James S.A. Corey's Blog, page 14

Launching The King’s Blood

Well, it looks like The King’s Blood:  Book Two of The Dagger and the Coin is out in the UK tomorrow and in the US the day after that.  This is that nervous part where I’m right on the edge of the diving board.  By about this time next week, I’ll have the first week sales figures, a handful of the first reviews, and a better idea of whether the project’s taking wing.

On sale . . . holy crap, now? You mean like now now? Okay. Now.

I started working on The Dagger and the Coin pretty quickly after I finished the Long Price Quartet books, but I didn’t just sit down and start pounding out words.  I spent a lot of time talking to my friends and colleagues here in New Mexico about what epic fantasy is, what it’s strengths are, and how to engage with them.  I had a day-long meeting up at Melinda Snodgrass’ place with folks like Ian Tregillis, S. M. Stirling, Walter Jon Williams, George RR Martin, and Ty Franck where we pretty much sat around and chewed over what these projects are.  Then I had a massive plotbreaking session at my place with some of those folks and also Carrie Vaughn which was especially remarkable in that the house was struck by lightning in the middle of it.  On the up side, no one died.

The Dagger and the Coin was and is a difficult and rewarding project for me, because I’m trying something really difficult.  When I wrote The Long Price Quartet, I wanted to do something really original.  Something that I hadn’t ever seen in the genre.  Or anywhere else, really.  I’m very pleased with how it came out, and the folks who actually managed to track down a copy of Price of Spring and read the quartet all the way to the end have tended to be very positive about it.  (For those of y’all that haven’t, Tor will be printing up an omnibus trade paper edition later in the year, so Price of Spring is about to be a lot more available than it has been before.)  The Dagger and the Coin wasn’t about striking out for new territory.  It was about taking something familiar and making it feel new, and I took my lessons from Babylon 5.

I am a massive Babylon 5 fan, and two things I admire the most about that series were that it knew it’s own structure — if you finish the series and then go back and watch the pilot episode, almost everything that plays out over the next five years is laid out right there at the beginning — and that it took whatever it thought was cool and stole it, and most of the time, it didn’t even bother to scrape off the VIN number.  Psicops from The Demolished Man?  Cool, and what’s more, name the main guy Bester.  The evil place where a character falls into a pit and is reborn more powerful than before?  Well, Gandalf fell into Khazad-dum.  How about we drop Sheridan into a pit on Z’ha’dum.  Sounds almost the same.  I had never seen anyone steal so blatantly or so successfully.  Yes, okay, some of the scripts weren’t great, and some of the acting was among the most painful ever put to film, and you pretty much need to get through the whole first season tipsy and fast in order to stand the worst of it.  When I got to the end, I felt satisfied.

I was talking with Ty the other day about a short story we’re working on, and what he said was that those moments of satisfaction, of coming to the end of something and feeling that what you’ve just been through meant something, that it have you what you were looking for from it, is the gold we’re mining for when we do this.  I managed with the Long Price books.  I hope I will with The Dagger and the Coin.    I like how it’s going so far.  I’ve done what Babylon 5 did and taken things I thought were cool, even though my list was a little different.  I took Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen and Walter Tevis’ The Queen’s Gambit and Tim Park’s Medici Money and Macbeth and Firefly and Babylon 5.  I got my magic system from Joseph Gobbels and Karl Rove.  I put in the players from Hamlet.  I put in Torve the Trog in different drag from Panshin’s.  I made a whole range of exotic races and a world with the bones of dragons and great cities and strange ruins.  I put in people had no reason to like and made them likable.  I put in violence and sorrow and adventure and sex.

I’m finishing up the third book in the series right now, so the things that happen in The King’s Blood, I’m seeing bear fruit.  And I hope, hope, hope that people enjoy this.  Because I’m having a blast.

So if you’re interested, come check out what I’ve got so far.  If you haven’t gotten it yet, there’s The Dragon’s Path ( amazon | BN | indiebound) and The King’s Blood ( amazon | BN | indiebound ).  Also the first omnibus of the Long Price Quartet’s out ( amazon  | BN | indiebound ), and the second one’s coming.

And then, because you’re on a roll:

Medici Money ( amazon | BN | indiebound )

The Diary of a Man in Despair ( amazon | indiebound )

The Queen’s Gambit ( amazon | BN | indiebound )

You can thank me later.

Locus Awards

Looks like Daniel and I will be hitting the Locus Awards show this year, after our surprising Best SF Novel nomination.  If you’re in the Seattle area during the event, let us know.  We’re always up for hanging out in a bar.

