10 July – No, the number of comments won’t make me post.

Right, so lets get a couple of things out of the way. First of all, the number of comments on a post isn’t what I look at before I post. So if you want to try and hit a hundred or whatever number, that doesn’t mean I’ll post in reply. (Well, maybe if you hit a thousand, but I’m not sure the blog site will go that high.) Second on my mind, or really first: I am never offended when people rant or grumble or just point out things that they think are wrong. Please feel free to say what you think, you won’t hurt my feelings, and you might help me make things better as we go along. You don’t need to apologize for saying what you think.

Release date: Sorry, I don’t know yet. I think the November 5 date listed on Barnes & Noble is going to be close. It might be available a little sooner than that, but you should plan on Nov. 5. That’s what I’m planning on anyway. Yes, much later than I had hoped, but on the bright side, it will be out in time for Christmas. (Thanksgiving gifts?) I did get a little positive feedback on Sands last week, but I don’t know anything definite yet. I need to make one change which I am working on, and hopefully I’ll know more soon.

I hope that you all read each others comments as we go along here. I see that many of you are being very helpful in answering each others questions, and I appreciate the help.

Oh, and before we move on… Mara? Kell princess?  I think you mean Tara, who is a princess from the land of Kess if I remember right.

Now, let me see. Questions and such:

Rhyme90: (Mr. Monster poster.) On the sending me books to sign, that’s a tough question. There is no easy way to send books to me or for me to return them to you. I wish I could sign books for everyone, but it’s not easy. I don’t want to post my home address for personal reasons, and I don’t have any other address you can send things to. Also, I can’t afford return postage for everybody. Sorry about that, but I’ll try to find a way to work something out.

Jacob Meyers: Interesting idea, Teddy Bear sorters. I don’t think that will make it into the books, but it is an interesting idea.

dtsims14: No, I don’t think Alex will have kids in the series. Yes, he will have kids in the future and I was already thinking of a book called, “Dragon Lords Daughter” or something along those lines. Will it ever be written? I don’t know, but we can hope. As far as movies, video games, etc… that’s not really up to me. If somebody wants to make the books into movies or video games they will have to work with my publisher and see what happens. It would be fun, but I don’t know if it will ever happen. Last of all, maybe. Yes, maybe Alex will get just a normal pet, but I don’t know yet. I’ll think about it.

Tallonis: Djinns or Genies? Maybe. I mean it could happen but I’m not sure where or when I would fit them in. Another one of those questions I’ll have to think about as we move forward. And yes, you are correct, Alex does have a greenhouse in his bag.

Preston: The shadow is not the source of the corruption in the lands, and I haven’t decided yet if it is a pawn of that evil, or a separate evil all together.

Haley: On writing and not adding too much. Yes, that is always a problem. You are writing and say, “Wow, it would be cool if I add this.” Yes, it would be cool, but if you do it too much your story gets too full of cool things and maybe too confusing for anyone to follow. I would suggest outlining your story before you start, something that I’m learning to do myself. Yes, I try to add things and have to stop and say, “Does this really need to be in the story? Does it help the story at all, apart from being one more cool thing?” A basic outline will help. It can be just a one page thing, like a quick synopsis of the story you are trying to write. If you want, you can go further and write out a list of all the chapters with one line telling you what happens in that chapter. Now, I’ll confess, I’m more of a seat of the pants writer. I haven’t outlined much, but while I’m writing my brain is outlining things for me and it has worked out O.K. so far. (Well, once my editor also points out things I went too far with.) Try the outline, but remember, it’s just an outline, you can still change things if you want or need to.

Zach: Many of your questions will be answered in “Sands of Nezza”. One that stands out that won’t be answer in Sands is, “Will Alex learn how to use a sword? Not his magic sword, just a normal sword. The answer is, Yes he will. I believe this will happen in book five, and he has to learn because he can’t carry his magic sword with him. (Nope, not gonna tell you why he can’t carry his magic sword, at least not yet.)

Tyler: Yes, Alex is very serious for his age. Of course, he is getting older now… I’ll have to do the math one of these days. Part of his being so serious is his magic and becoming a wizard, but I think he’s always been a serious person. It might have something to do with being an orphan.

Zach: Someone call themselves back from the wall? I don’t think so, but maybe. I think walking away from the wall and back into the light is more likely, and it probably happens without people knowing how close they were to the wall and death.

