconian policy about pushing back a release date but has no problem with pushing it forward. Makes sense, I suppose, but it means that every time I do pre-order options I’ll be factoring in an extra week just in case.
This has been an odd week for me, in that I’ve spent so much time on WNTR and this past week I’ve had to let it sit and work on other projects. There’s been a short story I’ve made progress on and some work on Brief Is My Flame. I’m going to start a couple more things soon, in part because I think I’m a guy who will be more productive flipping back and forth on more projects. Two books a year is nice, but certainly not enough.
Quote of the Week
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Chris Cornell. His voice was simply amazing, and Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger is one of my all-time favorite albums. At one point, I loved much of the grunge movement, but in truth, most of that faded for me. I can’t even really listen to Nirvana anymore. The only bands whose music has remained strong and fresh were Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.
Outshined was the lead song on Badmotorfinger, and Cornell said about it once that it described how the most insignificant thing could take him from amazing self-confidence to the depths of self-loathing. Small things, but stuff that gets in his head. I’m much the same. The good news is that sometimes it goes the other way and a small thing can get me going again.
Humans are weird creatures, and I think I’m about the weirdest.
I’m feeling that I’m sober
Even though I’m drinking
I can’t get any lower
Still I feel I’m sinking
– Soundgarden, Outshined
News and Works in Progress
Where Now the Rider: Available in Pre-Order https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071462WXM
Brief Is My Flame, only 2k so far, but it’s going along
About 3k into a short story
Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions
Write Pack Radio http://robhowell.org/blog/?p=677
Nothing added to Wiki after last week’s madness
Upcoming Events
28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO http://planetcomicon.com/
26-28 May: Conquest, Kansas City, MO http://www.conquestkc.org/
17-18 June: Salina ComicCon, Salina, KS http://www.salinacomiccon.com/
30 June-2 July: LibertyCon, Chattanooga, TN http://www.libertycon.org/
28 July-13 August: Pennsic War, Cooper’s Lake, PA http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn46/
4-6 August: Confluence, Pittsburgh, PA http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/
27-29 October: HonorCon, Raleigh, NC http://www.honorcon.org/
Spotlight
I’ve talked about him before, but I’m going to put Patrick McEvoy back in my spotlight. I think this is my favorite cover of the ones he’s done for me. It has the happiness of food, beer, friends, and a friendly cat, all with the unknown threat. He does a bunch of stuff, and you can find his art at: http://www.megaflowgraphics.com/
Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.
Have a great week, everyone.
Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
Website: www.robhowell.org
Blog: www.robhowell.org/blog
Shijuren Wiki: http://www.shijuren.org/World+of+Shijuren+Home
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/robhowell.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhodri2112
Currently Available Works
A Lake Most Deep (Edward, Book 1)
The Eyes of a Doll (Edward, Book 2)
Where Now the Rider (Edward, Book 3) Forthcoming 2017
I Am a Wondrous Thing (The Kreisens, Book 1)
Brief Is My Flame (The Kreisens, Book 2) Forthcoming 2017
None Call Me Mother (The Kreisens, Book 3) Forthcoming 2018
If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org
Write Pack Radio
Greetings all
I think I mentioned last week that I would be recording with the Write Pack Radio broadcast last Sunday. I got my dates confused, I’ll actually be recording with them this Sunday.
We’ll actually be recording two separate shows. The first will be Reacting to Criticism and Editor Comments. I’ve been blessed with a lot of good help to make my novels and I can’t wait to talk about how I rely on them.
The second is a little more tricky, Plutarch and Writing Non-Fiction. Tricky only in that I haven’t written non-fiction since the last time I really put anything into my dissertation, which has been a few years. Still, I think I can contribute here.
I don’t have the exact dates when the podcasts will be put online, but of course, I’ll post those.
You can find Write Pack Radio and all their podcasts in a number of places, depending upon how you like to listen:
BlogTalkRadio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WritePackRadio/
Winding Trails Media: http://www.windingtrailsmedia.com/write-pack-radio.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/write-pack-radio/id870221780?mt=2
TuneIn: http://tunein.com/radio/Write-Pack-Radio-p627614/
And their Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/writepackradio
They have graciously invited me not only this week, but a couple more times this year. I really appreciate their kindness and their patience with this podcast newbie.
May 10, 2017
Rob’s Update: Kairoi
Greetings all
What’s a kairos? It’s a Greek word meaning a moment of indeterminate time where something significant happens. You can find more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos.
So, what significant things happened this week? Well, I discovered the word kairos and its plural (kairoi). I had been casting around how best to explain the Lore Stream of Magic in my world. I originally started by using the word filament, and explaining the a clikurios (lore magician) manipulated and entwined filaments to serve their purpose.
