Ken Lizzi's Blog, page 17

Fantasy and Sword-and-Sorcery for Turbulent Days. Resurrected Days.

May 31, 2020Fantasy and Sword-and-Sorcery for Turbulent Days

We are living in interesting times. Whatever your take on current events, however much or little the global turmoil and tumults have affected you personally, it is likely you feel at the least a bit of consternation, perhaps even pique. My day-to-day existence has altered little. I���ve been driving to the office, the same as usual. It is startlingly quiet there, but that doesn���t bother me. And now that I am able to once again go the gym and take my family out to restaurants, my life is largely back to normal. But even so, I experience moments of discontent, a Truman-Show style notion that something is not quite right.

Who wouldn���t like something comforting and familiar in such circumstances? And so, here are my recommendations for Fantasy and/or Sword-and-Sorcery that fits the bill.

If you assumed I���d lead off with The Lord of the Rings, award yourself whatever you deem appropriate. You���re right. Tolkien���s masterpiece is the literary equivalent of comfort food. It is warm, filling, and homey. Just opening up to Chapter One feels like revisiting your childhood bedroom. The existential threat faced is daunting and averting it comes down to a hair-thin margin. It is bitter-sweet in all the right ways. You don���t need me to tell you any of this. So, moving on.

If LOTR is comfort food, then Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is a favorite beverage. You know what I mean: You drop by a tavern for a drink, but you���re not in the mood to try something new. The risk of disliking it is too high and the bartender is busy so you don���t want to bother him for a taste. But you see a favorite beer on tap, so you know you���ll be satisfied. And since we���re talking short stories here, like a beer you can have more than one. If you want only one, then I recommend Thieves House. If you���ve never read any of Leiber���s seminal contribution to the S&S genre, then I���d recommend you start with Ill-Met in Lankhmar, but for succor in turbulent days it may fall somewhat short, given the rather tragic outcome for a couple of the characters.

Some may quibble if I claim that Glen Cook���s Garrett Files novels are S&S. Garrett almost never uses a sword. He���s a portmanteau character: equal parts Archie Goodwin, Phillip Marlowe, and Travis McGee, not Conan. He solves mysteries. That���s a different genre. But the way I see it, S&S has always blended genres. Since I mentioned Conan, consider The God in the Bowl. That���s a bit of a police procedural. Even The Tower of the Elephant starts as a heist story. And Beyond the Black River is essentially an American frontier story. So, I figure Garrett gets a pass. The point is, these novels, like the Nero Wolfe novels from which they are partially inspired, take up a familiar rhythm, with familiar locations, recurrent characters, motifs, and tropes. Reading through them is as comforting as donning a favorite pair of slippers.

The Harold Shea stories by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt are seldom laugh-out-loud funny. But they maintain a consistent level of tongue-in-cheek drollery. The stakes are real enough for the characters, but they never feel too serious. This creates a constant feeling of good humor for the reader. And what could be more comforting in an era of lockdowns and looting?

These sorts of lists ought to have five, I think. I���ll open up the floor for nominations. What is your go-to comfort work of Fantasy and/or S&S?

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Putting in the Work. Resurrected Post.

May 24, 2020Putting in the Work

As with many of you, home improvement projects have played an unusually prominent role in recent weeks. Now, I���ve not had the excuse of being home with time on my hands. I���ve been going to the office every day. Nonetheless, at the behest of MBW, we���ve been buckling down, checking off items on our to-do list.

We cleared out the garage, painted the walls (two different colors), and hung storage racks. My work-in-progress, corner-of-the-garage tavern is coming along. We are painting interior walls downstairs, in gradual, consecutive fashion. We���re undertaking the usual bits of spring gardening and landscaping.

In short, we���re getting things done.

And that���s what you do. You accomplish things. Whether you are painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or the kitchen is a question of degree rather than kind. You are still getting things done.

