Jay Swanson's Blog, page 5

Gandalf the Newsworthy

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Before you go about using objects known to be incredibly powerful, especially those which wield a mysterious magic all their own, it’s a good idea to do a little research. They’re probably newsworthy after all. But hey, we all get sucked into tempting gadgets, right? Wizards aren’t the only ones.

Considering that the team tasked with repairing Egypt’s oldest pyramid is actually doing more harm than good, this could wind up being even more accurate than I’d intended. Newsworthy moments are rarely pleasant ones (but that’s largely due to the fact that the news sells doom and gloom much more than sunshine and kittens).

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Gandalf the Observant – Compliments of Wizards

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Disclaimer: This series is simply a venture of silliness (Part 1 – Part 2)

You might think that Gandalf would be good at handing out compliments, and no one would blame you for the assumption. I mean he has had centuries to work on the art after all. But he isn’t always good at picking up on social cues. Examples include the old “Oh hey, my oldest friend is talking in overtly superior tones about middle earth, perhaps his motives are impure,” and “These horse dudes are always so friendly.”

But it’s a rare occasion that he says anything without meaning something completely different. He’s tricksy like that (as Gollum would later misattribute to hobbits in subsequent dealings). You have to beware the compliments of wizards.

The thing is that even if you receive a backhanded compliment from a wizard like “Boy, you sure should look older than you do,” there’s probably another message lying just beneath the surface. If you’re not certain what exactly they’re trying to say, you can at least start out with the assumption that they find something suspicious about you. They might even find you suspicious yourself.

Be wary of the compliments of wizards, for they are not what they seem.

Almost sounds like a line from some other fantasy book. I hope it has monkeys in it.

Speaking of monkeys – be sure to check out intothenanten.com – it launches in full on September 9th!

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Behind Into the Nanten

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Into the Nanten – the Record of My Exile is the journal of Marceles na Tetrarch, a man who has been exiled to the world’s most hostile jungle in search of the one man he hates most: Brin Salisir. Salisir was the first person Marceles had ever heard of to be exiled from the Tetrarch, and it was the greatest joy of his young life to see Salisir sent off to his death. Until the same fate befell Marceles twenty years later.

His journal will be released in real time on intothenanten.com beginning on September 9th. That means it’s launching in less than two weeks! But behind Into the Nanten were a number of conversations, books, and experiences that all led to one epiphany.

More Than a Story – Behind Into the Nanten

What makes Into the Nanten special for me is how it gathers a selection of my creative joys together while also satisfying some very pragmatic needs (at least I hope it satisfies them). I’d like to share with you where the idea came from, and how I see it coming together in the next few weeks and months.

I’ve always wanted to write a first-hand account of an adventure
My own journey into the ‘jungles’ of Africa has left me with a lot to process, and a lot to share
There is a question that has plagued me for a decade: how do I build an audience on my own?

Perhaps none of these three things seem all that well related, and for the longest time I didn’t see the connection between them either. But then I picked up a book, Blood River, and within a matter of sentences into the introduction it all came crashing together.

Eaters of the Dead

Michael Chrighton was one of my favorite authors as a kid and into my early adult life (which I’m told is still happening). One of his books, Eaters of the Dead (later adapted into the film The 13th Warrior) stuck with me in a different way than the rest. The book is Chrighton’s fictionalized account of the events that led to the tale of Baeowolf, as told through the historic character Ibn Fadlan, a traveler hijacked into the whole ordeal by a bunch of blood-thirsty vikings.

The mix of history and fiction blurred the lines of reality, even to Chrighton. At the back of the book, he recounted digging to find a source he had cited only to give up hours later after deciding he must have made it up. This fascinated me. I wanted my own creations to be so lifelike that I would feel like it had to be real, and I loved the idea of capturing historic moments for what they were before they grew into legends of their own. I wanted to tell someone’s story as they saw it.

Secret Societies in Sierra Leone

There are few things scarier than the unknown, but one is when the unknown comes for you. When I was in Freetown, Sierra Leone, we were warned that there were people who belonged to “Secret Societies” in the city and beyond. The leaders of these societies would don masks and costumes. They would dance through the streets with mobs of followers. They were violent, we were warned. If you looked them in the eye, they were liable to attack you. If you didn’t pay them when they demanded money, they were likely to take from you what they wanted.

