15 August 2013: The Big Blog Catch-up Blog

10 August: What is smaller than a blo... 28 August 2013: And now… um, I forgot.

15 August 2013: The Big Blog Catch-up Blog

Yes, it’s time to try and catch up, but first…

Final edits and fixes on Sands of Nezza are done. My editor will be spending a few days putting all the fixes in and then the story will be on its way to the printers. (Hurray!) Now before you go all “Squee” on me, you need to know that printing takes between six and eight weeks. No, there is no way to speed this up, it just takes that long and we all have to live with it. So the books should be printed and ready by mid-October, and then they will ship them out to stores in time for the November release date. Oh, they might start turning up a few days before the “Official” release date, but not by much. So, there’s that done.

Reading Sands this last time I did notice that this book feels different than the first three. Things move faster, there isn’t a lot of time given to history or back story or extra details about different characters. Sorry about that to those of you who want more of that kind of thing, there just wasn’t time. Unlike Alex’s previous adventures, which took a year to eighteen months to finish, this adventure all happens in something like four to six months. (Yes, things are moving fast.) I like the story as it is now, and I hope you will all like it as well. (You’ll have to let me know once it comes out.) I should also point out a couple of things here. 1. Editors, for the most part, hate it when you go off on some tangent explaining things about the world you’re in, or why some characters act the way they do, or whatever if it doesn’t directly impact the story. (The current story that’s being told, not the massive story of the universe.) So something that happened a hundred years ago, no matter how cool it was, gets cut by the editor unless it is really important for the readers to know about it. 2. My publisher starts to get nervous when I write stories that might be longer than say, 400 pages. Yes, there is a reason, and that reason is cost. They don’t want to raise the price of the books, and if I go to 400 hundred pages or more they might have to raise the price of the book. Oh, they’ll let me do it if the story really needs to be that long, but they will also try to cut it down while editing so that it is closer to 400 pages. Sands… well I think we ended up at about 380 pages or something like that.

Finally, before we get to questions, I’ll try to find out on release dates for e-books. Normally they come out about the same time as the hard back, sometimes it’s a week later. Audio CD’s are like e-books. I know they will be recording the CD’s in September, and I’m sure they will try to have them out near the book release date, but I can’t be sure they will. I will also try to push for getting the first chapter of sands up on the web-site as soon as possible now that it is done, and I’ll let you all know when it is there, if they tell me. Is there anything else I need to ask the publisher about? No, it is way to early to ask about the release date for book 5 of the series. I’m hoping we can get it done and out late next year, like October or November, but there’s know way to know right now. Part of the next book’s release date will have to do with how well Sands of Nezza sells. (Publishers are in the business of making money after all.)

Right then, let’s answer some questions. Questions… O.K. I have one more thing I’d like to say and it is about questions. Hey, I love to answer questions, I enjoy letting you all know why things are they way they are and all the little details about how things really work. Well, mostly I love it, but not always. Some questions I’m just not going to answer. Some questions you need to answer for yourselves. Sometimes I’m going to leave the answers up to you, so the answer can be whatever you want it to be and that’s just fine with me. Also, I hope that all of you read each others posts, because a lot of answers turn up there and that means I don’t have to answer those questions… that’s a good thing as it gives me more time to work on other things. O.K. enough said. If you’re question doesn’t get answered of even mentioned… feel free to makeup your own answer.

Kevin: I don’t know if Alex will come across any other weapons/armor made by dark elves. I haven’t written that far yet. Salinor is the oldest living dragon, but strongest? I would say he is one of the strongest, but the strongest, I’m not sure.

Elmore: Yes, Alex will meet other dragons.

Daniel: On Alex’s true silver dagger and that fact that it hasn’t ever been used. Yea, I know, kinda silly. I did have him use it to great effect in the original version of “Horn of Moran”, but that got changed in the editing process. (He used to to fight off some goblins that were trying to capture him while asleep and he couldn’t reach Moon Slayer.) I also had him use it in an early version of Sand of Nezza, he was going to cut his way through a magical barrier, but that also got changed in editing. I’ll see if I can find something else for him to use it on in the future.

Elmore: Story Line for “Seeds of Power”… the really short version: Child raised by a dragon must return to the world of humans to discover his place in the world and find whatever is left of his family. Oh, there’s a lot more going on than just that, but I said the really short version.

