Kids, Dragons and Me in the Park

 

 

Dianna and James Holland's kids: James (one smart kid), me (Paul Genesse), little Anthony (who has no personality at all), and beautiful Alyssia (who is excited to read the book).

 

Hello,

 

I had a great time hanging out with the Holland family in the park yesterday. I delivered a book them in person, as they had gone to my book signing back on June 6 at the Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble, but we were out of books by then. So, the Holland's went away without one. I promised them I would deliver them a book as soon a new shipment came, and I did.

 

Really, it was just an excuse to hang out with a great family. The dad, Jim who does pre-paid legal services, is so cool and his wife Dianna, is wonderful. She's an amazing message therapist and I would highly recommend her healing hands.

 

I got to hang with the kids, which is always a treat and hear stories about James, the almost 12 year old, who was being taught to fly and put the plane into a 2 G dive. Fun times. Anthony managed to find a greasy car part in the grass and was subsequently banned from touching the book. Alyssia (8 years old, I think) started reading the book as soon as I arrived. The book is a little much for an eight year old, but maybe she'll like it. Who knows?

 

Anyway, James is burgeoning D&D player/DM and I'm going to hook them up with a bunch of my older D&D books on Sunday when they swing by my house. I just think they are a great family and I feel very fortunate to call them friends.

 

Alyssia, James, and Anthony Holland

Gerrity Memorial Library at Hill Air Force Base

I was a guest at the Gerrity Library yesterday. I did a short reading and then spoke about writing to a few members of the Air Force, their families, and some of the library staff. They were a great crowd and I hope to visit them again, probably in the fall.

 

I was invited by a librarian I met at a librarian conference a few months ago. The staff were very nice and the library was beautiful. They had a great area dedicated to fantasy novels, which is where I gave my presentation.

 

Afterward, I spoke with a member of the Air Force and we had a good chat. He told me of getting attacked by mortars and rockets in Iraq while he was in the base. Then he told me that so many people are deployed in Iraq that those left behind now have to do the jobs of several people. He said that being deployed was less work than being back home. I really enjoyed meeting him and his family. His two sons, his daughter, and his wife were present at the speech and I enjoyed meeting them very much.

 

Going on base and doing a little for the service members and their families was worth the trip. I hope to visit again.

 

Paul Genesse, Author of The Golden Cord

www.paulgenesse.com

Brainstorming Book Two

 

Well, I managed to rewrite more of The Dragon  Hunters this week. I'm up to 25% rewritten. I was hoping for 30% this week, but I ran out of energy and time.

 

The big thing that happened this week was a critical brainstorming session that I had with my writer friend Patrick Tracy. We spoke for two hours about the book. I'm re-dreaming the dream, that is, changing certain parts to make them more exciting. At this point I'm making a certain segment that was fairly tame into a really nasty part that shows a lot about the world and the characters. I had ideas in my mind already, but Pat helped me refine them and just talking about them was really helpful. When you speak out loud about the ideas they become more clear and concrete. You also see where you need to do more work. I highly recommend brainstorming with a writer friend to improve your work.

 

The overall story arc has not changed, but how events progress, the setting, and the execution is changing big time. The manuscript I have is old and I was doing a lot of point of view shifting in the same chapter when I wrote it over five years ago. I was writing the third person omniscient then and I've abandoned that to write third person limited. The reader only knows what that point of view character knows. It works well, but with this story I'm needing to break away and show a few other POV characters from time to time. Not that much, but often enough.

 

I will reveal that the big villain, Draglune, King of the Dragons has a point of view chapter in this book. As well as a few other new characters--at least three more. None of them have a lot of POV chapters, just a little to give the reader a taste of what's going on with them. I think it'll work well.

 

The story is progressing well and the tension is attaining very high levels now. I was worried about a certain character's motivation, but now I have that all figured out. Also, the villains in the book have had their story altered a little as well, making it even nastier.

 

This is a very complex part of the series and I'm really into showing the reader in small doses what's really happening. There's so much going on behind the scenes and the stakes have really risen now. The fate of the world is at stake and is being influenced by seemingly small events.

 

Also, writing a sequel is a challenge because you have to recap a little of what has gone before, but you don't want to overdo it. I think that's going well, and I'm bringing up certain information only when necessary or when a character would really think about what happened recently.

 

I'm going to plow ahead and go for 35-40% rewritten by July 13. My goal is to have the whole book rewritten by the end of August. I'll get the first part of the manuscript to Patrick before that, then after Patrick is done reading it, I'll get it to my writer buddy Brad Beaulieu. Once Brad's comments are done, I'll do another big rewrite, clean up the text, then get it to my editor. I don't have a deadline yet, but I think it'll be late 2008. I hope.

I'm meeting with my editor the second week of August, and hope to have lots of the book done by then.

Good luck with your own writing and don't be afraid to cut scenes that don't work. Just delete them and start over!

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul Genesse, Author and Editor

Author of  The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

The Dimension Next Door

The cover of the book with my newest short story.

