The second post was finished on Friday as I took the train southward from Seattle to Vancouver WA. I think it accomplishes the two things I wanted it to do: 1) discuss Suvudu a bit more in depth, and 2) talk a bit about me so people know where some of their content is coming from.

I'm definitely a personal life type of blogger. Rather than report straight news, I like blogs that give the reader a feel for who the writer is. It adds a level of intimacy between the writer and the reader that I feel is necessary to easily navigate through all the spin that is out there.

Some of the people who will be also contributing to Suvudu have read the first two blogs and liked them both. I can wipe that sweat from my brow. Both posts were fairly dry but they needed to be; now I can branch out a bit and begin talking about things that are hopefully not only interesting to me but to others out there.

I have since left Vancouver WA and drove the 14 hours to Bakersfield CA. In the heat only the middle of California can dish out, I'm thinking I will continue writing my Paolini/Bowling/Fantasy Writers piece, and then I have to go Hellboy 2, Wall-E, and later this week The Dark Knight to review them. Should be great fun.

And next week: the San Diego Comic Con! I have my schedule planned out for all four days of the Con and which panels I will be going to. It's going to be a very busy four days but I am really looking forward to it! I wonder if any of you are going to be there? Hmmm?

But right now, I need to write on The Dark Thorn. Therefore I am going out to the pool, find some shade next to the water, put my feet in a bit, and then write on my laptop beneath the sweltering heat. I want to finish this 20th chapter so it is off my back entirely and I can get back into the beginning parts of the march toward the climax! Fun stuff!

Labels: Suvudu, The Dark Thorn

The Suvudu website at www.suvudu.com will be going live soon, hopefully within the next week. When it does, that means I am officially on the proverbial hot seat to supply content.

But what about those first few posts? Shouldn't they be done before it goes live?

Right. Right. They should. So today I wrote the short and sweet opening post for Suvudu, explaining what Suvudu is right out of the gate. The next post, which is significantly outlined, discusses why Suvudu is needed and relevant -- drawing from experiences I had all the way back in 1996 to give readers a bit of knowledge about me as well as Suvudu's future. Should be fun!

Labels: Suvudu

When I initially posted the RSS Feed for this blog, I had no idea that Blogger made one available. RSS was new to me... hey, what do I know anyway, right?

Over this last weekend, I added an RSS Feed to the Terry Brooks website news page, as well as updated the one here on this blog. You will have to rejoin the feed to have my updates sent to whatever RSS reader you use.

In short, do it. I will be updating my blog a lot more now. If 10% of it is interesting, I'll be doing okay!

With the Suvudu news out of the way (look at the previous post), I can now talk about how my writing is going!

You all know I am an outliner. I spent two months reading, researching, and constructing an outline for The Dark Thorn. Outlines really help me focus on what I want the point of the book to be, help me develop the characters in a strong way, help me bear down and actually write the book! It is really great to sit down every day, look at my outline, and know where I am at in my story and where I need to go.

Chapter 17 threw all of those notions out the window.

I began writing Chapter 17 two weeks ago. It was a Bran chapter, a pivotal chapter, where the story turns toward its end and climax. Sure, it had to be handled properly but it shouldn't have taken two weeks. So what happened?

In short, I got 2/3 finished with writing Bran's chapter when I realized, "Bran? I don't want Bran here! I want Richard!"

Imagine me, frustrated, crumbling pages and pages of paper and shooting them into my waste basket—for the first time ever!

As I grumpy? You bet I was!

I saved some of the dialog from the chapter; the point of the chapter was still there but it just had to be told from a different point of view, a POV that has its own distinct thoughts and feelings on events. For the last week I wrote Richard's new chapter, a chapter that was longish anyway... and I have to say it is one of the strongest of the book.

Just realize that even though I outline, sometimes the unexpected still happens!

The word count is now thus:

Prologue: 3045
Chapter 1: 4075
Chapter 2: 2973
Chapter 3: 3241
Chapter 4: 4144
Chapter 5: 4547
Chapter 6: 2793
Chapter 7: 3598
Chapter 8: 4939
Chapter 9: 4257
Interlude: 2372
Chapter 10: 3346
Chapter 11: 3185
Chapter 12: 3639
Chapter 13: 4878
Chapter 14: 4562
Chapter 15: 3840
Chapter 16: 3984
Chapter 17: 5441

The next chapter is a Bran chapter. My characters have been in one place for a few chapters and now they are making their way into the mountainous environs of Snowdon. There, they will meet coblynau and the dark thorn and... well... I shouldn't give it all away! Sheesh!

But all the while, Caer Llion grows stronger...

Labels: The Dark Thorn

I have been relatively absent the last month or so, for two reasons: the first I will talk about here, the second will be in my next post.

The fun news first!

Random House, in its infinite wisdom (haha), has decided to hire me for a few hours a week to be an Editorial Coordinator and blogger for a new website it is launching in a few weeks. The website is called Suvudu, and Suvudu will be something special.

I can positively hear the scratching of heads!

"Suvudu? What's that, you say? Suvudu? Sounds like a night club."

Well, what is Suvudu?

Suvudu, found at www.suvudu.com, is a new website catering to sci-fi and fantasy items of interest—not only in-house projects from Del Rey, Bantam/Spectra, Knopf Childrens, etc., but also from other publishers and other mediums! The idea is to build a community of like-minded people who love sci-fi and fantasy. Sounds great, right? To do it, I will blog, conduct interviews, post videos and podcasts and write reviews on sci-fi and fantasy books, audiobooks, comic books, graphic novels, games and movies. I will link to other blogs who are doing a great job of doing similar work, and multiple editors will join and write content as well.

In short, it will be a one-stop website for sci-fi/fantasy news!

All teasing aside, Random House has taken a big chance with me... and given me a huge opportunity. As many of you already know, I invest a lot of time on various websites and on different forums talking about the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I've done it for 12 or 13 years now, wholly unpaid, my payment being the chance to meet some wonderful writers, editors, agents, publicists, and artists.

Now I'll just be paid for doing what I love!

So, what happens with this blog? Good question. All of my personal endeavors and writing hopes will be posted here still. That means I will keep you all updated on my progress as I make my way through The Dark Thorn, what I learn as I write, answering the questions that are posed to me occasionally.

But I will also post what I am working on with Suvudu. So, for instance, yesterday and today I worked on podcast topics to ask Terry Brooks for the upcoming release of The Gypsy Morph. I also worked on a short interview with Drew Bowling, whose first book, The Tower of Shadows, is now out in paperback. Fun stuff, right?

Every day I will try to post what I've worked on for Suvudu—sometimes my work will bear fruit, sometimes it won't. Regardless, I think it will be fun to not only write about what I am working on but to get ideas for what you guys want from Suvudu! I've always been very open to ideas and suggestions and that will not change with Suvudu.

Suvudu should have a "soft" launch in the next two weeks. I will then be attending the San Diego Comic Con to talk to different people and report on the fun stuff I see there—with pictures and videos too!

Have any questions? Post them here!

Labels: Suvudu

Well... do you?

More on this soon!

Labels: Suvudu