M.L. Forman's Blog, page 2

What? No questions?

Well, it’s time for a new blog, a little news, and to answer the few questions that have been posted. Not a lot of questions this time around, and I suspect that is because you are all playing nice and those of you who have “Sand’s of Nezza” are controlling yourselves so as not to spoil it for those who don’t have it yet. I’ll just say thanks you all for playing along.

Right, so one of the original winners of Sands did not reply to my email telling them they were a winner and to send me their address. The other two books have been sent out, and I hope they have arrived. As for this third book, well I sent another email to the first winner to tell them that I couldn’t just keep the book sitting here any longer, and I have selected an alternate winner for the book. A new email was sent to this winner, so make sure and check your emails and get back to me. Oh, the number was 28, if anyone is interested in that.

Book release and Audio books and such:  I don’t know why!?! O.K. I don’t know why Amazon and B&N and anyone else is not shipping the books before the 5th of Nov. I’m sure they have them or can get them. I’m not sure when the audio books will be out, should be on or before the 5th. Ebooks??? Those should also be out, but I’ll check with the publisher to try and find out why they aren’t or why they are not being released until the 5th. It seems crazy to me that if they have it, which I think they do, why they won’t let you buy it.

Right, now the few questions:

Adventure Gal: Sorry no, Alex’s father’s past doesn’t have anything to do with Alex’s coming struggles. He is really dead. I have been playing with some ideas about something from Alex’s father’s past playing into at least one of the adventures, but I haven’t decided if that will happen or not. Right now, I don’t think we’ll see or even hear much about Alex’s dad… well, maybe some stuff inside his bag, we’ll have to see.

Iollenia Galonodel: Yes, there are adventurers from “other” races. Not all adventurers are human, elf, or dwarf. There are not a lot of adventurers from other races, but then there really aren’t that many adventurers anyway. Not sure if we’ll get to meet any of them, but I think we might.

Doctor: Thanks for the feedback on chapter one. No, I’m not happy that they make me cut details and such, but I hope the book picks up for you as you get past chapter one. I will also try to get more details in there for you in following books.

Dark Star: I don’t have plans to actually kill anybody right now, I was just wondering what you guys thought. Nice idea about one of the good guys being turned to evil, but can we turn him back to good again is the real question?

Braden Cox: I don’t like to put my home address online, so it would be hard for you to mail me books and have me sign them and mail them back. It’s also expensive to do this, and then there’s always a chance things will get lost or damaged in the mail. Not the best of idea. If you don’t live somewhere close, where you can come to a signing, your best bet for signed books is something I mentioned one or two posts ago. When I do signings at Desert Book stores, you can call the store and ask them to have me sign a book for you and they will ship it to you. Yes, you have to pay for them.

Leedlie: Stonebill… Oh, we weren’t going to talk about anything from Sands just yet… but I’ll say maybe. If we can fit him into a future adventure, or if we need him to help out, he will be back.

Daniel: Not sure how caught up in a war Alex will ever be. He’s done a good job avoiding wars or at least trying to make them short and not too deadly so far. An all out war, well to be honest I hope we can avoid that, but who knows.

Maren: In fact I have a hard time reading the books I’ve written, and I only go back and read parts of them if I can’t remember how something happened. It’s not that I don’t like the books, it’s just that I always want to fix things or change them and I can’t. Yes things have been a bit too easy for Alex so far, and we are working on making his life a lot harder in the future. No, “A Lot Harder”, not just a little be harder. We might even have to… oh, can’t tell you that part just yet.

Adventurer Gal:  I don’t know why you can’t delete your own posts. Something to do with the blog page setting I’d say. I’ll look into it and see if we can change that. In the mean time… well, spell check before you post? I don’t mind bad spelling, I do it all the time when my fingers move faster than my brain. (or was my brain moving faster than my fingers?)

I think that’s all for this time. I will post as soon as I know anything about changing release dates or why things are not being released, or anything else. So until next time, I remain,

Yours in fellowship,

Mark

8 October 2013: Winners, winners, and all like that:

You know, it’s times like this when I wish I could send all of you copies of the latest book. Oh, I suppose I could try, but there are two big problems with that. 1. I don’t have that many copies to give away. 2. I can’t afford postage to places all over the world. Some day, maybe when I make as much money as say Steven King or J.K. Rowling, I’m going to have a contest where everyone who enters gets a book. Now that would be a great contest.

O.K. speaking of the contest, the winners have been chosen via random number. The winners are… #9, #13, and #75. I know you want names and such, but I forgot to ask what names they comment on the blog with, so you won’t know who they are anyway. I have sent notification emails to the lucky winners, and if I don’t hear back from them in say a few days or a week, I’ll pick alternate winners to take their places. (No, really, they were random numbers, I didn’t fudge them or anything, and I don’t think I know any of the winners.) So, until I get some more info back from the winners… and if you’re a winner and reading this make sure and tell me what name you use on the blog, that’s all any of you get to know.

(Man, I wish I did make as much as those famous authors mentioned above. It would be so cool so ship out a hundred or so free books just because.)

What surprised me about this little contest? Mostly I was surprised by how many of you suggested that our friend, Whalen Vankin, might be the best choice to die. You know of course I am not planning on killing anyone at the moment, but that might change as the stories go on. Killing off characters that I like is at least as hard for me as it is for you, so maybe we’ll let them all live happily ever after, and only kill off new people that we don’t know so well.  (Don’t tell my editor I said that.)

Another surprise is how many of you want Tara from the land of Kess to come back. I think I mentioned this once, maybe a long time ago, but I did write a story that included Tara and the land of Kess. The book was going to be called, “The Madness of Lazbo” and if I remember right it would go somewhere between “Albrek’s Tomb”, and what is now going to be book 5, which I can’t tell you the title of. I don’t remember if it was before or after Sands. Well, that story doesn’t fit into the overall plan any more, but maybe we can sneak some of it in just so you all get to find out what happens to Tara. (It’s nothing bad, honest.)

O.K. so this contest is done, but I think we’ll have another one when I get my free copies of the audio CD’s. Not sure when they will turn up, but I’m guessing in the next week or two so keep your eyes open for the next giveaway.

Now, a few questions:

Adventurer Gal: I’m thinking now more than ever how big a part Alex’s love interest will play in future adventures. She does show up in book five, but I was thinking of keeping her mostly in the background, at least until the end. Your comment about “Bond” girls makes me think that maybe she should have a more active part to play. (This is going to take some serious thought and I’m not sure what will happen yet.) Your second question asks if Salindor has anything to do with the Necromancer ordeal. I ask myself, “Salindor?” Of course I think you mean the dragon, Salinor, but you might be thinking for Sindar the elf. Sindar is part of the order of Malgor, which you learn a lot more about in Sands, and Salinor is a dragon and has nothing at all to do with the order.  As for Bane and the shadow, I’m not sure. I did have a plan for the final confrontation between paladin and shadow, but now I’m not sure if I can fit it into any of the future stories. I’ll try, but no promises. Alex’s dad was just an adventurer, no connection to Mog.

E-Books: Several of you have asked about when they will show up, and the answer is, I don’t know. I would imagine soon but I haven’t heard anything about it. I know it doesn’t take a lot to put out the e-books, but I wonder if Amazon and B&N will release them before the Nov. 5 date??? They should if they are available, but I don’t know what they will do. Sorry, and I’ll try to find out.

Iollenia Galonodel: We’re good and you don’t sound ungrateful, just eager. If I missed one of your questions please post it again and I’ll try to answer it for you.

David: I know that pushing things too fast leads to mistakes. I’m not going to take the blame, as I trust my editor(s) to fix those for me before things go out. Yes, I know there have been some in the other books, and I bet there are some in Sands as well. I know the publisher keeps track of them so they can fix them when they do the paperbacks or reprints. Sorry, not sure who you can send them to at the present time.

Porter Rocks: As I mention above, there was an adventure in Kess but it doesn’t fit in any more. We may still make it to Kess, but I can’t promise anything at this time.

Haley: Glad you enjoyed the book. You have now discovered the problem with getting Sands before anybody else. You can’t ask your questions, and now you have another year to wait before the next book comes out. Sorry about that, but I will try to get it out as soon as I possibly can.

