Thursday, May 31, 2007

Scribbler Chapter 3

So, the outage hasn't actually happened yet.  I missed posting yesterday because I'm lazy.  I tell ya, a guy's wife leaves town and he regresses completely back to bachelorhood in like less than ten seconds.  Sleeping on the couch, eating fast food, playing video games all day, forgetting to update his blog.... 

Here's a new piece of fiction for you: Scribbler Chapter Three

This will be the last Scribbler chapter I will post until I do the revision sometime this summer.  I'm planning to rework these chapters a lot, so I'll show you the new ones when I have them finished. 

I'll find something new to throw up next week--though it will probably late.  Chances are good that I'll leave on Saturday and stay in California Sunday through Tuesday, meaning I will miss posting on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  There should be a new annotation tomorrow, however.

And, to apologize for being late with this, here's an ultra cool link for the week:  Print off and make your own paper sci-fi creations!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Amphigory + Outage

Quick and dirty today, I'm afraid.  I'm feeling kind of sick.  It's not a masterpiece, but it'll do.

Hum.  Clues.  Let's see.  Would you say that those numbers are a little on the large size?  And, you should be aware that this is playing off a certain movie series's titles....

No, I haven't actually seen the third movie yet.  I've been tempted, but the honest truth is that I'm feeling rather blah about it.  Spider-man three was fun, but nowhere near as good as the second.  Shrek three was okay, but again, not as good as the second.  Pirates two is ALREADY worse than the first.  So, that leaves me thinking that three will be another slight disappointment. 

Oh, just a warning.  I'll be out of town for a few days next week.  My wife is in California camping on the beach, and I'll be joining her.  It will probably mean a few day outage on my blogs, as I won't have much in the way of Internet access.  I might find a way to post via my phone, but if I do that, it will only be on my main blog.  The mirror blogs (Livejournal, Blogger, Facebook, etc.) won't be as likely to get updated. 

Monday, May 28, 2007

Annotation + School's Out + Announcement

New Annotation for those of you who want it: Mistborn Chapter Thirty Eight Part One

Well, school is finally out, and my wife is done teaching.  We realized last week that she's been in school constantly (either as a student or a teacher) since kindergarten.  True, she had summers off, but it's still odd to consider that such a large part of her life is finished with. 

She's not planning to go back to teach next year, so I guess it's time to announce this to all you wonderful folks.  Yes, Pemberly is pregnant, and we'll be having a child come November--which is why I'm not longer planning to attend world fantasy convention this year. 

We're excited, of course, but it's certainly going to mean a lot of changes.  Pemberly quitting work is only the beginning.  It's going to be interesting to write with children at home.  The next few years should be very interesting.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Elantris Audio Sample

One of the fun things about being a writer is interacting with all of the different people in the community who read your books and write you.  Some very talented people contact me about my stories, some artists, others writers.  One interesting email I got recently was from a voice actor named Lance Meibos.  He did a sample reading of Elantris, and offered to do an audio version of the book.  He said I could post the sample here, so go ahead and give it a listen:

Elantris Audio Sample by Lance Meibos.

I don't know if I'll end up doing an audio version of this or not, but it sure was cool to hear the book read.  You'll notice that Lance actually took the time to look up the pronunciation guide and get everything exactly right--so some of the words might sound odd to you.  Enjoy!

Also, don't forget that I'll be at Conduit this year.  Look here for my schedule  Also, a lot of people have asked about release dates on my upcoming books, so I posted a list.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Scribbler Ch2 + Conduit

Here's a new sample chapter: Scribbler Chapter Two

I'll post one more of these next week before moving on to doing some bonus Warbreaker material the week after that.  Also, I've got a really cool reading of Elantris chapter one that someone did and I'm trying to find a good day to post it.  Probably tomorrow.

I'm still in Idaho for the day, but will be back this evening.  Then, I will be at Conduit this weekend.  Here's my schedule, which includes a signing, where you can pick up Alcatraz teaser booklets from me if you're around.  Also, I'll be giving a writing workshop in the form, likely, of one of my BYU class discussions.  Should be fun.)