However, I never liked that word. It never quite fit, plus it was too much like using “tendrils” to describe Love Magic. I want each type of magic in Shijuren to be different, not just in effects but processes.
Anyway, I love the word kairos. I had always envisioned Lore Magic essentially stacking butterfly effects in sequences that create a greater likelihood of a lore magician’s desired result. Tricky, subtle stuff. This type of magic was inspired by a combination of Hari Seldon from Asimov’s Foundation series and Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings. Gandalf, for example, rarely does obvious magic but always seems to be at *the* right place at *the* right time. Hari Seldon, of course, used psychohistory to manipulate outcomes over thousands of years.
Butterfly effects rely on moments, so a filament is simply not the right way to describe them. However, a kairoi sequence works perfect from my perspective. I know I probably use too many odd words, but magic is supposed to include all sorts of words like abracadabra. I just take mine from Greek, Old English, Russian, Hindi, or whatever seems interesting at the moment.
Kairos is just one of the many things I have added to the wiki (www.shijuren.org) over the past week. In fact, all the new people, places, and words used in Where Now the Rider are on the wiki. I have editing to do but it’s not out of the possibility that it goes live next week.
It’s the final steps in the process time.
But wait, there’s more. It’s been a very good week. I’ve started work on a project that I will discuss later, when it’s closer to being done. And there’s a couple of wiki posts where I talk about my writing philosophies.
This weekend I am looking forward to rejoining the Write Pack Radio podcast. We’ll be recording on Sunday and I’ll let everyone know when those episodes are going live. I’ll probably blog discussing that process on Monday.
Oh, and I’ve made progress on a couple of new events to attend. It’s amazing how much of the details here and there I get done when I stay home for a weekend.
Quote of the Week
I love the Foundation series, not simply because it serves a basis for my magic system, but as one of the most intriguing series ever in science fiction. I wish I could have met Asimov. I think he and I would have loved discussing my magic system.
“The psychohistoric trend of a planet-full of people contains a huge inertia. To be changed it must be met with something possessing a similar inertia. Either as many people must be concerned, or if the number of people be relatively small, enormous time for change must be allowed.”
― Isaac Asimov, Foundation
News and Works in Progress
Where Now the Rider in final editing stages
Brief Is My Flame in initial throw words at the page stage
A seeeeekrit project
Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions
Thoughts on Language: http://robhowell.org/blog/?p=666
Preproduction Notes: http://robhowell.org/blog/?p=668
I’ve only listed some of the new Wiki Additions
Archives of Achrida: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Archives+of+Achrida
Cevapi in somun: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/cevapi+in+somun
Coldstones: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/coldstone
Cytherea: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Cytherea
Dubravko Kolasinic: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Dubravko+Kolasinic
Hleowstanas: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/hleowstana
Hourig Orakpo: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Hourig+Orakpo
Jarilo: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Jarilo
Nikic Beslagic: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Nikic+Beslagic
Sabinia Province: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Sabinia+Province
Stevan Novoselic: http://robhowell.org/shijuren/Stevan+Novoselic
Upcoming Events
28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO http://planetcomicon.com/
26-28 May: Conquest, Kansas City, MO http://www.conquestkc.org/
17-18 June: Salina ComicCon, Salina, KS http://www.salinacomiccon.com/
30 June-2 July: LibertyCon, Chattanooga, TN http://www.libertycon.org/
28 July-13 August: Pennsic War, Cooper’s Lake, PA http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn46/
4-6 August: Confluence, Pittsburgh, PA http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/
27-29 October: HonorCon, Raleigh, NC http://www.honorcon.org/
Spotlight
This week’s spotlight is overdue. I had meant to point this one out much earlier. Dorothy Grant has spent a great deal of time helping her husband, Peter Grant, put out both military science fiction and westerns. In February, she published her first. Check it out at: https://www.amazon.com/Dorothy-Grant/e/B06VTKQKD5/ref=ntt_aut_sim_3_2.
Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.
Have a great week, everyone.
Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
Website: www.robhowell.org
Blog: www.robhowell.org/blog
Shijuren Wiki: http://www.shijuren.org/World+of+Shijuren+Home
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/robhowell.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhodri2112
Currently Available Works
A Lake Most Deep (Edward, Book 1)
The Eyes of a Doll (Edward, Book 2)
Where Now the Rider (Edward, Book 3) Forthcoming 2017
I Am a Wondrous Thing (The Kreisens, Book 1)
Brief Is My Flame (The Kreisens, Book 2) Forthcoming 2017
None Call Me Mother (The Kreisens, Book 3) Forthcoming 2018
Weekly Update Archive
If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org
May 8, 2017
Preproduction Thoughts
The last few days, I’ve been in final preproduction mode for Where Now the Rider. Right now, I’m close to complete because I had a very productive weekend.