Jacob Meyers: Monster book? Um… let me go look. “The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures”. I found it on the discount table at my local Barnes and Noble a few years back.

Tara of Kess: Yes, you find out what the ring from book one is in Sands. No, it is not what you think it is. No, Alex does not become a member of the Order of Malgor, wizards aren’t allowed to join.

Tara & Daniel: Alex will become the mentor for the next guardian of the Tower of the Moon in Norsland. No, it probably won’t happen in the series because there just isn’t time. (Hey, the kid isn’t even born yet.)

Rebecca: I don’t know if there will or will not be animal-type human things. Maybe, but I haven’t written that far yet or even planned that far yet. As for how I write my stories/books/ideas. Most of the books have started on paper as ideas and really rough outlines. I don’t do much of the outline thing, or I haven’t so far even though I can see how useful it might be. The books have been a few pages of hand written ideas that then get moved to the computer and typed. Do what works best for you, but remember that at some point you will have to type your stories before you can send them to agents and publishers.

Thank you Jacob Meyers for the writing tips and things to avoid. It’s not just new writers that run into these problems, we all do from time to time. (Using the style or trying to write like an author that you like to read is a great way to help build and develop your own voice. Do not take their ideas and claim them as your own or you will get in trouble, but try to make your stories sound or read like the ones you like to read. I tend to mix styles from several different authors I like to read.)

Elmore, dang it! For the last time, I will not tell you people how to summon a geeb. The last thing we need is for the geebs to be annoyed by a bunch of people summoning them and then having no message to send and no gems to pay them with. No, I won’t be responsible for that.

Eve: Alex and highschool??? O.K. I can tell the truth. I never really thought about it. Yea, kind of stupid on my part, so I guess he graduated early, or something? I know he went to school, but dang, I didn’t think of that.

C. Mist: I think he might have? Well, maybe he has and maybe he hasn’t, but things will become more difficult for him in the future. I know in Sands he will run into things he can’t do, but only because he can’t be in two places at one time… no, I’m not going to explain that.

Tallonis: Hellerash. (Man, I hate those things.)

Rhyme90: No, Alex’s mom was not an adventurer. I did have some back story about her as well, at the start of Albrek’s Tomb, but like so many things, it got edited out. (hmmm… where did I put that bit?) Oh, and no, I’m not allowed to tell the the title of book 5, at least not yet. I’ll add that to the list of things to ask the publisher. Oh, as I remember just now… Cover Art. Yes, it is the same artist for Sands who has done all the books. Yes, Alex looks different every time and I’m not sure I’ve been 100% happy with any of the looks. I do like the cover, and even the bits I don’t like will not be changed. Yes, I asked. – Oh, I did love the cover to Slathbog’s Gold, but as only a dragon appears that was easy.

Zach: Dragon in human form? I don’t know, maybe. No, not everyone with magic can talk telepathically, but Alex can push his own words/thoughts/voice into just about anybodies mind. So if he needed to tell someone to duck but couldn’t shout, he could do that.

Steven: No, you probably won’t get Alex’s family tree. I doubt that you’ll ever learn what Alex’s father has done on adventures, though I’m sure Alex knows at least some of what his father did. -Goes back to that editor thing. Nothing that doesn’t directly impact the story gets in, unless I’m really sneaky about it.

Braden Cox: Alex can’t take a gun into the known lands. The magical barrier that keeps most people out of the known lands would change it into something else. Same goes for hand grenades, bombs, electronic devices, etc. I am thinking of having an adventure in a land/world where some of those things could work in a mostly magical world, but that’s in the future and I’m not sure if it will happen yet.

Kittalia: No, I don’t know yet how old Alex will be at the end of the series. I could make a guess, but it all depends on what happens in the next four books. (hmmm… how old will he be?) As for writing that part of the story that you don’t like writing… you could try this. Write, “Something awesome happens here”. Then leave it and move on with the rest of the story. Come back later when you know what the awesome something is and then write it. (Or something Terrible, something romantic, whatever.) If you write it now and hate writing it, well, it won’t be as good as it should be. Unless of course you hate writing it because it’s just a very hard/emotional bit of the story that you really don’t want to happen even though you know it has to happen. In that case, write it now, ignore it for a time, then come back and fix it later to include all the impact it needs to have. (Fast outline chapter saying what needs to happen and some details but not trying to write it all out at one time.)

Elmore: What black horse at the end of Albrek’s Tomb???