Rebecca: Yes, there are other magical adventurers besides wizards and seers. We might just have a few show up in future adventure, but I’m not ready to tell you what they are yet. Most, I think, will at least look like humans even if they aren’t. No plans for underwater adventures, but I think we will have at least some sea travel in the future. Sea monsters, and other such things are possible as well.

Adventurer Gal: You know, I’ve never really thought about adding someone into the company that Alex just doesn’t like. Interesting idea, and I’ll have to think about it before putting together the next party of adventurers.  Thanks

Taylor:  Alex normally tells people he meets that he is a wizard, unless he has some very good reason not to. Most people both fear and respect wizards, so it’s not a problem, but there are times when telling people he is a wizard could lead to trouble. People who know much about wizards might guess he is one, because he does carry his staff.

And finally-

David: Well, yes. Josephus Sebastian Savage is a reference to my friend, J. Scott Savage. As a matter of fact I was at a writers conference last year and Mr. Savage said to me, “When am I going to get a guest appearance in one of your books?”  Well, he asked for it, now he’s in the middle of it. Yes, he knows that I included him in the book, and he did approve of the name.  (Now that I think about it, he always went by Joe, but I seem to always call him Savage in the book… how odd.)

Well, that’s it for now my friends, so until next time I remain,

Yours in fellowship,

Mark

Well look what’s here…

As some of you might know, I received a box last week. I was surprised, excited, and a little confused by it. Here is a picture of what is in the box, just so you know.

Why yes, that is a box of book… Sands of Nezza in fact. Now I had to wonder how they got printed so fast and how they were delivered to me so fast as well. Naturally I emailed my publisher to find out what was going on. The story is that because of high demand they pushed things and got them done quickly… AND… They are shipping the books out now. I’m told that some bookstores could have had them as early as this past weekend. (Wow!) I don’t know what this early shipping of books will mean to your orders from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but I hope it means that they will ship things out sooner than Nov. 5th. So, keep your eyes open when visiting bookstores, as it might just be there if you look.

So, as I have this box of books sitting here, it must be time to give some of them away. I was going to make you answer questions to get into the drawing, but that’s just too much work, so instead of that… O.K. if you want to answer some questions… 1) Which character do you really want to see come back in a future adventure? 2) How many adventurers make up the “right” size company? and 3) Is there a character that you think should die in a future adventure?  (That last one is for my editor who keeps telling me, “Kill them all”.) So, to enter answer or don’t answer these three questions in an email to Bregnest@gmail.com  Only one entry per email address, so don’t just send things in again and again or I’ll just delete them all. Let’s say you have until midnight on Oct. 7th to get them in. That’s a week and a bit away, so start thinking of answers. (Yes, the copies will be signed and I will put mostly whatever you want me to when I sign it. At least three copies will be given away, but if there are a lot more entries than I’m planning on I will add more books to the giveaway.)

Ah, another thing quickly before we move to questions. Many of you have asked how to get signed copies of the book. Showing up at book signings isn’t practical as you might live a long way way from where I’m signing books, and I never seem to show up in your part of the world. Right… I’ve found a solution. Normally when I go out signing I stop at several Deseret Book Stores on the way. I’ve talked with the good people at Deseret Book, and they tell me that if you call them and buy the book from them (The store I’m going to be signing at that is), they will have me sign a book while I’m there and then ship it to you. So there’s one way you can get a signed book without having to fly to Utah. I think Deseret Book normally charges full cover price (unlike those online places), and shipping is seven or eight dollars. So a bit more expensive but it will be signed. When I know when I’ll be signing and where I will post it, and I will try to include the phone numbers of Deseret Book stores so you know where to call.

Tallonis: Will Alex ever stay a dragon?… well that would be telling, and I’m not going to say just yet as I haven’t decided.

Emma: Building a team to go on your adventure isn’t as hard as it might seem. Think of what kind of people you need. Soldiers, Body Guard, someone who knows the land they will be traveling through, someone who can do magic, a healer maybe. O.K. some might turn out to be bad, or at least not completely good, so they can disappear quickly or maybe hang around and nobody knows if they are good or bad or just hanging around. Wow, look you’ve got five or six more characters now.

Rhyme90: Nope, I don’t own a T.V. I don’t really keep up with current events, but when I take an interest there is always the internet. True Silver dragons are special, and I’ll explain more in future stories. If at the end you don’t get it I’ll explain that as well. I like the idea of Dungeons and Dragons, but I’ve never played the real game. I do, sometimes unfortunately, play World of Warcraft.

Dracoxis: Yes, as every land is a planet, or at least most of them are (we won’t go into the Goval/Goval minor question), spaceships and such from Earth could land there if they could travel that far. As far as where you can get to through Mr. Clutters’ shop… I’m not completely sure, I’ll have to ask about that.

Adventurer gal: Well yes, Alex will have a love interest. Not sure if she will be a “Bond” girl, not sure what you mean by “amorous intrigue”, but well… I’m still working on that. She will appear in book five, and maybe, or maybe not, in the rest of the series as well. She will at least be mentioned in the rest of the series but I don’t know yet how big a role she will play… Something big at the end I think.

Dark Star: A whole constellation?  Not sure what I’d call it, but I think it would look something like a dragon, or at least a dragon’s head. Maybe “Maltor the dragon” in memory of the first ancient dragon known… or not.

Porter Rocks: Ah, now I understand your question. I think there could be a quest where only certain races could go, but I don’t know if Alex will be part of one of those. Also, there are already evil races, like goblins, trolls, giants (mostly evil but maybe not all), gargoyles (again mostly), and so on. Will one of these races play a big part in a future adventure… I don’t think so but maybe.

Haley: Thanks for the Groucho quote. Ya gotta love that guy.

Lucas: Your idea about a possessed geeb is a good one, but the geeb would only enter Alex’s bag to deliver a message, so Alex would be there and able to fight off anyone who had possessed the geeb. Also, just so you won’t worry too much, geebs are magical creatures and not so easy to take control of. Besides… how would anyone know that Alex told the geebs they could enter his bag?

Braden: I like the idea of portals leading to different planets and someone getting stuck because one portal gets destroyed. You could get very confused with so many portals, and I wonder… does someone have like a master map of where all the portals go? Could you find an alternate route home if you had the master map? Oh, you might have to go to a lot of not so nice worlds and then find the alternate portals to get back, but would that work? Just thinking finding an alternate way home, even if it means visiting several other planets, might be easier than learning how to make portals or finding the people who made them all in the first place.

Adventure gal: The watches will turn up again, Alex will learn more about what they are and what they really do. It does not happen in Nezza, but it will.

Rhyme90: And you said you weren’t any good at reading between the lines. Yes, the geeb in the first chapter of Sands does not give Alex change after getting paid. I don’t think the journey to Nezza is really dangerous for the geeb, but the geebs don’t like going to Nezza because there are and have been so many wars there. As for the Wizard oath question… it is possible but I don’t have any plans for that to happen. I’ll have to think about that some more. Finally, I believe Alex might learn how to ad rooms to magic bags at some point, but I’m not sure it would fit into a story so it may never get mentioned.

Iollenia Galonodel: You’ve got it. I have no plans to make Alex’s romance all “lovey-dovey”.  O.K. he may go a bit stupid when he meets this hottie, he may stutter and feel confused, but not “lovey-dovey” crap.  Now… um. Ah classes of characters. I think there might be a few more added before we get to the end. Rogue springs to mind, or at least a rogue like character, though I might not use the name rogue. Maybe a monk… not sure how that will work or what power I will give the monk if I add one.

Bell: Ah, the order of Malgor. You are correct in your guess, it is both good and evil, or at least it is now. You will find out more about the order and what has happened to it in Sands.

Richard:  I’m not going to say the series is “unpopular”, but maybe not as popular as others. This may have something to do with people not knowing about it. Maybe if my publisher spent more money advertizing it or something things would change. For now, I will count on you loyal readers to spread the word to others who like this kind of story.

Adventure Gal: My, my, you do have a lot of questions. No, Alex is not Merlin and he is not the trainer for Merlin. Merlin doesn’t come into it at all… however, now that you’ve made me think about it… I could ad a reference to Merlin in a future story, maybe a clue that Alex needs to solve some puzzle and find a lost item that he needs to complete the adventure.  (Dang, I gotta make some notes now… be right back.)

cornflower 9909: Feel free to do fan art if you like. I don’t know deviant-art.com, but I’d love to see anything adventure related that you choose to share.

weresmydragon: No, I have never used a random username to talk with fans anonymously. I have a few times used the name Whalen Vankin to post on the blog, but I think I told people it was me.

