R.T. Kaelin's Blog, page 3
July 17, 2012
The Title to Book Two Is...
With every day that passes, book 2 in The Children of the White Lions series grows nearer. As to what that exact day is, I cannot tell you. There are two possibilities.The first is totally out of my hands. Some of you might not know that I am an indie author. I have no agent, Progeny was a self-published effort. But due to its success, a number of agents are currently reading it and I am awaiting their decision as to whether or not they wish to offer representation. If they do, well, I will discuss what to do with book 2 with them first. I wrote a longer post explaining all of that back in mid-June.
If I get a long string of no’s, then I am targeting early-mid September for release. I am in the midst of my last editing pass of book 2 (83%) and have a wonderful group of trusty readers trailing me, (hopefully) picking up every typo, dropped word, and ‘hey, this sounds weird’ spot in the book. So far, they are doing a wonderful job.
There are a few things I will share with you about book 2. As of now, it’s shaping up to be almost the exact same length as the second, smaller edition of Progeny: about 264k words. Yet, I—and the proofreaders—feel like a lot more ‘stuff’ happens in the same number of words. Why? Well, it has to do with what Progeny is, something one particularly astute reader more or less nailed in this review on Amazon. Here’s an excerpt:
“Now, [Progeny] is a set-up novel. Fantasy readers familiar with Sanderson's The Way of Kings will know what I mean. There's a great flow of story, and a very compelling character arc throughout, but at the end, you're looking at a last few pages, knowing that even though everything will resolve satisfactorily, there's a whole lot more story coming down the pike. It's a lovely feeling, and one that is a tricky balance to maintain. I'm happy to say that in my opinion, Kaelin balances quite well, leaving the reader, not with a cliffhanger, but with an open invitation to peer around the next bend in the road, beckoning us onwards.”
Progeny was about the Isaac siblings’ journey after the tragedy in Yellow Mud, Jhaell’s relentless (and misguided) pursuit of them, the cast of characters surrounding the tale, and an introduction to the Oaken Duchies and the world of Terrene. In many regards, it was—as the reviewer (Rowan Reader) above put it—a ‘set-up novel.’
Book 2 is not that.
In the sequel, Nikalys, Kenders, and Jak’s eyes open a little wider as they are forced to grow up quicker than any young person should.
We will spend time with your favorites from Progeny as well as meet a number of new characters, some of whom are rather unique.
Familiar locations are revisited and expounded upon while new, fantastic ones are introduced.
You will smile. You will feel shame, anger, and sorrow. And I guarantee a handful of “No way!” moments.
So, that’s a long run up to what will actually be a very quick and dirty announcement. After which, I have a special surprise for you all.
Just like Progeny—the #23 top rated Epic Fantasy on Amazon—the title to Volume 2 in The Children of the White Lions series is but a single word:
Prophecy
That’s it. Good days ahead.
--R.T.
PS – Keep an eye out. In the next few weeks, I will reveal the cover. It’s pretty sharp.
PPS – And no, that’s not the special surprise. This is. The opening 1890 words to Prophecy at my website.
Enjoy.
July 12, 2012
My Grandpa
[The follow is a personal item that I needed to share]
Here is some really cool Kaelin family news.
My grandfather, Edward Kaelin, will be honored August 24th, 2012 at North Decatur County High School near Greensburg, Indiana.
‘How?’ you might ask. Well…they’re only going to name a football field after him.
In 1977 (the year I was born), my grandfather and grandmother (Dorothy) moved to Indiana from Cincinnati, Ohio. While in the Queen City, Ed had worked as a milkman for decades after returning from duty in World War II as a halftrack driver. The man was in the Battle of the Bulge. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Then say a quiet ‘Thank you’ for all the men who did what they did over there.
Once he and grandma got settled at Lake Santee, he walked into the nearby high school and asked if they needed any help. They hired him as a custodian on the spot. For the next 15+ years, Ed showed up nearly every day, doing whatever was required to keep the school running.
Every day, he was the first soul to arrive North Decatur High. He would open the building and raise the American flag high, up the tall, silver pole that stood before the school. Everyone—and I mean everyone—appreciated his hard work. From the superintendent, the board of education, staff, and—yes—even the 14-18 year old kids.
One of his favorite things to do? Maintain the football field.
Ed would meticulously cut and trim every blade of grass. He would line the field, mark the yard numbers, chase away the beetles. Okay, that last one might have been an exaggeration. Suffice it to say, Grandpa loved that field.
