by john | Feb 20, 2012 | Business of publishing, Writing
There have been a few questions posted as to when the fourth book of the Black Knight Chronicles will be out (tentatively titled Paint it Black, subject to change at any moment).
The honest answer is…I don’t know. Working with a publisher is a different beast, y’all. For the first time it’s not just my book that somebody (me) is thinking about. They’ve got a calendar, and I know Book 4 is on there, but I don’t know what the release date looks like. I know when my first draft is due (March 31). And I think that I’ll make that deadline, but it’ll be tight. I can already tell that this book will be a little darker, probably a bit longer, and will feature all your favorite characters from the first three books. I’m at around 20,000 words right now, or about 1/3 of the way through a typical Black Knight Chronicles book. And I’m not sure I’m more than 1/4 of the way through the story, so that makes me think it might run longer. But I’ve been wrong before. I thought the same thing about Knight Moves, and it ended up shorter. I’m learning a lot working with a developmental editor for the first time. She’s kicking my ass about plotting and making sure everything paces out right, that I lay the groundwork for things early in the book that I want to use later in the book, and stuff like that. So I’m getting everything out of the traditional publishing process that I’d hoped for so far. Now for the money truck to back up to my door…
But I don’t know when Book 4 will drop, and as soon as I know something, I’ll let you guys know.
What I do know is that we’ll have a new Bubba story each month (on average, I might have to double-dip in March to make up for February), and sometime in the spring we’ll have the Cindy Slaughter novel/novella. I can’t tell how long it’s going to be yet. I’m at 20,000 words in that one and have just gotten to the start of Act 2, so it might end up being a full-blown novel as well.
Then this summer I’ll have Book 2 of Return to Eden, I promise. I think that series is going to be a one book per year kinda thing, though, so it might be 2013 before I wrap it all up.
Book 5 of Black Knight Chronicles is due to Bell Bridge the end of September, so that’ll take up the summer to write, along with the Bubba stories, and I might work on Book 3 of Return to Eden when I finish it, or I might hammer on another project or two that I’ve been kicking around in the back of my head.
So while I don’t know when you’ll see the next Black Knight book, I know there will be a Bubba story this month (or two next month, I promise), the Cindy Slaughter book late spring, Return to Eden 2 in the summer, and more Bubba stories to keep you laughing at my gun porn all year round. A few people have asked if Bubba is going to get his own novel, and the answer for now is “no.” Bubba’s a fun diversion between books, and a way to blow off steam, but I haven’t built enough backstory yet for him to get his own novel. It might happen, but almost certainly not in 2012. There might be a Bubba origin story next year, but we’ll see how I feel about the Cindy Slaughter book when it’s done, and whether or not I want to play around in that universe any more.
So there’s a little ramble on what I’m working on. Currently two books at the same time, which is working well, but I don’t think I want to try to hop between three. That’s why there might not be a February Bubba story, but I’ll get back on track someday, I promise. Like in a couple weeks when I quit the day job!
In other news, I’ve decided to open Falstaff Books up to other authors. Currently I’m looking at working with playwrights, but that might broaden to general fiction writers in the future.
by john | Feb 14, 2012 | Writing
And no, this is not a Valentine’s Day dirty joke post. 🙂
I was sitting here looking at a blank screen thinking Shit. I have nothing new to say. So what else is new? I haven’t had anything new to say on this blog forever. I’m busy. I’m writing. I’m rehearsing. I’m writing. I’m rehearsing. Ad Nauseum.
Then it hit me – sometimes it’s not easy to write. Last night and this past weekend was a fine example of that. I wrote nothing on Friday or Saturday despite having both days off from the day job (5 weeks and counting!), but I decided that between the day job and rehearsal, I was going to give myself permission not to write if I didn’t feel like it. But Sunday that shit had to be over. I went to my parents’ to celebrate their birthdays (their birthdays are three days apart, so we celebrate them together), and got in a little writing before we left. I only got a little over a thousand words down, but it felt like I’d written 5,000 by the time I was done.
Then last night was more of the same. I wrote a little over 2,300 words, but it felt like 10,000. My writing muscles are rusty after writing practically nothing for a couple of weeks due to other commitments. But that’s kinda the deal – if you’re going to pursue this in any professional capacity, there will be days that you don’t feel like writing. Tough shit. It’s hard to sit there staring at an accusing blank screen, but that’s the job. People pay me to write things – books, stories, articles. And I love writing. But some days I just want to play Skyrim all day. And pretty soon, I won’t have anyone to answer to but myself (and my editor for some project, but usually just me and my bank account). So I’m learning to put my butt in the chair even when I don’t want to, and knock the rust off that’s built up in a month of playing theatre again. I think it will be easier to do shows when writing is my day job, and I’m not juggling three different things all at one time, but we’ll see.
