Ladies and Germs,

Herewith is my schedule for Comicon this week in Phoenix. If you’re in the area, drop by. Would be great to see you and chat.

Books & Authors Phoenix Comicon Kickoff

Kick of Phoenix Comicon 2013′s Books and Authors programming with a brief look at what all is going on this weekend and a group interview with several of our author guests conducted by Peter Orullian.

Who’ll be here:

Brandon Sanderson
Cherie Priest
Timothy Zahn
Terry Brooks
Peter Orullian

Writing Believable Fantasy

Join our panelists for a discussion about why they write fantasy and how they make it believable.

Who’ll be here:

Peter Orullian
Sam Sykes
James A Owen
Terry Brooks

Microsoft Xbox Panel

Xbox started as a game console. Now, it serves video, music, apps, and more. It’s gone beyond the living room, onto PCs, tablets, and mobile phones. And one of the latest Xbox technologies is Xbox SmartGlass. Peter Orullian talks about how this new technology works and provides story-tellers new methods to ply their trade across multiple screens. As well as discussing some of what you can look forward to in the future from Xbox. Orullian works at Xbox on the Xbox LIVE business around emerging technologies and services.

Who’ll be here:

Peter Orullian

The Unfettered Panel: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy

Join the editor and four contributors to Unfettered, a new anthology Learn about its creation from the editor, Shawn Speakman, while contributors Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Hearne and Peter Orullian talk about their stories.

Who’ll be here:

Shawn Speakman
Brandon Sanderson
Terry Brooks
Kevin Hearne
Peter Orullian

Magic Methods

Magic systems and fantasy go hand in hand. Join some of our author guests as they talk about how they make it work and how they make it believable.

Who’ll be here:

Peter Orullian
Brandon Sanderson
Sharon Skinner
Sam Sykes
Melanie Rawn

The Epic Fantasy Panel

Some of today’s most popular epic fantasy writers talk about what epic means to them and how they write it.

Who’ll be here:

Sam Sykes
Melanie Rawn
Peter Orullian
James A Owen
Terry Brooks
Brandon Sanderson

Worldbuilding in Science Fiction and Fantasy

How do writers create worlds for their stories anyway? Join our panelists and find out.

Who’ll be here:

Terry Brooks
Brandon Sanderson
Timothy Zahn
Peter Orullian
Michael A. Stackpole

Until then, keep it turned to eleven.

Rock Lord

Hey Team–

So, later this week I’ll be traveling to Detroit for Immortal ConFusion, a speculative fiction convention. While there, I’ll sit on some panels with some other cool cats like Patrick Rothfuss, Peter V. Brett, and a host of others. We’ll talk books and writing and probably get rather silly. So, good times.

For your perusal, here my schedule:

Saturday 1:00 PM The New Evil Southfield
Why is there such a prejudice against the ancient? Malevolent forces seem to need to age like fine wine before they are ready for the attention of a protagonist. Is there a reason that we ignore a new evil, some cultural bias that says innovation cannot be That Which Will Not Be Named? Or is it simply that the ancient evil is a valued, if overused archetype? Brian McClellan, Mary G. Thompson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Peter Orullian (M), Sam Sykes

Saturday 4:00 PM Reading: Lawrence Schoen & Peter Orullian Model
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Join Lawrence Schoen & Peter Orullian for readings from their forthcoming works. Lawrence Schoen, Peter Orullian

Saturday 5:00 PM Mass Autograph Session Ontario
Come meet your favorite authors and have them sign things! (Unfortunately, due to Repetitive Stress Injury, we ask that you limit your signing requests to Charles Stross to 3 items per person.) Aimee Carter, Alastair Reynolds, Anne Harris, Catherine Shaffer, Charles Stross, Cindy Spencer Pape, Courtney Moulton, Diana Rowland, Geoff Landis, Howard Andrew Jones, Jennifer Ouellette, Jim C. Hines, John Scalzi, Kat Howard, Lawrence Schoen, Maria Dahvana Headley, Mary G. Thompson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Turzillo, Merrie Haskell, Michael J. Sullivan, Myke Cole, Patrick Rothfuss, Patrick Tomlinson, Peter Orullian, Peter V. Brett, Ron Collins, Saladin Ahmed, Sarah
Zettel, Scott Edelman, Susan Dennard, Tobias S. Buckell, Violette Malan

Saturday 7:00 PM Changing Societies In Epic Fantasy Southfield
Why do elves never seem to progress with metallurgy? Why do the societies in a fantasy realm always seem to go back hundreds or thousands of years? What is it about magic that makes the common folk less likely to invent the cotton gin, hybrid crops, or the musket? The history of humanity is one of constant flux, of achievement and failure, but the worlds of our imagination are much more static. What is the appeal of this stasis? Why is this a common aspect of fantasy literature, and where did it get its start? Is this a good or a bad thing for fantasy? For writers of fantasy? Brian McClellan (M), Kat Howard, Peter Orullian, Scott H. Andrews, Violette Malan