When he died in 2001, several of the school’s staff members came to his funeral and shared their memories of Ed. How much he was liked and respected. How, one day, they hoped to do something to honor him.
It took 10+ years, but they came through.
A couple of weeks ago, my Uncle Ray received a rather surprising phone call from the current Assistant Superintendent of North Decatur. The man on the other end of the line told Uncle Ray that the high school was preparing to unveil their new football field, bleachers, and press box this fall. The surprising part? The Board of Education had voted to name the new complex “Ed Kaelin Field.”
My uncle was blown away. As was my father, Tom, and my other uncle, Larry. None of the three brothers could believe that after 10+ years, enough people were still around who remembered my grandfather so fondly that they would make such a wonderful gesture.
So, on August 24th, 2012, I will be taking my wife, my son (Nikalys, who is 8), and my daughter (Kennedy, who is 5) to Ed Kaelin Field, where I can tell them all about the summers I spent with my grandpa, puttering around on his lawnmower as he cut the grass for North Decatur High.
I can’t wait.
Love ya, Grandpa. You were a wonderful, patient, caring, and fearless man. I miss you.
Here is some really cool Kaelin family news.
My grandfather, Edward Kaelin, will be honored August 24th, 2012 at North Decatur County High School near Greensburg, Indiana.
‘How?’ you might ask. Well…they’re only going to name a football field after him.
In 1977 (the year I was born), my grandfather and grandmother (Dorothy) moved to Indiana from Cincinnati, Ohio. While in the Queen City, Ed had worked as a milkman for decades after returning from duty in World War II as a halftrack driver. The man was in the Battle of the Bulge. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. Then say a quiet ‘Thank you’ for all the men who did what they did over there.
Once he and grandma got settled at Lake Santee, he walked into the nearby high school and asked if they needed any help. They hired him as a custodian on the spot. For the next 15+ years, Ed showed up nearly every day, doing whatever was required to keep the school running.
Every day, he was the first soul to arrive North Decatur High. He would open the building and raise the American flag high, up the tall, silver pole that stood before the school. Everyone—and I mean everyone—appreciated his hard work. From the superintendent, the board of education, staff, and—yes—even the 14-18 year old kids.
One of his favorite things to do? Maintain the football field.
Ed would meticulously cut and trim every blade of grass. He would line the field, mark the yard numbers, chase away the beetles. Okay, that last one might have been an exaggeration. Suffice it to say, Grandpa loved that field.
When he died in 2001, several of the school’s staff members came to his funeral and shared their memories of Ed. How much he was liked and respected. How, one day, they hoped to do something to honor him.
It took 10+ years, but they came through.
A couple of weeks ago, my Uncle Ray received a rather surprising phone call from the current Assistant Superintendent of North Decatur. The man on the other end of the line told Uncle Ray that the high school was preparing to unveil their new football field, bleachers, and press box this fall. The surprising part? The Board of Education had voted to name the new complex “Ed Kaelin Field.”
My uncle was blown away. As was my father, Tom, and my other uncle, Larry. None of the three brothers could believe that after 10+ years, enough people were still around who remembered my grandfather so fondly that they would make such a wonderful gesture.
So, on August 24th, 2012, I will be taking my wife, my son (Nikalys, who is 8), and my daughter (Kennedy, who is 5) to Ed Kaelin Field, where I can tell them all about the summers I spent with my grandpa, puttering around on his lawnmower as he cut the grass for North Decatur High.
I can’t wait.
Love ya, Grandpa. You were a wonderful, patient, caring, and fearless man. I miss you.
June 14, 2012
Where is Book Two?
I get it. You read a book in a series, you really like it, so you look around for the sequel. You look, and look, and look…and nothing. The obvious questions (and requests) begin.
Where is it?
When’s it coming out?!
What is taking the author so long?
Write faster!
You’re here—most likely—because you read Progeny and you liked it.
If you read and didn’t like it, well…why are you here? More importantly, what’s wrong with you? ;)
And if you are here an you haven’t read it…well, you should. I highly recommend it.
So, where is book two, right?
There’s a long and short answer to the question. And, like my books, you get the long version first.
Progeny in its original form came out in December 2010. I then did what any new indie author does to market their book: anything and everything he/she can think of. Time passed, I sold books, I started to get great reviews, and…well, it’s impossible to compress a year of my life into one sentence, but I will try: Good things happened.
