Some Writing Stuff

I wrote a novel in my early twenties, when we were living in Japan, called Streets Of Gold. In my later twenties, when we were living in San Antonio, I wrote Pilgrimage. Every five or ten years I would send the novels out to a publishing house, and the novels would be returned. I have decided this week that the books are simply not commercially viable because they're just too odd, and so I'll go through them one more time and then put them up on Amazon and some other ebook sites. The revised version of Shatterworld might come out this year. Every time I find a new author I really like, I look the author up to see what else they have written. I would like there to be something else for fans while we are waiting for the sequels to Shatterworld (Circumnavigation of Shatterworld, Pacifists' War) to come out. Even though the books are odd, there are people out there who will love them. How to reach those few people, I don't know.

As of this date, I am finishing up the third novel set in my oldest son's universe. I only have half a chapter left to go. I've even written the ending, which I'm pleased with. But this penultimate chapter with the final big boss battle is hard. I am grinding out one sentence at a time. Hmm, can I persuade my son to write that part?

I recently read an article that I think nailed why writers have such a hard time finishing their books. As long as the book is unfinished there is still a chance the book could be great. Every time I start a book, I have about fifty things I want to accomplish. But when I reach the end, the book has quantum collapsed into crap, drek that does not illuminate the human condition, drek that does not contain striking metaphors and incredibly lovely writing. John C. Wright has nothing to fear from me. The top ten percent of SF writers have no competition from me. The top twenty. Maybe the top fifty. That's when I need someone else to read the book who doesn't know about the forty-nine things that got left out.

The books set in my son's universe are The Scarred King, Sailing from Stoneshell, and Killing The Siij. And speaking of my son, you really ought to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VoJlng2b8o