Saturday 8:00 PM What’s Still Taboo? Southfield
Obviously there are things that society still deems unacceptable, but that metric is changing, and has been for many years. How is our presentation of the taboo through literature changing with it, and is this a driving force in the social discussion, or a reaction to our collectively changing mores? Charles Stross, Merrie Haskell, Michael Underwood, Patrick Tomlinson (M), Peter Orullian

Sunday 10:00 AM Too Epic? Dearborn
Multi-volume epic fantasy that takes decades to write and publish is nothing new, nor is the anticipation of fans rabid for the next installment of favorites like Song of Ice and Fire. When the composition of a narrative enters its second decade, how does that affect the story? Does the completed version of Wheel of Time bear any resemblance to the plot – or world – hinted at in The Eye of the World? Can an author maintain fidelity to the initial construct? Should one even try? Michael J. Sullivan, Patrick Rothfuss, Peter Orullian, Peter V. Brett (M)

Sunday 2:00 PM Sarcasm. Seriously Southfield
Sarcasm has a proud place among verbal styles, but it is far harder to convey using the written word. This panel delves into the nature and pratfalls of sarcasm in dialogue, description, and as a narrative technique, including a conversation of some author favorites. Charles Stross, Diana Rowland, Doug Hulick (M), Peter Orullian

I’ve done some panels on “evil” before. They’re always fun. Also, talking about “epicness” and “taboos” . . . well, this weekend should be lively.

If you’re in the area, swing by. If you’re not in the area, mores the pity. Official site: http://confusion.stilyagi.org/

Cheers,

Your Rock Lord

Pretty much captures the last five minutes of writing book two

Book two of The Vault of Heaven is done! Holy I-never-thought-this-frickin’-day-would-come Batman! So, yes, done. Er, kind of. Which is to say, I finished the book months ago. At which time I promptly began the second pass “polish” that you’ve maybe seen me posting about here or there. It’s this non-trival “polish” that I’ve just finished and sent off to my editor.

And while this is a major milestone–read as “Orullian will float back down to the earth sometime after Christmas”–there’s still work ahead, kids. Real work. The editorial process starts its slow-grinding engine now. Nevertheless, I’m feeling like I could wrestle a bear, or climb Everest, or clean my office (which I’ve put off with some self-righteousness ’cause I was a’writin’ the great American novel or somesuch bull).

I’m reminded of a story Stephen King tells in which, after he finished The Stand, he ran to the bathroom and laughed and cried and laughed a cried. See, The Stand is kind of this epic story. He’s quoted as saying that the writing of this book was the only time he left The Gunslinger’s world (The Dark Tower). Anyway, I understand King’s post-Stand feelings. I didn’t get myself into the bathroom to laugh and cry. But the immensity of the emotional release might as well have. This has been one of the most sustained creative endeavors of my life. Lots of blood and sweat went into this one. I’m hoping when readers get this one, those fluids of mine get all over their fingers.

I'm stickin' this in because it's kinda germane, and it's kinda got COD in it, which is also awesome

Anyhow, many of you have asked as to length. No, not like that. I run a respectable . . . nevermind. Here’s the thing, I’m not feeling like publishing a word count just now. Seems too much like keeping score. I will say that it clocks in at Epic. By which I mean that, length-wise, it lives in the neighborhood of such tomes as The Way of Kings, Dance with Dragons, and the like. Now please note, that’s a length association. I’m not suggesting anything more than that. I’m just hoping that ballparking it will suffice tome-searchers for now.

Is there a title, some ask. Yes, there is. But strictly speaking, it’s possible it could change. My original title on book one did. That said, I like my current working title on book two. So does my editor. I’m holdin’ on to it since I think it might be fab to have it hit with the cover treatment, whenever that is.

Also, some have asked about a publication date. Simply put: It’s not up to me. I dearly hope they get it out next year. But, we’ll see . . .

The next obvious question is: What’s next? That one’s easy. I have a concept album to finish that’s set in the universe of my series. The music to that is 90% written. My collaborator and I have to ship a few Microsoft games and services (just, y’know, because groceries are nice things to have in the cubboard when you want some Goldfish crackers or peanutbutter), after which we’re gunna go hard at it. We’ll kick that into gear a few weeks hence. (Heh, heh . . . hence.)

