Past my expiration date:
Yes, I’ll say it, this blog is long past due. Sorry about that, but life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, and I’ve been a bit lazy. I’ll work on the lazy, life will still do whatever it wants.
First up: Yes, I do have a Facebook page, in fact I have a couple. My main page for writing is https://www.facebook.com/pages/ML-Forman/165353446913522?ref=hl I try to check this one every day, but I don’t post that much. Another Facebook page was created by a fan, but they have made me an Admin. on it and it also gets updates and I do comment on it as well. That one is: https://www.facebook.com/AdventurersWanted?ref=hl I hope both of these links work.
Second is about writing. O.K. so several people have questions about writing, about becoming an author, and if I will help. Well, thanks for asking, but to be honest I do not have time to review and critique the writing of all the people that want me to. I will try to help if I can, but I’m sorry, I don’t have time to read and comment on entire books. If you want to send say a short synopsis of your story to one of the Facebook pages, or to the bregnest@gmail.com email, I will try to read them and give you my thoughts. Remember, a synopsis is short, no more than two pages, so don’t go crazy. No promise on how long it might take me to reply either, that will depend on what life is throwing at me. To answer a more direct question: No, I did not get an agent before Slathbog’s Gold was published. No, I don’t have an agent now. Yes, I should work harder and try to get an agent, and I will be doing that soon, I think. Most publishers do require authors to have agents, and will only read submissions from agents. You should also know that any good agent does not make you pay anything to be your agent, well, not up front. An agent will read your work, decided if it is something they can sell, and then try to sell it for you. They might give you suggestions about how to make your book better, or even ask that you make changes. The agent gets paid by selling your book. They deal with the publisher and get a percentage of what they sell your book for, and a percentage of your royalties. (royalties are what you get paid for all the books that sell.) So having an agent can be both good and bad, but I’m thinking it could be mostly good so I need to get one. Finally, to all of you who want to become authors, and want to write stories and books to make money, my advice is this: Start writing. Write as much as you can. Get into a writers group either in your area or online. Write for yourself first. Never give up.
Now, more direct questions: (Doing it a bit different this time. Naming the person who asked and giving the answer. If you can’t follow because I left out the question I’m sorry.)
Dearl: The CD’s of the books are normally released at the same time as the hardback of the book. It might take a little longer for the CD’s to show up in stores, but they are available.
Muffin45: Yes, there will be other magical creatures in the books, but I’m not sure what they all are yet.
Heather23: I think Alex started on his third adventurer, Albrek’s Tomb, at the age he was on entering the adventure shop. What was that… 16? Didn’t Mr. Clutter say something about changing his age and then say something about there not being any real reason to? Alex has no relatives in the world where his stepfather lives, so there’s no need for him to ask, however, Mr. Roberts might know something about his family. I think our friend Whalen told him everything, even what Mr. Roberts might know. And yes, I think the smithies will be back, but I’m not sure what part they will play.
Enigmas: Sorry, Alex’s dad is really dead and so is his mom. The watchers? We don’t really know enough about them yet to say that Alex will ever join them, but they are out there watching. As for the Order of Malgor (I think that’s how I spell it?) Wizards are not allowed to join. I thought I’d included that information when Sindar is talking to Alex about the order, but maybe it got cut out in the edits. The order will turn up again, and they will have some information for Alex, but you’ll have to wait to find out what that is. Finally, the prophecies are not specifically about Alex even though he is the one who makes them come true. The prophecies are old, not always remembered correctly, and well, nobody really remembers who made them, only that they were made. There might be, even though we never hear about them, other prophecies that don’t come true or that don’t come true when Alex is around.
Travis: Cover art for The Sands of Nezza??? Not sure when it will be available. I have seen an early version and I think it looks really cool, but no idea on what the final version will look like. I’ll see if I can find out something more. They did tell me that they would get me a copy of it as soon as it was done.
Cornfower9909: Some of the adventurers might take extra things out of their bags when arming themselves because they aren’t sure if they need them or not. Deciding that they don’t need things, or don’t need them yet, they put those things bag in their bags. Don’t you ever pull things out that you might need on a trip and then decide you don’t really need them? As for the magic in Norsland, the magic that runs in the family of Skeld and Tayo’s wives, it only gets passed on to dark haired girls in that family, I don’t know why. The son of an adventurer will come to the Tower of the Moon, but I’m afraid that story will have to wait, and it isn’t likely to be told in this series. Sorry about that, but we do have a limit to the number of books.
Taylor: Yes, someone could break a wizards staff. No, I’m not saying that it will happen or not.
Morraticus: I like drinks. Most favorite, CocaCola, which is Coke to most of us. I should cut down though, too much sugar.
Madeline: There are wizard duels, but they aren’t normally that structured. Evil wizards would cheat if there were rules. The mind to mind combat is a way to test strength without anyone getting hurt. Yes, older wizards might dismiss Alex because he is young and has little experience, it happens. No, not all wizards are adventurers. Many live at magical places to protect them, some spend their time in study, some only travel in one land, normally their home land. Wizards do not normally act as advisers to kings, or at least “True” wizards don’t. Alex’s dragon side will play more of a part in how Alex acts and what he might do. He will have to fight not to change into a dragon from time to time, but that’s all in the future.