In November 2011, a wonderful opportunity presented itself. An agent in NYC wanted to read the Progeny. Happy and ignorant, I sent off the book—as it was—and waited. The long version of this story is here, but the short of it is this: he said no, gave me reasons why, and I agreed.
So, I set back to re-editing Progeny. Turns out, I had written a good story, but a bad book. I was a novice writer, still am to many extents, and the original version needed some work. Heck, who am I kidding? It needed lots of work. I dove in and did what needed to be done.
Three and half months later, I sent the book back to the agent, and after eight weeks of waiting, I got another ‘no.’ This time, however, I disagreed with more than I agreed with in the critique. Deciding to take my eggs out of a single basket and spread them around, I formally queried a large number of agencies.
Turns out, having great sales as an indie, hitting some top-rated rankings for fantasy, and working really, really, really hard pays off. As of this moment, Progeny is under review at a number of agencies. How many? More than the fingers on your hand, less than a carton of eggs.
Through all of this (except for the rewrite), I wrote a dozen short story prequels (the Terrene Chronicles) and book two (and seven chapters of book 3). Currently, I am in the midst of my last editing pass on book 2, and have a small army of nice, loyal readers trailing me, eliminating my typos, dropped words (which I a lot), and pointing out anything that they find, in general, ‘odd.’ I have also started looking for a cover artist. Basically, I am doing everything I need to in order to get the book ready to self-publish as I did Progeny. Whether or not I will is dependent upon what happens with the agencies. I have offers of representation—and a small press publisher interested as well—but until I get responses from everyone, I’m not going to make any decision.
That’s the long answer.
The short version is this: If I self-publish, book two will be out in the fall. If I get an agent and Progeny is published traditionally, well…I don’t know.
A lot of you are anxious for the sequel and I appreciate the demand. It means you like the story as much as I do. But as I believe the book could appeal to a much wider audience than I have been able to reach as an indie, I have to see this path with the agents through. Every aspiring author dreams of walking into a bookstore and seeing his or her book on a shelf or nice display. I am no different.
Thank you for your kind words about how much you enjoyed the book and, please, tell everyone you know. The best thing I have going for me is you. Word-of-mouth is king for me.
Oh—and please—PLEASE—write a review at Amazon. They really help in the long run.
I promise to keep you all apprised of things develop. Thanks again.
Good days ahead.
--R.T.
Where is it?
When’s it coming out?!
What is taking the author so long?
Write faster!
You’re here—most likely—because you read Progeny and you liked it.
If you read and didn’t like it, well…why are you here? More importantly, what’s wrong with you? ;)
And if you are here an you haven’t read it…well, you should. I highly recommend it.
So, where is book two, right?
There’s a long and short answer to the question. And, like my books, you get the long version first.
Progeny in its original form came out in December 2010. I then did what any new indie author does to market their book: anything and everything he/she can think of. Time passed, I sold books, I started to get great reviews, and…well, it’s impossible to compress a year of my life into one sentence, but I will try: Good things happened.
In November 2011, a wonderful opportunity presented itself. An agent in NYC wanted to read the Progeny. Happy and ignorant, I sent off the book—as it was—and waited. The long version of this story is here, but the short of it is this: he said no, gave me reasons why, and I agreed.
So, I set back to re-editing Progeny. Turns out, I had written a good story, but a bad book. I was a novice writer, still am to many extents, and the original version needed some work. Heck, who am I kidding? It needed lots of work. I dove in and did what needed to be done.
Three and half months later, I sent the book back to the agent, and after eight weeks of waiting, I got another ‘no.’ This time, however, I disagreed with more than I agreed with in the critique. Deciding to take my eggs out of a single basket and spread them around, I formally queried a large number of agencies.
Turns out, having great sales as an indie, hitting some top-rated rankings for fantasy, and working really, really, really hard pays off. As of this moment, Progeny is under review at a number of agencies. How many? More than the fingers on your hand, less than a carton of eggs.
Through all of this (except for the rewrite), I wrote a dozen short story prequels (the Terrene Chronicles) and book two (and seven chapters of book 3). Currently, I am in the midst of my last editing pass on book 2, and have a small army of nice, loyal readers trailing me, eliminating my typos, dropped words (which I a lot), and pointing out anything that they find, in general, ‘odd.’ I have also started looking for a cover artist. Basically, I am doing everything I need to in order to get the book ready to self-publish as I did Progeny. Whether or not I will is dependent upon what happens with the agencies. I have offers of representation—and a small press publisher interested as well—but until I get responses from everyone, I’m not going to make any decision.