I suppose, if your lifestyle and living arrangements allow, you could do little but sit on the couch, watch TV and play videogames. If that is a fulfilling life, then kudos to you for succeeding. That doesn���t work for me, even if MBW would tolerate it. I need a goal, projects, something to create. Something to mark my existence, to give some meaning to it.

That���s how I approach writing. It is a continual process, usually involving multiple projects in different stages. Each day allows me to accomplish something, some additional brick laid in whatever word edifice I���m constructing. It feels good, each and every day, to make a little progress. And even when I���ve finished some stage or another, I have the satisfaction of knowing there is always more to do.

Right now, for example, I���m closing in on the half-way mark of a novel featuring my S&S character Cesar the Bravo. Meanwhile, I���m getting Warlord: Falchion���s Company Book Three ready for publication, waiting on cover art. Dipping my toes into the world of indy-pub, doing for myself what I���m used to relying on a publisher for, certainly adds to my list of projects ��� and to my sense of accomplishment. Though it remains daunting. Marketing is tough. (On that note, want something to read? Check these out. Both Thick As Thieves and Karl Thorson and the Jade Dagger are currently on sale.)

So, I keep churning. I may not be adorning the Sistine Chapel with marvelously realized religious allegories, but what paltry art or pulp entertainment I manage to concoct provides me with some sense of accomplishment. I hope your endeavors are likewise satisfactory.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on May 24, 2020 12:26

Vitally Haggard. Resurrected Post.

May 17, 2020Vitally Haggard

A few words on Haggard. No, not Merle Haggard, though that man is worthy of a torrent of digital ink. I���m writing here about Henry Rider Haggard, traveler, lawyer, author.

I���m reading Allan Quatermain currently, a book I should have read decades ago. I���m not unfamiliar with Haggard. I finished King Solomon���s Mines about a year ago. Eric Brighteyes perhaps a decade back. I recall doggedly pushing through She about thirty years back, during college, in a vintage hardcover edition. That one I���ll revisit soon; I have a paperback copy on my lunch book To Read Pile.

I greatly enjoyed King Solomon���s Mines. It is a classic adventure novel. But it is conceivable, at a bit past the midway point, that I like Allan Quatermain even more. There is an element of sword-and-sorcery about it, a certain proto-fantasy adventure feel. The battles are epic and carefully detailed. The exploration and hardships of 19th century expeditions in Africa are fully realized, but added to that are fantastic details such as underground rivers and fiery natural gas jets.

And then of course there is that classic pulp S&S touch, the lost civilization. Writers from Doyle to Burroughs have played with this theme, a concept at least as old as Prester John.

I can only assume Haggard influenced Robert E. Howard. I���m sure that is far from an original notion. Scholars and literary biographers have probably explored this concept, with detailed textual comparisons and excerpts from letters. But originality isn���t the only virtue; there���s no reason I can���t note the same thing. I can see hints of Haggard in everything from Solomon Kane, to Conan, to Howard���s more contemporary heroes, such as El Borak.

Perhaps I���m wrong. Perhaps Howard���s more important influences were more recent, say Harold Lamb or Talbot Mundy. I don���t know.

I do know that I���m looking forward to reading the rest of Allan Quatermain. I also know that I���d love to read short stories detailing the adventures of Umslopogaas and his axe. What a great character. I was happy to discover that he appears in other novels by Haggard. I���ll have to track those down.

Something to look forward to.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on May 17, 2020 11:21

A Rosier Elric. Resurrected Post.

May 10, 2020A Rosier Elric

Michael Moorcock is the elder statesman of the S&S genre. He earned his bones. His success is unquestioned and his influence is clear. It would be unmannerly for a piker like myself, who has yet to make much of a ripple in the genre, to criticize a big fish like Moorcock. I���ve already, perhaps, neared such impertinence during the course of my Appendix N series, but the nature of the undertaking required a certain degree of honesty.