And a huge thank you to anyone who voted for  us.  We are humbled by the support we’re getting.  I mean, I was humble anyway, but Daniel could have used a little more humbling, and boy is he getting it with all this support, so thanks.

A Dribble of Historical Accuracy ‘n’ stuff

If y’all are interested in it, I have a post up on A Dribble of Ink about historical accuracy and epic fantasy.  I am, at best, skeptical.

Hardcovers

Publishing is changing.  It used to be that the normal publication cycle was a hardcover release, followed by a mass market paperback.  Our publisher is Orbit, for the Expanse series and Daniel’s Dagger and Coin.  In the US, they do a simultaneous release of trade paperbacks and ebooks, with no hardcover release.   Ebooks are killing the mass market paperback, as they take the role of the disposable book.  Trade paperbacks don’t suffer from the frankly stupid stripping returns rules that mass markets do, so they make more sense for physical copies.  And hardcovers are expensive and are less likely to be impulse buys.

All that being said, though, there are people who just like hardcovers.   If you are one of those people, and would really like a hardcover of Leviathan Wakes, the only place to get it (right now) is the venerable Science Fiction Book Club.  I have two hardcover copies of Leviathan Wakes that I bought through the book club, and they look great.  The club is also going to be releasing hardcover editions of Caliban’s War, so if you want a matching set, they’re the place to go.

The Dogs Project: Two More Critiques (and a final status update)

What is the Dog’s Project?

Okay, a couple more critiques have rolled in, which I will share with you now.

First, from New York Times bestelling urban fantasy author Carrie Vaughn:

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I read your blogs posts, but not the story as you were posting it, any more than a skim-through.  I also skimmed the two critiques that went up, but only after I read the story myself.  So I know what you said you were doing with this, and the overall project and such.  I have a feeling my reading might have been different if I hadn’t known — the metaphor was foregrounded for me because I knew about it, but I imagine it’s like Christianity in Narnia.  If you don’t know to look for it, it’s not as clear.  That’s where I’m at.

In the meantime, I find myself as I often do giving a purely mechanical critique.  Nitpicky details rather than a profound analysis.  A lot of the mechanics tripped me up, the logistics of the story throwing me out.  I often felt that the worldbuilding was perhaps subservient to the metaphor, and that did the metaphor a disservice.

First:  Charlie and Dickens — is that on purpose?

What kind of dog is Dickens?  What breed?  What’s he look like?

Where was Dickens while Charlie was in the hospital?  Who was taking care of him?  Where is that person now, and can they help?  This is maybe my biggest critique, that Charlie’s life seems so isolated and truncated after the attack — but his life before doesn’t seem to have been much bigger.  He has no friends, no family.  His mother never calls, nor do any siblings.  He’s got one guy from work who’s interested, but other than that, and one cute little dog, there’s not a living soul in his life.  He’s not having to pretend to be normal to anyone but Dickens, and I kept wondering where all the other people in his life are.  If there were no others…no family, no friends, no neighbors, no apartment-dwellers (is he in a house or apartment?  His economic situation made me think apartment, but the place felt like a house) — that kind of life is unusual and needs an explanation, and I think that would be getting away from your point of the story.  Charlie needs to have more of a real life.

See what I mean about mechanics?    Basically, while emotionally powerful and disturbing and creepy, the story didn’t work for me because Charlie doesn’t feel like a real person.

Likewise, the attacking dogs didn’t come across as real attacking dogs to me.  I know in one sense they’re metaphor made flesh and aren’t supposed to be real.  But it threw me out.  I know part of the point of the attack is illogic and purposelessness, that nothing about it makes sense.   The attack itself didn’t make sense and I’m fine with that — but I needed a reason for it to stop, because real vicious dogs wouldn’t have stopped without outside motivation.  A noise, a siren, something.   At some level, they need to act like real dogs, even if they’re a metaphor.  Maybe someone called the police and they’re on the way, with sirens, and Charlie doesn’t have to call.  But I think something should scare the dogs off.

I wondered why Charlie wasn’t in therapy, or give me a reason why not.  Someone along the line would have recommended therapy.

Speaking as a dog person, I think Dickens gives up too easy.  One disappointment with the dog park and it’s over?  Dogs have so much devotion, and this made me think Dickens never really liked Charlie.  Which I’m not supposed to think, I suspect.  A real dog like Dickens would assume he’d done something wrong and grovel for weeks trying to get Charlie back to normal, and become very stressed out and start acting out for attention.  *Then* he’d shut down and split.  Because Dickens’ groveling would probably freak Charlie the hell out.