David: Savage has been poked and he says, “Thank you”.  Don’t know if he’ll get back up to speed, but he does know you’re waiting.

Taylor: Ah, the bags. Yes, that was a good idea, no I don’t have any kind of list of what kind of rooms a bag might have. I think almost anything would work, but I’m sure there is a size limit somewhere. I notice that there haven’t been any, “Outside” like rooms yet, and I’m not sure how that would work, but I’ll think about it. Yes, Alex’s Father’s bag is a place of great interest. It doesn’t get mentioned much because my editor tend to make me stay on track and not wonder off to say what Alex has found in his fathers bag. You also don’t really merge bags, so I don’t think Alex will ever merge his bag and his father’s bag into one big bag. I have considered writing an “Adventurers Handbook”, but my publisher isn’t too hot on the idea. They say sales need to be about double what they are now for something like that to be worth the time and money. It seems that such books do not sell well. We might, however, do an ebook version, but only time will tell.

seven of seven: No, I’m not Catholic.

Haley: And anyone else having trouble reading the first chapter from the web-site. I think I know what your problem is. I believe that the file is in Adobe reader format, and if you don’t have Adobe reader loaded on your computer it won’t come up right. It’s a free download from Apple, so you might try loading it if you are still having problems. (I think you can search for Adobe Reader and find what you need.)

Adventure gal: Yes, I can watch Dr. Who online, and sometimes I do.

Dark Star: I’ve always been interested in writing, and it seems that most of the short stories I try to write grow into something much larger than I thought they would be. So, having a giant pile of partly finished stories, and a brother who’s an English professor and also a writer… well, things kind of got going.  I’m not sure that I’m the “Perfect Writer” you are thinking of, but it helps that I am a storyteller. If you can tell a story well, that’s half the battle. The books, as I see them, are stories I want to know. That sounds strange, of course I know the story, I wrote it… however, I didn’t know the story until I wrote it. I had to sit down and figure it out. I don’t think of them as man vs. man or anything like that. I just want to figure out how the stories goes and how it ends up. Finally, Yes. I often find myself wanting to write and write and I can’t stop to eat or sleep or anything. That normally only lasts a day or two, then I have to eat and sleep, and then… more writing. (I need to know how this story ends!)

Braden Cox:  Try rebooting. You seem to have a system fault at the moment.

Andrew: Yes, in Horn that was a true Shaman. I thought I’d made that clear, but a lot of people have asked so maybe something got edited out that I didn’t notice.  And, finally, Alex doesn’t often take his dragon shape to travel places because, 1) Most people are terrified of dragons, and 2) He does want to keep the fact that he can become a dragon a secret. It just won’t do changing where people will notice. Gotta do it when you’re out of sight, not likely to be seen, except by those you want to see you, and where you aren’t going to get a lot of questions about where that dragon came from and what can you do about it.

Right, I think that’s it. I will just add, before I go to bed tonight, that Sands is a bit different that the other adventures we’ve been on. It happens fast, and I hope I included enough explanations for everyone. Let me know what you think when you read it. I’m dying to know.

So until next time, I remain yours in fellowship

-Mark

 

17 Sept. 2013: The Dungeon Master has fixed the problem.

Well finally.  I got word to my dungeon master and the first chapter is now up on the Adventurers Wanted site. Some of you have already seen it, as I think it was up last Friday on the Shadow Mountain site as well. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, you can find it on the Shadow Mountain site by going here:  http://www.shadowmountain.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Adventurers-Wanted-bk-4-ch-1.pdf  OR on the Adventurers wanted site by going here: http://www.adventurerswanted.com/_pdfs/aw-book4-excerpt.pdf

Hope both of those links work.  I’ll try to test them before I post this, just to make sure.

Well, now that the problems with chapter one being up are fix… I think there were some questions that needed to be answered. Um…

Brian: On the idea of short stories about different characters from the Adventurers Wanted series… Yes, I have thought about it but I’m not sure if it will happen or not. I was working on a collection of shorts called, “Tales of Whalen Vankin”.  It kind of stalled out and I don’t know if I’ll get it going again or not. We’ll have to see what happens, but it is possible.

Rhyme 90: And everybody else thinking about pets for Alex. I’ve thought about this several times, and I keep changing my mind from yes to no and back again. I don’t know if Alex will every really get a “Pet”. In “Sands” Alex does get a sort of pet/helper/familiar… I personally think of him as a friend/helper but you all might get different ideas when you read the story. Let me know what you think when it does finally come out.

Bartender: My original plan for Adventurers Wanted was an ongoing series of adventures with no fix end.  Alex would be in most if not all of the stories and different adventurers would come and go and come back again. The publisher didn’t like the idea and told me I needed an overall story arc for the series and a limited number of books. My suggestion of twenty-seven books didn’t work, so that’s where we are with that. Posters would be cool, but as I’ve said in the past my drawing skills are limited mostly to stick figures. We did get posters of the cover of Slathbog’s Gold, but that’s the only one we’ve done a poster for so far.

PorterRocks:  I’m not sure what you are really asking here??? race/magical exceptions restricted???  Um… I think I’ll say no, but on the other hand, it might happen.

David: The information giving by other posters is correct. Shadow Mountains web-site does list how to submit to them, and I will point out that they are one of the few publishers who will accept manuscripts from authors and do not require that you have an agent. That’s one of the reasons I submitted to them.  (Agent… I ought to look into that one of these days.)  (Thanks to Tallonis for posting the web-site info.)

Daniel: Lots of small or a few large battles?  I guess it would depend on the book, or rather on the story you want to tell. You could get away with no large battles at all if you really wanted to. There has to be conflict of course, but that doesn’t mean there has to be a lot of destruction and giant battles or even any battles at all. (Well, small personal battles and one on one or something stuff.) I really can’t say which is better because both work. It all depends on the story you want to tell, which means I can’t say which will work better for you.  (Gee, that’s kind of a worthless answer.  Sorry about that.)

Haley: Lots of characters can be a good thing, but then you will find that many editors and some authors who give advice on how to make your story better, will say, “Kill Them”.   Yes, that hurts and you don’t want to, but sooner or later some of your characters are going to die. Oh, and if it is a really cool evil character, you might feel bad but not cry when he/she dies.

Branden: Did you find the information you need to send your letter? Post and let me know, and if you can’t find the address for Shadow Mountain I’ll post it for you. If you need a reply back for your school project, well… look at what I suggest in the comments of the last post.   – Go Cheese!

Jacob: Good advice that. I always make lists of characters when I’m writing. I do it just to make sure I don’t change names along the way or mix things up. Also, Yes, take some time off before editing. You will find things you never noticed before if you are willing to take a few weeks or even a few months off after writing something and before editing it.

Daniel: Yes, the dagger would pair well with a sword. I don’t think Alex will get a shield, and if he does it will be for some special reason and not something he’ll carry around all the time with him.

Jared: How do I start writing a book?  Well, most of the time I start with the story, or at least some piece of the story. I might start with something like… The seasons had changed. Winter was getting longer each year, and crops no longer had time to grow before the cold returned. – Solution: Someone has to go into the mountains and find the Mountain King, and then ask him to fix the trouble with the seasons. Problem: Everyone who has ever gone looking for the Mountain King has never come back or been heard of again. Now, who’s going? Why are they going? Are they going willingly or are they being forced? Oh, there are lots of questions. Now, what does the world look like? How big are these mountains where the Mountain King lives? What kinds of creatures live int he mountains? Right, that’s enough of that. Yes, this is a real story that I’ve been thinking about but haven’t gotten very far with yet. That’s the big answer to your questions. The short answer to your question is simple but you have to think about it for a bit if you really want to get what I’m saying. Ready?  How do you start writing a book? One word at a time. (Be careful to choose the right words.)

Fred: Of course I like Dr. Who… But I will confess I’ve only ever watched the old BBC ones and have not seen the new stuff. Part of the reason for that is… I don’t own a T.V.  I don’t own a T.V. by choice, so don’t panic.

