You may have received an email from me recently. If you're on the mailing list, I've asked you for some opinions on the first book.
In short, I'm publishing a 'special edition' of the first novel. The Endless Wars is getting wide distribution, and I'm celebrating it by putting out a special edition. This will include deleted scenes, an essay from yours truly, the first chapter from the second book, and it MIGHT include the first-ever officially-approved artwork. That's being talked about right now, but we'll see.
One of the hot topics is the font. The first and second editions were put out with my favorite font, 'Courier New.' I'm so used to seeing it, and I may have been drinking quite a bit of rum out of celebration of the book's publishing, that it slipped by me that was the final font. I've heard your bitches, and unless someone else out there shares my love for the font, that I'll be putting it out in something more generic, like Helvetica. At the same time, I'm only going to use an open-source font, so bear with me.
Moving on, I'm still taking feedback for the special edition. I will be revising the text of the book, to bring it more in line with the modern take.
At the same time, I'm still debating whether or not to let fan reaction impact something like updating Taran's demeanor. Do I protect him, or give in to popular demand, and make him a bit more 'cheery?'
Regardless, he is not the same Taran in book two. He's even darker, and struggling with killing his friend, Raphael. On top of that, he's responsible for his people, which weighs on him.
I am not taking any literal story ideas, FYI. What do you think of Taran?
- Blaine
On sale now!
20101003
20100921
Blaine & Taran, getting reacquainted
Posting here has been light, but for good reason. Book Two of the Endless Wars series is seriously underway.
My wife is a remarkable woman, and knows when I've been writing heavily. She knows that it's kind of like talking to your pitcher during a no-hitter, and she just goes on acting like everything's normal, but she'll wear a certain kind of grin after noticing that the OpenOffice/Word file has been open on a particular computer for a few days, and wait for me to approach her about it.
I'm truly blessed by the Maker to be married to another writer. She understands the soul-farming that goes on, and that while it's an exorcising process, it's also a very dark process for me. I don't write about the things that make me smile. Taran and I seize each other and plunge down a rabbit hole that is made more for Showtime than ABC Family.
She lets me stare him in the eye while he and I arm-wrestle for control of my soul. While we face each other down, I pour more and more of my accumulated poison into him. As he writhes in agony, I guide him and help him to deal with it.
This has been going on for over a decade now, and I'm starting to think that she secretly hates Taran. That's fine by me, because I'm his biggest fan, and I understood the dude better than anybody.
The most interesting about writing a sequel, though, is fan feedback. I've been shocked to find that readers generally found Nigel to be their favorite character. While that was really surprising, as I think the guy is sort of a lovable scumbag, it works since this book is very much his book, and his story.
Additionally, I was less surprised that some people found Taran to be a bit of a whiny fuck. Looking back, I agree, and now I'm torn between how much I let reader feedback impact his personal arc and what I've had planned for him for a while. I can tell you, without spoilers, that he's just not meant to be a terribly happy person in his present circumstances, and that things are gonna get even darker for him.
I had a funny moment with my wife tonight, as I mentioned off-handedly that Taran is MUCH darker in this book than the last, and she actually gasp-laughed. 'Are you kidding?' she asked, 'He was already uber-dark in the first novel!' I kinda shrugged. The reason that the other characters exist is to help Taran carry the load, but he's not programmed to share.
Anyway, I was banging keys on here to distract myself while I figured out what the hell to do in the next scene, and now I've got it. If you guys loved any of the characters from the first book, just wait 'til you get a load of the three new folks that are being unveiled in this book. Just like in the first book, they're all sharp personalities that integrate and show new sides of all characters.
That, and there just might be a Nicole appearance.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please go here and buy a book (paperback/ebook) if you love big damn stories with big damn heroes.
-Blaine
My wife is a remarkable woman, and knows when I've been writing heavily. She knows that it's kind of like talking to your pitcher during a no-hitter, and she just goes on acting like everything's normal, but she'll wear a certain kind of grin after noticing that the OpenOffice/Word file has been open on a particular computer for a few days, and wait for me to approach her about it.
I'm truly blessed by the Maker to be married to another writer. She understands the soul-farming that goes on, and that while it's an exorcising process, it's also a very dark process for me. I don't write about the things that make me smile. Taran and I seize each other and plunge down a rabbit hole that is made more for Showtime than ABC Family.
She lets me stare him in the eye while he and I arm-wrestle for control of my soul. While we face each other down, I pour more and more of my accumulated poison into him. As he writhes in agony, I guide him and help him to deal with it.
This has been going on for over a decade now, and I'm starting to think that she secretly hates Taran. That's fine by me, because I'm his biggest fan, and I understood the dude better than anybody.
The most interesting about writing a sequel, though, is fan feedback. I've been shocked to find that readers generally found Nigel to be their favorite character. While that was really surprising, as I think the guy is sort of a lovable scumbag, it works since this book is very much his book, and his story.