Adam’s talks are too expository and on the nose, and long.  The story felt long overall, and Adam’s speeches are most of the reason why.  The one about the number of good v. bad dogs, and the one about how many other people had been attacked.  He’s lecturing, and it doesn’t feel like a real friendship.

Adam’s last speech about how many others had been mauled didn’t ring true because severe dog mauling isn’t actually that common, is it?  If it’s just Adam, that’s powerful, but everyone else, too?  I started thinking that this is an alternate reality where everyone worries about all these roaming packs of vicious dogs filling the streets.

I had this thought that after Dickens runs away he joins a dog pack that goes around attacking people out of despair and revenge.  That’s a different story, though.

I wonder if the story’s theme should be more generalized, to make it less on the nose.  This isn’t just about the aftermath of rape, but about the birth of a severe phobia and post traumatic stress.  The powerful point in *that* is to link a severe phobia born of PTSD with the aftermath of rape, which is something I’m not sure a lot of people have thought about.

And those are my notes!  I hope it’s useful.  Let me know if you have any questions!

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And then from New York Times bestselling author Walter Jon Williams (who, by the way runs this utterly brilliant writing workshop, Taos Toolbox, at which I will be guest lecturer this summer):

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Hey, I managed this in less than a month!

Good story.  Compact, well-defined situation, no extraneous matter.

I found the ending just a bit abrupt.  I think you may have ended one sentence too early.

You might want to offer a little more about how Charlie’s life has changed.  From all evidence his life was pretty bleak before the attack: he has a meaningless job, no girlfriend, one person he can talk to, and only a dog for company.  Has he ever had any joy at all?  It wouldn’t take a lot to contrast a more fulfilled life with his post-attack life, just by walking him past familiar objects and places that have happier associations from earlier days.

The fact that the attacking dog pack were never caught seem like a big Chekov’s gun that never goes off.  I was prepared for their reappearance and it never happened, and I think my energies would have better been spent elsewhere.

Odd that neither Charlie nor his friend think of defending themselves against attack.  This is, after all, America— why no thought of carrying a gun?  Or pepper spray?  Adam carried one, but gave it up because he couldn’t go on the bus or to a restaurant, and then I thought why not conceal it?  I realize that you want to emphasize Charlie’s helplessness, but it’s odd that nobody thinks about it.

If you’ve got one character named Charlie, and another named Dickens, you are conjuring associations with a Victorian novelist that you may desire.  And in me, my late cat.

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And finally, I got a note from Shawn Speakman with the press release for the anthology in which the final version will appear:

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GRIM OAK PRESS TO PUBLISH UNFETTERED FANTASY ANTHOLOGY Genre’s Best Writers to Contribute Against Fellow Writer’s Cancer Debt

SEATTLE, WA — Grim Oak Press, a new publishing company formed by webmaster and freelance writer Shawn Speakman, will be producing Unfettered, a fantasy short story anthology by some of the best writers in the genre, for a very good cause.

In 2011, Speakman was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He completed the recommended chemotherapy, but lacking health insurance, the treatment left him with almost $200,000 of financial debt. At the suggestion of New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks, and with the help of nearly two dozen authors who call Speakman a friend, Grim Oak Press will publish the short story anthology Unfettered, with the proceeds helping to alleviate the medical bills.

Authors contributing include: Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, RA Salvatore, Tad Williams, Jacqueline Carey, Daniel Abraham, Peter V. Brett, Robert VS Redick, Peter Orullian, Todd Lockwood, Carrie Vaughn, Blake Charlton, Kevin Hearne, Mark Lawrence, David Anthony Durham, Jennifer Bosworth, Lev Grossman, Steven Erikson, and Shawn Speakman

Some of the authors will be writing short stories set in the fantasy worlds that made them famous. Other writers will be creating entirely new tales. The contribution by so many noteworthy authors of bestselling titles speaks to the generosity found within the science fiction and fantasy communities.

Unfettered will be published as a trade hardcover as well as a leather-bound, signed and numbered edition limited to 500 copies and autographed by all contributors. Speakman will also publish his full-length urban/high fantasy novel, The Dark Thorn, through Grim Oak Press to further offset treatment expenses.

Orders are currently being accepted for The Dark Thorn, which is tentatively scheduled to publish in August 2012. Unfettered will be released by early 2013.

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So, in the words of Buffy Season 6, where do we go from here?