Richard: I don’t think I’ll mix any Sci-Fi in with the Adventurers Wanted, but yes, there will be romance int he future.

Tyler: I don’t know if Alex will ever see a Durnlow, but he might.

Rebecca: Wow, you’ve put a lot of thought into this dragon question and colors matching with powers and elements. I know in some stories the color of the dragon can determine what powers they have and if they are good or evil. I honestly don’t know. I’m sure some dragon’s can breath ice or at least super cold breath, and some may have more control over different elements than others… but I’m not sure that has anything to do with what color they are. I’ll have to think about that. So far, the only “Special” type of dragon I’ve included is the “True Silver” dragon.  Yes, you will learn more about this as the series continues.

BookAddiction: If I had to pick a creature for a pet what would it be?  Um… I’m not sure. I, personally like tigers and would love to have one as a pet, if I could be sure it wouldn’t eat me that is. For Alex, a big pet could be a problem on adventures unless it could vanish or change shape or something. Maybe something small and smart, something that could be a pet/familiar. I don’t really know, I do like the creature that helps Alex in Sands, but I’m not saying what it is, so you’ll have to wait and see what you think.

Right, I think that’s it for this time, so until next time:

I remain yours in fellowship,

Mark

 

28 August 2013: And now… um, I forgot.

So I’ve been trying to get this done for the last few days and now finally I’m getting it done.  Yes, much sooner than normal, but there were some things I wanted to let you all know. So, as per Shadow Mountain: CD’s and Ebook version of Sands of Nezza are supposed to be released the same day as the hard back book. Nov. 5 is the day and everything should be good to go on that day. (Or so I’m told.)  The first chapter of Sands of Nezza up on the Website: They are going to try and have it up by the end of this month, so in just a few more days. There was talk about sending a gang of goblins to the web developers area to make sure that gets done, so let’s hope they don’t hurt him too much or it might be delayed. Also, the title to book 5… No, I’m not giving it out yet. First of all, I don’t want to say before Sand’s actually comes out, but there is another reason as well. Shadow Mountain doesn’t want to commit to a title for book five until they have actually read book five. (Silly people.) So, until I finish up writing book five and submit it for approval, the title is up in the air.  Oh, there have been a few changes to the web-site, and there should be a few more to the blog page in the near future. Nothing dangerous.

So, questions:

Rhyme90: Yes, Dar Losh, or Dragonfire will be Alex’s new horse. He is a palomino horse, not a black horse. Palomino’s are golden in color with almost white mane and tail. Not sure if Dragonfire can replace Shahree, but he is a very smart horse and will be a good companion for Alex.

Jacob: No, I don’t actually listen to the CD version of the books. The reader is outstanding, or so I’ve been told, but the voices aren’t the same as the ones in my head, so it just annoys me. The truth is, the only book I’ve ever listened to, was “The Screwtape Letters” read by John Cleese. It was great!

Dark Star: Tell Thor he will just have to wait like everyone else. Sorry kitty.

Grizzle: I don’t think Alex will make it back to Vargland in the series, but I like the think that he will in some future adventure that may or may not ever be written.

Frank: I don’t think it will be available in Belgium. You can order from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, off the internet, or I think from Deseret Book, but I don’t believe there are any distribution plans for anywhere in Europe.

Jessieb: The familiar questions comes up a lot. I don’t know, he hasn’t so far. I’m still of two minds on the subject so we’ll have to wait and see.

destrocter: I never thought of it that way… and now that you mention it, things do happen fast in Sand of Nezza and I may have left out a lot of discriptions, especilly of people, as I rewrote so much of it. Now there are reasons, and not all of them are editors. Sometimes I figure you know what some types of people will look like, or some kinds of places. Also, I like to let you create what some people look like for yourself. Yes, I do this when I read. Ah, this character looks like… I’ll try to include more discriptions and such when we get to book 5.

Jacob: Thanks for the inside information on the publisher business. Yes, it is a business and they do need to make money. My problems with the current cover are not major, most of it is correct, so it will remain as is. Also you are correct about a lot of details and letting people use their own imagiantions. It is a fine line, not enough detail and people don’t see the story. Too much detail and the story slows down and people get bored. I’ll try to stay balanced as we go forward.

David: I would say that your library hold request will expire well before they get Sands of Nezza. Sorry about that. Nov. 5 is the actual release date.

Evangeline: I don’t actually target an age group when I write the books. I think the publisher might have some target group in mind, but I don’t know what that is. I know that I have heard from readers as young as eight and as old as eighty-five, so I think something must be right. I write it for anyone who likes fantasy adventure, I don’t care how old or young you are. I read what I like and I don’t care if it isn’t for my “Age Group”.  Read what you like, that’s what I do.

Arconn: I like the basic story idea you have come up with here, but I will echo what others have said on the blog. Be careful of the names, things like Titans can be connected to other stories and publishers can be a bit shy about that. (Note on the fact that I had to remove the name, “Elementals” from Sands.) Oh, and a pet peeve of mine, never, never start a sentence in regular text with a conjunction.  (You can get away with it sometimes in dialog.)

Joseph: No other books or series yet, but I do have a few I’m trying to work on and get finished. I’ll let you know when something happens there.

Fred: No, I’m not telling what question seven is and I’m not going to mention it again, ever.

Zara: No, not just anybody can buy a magic bag, even though I’d love to have at least one. Adventurers, wizards, and a few others, mostly magical people. Normal people, no magic bags for you. (Man, that kinda sucks.)

Daniel: Thanks for pointing out the names for Arconn should be short and easy to pronounce. I’ve seen a number of stories from friends and fellow writers, and hard to pronounce, difficult to read, and long names always mess the story up for me. I spend too much time thinking, “Who is this now?  What was this guys name?” stuff like that.

Makuta: Call me Mark, as that’s my name. No, dragon’s do not become adventurers. (Of course now that you’ve mentioned it… well, maybe one could be but I can’t think of why they would.)  Wait, Alex is a dragon and an adventurer, so Yes… but not the way you are thinking about it.

Poncho: Sadly, I don’t think we will see Kat again in the series. Too bad, I really liked her.

Ethan: Guns in a magical world?  Madness.  The real reason is, as I’ve seen in several other stories and series, that technology and magic don’t really get along. Magic messes up technology, and technology tends to kill off magic. That’s just the way things work, so if you start bringing guns and other tech stuff into magical worlds, either the tech stuff won’t work or the magic will start to fade away. (O.K. I’ll admit that I am considering a world where magic and some modern weapons might co-exist. Also the idea of magical hand grenades appeals to me but I’m not sure why.)

Jacob: Yes, I saw that episode of Myth Busters as well.  That was great, but the duck tape cannon was even better.

Tallonis: Share away.  OH!  Yes, I do like Cheese.  Who said that?

Daniel: Yes, dragons come in all colors, even some colors you’ve never thought about. True silver dragons are special, and if you read close and maybe a little between the lines, you’ll see or learn what is special about true silver dragons. If you don’t figure it out now, well, you’ll find out by the time we get to the end of the series.

And I think that’s it for this time. So until next time, when hopefully you’ve all had a chance to read chapter one of Sand of Nezza, I remain yours in fellowship -

Mark

 

15 August 2013: The Big Blog Catch-up Blog

Yes, it’s time to try and catch up, but first…

Final edits and fixes on Sands of Nezza are done. My editor will be spending a few days putting all the fixes in and then the story will be on its way to the printers. (Hurray!) Now before you go all “Squee” on me, you need to know that printing takes between six and eight weeks. No, there is no way to speed this up, it just takes that long and we all have to live with it. So the books should be printed and ready by mid-October, and then they will ship them out to stores in time for the November release date. Oh, they might start turning up a few days before the “Official” release date, but not by much. So, there’s that done.