The thing is, in my personal experience, Elric and the rest of the Eternal Champion stories, worked well for a certain period of my life and experience, but not as well later in life. I���m making no argument here, simply pointing out my subjective impressions. Yours may differ, and I would not object even if I could. My claim to be the Final Arbiter of all Things Subjective is made purely in jest.

So, understand that I picked up The Revenge of the Rose with personally calibrated, limited expectations. I was pleased to find that Rose marginally exceeded those expectations. Elric remains Elric, brooding and tortured. (There ought to be an episode of Epic Rap Battles of History with Elric versus Lestat.) There is plenty of the usual. I won���t criticize it; it���s a feature not a bug. But a minor criticism is that Elric is rather passive in this book, brought along for the ride other characters are taking through the Multiverse. On the other hand, maybe that���s a reason I somewhat enjoyed this one: the other characters.

It was nice to encounter Prince Gaynor the Damned again. And there were other callbacks to the Corum books. I have fond memories of reading The Chronicles of Corum as a teen. I mean, look at that cover. I must have read that one three or four times during high school.

I also enjoyed the imaginative settings, one of Moorcock���s greatest skills as a writer. There was the train of monstrous wagons, forever circling the planet, a sort of proto-Snowpiercer. There was The Ship That Was. There was the abandoned, crystalline city. Moorcock can always be counted on to create a memorable location. And he is evocative, skilled at creating a mood.

And then, there���s the relatively happy ending. Even knowing what ultimately lies in store for Elric, it is nice to see him off on what promises to be an interlude of tranquility and contentment. I remain fond of my memories of Elric. So, I found the end of Rose satisfying. A rewarding payoff.

I mentioned the call back to the Corum books. One thing Moorcock created was the idea that his Elvish race existed throughout the Multiverse under different names. Elric may be called a Melnibonean, but let���s face it, he���s an elf. In Rose he recognizes his kindred, though they are called the Vadhagh. Elves. Tall, and generally considered superior to men, though whether benign or malign depends on the world in question.

I did something similar with Thick As Thieves, creating the Haptha. Tall, physically (and perhaps culturally) superior human-like beings. But perhaps���maybe���could be, they are just elves with the serial numbers filed off and some aftermarket add-ons. The second edition of Thick As Thieves is out. Tell me what you think. And where do I get off daring to cast even a hint of shade at an acknowledged master? (And I do acknowledge it. You don���t need to extol his virtues. Michael Moorcock doesn���t need the help and I already appreciate what he���s created, even if I���m no longer the ideal reader of it.)

To sum up: I enjoyed The Revenge of the Rose. If you���re an Elric fan, I recommend it to you.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on May 10, 2020 13:19

Tales From The Magician’s Skull. Plus Savage Journal Entry 17.

The delivery truck driver dropped off a box at my front door the other day. The box label read “Goodman Games.” Inside, protected by redundant layers of bubble wrap, were two copies of Tales From the Magician’s Skull Special 2. My author comp copies!

Since I have more reading to do, I’m just going to leave you with the next Savage Journal entry. After this word from our sponsor, me: “Buy Blood and Jade. You’ll like it.”

SAVAGE JOURNAL

ENTRY 17.

��Something that really gets under my skin, dear diary, is creatures that just refuse to stay dead. Of similar rank on the ire and bile index are folks who by all rights should have been enjoying enforced retirement in the coffin condo centuries ago, yet who are still walking about in an extended pseudo life. Both reek of sorcery. It is unnatural and it makes my blood freeze.