One day the streets emptied suddenly. Cars refused to go the route we were trying to take, and as we drew closer we realized there was a forced detour, and when we saw why we immediately took it. Down the road we had hoped to take was a mob of people, and at its center were men dancing in masks and costumes I can best describe here as “terrifying.” We were able to avoid them entirely, but the intensity of that moment, the fear of it all, it stuck with me for a long time.

There are a lot of unknowns in the countries I’ve lived in, not to mention the greater continent of Africa. There are a lot of beautiful and fascinating things as well, customs and colors you didn’t know existed until they simply appeared before you. It’s that mystery that draws outsiders in. I have a lot I want to share, and a lot to think through. I’m finding that fiction can be a release for that.

Finding an Audience

The great challenge of “becoming” a fantasy author, someone who can live off their writing, seems to be finding readers. I’m working hard on the craft and growing with each new book I write. I’m reaching out to the right talent to bring my world to life. I’m building something that I believe (and truly hope) is worth immersing one’s self in. But how do you bring people into your world if they don’t even know it exists?

Over a decade ago one of my dad’s friends, Dan, began pushing me to start writing my books and release them one chapter at a time online. This was before blogs were the cornerstone of the online community that they are today, but it was also before I was truly ready to write and release anything of worth. As the years went on this idea came up again and again.

My friend Mark suggested I release my history of magic in my world one section at a time. Then I thought about releasing the fables that I’ve written in a serialized format. But everything seemed too much or too little. A book, one chapter at a time, was too limited and simultaneously too much per sitting for me. Fables were far too little, and not nearly compelling enough to bring people back regularly. And while nerds like Mark and I love reading the history of a world’s magic, it’s not something to reach a broad audience (and I’m not ready to show you all of my cards on that front anyways).

And then I picked up Blood River, and everything came crashing together.

The Terrifying Journey

Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World’s Most Dangerous Country is the story of Tim Butcher, a journalist whose obsession with Stanley’s original discovery of the Congo River leads him to recreate it in the modern Democratic Republic of Congo. It was stupid of him at best, suicidal at most realistic. I had been within sight of the country only a week before, and was looking to better understand it when I picked up Butcher’s book. It only took a few lines before epiphany struck.

He starts off by describing just how stupid his mission is, to recreate Stanley’s route along the Congo River. How there is no safe way into that part of the country, and his every attempt to enter it before had been thwarted by government officials, rebels, or both. War, disease, and a complete regression of civilization along the river made it beyond hostile for the people living there. It could only be worse for an outsider.

And here he was, about to plunge recklessly ahead to satisfy some deep need that even he struggled to properly take measure of.

Then it hit me. This is everything I’m looking to write right now – the story of a man who is about to enter the world’s most hostile jungle, festering over the remains of a failed state. Riddled by bandits, cannibals, and worse. But rather than risking his life for a selfish desire, he would be sent there. Forced there by his own order, he would be expected to find someone else (much like Stanley sought Livingston), someone he didn’t know would be dead or alive, someone he hated.

Why was he exiled? Why did he hate this other man? Why did this nation fail and how could its people survive in the aftermath? These were all questions that started to bombard me as I stared at a book I was no longer reading. I had my story. Now it was time to discover it.

Come September 9th, 2014, you will get a chance to explore the Nanten with me. Marceles’ journal will update in real time from that point on, with his words and his illustrations. He doesn’t believe his condemnation is just, but he also knows no way to avoid it without betraying everything he is. Follow along to find out why.

That’s what’s behind Into the Nanten. Aside from the blog, there are a number of unique ways you can follow Marceles on his journey. You can read select thoughts over the course of each day by following him @MTetrarch on Twitter. If you’re on Tumblr or Instagram, you can get previews of his artwork and quotes through either of those two mediums. But each day’s entry will only be told in full on intothenanten.com.

Join my mailing list on this site for a sneak peak of the site in September, and to get any up-to-the-minute news that you won’t want to miss.