Fri. 1:00 pm : worldbuilding: religion
Fri. 3pm – 5pm: presentation on writing
Fri. 6:00 pm: Book signing
Sat. noon: Dealing with Interruptions in your Work
Sat. 1:00 pm: Reading
Sat. 3:00 pm: Romance in SF  
Sat. 4:00 pm: Dealing with Editors

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Amphigory

I hope you all appreciate just how challenging it is to come up try and top the bad puns I've done in the past.  And, by the way, those of you who guessed Chortle Combat for last week's had it right.  Sorry I forgot to post a confirmation.

This one's a little tougher.  If you need a clue, look here.

We're looking for the profession of that person....

Monday, May 21, 2007

Annotation

New Annotation: Mistborn Chapter Thirty-Seven Part Three

This is a fun annotation since I pulled it from my journal at the time when I was actually writing Mistborn.  I finished writing this chapter almost three years ago to the day.  (It was written May 22nd.)  Back then, Elantris was still a year away from being published, and I hadn't even seen the cover art yet.  I wasn't married--hadn't even met my wife--and was still only a year into my Master's Degree. 

I'm in Idaho for most of this week, so email will be answered rarely.  I'm taking it easy, though I do intend to keep the blog updated. 

Friday, May 18, 2007

Annotation + Idea

In case you're wondering, we ARE still working on a new site design for bs.com.  We've actually purchased evillibrarians.com (though I now think we should have grabbed .org on that one.)  Right now it just points here.  I'm going to have to be doing some work for that one soon.

Here's a new annotation:  Chapter Thirty-Seven Part Two

We're almost done with the Mistborn annotations, which is good, since the paperback is almost out.  (It's arriving in July.)

And, since I haven't done one in a while, here is an:

Idea of the Day:  Write a story about an odd kind of racism/bigotry.

Try for something odd here--a few steps beyond the standard.  Sure, we've read about racism against humans by aliens (or vice versa.)  However, have you ever heard of an institutional prejudice against anyone who has lost one or more of their fingers in an accident?  Or, prejudice against people who were born on the wrong day?  Try for something odd. 

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Scribbler

As I said, on Wednesdays I want to see if I can provide some sort of new goodie or writing sample each week.  Partially because I enjoyed releasing Warbreaker like I did, and partially so that I can involve my readers a little bit more in the process.

So, I'll be releasing a few chapters of Scribbler over the next few weeks.  I won't be releasing the entire book--this one doesn't have a home yet, and we'll be shopping it to publishers later this year.  I can't post much of it (or even send out copies the book to many people) for fear of interfering with that.  But, I can put up two or three chapters for you to look at.

This book was something of an experiment for me.  I wanted to try an actual Young Adult book (my Alcatraz novels are technically middle grade.)  I had a great idea for a magic system and plot, and so eventually I broke down and wrote this chapter.  Once I had it done, I knew I had to finish the book.

So, here you go--enjoy reading it.  Some enterprising people on my forums have already noticed that I uploaded this a few weeks back.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on thinks like that.  :)

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Amphigory

It was really hard to come up with one as dumb as last week, but I gave it a valiant effort.  In case you weren't a teenage boy in the 90's, you can find a hint in this link.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Annotation + Notes

New Annotation:  Chapter Thirty-Seven Part One

I've turned my attention back to the Dragonsteel series, now that the little Scribbler blip is finished with.  Still waiting to hear what my agent thinks of that book.  Also, I did just hear back on two bits of good news.

First, Tor has approved another book tour for me this fall.  So, I'll be traveling up the west coast again, as I have the last two years.  If you live anywhere from San Diego to Seattle, you should be able to expect me and David Farland (perhaps someone else as a special guest) to be stopping somewhere relatively near where you live.  As before, Vegas, Boise, Idaho Falls, and Logan will probably be on the list as well.

