Results tagged “peter v. brett”

Here is the US cover for The Desert Spear, sequel to The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett.

I am happy to see this cover is so gorgeous. Not only is Peat a sincere, down to earth man but he’s one helluva writer. The Warded Man is one of the best books this year and I think the cover for The Desert Spear—along with the new cover for the paperback of The Warded Man—will help Peat reach new readerships.

He deserves it. He is a solid storyteller, after all.

The Desert Spear will be published April 13, 2010!

What do you think? Love this cover?

I do!

Writing is a complicated craft and profession.

A great story, characters and setting are of course needed to make the process of writing even a possibility. But it takes more than that. It requires tenacity. Perseverance. Stamina. An unfaltering confident belief that what one is writing is worthwhile. It takes an understanding from friends and family that they can lose us for hours a day while we adventure in the foreign and alien territories of our imagination.

Writing is made easier, I have found, if a writer finds a comfortable space to work in.

For me, the writing space is very important.

I tend to allow my story to percolate outside of my home, where I dream and outline the posts I write for Suvudu as well as the work I do with my own stories. I feel most comfortable during this time of development surrounded by people—whether it be a coffee house, pub or restaurant. When I do begin to write, like I am now, I have to do it at home. I cannot write meaningful sentences and paragraphs with noise around me. The room I write in must be clean and organized. The television must be off. No music can be on. That way nothing distracts me.

Yes, I am a bit obsessive compulsive. But it works for me.

Every writer is different and each must find out what works for them. Like these bestselling authors:

The writing muse can be a harsh mistress indeed.

It has been quite a while since I updated my progress on The Dark Thorn. In the last article I wrote about it, titled The Healthy Writer (July 17th), I expanded upon my own struggles to find a balance between writing life and healthy lifestyle, where the two meet to get maximum output from both. I have spent these last six weeks focusing on my physical health, my diet and emotional wellness, reacquainting myself with long lost friends and enjoying the outdoor Seattle summer. It has been nice to reassert control over the entirety of who I am.

It has come, however, at the detriment of The Dark Thorn.

Now the balance between the craft of writing and the craft of living with healthy purpose has begun to find an equilibrium and I am once again working on The Dark Thorn. I needed to work on it again. It would not be ignored. The book called to me and it was time for me to answer it and begin rewriting.

If you remember, author Terry Brooks read The Dark Thorn and gave me some wonderful insight into how to strengthen the book overall. He enjoyed the story immensely but felt one of the four point of view characters was boring and did not sufficiently grow over the course of the tale. He was right. I knew it when I gave it to him and asked him to verify it.

Of course that point of view character, Bran Ardall, has half of the point of view chapters in the book.

Terry suggested I reduce that point of view character to a background character and instead tell those parts of the story through the eyes of Richard McAllister, his favorite character in the book.

So what would shifting the focus from Bran to Richard do to the structure of the story?

It changed the first ten or eleven chapters of the book and introduced numerous plot point problems that made my life hell for about the last three weeks.

I wondered then, over this last weekend, if it has taken me three weeks to solve my sticky plot point, how long had some writers gone to find a solution in their own work?

Writers Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, Lev Grossman and Chris Evans weighed in.

I love it when some of my favorite things come together into one great collectible item!

• Peter V. Brett is one of the nicest and most fun writers you will ever meet.
• Subterranean Press is a small specialty press producing some of the highest quality fully illustrated editions of fantasy and science fiction books in the marketplace.
• The Warded Man, titled The Painted Man in the UK, is one of the breakout debut books of 2009.

Put all of those together with a gorgeous cover, and one great book is forthcoming!

Subterranean Press announced today that they will be producing The Great Bazaar and Other Stories, a collection of short stories set in the same demon-ridden world as The Warded Man. It will contain a long new sotyr, as well as several outtakes from the first novel in the series—really, standalone short stories themselves—as well as additional material to flesh out Brett’s bravura storytelling.

In addition to the small trade hardcover, Subterranean Press is producing only 200 signed numbered copies, which, given Brett and epic fantasy’s popularity, are certain to sell quickly!

