March 22nd, 2011 by mark

Yes, not a normal update at all, but the latest info I have on book signings and such.

Bountiful signing on March 24th is on.  Bountiful Deseret Book Store.  135 North 545 West in Bountiful.  Starts at 6:30 and goes until they ask me to leave.

American Fork, Utah signing on March 30th.  American Fork Deseret Book Store.  468 North 990 West, American Fork, UT.  Again, 6:30 until they say, “Go home!”

I’m going to double check the 30th one, as they originally had it the 31st.  Also I know we kinda messed up with Ogden but we are still working on other dates and places.  I will post them as I discover what they are and where I am supposed to be.  I know that at least one in the Salt Lake City area, probably Sugarhouse,  is being setup as well as Saturday signings, probably at Costco stores in Orem, Lehi, Sandy, and Bountiful.  I did make sure and mention that Ogden thing, and I think something for Prove is being worked on as well.

Now, as we are working on setting things up, and a lot of people from areas that aren’t on the current list have asked; you can send requests for me to show up to: htaylor@deseretbook.com  Let me see if I can link that here to make things easy.  Nope, as a link it just takes you the the website, so you’ll just have to cut and past… htaylor@deseretbook.com This email will reach Heidi Taylor, the assistant to the boss of Shadow Mountain, and she will keep track of where people want me to be.  So, even if you are not local to Utah, send your requests to Heidi and maybe we can get something setup where you live.  In fact, have all your friends email as well asking for me to do a signing near you, and that will help to make it come true.    O.K. I will add… Please don’t email Heidi over and over again from the same email account, she’ll get annoyed and take it out on me.

Hope to see you all at the signings, and a regular post will be up in a few days or so.

-Mark

March 17th, 2011 by mark

Right up front I’d like to thank everyone who’s invited me to join their next adventure.  My only question is, “When do we start?”  I guess I might ask, as the post is titled, “Where will we be going?”  Might be good to know so I pack all the right gear.

So, Why have book signings been rescheduled?  Well, the publisher is trying to setup school visits before the signings.  Something like school visits on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with the book signing on Thursday night.  Not sure what’s going on all over, but my guess would be there are some scheduling problems with the schools and they are trying to work things out.  The only date I’m sure of right now, is the 24th of March… wow, a week away.  I will be at the Bountiful Deseret Book Store, and wow, it’s in Bountiful.  6:30 PM until they make me leave.  So if you are close to Bountiful, drop by and see how crazy I am in person.

And, I would like to say thank you to the folks up north who invited me to the Young Writers and Artists Fest at Utah State University.  I had a great time.  Hopefully nobody is to upset at me for calling on them or anything else.  Good times.  Sorry, this one wasn’t announced because it was a “by invitation only” kind of thing.

And now, once again, it’s time for some answers.

How many lands are there in the Adventurers Wanted stories? Well, I planned on there being 27 known lands.  What that means is there are 27 different lands or worlds where a Great Arch will allow people to travel easily.  There are an unknown number of “Lesser” known lands.  Those would be lands that at least some people know about but that don’t have a great arch.  There are two possible ways to travel to and from those lands.  First, if there’s an adventure shop, like Mr. Clutter’s, you can get to Telous that way.  (Oh, Telous doesn’t count as a land… I’m not sure why.)  Second you can hire a magical person called a doorkeeper, sometimes a gatekeeper.  The doorkeeper can open a magical doorway for you to travel through, and reopen it at a preset time so you can get home.  Yes, wizards can be doorkeepers but there are other doorkeepers who don’t have as much magic as a wizard and they can still get the job done.

Are the books from the upper library of the Tower of the Moon considered treasure? Good question.  In this case they are not considered part of the treasure because the books are all magical books, and it’s not a good idea to let just anyone, even if they are adventurers, have magical books.  Alex took the library because Whalen suggested that he take it, and now it belongs to Alex.  Of course he might share some of the books with Whalen or other wizards, we’ll have to wait and see.

Who are the extra broaches Alex had made for? What? O.K. Alex is planning ahead.  He’s thinking he will use them for the rest of his friends from his first adventure if and when they get married.  That might work out, it might not, but at least he has a plan.

Why doesn’t Alex tell his friends what happened when he took his staff and ended up with three? Well, it’s not really a secret that needs to be kept.  I think the main reason he doesn’t mention it is because Alex is  still trying to figure out why it happened.  He was surprised and even scared that three staff’s were right for him and that he had to work some very old magic to combine them into one staff.  Whalen knows and will inform the council of wizards, and maybe that’s as many people as should know for now.

School Visits: Yes, I know some of you have asked for me to show up and how you might arrange such a thing.  I’m not the one who picks which schools and such, but you might try sending your requests to Shadow Mountain directly.  I’d put the person who is currently working on visits email here, but she might get mad and come looking for me with a big stick.  Hmmm… I don’t have a direct email so I’ll ask them if they have someplace you can send requests to and get back to you guys with it.

What is the name of book three and when will it be out? Shadow Mountain has asked me not to tell you what the name of the third book is, and for now I’m doing as they ask.  If things go well it should be out early in 2012.  It is written and the folks at Shadow Mountain are looking at it even as I type.  O.K. I don’t know if they are really looking at it right this second, but they should have a decision on it by the end of the month.  That’s all I can say about that.

Finally, the question about posting bits of the story that have been edit out on the blog.  Not a bad idea but I’m not sure if it would fit well in the blog…   Well, let me think about it a bit and see if there’s some way I can put stuff up and link it to the blog or something.  Better not ask too many questions, the publisher might not be happy if I start putting things out that they cut out.  I’ll see what I can come up with.  So until next time, keep reading, emailing, sharing, writing, and having fun.  No, you don’t have to do them all at once or in that order.

