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Evidently Book V is over its snit. I did not sleep much last night (memory of the previous night’s scorpion sting meant that any noise in the house translated into “There’s a scorpion” and so did any “feeling” on my skin) but the reward for insomnia was a massive download of intuitive stuff for Book V.
What I was hoping for was an intuition about Book IV’s title (publisher having nixed the one I sent them, for a perfectly reasonable reason), so this morning before dawn I was up scouring both houses for my old thesaurus (missing for years) and instead found the one we bought our son (also years ago, and certainly not where I expected to find it.) Immediately dove into it while feeding the cat (yeah, such an exotic life we lead–cat must be fed inside though she hates the inside, because of neighbor cats who bully her from her food. So she has to have someone sit with her while she eats in the utility room.) Made notes. Then (cat-feeding over) made notes on the plot bomb, which continued to unfold in that way they have.
IF the plot bomb holds up (please!!) I now have the ending for two main characters (no, wait, three). And the endings fairly bristle with possible hooks for something else down the line. Though I’m really sorry about [redacted] and hope that bit does not hold up. But it probably will.
The thesaurus has been very helpful with title ideas, so that may work out too, but first I’m diving into Book V’s “Ideas” file to jot down everything that’s now scrawled on paper about today’s plot bomb. Not really tempted to spoiler it, because you need Book IV for some of it to make sense.
And now all I have to do is write from where Book IV ends to where the plot bomb starts (quite late) and then write that part too. This is not going to be a short book.
Comment by Kerry aka Trouble — March 21, 2012 @ 8:37 am
Yay for plot-bombs – hope you get it all tucked in nice and neat. As for “not going to be a short book,” yay, again. I love me some door-stopper so the book isn’t over so fast.
Comment by Mrs Redboots — March 21, 2012 @ 9:42 am
All the better for being long, but I do hope you don’t have to report the death of someone we know and love….
And I really came on here to wish you a very happy Spring Evener!
Comment by elizabeth — March 21, 2012 @ 9:52 am
Thank you! Storm passed, we have a gorgeous day for it: acres of wildflowers in bloom, nice crisp breeze, big blue sky.
Unfortunately, people we know and love do keep dying in these books…as they do too often in real life. The writer really hates watching someone put on that fatal red shirt and holds off the end as long as she can, but…
Comment by Rolv — March 21, 2012 @ 10:48 am
Good news! May we hope for a Book VI? 🙂
Comment by elizabeth — March 21, 2012 @ 10:59 am
Not in this group….Book V will in fact close a main story arc. However, it’s clear that there could be more stories leading from Book V, just as there were more stories leading from Oath of Gold.
Comment by din — March 21, 2012 @ 3:50 pm
question about the Arvid and the start of book III. Where is Aarenis in relation to Veralla ? Could be south since the story refers to the Valdaire’s guildmaster betraying him ? Just started the book, and i’m trying to work how far away Arvid is from his home base (and his supporters).
Comment by Wickersham's Conscience — March 21, 2012 @ 4:11 pm
@ Din – Aarenis is the huge area south of the Dwarfmounts and north of the sea. It’s a big chunk of a continent, not a city or country. Well, I suppose Aarenis may have been united in the distant past, but it’s not now.
@Elizabeth –
“Though I’m really sorry about [redacted] and hope that bit does not hold up.”
Your’re going to kill _another_ character we love, aren’t you? Sigh.
“Storm passed, we have a gorgeous day for it: acres of wildflowers in bloom, nice crisp breeze, big blue sky.”
I’m relieved to hear that Texas’s recent nasty weather hasn’t worked you serious harm. Tornadoes, flash floods, howling windstorms. Sheesh.
Comment by Fred Zebruk — March 21, 2012 @ 6:26 pm
I am extremely pleased that you are working on book five of the current set. While you have a book coming out every year it certainly doesn’t take that long to read them.
I thoroughly enjoy Pak’s world and am happy that you are expanding on the original story.
It’s funny but your use of red-roots reminded me of beets. That just might be ethno-centric thinking.