Dark Star: Let us know how the books you are working on are going. What are they about? You can’t just say you are writing a series of books and not give us some details.

Ryan: Partial transformation?  Good question that, and I have to say that I’ve thought about it but I’m not sure yet if it will work or not. I’ll keep thinking, and if I can figure out how a partial transformation might work and be of some use, I’ll ad it in.

True Silver Dragon:  Yes, there are a few others that mention this as well so this is for all of you. An adventure on earth. Yes, it is possible. Yes, I have thought about it a lot. Yes, I think it might happen but that it is a few books away, close to the end of the series. Yes, there will be other adventurers with Alex who don’t know how to deal with thinks like cars and air planes and such. If we go there, and I think we will, it should be a lot of fun.

Rebecca: Wow! I can see you’ve been thinking about this a lot. Have you thought about writing your own stories? My own thoughts at the moment are, Vampires probably won’t turn up in the series, and if they do they will be evil. (Just the way I see vampires.) I also think Vampires have been over used in the last few years, so I will probably stay away from them. Were-whatevers? Maybe. I think there are many things that might be considered as were-creatures, and with each type there are different rules to how they act, what makes them change, how smart they are, etc. Not sure if any of them will make it into the series, but it is possible and I will give it some more thought. (No, really… have you thought about writing your own stories?)

Silvertongue: Sorry, didn’t get this done in time for your birthday. Happy Birthday anyway.

Elmore: Just so everyone knows, each land is a planet. They are only connected by the “Great Arch”. Most of the known lands, at least the ones we’ve visited so far, are very much like earth. Why? Because earth like planets are good places for people and things to live.

O.K. Lycanthrope and Lycan and all that. I’ve seen the fictional werewolf called both Lycan and Lycanthropes. (Is that spelled right?) I also know there is a real mental condition that people have where they think they are werewolves and such. I’m not too worried about what you want to call them, be it right or wrong technically, so long as when we talk about werewolves or were-whatevers, everyone knows what we are talking about. (maybe go with skinchanger, but that implies that the person changing has a choice in the change.)

Tallonis: Yes, we will see some sea monsters in the future. I think in more than one book if I remember right. Other, dragon like creatures, maybe.

Nagas: No, Whalen is not from earth, and he is not from Alusia either. I think I say where he’s from in book 5? However, he currently lives in Alusia, or at least he lives there when he’s not off on an adventure.

Daze: The four rooms you didn’t list are the four rooms that were in the original magic bag when Alex bought it. Alex currently uses them for storage. (Dang, gotta look things up… did Alex ever get a cold room? I know he was thinking about it.)

Rhyme90: On the adventure to our world, earth, and why it didn’t happen in book 3, 4, or 5… It didn’t fit in there. When I commented in 2010 about changing things up I didn’t know we were going to be limited to eight (8) books in the series. The books were all going to be stand alone books, with Alex always in them and other characters coming and going with each new adventure. My publisher said, “No, that won’t do.” So I had to come up with a total number of books and an overall story idea for all the books to connect.  Oh, and yes, you will find out what the ring from book one is in book four.

Science 101: I’m gonna go with, who wouldn’t want their own sea monster? I think, however, that Thrang’s adventure was more to keep the monster from doing harm and also to keep harm from coming to the sea monster. Better to capture it and keep it out of harms way, than to try and destroy it and put yourself in harms way.

Fianlly, Haley: I try to find time for other books when I’m writing, but it isn’t always easy. If I’m just writing stories that don’t have deadlines for publication it is a lot easier to find time of other books. When I have to finish something for the publisher, it is hard to find time for almost anything else.

Oh, there were a couple of other things I saw when I read through all the posts that I didn’t notice while writing this. First, the Nagas in book 3. It is not a Naga, it is a Nagas. The one I’m thinking of came from a book of mythological creatures that I have. It is a giant serpent that is used to protect treasure. If no treasure is given to the serpent it will collect treasure on it’s own. It looks like a giant snake, sometimes with a human face but not always, and a sting or spiked tail.

I did mention some other stories I am working on, and the one that someone, sorry I forgot who, mentioned is called, “Seeds of Power”. I’ve actually been trying to work on those books while waiting to hear back from my publisher on “Sands of Nezza.” I know that there are rewrites needed, and I do need to change the end of the first book. If “Seeds” ever goes anywhere I’ll be sure to let you know.

So, until next time, I remain yours in fellowship,

Mark