I have to tell you, I’m really excited by the concept album. For many reasons. First, it’s no secret that I love music. But beyond that, this tells a kinda cool story around Belamae, the Maesteri you met in The Unremembered. It also ties to something else I’ll talk about in a moment. And second, it’s gonna get me on stage again. Not in any world-arena-signing-breasts sort of way. More in the small-club-tour-and-maybe-German-metal-festival sort of way. And for those of you who’ve never performed music live, I will just repeat what the inimitable Stephen King has said: There’s an immediacy about it that writing will simply never have. Plus, and to crib Patrick Stewart: “Live performance is a real moment of truth.” I love that rush. So, yeah, rock.

If you have to ask, you'll never know

I’ve also got six short stories to write, all set in The Vault of Heaven. Gots me a publisher for them, too. I’ll share more on those in the weeks and months ahead. I’m actually really looking forward to writing these, as they tell some seminal stories that I think will make parts of the longer works resonate that much more. Part of my whole master transmedia plan to take over the universe.

Not lastly, I have a big story coming out in Shawn Speakman’s Unfettered anthology. I say big, because it’s about 23K words. Hefty. Thick. Meaty stuff. It deals with the music magic in a way that many of my readers have been asking about. Well, I wrote a chunk of this and gave it to Shawn, a good friend. I’m going to do a whole separate blog post on that at some point–but later, since I’ll need to include spoilers.

A book of awesome!

And my story, entitled “The Sound of Broken Absolutes,” relates to the concept ablum above in some interesting cross-pollinating ways. See, I just can’t help myself from going all meta on you guys. Again, I’ll post more about this in the months ahead. For now, get yer arse over and order a copy of Unfettered. Honestly, it’s going to have Brooks, Sanderson, Williams, Rothfuss, Brett, and a metric ton of other fantasy heavyweights. Worth every thin dime, it is.

And last, but not least, I’ll start working on a deeper outline of book three. You know, I have to tell you a story there. Literally today, as I finished the last frozen mile of book two, I had several flashes of incredible pieces I needed to write for book three. It sounds kind of . . . I don’t know, maudlin? But you gotta trust the process. I’ve learned that. And while I had a plan for book three. Today, as I closed down this mile marker, I had a big fat wonderful turnpike open up before me for the next volume.

I simply have to clear the decks a little before I tackle it. And as I mentioned, there’s still all the book two editorial fun to wade through. But, well, between the day job and all the preceeding stuffs, there’s no rest for this kid.

And that’s my last thought for you. And please take it in the spirit in which it’s intended. But to reflect on book two at this moment in my life.

I worked my tail off on this book. It’s epic. It goes into territory no one is anticipating and required a lot of me. None of that guarantees, gentle reader, that you’ll like it. Those of you who pick it up will be the judge of that. But I’m satisfied that I put all the heart I had into it. What’s more, I did it while working twelve hour days at the day job. There are times when I’m green with envy at those writers who write full time. And if I’m honest, there are moments of aimless ire at the whole situation.

You see, I get up at 3:30 a.m. to write before a long day at the “salt mines,” as mom used to say. Work ethic? Just something dad taught me. It’s second nature. If the day comes that I’m able to write full time . . . well, I anticipate a rather healthy flow of story for those who care to read it.

So, yeah, I’m a little proud of myself. A smidge because I finished. A smidge more because I did it while holding down a job at ole Microsoft, which as anyone working there can tell you . . . well, I’ll just leave it there.

So, thanks for reading, and . . .

We live in a world of automation. Specifically, today, price-bots are on my mind. Why? Well, a friend sent me a link; and wouldn’t you know, the hardback of The Unremembered is available on Amazon for $7–less than even the paperback.

Click to go to the awesome Amazon deal page

For bargain-hunters this is all kinds of awesome. Taken to its silly, theoretical end, things will wind up free. Hopefully, smart software engineers have implemented business rules to safeguard against that, if only for their company’s own solvency.

But, hey, meantime, just wanted to do the quick shout out for folks who’ve been holding out for a deal. Take advantage of price-bot warfare, right?

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Carry on.

Your Rock Lord,

Peter

So, I just want to throw out a quick update. My publisher got all Christmas-y and decided to put THE UNREMEMBERED on sale with Amazon for $7. That’s the hardback folks. When the paperback comes out in a few months, it will be more expensive than that.

So, I thought, ya know, for those of you who have Christmas shopping left to do . . . Plus, it would warm my heart this holiday season, and I can’t imagine you want me to be cold-hearted.

So get a’clickin here. If you haven’t seen the cover, check out this surpassing piece by Kekai Kotaki:

I’m happy to report–in case you missed it–that THE UNREMEMBERED was one of Library Journal’s Ten Best F/SF Novels of 2011. More info on my site.

