Cam Baity's Blog, page 533

Brain Jenga

Over the last few months, we’ve been deep in construction mode for book two of our trilogy. While the first story establishes a number of intersecting plot lines, the second, as with all “second acts,” is much more complicated––more of a tapestry of threads weaving together. The entire trilogy was still malleable when we were working on book one, but now that the text of the first volume is mostly locked, certain rules and realities are set in stone. Our responsibility now is to build on what we have already established and explore new and unexpected possibilities, all while setting the pieces into place for the final story.

Plotting these books feels like a super intense, high-stakes game of brain Jenga. Each individual story piece relies on the structure of the others, and if one is out of place (due to a plothole, or to a misjudged character motivation) a whole section crumbles. Then we pick up the pieces and go about carefully reassembling it all over again. And again. And again.

Thankfully because of our diligence, we haven’t had any total collapses. But there are a dizzying number of pieces in play at this point, and an essential part of the game is the constant re-evaluation of every single one. As the structure grows and expands, we discover some pieces that were once essential and load-bearing are now loose and removable. Periodically, we have to nudge the whole thing to evaluate its balance before the next piece is laid on top (usually a nerve-wracking feat.) Though the process is tedious and insanely challenging, it is also one of the most exciting stages in a way––it is when the possibilities are truly without limit.  And now that we are done with the Brain Jenga for book two, the drafting begins!

Crossing i’s and Dotting t’s

We are nearly done finalizing the copy edited manuscript for book one of our trilogy! Writing a book has proven to be so much more ridiculously complex than we could have ever imagined. Just to put it into perspective, we started working on the seeds of this project back in 2006 and began writing it full time back in March of 2011. Even things like settling on a title that suits everyone’s needs turns out to be rather involved. But Disney-Hyperion, our publisher, has been enthusiastic about the project, and this train keeps right on rollin’. It’s been an astounding learning process for us so far, and we are getting better at this thing every day.

In the meantime, we are very eager to jump into the illustration process for a change of pace. And, of course, we have been stoking the fires on book two, which is even bigger and badder. We’ll keep you posted on how that adventure is coming along, providing whatever information we can.

And we thought writing book one was an exercise in insanity. . .

A Book Update!

Hi folks!

We emerge from our hidey-hole with news… The first book of our trilogy is in the hands of the copy editors over at Disney/Hyperion! That means that the manuscript is dangerously close to being finalized. All signs point to an April/May 2014 release for book one, so mark your calendars and clear your nightstands. But our work is far from done! We will be sure to update as things progress – we will soon reveal the official title, plus we will have some exciting updates on illustrations, cover art, and our process on book 2.

We want to use this as a platform to talk about the labor and love of being first time authors, so check back frequently for more updates!

A Nod to Molly

The animation aces over at Cartoon Brew gave us a kindly tip-of-the-hat. They posted our “Made by Molly” short and put up a little blurb for folks to see. If you are curious what people are saying, take look here.

Welcome

Hi folks! Thanks for swinging by our home on the intertubes – it still has that new site smell. Check this news area on occasion, and we’ll keep you posted (we are always busy working on something.) We’ll also periodically update the “SLIDESHOW” and “WORK” pages, so keep an eye on those, too. The biggest thing coming down the pike is undoubtedly the first book of our trilogy! We are hard at work revising the manuscript, working with our super talented illustrator Jon Foster, and simultaneously laying the groundwork for Book Two. We’ll reveal more info as soon as we can, including the title, release date and all that. Check back soon under the “BOOKS” section. And don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook as we will post updates there, too. Till then!