B. Kent Anderson's Blog, page 3

How long, how long?

Of all the questions that writers are asked, perhaps the most obvious is "Where do you get your ideas?"  But, it has been interesting to me that I am asked this significantly less than another murky, decidedly unclear query:

"How long does it take to write a book?"

For me, there is no easy answer to this question, and this greatly vexes those who ask.  I'm never quite sure when a novel is really finished…or for that matter, when it is really begun.  Does it begin with the first germ of the idea, or the first bit of research, or outlining, or when I sit down at my computer and type "Chapter One?"

Likewise, is it finished when I've done my three (or more) drafts and sent it to my editor?  Or after the first or second round of revisions she suggests, or in the copy editing or first pass stages?  Changes are made at all these steps.  I keep seeing little things that need to be done—a word that I've overused, an unnecessary paragraph, a bit of dialogue that needs to be reworked, the elimination of adverbs—and don't want to let them go.

It's cloudy and indistinct, and I'm never sure how to answer this innocent (and perfectly legitimate) question.  Consider a bit of the timeline for COLD GLORY, which comes out next month:

December 2007 – first hint of the idea; initial research

January 2008 – first incarnation of an outline

February 2008 – prologue written (and then rewritten about 12 times)

March 2008 – writing begins in earnest

May 2008 – research travel; then the final push to finish first draft, which is done in June

June-December 2008 – revisions

December 2008 – parted ways with previous agent, began query process to find a new one

August 2009 – signed with new agent, began two rounds of revisions based on his suggestion

February 2010 – submissions to publishers begin

April 2010 – received offer from Forge; accepted offer

May 2010 – first contact from my Forge editor

June 2010 – received editorial letter and began two rounds of revisions based on my editor's suggestions

Then there was copy editing (copy editors really know how to make a writer feel, shall we say, humbled), and first pass pages, in the ensuing months.  Did COLD GLORY really take me more than three years to write?  Certainly not—I wasn't writing it full time, after all, with two other jobs, family responsibilities, etc.  And I didn't really keep track of the time.  How much of that time between December 2007 and the book's release in October 2011, did I spend writing?  No idea.  The story is the story—when I was in the world of Nick Journey and Meg Tolman and the Glory Warriors, I was in another place, a place where time is different.  (People who know me well may be amused by this, as in "real life" I am obsessive about time and always think I have less than I actually do, which means I get to places ridiculously early on occasion.  Maybe more than just on occasion.)

So the question about how long it takes to write a book always throws me off a bit.  The sequel to COLD GLORY is in my editor's hands now.  I had a contract for it, hence a deadline (which I beat by sixteen days, thank you very much).  Does that mean it took less than a year to write?  Yes and no.  There is one part of the plot for that book, SILVER CROSS, that has been in the back of my mind for over twenty years.  I'm researching the third book now, and the story will center around something I just discovered within the last few weeks.

How long, how long?

It's not an easy question for me to answer.  I have no insightful (or even mildly clever) response for "How long does it take to write a book?"

I think it takes whatever the story demands, and what the storyteller is willing to do to tell it.  Follow the story, believe in the story, listen to the characters, understand it, know it…and the timeline will take care of itself.

Cold Glory Trailer

The Cold Glory trailer is finished and live on YouTube!

Spread the word and join the excitement!

Two months, three days, and Publishers Weekly

COLD GLORY will be published in two months, three days–on October 11.  The excitement is building–readers are pre-ordering both hardcover and e-book editions.  I am scheduling more events, and the first major trade publication review has just come out.

Publishers Weekly, the Bible of the commercial publishing industry, says today that COLD GLORY is "the clever first in a new series," calling it "original…should appeal to fans of historical conspiracy thrillers."

I'm honored to be reviewed by PW.  They don't review every title submitted to them, and just to have been selected for inclusion is very gratifying.  Love the review and the buzz that is starting to build about the book.