Continued success with a delightful adventure.
Comment by Jenn — March 21, 2012 @ 6:28 pm
Which of the three is going to get it? Sigh. IV not even close to out and I am now seriously looking for the plans for a time machine. I won’t be going far just to May 2014. I think that is a generous leap. Any one want to come with me?
Don’t let them give you too much trouble with length. Your books have been under or near 500 pages and I personally would stay up an extra 4 hours to read the extra 400 or so.
Comment by Iphinome — March 21, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
@Jenn since you’re already moving forward in time you don’t need a dedicated time traveling machine unless you plan to move back in time later.
I humbly suggest that you instead take advantage of time dilation. It works at any speed not just large fractions of C, so the simple act of going jogging riding or even swimming will make time appear to pass faster for you than for the rest of us.
I may try it myself if I can find a large enough sling shot.
Comment by elizabeth — March 21, 2012 @ 11:07 pm
din: Here’s a map from the first Paksenarrion book, Sheepfarmer’s Daughter. It’s almost all of Aarenis.
http://www.paksworld.com/maps.html
There’s more information about Aarenis on http://www.paksworld.com/places.html
Comment by SnowGator — March 22, 2012 @ 5:17 am
Sorry to hear about the scorpion sting and the need to propose a new title for Book IV. Debts of Destiny? Hard to guess without reading it first, though that seems to cover the main story arc as revealed so far. Perhaps you’d consider free copyediting of Book IV by us, your loyal fans? Then we could be more… useful. I can cite references (very few, but they’re there) from the first three, if that helps to persuade 🙂
Comment by Daniel Glover — March 22, 2012 @ 6:35 am
Elizabeth,
Sorry to here about the scorpion. I guess we’re going to have to start to think about those up here in Minnesota with 70 degree March (pretty much all month) it’s only a matter of time before we get that kind of climate.
SnowGator,
Some of us have (I’m not one of them was too busy at the time) been part of the IV proofreaders and are sworn under pain of (mmmph) to not disclose.
[redacted] is obviously (aaargh) since a lot of it has already been set up. Though you mentioned stuff we haven’t yet seen so it could be (uummph) or (aaahhheemmm).
Comment by Jenn — March 22, 2012 @ 1:23 pm
Iphinome,
For me time slows down when I jog. It becomes very very slow. I think it is an evil treadmill timer conspiracy.
The slingshot sounds like a good idea though. How fast to you have to go and where will you get that much elastic?
Comment by Richard — March 22, 2012 @ 4:58 pm
Iphinome, jogging, riding, swimming for time dilation? You’ll get a bigger effect if you just go live nearer the equator, surely.
Comment by Fred Zebruk — March 22, 2012 @ 7:44 pm
Reading the blog has got me wondering about fuel sources. Wood is reasonable in the country but I’m sure the elves would have something to say about it being burned to heat the homes of cities, even small ones like Chaya. Coal makes sense for large scale iron production and should be a good commercial product for gnomes and dwarves.
You haven’t written about the transporting of fuel in any of the books either. Easy on water, harder overland.
Comment by Elizabeth D. — March 22, 2012 @ 8:26 pm
It’s almost spoiler territory, but please, don’t kill off (aaargh) until you get over the scorpion bite! I think Achrya tried to get you. I hope you are feeling better! I noticed between Book I and II that it was possible for several main characters to run into serious trouble, and I was surprised that some of the subplots were resolved in Kings of the North with little damage to main characters. But Echoes was… a different story.
One thing that I had noticed from the beginning of Deed of Paks is that the healers are very very good. I am always surprised that more people do not have lingering illnesses, but I think that the various healers ease them well. On the other hand, most of the good guys are too far removed (as we saw in Divided Allegiance) from the ordinary struggles of common people. Somehow that also translates into too far removed from the common illnesses; losing their touch.
Although unlike Fred, I had not wondered about fuel (stray tree limbs, and yes, oils, animal dung, etc.), I had wondered about serious storms. I guess that’s because I live in the north, but midwest, and we can have all sorts of freak disasters, from flash floods to trees down.
