This ain't it.
This is me saying that I wrote every day of WorldCON that I wasn't travelling, and wrote a hefty amount. I also met a lot of people and had a very good time. I certainly had a better time than at World Fantasy (we'll count that as the "warmup."). I also met a lot of very cool people and had some great conversations with agents, editors, and other authors (published and non-published alike).
But this is about Gears and what I've been doing.
Here are a few notable things:
- We listed to The Way of Kings audiobook coming up and going down to Reno. We are about 1/3 of the way through the book. It's...pretty good, but not blowing my mind. It's more "Robert Jordan" than "Mistborn," which is too bad. I usually like my fantasy fast-paced, which few authors really excel at anymore. The visual imagery in Way of Kings is fantastic, though. I still recommend it, thus far.
- I read A Game of Thrones. As in, the whole book during the Con. Let me say: this book is a freaking masterpiece. One of the best fantasy novels I've ever read. I am beyond pumped to read the rest of the series. Why did I put this off for so long? It has "me" written all over it. Great characters, very dark, very gritty, and very realistic. Exactly how I like my fantasy. Bring on A Clash of Kings.
- Gears crossed the 60k mark tonight. I suddenly realized the pacing for this book might be crappy. Or maybe it might be great, I have no idea. It depends on how much book is left. I really wish I knew I have the ending 1/4ish planned but getting there is going to be a pain in my butt. Something I do like about these books, however, is that they aren't broad. EC has to deal with a world in conflict. The world of Steelgods is in conflict, but since it's first person I don't ever pull the camera back. I'm enjoying this, because it makes the book more personal. Anyway, my warm-down reading is fun. And I think Gears is entertaining, which is all that matters.
- My next book is probably going to be a stand-alone dark fantasy novel. Yes, I just read Game of Thrones, shut up, but I actually got the idea listening to A Way of Kings. It's going to be short (120k is my goal, no more Effulgent Corruption's) and...that's about all I'm going to say about it right now.
- Effulgent Corruption has been running over and over in my mind. I haven't gotten to it yet for editing (I'm waiting until November), but I've already figured out a ton of scenes to cut, including entire chapters. People say you have to "kill your babies" or "kill your darlings." It's going to be hard to try and cut 90k from this book, but if I ever want to sell it than it's pretty much necessary. Also condensing the book will fix a lot of issues I have with it, so it's win-win.
- I have, since I started writing on a computer instead of spiral bound notebooks, given myself a writing goal of 2k a day pretty much since the dawn of time. That's always been my fallback goal regardless of book, chapter, or any outside influences that might hinder writing. I'm now updating that after about three/four years of writing to 2.5k. The reason is I found I average about 2.8k a day. The 2k is the minimum (for example, I wrote 4k today), basically the basic requirement for me to keep living. However, I'm thinking I'm now bumping it up to 2.5k. This seems doable in every regard, though I also plan on going over. I write six days a week currently (I take Sundays off), which means I'm churning out a minimum of 15k a week. My "tier 2" goal is 5k (and there is a story behind that which I'll share at some later date...if I haven't shared it already) but I don't meet that as often; usually twice a week. Anyway, goal has been bumped, now to solidify it in my mind.
Anbar August has a little over a week left. I need to finish this book in that time to prove I'm as cool as I was last September. This...isn't going to be easy. But I'm going to try.
That's about it from me. Expect a WorldCON post sometime when I get around to it. Just know it was very fun (and I got Game of Thrones pins! AWESOME.)
I can't think of a great Gears part, so here is the end of what I just wrote. Why not.
The letter was folded on all four sides, opening like a flower. Inside the note was sparingly short, and I could tell from the messy script Devent had penned it in a hurry. I had expected an update on his career, or at least a friendly note. Instead the message caused a chill to pass through me, and I could hardly believe what it said.
Cevan,
You are not safe.
They know you are at Factory. Spies are everywhere.
Trust no one.
Do nothing save wait for further instructions.
Devent