That’s the long answer.
The short version is this: If I self-publish, book two will be out in the fall. If I get an agent and Progeny is published traditionally, well…I don’t know.
A lot of you are anxious for the sequel and I appreciate the demand. It means you like the story as much as I do. But as I believe the book could appeal to a much wider audience than I have been able to reach as an indie, I have to see this path with the agents through. Every aspiring author dreams of walking into a bookstore and seeing his or her book on a shelf or nice display. I am no different.
Thank you for your kind words about how much you enjoyed the book and, please, tell everyone you know. The best thing I have going for me is you. Word-of-mouth is king for me.
Oh—and please—PLEASE—write a review at Amazon. They really help in the long run.
I promise to keep you all apprised of things develop. Thanks again.
Good days ahead.
--R.T.
June 5, 2012
Why I Write, Part 3
A writer’s life is somewhat isolated. We type away at our keyboards, hoping that the stories we tell will reach someone, somewhere and pray they enjoy reading our words as much as we do writing them.
At this point, I know 14,000+ people have a copy of Progeny, a number I am proud of as an indie author. How many of them have read it is anyone’s guess, but only a handful of that number have written a review (thank you, they help!) and even fewer have emailed me. I understand that writing a review or taking the time to figure out how to contact an author ranks low on most of our lives’ list of important things to do. To be honest, I have never written and review or sent an email to an author I did not already know personally. We’re all busy. I get it.
Which is why whenever an email pops up in my inbox from a reader, I take the time to respond with a quick, personal ‘Thank you.’ Those typically prompt a second, ever-so-much enjoyable response in turn. Here’s one:
Hearing things like that from readers? These are why I write. These are the fuel to my fire.
Good days ahead…
--R.T.
At this point, I know 14,000+ people have a copy of Progeny, a number I am proud of as an indie author. How many of them have read it is anyone’s guess, but only a handful of that number have written a review (thank you, they help!) and even fewer have emailed me. I understand that writing a review or taking the time to figure out how to contact an author ranks low on most of our lives’ list of important things to do. To be honest, I have never written and review or sent an email to an author I did not already know personally. We’re all busy. I get it.
Which is why whenever an email pops up in my inbox from a reader, I take the time to respond with a quick, personal ‘Thank you.’ Those typically prompt a second, ever-so-much enjoyable response in turn. Here’s one:
When I wrote my last email, I wrote it thinking if I got any reply at all it would be some kind of automated rubber stamped form letter. I really wanted to write something though because I loved the book so much. I REALLY didn't think a real person would be reading what I wrote. But now that I know that I am actually talking to a person I wanted to let you know that when I finished your book for the first time (I'm half way through the second time) I let out a sigh and said, "That was awesome."
I was moved by your note to the readers regarding your journey. I really hope you make it big as an author. As much for you as for myself. I want more books from you! Sadly, my review turned out kind of generic as I don't have a way with words. At any rate I wrote one and have been telling everyone and anyone about the book.
After reading your book I got to wondering how you can weave such a detailed beautiful story in the same way I wondered about Jean Auel when I read her books. You are a very talented artist and I thank you with my whole being for the entertainment.
Hearing things like that from readers? These are why I write. These are the fuel to my fire.
Good days ahead…
--R.T.
June 4, 2012
New Gig at Fantasy-Faction.com
I have a bit of exciting news to share.
Recently, I was asked to write the occasional article for Fantasy-Faction.com, a website dedicated to book reviews, articles on writing, and pretty much anything to do with the fantasy genre. They have had interviews with a number of the giants—Brandon Sanderson included—and a vibrant community of fantasy fans.
I, as you might expect, have happily agreed to do so.
My first article for them went up today, titled “Want to Self-Publish Fantasy? Think Again.” Which, coming from an indie author, might sound a little odd, but it’s not what you think. It’s more of a cautionary tale to others that the self-published road is not a shortcut. It is just as hard as the traditional path, perhaps more so in many cases. Rather, the article is…oh, heck. Just go read it.
And yell at me if you disagree.
Good Days Ahead.
-R.T.