The Great Bazaar and Other Stories will be released in January 2010.

Also announced today is a very cool limited edition of Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself, the first volume of one of the grittiest, most exciting, bloody epic fantasy trilogies to come down the pike in over a decade. As Joe is also one of the best fantasy writers going right now, read more about the Subterranean Press edition HERE!

I love beautiful special editions! Nice job, Subterranean!

The blogosphere allows authors to reach out to their fans in very cool ways!

And Peter V. Brett has done just that!

Going on right now until June 17th, Peter is accepting haiku for a contest that could land you signed copies of the Japanese translation of The Warded Man or perhaps a signed US copy of The Warded Man! What do the haiku have to be about?

Click HERE to discover the rules and how to enter!

It will take you two minutes to complete it!

And possibly win you a very cool prize!

Whew! Talk about an energetic chat, eh? Peter V. Brett and Robert V.S. Redick covered everything from writing and research, inspiration, movie deals, book sequels, and gave us a look at some really awesome artwork! So, maybe you’d like to take them home with you…in chat window form, that is.

Be our guest! You can find the embed code for the archived chat below. Just an FYI, in the future, instead of doing these quick posts with the embed code, I will be adding it to the bottom of the chat window post. So look for it there in the future! In the meantime, enjoy all the goodness that was:

Embed Code:

In just two hours Robert V.S. Redick (The Red Wolf Conspiracy) and Peter V. Brett (The Warded Man, or internationally The Painted Man) will be chatting live here on Suvudu. These two authors represent two exciting new voices in fantasy fiction and we’re thrilled to be able to bring them to you live.

There’s still time to submit your questions early, if you’d like to do so. You can send them in to us at info@suvudu. Or, you can hang out and ask the questions yourself during the live chat. The choice is yours.

So use these next couple of hours to tidy up your loose ends for the afternoon, shuffle your calendar, and get ready to chat with a couple authors (and all around cool guys). We’ll see you there…soon!

Catch the Live Chat here: Peter V. Brett and Robert V.S. Redick Live Chat

Oh, and the legal here: Official Sweepstakes Rules

So, tomorrow Peter V. Brett (author of The Warded Man) and Robert V.S. Redick (author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy) will be live chatting with Suvudu and you! We’re really excited to be able to bring them here as they are, in our humble opinions, exciting new voices in the fantasy genre.

Anyway, how would you like to win a copy of either The Warded Man or The Red Wolf Conspiracy? All you need to do is send in a question for either Mr. Brett or Mr. Redick to be entered into a sweepstakes to win one copy of their book*. To be clear, we’ll be selecting two people from those who submit early questions; one will win a copy of The Warded Man and one will win a copy of The Red Wolf Conspiracy. Pretty cool, no?

Also, be sure to attend the chat to see your questions answered by the authors and/or to follow up with them live. Send yourself a reminder using the form below and we’ll see you back here for the chat tomorrow!

Read the Official Sweepstakes Rules here!

As you may have heard, we’re doing this new thing around here: inviting authors to sit down and have a conversation with you (and with us, because we’re fans too, ya know). Anyway, we realize that sometimes the outside world interferes with your plans to veg out on science fiction and fantasy (stupid “need to remain gainfully employed”). So, if you can’t make it to the chat, you can submit your questions in advance to info@suvudu.com.

Also, while you’re here, why not sign up to have an email reminder sent to you? You can use the form below to take care of that:

It’s going to be a great chat and we Suvudu-ites look forward to seeing you there!

Join us here on Suvudu on Thursday, June 4th at 2:00pm EST for a chat with two debut fantasy authors: Peter V. Brett (The Warded Man) and Robert V.S. Redick (The Red Wolf Conspiracy). Kaitlin Heller, American editor for The Red Wolf Conspiracy, will moderate. You can send your questions for Peter and Robert in advance to info@suvudu.com, or show up in chat live

Also, don’t forget about our China Mieville chat coming up this Thursday, May 28 at 2:00pm EST.

Editing a book can be such a gratifying and horrifying experience.