Reading Sands this last time I did notice that this book feels different than the first three. Things move faster, there isn’t a lot of time given to history or back story or extra details about different characters. Sorry about that to those of you who want more of that kind of thing, there just wasn’t time. Unlike Alex’s previous adventures, which took a year to eighteen months to finish, this adventure all happens in something like four to six months. (Yes, things are moving fast.) I like the story as it is now, and I hope you will all like it as well. (You’ll have to let me know once it comes out.) I should also point out a couple of things here. 1. Editors, for the most part, hate it when you go off on some tangent explaining things about the world you’re in, or why some characters act the way they do, or whatever if it doesn’t directly impact the story. (The current story that’s being told, not the massive story of the universe.) So something that happened a hundred years ago, no matter how cool it was, gets cut by the editor unless it is really important for the readers to know about it. 2. My publisher starts to get nervous when I write stories that might be longer than say, 400 pages. Yes, there is a reason, and that reason is cost. They don’t want to raise the price of the books, and if I go to 400 hundred pages or more they might have to raise the price of the book. Oh, they’ll let me do it if the story really needs to be that long, but they will also try to cut it down while editing so that it is closer to 400 pages. Sands… well I think we ended up at about 380 pages or something like that.

Finally, before we get to questions, I’ll try to find out on release dates for e-books. Normally they come out about the same time as the hard back, sometimes it’s a week later. Audio CD’s are like e-books. I know they will be recording the CD’s in September, and I’m sure they will try to have them out near the book release date, but I can’t be sure they will. I will also try to push for getting the first chapter of sands up on the web-site as soon as possible now that it is done, and I’ll let you all know when it is there, if they tell me. Is there anything else I need to ask the publisher about? No, it is way to early to ask about the release date for book 5 of the series. I’m hoping we can get it done and out late next year, like October or November, but there’s know way to know right now. Part of the next book’s release date will have to do with how well Sands of Nezza sells. (Publishers are in the business of making money after all.)

Right then, let’s answer some questions. Questions… O.K. I have one more thing I’d like to say and it is about questions. Hey, I love to answer questions, I enjoy letting you all know why things are they way they are and all the little details about how things really work. Well, mostly I love it, but not always. Some questions I’m just not going to answer. Some questions you need to answer for yourselves. Sometimes I’m going to leave the answers up to you, so the answer can be whatever you want it to be and that’s just fine with me. Also, I hope that all of you read each others posts, because a lot of answers turn up there and that means I don’t have to answer those questions… that’s a good thing as it gives me more time to work on other things. O.K. enough said. If you’re question doesn’t get answered of even mentioned… feel free to makeup your own answer.

Kevin: I don’t know if Alex will come across any other weapons/armor made by dark elves. I haven’t written that far yet.  Salinor is the oldest living dragon, but strongest?  I would say he is one of the strongest, but the strongest, I’m not sure.

Elmore: Yes, Alex will meet other dragons.

Daniel: On Alex’s true silver dagger and that fact that it hasn’t ever been used. Yea, I know, kinda silly. I did have him use it to great effect in the original version of “Horn of Moran”, but that got changed in the editing process. (He used to to fight off some goblins that were trying to capture him while asleep and he couldn’t reach Moon Slayer.) I also had him use it in an early version of Sand of Nezza, he was going to cut his way through a magical barrier, but that also got changed in editing. I’ll see if I can find something else for him to use it on in the future.

Elmore: Story Line for “Seeds of Power”… the really short version: Child raised by a dragon must return to the world of humans to discover his place in the world and find whatever is left of his family. Oh, there’s a lot more going on than just that, but I said the really short version.

Jacob Meyers: Monster book?  Um… let me go look.  “The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures”.  I found it on the discount table at my local Barnes and Noble a few years back.

Tara of Kess: Yes, you find out what the ring from book one is in Sands. No, it is not what you think it is. No, Alex does not become a member of the Order of Malgor, wizards aren’t allowed to join.

Tara & Daniel: Alex will become the mentor for the next guardian of the Tower of the Moon in Norsland. No, it probably won’t happen in the series because there just isn’t time. (Hey, the kid isn’t even born yet.)

Rebecca: I don’t know if there will or will not be animal-type human things. Maybe, but I haven’t written that far yet or even planned that far yet.  As for how I write my stories/books/ideas. Most of the books have started on paper as ideas and really rough outlines. I don’t do much of the outline thing, or I haven’t so far even though I can see how useful it might be. The books have been a few pages of hand written ideas that then get moved to the computer and typed. Do what works best for you, but remember that at some point you will have to type your stories before you can send them to agents and publishers.

Thank you Jacob Meyers for the writing tips and things to avoid. It’s not just new writers that run into these problems, we all do from time to time. (Using the style or trying to write like an author that you like to read is a great way to help build and develop your own voice. Do not take their ideas and claim them as your own or you will get in trouble, but try to make your stories sound or read like the ones you like to read. I tend to mix styles from several different authors I like to read.)

Elmore, dang it!  For the last time, I will not tell you people how to summon a geeb. The last thing we need is for the geebs to be annoyed by a bunch of people summoning them and then having no message to send and no gems to pay them with.  No, I won’t be responsible for that.

Eve: Alex and highschool??? O.K. I can tell the truth. I never really thought about it. Yea, kind of stupid on my part, so I guess he graduated early, or something? I know he went to school, but dang, I didn’t think of that.

C. Mist: I think he might have? Well, maybe he has and maybe he hasn’t, but things will become more difficult for him in the future. I know in Sands he will run into things he can’t do, but only because he can’t be in two places at one time… no, I’m not going to explain that.

Tallonis: Hellerash.  (Man, I hate those things.)

Rhyme90: No, Alex’s mom was not an adventurer. I did have some back story about her as well, at the start of Albrek’s Tomb, but like so many things, it got edited out. (hmmm… where did I put that bit?)  Oh, and no, I’m not allowed to tell the the title of book 5, at least not yet. I’ll add that to the list of things to ask the publisher.  Oh, as I remember just now… Cover Art.  Yes, it is the same artist for Sands who has done all the books. Yes, Alex looks different every time and I’m not sure I’ve been 100% happy with any of the looks. I do like the cover, and even the bits I don’t like will not be changed. Yes, I asked. – Oh, I did love the cover to Slathbog’s Gold, but as only a dragon appears that was easy.

Zach:  Dragon in human form?  I don’t know, maybe. No, not everyone with magic can talk telepathically, but Alex can push his own words/thoughts/voice into just about anybodies mind. So if he needed to tell someone to duck but couldn’t shout, he could do that.

Steven: No, you probably won’t get Alex’s family tree. I doubt that you’ll ever learn what Alex’s father has done on adventures, though I’m sure Alex knows at least some of what his father did. -Goes back to that editor thing. Nothing that doesn’t directly impact the story gets in, unless I’m really sneaky about it.

Braden Cox: Alex can’t take a gun into the known lands. The magical barrier that keeps most people out of the known lands would change it into something else. Same goes for hand grenades, bombs, electronic devices, etc. I am thinking of having an adventure in a land/world where some of those things could work in a mostly magical world, but that’s in the future and I’m not sure if it will happen yet.

Kittalia:  No, I don’t know yet how old Alex will be at the end of the series. I could make a guess, but it all depends on what happens in the next four books. (hmmm… how old will he be?) As for writing that part of the story that you don’t like writing… you could try this. Write, “Something awesome happens here”.  Then leave it and move on with the rest of the story. Come back later when you know what the awesome something is and then write it. (Or something Terrible, something romantic, whatever.) If you write it now and hate writing it, well, it won’t be as good as it should be.  Unless of course you hate writing it because it’s just a very hard/emotional bit of the story that you really don’t want to happen even though you know it has to happen. In that case, write it now, ignore it for a time, then come back and fix it later to include all the impact it needs to have. (Fast outline chapter saying what needs to happen and some details but not trying to write it all out at one time.)

Elmore: What black horse at the end of Albrek’s Tomb???

Dan: How do you know Mr. Roberts settled/retired to an unknown land? It might be that he lives in a lesser known land, or at least that’s the way I think of it. Oh, and just so you know, there are not many adventurers, never have been, and almost no adventurers from little known or unknown lands. They don’t know about adventures, so why would they need adventurers?

Aaron: O.K. so the whole Goval/Goval minor thing makes it impossible for each land to be a world. (Hmmm… did I spell Goval and Goval minor correctly?) Well, Goval or the Govals are the exception to the rule. That land is divided by 1. A nasty wasteland where the old wars were fought. The wastelands are super desert like with plenty of nasty creatures wandering around them so nobody is willing to try to cross from Goval to Goval minor. 2. Magic and magical barriers that prevent anything from one part of Goval from going into the other part of Goval. There, happy? All the other lands are there own worlds, unless of course I decide that they are not. ;-P

J-gent: Well there kind of has to be an ultimate showdown at the end, or at least I think there does.