So there you go. A gift idea for you from Tor and Amazon. Hope you dig.

Frugally,

Your Rock Lord

Mostly, email is boring–spam, work, tasks. And then once in a while, one drops into your inbox that just, well, makes your day. I had one of these yesterday. The subject line read: Best of 2011 SF/F (Top 10) from Library Journal. I’m subscribed to a number of bookish newsletters, so if this one hadn’t come from my publicist, I might have hit SHIFT+DELETE (the shortcut for permanent delete). Good thing I read the From line.

So, I open the mail, and read:

Hey Peter!

THE UNREMEMBERED hit Library Journal’s 2011 best of SF/F list, thought I’d pass along:

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/11/best-of/best-genre/best-books-2011-sf-fantasy/.

Congratulations!!

I’ll be honest. I was doing about eight other things at the moment, so it took my brain a bit to process what I was reading. I think it wasn’t until I hit the link and saw this:

… that it finally dawned on me: I’d made a list.

Lists are funny things. There are more than a few. But I have to tell you, that didn’t change how awesome it made me feel.

When I read the list of names on the list, I felt a tonnage of honor, too. On this list, but not seen in the image, are books like A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Gotta tell ya, being on a list with George doesn’t suck.

Anyway, so you know, it was a nice validation that also simultaneously made me think: I gotta put in some extra time to finish book two. Which, by the way, is coming along awesomely. It’s looking like about the end of the year to finish it up and send it off to my editor.

In closing, I’d mention that if you were so disposed to head over to Goodreads and vote for The Unremembered in their Reader’s Choice dealie, I’d figure out a way to be all kinds of grateful to you. I’m told if you find my book on Goodreads, part way down the page you’ll see it’s listed.

Now, go forth and make good music. (Don’t know what that means, but I’m leaving it in.)

Cheers,

Your Rock Lord

Greetings Ladies and Germs,

So, being still a complete noob at all this, I get rather excited at all the “firsts” in this writing thing. Each time something happens, it’s new for me, and it’s hard to contain my enthusiasm, and nerdy as it winds up making me seem. But I’ve long since given up trying to convince folks how cool I am. I mean, by now, shouldn’t it be fairly obvious? (Please, no email responses to that one.)

Now, the latest “first” is the cover to the mass market edition of my book, The Unremembered. The image is still the same, but the artsy folks at Tor have played with the cover design, and I think it came out pretty cool. What am I saying? It came out awesome:

There are a few tweaks that’ll happen before it hits shelves, but mostly there you go. They said I could share, and so I’ve shared.

Keep it real,

Your Rock Lord

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

Hey, so some of the Comic-con Epic Fantasy panel has gone up on Vimeo. Big thanks to the inimitable Shawn Speakman! I’ve probably said it before, but I’m going to say it again: This was flat out awesome! Spending time talking about things I love with people I love and respect . . . that’s just good stuff. Plus, ya know, fantasy, war, dragons, like that. Sandwiched between Paolini, who is hella articulate and smart, and Rothfuss, who’s also just plain funny . . . well, it was a definite high point of my fledgling writing career.

All these writers are awesome. Truly. Their gracious, witty, and damn fine storytellers. I was honored and humbled to be seated amongst them. I’m kinda hopin’ a bit of Rothfuss’ and Paolini’s awesome rubbed off on me. And in turn, I suspect they each rock a little harder having sat on either side of yours truly.

Ah, hell, enough of all that. Watch the videos. (There’s more coming later, I’ve been told; this is just the first half of the panel.)

2011 Comic Con: “Putting the ‘Epic’ into Epic Fantasy” Panel from Suvudu on Vimeo.

2011 Comic Con: “Putting the ‘Epic’ into Epic Fantasy” Panel – Part II from Suvudu on Vimeo.

Hope you dig!

Cheers, kids, from your Rock Lord.

Peter

On January 13, 2009, Peter landed a new literary agent who took a keen interest in a fantasy series he’d conceived several years prior. Over the course of the next few weeks, Peter and his agent began pulling together a package they intended to shop to New York publishers. As Peter prepared materials, including this website, his agent contacted Tom Doherty (publisher at Tor Books) with little more than an early synopsis. His thought was to either interest one of the best fantasy publishers in the industry, or get early feedback to refine the materials he and Peter were putting together. Within hours Mr. Doherty requested the manuscript.

On February 18th (less than two weeks after receiving the book) a Tor editor phoned Peter to discuss the series. The following day, February 19th, a three-book offer was made on THE VAULT OF HEAVEN. THE UNREMEMBERED, book one of the series, is scheduled for an April 2011 release, with yearly releases likely for subsequent volumes of the series.