Eric Kent Edstrom's Blog, page 23
March 28, 2012
March 15, 2012
Update: Undermountain in Paperback and More
We've been working hard on the trade paperback version of Undermountain. I was hoping it would be for sale this week, but we hit a snafu with the cover art and some errors introduced to during typesetting. All this is going to delay the project by at least two more weeks. No one is more frustrated by this than me, but there's nothing I can do about it.
The good news is that I just updated the progress bar for Undermountain II (that's just a working title, BTW) to 67%. This is based on an expected word count of 90,000 words. Keep in mind that UM 1 was just over 100k words, so I might get to 100% before I'm done. This is why I'm a writer and not in a career that requires lots of math!
I'm also planning an overhaul of this website. Right now it's just a generic blogger template. I've got some artwork coming that should help zjeuzj the site up. Don't know when that's going to happen, but hopefully sometimes this spring.
In other news, my home has been puppied!
Meet Lucky, a uniquely colored Brittany!
The good news is that I just updated the progress bar for Undermountain II (that's just a working title, BTW) to 67%. This is based on an expected word count of 90,000 words. Keep in mind that UM 1 was just over 100k words, so I might get to 100% before I'm done. This is why I'm a writer and not in a career that requires lots of math!
I'm also planning an overhaul of this website. Right now it's just a generic blogger template. I've got some artwork coming that should help zjeuzj the site up. Don't know when that's going to happen, but hopefully sometimes this spring.
In other news, my home has been puppied!
Meet Lucky, a uniquely colored Brittany!
March 10, 2012
Thoughts On Re-Reading The Hobbit
I recently watched a couple extended edition versions of the LOTR movies and I got the itch to dive back into that world. And since the movie version of The Hobbit is drawing near, I figured I'd go for it. I'd read The Hobbit only for the second time as speed reading practice some fifteen years ago.
And now I'm about a third of the way in. I'm enjoying it, but I'm shocked by the narrative voice. It's written like a child's fairy tale ... which I suppose it is. The problem is that I've gotten so swept up in the idea of LOTR being a history, that I find myself disappointed by the humorous "story teller" narrator in The Hobbit. When the narrator mentions the post office, or golf, I'm jarred out of the Middle Earth.
And the frequent mentions of what Bilbo would think about the adventure many years in the future destroys any sense of jeopardy.
Gandalf! He makes me cringe! He's mean, he has a "wand" and he's kind of a buffoon. Didn't Tolkien know that Gandalf is supposed to be wise, compassionate, and cool? I mean, he's Sir Ian McKellan after all.
And the exclamation points! They're everywhere! Sometimes their even in the middle! of sentences!!
I'm still hopeful that the movies will be awesome, and I still love the old cartoon version. But it's clear I've outgrown the book.
I came up with a good writing exercise out of this re-read though. I think I'm going to take a chapter and rewrite, using a more modern narrative voice. Maybe even try first person, or a limited third. Could be fun!
Of course, I don't have time for that right now. I'm working on Undermountain 2.
And now I'm about a third of the way in. I'm enjoying it, but I'm shocked by the narrative voice. It's written like a child's fairy tale ... which I suppose it is. The problem is that I've gotten so swept up in the idea of LOTR being a history, that I find myself disappointed by the humorous "story teller" narrator in The Hobbit. When the narrator mentions the post office, or golf, I'm jarred out of the Middle Earth.
And the frequent mentions of what Bilbo would think about the adventure many years in the future destroys any sense of jeopardy.
Gandalf! He makes me cringe! He's mean, he has a "wand" and he's kind of a buffoon. Didn't Tolkien know that Gandalf is supposed to be wise, compassionate, and cool? I mean, he's Sir Ian McKellan after all.
And the exclamation points! They're everywhere! Sometimes their even in the middle! of sentences!!
I'm still hopeful that the movies will be awesome, and I still love the old cartoon version. But it's clear I've outgrown the book.
I came up with a good writing exercise out of this re-read though. I think I'm going to take a chapter and rewrite, using a more modern narrative voice. Maybe even try first person, or a limited third. Could be fun!
Of course, I don't have time for that right now. I'm working on Undermountain 2.
February 28, 2012
Leap Into Indie Blog Hop and Give Away [updated]
Thanks to all who visited and entered the giveaway. Winners have been notified!
Welcome hoppers! (giveaway info below) I'm so excited to be participating my very first blog hop! My name is Eric Edstrom and I'm the author of Undermountain, a YA science fiction novel. It's about six teens hiking in the Canadian Rockies who encounter bigfoot. What happens next sweeps them to the high-tech, hidden city of Undermountain and embroils them in a much bigger adventure than they'd signed up for.