How can I not be done answering questions yet???

Science101: Giants and giant races… Hmmmm… I gotta go with giant type creatures normally being kind of dumb, but I suppose it could happen. Again, I can’t say because I haven’t written the rest of the books yet. Who knows what I’ll put in them? I don’t.

Rhyme90 and the rest of you all:  Wizard/mage/witch/warlock/sorcerer/shaman/druid/whatever.  There are no rules about which is most powerful, most wise, most evil, anything like that. It all depends on the story you are reading and the author who wrote it. I’ve read books were mage and wizard mean the same thing, and others where they are very different things. In Adventurers Wanted I don’t think I’ve used the term mage or even magi, and wizards are the top of the magical world in power, even if they happen to be dark wizards. Take your pick, make up your own rules, but don’t expect everyone to agree with you.

Your#!fanon- too much to type, sorry.  Signing in Salt Lake City? Yes, I’m sure that can be arranged… in fact I will be signing at Comic Con in Salt Lake this… oh, when was that? September.  I don’t have all the details just yet, but Shadow Mountain will have a booth there and I’ll be signing on the Saturday.  I’ll post when I find out more.

Elmore: Sorry, no the 4th bag is not returned in Sands of Nezza.  Man, I gotta make time to get all those bags returned one of these days.

Random Person: Merlin was no Warlock, he was a wizard. He was only the greatest and most powerful to ever live in our world, and even at that, no, I don’t think he will ever be mentioned in Adventurers Wanted.  (Well he wasn’t going to be, but now you’ve made me think about it…)

Poncho:  Don’t know if I will make it to Portland, but I’d like to.

Stephen: Rooms in bags?  Well, most new bags come with three or four rooms. One room is normally modified to expand as needed and become the treasure room. The other three rooms can be used for whatever the bag owner needs. Mostly storage of gear and clothes and food. You might have a hard time mapping a bag as magic bags are, well, magic. They allow for what I call magical overlap of space. That means, as a simple example, that different rooms can exist in almost (not exactly) the same space. So, if you have a room with three doors in one wall, and each door leads to another room that is exactly the same size as the room you are in, it works. It’s kind of like having all three rooms stacked on top of each other, first floor, main floor, and basement, except in a magic bag you don’t need a stairway to get between them, just doorways.  Oh, one of the original rooms is called or marked as the “Main” room, where you enter and exit the bag from. You can actually exit the bag from anywhere inside it, but every time you enter you start in the “Main” room.  Hope that helps.

darkangel16 – Pocket dragons? Interesting idea. I was thinking I need to add a librarian of sorts for Alex, and  a pocket or fairy dragon might work for that job. Chimeras? no idea yet.

Jacob: Yes, the road to Bear Lake is a scenic drive, but it’s been years since I’ve gone that way. If that makes you think of the dwarf realm in Thraxon, (did I spell that right?) great. Places like that and others I’ve visited over the years all tend to find their way into the books.

Ankit: The answers have been given. The prince and company were adventurers in Horn of Moran. Their bags were with the treasure that Alex took from the Tower of the Moon. They don’t get mention for that editing/editor reason I’ve mentioned before. Alex has the bags, but I don’t think you will get to see him return them.

And finally: Jacob: Thanks for figuring out the ctrl+f search thingy, and for sharing it. I may need to use that myself to remember what I said about different things and how they work. Or… I can just change my mind and make things work they way they need to when I need them to.

So until next time, I remain yours in fellowship,

-Mark

Over 3000 words, now that’s a monster blog.

 

 

10 August: What is smaller than a bloget ?

Sorry, this is just a short note for you all. The final draft of “Sands of Nezza” turned up the other day, and I have until noon on the 14th to read it and fix it and make it all happy and ready for the printers to print it. Not a lot of time to get through almost 400 pages of text and hope it all works.

I’ll be sure to blog once I get this done and back to the publisher. Yes, I’ll collect all the questions that have not been answered in the last two blogs and try to answer them for you when things aren’t quite so busy.

Sorry for the delay.

Yours in a mad rush of reading and such, – Mark

24 July – The Blog’et: Just the short of it.

Alright, here you go. This is a blog’et, not a real blog or a long blog. This is something to keep you all happy and to let you start counting over from one. News: Sorry, no real news here. I’m waiting for word from my publisher and editor as to what’s happening. The last I heard, late last week, was that I shouldn’t make any changes to anything until I hear from my editor… and, “We are still shooting for the November release date.”

1. Answer for Pinkypye. (nice name by the way.)

Release dates. I don’t set them. I will take some of the heat for the changes and I will explain why. As we approached the original release date in April, I realized that the story just wasn’t right and that I needed to fix it. Oh, there was a complete story and it was ready to go, but it wasn’t right and I’m not sure I can explain what that means. It wasn’t right in my head, it wasn’t as good a story as I wanted it to be, and it just didn’t work for me. So the release got pushed back and I spent two months rewriting the entire book. I think it is much better now and I am happy with it, or I am until I hear from my editor. The August release date??? I don’t know where that came from or who set it. There have been some other issues, nothing to do with the book, that have slowed things down and kept us from moving forward. (No, I’m not going to explain what those issues have been, but they have been serious.) I know how you all feel. I’ve been there, waiting for the next book in a series and going mad while I wait. I’m sorry about that, but we are doing everything we can to make the November date, and we had better make it because I’m also going mad trying to get this book out for all of you. So, Pinkypye, I’m sorry your not happy, but I’m really only the writer and I don’t have much say about release dates.

2. Mage or Wizard?

I think the names are almost interchangeable. Some great stories call them mage, others use wizard. I have one I’m working on where there is a difference, and another where they are the same thing. It depends on the writer of the story and how they see it. If you split things into smaller groups, i.e. battle mage, weather mage, etc. then I would say a wizard is more powerful than either of those. If it just says mage, then to me it is the same as wizard. Also, archmage to me indicates something more than just a mage or wizard. I would think the archmage is like the head mage/wizard of a land. The most powerful mage/wizard in that world. Just my thoughts.

3. On writing:

As I know a lot of you write and want info about writing, I’m including a link here to my friend J. Scott Savage’s blog site. He is currently doing 100 writing tips in 100 days, and we are already to day nine. (I’m also going to say that I’ve been a little surprised that none of you have mentioned his “Farworld” series in books you’ve liked. What is wrong with you people?) Anyway, Jeff  or Scott, you can call him either and he will answer, is a talented writer and his tips will be helpful to anyone who wants to write for either themselves or as a professional. Take a look and let me know what you think. You can also let Jeff know what you think. http://jscottsavage.blogspot.com/   And just a little tease here… Jeff appears in Sands of Nezza under the name of Josephus Sebastian Savage. (I think I spelt that right.)

That it for now, so until next time I will remain busy and yours in fellowship

-Mark

No, I don’t think comments about how much people like Tacos or some other food should count in the number of posts, no matter how much I like Tacos.

10 July – No, the number of comments won’t make me post.

Right, so lets get a couple of things out of the way. First of all, the number of comments on a post isn’t what I look at before I post. So if you want to try and hit a hundred or whatever number, that doesn’t mean I’ll post in reply. (Well, maybe if you hit a thousand, but I’m not sure the blog site will go that high.) Second on my mind, or really first: I am never offended when people rant or grumble or just point out things that they think are wrong. Please feel free to say what you think, you won’t hurt my feelings, and you might help me make things better as we go along. You don’t need to apologize for saying what you think.

Release date: Sorry, I don’t know yet. I think the November 5 date listed on Barnes & Noble is going to be close. It might be available a little sooner than that, but you should plan on Nov. 5. That’s what I’m planning on anyway. Yes, much later than I had hoped, but on the bright side, it will be out in time for Christmas. (Thanksgiving gifts?) I did get a little positive feedback on Sands last week, but I don’t know anything definite yet. I need to make one change which I am working on, and hopefully I’ll know more soon.

I hope that you all read each others comments as we go along here. I see that many of you are being very helpful in answering each others questions, and I appreciate the help.

Oh, and before we move on… Mara? Kell princess?  I think you mean Tara, who is a princess from the land of Kess if I remember right.