Secondly, my local Borders has kindly invited me in to do a signing during the Harry Potter midnight release in July.  So, if you're planning to pick up a copy that evening, why not come to Borders where you can chat with me and pick up one of the shiny new Alcatraz chapter booklets that Scholastic sent me? 

Friday, May 11, 2007

Warbreaker Full

 

All right, here we go!  Warbreaker the complete novel.

Those of you who have been following along are aware of this project.  For the rest of you, this is a complete novel I've been releasing chapter-by-chapter as an ebook.  The novel will be out in print sometime in 2009, which means I'm probably releasing this WAY too early to be effective publicity for the the book itself.

Still, I loved the process of letting readers see draftwork as I wrote the novel.  I intend to post full copies of the earlier version with comparisons that readers can use to see just what I changed.  As I edit the draft for my editor and agent, I'll post the new ones.  Those who want to follow along can see what changes get made as a book approaches print form.  Then, hopefully, they'll buy the actual book when it comes out!

This is also, however, a thank-you for all of those who read my books and take the time to visit my website. 

Now that it's finished, I'd like to think about doing an html version that people can read, perhaps with annotations alongside or something like that.  We'll also likely be podcasting this thing in audio version once CtlZed gets done reading it. 

If I could make a request.  Those of you out there who do fan art, it would be very nice to have some illustrations to use alongside Warbreaker posts and the like.  If you have an inclination toward doing such things, I'd be sure to put the art to good use. 

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Annotation + Cool Links

 

Since I skipped one on Monday, here's an annotation for you: Chapter Thirty-Six Part Three

Secondly, here's a nice piece about Mistborn on the sci-fi wire.  And, while we're at it, here's a Review of Elantris a reader sent me.

Speaking of cool things, here's a link to the cover of the Czech version of Elantris.  (Also, my friend CtlZed--who is sojourning in Germany--informs me that the German version will be out late this summer.)

Tomorrow I'll post the full version of Warbreaker. 

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Warbreaker Final Chapter + Amphigory

 

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday.  I'll do an Amphigory below here to make up for it.

First off, let me post the final chapter of Warbreaker:  Chapter Fifty-Nine

I'm working on getting the whole book put together for download.  Expect that soon.  I'm having trouble with some of the formatting right now.

And, as promised, here's a bad pun.

Need help?  Think about where he is, and what country he might be from.... 

Monday, May 07, 2007

Doppelganger Review

 

Instead of an annotation today (maybe I'll post one tomorrow or Wednesday) I'm going to post a new review.  This will be on the review section of my site, but I'll post it here as well.  Enjoy!

Review of Doppelganger by David Stahler Jr.

A friend of mine likes to complain about manga (no, this book isn’t manga, but stay with me.) He says that all of the plots are the same because they all seem to take place in some high school setting, plus some wacky concept. It’s ninjas in high school, or aliens in high school, or robots in high school, etc. At first, when he’d say this, I’d nod my head--it DOES seem like a lot of those mangas take place in the same setting. Why don’t they get original already?

Then I started reading young adult literature a little bit more. Eventually, I ended up writing a young adult book (only to later find that I’d written middle grade, but that’s another story.) I’m still interested in the genre, as it didn’t ‘exist’ when I was a young adult. (Or, it did, but it wasn’t considered it’s own genre--there was only the adult section and the children’s section, no specific teen section.)

The more I read, the more I understood why so many books and graphic novels in this genre take place in schools. It’s because that is where the conflict is for their readership. It’s not unoriginal to set a book for high school students in a high school--any more than it would be unoriginal to have epic fantasy characters have jobs.

Why do I say this? Well, you may have noticed on the blog that I’ve been reading a book called Doppelganger recently. It’s a dark urban (i.e. horror) fantasy book about a shapshifter. Who goes to high school.

That’s the plot, in a nutshell--but, that doesn’t really describe how good this book is. It’s about a creature who has to kill humans and take their shapes. It’s built into him; it’s what his race does. Yet, this one is brand new at it, having just reached his maturity. At sixteen, he makes his first few kills, and unwittingly ends up in the life of a troubled teen with a terrible home life and a whole ton of conflict.

