Things are afoot in the Vault of Heaven. Book stuff. Music stuff. And some other stuff I can’t talk about just yet. But of the former two, here’s what:
First, I’m in the end game of book two.
“Orullian, seems I heard that before,” you say.
“Fair enough,” I reply most humbly (cue music of anticipation), “But I ran smack dab into–” (wait for it) “–research.”
So, the very cool thing that happened was a fair amount of research to hit upon two of the central plotlines of book two. I do have a title for the novel, but I’ve only shared it with my editor, who LOVED it, I might add. So, Tor will probably announce that all dramatic-like at some future date. There are clues aplenty to the title, though, in book one, for the entirely nerdy among you who like to speculate about such things.
As to the research itself, I’m afraid I’m going to have to remain deliberately cryptic, since even naming the kinds of source materials I’ve been reading might prove out as spoilers. I’ll say this, though . . . nope, can’t even say that. Truth is, I’m eager to share it, but I’m more excited to hear the reactions of readers who aren’t clued in. We’ll see how that goes, since reviews are bound to let that cat out of the bag.
Last thing on book two: I had a sneaking suspicion that I’d wind up here (in research land) about five years ago. But, I went blithely along anyway, ignoring the shape in the corner. That shape and I have been tustling now for a few months, and I think the result is a leaner, meaner novel. Though, I’m clocking in at about 413K words right now. There’ll be some word dieting (read: merciless self-editing) before this bad boy hits my editors desk, which might just need fortification to bear the weight of it. We’ll see.
There are some new viewpoint characters that I like quite a lot. These new folks have tortured pasts. I’ll be honest: It’s been terribly hard to write several of their scenes. I’ve walked a bit slower to the shower on those mornings, my head filled with the images of the events I’d just committed to “paper.” I heard Bob Salvatore recently say the following about a book he wrote while his brother was going through cancer: “It’s either the best thing I’ve ever written, or the most self-indulgent.” That pretty much sums up how I feel about stretches of book two, for reasons I may never be able to share. Either way, those scenes had to go down the way they did. Again, sorry for going all cryptic; you’ll understand, I think, if you choose to read book two. By the way, Salvatore is also hands down the funniest writer I’ve seen do a Q&A session, and I’ve seen pretty much everyone.
On to the second bit of news: The concept album is also hitting the final lap. We’re preparing the package for the record label now, and part of that was uploading two demo tracks to their site. You can check them out here:
It’s in the vein of Dream Theater, Queensryche, Disturbed, and like that. I studied voice with the guy who trained Geoff Tate of Queensryche and Lane Staley of Alice in Chains. So, my vocal style is cleaner, and more given to soaring high notes. It’s what I prefer. Let’s just leave it at that, since you don’t want to argue with me on this one. Trust me. Anyway, if that ain’t your thing, you know, feel free to keep that to yourself.
The above pics are necessary here for the related blog detour I want to make. Yesterday turned out to be a rare fall day in Seattle: It was sunny. I spent a few hours on the waterfront playing classic arcade games. Ya know, like “hit the cylinder with a huge mallet and see how high you can make the lead weight go” type of stuff. Then, I popped over to Alkai Beach, where I used to go for the vocal instruction I mention above. My trainer, David Kyle, passed away a few years ago. Saying that out loud still makes it hard for me to talk. The pics are of his house, now owned by someone else, who is obviously doing some kind of restoration work. That saddens me, too, for some strange reason. I hate change, I guess.
Anyway, the image on the left is the window where David sat at his Baldwin grand and taught me. I stood beside it, learning. And every two weeks, as I ran the vocal drills, he’d invite me to look out at the Puget Sound, imagine a grand theater, and project for all I was worth. The pic on the right is a rather pale digital version of what is a breathtaking, inspiring, view.
I miss you, David.
Returning to the point, even if you don’t like the musical stylings of the concept album, there’s meat here for those who want to learn more about the world of the Vault of Heaven. Yeah, it’s all transmedia-y. See, the concept album is going to tell some of the backstory of Belamae, the Maesteri who leads music instruction at the Descant Cathedral in Recityv, capital of Vohnce and seat of the Regent. Belamae had some hard choices to make early in his tutelage on The Song of Suffering.
But it doesn’t end there. The entire album works on a kind of frame. (Love this stuff, by the way.) Each song will begin with Belamae, charting a time and decision in his life that came with a lot of consequences. But each song will then transition into the story of The Song of Suffering, itself, since it tells of a specific series of events early in the history of Aeshau Vaal. In fact, you can pretty much consider the later part of each tune to be an actual section from The Song of Suffering. Thus the album title, which I’m calling: Suffering.
