Paksworld

We moved the old drafting table over from the other house (had been my mother’s after she moved up here,  then guest-house, then son’s house for a couple of years) to what is now the spare bedroom in this house.  Only it’s not going to be a spare bedroom–it’s going to be a drawing/painting/graphics room.  The old drafting table, now well over 60 years old, is pretty beat-up, so I’m using a piece of plexiglass on top of the (rapidly delaminating) original maple veneer top.  The tilt mechanism doesn’t work anymore–my mother stabilized it with a pair of extra “legs” that fixed it at one tilt.   (Yes, I could maybe get a newer used one, or a new one, but this is the drafting table I remember from early childhood.   A “don’t touch” zone that I violated only a few times…most notably the time I used my mother’s big T-square as a hobby-horse.  Once.  The repercussions were convincing.)

Read the rest of this entry »

I realized I needed business cards for the upcoming trips, and having waited too long to order interesting ones in time, I bought software to make my own.  With my own graphics.

What a time sink!   What fun!    Three Paksworld-specific business card designs, two-sided, the back side with a list of the Paksworld books.   Unfortunately my favorite design, where the background was supposed to be the map for the new book turned sideways and ‘faded’ enough not to compete with the business card data, printed too pale, though the map showed up fine on screen.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I read a bit of the new book to an unselected audience for the first time: a scene with as much interest and as few spoilers as I could find.  This was at ArmadilloCon.

The audience liked it, but you have to understand it was Sunday at a science fiction convention and everyone was looking a bit (some more than a bit) glazed.  All except one soul who apparently thought this was a critique group and not the reading of something finished, and explained what she thought needed to be changed.  (Hint: don’t do this.  It’s like the old joke about trying to teach a pig to sing–you can’t, and it only annoys the pig.  The book’s in production, as I told her with as much gentleness as I could muster.  No changes at this point.  But, ahem.)

Read the rest of this entry »

My UK editor has given me permission to post the cover art for the UK Deed of Paksenarrion omnibus!   So here it is:

Orbit cover for Paks omnibus

Read the rest of this entry »

Baen Books will re-issue the original three books with new covers to coordinate with the Del Rey release of Oath of Fealty.    And let me say right now that this is a very generous (and all too rare) example of cooperation by a former publisher.   Three cheers for Baen, not only for publishing these books when I was a raw unknown newbie, but for keeping them in print, and for agreeing to repackage them in 2010.  Hip, hip, hooray! (x 3)

Read the rest of this entry »

And I now have permission to share.  

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve seen the cover art for Oath of Fealty from the Del Rey office.  Oh, wow!  It’s not what I imagined it would be, so it took me a moment to refocus my brain, but it’s stunning and a strong design.    (And it should be easy to notice on bookshelves, hurray!)

As soon as they let me, I’ll post an image.

Bouncing Author!

The power outage shifted part of my work day from writing to drawing–though with the clouds we had, it was not easy to find light enough to draw unti the power came back on.  However, the power outage hit (with the loud BANG! of a blown transformer fuse and a fried dove)  just at a critical point psychologically, when the gnome prince is interrogating his guests and important information is passed unwittingly.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m working with an artist friend (the one who digitized the border design for the Paksworld website for me) to get some pencil sketches of a few characters and other things for the website.   I can do good landscapes and buildings and horses (well…if you don’t demand Leonardo-like accuracy for the hocks!) and some objects, but have never seriously worked on faces and costumes.  And I want these to be sketchy-sketches, not completely finished–suggestions, not “the final word,” so that you can continue to imagine the people your way if you want.

It’s easier if you can tell an artist–like this actor/actress/picture in a magazine than if you expect them to come to a face with a description in words.  Artists are visual.  Writers are wordy.  (I’m also visual, constantly reaching for the pencil, but I’m not as skilled.)

Just as I was getting well started on this,  another editor (UK edition) popped in needing more background material, so I spent Friday night and part of Saturday writing up some stuff for that edition and shipping it off, so she’ll have it when she starts work tomorrow.  It may not suit–but her description of what’s needed makes sense and I should be able to get it done fairly quickly.

Then the artist sent me the first sketch, which needs some modifications…and I really should get on with the object things I want to do, on my own.   (No, I’m not neglecting the writing.  This is in between, in breaks.)

I’ve mostly-inked the “strip” of territory that’s in Oath of Fealty.   For those familiar with the Paks books, that includes the part of Aarenis from Andressat north–east boundary roughly Cortes Cilwan, west to the Westmounts…then north over the pass at Valdaire to include Tsaia from just west of Vérella east to include Lyonya to just east of Chaya.   Because Tsaia extends  north of the Honnorgat River and Lyonya doesn’t, this means part of Pargun is also showing.

Read the rest of this entry »