Thanks to Tempest and all of the Guest Bloggers
I just wanted to give a heart-felt thank you to Tempest and all of the other guest bloggers. It was really quite energizing and humbling to have them agree to guest blog, and also to learn so much from what they posted. Sometime in the next week, I will do a post linking back to highlights from each week of guest blogging. I hope you had as much fun as I did in reading all of this interesting material.
I was gone much longer than I expected to be, because as it turns out I am not someone who is meant to write original novels to a deadline. And I’ve also learned I’m someone who cannot be fragmented while working on an original novel. Thus, thanks also to Underland and Victoria Blake for patience while I finished off Finch and made it what I wanted it to be, even though that took three months and 9 days more than I had originally estimated. This wasn’t from being blocked. It was from following all of the characters and plot threads through to their natural conclusions.
I turned the novel in on Tuesday, and it was one of those experiences where you’re totally drained afterwards. You’ve given everything you can give, and there’s nothing left on the table. You’ve not left the house in weeks. You’ve been thinking only about the novel to the point that when you look in the mirror and see the long beard, the uncut hair, the kind of distant look you realize that you’ve got to be a little insane to write a novel. And I’m at that point now where I both love and hate Finch. Love it because it’s mine and it’s what I want it to be. Hate it because I’ve lived with it in close quarters for a long, long time.
Anyway, I’ll be back blogging Sunday night or Monday morning. In the meantime, I did want to let you know that the limited edition Shriek with the very cool original music by The Church (this is not the music to the online movie, but something much more complex), is now shipping. Shriek is another novel I put everything I had into. A novel that recently was lauded by a history site for its keen insight into historical perspectives and by an environmental site for its insight into that topic. Well, for me it’s just a novel about a messed up family that gets caught up in war and the mysteries of the underground gray caps. The cover on this limited numbered signed edition is by Ben Templesmith who did 30 Days of Night. The design is by John Coulthart who did the fake disease guide (Coulthart is my favorite designer in the world, bar none), and there’s additional unpublished material from Samuel Tonsure’s journal (those of you familiar with the Early History of Ambergris will know what I’m talking about.) More on that Monday, but just so you know, if you email Clarkesworld, they’ve got a special offer where you can get Secret Lives with Shriek for just ten extra dollars.
Special thanks to my wife Ann during the past few months. She has done more for me than she will ever know, and I will always love her with all my heart.
Okay, back to blogging soon. Hope you’re all still out there. I kinda think you are, given the number of comments on guest blogger posts.
Much love,
Jeff
December 13, 2008 at 2:21 am
Sounds like you put a lot of work into this new book. It is always better to make things the way you want them though, even if it takes longer than expected. It sounds to me though that you wrote this one pretty quickly still.
December 13, 2008 at 7:28 am
i’ve been writing it on and off since 2006. and it’s the first original novel written without a day job.
December 13, 2008 at 7:51 am
and had initial notes on it back in 1998 when I originally conceived of the ambergris cycle.
December 13, 2008 at 8:10 am
Just to repeat myself:
Tempest was a great guest blogger – got me to comment instead of just lurking.
December 13, 2008 at 9:26 am
yeah I thought so too. she’s welcome back any time.
December 13, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Even if it took you 2 years, that is not really all that long. I mean–most of the really good writers out there have only written a handfull of novels. That does not mean one cannot write more, but I do think a certain amount of gestation is necessary for most people. Because writing isnt like making rivets. I sort of wish it was of course.
December 13, 2008 at 1:42 pm
whatever brendan. every novel- different.
December 13, 2008 at 2:03 pm
It’s a good thing you don’t seem to have the sort of rabid, pushy fans that someone like George Martin has. Can you imagine the uproar if he followed his muse and wrote all sorts of interesting fictions around his epic fantasy series? I agree that each author writes a book at his/her own pace and that some books fall together quicker than others.
December 13, 2008 at 2:45 pm
well I think a gestation period of 1998 to now is long enough. one character, the lady in blue, came to me after seeing a busker in 1997. I get a fair amount of fans telling me what they want via email but martin’s got millions of readers so his “problems” are worse….
December 13, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Those fans, are they saying, “More fungi!” in their comments? But yes, Martin does have a larger “problem” I suppose with the impatient, rabid set…
December 13, 2008 at 3:14 pm
actually I get a variety–people who want nothing but ambergris, others who want anything but. lol. I don’t think any writer should complain about readers being passionate enough to email.
December 13, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Because after all, whether or not they’re bitching or praising, they’ve read what you created?
December 13, 2008 at 4:43 pm
because it’s a privilege to be a published writer with an audience
December 13, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Just for clarification, my comments above were meant to be a sort of “Right on!” “Congratulations!” Unfortunately I have a tendency to put things in such an abstract or lame way that blue seems green.
Anyhow, my point was that I am sure Jeff has produced something nice with all his hard work and look forward to reading it when it is out.
December 13, 2008 at 6:58 pm
well, nice wouldn’t be how I describe it, but no worries
December 13, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Warmest congratulations for your unconditional victory on Finch, Jeff. I’m glad you were able to devote the time to it that you thought it needed (Yay Victoria!) and I’m very much looking forward to reading it. And while I’m at it: Welcome Back! Ecstatic Days is one of the few blogs I try to read daily and, honestly, while the guest bloggers were worthy fill-ins, they just ain’t you.
Cheers,
Jonathan K. Stephens
December 14, 2008 at 3:08 am
Ok, I won’t try to clarify for fear of digging myself deeper. I sometimes wonder if all the thousands of hours I have spent teaching people English hasn’t made my own a bit clumsy.
December 14, 2008 at 3:23 am
LOL. No worries. I just mean this novel isn’t very nice. Ambergris is basically a failed state ruled by the gray caps.
December 14, 2008 at 3:23 am
LOL. No worries. I just mean this novel isn’t very nice. Ambergris is basically a failed state ruled by the gray caps.
December 14, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Congratulations on putting that final period in place, and I eagerly await seeing the finished product.
Oh, and welcome back to the blog, too.
December 15, 2008 at 10:23 am
James as in Crossley, right?
You’re in the book, if so. Along with your son.
jeff
December 15, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Yep, that was me. Even better news. As soon as he’s done playing a bus driver who moonlights as a firefighter, I’ll tell him about it.
December 15, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Yeah, your name just worked for something in there. Can’t tell you what or it’d ruin the book for you.
Jeff