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Gandalf the Wise – Keep it Secret

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Sometimes we want to hide ourselves away. Love can hurt, and it most certainly will. It requires trust – it requires faith in another person (and many of us have lost our desire to put our faith there of all places).

I think that’s why I love C.S. Lewis’ take on how we respond to heartbreak, and as he was most certainly good friends with Gandalf the Grey, it’s only fair to let him tell us what he thinks about Gandalf’s idea to keep it secret:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

I don’t know where you’re at today, but I certainly hope you can start letting your heart get some sunshine today.

In a purely figurative sense. Direct sunlight is notoriously bad for hearts.

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Into the Nanten – The Record of My Exile

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Into the Nanten is derived from the journal of Marceles na Tetrarch, a character in my world.

Marceles is a man who has been condemned into exile by his order, the Tetrarch. His crimes aren’t yet known to us, but we know they were of a national scale (you’ll find out more in his third post). As for the Nanten, it’s the single most hostile environment on the planet. At least as far as anyone in the Old Empire is concerned.

The Nanten Kingdom is a failed state, one that is overrun with bandits, monsters, cannibals, and worse. The jungle itself is comprised of any number of lethal plants and animals. No one enters it willingly any more, to do so is considered suicide. But Marceles must enter the Nanten, or he will never see his home again.

He is sent to find a man he hates, Brin Salisir, who was exiled into the Nanten twenty years before. He was the first to be exiled from the Tetrarch, and the last until now. Until Marceles.

Marceles begins writing in his journal after three months on the road to the Nanten. He wants to expunge the mark on his name, and leave a record of all that has transpired. This is a massive task for him as he begins to weave his story together with that of Salisir’s and the daily events of his exile. But it will prove to be a cathartic one for him as well.

Into the Nanten will begin posting at intothenanten.com on September 9, 2014 as Marceles begins writing in his journal. It will continue on from there in real time. His journal will feature illustrations by Nimit Malavia, and will continue on for months – however long it takes Marceles to complete his mission to find Salisir, dead or alive.

You will also be able to follow along with his thoughts over the course of any given day on Twitter at @MTetrarch. This will be one of the best ways to keep track of when he posts new entries into his journal.

Check back here for more previews and the story behind how I came to create Into the Nanten. I can’t wait to share it with you!

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Gandalf the Wise – He’s not always Grey

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

So I’ve got plenty of time on my hands when flying. Usually I try to spend my time in airports and on planes productively, particularly writing. But sometimes my production levels slip a little, and off to the side. I give you what might just turn into a series (because I did a lot of these the other week):

Wisdom and Quotes from Gandalf the Wise

You can expect one of these Gandalf the Wise posts every Wednesday for a while because, well, why not? I need something to do when I’m flying and too tired to contribute anything of more substantial value.

Also please forgive any paraphrasing, at 30,000 feet with some free rum in me there’s no telling how these quotes are going to come out. If you have any favorite Gandalf quotes you’d love to see written alongside some completely unrelated cartoon, feel free to leave them in the comments below. I think I’ve got a good selection going already.

Some are even contextual. Although my airplane drawing skills could use work. But I mean really, where were those dang eagles at the beginning of the entire ordeal?

 

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What’s Coming Next – New Books and Someone Gets Exiled

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

What’s coming next? I have a book with my editor, and a massive project I’m about to launch in September that I think you are going to love! Well, I think you’ll love it if you like stories with adventure, romance, danger, and a little magic of course. But before I get into all of that, a little recap on where the heck I’ve been.

I’ve neglected this blog for a long while, with a few random scattered posts as I went. That is about to change. Part of the neglect was due to my crazy job in Africa, and then the rest has been due to transitioning into a new crazy job in America.

All of this neglect is going to end before Blog Protective Services has a chance to swoop in and take this precious thing away from me. So here’s what’s coming next:

For starters, I have a new novel that is slated for release late this fall: Dark Horse. I posted about it on Facebook and Instagram a while back, but it’s a tragedy fantasy (fantastic tragedy seems wrong) that takes place roughly 1,500 years after the Vitalis Chronicles trilogy ends.