Available exclusively from Amazon|Amazon Uk
[image error]
For this hop I will award one free ebook copy of Undermountain for each day of the hop. I'll notify the winners once the hop ends after midnight, March 4th. That means, assuming my math is correct, I'll be giving away five copies. If you already have Undermountain, you'll receive book 2 in the Undermountain Saga as soon as it's released (July 1st).
Alright already, how do I win?
Easy peasy! Just add a comment to this post and let me know if you think bigfoot is real or fake! And don't forget to leave an email address (but go ahead and disguise it a la eric at ericedstrom dot com)
It won't help your chances, but consider following me on twitter @ekedstrom, liking my Facebook page, and following this poor unloved blog.
Thank you so much and good luck!
Welcome hoppers! (giveaway info below) I'm so excited to be participating my very first blog hop! My name is Eric Edstrom and I'm the author of Undermountain, a YA science fiction novel. It's about six teens hiking in the Canadian Rockies who encounter bigfoot. What happens next sweeps them to the high-tech, hidden city of Undermountain and embroils them in a much bigger adventure than they'd signed up for.
Available exclusively from Amazon|Amazon Uk
[image error]
For this hop I will award one free ebook copy of Undermountain for each day of the hop. I'll notify the winners once the hop ends after midnight, March 4th. That means, assuming my math is correct, I'll be giving away five copies. If you already have Undermountain, you'll receive book 2 in the Undermountain Saga as soon as it's released (July 1st).
Alright already, how do I win?
Easy peasy! Just add a comment to this post and let me know if you think bigfoot is real or fake! And don't forget to leave an email address (but go ahead and disguise it a la eric at ericedstrom dot com)
It won't help your chances, but consider following me on twitter @ekedstrom, liking my Facebook page, and following this poor unloved blog.
Thank you so much and good luck!
Leap Into Indie Blog Hop and Give Away
Welcome hoppers! (giveaway info below) I'm so excited to be participating my very first blog hop! My name is Eric Edstrom and I'm the author of Undermountain, a YA science fiction novel. It's about six teens hiking in the Canadian Rockies who encounter bigfoot. What happens next sweeps them to the high-tech, hidden city of Undermountain and embroils them in a much bigger adventure than they'd signed up for.
Available exclusively from Amazon|Amazon Uk
[image error]
For this hop I will award one free ebook copy of Undermountain for each day of the hop. I'll notify the winners once the hop ends after midnight, March 4th. That means, assuming my math is correct, I'll be giving away five copies. If you already have Undermountain, you'll receive book 2 in the Undermountain Saga as soon as it's released (July 1st).
Alright already, how do I win?
Easy peasy! Just add a comment to this post and let me know if you think bigfoot is real or fake!
It won't help your chances, but consider following me on twitter @ekedstrom, liking my Facebook page, and following this poor unloved blog.
Thank you so much and good luck!
February 24, 2012
Undermountain Movie Casting
So I have a thread on Goodreads about casting the movie version of Undermountain. For Breyona, a recommendation of Keke Palmer came up. She's beautiful! Just might be perfect for the part. Just have make the hair crazier!
Danny needs to be youthful, slim, good looking ... maybe with some brown contact lenses Brett Davern would work.
And for Harvin McTavish, the grizzled mountaineer? I'm stuck on Stephen Lang at the moment. He makes me want to do push-ups.
Danny needs to be youthful, slim, good looking ... maybe with some brown contact lenses Brett Davern would work.
And for Harvin McTavish, the grizzled mountaineer? I'm stuck on Stephen Lang at the moment. He makes me want to do push-ups.
February 17, 2012
Ass. Torch Indeed
This was originally posted in May of 2009 on a different blog of mine. At the time JJ, Ella and I were enjoying an extended holiday in Paris. Note: euros were at least $1.50 each at the time.
Today we had lunch at the famous Café de Flore on Boulevard St. Germain. Of course, we didn't know it was famous at the time. I just didn't want to eat at a place called Les Deux Magots (which is a lie. I'd read about that one). The problem was a certain five year old who was starving and telling JJ, "I'll pay you money if we just stop and eat."
I'll spare you the family unrest, but note what we had for lunch!
Coca light = 6.20 euros (it was in a glass bottle, though)
Ass. Torch = 11.00 euros
Sand. Mixt = 10.00 euros
Club Sandwich = cough, cough, 19.00 euros
JJ had the Sand. Mixt, which looked more appetizing than it sounds. I ordered the Club Sandwich for the simple reason that I knew what it was. Turns out I didn't. It was kind of dry and had hard-boiled egg on it, which to my mind isn't very club sandwichy.