PS – Just wrapped up Origins over the weekend. Awesome time overall. Will write about my personal experience after I get the wrap-up for Fantasy Faction done.
Recently, I was asked to write the occasional article for Fantasy-Faction.com, a website dedicated to book reviews, articles on writing, and pretty much anything to do with the fantasy genre. They have had interviews with a number of the giants—Brandon Sanderson included—and a vibrant community of fantasy fans.
I, as you might expect, have happily agreed to do so.
My first article for them went up today, titled “Want to Self-Publish Fantasy? Think Again.” Which, coming from an indie author, might sound a little odd, but it’s not what you think. It’s more of a cautionary tale to others that the self-published road is not a shortcut. It is just as hard as the traditional path, perhaps more so in many cases. Rather, the article is…oh, heck. Just go read it.
And yell at me if you disagree.
Good Days Ahead.
-R.T.
PS – Just wrapped up Origins over the weekend. Awesome time overall. Will write about my personal experience after I get the wrap-up for Fantasy Faction done.
May 24, 2012
Progeny is Free 1 More Day
So, I enlisted Progeny in the Kindle Select program, allowing me to put it on promotional sale for 5 days.
Wednesday through Friday, it is $0.00.
In that time, it's hit #1 on Amazons Bestselling Epic Fantasy (free), #24 Genre Fiction, and #36 for ALL books.
You have one last day to get it. Tell everyone you know.
http://www.amazon.com/Progeny-Childre...
Wednesday through Friday, it is $0.00.
In that time, it's hit #1 on Amazons Bestselling Epic Fantasy (free), #24 Genre Fiction, and #36 for ALL books.
You have one last day to get it. Tell everyone you know.
http://www.amazon.com/Progeny-Childre...
May 23, 2012
Rejection.
“No.”
More often than not, hearing, reading, or seeing that ever-so-short word is not a good thing.
To a child, it might mean you are not getting that piece of candy before dinner. To a teenager or adult, it might mean the girl or guy you have been crushing on is not interested in seeing that new movie with you. To an author, it might mean an agent on whom you had pinned more hope than was wise is not interested in representing you and your book.
Rejection stings. It reaches inside of you and stabs at your heart, doing its best to kill your spirit, your dreams, your hopes. The natural, human reaction is despondency, of course. If you are not upset, downcast, or downhearted after rejection, then whatever you thought you wanted in the first place was not all that important to you.
Up is to down, wet is to dry, as joyous acceptance is to cutting rejection. Anytime you have hopes and dreams, you open yourself to the very real possibility that they will be stepped on, beat down, and trounced.
Some people—a lot of people—give up when this happens. The hurt just hurts too much. Rather than take additional risk, to continue dreaming, to put yourself out there again, they withdraw to what is safe. Comfortable. Easy.
Other people push on, taking the rejection for what it most often is: one person’s opinion. Granted, that person’s opinion could be immensely valuable, the thing that makes or breaks your day, your week, your life. Nevertheless, it is ONE person’s opinion. Learn what you can from it, accept his or her criticism, and move on. But make dang sure you move on.
Don’t quit. Persevere.
Don’t give up. Press on.
That's my plan, at least.
More often than not, hearing, reading, or seeing that ever-so-short word is not a good thing.
To a child, it might mean you are not getting that piece of candy before dinner. To a teenager or adult, it might mean the girl or guy you have been crushing on is not interested in seeing that new movie with you. To an author, it might mean an agent on whom you had pinned more hope than was wise is not interested in representing you and your book.
Rejection stings. It reaches inside of you and stabs at your heart, doing its best to kill your spirit, your dreams, your hopes. The natural, human reaction is despondency, of course. If you are not upset, downcast, or downhearted after rejection, then whatever you thought you wanted in the first place was not all that important to you.
Up is to down, wet is to dry, as joyous acceptance is to cutting rejection. Anytime you have hopes and dreams, you open yourself to the very real possibility that they will be stepped on, beat down, and trounced.
Some people—a lot of people—give up when this happens. The hurt just hurts too much. Rather than take additional risk, to continue dreaming, to put yourself out there again, they withdraw to what is safe. Comfortable. Easy.
Other people push on, taking the rejection for what it most often is: one person’s opinion. Granted, that person’s opinion could be immensely valuable, the thing that makes or breaks your day, your week, your life. Nevertheless, it is ONE person’s opinion. Learn what you can from it, accept his or her criticism, and move on. But make dang sure you move on.