Dan: How do you know Mr. Roberts settled/retired to an unknown land? It might be that he lives in a lesser known land, or at least that’s the way I think of it. Oh, and just so you know, there are not many adventurers, never have been, and almost no adventurers from little known or unknown lands. They don’t know about adventures, so why would they need adventurers?

Aaron: O.K. so the whole Goval/Goval minor thing makes it impossible for each land to be a world. (Hmmm… did I spell Goval and Goval minor correctly?) Well, Goval or the Govals are the exception to the rule. That land is divided by 1. A nasty wasteland where the old wars were fought. The wastelands are super desert like with plenty of nasty creatures wandering around them so nobody is willing to try to cross from Goval to Goval minor. 2. Magic and magical barriers that prevent anything from one part of Goval from going into the other part of Goval. There, happy? All the other lands are there own worlds, unless of course I decide that they are not. ;-P

J-gent: Well there kind of has to be an ultimate showdown at the end, or at least I think there does.

How can I not be done answering questions yet???

Science101: Giants and giant races… Hmmmm… I gotta go with giant type creatures normally being kind of dumb, but I suppose it could happen. Again, I can’t say because I haven’t written the rest of the books yet. Who knows what I’ll put in them? I don’t.

Rhyme90 and the rest of you all: Wizard/mage/witch/warlock/sorcerer/shaman/druid/whatever. There are no rules about which is most powerful, most wise, most evil, anything like that. It all depends on the story you are reading and the author who wrote it. I’ve read books were mage and wizard mean the same thing, and others where they are very different things. In Adventurers Wanted I don’t think I’ve used the term mage or even magi, and wizards are the top of the magical world in power, even if they happen to be dark wizards. Take your pick, make up your own rules, but don’t expect everyone to agree with you.

Your#!fanon- too much to type, sorry. Signing in Salt Lake City? Yes, I’m sure that can be arranged… in fact I will be signing at Comic Con in Salt Lake this… oh, when was that? September. I don’t have all the details just yet, but Shadow Mountain will have a booth there and I’ll be signing on the Saturday. I’ll post when I find out more.

Elmore: Sorry, no the 4th bag is not returned in Sands of Nezza. Man, I gotta make time to get all those bags returned one of these days.

Random Person: Merlin was no Warlock, he was a wizard. He was only the greatest and most powerful to ever live in our world, and even at that, no, I don’t think he will ever be mentioned in Adventurers Wanted. (Well he wasn’t going to be, but now you’ve made me think about it…)

Poncho: Don’t know if I will make it to Portland, but I’d like to.

Stephen: Rooms in bags? Well, most new bags come with three or four rooms. One room is normally modified to expand as needed and become the treasure room. The other three rooms can be used for whatever the bag owner needs. Mostly storage of gear and clothes and food. You might have a hard time mapping a bag as magic bags are, well, magic. They allow for what I call magical overlap of space. That means, as a simple example, that different rooms can exist in almost (not exactly) the same space. So, if you have a room with three doors in one wall, and each door leads to another room that is exactly the same size as the room you are in, it works. It’s kind of like having all three rooms stacked on top of each other, first floor, main floor, and basement, except in a magic bag you don’t need a stairway to get between them, just doorways. Oh, one of the original rooms is called or marked as the “Main” room, where you enter and exit the bag from. You can actually exit the bag from anywhere inside it, but every time you enter you start in the “Main” room. Hope that helps.

darkangel16 – Pocket dragons? Interesting idea. I was thinking I need to add a librarian of sorts for Alex, and a pocket or fairy dragon might work for that job. Chimeras? no idea yet.

Jacob: Yes, the road to Bear Lake is a scenic drive, but it’s been years since I’ve gone that way. If that makes you think of the dwarf realm in Thraxon, (did I spell that right?) great. Places like that and others I’ve visited over the years all tend to find their way into the books.

Ankit: The answers have been given. The prince and company were adventurers in Horn of Moran. Their bags were with the treasure that Alex took from the Tower of the Moon. They don’t get mention for that editing/editor reason I’ve mentioned before. Alex has the bags, but I don’t think you will get to see him return them.

And finally: Jacob: Thanks for figuring out the ctrl+f search thingy, and for sharing it. I may need to use that myself to remember what I said about different things and how they work. Or… I can just change my mind and make things work they way they need to when I need them to. ;-)