I finished the first draft of The Dark Thorn two weeks ago, a book I have high hopes for as it is easily the best thing I’ve written to date. It took just shy of a year to write. By the end of that year I felt really good about the book and how it came together—the character arcs are solid, it is loaded with fantasy elements woven into our world’s history and the overall story has a subtextual resonance for those who enjoy such things. Reading over the last few chapters to make sure I didn’t miss the conclusion to an open plot thread, I knew I would have an easy time giving the book a quick line edit and getting it out to the agent who is interested in it.

After taking two days off to celebrate, I started editing from the first chapter on.

And was aghast.

I have a fairly critical eye and even more so when it comes to my own work. I don’t become attached to something I’ve written or feel the need to protect it at earnest like many young writers do. Able to separate the work from my ego, I saw a book I could not possibly have written.

I still have a hard time taking responsibility for the first few chapters. What the agent initially saw in them I’ll probably never know.

Here is what I do know.

It’s the question all authors say they hate most: Where do you get your ideas?

Harlan Ellison famously answered what must have been the thousandth iteration of this question by saying his ideas came from a post office box in Schenectady: you send in two dollars and a self-addressed stamped envelope and they send you back an idea.

Some authors have given up being glib. People ask Neil Gaiman where he gets his ideas: “‘I make them up,’ I tell them. ‘Out of my head.’” Not a very satisfying answer, perhaps, but a true one. Writing is a hard profession, and stories don’t just emerge fully formed from the craniums of literary geniuses in a single burst. Author Lawrence Watt-Evans pointed out that the problem isn’t actually getting the ideas, it’s choosing which one to use. And executing them is just as difficult and quirky. Author Peter Brett found he worked best on his commute to work, thumbing in his epic fantasy on his smart phone. And where does he still go to be inspired when he’s stuck? The F train.

So it’s rare for an idea to come at you wholesale out of the fog, shrouded in mystery and adventure. But that’s exactly what happened to Robert Redick, author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy, when he was in Argentina. A little more indirect than Schenectady, perhaps… but I’ll let Robert tell you how it happened.

Book launches come in many different forms. The one I attended most recently was a lot like a birthday party (more about that after the jump - yes there are incriminating pictures.) First I would like to take you through some of the multitude of ways to launch a book for the fans, the author, and the publishing house. Any excuse to party about books, right? Right.

There are launches where a book is announced at a Con, where an author talks about their book with fans and suvudu, and has signings. At NYCC Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge are interviewed about writing their new book Black & White 2:53mins :

There are launches in the form of a public reading, which can be pretty awesome. I would never have understood Mark Z. Danielewski’s Only Revolutions if I hadn’t heard him read some of it and … explain it. (Seriously, check out the website. It’s pretty freaking awesome, and the intro has a loop of him reading a passage that helps explain) And this fall Terry Brooks obliged Suvudu with a fabulous clip of him reading from the forthcoming A Princess of Landover. = 3:52mins :

There are launches that are an elaborate cocktail party where literary elite get to rub up against each other and drink champagne. I have fun at those, but always fear they’ll play out like that famous scene in Bridget Jones when she makes a complete fool of herself in front of Mr. Rushdie. (You should hear the RH office when a celebrity comes to visit. We’re all a twitter. Meaning, that would be me up there with no Hugh Grant to save me.)

Or you can throw a press conference like Paolini who held what looked to me like a Steve Jobs-style keynote speech … only far more excited, dorky, and endearing. However, the unveiling of the book was equally as exciting as seeing Apple unveil more fun gadgets. (I gave the link instead of posting because it’s 9:30 mins, but it is really fun to watch if you’re interested in Paolini.)

… OR a book launch can be done Peter Brett-style: THROW A PARTY.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett has now made its splash on this side of the pond, in the United States.

And it seems like it was a large enough splash to create more than a few ripples!

A great deal goes into a book release, and even more goes into a great book release both here in the US and in the UK. A fantastic cover in both countries. Check. An artful book layout in both countries. Check. Excellent publicity in both countries. Check. But above all, a great yarn!

Check!