Don’t quit. Persevere.
Don’t give up. Press on.
That's my plan, at least.
May 10, 2012
Afraid to change your characters? Don’t be.
Sometimes we put so much effort and heart into a story or character that it can be scary when you realize something just is not working right. You know you need to make a change, but you are reluctant to do so.
Case in point:
I’m in the midst of editing book two in The Children of the White Lions series.
It’s been a long time coming with the various detours I’ve made in the past six months. I wrote thirteen short story prequels—effectively another book as the word total is close to 150k—and I went back and rehashed Progeny. But now, I’m in deep into book two and will admit that I am already thinking about book three. I just might have also written a scene from the final book.
Maybe.
Regarding book two, I really like the story in it, the reveals, the different paths taken by characters, the choices made, the places visited. While it is a continuation of the larger tale, it is a very different book. Progeny was an almost self-contained tale where we follow Nikalys, Kenders, and Jak as they discover who and what they are, all the while the gloom of what is to come hovers in the shadows of the main story. In book two, the world opens up. The challenges faced, both personal and physical, expand.
However, as I was editing, something nagged me about the book, something I could not put my finger on. I was about 70% of the way through my second-to-last pass when one of my beta readers sent me an email about some of the recent chapters he had just finished. Within his feedback, 90% of which was positive, was a snippet that fully illuminated the problem with book two.
Here it is, (names redacted as not to give anything away):
He was exactly right. I’m not entirely sure how, when, or where it happened, but I had effectively written the same character into existence twice. And the scenes with him (SPOILER, IT’S A MALE!) dragged because of it.
He needed a makeover, yet I was somewhat reluctant to do so. Yet, it was necessary.
I halted my chapter-by-chapter editing, went back to the very beginning, and started to rework the character from chapter 1. I knew what I wanted—needed—him to be now and the journey he needed to take. I rewrote every scene he was in, which is quite a few.
Something pretty nifty happened during this process: His POV chapters were suddenly a blast to write. 8 – 10 new ‘good’ lines are in the book because of this change.
I sent the chapters with the new version of the character back to my reader and got this back:
He was right.
Change is good.
Want to comment? Come to GoodReads.com
Case in point:
I’m in the midst of editing book two in The Children of the White Lions series.
It’s been a long time coming with the various detours I’ve made in the past six months. I wrote thirteen short story prequels—effectively another book as the word total is close to 150k—and I went back and rehashed Progeny. But now, I’m in deep into book two and will admit that I am already thinking about book three. I just might have also written a scene from the final book.
Maybe.
Regarding book two, I really like the story in it, the reveals, the different paths taken by characters, the choices made, the places visited. While it is a continuation of the larger tale, it is a very different book. Progeny was an almost self-contained tale where we follow Nikalys, Kenders, and Jak as they discover who and what they are, all the while the gloom of what is to come hovers in the shadows of the main story. In book two, the world opens up. The challenges faced, both personal and physical, expand.
However, as I was editing, something nagged me about the book, something I could not put my finger on. I was about 70% of the way through my second-to-last pass when one of my beta readers sent me an email about some of the recent chapters he had just finished. Within his feedback, 90% of which was positive, was a snippet that fully illuminated the problem with book two.
Here it is, (names redacted as not to give anything away):
"[New Character in book two] feels very similar to [Character from book one]."
He was exactly right. I’m not entirely sure how, when, or where it happened, but I had effectively written the same character into existence twice. And the scenes with him (SPOILER, IT’S A MALE!) dragged because of it.
He needed a makeover, yet I was somewhat reluctant to do so. Yet, it was necessary.
I halted my chapter-by-chapter editing, went back to the very beginning, and started to rework the character from chapter 1. I knew what I wanted—needed—him to be now and the journey he needed to take. I rewrote every scene he was in, which is quite a few.
Something pretty nifty happened during this process: His POV chapters were suddenly a blast to write. 8 – 10 new ‘good’ lines are in the book because of this change.
I sent the chapters with the new version of the character back to my reader and got this back:
“I really like him now. There is certainly no chance of him being confused with [Character from book one] now. It is amazing how much the small change helps the story.”
He was right.
Change is good.
Want to comment? Come to GoodReads.com
Origins' Anthology, Time-Traveled Tales
So, Origins is coming up and I just got some details on the anthology that will be sold there (exclusively) for $10.
I have a short story in it, along with a whole host of other great authors.