There will be more about that as we draw near.

The other big announcement I’d like to start making is a website I will be launching on September 9th. So in just a few short weeks! I can barely contain my excitement!!

It’s the journal of a man who has been exiled into the world’s most hostile jungle, the Nanten. His mission is a thinly-veiled death sentence, to find the whereabouts of a man he hates who was exiled into the Nanten twenty years before him.

The blog (on a separate website) will be updated in real time as he writes in his journal. So if he writes in the evening it will post that evening. If he writes in the morning it will post in the morning, etc. There is a lot to talk about as I get ready to launch the site, but I really hope you love the story and the illustrations, as provided by Nimit Malavia (the illustrator for the cover of my third book).

There will be previews of that goodness to come.

That’s it for now. I have a few more things to highlight as we move forward, but this is a really exciting season with a lot of fun projects to share with you all! I can’t wait to get these stories out there, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride as I do.

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How to Make a Hobbit Hole

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

When you visit your parents, you may be conscripted into a brief bout of manual labor (brief if you’re lucky). When this happens, make the most of it.

For example: if you have to do some digging, why not make a hobbit hole? Here’s how.

Step 1: Dig a hole.

This pretty much takes a shovel and some clay that won’t collapse when you dig your hole. My parents currently live in east Texas which has no shortage of clay to go around. Still, try not to get greedy (my original hole had issues when someone else came to dig a little).

Step 2: Make some signs to warn the neighbors.

It’s only fair, hobbits get nasty when they’re hungry.

Find an old Amazon box and cut it up. Then cut it up some more until it resembles letters.

I did one set as a cutout with a black background, and then painted the second set and glued them onto their sign. This is easier than you may think (or exactly as easy as you’re probably thinking).

If you know anything about kerning just throw that out the window because this isn’t the place.

If you want to spray paint cardboard letters, though, you’ll need double-sided tape or some other weak adhesive to hold them down while you’re spraying. Too weak of an adhesive and you’ll be chasing letters across the garage. Too strong and you’ll just end up with a bunch of black cardboard.

Step 3: Plant the signs next to the hole.

It only makes sense, otherwise how will people know it’s a hobbit hole?

 

And there you go, your very own hobbit hole. Hopefully it gives you a good laugh, because if you don’t, there’s a good chance no one else will.

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Free Fantasy eBooks, Again!

Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson

Free fantasy ebooks are what make the world go ’round. White Shores is free on Kindle today, and will be for the whole weekend! And to make the deal even sweeter, Tomb of the Relequim and Steps of Krakador are on sale for Kindle too!

I’ve put those two books on Kindle Countdown Deals. The way it works is that I start them out at $0.99, and then set how many increments it takes for them to get back to their list price. Basically every 30-40 hours, their price goes back up a dollar until they’re no longer on sale. So the sooner you get on them, the cheaper they are!

As of right now that leaves us with:

White Shores: FREE!

Tomb of the Relequim: $0.99!

Steps of Krakador: $0.99!

If you were to get all three today it would cost you a whopping $1.98 (before tax)! That’s not bad for free fantasy ebooks (or cheap enough to be free). This trilogy is frequently called a page-turner, so don’t be surprised if you burn through them quickly. Have a fantastic fantasy-fiction-filled weekend!

 

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Free Fantasy eBook, Again!

White Shores is free on Kindle today, and will be for the whole weekend! And to make the deal even sweeter, Tomb of the Relequim and Steps of Krakador are on sale for Kindle too!

I’ve put those two books on Kindle Countdown Deals. The way it works is that I start them out at $0.99, and then set how many increments it takes for them to get back to their list price. Basically every 30-40 hours, their price goes back up a dollar until they’re no longer on sale. So the sooner you get on them, the cheaper they are!

As of right now that leaves us with:

White Shores: FREE!

Tomb of the Relequim: $0.99!

Steps of Krakador: $0.99!

If you were to get all three today it would cost you a whopping $1.98 (before tax)! That’s not bad for free fantasy ebooks (or cheap enough to be free). Have a fantastic fantasy-fiction-filled weekend!

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