Paksworld

Since the previous snippet was supposed to be posted Monday (but, fooled by DST, I sent it after midnight) here’s the snippet that *should* come today.

I’ve previously posted a snippet that comes shortly before this one, about Stammel’s first experience in unarmed combat drill after his blinding.    Those who haven’t read the earlier snippet might want to look at it before reading this one.    They’re both in Chapter 9.

And spoiler warnings do apply:  don’t read below the line if you don’t want to know what happens.

Read the rest of this entry »

Seven days.   And I’ve been absent (mostly health-related) more than here–apologies for that.   However, here’s a snippet from Chapter 11 of Kings, which begins the unwrapping of a long-held secret: what really happened in Old Aare?

This will be a fairly big chunk, and thus some of you might find it spoilerish.  Hence, spoiler warning–don’t venture beyond the break if you want to know absolutely nothing about what’s coming.   For those who go on, there’s a several-paragraphs gap in the snippet, not to hide anything but to shorten it for blog use.

Read the rest of this entry »

For  those who would like a look at Chapter One,  Editor has now given me a link to share, but it was 117 characters long, so I ran it through TinyURL for you.  For reasons known only to the Secret Masters of Software NonAgreement, anything after it comes out in bold, too, so I’m saying what I need to say above it.   I still don’t know when my blog entries will appear at Suvudu (the Del Rey SF/fantasy blogsite) but will let you know when I do:

http://tinyurl.com/49dzcbh

One of the problems facing anyone trying to run a large establishment new to them is staff.   Old staff–competent?  Trustworthy?   Or dishonest, lazy, troublemakers?    New brooms who have done this before may sweep clean, but someone coming into a completely strange situation may not know where to start, how to evaluate any existing staff, and where the organization needs shoring up.

So it is with Dorrin Verrakai, who would be quite comfortable running the North Marches stronghold–a familiar military establishment–but not the Verrakai holdings.    By escaping from her ancestral home, and absenting herself from the Tsaian court, she’s ensured not only her survival but her ignorance.    A military camp and a ducal household (especially with all those now-orphaned children)  have little in common.  Hence this snippet.

Read the rest of this entry »

31 days (or 30 by the time most of you see this) and thus time for a snippet.   In fact, a snippet from the very beginning of Kings of the North.   I don’ t think, this close to release, that it’s going to be spoilerific for anyone.

Read the rest of this entry »

What?! I hear you cry.  What do new chairs have to do with writing the book?

It’s one of the mysteries of the creative mind.   Suffice to say that throughout our entire marriage (over 41 years now) we have never had “real” kitchen chairs.    And now we do, replacing mismatched, aging, and uncomfortable folding chairs with real wood chairs that are up to our weights and sizes.   Library chairs, in fact.

New chairs with new tablecloth & trial chair pad

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a snippet from Kings of the North to either whet or satisfy your impatience for the release date (65 days from now, not that I’m hinting or anything like that…)    This one is from early in the book.

Spoiler warning now (mild spoilers but some of you don’t want any spoiler–so if you don’t,  don’t click on the “Read the rest of this…” button.)

Read the rest of this entry »

You very patient people deserve another snippet from Kings of the North, as a Happy New Year present…or Bye-bye 2010 present.   Oh, what the heck.  Two presents, one for each year.     I’ll be keying this in from my reference ARC, so do not assume that any typos here are actually in the book (I sure hope not…)

Spoiler-phobes, don’t read below the line.

Read the rest of this entry »

You folks are owed some snippets, and you have my apologies for falling short in the snippet department this year.    Those who haven’t read Oath of Fealty are welcome to peek past the “more” warning, but you will find spoilers.   (Those completely unfamiliar with the Paksworld universe will benefit from a quick side trip to the Paksworld website, which has maps and names and other useful stuff.)

Today’s snippet is from Kings of the North, partway through Chapter One.

Read the rest of this entry »

So I left Atlanta this morning and wrote 2700+ words on the train, mostly about poor (ummph, you don’t know him yet.  Let’s just say that he’s young and was brash, but reality has laid some clue-bats on him lately.   I didn’t expect he’d ever become a POV character, as he wasn’t my favorite of the available young-and-brash stock, but sometimes they simply o’er leap all obstacles to find themselves on center stage with very important lines to say–and say them with panache.  Or some word of that type.

Read the rest of this entry »