O.K. Geebs: To summon a geeb there is a spell. The cool thing about the spell is that the user doesn’t need to be magical to use it, it will work for anyone. It’s not so much a spell as a summoning, which the geebs choose to answer or not. Yes, there are times when the geebs won’t answer, you’ll see that in Sands of Nezza. Why don’t they answer? Well you’d really have to ask the geebs that question. No, I won’t tell you the spell and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
Dan: About choosing an adventure. As Alex is a wizard he can modify the adventures he decides to go on. He has what is called “Wizard’s Privilege” that lets him do all kinds of things. He doesn’t just use it for anything, but say there was one part of an adventure that he didn’t like, he could have that part of the adventure taken out using his wizard’s privilege. He can also add things to adventures if he needs to. You will see a little more about wizard’s privilege in “The Sands of Nezza”, but we won’t go into that right now.
Cowboyusa: Yes, I believe that Alex can enchant weapons and other things if he needs or wants to. I also think this ability will be included in future stories as we continue. Sorry, I don’t know the North Ogden Fish Farm.
Madeline: Yes, it would be fun to see Alex’s “bad” side now and then. Perhaps not really bad, but maybe a bit of the darker, not always friendly and happy side of his personality. I’ll try and work a bit more of this in as we go on. Yes, Alex is related, though distantly, to Tara, Calysto, and Bregnest. Alex is related to most of the royal families, but then a lot of people are. I can trace my one ancestors back to William the Conqueror back in the, what would that be, eleventh century. I think one line of the family might even trace back as far as a Roman senator in the year 9 A.D. No, I don’t get anything for being related to either, and Alex’s relations could be even older than those. Yes, it is possible for Alex to fall in love with a dragoness. (Not a real word is it?) Well a female dragon then. No, I won’t tell you if he does.
Aaron: Does anyone have the power to beat death? Not sure if he can beat death, but death might take a few minutes to talk with Alex before taking him. We’ll have to see about that.
Vessyr: On Andy paying for Alex sword. Andy agrees to pay in Thrang’s place. Andy has been doing that all day long, collecting receipts as he goes so Thrang will know how much he owes to who. I might have not been as clear as I should have been, but Thrang either has or will pay the bill for everything Alex/Andy bought when getting ready to go on the adventure.
Trevor: Good question. I never actually said that Alex was from Earth, everyone just decided that he was. Now, I think he has to be from earth because that plays well with a future adventure and possibly another series I’m thinking of starting. Which country? It could be anywhere really. Maybe we should have a vote and see which country people would like him to be from. I’ll think about that.
Dan and Vessyr: O.K. the shares for adventures and special skills and all that. Well it all made sense to me when I wrote it, and everything added up correctly. It’s been awhile since I broke out my shares-per-talent meter, but as I recall… First time adventurers get one share. Experienced get 2 shares. Special skills will get an extra share, so the special skill of being a wizard and being experienced is 3 shares. The leader of the company gets 3 shares 2 for being an experienced adventurer and an extra 1 for being leader. Alex might get more because apart from being an experience adventurer he is a wizard, can be a healer, might be a seer, and is also a warrior. No, since he tries not to let anyone know, he does not get an extra share for being a dragon… but he might get an extra share for being a dragon lord, not sure on that yet. Like I said, it all made sense and added up when I wrote it, and I will try to make the math work in future stories as well. Then of course, maybe Alex won’t go on adventures with companies in the future, maybe he will go on his own or with a special friend or two… Ha, not telling.
Riddik: Yes, the original idea was 7 books and return 7 lost bags. That isn’t going to happen. There will be 8 books, and Alex does have a few more bags to return now after the whole Tower of the Moon thing. There will still be returns made, but maybe not in every story. Yes, Alex will go on an adventure with Whalen… in fact I think that is book, oh sorry, not allowed to say yet.
Evan: Yes, I think Alex can enchant normal things to do simple tasks. An automagic duster, a broom that sweeps when the floor is dirty, those would be great. The items for defense you ask about are possible. There are also spells called “wards” that can be setup like alarm systems and/or to release defensive magic when it is needed. Wards take time to setup, so Alex won’t often use them when traveling, but around his house, yes I’m sure he has some.
And last but not least:
Reichsever: The Adventurer’s Handbook is an idea I’ve thought about several times. In fact I was just thinking about it the other day. I would like to do one, but I don’t know if the publisher will accept it or publish it. There is also a huge amount of work that would need to be done if I did the real handbook. Think about it, maps, name and talk about all the different creatures, list magical places, etc. What I think might happen is that the “Revised” edition of the Adventurer’s Handbook might get written. It won’t be as good or as full of info as the real version, but the reason for that is simple. The real handbook is for adventurers, and you can only buy it at the adventure shop. The revised edition is for anyone who wants to know more about adventures or that wants to travel around but not really go on proper adventures. I’ll run this idea past my publisher and see what they have to say. (Yes, I do have a very short version of the handbook written, just so I can keep track of important things.)
Wow, I think I’ve gone on too long. I’ll be back soon, and we’ll talk more about what might be coming and what just won’t work. Thanks for checking in, and until next time.
I remain yours in fellowship.
Mark