The demos are rough, since we had to jam out all the vocal tracks in a couple of hours to make a deadline–the deadline is one of the thingys I can’t talk about. Will share at a future date. But they’re representative enough that you’ll get the point. And for those who just can’t stand electric guitar, preferring hammered dulcimar or flute music, I’m going to do an in-depth post when the album is done, giving all the detail you’d find in the CD. At the crux of it all will be the lyrics, which I’ll post in a more organized fashion later on. But for now, will slap onto the bottom of this post fer ya.
Projected released date of the CD is February, but I’ll likely release some other tidbits here and there.
Just one more thing. The band name is not final. It could wind up being what it says on the page I’ve linked to above. But that’s not decided. However, here’s a challenge: If you can tell me why I’ve chosen this name (even as a placeholder), I’ll give you a full size, color reproduction of the map of my world, Aeshau Vaal. This isn’t an easy riddle to crack. Book two will make it easier. And I’ll honor the throw down for as long as it takes. In fact, I’ll throw in a signed copy of every book in my series.
Okay, ladies and germs, that’s all the news.
C ya,
Your Rock Lord
Prelude
I hold a letter sent from my home afar
War has come to our shores again
And they would have me return to stand
Beside the men who go to fight and lend their might
To stop the pain from the salter’s hand
They need this voice of mine to try and stave
The end
I sit a world away, where I’ve come to train
To learn the art of the Sufferer’s Song
Since for so long I have borne this gift to render and lift
My voice to stir the hearts of men, to give air to the truth they live
Inside these walls of chorus and vaults ascends this lonely gift
If I don’t go, so many will fall, and with their dying breath
They’ll cry up to the sky, and I’ll have failed again
I know, I must go
Back home again
But if I go
Behind I leave so few to tend
This song, that for so long
Has held at bay
The strife
Of the Quiet
That comes some day
Will these walls be here when I return?
Or be burned
Will the Song live on with friends who also bear the gift
May I come again
Back to this place
After I’ve faced
The threat that waits
With Suffering’s grace
Quietus
I know it’s hard, Belamae, but you can’t return home. You’re more important to them here, than as one more man with a sword. Your death there will mean nothing. But here . . . here you help protect them all with your gift. I’m sorry, I can’t allow it.
I won’t ignore their call for help. People are dying. They wouldn’t have sent for me if it was my sword they wanted. But you don’t have to worry, I know how to use the song.
No, never use the song as a weapon! That is not its intention! You will bring greater harm to your people if that is why you go. I forbid it.
Forbid it, Maesteri? You are a coward. I will take Suffering, and I will do with it what I can.
Hear my nation has called me there
I understand that I leave you bare
Say I’m careless to turn away
From the music, that I should stay
Oh, but you don’t hear their cries at night
They say Suffering hangs by a thread
That if I go I can’t pay the debt
Of the countless who trust the veil
Their lives are forfeit if it should fail
I can’t bare the answer
Of this mortal pain
I don’t have another way
The choice leaves me insane
I know the Quiet sound
Hear it now, like a child born still, I’ve found
Like the exile with his whited eyes, he railed the Sky
All the heavens did hear him cry
Don’t believe that you’ve turned the page
That the Bourne will ever be my cage
I deny the power of your hand
Creation’s suffering will begin with man
I won’t stop. I will continue to hurt and to hate them.
There will be loss as my scorn and the silence upbraids them.
When you abandon this world and you find your own sentence.
Don’t return then and expect us to hear an old penance.
Gone, so far away
I am wronged
Now, man must pay
Oh, they’ll pay
Oh, they’ll beg
See the fear in their eyes now
Their burden feeds my own song
The sun’s a paler shade, older
The heavens start to come down
But I will never understand this sin
The Bourne is fallow, and prayerless long
If I were callow I’d sing a song
Give the hopeless a last refrain
Their forever has just been lain
Can I find a way?
And stay strong
So I can say
That I know I’m unkind
I am alone
Lost all my song
I feel, wounds in my mind
So now, respond in kind?
Need not have been this way
They could not see
That I did care for them, much more than they
So my inheritance, this barren place
I will now share with them, disgrace
So listen
Awaken
There will be no regret
The call of
The soundless
Demands a higher debt
So under sullen skies
I find a brighter name
Once given, now I will claim
Now, I found a way
I am strong
So I can say
That I know I’m unkind
I am alone
Lost all my song
Now I am the author
Of this endless pain
They don’t have another
Still this choice leaves me insane