He has to take over being the star player of the local football team, and step into the shoes of what everyone thinks is the guy who had the perfect life. Only, that doesn’t take into account the abusive father (who is surprisingly well drawn and sympathetic), the girlfriend who secretly hates him (and whom the Doppelganger finds himself coming to love), and the doppelganger’s own guilt at having killed a man he feels didn’t deserve it.

The book is awesome. It explores what it is to be human, and what it is to NOT be human. It’s told with a very strong first-person viewpoint, the narrative of the monster himself, as he deals with what he’s driven to do--and struggles to understand the lives of the humans around him even as he imitates one of them. It’s beautiful at times, poignant at times, and very well paced. The middle is stronger than the end, but the whole thing is extremely well written and compelling.

So, I recommend it. If you’ve read my reviews here before, you’ll know that I don’t tend to write reviews about the books I DON’T like. I figure that as a professional courtesy, I don’t need to give bad publicity to the books I didn’t enjoy, and instead prefer to focus on giving good publicity to those that I do. This book, from what I’ve heard, hasn’t gotten the buzz and attention of some other books. And, even if it has, it deserves more. Give it a read, if you get the chance.

Brandon

Friday, May 04, 2007

Annotation + Getting Close + Idea

New Annotation: Mistborn Chapter Thirty-Six Part Two

Well, I'm getting close to being done with my reader mail inbox!  It will be very nice to have that thing cleaned out, totally and completely.  Then I can start on my regular inbox.  Hopefully, by next Wednesday, everything will be done. 

Now that I'm done with my class, maybe I will have enough time to blog more story prompts.  Here's one for today:

Idea of the Day:  Write a story form the viewpoint of an inanimate object that people wouldn't normally write a story about.

With this, I'm thinking of a magic item.  Something that normally wouldn't be magical.  I've been tempted to start blogging from the viewpoint of an enchanted bookmark, granted intelligence by the Evil Librarians, which is where this idea came from.

The trick with doing a story in this style would be active participation by the narrator.  If you have an object doing the talking, then the story will feel distant since the object is an observer.  The challenge, then, is to not only make the reader care about something normally inanimate, but also make the other characters likable and not undermine the book's sense of tension.  (Usually, having an inactive protagonist is one of the most unpleasant of storytelling methods.)

Still, this is a time tested way of looking at a story in a new way.  I'm sure people will post stories done in this manner.  If you can make it feel original and active, then it could be a very nice hook into a story. 

Thursday, May 03, 2007

April Done. (Kind of)

 

Whew. 

Okay, ALL of my reader mail from April is answered.  That still leaves some from March, February, and January, however.  I will plow through that over the next few days.  However, if you sent to me in April and didn't get a reply, then something got lost.  (Note, this is only people who use the web-form on my website.  Those of you who send to my regular email...well, I'm going to get to you this week too, but I can't promise when it will be.)

Keeping up on all of the email is quite the challenge.  Even a guy like me, who doesn't really have a large fanbase yet, gets as many as five or six pieces of reader mail a week.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you attack it all in a chunk, it's a little overwhelming!

Anyway, here's something for you to check out

 

 It made me laugh and laugh, though to get it, you have to 1) have seen the classic Star Trek Tribble episode. 2) Understand cat Image Macros (the site has an explanation of those) and 3) get a number of odd geek pop-culture references. 

That all worked for me, and I about died of laughter. 

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Warbreaker + #1 Element of Bad Storytelling

 

First off, new Warbreaker chapter:  Chapter Fifty-Eight

Epilogue next week.  (And yes, this will be a two-book cycle, so there is more to come in this setting.  Make comments and suggestions here.)

