Fall Tour and Daylight War Update

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, but I have a good excuse. I was working on The Daylight War, and for the first time in a good long while, the work has been good.

I think every writer has their ups and downs, times when it feels like the muse is giving us a handjob, and times when she won’t return our calls for weeks. Times when we’re so confident in the story we’re telling that the only limitation is the speed at which we can type, and other times when we stare at the screen for hours, unable to write a single word. Times when we feel like a pro, and times when we feel like a fraud.

I’ve been in one of those downs for a while. I was moving along at a fair clip with new material, and then I hit one chapter that didn’t work. It just felt… wrong. I tried rewriting it several times, changing the events, the POV (Point of View character), everything, trying to find the flaw, to no avail. I was dissatisfied with the results every time, but could never quite put my finger on why. It was like banging my head up against a wall. Finally, I decided to put it aside and switch to an entirely different POV character in another location, so I could give myself a break from the problem.

But there were too many to choose from. My stepsheet for the book included notes for twelve separate POVs, all of them characters I was eager to explore in depth. It was far too much for one book if I wanted to keep it under 1000 pages. I was succumbing to Mission Creep, as my buddy Myke called it. However well intentioned it was for me to want to get in the head of every interesting character, the series would buckle under the weight of them. I think all of us who read epic fantasy can think of examples where this has happened. I don’t want to do that.

So I cut. I cut a whole storyline about Ragen & Elissa. I cut the POV’s I was planning for Prince Thamos and Amanvah. I cut an entire new character called Mudboy (along with 10,000 words of prose) out of the story. I pushed Selia the Barren’s POV into the next book. I hacked and slashed the stepsheet until the number of perspectives was one that kept the story tense and moving forward with a decisive pace. The end result is MUCH stronger and more streamlined. Much more… epic.

I went back to the trouble chapter, and kicked its ass. Starting this week, it’s full steam ahead for as long as the muse is feeling frisky.

I’m keeping all the notes on the cut POV’s, though. Some of them are great stories in their own right, and might one day become their own standalone novellas like The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold. The Mudboy storyline most certainly will.

Before I disappear back down the rabbit hole to work some more, I want to remind everyone of some upcoming events. I’ll be traveling a lot in the coming months.

Conventions & Signings

First up is my August 29, 2010 signing in Burbank, California signing at the Dark Delicacies bookstore, at 2pm. If you’re in SoCal and want to show some love, it would mean a lot to me if you stopped by. I’ll be signing books and taking questions on everything from writing to Krasian politics to how cute my baby is (baby not included). Possibly a reading. Free bookplates, too!

After the DarkDel signing, I am flying out of LA to attend Worldcon in Melbourne, Australia (Sept. 2-6, 2010). It will be my first-ever Worldcon, but I am told it tends to be a huge event, and attendance is often a veritable who’s who of the SF industry. A lot of my readers down under have contacted to let me know I’ll get to meet them there, and I am thrilled for that.

If you’re in the greater Melbourne area and big conventions are not your thing, consider attending my signing at Dymocks Southland in Cheltenham Thursday 2nd September 2010 at noon. The signing is officially set to end at 1pm, but I will not be in any hurry to leave, and will make sure everyone gets their books signed and questions answered. I also may be accompanied by another author, this one more beautiful, talented and fabulous than I. Stay tuned on that front.

The last of my store signings will be in Sydney at the famous Galaxy Bookshop Wednesday September 8, 2010 at 5:30 pm. As with the Melbourne signing, I will stay as long as there are folks to talk to, and probably adjourn to a local bar soon after.

If you can’t make it to one of the signings, but would still like a signed book, consider pre-ordering one from the store closest to you for me to sign while I am there. Most stores will happily facilitate this, sending you the signed book after my visit. You can even request personalization. I will happily dedicate the books any way you like, and include bookplates (while supplies last).  While it’s often cheaper and easier to order books from big online retailers, it is the live, brick and mortar bookstores that make author events like this possible. They are a valuable part of our communities and deserve our support.

Dark Delicacies
3512 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
U.S.A.
818-556-6660
1-888-DARKDEL
darkdel@darkdel.com

Dymocks Southland
3067/8 Westfield Southland Shopping Centre
1239 Nepean Highway
Cheltenham 3192
Phone:(03) 9584 1245
Fax:(03) 9584 7985
southland@dymocks.com.au

Galaxy Books
143 York Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
T) 02 9267 7222

After that, it’s time to think NY ComicCon, Oct. 8-10, 2010. You may recall that at last year’s con, some 40,000 name badges were the cover of The Warded Man. It was the coolest con ever.

I expect this year to be even better. Plus Stan Lee will be there.

October 2010 is also World Fantasy in Columbus, OH, followed in November 2010 by Forum Fantastico in Lisbon, Portugal. I’m taking a break in December, and then attending ConFusion in Detroit in January 2011 where I will be signing copies of Brayan’s Gold.

Posted on August 8, 2010 at 10:32 pm by PeatB
Filed under Appearances, Australia, Brayan's Gold, Events, Fans, Sales, The Daylight War, World Traveler, Writing
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