Category Archives: novel

Dog Days

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Bkack Kath's Daughter-2This is more of a check-in than an actual proper blog post. What we used to call a “drive-by posting.” It’s September, so naturally we’re still in the grip of what should be properly called August+. The heat won’t really break until maybe mid-September…if we’re lucky. So far the heat has taken the willow, maple, and one of the blueberry bushes we planted this spring. We won’t know the full extent of the damage until next spring, but we’ll either replant or face the fact that whatever comes up of its own accord is probably the only plant worth bothering about. For instance, the Yoshino cherry I planted a couple years ago dropped dead within three weeks.. It’s now been replaced by a popcorn tree that wanted the spot. I’ll see if it does any better.

The War God’s Son is in the home stretch. The draft passed the 80k mark last week and it might—might—have 10k to go. Likely it’ll grow a little in the rewrite, since I’m one of those who tend to embellish as much or more than I cut, but if it turns out over 90k words I’ll be surprised. Like any other project, ideally it turns out as long as it has to be and no longer. And for those (both of you) who have been wondering about the sequel to Black Kath’s Daughter, it’s next on the agenda, but I have to finish this one first.

I couldn’t sign off without mentioning the passing of Fred Pohl. He was one of the last of the old guard SF writers. “There were giants in the earth in those days.” I’m old enough to remember the passing of several of them: Heinlein, Asimov, Leiber, Anderson, Clarke, and that’s not even counting the ones who went before their time, like Tom Reamy. It’s rather like watching history passing before your eyes. The field has been undergoing something like a sea-change in the last several years, and the loss of Pohl only emphasizes it. Change happens. That’s all.

Road Trip

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LucilleI’m not sure what possessed me, seriously. We occasionally take road trips, and maybe I wanted to test my limits. When I was younger I could drive 8-10 hours (with a few breaks) at a stretch, and a recent road trip to Chattanooga surprised me by revealing how easily drivable it was. So when I was asked to visit a remote site for a week to aid in a printer migration (vast herds of HPs and Epsons making their way across the tundra? Yeah, went there) rather than flying like a sensible person, I decided to drive. 983 miles. Probably not a good idea. Took two days, and 6-8 hours on the road is probably my limit these days. So I drove from MS to Lake Eerie in 2 days. Done it once. Probably don’t need to do it again. Continue reading →

Spectacle, It Ain’t

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Heian LadyIt occurs to me—not for the first time, nor with me first—that a writer at work, head down on a project, whatever it is, has to be just about the dullest creature on the planet. Yeah all of us, at once. The single dullest creature. It’s probably some sort of hive-mind effect going on, except for the fact that they’re no communal thought. Separately but altogether making up one really dull creature. Continue reading →

It’s Always the First Time

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Heian LadyI don’t know who said it first, but it’s been said before and it’s the absolute truth—“I don’t know how to write a novel. I only know how to write the last one.” There’s a lot of Zen in that statement, because the clear implication is, as the Zen masters would say, “It’s always the first time.” It certainly applies here. I’ve written either ten or eleven novels before now. I honestly do not remember the number. I could go to my works list and count them, but the exact number isn’t the point, because this applies whether it’s one novel or a hundred plus. No, the point is that I now know how to write those novels, because I’ve already done them. Which is a very roundabout way of saying that I’m in the process of learning how to write the current novel. By the time I’m done, I’ll have figured it out and, having figured it out, I won’t be doing it again. A tad ironic, yes, but there it is. Continue reading →

Occasional Update

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JYMDH-AT-BNudging from the search engine terms that bring people to this site, at least some of you out there are wondering where I stand on various projects, so it’s probably time for another update. I’ll be as specific as I can be, and if anyone has any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Power’s Shadow (Working title to the sequel to Black Kath’s Daughter, or more accurately, the 3rd in the Laws of Power series): I was about 17000 words into this when I had to put it on hold, and the reason for that should be clear in a bit. I’m hoping to get back to it sometime after the end of the year, but for now other projects have priority. I had to leave Marta in an interesting situation and I’m eager to get back to it, but that will have to wait.

To Break the Demon Gate (the first Lord Yamada novel): The publication date for this has slipped, but PS Publishing still plans to bring it out this year. The new target date is November, and I’ll make an announcement when I know more. Since this is PS, this will be a limited edition. I’m pleased to say that there will be a trade paper edition as well, but that’s not scheduled until 2014. I’ll give full details once I know what they are.

The War God’s Son (the second Yamada novel): This is the reason that Power’s Shadow is on hold. I’ve got a publisher waiting to see this one, so it has to take precedence, and as of now I’m about a third of the way through the first draft. My plan is to finish this before the end of the year. Right now that target still looks doable, but only if I concentrate on the book to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. So any other writing projects are going to have to wait. Frankly I’m used to working at my own pace, so having something like a deadline is…different. A good thing, but different.

Short Fiction: I have just two stories awaiting publication at the moment, at Weird Tales and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Not sure if the WT story will see print or not this year, but maybe. There likely won’t be any more until next year because I’m just not that good at multi-tasking. Especially without multi-time to go with it.

This is where the writing stands at the moment. Other non-writing aspects of the business are also in motion, and if anything else happens you’ll read about it here first. But for now, this is all the news that is.