Finally, after a couple weeks of going through them, it's time for my

Ten Elements of Bad Storytelling (we all use)

#1:  Deus Ex Machina

A few years ago, I--with everyone else--watched the final Lord of the Rings movie.  At the climax, Aragorn shows up with fleets of ghost ships and saves the day.  As a viewer, I found myself oddly disappointed with this ending.  I couldn't put my finger on why.  In the second movie, virtually the same thing had happened--Gandalf had shown up with a new army to save the besieged people.  Why did I love that ending but feel annoyed with the ending of movie three? 

(And, yes, this is only a gripe with the movie--didn't feel that way about the ending of the books.  Also, to be perfectly clear, I loved the LotR movies, even the third one.  The reason I'm doing this list is because these are things that I think are elements of bad storytelling that even the professionals use--partially, the theory behind these essays is to prove that you just CAN'T get everything right.  I want to look critically at my own writing and that of other people who do a very good job and, for the sake of understanding the process, try to pick out why they used the methods they did.)

Eventually, I came up with the reason why movie three bothered me and movie two didn't.  Movie two set up a different expectation.  When Gandalf left, he promised he'd return in a certain time.  He set up a conflict for the movie which was this: Can the heroes survive until help comes.

In movie three, I didn't feel like that was the expectation.  The heroes weren't trying to hold out until help came--they were trying to win.  Therefore, even when Aragon showed up to save them, I felt like the battle had been lost.  The heroes failed, and they needed an external force to come and rescue them.  That force, in the form of the ghosts, was completely indestructible and undefeatable--and so, all of the struggling, fighting, and dying everyone else had done was pretty much useless.  If they'd just given up and not fought, agreeing to surrender and be slaves, Aragon STILL would have come along and STILL liberated them--and a lot more people would have been alive. 

We call it Deus Ex Machina--when the heroes need to be saved by an external force that undermines their own efforts to save themselves.  It can be done well, it can be done poorly.  However, it's almost impossible to write the kind of fiction we do without including the occasional salvation from an unexpected source.

The trick as a writer, then, is to do it like movie two--in my opinion--instead of movie three.  Make the salvation that comes at the end surprising (because the reader has gotten so wrapped up in the action that they forget about it) but still well-foreshadowed.  More importantly, make it fulfill execrations, not undermine them.  If you're going to have them get saved at the end, have that salvation come as the result of a character climax for a main character.  (Which is why Han Solo showing up at the end of Star Wars (IV worked so well.)  Or, have the heroes DO something to earn the salvation.

The trick with all of this is that no matter what you do, someone is going to find it a little unbelievable.  (Particularly, I've found, in adventure fiction.)  What works for some people doesn't work for others, and in the end, you just have to try your best to foreshadow and plan, then hope that the emotional impact of the ending on the characters is what really drives the plot.

Either way, that's #1--I find that we authors use it a lot, and a lot of us are actually pretty bad at making it work right.  Hopefully, I can learn to do it better myself as my writing improves and my career continues.

Warbreaker + #1 Element of Bad Storytelling

 

First off, new Warbreaker chapter:  Chapter Fifty-Eight

Epilogue next week.  (And yes, this will be a two-book cycle, so there is more to come in this setting.  Make comments and suggestions here.)

Finally, after a couple weeks of going through them, it's time for my

Ten Elements of Bad Storytelling (we all use)

#1:  Deus Ex Machina

A few years ago, I--with everyone else--watched the final Lord of the Rings movie.  At the climax, Aragorn shows up with fleets of ghost ships and saves the day.  As a viewer, I found myself oddly disappointed with this ending.  I couldn't put my finger on why.  In the second movie, virtually the same thing had happened--Gandalf had shown up with a new army to save the besieged people.  Why did I love that ending but feel annoyed with the ending of movie three? 

(And, yes, this is only a gripe with the movie--didn't feel that way about the ending of the books.  Also, to be perfectly clear, I loved the LotR movies, even the third one.  The reason I'm doing this list is because these are things that I think are elements of bad storytelling that even the professionals use--partially, the theory behind these essays is to prove that you just CAN'T get everything right.  I want to look critically at my own writing and that of other people who do a very good job and, for the sake of understanding the process, try to pick out why they used the methods they did.)