Comment by Iphinome — March 22, 2012 @ 10:41 pm
@Richard The faster you move the greater time dilation. For best results accelerate to a large percentage of C. However, if you have the technology to do so you can probably just afford to bribe Lady Moon into letting go of an ARC.
Comment by Dawn B — March 23, 2012 @ 3:15 pm
I can take a sigh of relief thanks to the prologue and the final chapter of Liar’s Oath that [redacted] cannot be the worst thing imaginable unless we end up with Jenn’s time machine. However, I will remember to have my box of tissues handy. Won’t be the first time Elizabeth has made me cry. 🙂
Comment by Richard — March 23, 2012 @ 3:45 pm
@Iphinome,
that was my point (in #15): at the poles your speed from the earth’s rotation would be far less than walking pace, whereas at the equator it will beat even your giant slingshot idea (be sure to have yourself fired east so the two effects add together).
Comment by ellen — March 23, 2012 @ 7:47 pm
Elizabeth, sorry to hear about the scorpion sting – ouch!
Absolutely love the book, I’m with Jenn and the time machine!
#7 Wickersham’s conscience, you should see the weather in the eastern states of Australia; floods, hysterical winds, and more floods, some people have had their homes and businesses flooded half a dozen times in15 months! What’s the matter with the weather…
Comment by Sharidann — March 26, 2012 @ 5:53 am
I really hate when beloved characters die, albeit I understand the need (David Weber said it quite nicely I think “if only the bad guys die, you don’t write military SF, you write military porn” quoting from memory)
Sorry to hear about the scorpion sting, hope you feel better soonish.
Main story arc concluded in 2 years… can’t wait, and hope for some more. 🙂
Comment by elizabeth — March 26, 2012 @ 8:01 am
I hate it when beloved characters die, too. If I didn’t, I’d be writing the *other* kind of military porn, where only the good guys die. Writers can err to either side. I did my best to “save” Canna, Saben, and several others in the original DEED (including Barranyi, from her own steadfast determination to cling to resentment and bitterness) and grieved over each one. But…the story has its own path to chart.
So yeah, there’s more sorrow coming, some of it unknown to me at this point.
Comment by Jenn — March 26, 2012 @ 8:39 am
Who was the hardest death for you to write? (of those already in print of course)
Comment by Kip Colegrove — March 27, 2012 @ 4:42 pm
Yes, people die in books and in real life. The question is, do we honor their sacrifice–even the ones who sacrificed their whole lives on the altar of selfishness. In so far as it’s up to us, will the waste continue? Will the courage and generosity enrich and empower our choices? Part of handling grief well is coming to grips with such things. Transformative compassion…(Just re-read Rafe Dunbarger’s reflections on his own grief near the beginning of the last Vatta’s War novel. Also getting ready to preach Palm Sunday through Easter. Among other things, Lent is for helping us focus on this stuff.)
Comment by Jonathan Schor — March 27, 2012 @ 7:34 pm
I think that the modern trend to have many books in a series makes for dilemmas for authors. Perry mason has virtually the same ensemble cast for I don’t how many books. CJ Cherryh’s Foreigner series appears to be endless – not that is bad, but some of the characters are getting long in the tooth – and in a series with myriads of assassins. The world of Paks is a really violent one. While there are powerful forces for law and order, there are also the opposite. In a world of violence, people die. Only Superman is immortal, but they even tried to kill him.
And as always, since Ms. Moon does the work, she calls the tune.
Comment by Jenn — March 28, 2012 @ 2:21 pm
Just found this on my search for toy patterns on ravelry.com I am impressed.
http://rustleaire.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/scorpion/
I may have to try it.
Comment by filkferengi — March 31, 2012 @ 11:31 am
Woo-hoo! Despite Tom Tuerff’s delightful ditty [clip here: http://www.amazon.com/Very-Short-Books/dp/B0016QD5CW ], I also always have time for a very long book, especially one of yours!