Sneak peak, here's the table of contents with story titles and authors:
Replay Value . . . Aaron Allston 1
Last Man on Earth . . . Maxwell Alexander Drake 9
The Old Gods . . . C.S. Marks 20
Among the Stars . . . Sarah Hans 25
For Every Time, A Season . . . Donald J. Bingle 31
Slug . . . Janine K. Spendlove 37
Know Your Nemesis . . . Kelly Swails 44
My Faire Lady . . . Jean Rabe 57
The Tinker’s Music Box . . . Jennifer Brozek 64
Under a Thin Veneer . . . Daniel Myers 75
Deep Salvage . . . Bryan Young 82
Adventure of the Ghost Watch . . . Michael A . Stackpole 94
Impression . . . Tracy Chowdhury 105
Prologue . . . Gregory A. Wilson 114
Fair Game . . . Dylan Birtolo 120
Market . . . R. T. Kaelin 128
In the Time of Dragons . . . Steven Saus 144
Parting the Clouds . . . Bradley P. Beaulieu 152
Protection . . . Timothy Zahn 169
And here's the cover:
If you're in Columbus for the convention, pick one up, and we'll all be happy to sign it for you.
I have a short story in it, along with a whole host of other great authors.
Sneak peak, here's the table of contents with story titles and authors:
Replay Value . . . Aaron Allston 1
Last Man on Earth . . . Maxwell Alexander Drake 9
The Old Gods . . . C.S. Marks 20
Among the Stars . . . Sarah Hans 25
For Every Time, A Season . . . Donald J. Bingle 31
Slug . . . Janine K. Spendlove 37
Know Your Nemesis . . . Kelly Swails 44
My Faire Lady . . . Jean Rabe 57
The Tinker’s Music Box . . . Jennifer Brozek 64
Under a Thin Veneer . . . Daniel Myers 75
Deep Salvage . . . Bryan Young 82
Adventure of the Ghost Watch . . . Michael A . Stackpole 94
Impression . . . Tracy Chowdhury 105
Prologue . . . Gregory A. Wilson 114
Fair Game . . . Dylan Birtolo 120
Market . . . R. T. Kaelin 128
In the Time of Dragons . . . Steven Saus 144
Parting the Clouds . . . Bradley P. Beaulieu 152
Protection . . . Timothy Zahn 169
And here's the cover:
If you're in Columbus for the convention, pick one up, and we'll all be happy to sign it for you.
April 20, 2012
This is why I write, Part Deux.
A few days ago, I wrote up a quick and dirty blog post called ‘This is why I write.’ This post will be quicker and ah…dirtier?
Hmm…
That did not come out right.
Regardless, the short version of that already short blog post is this: When I re-released Progeny after the massive rewrite I offered to give a kindle copy to any reader of the original if they answered a quick question about a character from the book. I did this both as a thank you and as a way to catch them up on the changes made. The requests for copies still trickle in, along with nice notes.
I got another one today and I wanted to recognize the reader and thank him publicly.
Nope. Matt Potter, you are awesome. Thanks for the feedback.
Good days ahead.
Hmm…
That did not come out right.
Regardless, the short version of that already short blog post is this: When I re-released Progeny after the massive rewrite I offered to give a kindle copy to any reader of the original if they answered a quick question about a character from the book. I did this both as a thank you and as a way to catch them up on the changes made. The requests for copies still trickle in, along with nice notes.
I got another one today and I wanted to recognize the reader and thank him publicly.
Well, I'm not sure if I have read the revised version or not, but if I haven't then I certainly would like to!
The last name of that helpful little "short-leg " Nundle is, of course, [name redacted by R.T. Kaelin to protect the innocent…not really. Just don’t want to give out a 100 free copies right now]!
I'm sure you've heard this many, many times over by now, but you MUST get that next book in that series release! The fate of the world is in your hands, and the anticipation of discovering what happens next is driving me nuts! All joking aside, Progeny was fantastic! It's so difficult to find even somewhat original fantasy these days, but discovering the book Progeny has been the silver bullet I needed to destroy that monotony! Thank you! Truly, I am thrilled with the system of magic and the world you've created. A favorite author of mine in Steven Erikson, the creator of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series.... I haven't been so happy with an author since..... so THANK YOU! You're awesome!
Nope. Matt Potter, you are awesome. Thanks for the feedback.
Good days ahead.