At Comicon I mentioned that was my plan and someone I talked to asked what I meant, so I thought I’d write a blog post for what I do. It’s easy to say that preproduction is doing all the things that turn a manuscript into a publishable novel, but what does that entail. Here’s a sort of checklist for me.
Create a title page and colophon. This is the basic stuff that says who is involved in the copyright, like the artists and editors, and the normal copyright disclaimers. This page is in every book, so this part is easy for me as I have one written already and I cut and paste, changing the relevant information.
ISBN Numbers: I assign an ISBN three numbers to each book, one for the electronic version, paperback version, and audiobook version. I don’t necessarily have to assign one to the electronic version, but I think there’s an advantage and since I buy the numbers in bulk, it costs me very little. In any case, this is generally a tedious but fairly quick process. I then add these numbers to the colophon.
Dedication and Foreword. I often do these ahead of time when I feel motivated. They need editing, after all, though I’ll admit I don’t worry about editing these as much as I do the text.
Double-check the map. Make sure it’s only 300dpi and fits in the space. At this point, it’s a standard thing and all I’m doing is making sure nothing’s gone wrong.
Adding the people, places, and glossary. This is the longest part of preproduction. I could cut a bunch of hours if I didn’t do this, however, I think it’s important to make things easier for my readers. Also, I find it extremely helpful to me to keep the online wiki at www.shijuren.org updated. I’ve done many of the entries while I’m writing the book, but this makes sure I haven’t missed any. I’ll discuss this section more in a moment.
Adding the world-building appendices: the calendar, magic, and religion of Shijuren. These are written and I think they’re pretty good as the stand, so this is just cut and paste right now.
Adding extra pages. I’ve discovered that if I need to make an edit, I want to have some extra pages at the end. Not many, say 5-6. However, when Patrick McEvoy makes the cover, he has to know how many pages wide to make the spine. This is tricky. If I add any pages, he has to make the spine wider. Rather than risk this, I add some ahead of time so if I need to make an addition to the book at the next printing, I can do so without bothering him. What if, for example, I want to put a snippet of Edward, Book IV in the end? I’ve started adding a snippet of the book immediately following to A Lake Most Deep and The Eyes of a Doll, by the way.
Cover blurb. I hate this part. How can it be so hard to write a cover blurb when you have written a 100k-word novel? For whatever reason, this is incredibly difficult to me. I suppose I’m getting better, but it’s still tough.
Double-check all the other cover items. this really isn’t much, actually, since we’ve done this before. I like my author description so I’m not changing it right now.
Look for orphans. Theoretically, Word is supposed to do that, however, I’ve seen a few of them appear. It’s less of a problem since I started writing in the format I end up printing in (6×9, half-inch margins plus an extra half in for gutter, Garamond 12pt font). If I find any, I see if I can cut a line or two somewhere in the chapter. Usually I can.
The last, absolute last, thing is creating a Table of Contents. Fortunately, Word does most of the work for me however if you make any changes to the text that might add or subtract a page messes things up. I do it last, then clean it up a little to look like how I want it.
That’s basically it. There’s probably more I’m not thinking of right now, but that’ll do except for more on the people, places, glossary, and wiki.
I enjoy working on the wiki. It’s usually a relaxing way to spend time because worldbuilding is my favorite part of this. Part of the adding the list of people and places is to add links to the main copy of the text. I always work with what will be the electronic copy as shifting to a print version is much easier than vice versa. Thank you, CTRL-SHIFT-F9, which removes every hyperlink in a selection, when combined with CTRL-A, I can eliminate all the hyperlinks in two keystrokes. The print version does not need them, after all.
Anyway, I get the electronic version done and updated, mashing every mistake I can find. I then upload it to Amazon. Only then do I convert to the print version and send to CreateSpace.
And that’s it. It’s a lot of detail work that takes me days because I need to be focused for it to work, and of course I still make mistakes. Fewer now than when I started, though.
Now it’s time for me to go write that blurb.
May 6, 2017
Thoughts on Language
I’m building the appendices today for Where Now the Rider and I thought I’d post my philosophies about language in a fantasy world.
I’ve given more philosophical thought to this sort of thing than I probably should. In fact, I have struggled in the past to write science fiction or fantasy because they would have a completely different language. English in 100 years won’t be the same, and in 2-300 years may be almost incomprehensible. Languages are like that.
Therefore I should, like Tolkien, create a series of languages. Of course, how do I find an audience when I’m expecting them to learn a series of languages. A tree, for example, wouldn’t be “tree” in another language. Not to mention a pine tree. And a Scotch pine, of course, can’t exist unless there’s a Scotland to refer to. How can anyone even write a fantasy world when all of this needs to be changed?