Just to update you on what else is happening, I have turned in the sequel to COLD GLORY to my editor. Its title is SILVER CROSS, and it is set for release in the fall of 2012.  (COLD GLORY will come out in a paperback edition next year as well.)  And now, as I sweat through the hottest summer in Oklahoma in thirty years, I am researching the third book in the series.  (Parts of it are set in a much cooler climate.)  Yes, Nick Journey and Meg Tolman will be back!  (As will some of the supporting characters, like Sandra Kelly, Darrell Sharp, Kerry Voss, and of course, Nick's son, Andrew Journey.)  I know that most of you haven't met these characters yet, but you will begin getting to know them in COLD GLORY.

Publishing is a long process.  My agent sold COLD GLORY to Forge Books in April of 2010, and it will be fully eighteen months since then to publication date.  But I have a terrific publisher–couldn't be happier with my experience at Forge.  From my amazing editor, Kristin Sevick, to the team that created the cover (it's been nothing short of astounding to see an actual physical representation of something that previously only existed in my head) to my publicist and the hard-working sales and marketing teams, I'm pleased to call Forge my publishing home.

If you haven't pre-ordered COLD GLORY yet, you may do so either from one of the Oklahoma booksellers where I will be doing signings, or from any one of several online retailers. Links to purchase are on this page.

I know things must be going well, as my oldest son (age 17) is rereading several Harry Potter books (after seeing the final movie a couple of weeks ago) and using a COLD GLORY bookmark.  Now I know I've really arrived.

 

"Just keep working."

I knew the phone call was coming. I had known for seven months, since my father was diagnosed with stage four cancer of the lungs and brain, that it would come. I had seen him grow weaker, seen him move from the hospital to skilled nursing, then back home and, finally, to a nursing home for the final three months.

I knew the call was coming. I had known it since my last visit with Dad, when he held my hand and pointed to a framed cover of COLD GLORY that my mother and sister had placed by his bed. He pointed at that book cover and said, "Just keep working." It felt like an ending…I think he and I both knew they were his last words to me. It wouldn't have been his way to say "I'm proud of you" or "I love you, son." He was a man of few words, a gentleman and a gentle man. But I had told him on the previous visit that I was stuck in the writing of my next book, SILVER CROSS, that it just wasn't going anywhere, that the story wouldn't seem to get traction.

So he said, "Just keep working."

It was like receiving a blessing, a benediction, a sending forth. Go out there and write that book, Dad didn't say. And while you're at it, write a lot more books. You've been given a gift and an opportunity to share it. Now go and do it.

The call from my mother came a few days later, on March 27, 2011. Dad was 82. My mother and sister and I spread his ashes at his favorite fishing spot and in his garden, the places where he was happiest in life.

A week later, I sat down to write. Just keep working.

So I did. Over the next six weeks, I finished the first draft of SILVER CROSS. Three-fourths of the book was written during that time period. Now it is in my editor's hands, slated for publication in the fall of 2012. It is second in the series that begins with COLD GLORY, following Nick Journey and Meg Tolman on their next "modern historical" adventure.   Most of it was written with my dad's gentle voice telling me he knew I could do it, that he had faith in me, that he was sorry he wouldn't see these books in print, but he knew what I could do, and that I would do more.

All in three words. Just keep working.

Thursday  I head for New York City and Thrillerfest, where I am looking forward to networking with other thriller writers, visiting with readers, and talking up COLD GLORY. (I'm on the "Is Truth Stranger Than Fiction?" panel on Saturday at 4:00 as well.) Plus I'll get to meet my agent and editor face to face for the first time, and at age 47, am seeing New York for the first time as well. A journey of discovery.

I will make the trip in the knowledge that I miss my dad. But he gave me a great gift at the end of his life, and that was the oh-so-gentle push I needed to finish the next book. That, plus the way I try to interact with my own sons, is Dad's legacy. Not a bad legacy, that.

Just keep working.

I will, Dad.