Now, let me see. Questions and such:

Rhyme90: (Mr. Monster poster.) On the sending me books to sign, that’s a tough question. There is no easy way to send books to me or for me to return them to you. I wish I could sign books for everyone, but it’s not easy. I don’t want to post my home address for personal reasons, and I don’t have any other address you can send things to. Also, I can’t afford return postage for everybody. Sorry about that, but I’ll try to find a way to work something out.

Jacob Meyers: Interesting idea, Teddy Bear sorters. I don’t think that will make it into the books, but it is an interesting idea.

dtsims14: No, I don’t think Alex will have kids in the series. Yes, he will have kids in the future and I was already thinking of a book called, “Dragon Lords Daughter” or something along those lines. Will it ever be written? I don’t know, but we can hope. As far as movies, video games, etc… that’s not really up to me. If somebody wants to make the books into movies or video games they will have to work with my publisher and see what happens. It would be fun, but I don’t know if it will ever happen. Last of all, maybe. Yes, maybe Alex will get just a normal pet, but I don’t know yet. I’ll think about it.

Tallonis: Djinns or Genies? Maybe. I mean it could happen but I’m not sure where or when I would fit them in. Another one of those questions I’ll have to think about as we move forward. And yes, you are correct, Alex does have a greenhouse in his bag.

Preston: The shadow is not the source of the corruption in the lands, and I haven’t decided yet if it is a pawn of that evil, or a separate evil all together.

Haley: On writing and not adding too much. Yes, that is always a problem. You are writing and say, “Wow, it would be cool if I add this.” Yes, it would be cool, but if you do it too much your story gets too full of cool things and maybe too confusing for anyone to follow. I would suggest outlining your story before you start, something that I’m learning to do myself. Yes, I try to add things and have to stop and say, “Does this really need to be in the story? Does it help the story at all, apart from being one more cool thing?” A basic outline will help. It can be just a one page thing, like a quick synopsis of the story you are trying to write. If you want, you can go further and write out a list of all the chapters with one line telling you what happens in that chapter. Now, I’ll confess, I’m more of a seat of the pants writer. I haven’t outlined much, but while I’m writing my brain is outlining things for me and it has worked out O.K. so far. (Well, once my editor also points out things I went too far with.) Try the outline, but remember, it’s just an outline, you can still change things if you want or need to.

Zach: Many of your questions will be answered in “Sands of Nezza”. One that stands out that won’t be answer in Sands is, “Will Alex learn how to use a sword? Not his magic sword, just a normal sword. The answer is, Yes he will. I believe this will happen in book five, and he has to learn because he can’t carry his magic sword with him. (Nope, not gonna tell you why he can’t carry his magic sword, at least not yet.)

Tyler: Yes, Alex is very serious for his age. Of course, he is getting older now… I’ll have to do the math one of these days. Part of his being so serious is his magic and becoming a wizard, but I think he’s always been a serious person. It might have something to do with being an orphan.

Zach: Someone call themselves back from the wall? I don’t think so, but maybe. I think walking away from the wall and back into the light is more likely, and it probably happens without people knowing how close they were to the wall and death.

Dark Star: Let us know how the books you are working on are going. What are they about? You can’t just say you are writing a series of books and not give us some details.

Ryan: Partial transformation?  Good question that, and I have to say that I’ve thought about it but I’m not sure yet if it will work or not. I’ll keep thinking, and if I can figure out how a partial transformation might work and be of some use, I’ll ad it in.

True Silver Dragon:  Yes, there are a few others that mention this as well so this is for all of you. An adventure on earth. Yes, it is possible. Yes, I have thought about it a lot. Yes, I think it might happen but that it is a few books away, close to the end of the series. Yes, there will be other adventurers with Alex who don’t know how to deal with thinks like cars and air planes and such. If we go there, and I think we will, it should be a lot of fun.

Rebecca: Wow! I can see you’ve been thinking about this a lot. Have you thought about writing your own stories? My own thoughts at the moment are, Vampires probably won’t turn up in the series, and if they do they will be evil. (Just the way I see vampires.) I also think Vampires have been over used in the last few years, so I will probably stay away from them. Were-whatevers? Maybe. I think there are many things that might be considered as were-creatures, and with each type there are different rules to how they act, what makes them change, how smart they are, etc. Not sure if any of them will make it into the series, but it is possible and I will give it some more thought. (No, really… have you thought about writing your own stories?)

Silvertongue: Sorry, didn’t get this done in time for your birthday. Happy Birthday anyway.

Elmore: Just so everyone knows, each land is a planet. They are only connected by the “Great Arch”. Most of the known lands, at least the ones we’ve visited so far, are very much like earth. Why? Because earth like planets are good places for people and things to live.

O.K. Lycanthrope and Lycan and all that. I’ve seen the fictional werewolf called both Lycan and Lycanthropes. (Is that spelled right?) I also know there is a real mental condition that people have where they think they are werewolves and such. I’m not too worried about what you want to call them, be it right or wrong technically, so long as when we talk about werewolves or were-whatevers, everyone knows what we are talking about. (maybe go with skinchanger, but that implies that the person changing has a choice in the change.)

Tallonis: Yes, we will see some sea monsters in the future. I think in more than one book if I remember right. Other, dragon like creatures, maybe.

Nagas: No, Whalen is not from earth, and he is not from Alusia either. I think I say where he’s from in book 5? However, he currently lives in Alusia, or at least he lives there when he’s not off on an adventure.

Daze: The four rooms you didn’t list are the four rooms that were in the original magic bag when Alex bought it. Alex currently uses them for storage. (Dang, gotta look things up… did Alex ever get a cold room? I know he was thinking about it.)

Rhyme90: On the adventure to our world, earth, and why it didn’t happen in book 3, 4, or 5… It didn’t fit in there. When I commented in 2010 about changing things up I didn’t know we were going to be limited to eight (8) books in the series. The books were all going to be stand alone books, with Alex always in them and other characters coming and going with each new adventure. My publisher said, “No, that won’t do.” So I had to come up with a total number of books and an overall story idea for all the books to connect.  Oh, and yes, you will find out what the ring from book one is in book four.

Science 101: I’m gonna go with, who wouldn’t want their own sea monster? I think, however, that Thrang’s adventure was more to keep the monster from doing harm and also to keep harm from coming to the sea monster. Better to capture it and keep it out of harms way, than to try and destroy it and put yourself in harms way.

Fianlly, Haley: I try to find time for other books when I’m writing, but it isn’t always easy. If I’m just writing stories that don’t have deadlines for publication it is a lot easier to find time of other books. When I have to finish something for the publisher, it is hard to find time for almost anything else.

Oh, there were a couple of other things I saw when I read through all the posts that I didn’t notice while writing this. First, the Nagas in book 3. It is not a Naga, it is a Nagas. The one I’m thinking of came from a book of mythological creatures that I have. It is a giant serpent that is used to protect treasure. If no treasure is given to the serpent it will collect treasure on it’s own. It looks like a giant snake, sometimes with a human face but not always, and a sting or spiked tail.

I did mention some other stories I am working on, and the one that someone, sorry I forgot who, mentioned is called, “Seeds of Power”. I’ve actually been trying to work on those books while waiting to hear back from my publisher on “Sands of Nezza.” I know that there are rewrites needed, and I do need to change the end of the first book. If “Seeds” ever goes anywhere I’ll be sure to let you know.

So, until next time, I remain yours in fellowship,

Mark

 

 

1 July – Wow, we hit 100 comments so it’s time to blog again

Really, 100 comments on the last post… You guys are going crazy. As always, thanks for helping to explain things to each other and anyone who might just wander in. Also thanks for all the good book suggestions. My to-read list keeps growing.

So, right up front. No, I don’t know what the official release date for “Sands of Nezza” is going to be. I don’t know if the publisher is happy with the last re-write and fix, or if they are going to ask for more changes and such. I did send them an email on Friday asking where we are and what still needs to be done before we can start printing the books, and I hope to hear back from them this week. (Man, I hope they are happy with the changes I made and don’t want too much more changed.)  I honestly don’t think the August 5th release date that Amazon has online will happen. I know for a fact that once everything is done and happy with writing and edits and such that it takes something like six or eight weeks to print the books. I will post as soon as I have a “Real” release date so you will all know when it is.