Eventually, I came up with the reason why movie three bothered me and movie two didn't.  Movie two set up a different expectation.  When Gandalf left, he promised he'd return in a certain time.  He set up a conflict for the movie which was this: Can the heroes survive until help comes.

In movie three, I didn't feel like that was the expectation.  The heroes weren't trying to hold out until help came--they were trying to win.  Therefore, even when Aragon showed up to save them, I felt like the battle had been lost.  The heroes failed, and they needed an external force to come and rescue them.  That force, in the form of the ghosts, was completely indestructible and undefeatable--and so, all of the struggling, fighting, and dying everyone else had done was pretty much useless.  If they'd just given up and not fought, agreeing to surrender and be slaves, Aragon STILL would have come along and STILL liberated them--and a lot more people would have been alive. 

We call it Deus Ex Machina--when the heroes need to be saved by an external force that undermines their own efforts to save themselves.  It can be done well, it can be done poorly.  However, it's almost impossible to write the kind of fiction we do without including the occasional salvation from an unexpected source.

The trick as a writer, then, is to do it like movie two--in my opinion--instead of movie three.  Make the salvation that comes at the end surprising (because the reader has gotten so wrapped up in the action that they forget about it) but still well-foreshadowed.  More importantly, make it fulfill execrations, not undermine them.  If you're going to have them get saved at the end, have that salvation come as the result of a character climax for a main character.  (Which is why Han Solo showing up at the end of Star Wars (IV worked so well.)  Or, have the heroes DO something to earn the salvation.

The trick with all of this is that no matter what you do, someone is going to find it a little unbelievable.  (Particularly, I've found, in adventure fiction.)  What works for some people doesn't work for others, and in the end, you just have to try your best to foreshadow and plan, then hope that the emotional impact of the ending on the characters is what really drives the plot.

Either way, that's #1--I find that we authors use it a lot, and a lot of us are actually pretty bad at making it work right.  Hopefully, I can learn to do it better myself as my writing improves and my career continues.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Amphigory + Retrospective

Pemberly and I went for a walk on Sunday.  The result?  I got swarmed with mosquitos, becoming a veritable feast for the little beasties.  She, however, escaped unscathed.  I maintain that I had to act so delectable on purpose to protect my wife from harm.  The things one suffers to be chivalrous.  Anyway, here's an Amphigory.  It, uh, is kind of a stretch.  Your clue is thus: Think about where these various creatures would go to worship.

 

It's now been two years since my first book was released.  (Elantris came out May 2005.)  It's been an interesting experience.  Would I do anything different?  No, at this point, I'm of the opinion that I wouldn't.  I still consider myself quite fortunate to have been published in the first place, and the mere fact that I can now sit around all day thinking of stories and getting paid to write them...well, that's awesome.

I'm currently reading a book titled Doppelganger, loaned to me by Ms. Fish. (Author: David Stahler Jr. ) It's a great book, and has left me wondering.  Why do I write fantasy?  People often ask me if I'm tempted to do anything else. 

My answer is no.  At the two year mark, fantasy is still what I love.  A book like Doppelganger can work so well because of its fantastical elements, even if there aren't that many of them.  I find that I enjoy this book a whole lot more than I do other books, even well-written ones, in other genres.  I just love fantasy.  That's the long and short of it. 

Maybe I'll think differently at the ten year mark.  Maybe I'll get tired of the genre, or become one of those who writes it but doesn't read it.  Right now, I can't understand that philosophy.  This is the greatest genre on the planet, and I'm here to stay.  Why would I wrote something that isn't fantasy when, in my opinion, fantastical elements can make virtually any story that much better?

I'm tempted to write a full-blown essay on this.  Don't be surprised if you see one about it soon.  However, first I'll post my #1 element of bad storytelling.  That will either be tomorrow or Thursday.

Onward and upward, then! 

(p.s. Go buy a copy of Doppelganger.  This is an excellent book.)