First and Last

Someone asked me not long ago to share the first and last sentences of COLD GLORY.  An intriguing request, to say the least.  But I'll go one better: first and last paragraphs.

The beginning:

His name wasn't Edward Hiram, but it amused him to call himself that. Edward was Robert E. Lee's middle name, and Hiram was the real first name of Ulysses Grant.

The ending:

They walked along the beach, close to the shore as the waves rolled in. A wind gust hit them, they felt air on their faces, and a fine, misty spray of water. Andrew Journey held both his hands over his head and waved them back and forth, basking in the November sun and the clear air and the water. He gave a happy, genuine laugh, and then he began to whistle again.

First and last.  Beginnings and endings.  I've just turned in the manuscript of the next book in the series, with the working title of SILVER CROSS, set for release in the fall of 2012.  With COLD GLORY finished and in production, SILVER CROSS has occupied much of my time, and I am very excited about it as well.  In the meantime, less than four months until COLD GLORY publication date!  I'll have more to say soon, about Father's Day, SILVER CROSS, and Thrillerfest.

The Department of Thrills

I am blogging today over at Criminal Element, on the topic of where the thriller falls on the crime fiction spectrum. Check it out:

http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/05/the-department-of-thrills

COLD GLORY available for pre-orders!

I have very big news–COLD GLORY is now available for pre-orders!

In today's publishing world, pre-orders are VERY important, and can help determine such things as the initial number of copies printed, the marketing and promotional budget for the book, and many more.  So I am working hard to mobilize readers to take part in the excitement. Let's take this thing viral!

As most of you know, I am an ardent supporter of independent booksellers, and I have already scheduled events at four such stores within Oklahoma: my official book launch is at Full Circle in Oklahoma City on October 20, followed by Best of Books in Edmond October 22.  I will also be  at The Bookseller in Ardmore on November 5, and Brace Books & More in Ponca City November 13.  Check the events page, www.bkentanderson.com/events/.  I'll update more events there as I schedule them.

For those who live in one of these areas and would like to come to the book signings, I still encourage and humbly request that you pre-order.  For those here in the OKC metro area, that means calling Full Circle at 405-842-2900 or Best of Books at 405-340-9202, to reserve your copy.  Those paid pre-orders count as sales, and you can still come to the store and I'll be pleased to sign them for you in person at the event.

ORDERING ONLINE

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cold+glory

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Glory-ebook/dp/B004XHYZJS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303767078&sr=8-3

The book is also available for pre-orders online through Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and Indiebound. Links to buy from these sellers are on http://www.bkentanderson.com/books/cold-glory/.

COLD GLORY is a contemporary, but historically-based thriller, the first in a new series published by Forge Books.  Who will enjoy it?

—readers with an interest in American history, especially the Civil War, as the sesquicentennial of that conflict has begun

—families who have children with special needs.  One of the lead characters in COLD GLORY is a single father of a son with profound autism, as I am.  In fact, my editor has stated that one of the reasons she wanted to publish this book was the relationship between the father and son.  This is not your typical thriller fiction hero.

So there you have it.  Please feel free to pass the word to anyone you know whom you feel might enjoy COLD GLORY.  I'm very excited about it, as you can tell, and am currently working on the sequel, set for release in the fall of 2012.

Civil War Women

March is Women's History Month, and I recently came across a wonderful blog about notable women in the Civil War era.  Check it out at www.civilwarwomenblog.com.

I was especially intrigued by the site because the book I am currently writing, Silver Cross, involves one of the most interesting and notable women from the war.   I can't tell you more just yet–you'll have to wait until 2012 to learn more about her, and how her story reaches out from the Civil War to grab the attention of Meg Tolman and Nick Journey.  In the meantime, check out the blog, as it is a fascinating look at some amazing ladies.

Out Of My Hands

It has come to that point in the life of any book where it is out of the author's hands. I can no longer make any changes to Cold Glory, even though I wake up at 3:30 a.m. and think, "Why didn't I say it this way instead?"  But now, the book is fully in production and it's time to let it go.