I bring this up for a reason, dear diary. Bear with me. Haakon the fence proposed an intriguing burglary: a jewel encrusted golden crown interred with Rizak III in the crypts beneath the temple of the spider god, Rachos. Rizak kinged it for a short period some three hundred or so years back, a barbarian adventurer who briefly interrupted Bandahar’s status as an oligarchic republic. Makes my heart proud to hear of a barbarian swordsman done good. The temple was built over the burnt ruins of Rizak’s palace (his reign did not end pleasantly.) Haakon offered me a substantial sum for the acquisition of the crown, though, he temporized, ���I may be forced, reluctantly, to tender a somewhat lessened figure, dependent upon, and corresponding to, the physical condition of said artifact.��� I mentally cut his offer by two thirds. Haakon provides me a steady outlet for purloined merchandise, but he offers coppers on the gold piece, and always surrounds himself with enough bodyguards to prevent me from physically expressing my displeasure. Just before I leave Bandahar for parts unknown, I’m going to break into Haakon’s storehouse and rob him blind. I comfort myself with this thought each time that miser underpays.

So, I infiltrated the temple, made my way down into the crypts and located Rizak’s tomb. And, wouldn’t you know it, the crown was not left unguarded. A half dozen men who should have been decently crumbling to dust were instead shuffling towards me through inch thick layers of dust. Chilling. You know my position on the supernatural: I’m opposed. Still, as they were moving through the natural world, they should be subject to natural laws. I slid my broadsword free of its shagreen-bound scabbard and laid down the law. It was not a pleasant fight. Already long dead, they were not easily discouraged. My leg and arms were raked with skeletal talons, a skull covered with yellowed, parchment thin skin and wisps of hair clung by its teeth to my shoulder, even after I lopped it off the shambling body.

At last, after some pretty thorough dismembering, I made my way, oozing blood, back to Haakon’s place of business, deep in the Vista. (The Vista is the ironic Bandaharan moniker for the city’s most deplorable and hazardous slum ��� you see it boasts no view at all, being a maze of ramshackle structures continually wreathed in a smoky haze.) I handed over the sack containing the crown and accepted the paltry reward (because, as expected, ���the item is more worn than anticipated, and this craftsmanship is positively second rate.���

The sack also contained ��� and I close with a smirk on my face because of it, dear diary ��� that tenacious skull, still gnashing its teeth and glaring fury through gleaming red, desiccated eyeballs.

Magnus Stoneslayer

 

 

The Words, Like the Spice, Must Flow. Resurrected Post.

March 8, 2020The Words, Like the Spice, Must Flow

When I first started writing, years ago, it was primarily as a challenge. Could I get a story published? Then, how about a few more? After a while, I wanted to see if I could get a novel published. That accomplished, I discovered I had more novels I wanted to write, that it wasn���t enough to have a published book under my belt.

At the moment I find myself dealing with multiple projects in various stages. I���ve got the word mines running, and the words must flow. It is gratifying. It is also time consuming for someone with a profession that already demands most of his nine-to-five hours.

Currently I���m working on commissioning covers for books two and three of Falchion���s Company. Trying out indie-publishing has multiplied the positions I need to fill in the word mines. I���m going to bring along the manuscripts with me over spring break to take a final pass through. I at least want book two (Captain) in publishable condition in order to hit my self-imposed April deadline.

I just learned that the publisher of my sword-and-sorcery crime novel Thick As Thieves closed up shop some months ago. So, I need to start looking for a new home for that book.

At some point I need to take another pass through the sequel to Karl Thorson and the Jade Dagger. I have some ideas for a couple of additional chapters that I���ll want to insert somewhere.

But in the meantime, I���m on chapter two of a new book. There are three published short stories featuring my S&S character Cesar the Bravo. I decided he deserved his own novel. I���ve only myself to blame, of course, for all this work. No one forced me to engage in so many projects simultaneously. The galactic empire will not collapse if my words cease to flow. But my self-esteem would suffer. I certainly can���t allow that to happen.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on March 08, 2020 15:07

The Mega-Post. Resurrected Post.

March 1, 2020The Mega-Post

When you have more than one thing to write about but little to link the subjects, start with a bombastic title.

Don���t leave the best for last. Or do. I don���t know, it���s confusing.