Additionally, I was less surprised that some people found Taran to be a bit of a whiny fuck. Looking back, I agree, and now I'm torn between how much I let reader feedback impact his personal arc and what I've had planned for him for a while. I can tell you, without spoilers, that he's just not meant to be a terribly happy person in his present circumstances, and that things are gonna get even darker for him.
I had a funny moment with my wife tonight, as I mentioned off-handedly that Taran is MUCH darker in this book than the last, and she actually gasp-laughed. 'Are you kidding?' she asked, 'He was already uber-dark in the first novel!' I kinda shrugged. The reason that the other characters exist is to help Taran carry the load, but he's not programmed to share.
Anyway, I was banging keys on here to distract myself while I figured out what the hell to do in the next scene, and now I've got it. If you guys loved any of the characters from the first book, just wait 'til you get a load of the three new folks that are being unveiled in this book. Just like in the first book, they're all sharp personalities that integrate and show new sides of all characters.
That, and there just might be a Nicole appearance.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please go here and buy a book (paperback/ebook) if you love big damn stories with big damn heroes.
-Blaine
20100728
Vacation is a great time to get reacquainted.
I've been a negligent bloggist. I confess this much.
Much of this is due to the fact that I've been pretty satisfied with my life. I've been working full-time for a great company, and my IT duties there have commanded much of my attention. When I haven't been there, I've been doing the husband/dad thing, as well as working quite a bit with my old bandmates on a new musical project.
I'm thinking that this project is going to get its own blog soon, but not for another month or two, when we have a) the time thing figured out, and b) the rights thing figured out. Trust me when I say that you're gonna be blown away by what we've been working on. At some point soon, we'll be revealing the full lineup, along with a song preview. If you remember some of the cats I worked with back in the 90s, you'll see some familiar faces.
It's an hour and a half past midnight now, so I am officially on vacation. It's been a while, so I'm rather pleased.
I plan to chronicle as much of this vacation as I can. I'll be chronicling my never-ending quest to be totally portable with all my requisite technology. One big thing this time out is that I now have a mobile wifi device, which I plan to keep running non-stop during our trip, so I'll be reviewing that device day by day, and at some point, I'm going to try and play a game online while in the car. More on this as it develops.
Also, I'll be exploring cities in which I've never been, so you'll be getting my review of such cities as Pittsburgh & Baltimore. My understanding is that Baltimore has 4G fucking everywhere, in which case it gets an automatic A+.
Ultimately, my clan and I will end up in Virginia Beach, VA for about a week, and you will be saddled with my beach & alcohol-riddled thoughts, should you so choose to check back here. I will be exploring the area, as well as beating the shit out of some games, as well as kicking it with some relatives, so there will be plenty of entertainment here, and the Untitled Gaming blog.
After that, I'll try to get back into a rhythm here. LOL.
Stay posted. Thanks for reading. Lemme know if I should check anything out in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington D.C., or Virginia Beach.
-Blaine
Much of this is due to the fact that I've been pretty satisfied with my life. I've been working full-time for a great company, and my IT duties there have commanded much of my attention. When I haven't been there, I've been doing the husband/dad thing, as well as working quite a bit with my old bandmates on a new musical project.
I'm thinking that this project is going to get its own blog soon, but not for another month or two, when we have a) the time thing figured out, and b) the rights thing figured out. Trust me when I say that you're gonna be blown away by what we've been working on. At some point soon, we'll be revealing the full lineup, along with a song preview. If you remember some of the cats I worked with back in the 90s, you'll see some familiar faces.
It's an hour and a half past midnight now, so I am officially on vacation. It's been a while, so I'm rather pleased.
I plan to chronicle as much of this vacation as I can. I'll be chronicling my never-ending quest to be totally portable with all my requisite technology. One big thing this time out is that I now have a mobile wifi device, which I plan to keep running non-stop during our trip, so I'll be reviewing that device day by day, and at some point, I'm going to try and play a game online while in the car. More on this as it develops.
Also, I'll be exploring cities in which I've never been, so you'll be getting my review of such cities as Pittsburgh & Baltimore. My understanding is that Baltimore has 4G fucking everywhere, in which case it gets an automatic A+.
Ultimately, my clan and I will end up in Virginia Beach, VA for about a week, and you will be saddled with my beach & alcohol-riddled thoughts, should you so choose to check back here. I will be exploring the area, as well as beating the shit out of some games, as well as kicking it with some relatives, so there will be plenty of entertainment here, and the Untitled Gaming blog.
After that, I'll try to get back into a rhythm here. LOL.
Stay posted. Thanks for reading. Lemme know if I should check anything out in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington D.C., or Virginia Beach.
-Blaine
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