 Oh, it's in capable hands, all right. My Forge editor is both brilliant and cool—and is a fellow baseball fan. (Irrelevant to being a brilliant editor, perhaps, but an important characteristic nonetheless.) The art department has created a terrific cover. Seeing the Glory Warriors seal that previously existed only in my head has been very satisfying.  We've gone through the entire editorial process. Now I'm left thinking, "What do I do now?"

 I've been living with the idea that became Cold Glory since the great Oklahoma ice storm of December 2007. I wrote the first draft between February and June of 2008, revising in various guises since then, while working on the marketing of it: finding a new agent, more revisions, then the sale, the contract, more revisions…you get the idea.  I've been living with it for a long time.

There's a parallel here between my writing life and my family life.  My oldest son will be going off to college in another year. We've already been on his first college visit, and another is coming in a few weeks.  I am excited for him to begin making his own way in the world, but the dad in me is anxious about the transition as well. Have I prepared him as well as I can?  Is he ready?  Am I ready?

Same thing with the book.  I've poured heart and soul into it, more so than any of my previous books.  I had no guarantee of a publishing contract, whether the market was right, whether I could make a "comeback" as an author.  But the story came from the place within myself where all writers go when they are mining deep, looking into corners, scraping away outer layers to find the heart of a story. And while I wouldn't mind one more crack at it (Did I fix all the dangling participles? Did I remember to change that character's eye color in all references? Did I get rid of most of the adverbs?), it's time to let go.  I've done all I can.

Now I'm thinking about promotion, about making sure the book gets into your hands. I'm already scheduling events, ranging from Thrillerfest in July and Bouchercon in September to my launch parties here in Oklahoma when the book is published in October.

And of course, I'm working on the next book. Nick Journey and Meg Tolman still have much to do, after Cold Glory. History is loaded with mysteries and conspiracies that provide interesting places for storytellers to go. The next book in the new series, set to publish in 2012, is called Silver Cross.  Research for it took me to the North Carolina coast, to the Caprock Canyons of west Texas, to a ferry in the middle of Lake Michigan.  I'm excited about it, and I can't wait to tell you more.

In the meantime, Cold Glory makes its way through the process of becoming a book. It will be published in hardcover and digital editions on October 11, and should be available for pre-orders soon.  I hope to see you somewhere along the road in the months to come.

Rite of Passage

My first real blog post!  Is this considered a rite of passage, akin to turning 18 or 21 and the like?

Perhaps not, but I am quite excited at the debut of this website and blog.  By the time Cold Glory is published in October, it will have been five years between published books.  A lot has changed in my life in those years, and while there was a time when I believed I had no more books within me, that I was simply finished as a novelist, here I am, back with a new book and delighted to be telling stories again.

Cold Glory is in production now.  My editor at Forge, the thoroughly remarkable Kristin Sevick, has helped me shape it into a work of which I'm quite proud.  We've been through the whole process: editorial letter, three rounds of changes, copy-editing, first pass pages.  Now I've made all the changes I can make—wait! wait! what about line 15 on page 247???—and it's in the capable hands of the production department at Forge.

I'm pleased with the book—it has all the elements I love: characters with personal issues outside the scope of the present story, giving them chances to grow over several books (Yes, this is the first in a new series!); lots of historical detail; tidbits of music here and there; plot twists; interesting (if somewhat unexpected, at times) settings.  I enjoyed writing this book, building on my interest in American history and tying it to the American Civil War during the sesquicentennial of that terrible yet fascinating conflict. I've planned five books in the new series—one for each year of the sesquicentennial.  I'm already hard at work on the next one, set for release in 2012 and titled Silver Cross.

I'll have more to say in this space as the months go by and we get closer to publication date for Cold Glory. In the meantime, I'll be reading and writing, and hoping to hear from you.