So, with that out of the way, Questions:  (Oh, if I missed some from previous posts I’m sorry. If it is something you really need or want to know, re-post it and I’ll try to answer it next time. Some questions don’t get answered because 1. I don’t want you to know that yet. 2. I want you to make up your own mind about how something works or how someone looks. 3. It’s a question I never thought of and I don’t know how to answer it or even if I should. Sorry about number three.)

Science101: Yes, the pyramid on the cover is important to the story, but I’m not telling you why.

Zach: On the “Guardian of the past” question. No. Salinor is the only guardian of the past, but there are other guardians and at some point we might get to meet them. As for Alex mastering other elements, besides fire, I’m not sure. I know he can use them and work with them, but master them… I’ll have to think about that. In this series there are not special names for different levels of wizards and their powers, but less magical people might have different names.

AALivengood: Don’t blush too much. Shadow Mountain setup the sight and when there are problems they are the ones I talk to… well, email, to get them fixed. I don’t think they monitor the site, at least not that close. If you have questions about publishing and what I know, which isn’t everything but I do know somethings, please feel free to email me and we’ll talk. Bregnest@gmail.com. I check that at least 4 or 5 times a week.

Ankit: Dobkin was hexed while working at a smith’s shop, not while he was in the magic bag. There were, at one time, around 20 smithies in the bag, but most of them have found smiths in various lands to go and help. Others will probably come and go as they leave smiths or find new ones to help. Hope that helps.

David: A familiar and what one is:  Hard question as most stories have their own ideas and definitions on familiars. Mostly, familiars are linked to witches and take the shape of some animal. The classic definition is something like a spirit that the witch gives form to, and then the spirit or animal serves the witch in whatever way is needed. (Witches and black cats, that kind of thing.) I’m not sure what type of familiars are in the worlds of Adventurers Wanted. I think there might be different kinds. The black cat of a witch, maybe an imp or little demon for say a warlock… hmmm.  Wizards are sometimes thought to have familiars, but I’m not sure that they do, but we’ll have to wait and see. I think Alex has something like a familiar in Sands, but then not really a familiar at all… now you’ll have to think about that and wait to find out what I mean.

Daniel: Right, guys with spears. Got it and I’ll see what I can do.

Andrew: Alex is the only human that can change into a dragon, so I don’t think anyone else will, at least not in the series. And yes, I believe Alex does get into a single sword fight with someone, but I think that’s in book 5… For!#$% oops, cant revel the title yet.

***TEST READERS*** Yes, it sounds like a super cool, fun job. No, I don’t know how they are chosen, I don’t know if they get paid, and I don’t know if it is a real job or they just find people, probably family members and friends, to read stories and tell them what they think. I think I asked about this once, but I’m not sure the publisher ever gave me a real answer.

Daniel: A familiar might be helpful for spying and sneaking into places to get info and such. They might know things that could be helpful as well, so maybe Alex needs something and maybe he doesn’t.  And: The dark elves were mostly destroyed by evil creatures in the known lands. They didn’t like the magical true silver weapons and armor that the dark elves made and sometimes sold or gave away to other races, so they tried to get rid of the dark elves.

Jacob Meyers: Thanks for the input on familiars. Yes, I think I do favor the hybrid model for familiars, but I’m just not sure about them at this time.

Zach: Yes, there are some things more powerful than dragons, and people don’t classify them because most people don’t even know they exist. I think, however, that most people would think of these “Things” as good, because most dragons are considered bad.  Also, I don’t have any plans for someone to gain magical power from one of the “Special” books, but it is a thought.  And, in this series at least, magic is all around us, kind of like the force. And yes, I have thought of another series where there is a source of magic that isn’t just everywhere but in a fixed location. (What did I do with that story idea?)

Eve: What Alex looks like in my head may not be what he looks like in your head. I know he’s what, nearly 20 now (depending on how you count years and adventures and changing age in Mr. Clutter’s shop.) Sandy blond hair, blue-green eyes. He’s normally easy going and smiles freely. No scars or anything like that, and his hair is not a mullet and he doesn’t wear robes, well maybe for a special occasion, but not a big fan of the robe thing. Draw him as you see him in your mind and you should be close.

David: Sorry, no true gold.

BookAddiction: You are welcome. Maybe I should post more often and try to slip in tips and thoughts on writing. I will say that there are two things every writer needs to do. 1.) Read a lot. 2.) Write a lot. If you do those two things you are well on your way.

Daniel: it is possible that Alex will meet some creature that would be considered evil but the one he meets isn’t evil… Wait, he did that already when he met Salinor.  Most people consider dragons as evil, because most of them are, but Salinor isn’t.

Zach: Alex is the only human who can turn into a dragon. Dragons can, if they want, take a human form. Not many ever do.

Jacob Meyers: (again?) The magical librarian idea is something I’ve been thinking about. Not sure if I should call the “Creature” just the librarian or make up a different name for it. I think the librarian will do more than just organize all of Alex’s books. It will also be able to tell Alex about things from the past, things from books it has read in other libraries, and maybe do some kind of “Research” for Alex and try to discover the true story behind something like an ancient legend or myth. What do you guys thing?

Dtsims: I can’t post the dates when I’m going to blog because I never know when I’m going to blog. I suppose I could try to set dates, but what if I don’t have anything to say?

Nazanal: No, Alex will not become part of the secret society that his father left him the amulet for. (The Order of Malgor.) I know I wrote at one time that Wizards were not allowed to join the order, but that might have gotten taken out when we did edits.

Rhyme90: Not telling which creatures might be stronger than dragons, but I will tell you that, Yes, Alex will find love. (I think that’s in book 5 as well.)  Also, Alex will live a very long time, unless of course he gets killed along the way.  Hmmm… does he get killed along the way? I’d better check and see.  The movie rights belong to Shadow Mountain, but I would love for someone to make a movie or movies out of the books.

Kyle: Yes, the Order of Malgor is having problems, and you’ll find out more in Sands.

Michael: Yes, I do need to do more with other people because they are part of the team. Sands is mostly about Alex, as he isn’t really part of the company of adventurers who go to Nezza. (No, I’m not explaining that.) I will try, however, to include others more and more as the series goes on.  Thanks for reminding me.

Smiley Face: Kat got to the top of the tower the normal way… she used the stairs.

O.K. a moment here, 60 something comments in and the post is getting really long… dang, might have to save some of these to answer in a week or so. (Nooooo! that’s too soon.)  Oh, that’s not what the moment was about: Salinor and Alex being equals, that’s what this moment is for. Now I know what I said on the Isle of Bones. I know that Alex is still gaining power and that Salinor is probably gaining knowledge and wisdom, but here’s the real deal. Alex and Salinor are equals. They will never fight, but if they did they would still be equal. I’m not sure I can say it any clearer, and I’m not sure you all will understand. They are equal and no matter how much either of them grows and learns, they will always be equal.  O.K. that’s that.

Maren: Wow, lots of questions there. I don’t remember Alex talking in his sleep when he woke up after the wraiths, but it’s been awhile since I wrote/read that. If he was talking it was mumbles and probably had something to do with a very bad dream or maybe with the vision of greatness the shadow showed him. Justin is right on the second question. When being called back from “The Wall”, people tend not to remember what happened there and the one calling them back has to help them remember or maybe forget if it is too painful. Death being called the wall?  Well, I think that came from another series of books I read… I’ll have to think about it and see if I can figure out what books they were. Names for different races? I don’t have a real plan, but I think about the race and what kind of name goes with that race. Elves, musical interesting names, Dwarfs, I normally think of viking like names, Nors names, things like that. Humans?  Humans are a mix and I try a few different names for characters until I find one that I think fits. When the name sticks in my mind and I write and think, “That sounds like something Elmore would say.” Then Elmore is the name I use.

Haley: on Nanowrimo. Yes I think I will do it again this year. Last year I started but didn’t get very far. This year, if things go well, I will do it and I will post my Nanowrimo info on the blog so that any of you who are also doing it can friend me and see how I’m doing.

Right, I think that’s it, and a good thing to. My fingers are tired and it’s 1:30 in the morning so I should go to bed.  As soon as I have any news worth reporting I’ll be sure and put it up. Until then, I will remain yours in fellowship.

-Mark