I may have one more critique.  I had one more person agree to look at it, but the world is a busy place, and stuff happens.  I’ll check in, and if there’s one more crit, I’ll post it for y’all.  If not, I think it’s time to move on to the last phase of the project.  I’ll reread the story, look over the critiques, and give you the synthesis of what I’ve taken from what these folks told me, and my blueprint for fixing the story in the next draft.

The actual final version — as our man Shawn says — will be out early next year, and I’ll post a reminder for y’all when we get there.

Found in the Daily Find

It's a short-time sale, but your friends and mine at Barnes and Noble are making the ebook version of Dragon's Path their Daily Find today.  That means you can get the book for a big $2.99 AND it's got a copy of the Hugo nominated Leviathan Wakes along with it as an extra.

Or if you're a Kindle aficionado, you can grab it at the same price from Amazon.

Thing is, it's a one-day sale.  So tell your friends and neighbors that if they've been thinking about Dragon's Path or just want to get a jump on their Hugo reading, this here's your big chance.

The blog will now return to its less obviously advertisey content.  (grin)

UPDATE:  iTunes has also followed suit.

Well, Here’s A Thing That Happened

So funny thing.  The Hugo nominations for best novel?  Yeah, take a look:

A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin

Embassytown by China Mieville

Among Others by Jo Walton

Deadline by Mira Grant

Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey

So yeah.  This is where I normally say something sort of glib and understated, but even though I’ve known about this for a while, the truth is, I’m still a little gobsmacked.  I’m pleased and humbled to be nominated, and being on a list with these folks is more than I had imagined or hoped for.  So.  Yeah.  That.

For the folks who nominated Leviathan Wakes, thank you all so much, and Ty and I are really glad you liked the book.  For those of you who haven’t read the book and are going to Worldcon this year, we will be working with your friends and mine at Orbit to get the book in the packet.  I hope y’all get a chance to read all the nominees — they’re damn good books, all of ‘em — and vote your conscience.

I’m going to go gibber quietly in a corner for a while.

Well, Here's A Thing That Happened

So funny thing.  The Hugo nominations for best novel?  Yeah, take a look:

A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin

Embassytown by China Mieville

Among Others by Jo Walton

Deadline by Mira Grant

Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey

So yeah.  This is where I normally say something sort of glib and understated, but even though I've known about this for a while, the truth is, I'm still a little gobsmacked.  I'm pleased and humbled to be nominated, and being on a list with these folks is more than I had imagined or hoped for.  So.  Yeah.  That.

For the folks who nominated Leviathan Wakes, thank you all so much, and Ty and I are really glad you liked the book.  For those of you who haven't read the book and are going to Worldcon this year, we will be working with your friends and mine at Orbit to get the book in the packet.  I hope y'all get a chance to read all the nominees — they're damn good books, all of 'em — and vote your conscience.

I'm going to go gibber quietly in a corner for a while.

Countdown to The King’s Blood

The Dagger and the Coin, Book 2

Every age had left its mark here, every generation growing on the ruins of the old until the earth below the dark-​cobbled streets was not soil, but the wreckage of what had come before. It was a city of black and gold, of wealth and desperate poverty. Its walls rose around it like a boast of invulnerability, and its noble quarters displayed great mansions and towers and temples casually, as if the grandeur was trivial, normal, and mundane. Had Camnipol been a knight, he would have worn black-​enameled armor and a cloak of fine-​worked wool. Had it been a woman, she would have been too handsome to look away from and too intimidating to speak with. Instead, it was a city, and it was Camnipol.

Your friends and mine at Orbit have posted an excerpt from my upcoming novel The King’s Blood.  Check it out, if you’re of a mind.

The whole book is due to hit shelf May 22nd, and the early reviews suggest some folks might kind of like it.

Countdown to The King's Blood

The Dagger and the Coin, Book 2

Every age had left its mark here, every generation growing on the ruins of the old until the earth below the dark-​cobbled streets was not soil, but the wreckage of what had come before. It was a city of black and gold, of wealth and desperate poverty. Its walls rose around it like a boast of invulnerability, and its noble quarters displayed great mansions and towers and temples casually, as if the grandeur was trivial, normal, and mundane. Had Camnipol been a knight, he would have worn black-​enameled armor and a cloak of fine-​worked wool. Had it been a woman, she would have been too handsome to look away from and too intimidating to speak with. Instead, it was a city, and it was Camnipol.

Your friends and mine at Orbit have posted an excerpt from my upcoming novel The King's Blood.  Check it out, if you're of a mind.

The whole book is due to hit shelf May 22nd, and the early reviews suggest some folks might kind of like it.