How about this? Boss: Falchion���s Company Book One is now an audio book. That���s pretty good new, I think.

Of course it seems good must be balanced by bad news. I don���t know how these things are determined, what metric is employed to evaluate the degree of good and enormity of the bad. I can���t consider this a cosmic evil or anything like that, but I am typing today���s post with only eight fingers. I managed to fall and fracture my ring finger in a couple spots, so I have it strapped against the little finger, limiting mobility and function.

Oh, and there���s more. MBW was away in Mexico on a business trip. She returned yesterday, drove about a mile from the airport, and discovered a flat tire. I drove out, switched cars with her, and waited for a tow. (Why didn���t you change it yourself, Ken? You try changing a tire with only one hand, squatting by the side of the freeway with traffic passing a mere inch or two from your ass. Also, whoever it was at Lexus who designed the spare tire storage solution���seems to have had an off day. I���m sure normally he was brilliant.) But I did get about a half page written on my WIP before the tow truck arrived. The half-drunk cosmic being, found unfit for any other duties, and assigned to maintaining my Karmic Balance was amusing himself with me a bottle of cheap whiskey.

(A.S.A.P. Towing does good work. It was a slow day, so the driver found an empty parking lot, and ��� after a few misadventures ��� changed the tire himself instead of dropping me off at a garage. Thanks, Mark.)

As I said, MBW was away. That means, as always, more too-late movie reviews. I managed four this time. Now, if I can read my notes:

Zombieland Double Tap. I do not care for horror movies. But I do enjoy comedy horror, for example Shaun of the Dead or Army of Darkness. The first Zombieland amused me. Where to go from there? With a one-joke idea/story, the only real good route for a sequel is more of the same. (The doppelganger schtick probably read funnier on the page.) Ultimately, I found it a solid, satisfying beer flick.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino is still working the alternate history angle. Maybe it is a phase. The movie is engrossing, well-acted, cast, filmed, etc. At times it seems disjointed and unfocused. But it establishes a good will that carries you through the slow spots and self-indulgent pacing. Recommended.

Ford vs. Ferrari. Competent, likeable filmmaking. A comfort food movie, in the positive sense, honestly. I���m not damning it with faint praise. You���d think I���d have more to say about a movie I enjoyed, but there you have it.

Gemini Man. Made for the international market, by the numbers, PG-13 action fare. Serviceable, though more than touch Uncanny Valley. The least of this batch of movies. I fell asleep midway through the third act, but I don���t feel I missed anything.

Last week I reported the loss of my notebook containing my beer-tasting notes from the Battle for the Belt. The restaurant I���d left it at found it, so I picked it up yesterday. My notes list the name of the beer, the style (if not apparent from the name), a comment, and a score on a scale of 1-10. So, a week late, here you go, starting with ���

The Blue Tray.

Mojo Mojito Mexican Lager. Someone let the little plastic bottle of lime juice ferment. 5

Stressin��� Hefeweizen. Don���t eat the brown bananas. 3.5

Drinkin��� Flicka. (Malt liquor.) Pour one out. Not for your homies. Just pour it out. 2

Lovecraft Hazy Pale. Smells fantastically citrusy. Tastes like the zest. Mix it with gin and call it a Greyhound. 3.25

Hot Tag IPA. A piney, would-be palate cleanser that lingers too long. 4.25

Punches in Bunches (IPA.) Balanced, smooth. The Cassius Clay of IPAs. Dangerously good. 8

Can I Haz Some Pie. (Sour.) Soda pop beer. Bottled blackberry candy. 8

EarthQuaker Oatmeal Stout. Pour it over ice cream. Or mix it in a Mudslide for added coffee notes. 7.75

Absorption Vanilla Porter. Middling take on the style. Vanilla slightly cloying. It did not completely absorb. 6

Bonus Beer: Mix the two above. Or, rather, don���t. The whole is less than the sum of the parts.

