Michael McClung's Blog, page 5

So yeah, book 4 is a wrap.

Just a few thoughts from the other side of writing The Thief Who Wasn't There. You know, if you're interested in that sort of thing: Holgren Holgren, Holgen, Holgren. I think everybody should be thankful you're at least a few shades of gray closer to the light than the dark. One reviewer recently commented on Trouble's Braids that Holgren seemed a bit over-powerful, and that it might cause

For Posterity

The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids broke into the top 100 free bestsellers in the kindle store. One for the bucket list :)

What's that? You want more artistically questionable maps?

Well, I'm happy to oblige. With one at least. Here's a more detailed map of the Low Countries. Well, Camlach is cut off, but it doesn't really count as a Low Country, because of reasons. Same with Gol-Shen.

Updates various, including the state of my posterior

I'm sitting in a hard wooden chair in a cafe in Da Nang. It is raining, loud against the steep, sloped roof; it often rains here, but this is the first serious rain in weeks. Outside, beyond the rain-spattered window, the Han river slides by in a muddy pewter blur. Some days I like Da Nang, some days I don't. Today I'm rather indifferent. Probably because this chair is giving my ass flashbacks

What Chandler said

...to his editor: By the way, would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden

I think they're calling it a cover reveal

...but I prefer to just say "Lookit, Amra book 4 has a cover!"



























Yes, it already had a cover, but this is a different cover. The old cover was boring. This one has fire. Fire is cool. Dead trees are not cool. Also please note this is not the final final art. That's the great thing about self-publishing. You can change stuff.

Behold, the third chapter!

For those of you keeping score at home, I'm actually working on chapter seven at this point in time. I've never posted this much of a work in progress before; usually I'll post snippets at most. This is something of an experiment.

The usual caveat: This is a work in progress, and every word that follows is subject to change. Enjoy!


Three









“Mag—uh,
Holgren, there's a bunch of soldiers

Amra 4, Chapter 2

Some more of the current work in progress! Chapter 2 turned out to be a bit on the long side. The usual caveats apply: Every single word below is subject to change before publication. Enjoy!






Two





I'd
given up on any quick solution to the puzzle of Amra's disappearance
after I'd exhausted every reasonable avenue of inquiry that I and
Greytooth could come up with. That had wasted a week,

Mad January Sale

You like a good deal, right? Of course you do. Everybody likes a good deal.

Never once in my life have I heard someone say "I refuse to buy this [insert item of interest] at a reduced price. No sirree Bob, it's full price for me or I walk. In fact, I would prefer it if you charged me more for [insert item of interest]!"

Well, it just so happens that on January 1st, 2015, there will be 47 items

The Known World: Western Sulamel

One thing about fantasy, an awesome map can enrich a reader's appreciation of the story. This, unfortunately, is not an awesome map. But it does cover much of what Amra and Holgren have been to or mentioned, and a lot more besides. (Click to embiggen.)