Tonight is Valentine’s, so I’ll probably lose most of my writing time again, but Suzy and I have spent precious little time together this year, so it’ll be worth it. It just means I have to work that much harder Wednesday night to catch up, and to keep the rust from getting too thick on my typing fingers.
by john | Feb 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
There’s been enough going on in the last six weeks to fill up a video. It’s been, in a word, crazy.
Jan-Feb 2012
by john | Feb 8, 2012 | Real Life
Warning – political post ahead.
Okay, you were warned. If you follow me on Facebook, this is your official warning that from now until May 8th, there will be a bunch of posts decrying Amendment One, the ballot measure that NC will be voting on to outlaw gay marriage. I’m staunchly against this, as I am in favor of equal rights for all people, and taking away someone’s right to stand in front of a justice of the peace, put their fifty bucks on the counter and say “Til Death Do Us Part” seems wrong to me. I would like to think that my stance on gay rights doesn’t influence my writing too much, but I’m sure it’s pretty apparent to the readers of Back in Black that I’m all in favor of gay marriage. Or as we like to call it amongst my friends – marriage.
I’m not going to debate all the pros and cons of the issue here, but suffice to say if you see me at a con and I’m wearing a shirt that says something about equality, and I have several, that’s what is being referenced. I was loathe to use my modest notoriety as a bully pulpit until I realized that the opponents of civil liberty in our country don’t share my reticence. So I’m speaking out, in no uncertain terms, about my opposition to any constitutional amendment, or law in general, that reduces freedoms. And this is the first one that hits home for me, because it impacts so many of my friends.
I’m a straight white southern guy, happily married for over sixteen years. So why is this important to me? Because I think that all of my friends should be able to declare their love for each other openly without fear of reprisals from society, government or anyone else, as long as both parties are of legal age. Because I think it’s stupid that one couple that’s been together for ten years can have visitation rights in the ICU, and another one can’t. Because I think that it’s stupid that if Suzy and I adopted a kid, and something happened to either one of us, the kid stays with the other one, but a committed lesbian couple can be together for decades and have their children taken away from one mother if the other one dies. And this isn’t a random possibility – these are things that happen. And it seems unfair to me. So I’m speaking out. I’d like to think that my readers will mostly agree with my positions on this issue, but if not, that’s okay. I have friends and relatives that I disagree with too. But I just wanted to warn you that I think this amendment is bullshit, and you’re probably going to hear a lot from me about it for the next few months.
by john | Feb 6, 2012 | Theatre
At least this time it was only a ten-footer. Spent a big chunk of yesterday hanging lights for Almost, Maine, the show I’m in that opens this Friday night. Pretty simple rig, only a few lights with one special effect, but we had to put everything in the air including dimmers and cable, so that took a little more time than normal. I also picked up a design gig for later on in the year and one for next year as well. I had really intended to be finished with design after RENT, but now that I’m leaving the day job I feel like I’ll have enough time to do a few shows a year without killing myself.
I’ll be designing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Theatre Charlotte in May, and another show that I can’t talk about yet because it hasn’t been officially announced. But it’s a director that I’ve worked with several times before, and he and I get along famously, so it’s pretty much a done deal. I think I can probably do 3-4 shows a year without burning up too much writing time, and the extra income is always nice. Plus I’m good at it, which certainly doesn’t hurt :).
I didn’t write yesterday – I gave myself the day off. I hammered out almost 5,500 words on Saturday across two projects, and I feel pretty confident that the Cindy Slaughter thing will be finished this month. Paint it Black will be done next month, and I need to get a Bubba story knocked out in February as well, so I’ve got plenty to do. I also have some more work to do on Genesis before I move on to Exodus, which is due at the editor’s in May.
Watched most of the second half of the Super Bowl, and was happy to see Eli win another one. I’m far from a Giants fan, but I thought they were the lesser of two evils, so I enjoyed the outcome. And isn’t it about time that people start asking Peyton about his brother, rather than the other way around?
After the game I watched The Voice for the first time and I really enjoyed it. I liked the format, I liked most of the judges, and some of the contestants had good stories. So I’m pretty well hooked on that, which is all I need. Suzy and I have now watched all of the Burn Notice on Netflix, and just started Stargate: SG-1. With ten season of that, it oughta keep us occupied for a good long time. And all I can say is that Amanda Tapping looks downright juvenile with blonde hair. And fifteen years younger. She’s much hotter on Sanctuary.