 

Dear Friends,

Good news! Today, I officially sold The Dragon Hunters, Book Two of the Iron Dragon Series. It should come out in late 2009. No exact release date yet, but we even have a cover in mind, painted by the same artist who did book one, The Golden Cord, which is still selling really well and is in its third printing already. Thank you all again for your amazing support! Please keep telling your friends about it and post some reviews online.

The other news is that I just had a story come out July 1, in a collection called The Dimension Next Door edited by Kerrie Hughes and Martin H. Greenberg ($7.99 from DAW Books). It’s available in any bookstore or online.

My story,  titled God Pays, takes place on December 21, 2012, the last day of the ancient Mayan calendar . . . and possibly the end of the world. Professor Nina Carreño, a linguistic archaeologist specializing in ancient Maya pictograms and dialects gets some dire news from her doctor. Nina leaves her fiancé and her entire life behind and travels to the place where she remembered being very happy: Lamanai, an ancient ruined city in the Yucatan. She thinks the end of the world idea is totally ridiculous, but her own personal doomsday brings her to a place she never expected.

 

I really enjoyed writing this and was inspired by a story from my friend Glenn Lee, who visited the Yucatan some time ago and met a tour guide who had a very interesting experience in the ruins of an ancient Mayan city. I’ll blog about the original story sometime.

 

Please download the free and newest issues of the Writers Symposium Ezine for more cool books.

 

The Dimension Next Door

13 original stories about the realities just around the corner . . .

Movements glimpsed out of the corner of your eye, inexplicable sounds, knowledge for which there is no rational explanation, dreams that seem as real as our own everyday life—products of overactive imaginations, or unexpected glimpses into dimensions beyond our own? Join thirteen intrepid writers as they explore those unknown territories that may be found in any of countless Dimensions Next Door.

From a Celtic knot maze that could trap an unwary archaeologist; to an Internet site that offers to bring karmic balance into one man’s life; to a man bespelled to walk the future in the service of his queen—here are tales of the strange, challenging, and often wondrous worlds just waiting to be discovered by those with the ability to perceive them.

The Dragon Hunt Begins Anew

 

I had a great writing week. I started working on the old manuscript of book two in earnest this past week. The working title is: The Dragon Hunters.

 

Due to the large amount of sales, the publisher, Five Star Books, wants to move up the release date of book two. It was going to come out in 2010. The book should be coming out in late 2009, but nothing is official. I don't have a contract, just word from the publisher and the editor. The details will be worked out later, probably in August when I meet my editor at World Con.

 

Keep in mind that I wrote the book in between 2000-2004. Most of it was done closer to the year 2000, but I've been working on it off and on for a long time. The manuscript started out around 119,000 words, that's about 450 "book" pages. The Golden Cord was 398 "book" pages (105,000 words). My goal is to cut this book down to around 105,000 words, maybe less. We'll see. I want it to be tight and very fast paced.

 

I can see that my old writing style can be tightened up quite a bit. The overall story arc isn't changing much, but the chapters are getting much better. I spent lots of time working on the first few, especially the first and second. They needed to be rewritten and refocused. I rewrote about 10,000 words this week, which means about six short chapters.

 

I think this book is going to kick serious ass. The story really gets rolling and the danger is so high. I'm really excited to be working on this project. It's fun to revisit the characters and now I'm better at rewriting, having done so several times before with The Golden Cord.

 

I've only got seven weeks before I meet my editor, so I've got to get cracking! I need to rewrite 16,000 words a week or more, which is a lot of pages. Probably, I'll end up keeping the manuscript longer so my alpha readers can take a crack at it. The good news is that I'll be working hard and immersing myself in the book.

 

I want to thank all of you who have read the first book and let me know what you liked. Many of you have encouraged me to get the second book ready and I'm going at it with a vengeance.

 

Thanks again for all of your support and please write a review of the book and post it online. Then let your friends know you liked it. I'd be happy to send you or your friends posters and bookmarks. Just let me know!

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul Genesse, Author and Editor

Author of The Golden Cord, Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

www.paulgenesse.com

Chapter One

 

I am a victim of biological warfare. Or, I might just have a really bad seasonal allergy. Damn pollen and mold. I hate getting my ass kicked by it.

 

Okay, so I had a massive seasonal allergy attack and almost lost my voice because of the nasal drainage. I had to tough it out at work for three days as I haven't called in sick for about three years and I'm not going to start now. The last time I called in sick for a day was because of losing my voice to an allergy. The allergy medicine I'm on just didn't cut it this week. Now I'm trying generic Zyrtec, Nasonex, and a decongestant. I'm doing better, but my sinuses are still upset with whatever is in the air. Hopefully, I'll get back to normal soon.

 

It should have had a much better week. I mean the book signing went really well and my voice was okay during that, but I nearly lost it at dinner afterward. I also had high hopes to get a lot of writing done this week, but I only got a little done. First, I proofread one of my short stories for one of my editors, and put together a bio for the newest Blue Kingdoms anthology. They accepted my third pirate witch story, though I haven't seen the editors latest comments.