-Mark

March 14th, 2011 by mark

Just a real quick note to let you all know that the book signings that were scheduled have been changed.  Not sure exactly when they will be taking place, but as soon as I find out I’ll put it up.  Sorry if this is a problem, but I’m not the one who sets these things up.   – Mark

March 8th, 2011 by mark

Hey everybody!  So, it’s time for another update and some answers, where to start?  I guess I should explain the heading of this entry, as the work does indeed go on.  I’m referring to upcoming presentations I’m doing, work on book 3 of Adventurers Wanted, work on another unrelated fantasy book that I need to finish and find a publisher for, and life in general.  Lots to do, and it makes it really hard for me to find time to play WOW (World of Warcraft).  Oh well, I’ll just have to wait to play games I guess.

So, first up I want to thank all of you who visit the blog and especially all those who take the time to leave comments.  Comments are one of the best ways for authors to get feedback on what they’ve done, and that’s important because it helps them know what to do next.  So… Thank You!  Now, there is a bit more to this, and I know that many of you are already doing it.  What you ask?  Well, thanks for asking.  The answer of course is, sharing the books.  Why share?  Don’t be silly, it’s nice to share; but there is another reason as well.  To make sure that the adventures go on, a lot of books need to sale so the publisher will be happy and keep printing them.  I think we’re doing good so far, but publishers love to see lots of numbers on book sales, so we need to keep up the good work.  I’ll thank you all now for the sharing you’ll be doing in the weeks to come.     I know, it’s strange, but the publisher won’t print the next book just because I wrote it, they want reasons.  Silly publishers.  Also, you get double share points for putting comments and rating books on websites that sale book, like Amazon and Barnes and Noble for example.  1. It lets others know what you think, and 2. It gives authors a chance to see what you think so they know if they are doing a good job or not.  Your voice counts, so use it.

I’ll add a quick note here also for all of you who have been kind enough to invite me to lots of different places to do book signings and visit schools.  Thanks for the invites, and I’d love to visit everyplace, but there are some limits to what I can do.  Hey, I’m not J.K. what’s her name, so money is always a question… as in, do I have enough money to drive there?  I know I don’t have enough money to fly.  Anyway, a lot of where I turn up has to do with the publisher and… you guessed it, SALES.  The honest truth is, the more books that sale the more willing the publisher is to send me places far from home.  Now, having said that, if I happen to find myself somewhere far from home, and it could happen, I will try to setup book signings and what not wherever I happen to be.  Keep asking anyway, because I always forward the requests to the publisher so they know what you guys want.

And before we go to answer time, I wanted to point out a fairly new website for all of you writers.  (Working at being writers, want to be writers, have written lots but haven’t published… you get the idea.  I know you are out there.)  So, this site does pod casts, and the ones I’ve listened to are fun and informative.  The site is: www.writingsnippets.com They did a three part one with Lisa Mangum, who happens to be my editor as well as an awesome writer, and she talks about a lot of things that are important for writers to know.  Enough said.  Oh, they are interviewing me in ten or twelve days, and I’ll be sure to post when they put the pod cast up.

Now, some answers:

Why are adventurers called “Master”? Well, it doesn’t mean anything special.  Basically calling someone “master” is a lot like calling them, “Mr.”  It’s just an old way of doing it, and I liked it a lot better than saying, “Mr.” all the time.  On the other hand, you do need to pay attention to who’s talking to who, for example; Alex might call Whalen “Master”, because technically he is the master wizard and Alex is or was his apprentice.

What is the main theme of Horn? Good question, as there are a lot of different themes in horn.  For me, I think the main theme is this:  You are free to make choices, but you are not free to decide what consequences will come from those choices.  Does that make sense?  I think we’ve all learned something like this in life, but we don’t always think about it.   Anyway, I hope that helps, Caleb.  Most of all I hope I’ve answered before your book report was due.  If not, tell the teacher I said the main theme was whatever you decided it was, and that I said you deserve 100% on the report.  No, she won’t listen, but you can try.

Can Alex have dreams of the past and the future? Yes.  O.K. we can all have dreams like this, but I think you want to know if he can see the truth about the past and maybe the most likely future.  Again the answer would be yes.  I will say that when Alex knew where the goblins were going to attack in Norsland, that wasn’t a dream of the future, it was magic.  He was using his magic to find the goblins that he couldn’t see with his eyes.  It worked fairly well, until the goblin shaman tricked him with his own magic.

Who is Moran? What???  Oh, of course, how would you know.  Moran was an ancient king in Alusia.  He lived so long ago that his life is only remembered in old stories and legends.  The horn was created while Moran was king, and so it has always been called, “The Horn of Moran”.  Yes, I have a story about it all in my head, but it wouldn’t fit into the book so that’s where the story will stay.

Will the watchers be back? Yes, they will.  Nope, not going into details about them, but I’m 99.5% sure they will be back at least once and maybe more.

The shadow creature that appears in both book 1 and 2, is not in fact a wraith.  Yes, it was controlling the wraiths in book 1, but it is something far darker and more evil than just a wraith.  What it is exactly?  Not sure yet.  Will it be back?  Maybe.  I do tell you more about the shadow in book 3, and you get to meet someone who knows about its past.

Finally… A fan movie trailer?  Go for it Brandon, I think it would be a lot of fun.  Make sure to let us all know when you post it on U-Tube so we can all have a look.