When our waiter, Stephane, presented the damages, I was a bit stunned. But I have to hand it to the Cafe de Flore -- at least they put it right on the bill that you got your Ass. Torch.
You should have seen JJ's reaction. Oh, wait! You can . . .
"46 euros!"
"Ooooh, Ass. Torch!!"
"Tee Hee, Tee Hee!"
Ah well ... today was a slow day, kind of a recovery day. Especially after the torching. Besides, we didn't sleep well last night and didn't do much but walk down to the Monoprix to buy groceries (yet again). Had great Italian food tonight near our apartment so that Ella could survive for another day.
Entertainment was the animated movie "The Tale of Desperaux," which was beautiful, dull at times, but fun for the family.
It was almost routine this evening. I might have convinced myself, for a moment, that I was still back at home, but then ... Paris happened. I looked out our window, and there was Notre Dame, majestic in the gloaming.
Today we had lunch at the famous Café de Flore on Boulevard St. Germain. Of course, we didn't know it was famous at the time. I just didn't want to eat at a place called Les Deux Magots (which is a lie. I'd read about that one). The problem was a certain five year old who was starving and telling JJ, "I'll pay you money if we just stop and eat."
I'll spare you the family unrest, but note what we had for lunch!
Coca light = 6.20 euros (it was in a glass bottle, though)
Ass. Torch = 11.00 euros
Sand. Mixt = 10.00 euros
Club Sandwich = cough, cough, 19.00 euros
JJ had the Sand. Mixt, which looked more appetizing than it sounds. I ordered the Club Sandwich for the simple reason that I knew what it was. Turns out I didn't. It was kind of dry and had hard-boiled egg on it, which to my mind isn't very club sandwichy.
When our waiter, Stephane, presented the damages, I was a bit stunned. But I have to hand it to the Cafe de Flore -- at least they put it right on the bill that you got your Ass. Torch.
You should have seen JJ's reaction. Oh, wait! You can . . .
"46 euros!"
"Ooooh, Ass. Torch!!"
"Tee Hee, Tee Hee!"
Ah well ... today was a slow day, kind of a recovery day. Especially after the torching. Besides, we didn't sleep well last night and didn't do much but walk down to the Monoprix to buy groceries (yet again). Had great Italian food tonight near our apartment so that Ella could survive for another day.
Entertainment was the animated movie "The Tale of Desperaux," which was beautiful, dull at times, but fun for the family.
It was almost routine this evening. I might have convinced myself, for a moment, that I was still back at home, but then ... Paris happened. I looked out our window, and there was Notre Dame, majestic in the gloaming.
February 15, 2012
Sense Of Wonder
It's why I read.
I spent the better part of my childhood and early teens reading speculative fiction of one sort or another. I certainly loved all the action sequences and heroics. But above all, I loved the mystery and discovery I felt in seeing a new world for the first time.
I first remember feeling the sense of wonder when I was a little kid watching the Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. There was something about that weird claymation landscape. Something haunting about the little trees and the snowy hills.
Later on I had that same sense of wonder when I watch the Empire Strikes Back. In particular the attack on the planet Hoth at the beginning blew my mind.
One of my chores when I was a kid was to feed the dogs. They lived outside in a chain link pen. (Don't worry they had a little house to go into when it was super cold.) And as I walked out there during the winter nights to get their food bowls, I imagined that I was I Luke Skywalker fighting the snow monster or an AT-AT Walker.
In some ways those strange movie landscapes were more real to me than the physical world. I believe that's typical of readers. It certainly is of writers
As a writer the first thing I wanted to achieve was that sense of wonder. When Danny and his friends go into Undermountain, I want readers to feel as if they are there. I want them to feel the awe of the city, the thrill of discovery, and to wonder at the mystery of how such a magnificent place could remain hidden so long.
So while I love great characters, a nice romance, amazing action, huge set pieces, and twisty plots, what I crave the most is a sense of wonder.
What makes you feel it?
BTW. There are easter eggs in Undermountain that refer to both Rudolph and Empire!
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Interview Plus Review
I got another wonderful review at A Daydreamer's Thoughts. Please check it out and make sure to follow the blog there.
February 12, 2012
A Great New Review
I'm thrilled to report a wonderful new review from Alison at wingedreviews.com.
Here's an excerpt:
Read the rest here.
Here's an excerpt:
"Wow. What a surprising read. I can honestly say that I was quite speachless when I finished reading this book. And in a good way. It has a very interesting storyline, great action, very well written characters and one hell of a journey!"
Read the rest here.