Of course, we all accept the fiction that people in that world know English. That they have essentially the same language. And, for that matter, that they’re human in the first place.
Still, I think it’s important for a fantasy world to use a some strange words. It is a fantasy world after all, and the language has to match. In my case, since I’m writing medieval fantasy, I’m also bound to using words that fit into the milieu and aren’t too modern.
Once I accept the obvious, there’s a corollary that becomes useful. If I have to accept English as the language for my audience, and I do, and if I have to accept that humans are the best base of a fantasy world, and I do, then I can also accept the use of real-world cultures and languages that aren’t English.
No, I’m not wayyyyy too philosophical, why do you ask?
The answer, by the way, is that if I don’t believe in Shijuren, then how can I ask readers to believe. If I can come up with a philosophical justification for the shortcuts I’ve taken, then it works for me. Which I have and it does.
Anyway….
All of what I just said is important because it shapes how I use language in Shijuren. I look to other languages and adapt words and phrases to suit what I need. For example, majea is pretty clearly a cognate of magic, and I derive it from Ancient Greek. It is handy because when I use it to refer to magic I’m not asking for the reader to stretch to much.
In the same way, when I built the prefixes that apply to majea, I used things that can make sense for those who think about it. Love magic uses “er” as the prefix, from Eros. Land magic, “ge,” as in geology. Yes, I know “geo” is the proper prefix, but that extra syllable doesn’t sound as good. Life magic, “zo,” as in zoology, again cutting a syllable. Line magic, “sym,” as in symbols. And Lore magic uses “cli,” which derives from Clio, the muse of history.
I doubt many readers have caught on to this particular trick, but let me tell you it helps me a ton when my brain is fuzzy and I’m trying to remember just the word to use.
Kurios, by the way, and kurioi, is also Greek-derived, basically for people who are curious. Hence, magicians. Hence erkurios and so on.
For me, just creating these names has also helped lock these different magics in my head. I know what I’m trying to do with them, both what they can allow and what they can’t allow. The limitations to magic, of course, being very important to me.
Anyway, back to language. I use a large number of foreign-derived words. I also use a large number of simple foreign words. For example, “krieger” is German for “warrior.” What better way to say, in one world, “a warrior from the Kreisens?”
Using traditional names of dishes for food is especially important to me. As some have said to me, it’s nice that they’re not always eating a stew. Shchi, cevapi in somun, or shopska is far more interesting to me. Goulash might be easier, but gulyas (the traditional name) is much more fun to me.
Again, I don’t expect or require every reader to examine the hidden depths in the words. Just like in Middlearth, I didn’t have to know Quenya or Sindarin to grasp the bulk of what a word in either language meant, but I guarantee that Tolkien hid etymology that helped him into each word.
This is also true for names and places. In some cases, I’ve used actual names, like Biljana’s Springs (http://wikimapia.org/20513379/Biljana-s-Springs). Achrida is, of course, the ancient name of Ohrid, the city in Macedonia. If you look at pictures of it, you’ll have a better idea of what Achrida looks like, by the way. Also, the Mrnjavcevic and Gropa families existed in the Balkans. They’ve provided all sorts of inspiration for me.
Most of the names, though, I pick from the list at Behind the Names, a fantastic website. Naming patterns vary from culture to culture of course, and this site helps me remain consistent within the various cultures. It also allows me to break the pattern when I wish. For example, Croatian and Bosnian form the bulk of the names in Achrida. Lezh is Albanian, which makes sense if you know that Ohrid is across the lake from Albania. For people from Basilopolis I’ve chosen to go with Greek and Byzantine names. Since I’m lifting the history of Rome and Constantinople, it’ll come as no surprise that Roman naming conventions predominate in Sabinian Province, the base of the Old Empire from which the Empire of Makhaira is born. However, given that I’ve made Achrida a major trading city, I’ve also tossed in a variety of other names. Turkish, for example. Sub-Saharan Africa contributes Mataran names, which we see periodically in Achrida, as in the case of Chinwe, one of the victims in Where Now the Rider.
There are a few exceptions, and those are names I made up because of some particular reason or reference that makes me smile or those that Adam Hale made up while making the map.
And this is all to the good. Language should be a messy thing. Names should have a variety of things. Even when I’ve chosen to simply a language thing, like names of magic and the calendar, I’ve added a layer, like using Old English to make the calendar.
It’s a balance, and I’ll admit I possibly go too far, but I’m trying to create a world that is deep and rich, a sandbox to let me write a number of different stories. I don’t know how I can do that without playing with language.