Monkey Fist. (Scotch Ale.) Ask for the wee beastie to unclench and remove his paw from the brew. 3.25

Coconutty Professor. (Style unknown.) Someone poured a mediocre stout into a coconut. I wish they���d come separately. 4

Yellow Tray.

Mi Hermano Mexican Lager. I like my Mexican brothers-in-law much more than I do this. 2

Stay Gold Kolsch. Saccharine. Unbalanced. Simplistic. It���s the pop-band of Kolschs. 2

Pineapple Squared Kettle Sour. A urine sample taken after a trip to the pineapple plantation tour in Oahu. 3

Mydland Hazy Pale. Well, all brewers have a first one. It is, technically, beer. Though I���m pretty sure my first kit beer tasted better. 2

Jenni���s Hazy IPA. Clouding up a sub-par IPA does not qualify it as ���Hazy.��� Do not care for it. 2.5

Squirrel Monkey Passion Fruit Milkshake IPA. Tastes like none of the above. 5

66th State Double IPA. A hoppy barleywine. 5.25

The Black Pearl. (Schwarzbier.) A Mountain Man beer. Better for cooking with, perhaps, than drinking. 5.25

Yorkshire Breakfast Oatmeal Stout. Why did they water down the stout. Seriously, too thin. 5

Great Scott���Smoked Scot. (Scottish Ale.) I���m not responsible for the spelling. [Unranked for some reason, perhaps because I don���t care for smoked beers.]

Great Uncle Jim Irish Coffee Stout. I want to toss in a shot of Irish Whiskey. 6

That���s the mega-post. Time to rest my finger.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on March 01, 2020 10:53

Brought to You by the Letter “A.” Resurrected Post.

February 23, 2020Brought to You by the Letter ���A.���

This web log post brought to by the letter ���A��� for annoyance. And anger. And abashment.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at McMenamins���s Hillsdale Brewpub for the annual Battle for the Belt, wherein the myriad McMenamin���s brewpubs compete for the popular vote of best beer. Each one enters a beer. Trays full of four ounce pours are provided. We drink, we fill out a top three ballot. We drop our ballots in the box. Simple enough.

I haven���t attended for a couple of years, since moving out to Sandy. It is inconvenient to drive to Portland, let alone across the city to the west side. But, as we were already on the outskirts, at our tax accountant���s office, we pushed on.

I brought my notebook, took notes on each beer. It was fun. I met friendly folks at the bar next to me. I filled in my ballot, then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant I used to frequent when I lived in the neighborhood.

At which restaurant I proceeded to abandon my notebook.

And so, unless the notebook somehow finds its way back to me, my promised tasting notes will not be appearing in this web log.

I am irked at myself. You should be too.

One way we could both feel better: buy one of my books. I���ll certainly feel better, and you���ll be entertained.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on February 23, 2020 12:15

S&S 201: Five More You Should Know. Resurrected Post.

February 16, 2020S&S 201: Five More You Should Know

In a previous post I���ve written about the five Swords & Sorcery writers the novice reader should be familiar with. Let���s assume this imaginary individual has completed that introductory course of study and is ready to move on to the intermediate-level: S&S 201.

Because this is an intermediate-level course we will assume the student is better equipped to handle nuance and complications. Thus we can include Sword and Planet, AKA Planetary Romance, in the mix along with S&S proper.

This leads our student naturally enough to:

Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Dean of American science-fantasy. ERB is probably most famous for creating Tarzan. But he also dabbled in historical fiction (e.g., The Outlaw of Torn), straight action-adventure (e.g., The Mucker), and science-fiction (Carson of Venus.) For our purposes, we are interested primarily in John Carter, the perhaps immortal swordsman and soldier who wakes to find himself on the planet Mars, AKA Barsoom. Fantasy science replaces sorcery in this type of story, that generally also includes ancient races, dying or extinct, and the remains of long-abandoned cities, mysterious artifacts, and fantastic beasts and monsters to overcome.