Well, some bloggers out there on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are heralding The Warded Man and I had to share what some of them are saying! Here are some short excerpts from bloggers who have reviewed The Warded Man (titled The Painted Man in the UK) with links to their reviews, followed by some thoughts from Peat about the Wards that make up his series:

• A Dribble of Ink: “As debut novels go, Brett’s The Warded Man stands among the best.”
• Grasping For the Wind: “I cannot recommend The Warded Man highly enough.”
• Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review: “Not only did I enjoy what I’d read but I’m left in the position of eagerly waiting to find out what’s to come…”
• Dave Brenden’s Fantasy & Sci-Fi Weblog: “You will find yourself reading late into the evening, hoping beyond hope that the wards will hold, hoping that you will not be cored when you finish the novel, you may find yourself thinking that the wait for Book Two may be too long.”
• Blood of the Muse: “Let’s get this out of the way first. The Warded Man is the best debut novel since Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind.”

Here is Peat on the magic in his book:

Read a Special Extended Excerpt with introduction from Anne Lesley Groell, Senior Editor Del Rey/Spectra.

Don’t you think it is time to read The Warded Man and see for yourself!

I would like to share with all of you at Suvudu, my personal journey to becoming a big fan of Peter V. Brett. I went to his book launch last Thursday (I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow), and since his debut novel, The Warded Man, finally releases in the states TODAY I thought you’d like to see how it all goes down from the inside perspective of Random House. Yes, folks, those of us involved in making books are all still big fan-girls at heart.

Here is a list of other book, DVD and theater new releases for this week!

BOOKS

• The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

DVDS

• Escape to Witch Mountain (Special Edition)
• Howard the Duck
• Pinocchio (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

IN THEATERS FRIDAY

• Race to Witch Mountain

Those responsible for the NY Comic Con asked several of us here at Suvudu if we’d be interested in moderating a panel or two. The one thrown my way was the Author Round Table: Sci-fi / Supernatural / Fantasy Authors Gather To Talk Influences. I knew half of the writers already and the other half I had been wanting to meet for some time. It made sense to accept—despite having never moderated before and being scared to death of it.

I did say “yes” though. After all, Frank Herbert said it best:

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear.”

So I went. And had a great time!

The authors of the Round Table who helped make it work were: John Birmingham, Peter V. Brett, Alex Irvine, Jeff Somers, Kim Harrison, S.C. Butler, Tamora Pierce, Vicki Pettersson, Carrie Vaughn and Jackie Kessler.

“Wow!” you say exasperated. “That’s a huge panel!”

“Yes,” I say with a sigh. “Huge.”

This was easily one of the harder things I’ve had to do—and I’ve survived cancer so that gives you some idea! The participants were great and if not for them it wouldn’t have gone as well as it did, but the amount of people on the panel really made this a difficult one to navigate through. Most panels are between 3-5 people usually. I had double that with 10. My instincts kept wanting me to start a real discussion, throw some gasoline on the fire and see what happens, but a discussion like that we simply didn’t have the time to do properly.

In the end, however, this panel worked and was a huge success. The seats were full, people were standing around the walls, and the authors all mostly behaved themselves. Afterward numerous people from the audience came up to say thank you. The panel was more amusing than I thought it would be and I learned some things about those authors I probably wish I could forget! Ha!

And as Tammy Pierce wrote me a few days after the event:

“You did a great job, wrangling a panel with so many authors and still managing to get questions in at the end! I had a great time, and wanted to say so in person.”

She made my day. Watch the 2009 NY Comic Con Author Round Table!

Part I of VII:

For the rest of the hour long panel with these fine authors, continue onward and watch the other six parts!

While at the NY Comic Con, Suvudu spoke to and interviewed a number of authors and artists who were there in attendance. Always great fun. And those authors and artists really enjoy being allowed to speak to their fans about what they are working on, just as Suvudu enjoys giving them the ability to do so.

Here is our discussion with The Warded Man author Peter V. Brett!





The interview is broken into five watchable videos. Four more video entries follow this one, so if you are interested in learning more about Peter V. Brett and how he writes, what authors he likes to read, what it was like for him to meet Terry Brooks, and how the sequels of The Warded Man will be layed out, travel on to the next page!