 

The real news is that I finally got to Book Two of the Iron Dragon Series, at about midnight last night. The working title is The Dragon Hunters. I like the title, but if I come up with another one, maybe I'll change it. We'll see. I did spend some time this week finding my old files and looking at stuff. I read some the manuscript and found my old rewrite plan from 2005. I remember stopping the rewrite when The Golden Cord was about to be submitted again. I was focusing on book one at that time.

 

So, I did manage to come up with some new ideas and I wrote out a plan for the beginning of the book that will make it much better. I did this early in the week, then failed to get anything done until Saturday night. Sigh. All my fault. I let the allergy thing kick my butt.

 

Anyway, I stayed up all night and worked on chapter one of The Dragon Hunters. I cut half of the original chapter and rewrote the other half. The whole manuscript is written, about 120,000 words, but I'm rewriting it now. I think I'll end up cutting a lot of it. I'm hoping to get the book down to around 100,000 words. The Golden Cord was 105,000 words after the editor had me add some chapters and flesh out a few things.

 

I did manage to find my rewrite notes and go over them. I should probably read the whole manuscript, but I can't do it now. I read over the first few chapters and they need some work first, before I read the rest. The beginning was too slow and there wasn't enough danger. Earlier this week I figured out a way to combine the action and make it all work together in a more fluid way. As James N. Frey, the author of How To Write A Damn Good Novel said, you have to re-dream the dream sometimes. That's what I'm doing now. I'm taking the old manuscript and reworking it. All the slow stuff has to go and everything has to fit together better.

 

I was surprised at how easy it was to rewrite chapter one. I mean I had to write a new first line, first paragraph, first page, everything. It was the easiest time I've ever had with writing a beginning. The eleven page chapter was cut down to five pages. I'm sure it'll get even better over time, but I'm liking how it is right now.

 

My goal is to have a good draft of the book done before I go to World Con in August. I'm meeting my editor there and want to be able to tell him that the book is ready for him to look at by then.

 

I'm excited about the process now and want to get into the book. Next week I'll get a lot more done and hopefully I can get rolling and bang this puppy out. I need to get back to Medusa's Daughter. That book has been languishing for months as I've been doing all the promotion for The Golden Cord. The promotion has worked out really well, but I need to write books!!!

 

I'm just going to have to learn how to turn off the TV and lock myself in the basement. And how to become resistant to the biological agents trying to kill me.

 

Paul Genesse, Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

www.paulgenesse.com

 

 

 

 

Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble Book Signing

 

Tonight was my last official book signing for a while. It was at the Barnes and Noble in Sugarhouse (Salt Lake City, UT).  It went really well and I sold out in just over an hour. I was there from 6:45-9:00 PM and it went so fast.  The Barnes and Noble had a hard time getting books, as the first printing is old out. The store only managed to get 25 books.  They're going to order more.

 

A bunch of people came right away and the books went fast. I loved seeing some of my old friends and meeting new ones. I just love people and I'm such a chatterbox. My voice was a little strained, as I had a seasonal allergy this week that nearly wiped out my voice. Luckily, my voice came back for tonight.

 

I made it through the signing with a voice intact, sold all the books, gave out posters to everyone who came by, and wrapped it up.

 

Afterward, I went out for some food with friends: authors Rebecca Shelley and Eric James Stone were there. I loved hanging out with them. Rebecca's book, The Red Dragon Codex is doing so well and selling a lot. She's got great market penetration and even Walmart has her books now.

 

Eric James Stone is an amazing writer of short stories and recently sold to Analog, The Intergalactic Medicine Show, and other places. He was also a winner of Writers of the Future. Eric is a neat guy and I love his work.

 

Julie Andelin went along. She's one of Mountain Con's organizers and she gave me some Mtn. Con flyers that feature a picture of me and some of the other guests.  It's fun being on the flyer with Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Brandon Sanderson (an amazing writer and the author of the final Robert Jordan/Wheel of Time book) and a bunch of actors and such. Mountain Con is going to be so fun this year.

 

Also at dinner were the Holland family. They are a great family and I've met some of them before at various conventions and such. Dianna (a great massage therapist), Jim (a very good dad), James  (12, who might make a perfect lawyer), Alyssia (ten years old on Tuesday), and Anthony (a very happy and bright kid) were so cool to visit.  I love meeting such nice and smart kids. It also helped that the kids were so beautiful. I'm a sucker for cute kids. I'm going to hang out with Dianna at World Con in August.

 

It feels good to have reached this point in the tour. Tonight's signing  was like the cap on the whole thing. Seeing all the people who came and selling all the books was such a great finish for me.

 

I still have more events and school visits this summer, but I feel like I can breathe a little and get some writing done. I have to begin rewriting book two and  hopefully it'll come out in late 2009. The working title is: The Dragon Hunters.

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul Genesse, Author of  The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

www.paulgenesse.com