Leigh Brackett was an acolyte of ERB, as well as an accomplished writer of other genres. Her character Eric John Stark finds himself in adventures upon Barsoom-inspired worlds, though he himself was not cast from the same mold as John Carter. Brackett also wrote the excellent, Mars-based novel The Sword of Rhiannon, which hits most of the tropes of Sword and Planet.

C.L. Moore also wrote in the Sword and Planet field, creating several stories featuring Northwest Smith. But for purposes of this course, we are concerned primarily with Jirel of Joiry, Moore���s S&S heroine. The lady of Joiry, a feudal estate in medieval France, is an armored, sword-wielding warrior who finds herself in perilous, other-worldly locales, fighting strange and bizarre monsters and demons, as well as the more mundane threats of earthly men. Moore���s prose is evocative, generating a sense of immersive unreality.

Poul Anderson was so prolific that it would have been surprising had he not written S&S. As it happened, he created two of the seminal works of the genre: The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions. Broken Sword is just one of Anderson���s novels set in a semi-historical European North in which the creatures of Norse myth are real. It has a touch of that Northern Thing, and is thus somewhat dark, full of cursed, fatalistic characters. Three Hearts and Three Lions enjoys a lighter touch, and its prose is less mannered. But it too takes place in a semi-historical setting in which elves, dwarves, trolls, swan-mays, etc. are real.

Limiting this to a mere five isn���t easy. I know I make it appear that way, with my smooth, facile assuredness. That is sheer skill, don���t let it fool you. But the point of this exercise isn���t to lead the student to my favorites. Instead it is to direct the student to important, influential writers in the field other than the five introductory writers. So, with that in mind I have to leave out a number of writers I truly enjoy and instead fill the fifth spot with one I���ve never really taken to.

Andre Norton was another prolific writer. She wrote volumes and volumes of fantasy, science-fiction, etc. She might be best known for her Witch World novels. These begin as a sort of portal fantasy, but later incorporate science-fiction in that comfortable manner that used to be common before segregation of genres became a de facto law of publishing. I might classify Norton���s output as primarily YA.

If any of these writers interest you, I have written about each in greater depth before. Feel free to read those posts for extra credit.

There you have it. Let���s just assume that anyone that didn���t make the cut is in consideration for the advanced course.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on February 16, 2020 15:04

Away from the Keyboard. Resurrected Post.

February 9, 2020Away from the Keyboard

Actual writing constitutes the bulk of creating a book. Sitting my ass down and getting the words transferred from my fevered, abnormal imagination and into the computer. Then there���s the revising, the editing, etc. But that���s all part of writing.

There is, however, more to it. And that more has occupied quite a bit of my time recently.

Boss: Falchion���s Company Book One has been available as an ebook for more than a month now. My intention has always been to release it in print. And I hoped to get it out as an audio book also. Getting these hopes realized has consumed quite a bit of my efforts.

Getting a cover to conform with formatting requirements is a challenge for those unused to the process. MBW fought and argued with a graphics program, shoehorning layers into position. I don���t deserve her. I���m sure I would have tossed the computer out the window and peeled the paint from the walls with the invective I���d have been spewing. She, however, endured in the face of setbacks and frustrations.

Producing an audio book is also time consuming. I���ve learned quite a bit about the process. One lesson I have taken to heart for the next audio book: prepare a pronunciation guide for character names. I realize readers pronounce the names as they will. It is a bit jarring for the author, however, to hear the narrator speak the names differently than they have sounded for so many months in the author���s head.

So it isn���t all writing. Publishing is an involved process.

I suppose the point of this, from your perspective, is that the print and audio book versions of Boss should soon be available; print almost immediately, audio book within two weeks, barring the unforeseen.

Happy reading and happy listening.

View more on Ken Lizzi’s website ��Like ������� 0 comments ������� flag Published on February 09, 2020 13:43